Help with a few German phrases.

[Dearelliot]

Occasionally in my stories I like to throw in a few German phrases...I spent a lot of time in Berlin even married a Berlin lady ..back in the late 50s..
but my memory isn't good and I'd rather not ask my wife for help on porn stories.
If anyone is willing to help, maybe they could PM me.

 

[kimber22]

hell yeah, just ask! the whole forum here is German-speaking...

 

[Dearelliot]

Okay, the lady orders two coffees and her long standing bar bill.
"Zwei Kaffei bitte and Meine Bar Rechnung."
Is it correct and spelled right with capitals?

 

[wuselmann]

Okay, the lady orders two coffees and her long standing bar bill.
"Zwei Kaffei bitte and Meine Bar Rechnung."
Is it correct and spelled right with capitals?

Not quite. It would be:

"Zwei Kaffee bitte, und meine Barrechnung."

 

[Dearelliot]

Thank you ..Great!

 

[wuselmann]

Thank you ..Great!

You're welcome. If you need any other phrases checked, don't hesitate to post them here.

 

[Peter_Carsten]

No one says: "Barrechnung".

"Zwei Kaffee bitte, und wir möchten gleich zahlen."

 

[kimber22]

deleted.

 

[Dearelliot]

Nice, I love that! Thank you.

 

[kimber22]

Okay, the lady orders two coffees and her long standing bar bill.

wobei, eigentlich ist die Frage ungenau. Because, can you "order" a bill?
You usually pay a bill, and order two coffees. But can you "order" a bill?
(Edited, 1.1.2023)

 

[Dearelliot]

I could order two coffees, or I could ask for two coffees and ask for my bill
As it seemed obvious what I wanted to say.
Zwei Kaffee, bitte Inga und my bar bill
Why would there be confusion?

 

[kimber22]

I could order two coffees, or I could ask for two coffees and ask for my bill
As it seemed obvious what I wanted to say.
Zwei Kaffee, bitte Inga und my bar bill
Why would there be confusion?

Because I'm still wondering: Is your lady
ordering a coffee and/or a bill? or is she
asking for a coffee and/or a bill?

In German we have many different ways to express the one or the other....

 

[Dearelliot]

I understand the confusion ..but right now everything has been resolved and anything more would be a moot point..
I thank you for your help.,

 

[Phlegeton]

On an unrelated note: Berlin in the late 50's... Woah Sounds like a great time

 

[kimber22]

oh yeah, that's really unrelated

funny side note: Duden.de says, the plural of "Kaffee" is "Kaffees"... (but that might be the difference between German-German and Austrian-German ) Ich bestelle ["to order"] auch weiterhin zwei "Café/Kaffee-Latte" und nicht zwei "Kaffees-Latte" oder zwei "Kaffee-Lattes"...

 

[Dearelliot]

On an unrelated note: Berlin in the late 50's... Woah Sounds like a great time

Almost heaven. Take me home to West berlin....

 

[Dearelliot]

Berliners often use an "N" sound before a word like "Na Du" or "Na Schon"
I'm wondering what that word is and how to spell it.

 

[Phlegeton]

If it´s really the "Na" used in phrases like "Na du" or "Na, ich denke mal...." your spelling is correct

Linguists would call it a particle, and as to the meaning: That strongly depends on the situation. i think you could compare it to the english "well", as in "Well, i think we should..." In "Na du", it´s rather like "Hey (you)".

 

[kimber22]

If it´s really the "Na" used in phrases like "Na du" or "Na, ich denke mal...." your spelling is correct

Yes, I would also spell it that way, from Southern-Germany/Bavaria/Austria [Austro-Bavarian-Language-Family] We, here also don't know exactly sometimes what the Berliners (North-Germans) are saying...^^

Linguists would call it a particle, and as to the meaning: That strongly depends on the situation. i think you could compare it to the english "well", as in "Well, i think we should..." In "Na du", it´s rather like "Hey (you)".

"Na du".... I would mostly translate just as: "Hey you..."
"Na, ich denke mal".... usually translates to: "Well, I think"
"Na sicher nicht" on the other hand means: "Most surely not...", which is a stronger statement than just: "Sicher nicht" - surely not ;-)

 

[Zenobit]

If it´s really the "Na" used in phrases like "Na du" or "Na, ich denke mal...." your spelling is correct

Linguists would call it a particle, and as to the meaning: That strongly depends on the situation. i think you could compare it to the english "well", as in "Well, i think we should..." In "Na du", it´s rather like "Hey (you)".

Würde ich auch ähnlich formulieren. Ist halt eine auf eine bestimmtes Gebiet bezogene Redensart. Na ist irgendwie ein Füllwort wie Hey oder wenn ständig jemand im amerikanischen Dude in einen Satz einbaut....

 

[Dearelliot]

Thanks, I appreciate your help.

 

[Dearelliot]

So she sees someone she hasn't seen in many years, and in a surprised voice, she asks the fellow, in English "John, Is that you?"
How would she say that in German "Ist das Du."
or maybe a German might not say it that way at all.

 

[Hans858]

"Bist du das, John?"

Gruss

Hans

 

[Dearelliot]

Thks

 

[kimber22]

"John, Is that you?"
How would she say that in German "Ist das Du."

"Bist das du?" (2nd.P.sg.) -- "Seid das ihr?" (pl.) totally common in German. [not to be confused with "seit", just a side note^^]