During the last ten years, the Germanization of English verbs and nouns have become very common. As a result, German teenagers are often not able to find the German equivalent of certain English expressions that have become Germanized. Many young people over 20 simply don’t remember the German meaning of those words and phrases anymore.
After a student asked his teacher for the translation of “being upgraded to business class,” she had to admit that a German word for this phrase is lacking. Germans use the English word “upgrade” as a separable verb, just as in German. So the English sentence “He was upgraded” in German would read: “Er wurde upgegraded” – using the “ge” after “up,” which is the German method of forming the past tense of separable words.
Nevertheless, there must have been a word for “upgrade” before Germanization of English words came into fashion – after all, passengers had been upgraded to first or business class even in the 1970s, before “Germlish” (German English) began to dominate the German language. Of course there are German words for “upgrade,” but with reference to airlines they do not fit.
The Most Common Germanized English Words
The English words Germans use in a Germanized way on a daily basis include: Shopping and to shop, to download, cool, to manage, to log in, to log out, to check in, to check out, to delete, discount, sale, sightseeing, cash, upgrade and to upgrade, accounting, performance, just to mention a few.
Germanized English words are all conjugated in the German manner, and the article they receive is the one their German equivalent would have. For example, shopping is “das Shopping” in German as the equivalence is “das Einkaufen” which is neuter (the neuter article is “das”).
How to Conjugate English Words the German Way
Germans no longer go “einkaufen”, they go shopping. Shopping, however, refers only to buying clothes, shoes, bags, books, etc., while “einkaufen” is still used for grocery stores and the supermarket. “Einkaufen” is a separable verb and its Germanized version is “to shop,” but not in the present tense. “Sie geht einkaufen” (She goes shopping) becomes “Sie geht shoppen,” while the question “Are you out shopping at the moment?” becomes “Shoppst du gerade?”
The conjugation of “to shop” is as follows: Ich (I) shoppe, du (you) shoppst, er/sie/es (he/she/it) shoppt (yes, in German even an “it” can shop as the child is neutral), wir (we) shoppen, ihr (you plural) shoppt, sie (they) shoppen. The past tense is “geshoppt” – “Ich habe geshoppt.”
Germanized English: Germans Log in, Download and Delete
Although there is a German word for “to download” (herunterladen), hardly any German ever uses it. Germans usually say “Ich muss die Datei downloaden” (I have to download the file), and conjugate is like a seperable verb: Ich loade down, du loadest down, er loadet down, etc. In the past tense it reads: “Ich habe die Datei downgeloadet.”
In the same way, the phrasal verbs “to check in/out” and “to log in/out” are used. At airports German usually want to “einchecken” (Ich checke ein, du checkst ein, er checkt ein; past tense: Ich habe eingecheckt). In hotels, Germans do “auschecken” (Ich checke aus, ich habe ausgecheckt). And if Germans want to check out something they say “Ich muss das auschecken” (I have to check it out).
If a German opens his computer he has to “einloggen” (log in) and if he succeeds in doing so, he says “Ich habe einbloggt). When he is online, he mentions “Ich bin eingeloggt.” After some time he might be “ausgeloggt” (logged out) again. Germans also say “Ich bin online” when they are on the internet, which is “das Internet” in German (nouns are always capitalized in German).
What Does Chatting Mean in German?
In an English class, if German students disturb the lessons by telling their classmates the latest gossip (Germans students love to do that; no “Ordnung” in German classrooms!), the teacher usually says in a very loud voice in English “You, in the back row, stop chatting right away or you can leave the classroom and continue chatting in front of the door. This is a German teachers’ favorite threat.
The answer the teacher usually receives is “Who is chatting? There is not even a computer in the room!” The German words for “to chat” are “ratschen, schwätzen (a South German expression), or “sich unterhalten.” However, since computer chat rooms have become popular, Germans have long forgotten what they learned in previous English classes and identify “chat” only with computer chat rooms.
Germans Have Lots of Cash but Always Want Discounts for Things on Sale
The word “Ausverkauf” (sales) is no longer present in German shop windows as now everything is “on sale” as soon as summer or winter comes to an end. By the way, the German “au” is not pronounced as the English “au” in Auto, but just like the “ou” in out. And the German “v” is pronounced like an “f” (so Ausverkauf would read like “Ousfakouf”). The German “r” is silent and the “a” is pronounced like the English “a” in far.
German women love to shop for bargains, but they nonetheless ask shop assistants “Kann ich einen Discount haben?” (Can I have a discount?). And if young female shoppers do not have enough cash with them (Germans hate to shop with credit cards as many grew up with the sentence “If you cannot pay by cash you should not buy it”) they might say “Oh, ich habe nicht genug Cash dabei!”
No problem, because they can always call their parents on their “Handy” (cell phone) to ask for cash and they manage (sie “managen” es) to buy the outfit. After their “Handy” call, they tell their friends “so, das wäre gemanagt! Ist das nicht cool?” Isn’t that cool?
Oh German Language, Whither Thou Goest?
During the last ten years more and more German words have been replaced by English expressions to a degree that young people do not know the proper translation in their native language anymore. This causes problems in essays and tests as German teachers insist on proper German language. Internationalization is a good thing, but should the own native language get lost in the process?
Cornelia Lohs - German journalist Cornelia Lohs writes about finance, travel and lifestyle for various German print and online magazines. Cornelia has ...
