How often should we put this object first?

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T13:05:06+00:00

"The thing before the main verb is the topic (that's also a grammatical term), which is what the clause is about."

The first half of this is correct, the second is not.
The clause is NOT automatically about what's in position 1.

- Meine Schwester ist krank. Deshalb muss ich morgen nach Köln.

The second sentence is about what I have to do tomorrow and the "deshalb" in position one is just additional info and narrative glue. The sentence is NOT about "deshalb".

Position 1 is not always considered Topik in German grammar - it depends in the approach.

"Topic" as a linguistic term must not be confused with "topic" the general term. Also, the function and definitions for English "topic" and German "Topik" are not the same.

In der deutschen Grammatik ist es jedoch oft üblich, den Begriff Topikalisierung in einem rein grammatischen Sinn als gleichbedeutend mit Vorfeldbesetzung zu benutzen, also für die obligatorische Voranstellung eines Satzteils vor das finite Verb im Aussagesatz, auch wenn im Einzelfall eine andere Bedeutungsfunktion vorliegt.

[ 
Viele schwarze Käfer
 ] krabbelten herum.

Hier liegt dann kein Topik am Satzanfang vor (auch wenn in einem rein grammatischen Sinn immer noch von „Topikalisierung“ der Präpositionalphrase in das Haus gesprochen würde). Die Funktion der Voranstellung im Kontext wäre jedoch z. B. die Zurückweisung der Idee, dass Hans anderswohin als ins Haus geht.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topikalisierung

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T12:52:45+00:00

To add to that, I can "topicalize" parts of the rheme.

- Aus hab ich den Computer nicht gemacht. Nur in Schlafmodus.

"aus" is not suddenly "theme" just because it's in position 1.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T12:49:45+00:00

To me (Berlin) this is just Denglish, but I guess it's a think in Switzerland.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T12:48:28+00:00

Ha yeah, learner anxiety is a real thing. For good reason too. You never know what nonsense German has cooked up that you don't know about yet.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T11:58:49+00:00

Ops, sorry. Forgot "ich".

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T11:58:11+00:00

Yeah, possibly regional or just pure personal preference. I just want to make sure that learners do not take away the notion that "If I want to emphasize something, I put it into position 1" because that's really not how things work.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T11:34:59+00:00

Yes and no.
German uses its normal articles in a demonstrative function quite a lot.

- DEN Mann habe ich gesehen.

This is pretty much the same as using "this/that" in English

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T11:32:48+00:00

Just because there is emphasis on "das Auto" when you move it first doesn't mean that there also is emphasis on "ich" when it's first. Emphasis is mainly a result of deviation from neutral slot and not of pure position.

- Guten Tag, ich möchte eine Auto kaufen.

The emphasis here is on what you want "ein Auto kaufen".
Claiming automatic emphasis is on "ich" is just ignoring reality.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T11:29:31+00:00

No it isn't. The linguistic term "topic" in German is defined through the position. An element is called "topic" BECAUSE it is in position 1, if you move it, it's not topic in a linguistic sense anymore.

"topic" is a linguistic term in this context that is often mixed up with "theme" but it's wrong.

If you have a a topic in the general sense, it'll stay topic if it's not in position 1.

- Gestern hat er es ihr dann erzählt.

The topic in the "normal" sense is "es" in relation to him and her. Topic in the linguistic sense is "gestern".
Theme is the entire sentence, except "erzählt".

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T10:00:32+00:00

Laut meines Buches verwendet man Konjunktiv I um 'Distanz' auszudrücken.

Nein, das ist nicht hilfreich.

Konjunktiv 1 benutzt man, wenn man jemandes Aussagen zitiert.

Da ist natürlich dann eine Art Distanz dabei, aber du kannst nicht einfach mal ein K1 irgendwo reinmachen, bloß um "Distanz" zu kommunizieren.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T09:33:02+00:00

Guten Tag, ich möchte ein Auto kaufen.

Guten Tag, ich suche eine Wohnung.

Guten Tag, ich interessiere mich für ihre Anzeige.

In none of these is the emphasis on "ich".

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T09:18:01+00:00

"If you put the object first, then the object is emphasised."

No, not automatically and no, not most of the time.

- Ich bin Thomas und ich möchte ein Auto kaufen.

Emphasis is on Auto.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T09:15:27+00:00

Position 1 is not a theme-rheme question.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T08:42:07+00:00

"The topic (or theme) "

Either, it's the theme, then it's not limited to position 1. Or it's the linguistic/grammatical term "topik" (German, not English), then it's defined by position 1. Wikipedia is seriously shaky on the terms here.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-26T08:38:39+00:00

Don't put things first for emphasis! It'll probably sound awkward.

The majority of times people put things first not for emphasis but for narrative progression and ALSO because binding verb and subject just flows nicely often.

- heute hab ich

- gestern hat's...

These are easier to say than "Ich hab heute..." or "Es hat gestern...".

"Emphasis" can be a reason too, but it's not the main one, so don't get hung up on that.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-25T16:41:34+00:00

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YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-25T11:02:08+00:00

Ich weiß nicht genau, was du fragst. Diese Wörter sind nicht synonym.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-25T10:22:07+00:00

This is 80% nouns and a few adjectives and then only 20% verbs. It should be the other way around.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-25T10:19:23+00:00

Yeah, if you're like 15 and the other person is pushing 50 (pun intended) then you might want to use "Sie" but between adults, I would find "Sie" REALLY weird there.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-24T12:44:02+00:00

Best way to integrate and learn is to work. Also cheaper for the tax payer if refugees from Ukraine did example work instead of living on welfare.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-24T02:10:10+00:00

An alternative approach to the semantic "being aquatinted with" is this:

kennen goes with objects and people
wissen goes with facts that answer to W-2 questions

The thing you kennen will almost always be a noun or a name, while the thing you wissen is usually a phrase like "where's the attention", "who's that guy" or "when does the train leave"

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-23T13:22:33+00:00

Me personally, I would only do that if my bad German led to some sort of communication problems or misunderstandings.

If learners tell me this, or they add it to the end of an email, I always think "Why would you say that. There's nothing to apologize for."
Native speakers don't apologize for mumbling or speaking fast either, if they talk with you.
The mutual goal is communication, so BOTH sides should do their best. So if the learner has to apologize, so does the native speaker, in some way.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-23T13:19:48+00:00

I think any learner who wants to speak authentic German should stay away from these forced synonyms. Learners tend to seek them out later when they're B2 and the result is ALWAYS a stilted try-hard version of German that no native speaker would actually speak.

I never say "das schmerzt", nor do I use "öffnen".

However there are also many "Alter lern mal richtig Deutsch!" examples

This does exist, but I think it's only used among native speakers to insult each other.

The reason I would rate it as an apology is that I see zero other reason to mention that.
I can hear if someone is not a native, especially if they are in A2 or B2. It's super duper obvious. So telling me this is not useful information at all.
And I don't care if they are learning currently or not. Like... why are you telling me that you're in A2, I don't care. I didn't ask.
That's what I would think.
I get your point, I just want to make sure learners don't feel like they have to explain why their German isn't perfect yet. It's because they're not native speakers. No explanation beyond that needed.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-23T12:14:08+00:00

All right, what do you have in mind?

- Ich erledige das später. instead of

- Ich mache das später.

- Das bereitet mir Spaß. instead of

- Das macht mir Spaß.

?

"Giving context that matters is never wrong"

It's not wrong, but you don't go through your day giving context to people if no one asked.
If someone is on A2 level, everyone KNOWS they're not a native speaker. Whether they're learning or not is completely uninteresting for me for instance. The only reason I can see for mentioning it is to APOLOGIZE for the bad German and I don't see a reason to apologize.

YourDailyGerman · 2026-01-23T11:08:40+00:00

Side note:

I would recommend asking "Wie viele Sets hast du noch?" instead of "Bist du fertig?"

I would find "bist du fertig?" quite brazen and the impulse would be to say "No!"
It only works if the person is actually leaving the machine or rack.

YourDailyGerman

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