Fascination Irish Names

I have noticed that quite a lot of people are fascinated by Irish names (me included). Take my pen name, for example: Saoirse O'Mara.

The Irish word "saoirse" means "freedom", whereas the last name "Mara", or "O'Mara", is derived from the Irish word for "merry". When I looked for a pen name, I made short lists of my favourite first and last names found in a list of Irish names, noted down their pronunciation and meaning too, and then googled the combinations. From the combinations which didn't come up with any Google results, Saoirse O'Mara was my favourite. It looks really nice written down, I like the pronunciation (SEERsha O'Mara), and I absolutely love its meaning: merry freedom.

Many popular English names have Irish (Gaelic) equivalents (for example James = Séamus, Patrick = Pádraig, Kevin = Caoimhín, Owen = Eoghan (male) or Sarah = Sorcha, Mary = Máire, Jane = Sinéad, Catherine = Caitlín (female)). However, many Irish names are derived from Latin, Arabic and other influences due to Ireland's history. Take Pádraig, for example. Pádraig, or Patrick, is of Latin origin and comes from the Latin name Patricius, which means "nobleman". Saint Patrick, the bishop who brought Celtic Ireland the Christian beliefs, adopted that name after he had been captured and brought up far from home.

If you want to look up various Irish first names and their etymology and meaning, Behind the Name is a good place to start. Namenerds is a true treasure chest for everyone interested in Irish names, as the website has several lists for Irish first names, names by meaning, Irish translations of English names and so on. If you plan to give your baby an Irish name, you can find lots of Irish baby names, their origins and meanings on Baby Names of Ireland.

My Two Cents ... XXIX

I remembered this phrase when I watched a Jane Austen film:

"to use someone ill"

What does it mean?

It means to treat someone badly.

Where does it come from?

I did not find anything about this phrase's origins online, so I can only guess. Since I know it from Jane Austen's novels, though, I think I can safely assume that it originated in Great Britain sometime at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century (that was the time Jane Austen lived).

My two cents:

I was really surprised that I couldn't find anything about its origins online. However, I like the phrase (maybe because I love Jane Austen's novels) and think it deserves this spot in my My Two Cents series here on Language Love.

German Tenses—an Overview Part IV.1

When do you use which tense in German?

Infinitiv == (infinitive)

The infinitive is used in combination with modal verbs, and sometimes as a noun (like the present participle in English, e.g. “Lesen macht mir großen Spaß.”->”I enjoy reading very much.”).

Indikativ == Indicative Mode

Präsens == (simple present)

Präsens is used to talk about facts, and about events in the present. It is also often used to talk about future events like plans, or timetables (e.g. “Es regnet.” = “It rains.” or “Ich fahre morgen in den Urlaub.” = “I am going to go on holidays tomorrow.”).

Präteritum == (simple past)

Präteritum is used to talk about events which lie in the past (e.g. “König Luois XIV war ein französischer Herrscher.” = “King Luois XIV was a French regent.”).

Perfekt == (present perfect)

Perfekt is used to talk about events which started in the past and still have effect in the present (e.g. “Ich habe angefangen, ein Buch zu schreiben.” = “I started to write a book.” [I’m still writing on it] or “Ich habe heute Morgen in der Schule geschlafen.” = “I have slept in school this morning.” [and that’s why I don’t know what the teacher talked about]).

Note: In German, the rules for using Präteritum or Perfekt are not as strict as the English rules regarding simple past and present perfect.

Plusquamperfekt == (past perfect)

Plusquamperfekt is used for events that took place even before another event in the past (e.g. “Ich hatte Wein gekauft, bevor ich zu ihm fuhr.” = “I had bought wine before I went to see him.”). It is most often found in fiction since many works of fiction are written in the past tense.

Futur I == (future I)

Futur I is used to talk about events which will take place in the future (e.g. “Morgen werde ich mich mit meiner besten Freundin treffen.” = “Tomorrow, I will meet my best friend.”).

Futur II == (future II)

Futur II is used to talk about events which will have taken place (they are already finished) at a certain point in the future (e.g. “Bis morgen Abend werde ich das Auto repariert haben.” = “By tomorrow evening, I will have repaired the car.”).

Note: German does not have a progressive form of the tenses. Sentences like “It is raining.” would be translated using the simple form of the appropriate tense and an adverb like “(jetzt) gerade” (~now) or “im Moment” (~at the moment) = “Es regnet gerade.”

Next week, I will give you the last part of my German Tense Overview. Don't miss it!

Something about Me--In Chinese

Like I said, I wrote a short text about myself last week. It was a fun exercise, and I was surprised how many words I already remembered, or at least recognised when I read them.

2012年1月17日

我叫Theresa。我是德国人。我二十四岁。

我的职业是作家，老师和译者。

我喜欢咖啡，我的电脑和语言。

我有一本孩子的书。

我妹妹二十岁。她叫Laura。我很喜欢她。

English translation:
1/17/2012

My name is Theresa. I am German. I am 24 years old.
My profession is writer, teacher and translator.
I like coffee, my computer and languages.
I have one children's book.
My younger sister is 20 years old. Her name is Laura. I like her a lot.

I also drew up a timetable for myself, deciding to refresh/study one language every day with Sundays free (or rather to pursue some IT-related studies since I want to get more proficient in various IT things). So far, I have been able most of the days to stick to my timetable, the only excuse being a time-consuming project I am working on right now for a client (and which I hope to finish today). Work, of course, is my highest priority, but I will still try to find time for my studies and my writing every day, even if it is just for a few minutes.

My Two Cents ... XXVIII

Today's idiom comes from a good friend of mine:

"a piece of cake"

What does it mean?

If something is a piece of cake, it is very easy. Example: How was the test at school?--A piece of cake.

Where does it come from?

Apparently, it originated during slavery in America when slaves could win a cake by circling around the cake especially gracefully. Cakes were also given out as prizes for winning other competitions. The American expression "cakewalk" also originated from the slave competition and means a task that is very easy and fun to do. Both idioms originated in the 1870's, and "piece of cake" was first mentioned in writing in 1936. According to some sources, the British soldiers in World War II already knew and used this term too.

My two cents:

When I chose this idiom, I didn't expect to find such an interesting background story to it. In one way, it shocked me that a phrase commonly used nowadays has such a dark origin, but on second thought, considering the dark spots in history in almost every country, it would be strange if there were no idioms originating in those times. Nevertheless, I like cake, so these two idioms will certainly stick in my mind.

German Tenses--An Overview (Part III.2)

Here is Part III.2, as promised.

Konjunktiv I == Subjunctive

Präsens == (present)

ich gehe == (that) I go

du gehest == (that) you go

er/sie/es gehe == (that) he/she/it go

wir gehen == (that) we go

ihr gehet == (that) you go

sie/Sie gehen == (that) they go ((that) you go—formal address)

Vergangenheit (Perfekt) == (past)

ich sei gegangen == (if) I went

du sei(e)st gegangen == (if) you went

er/sie/es sei gegangen == (if) he/she/it went

wir seien gegangen == (if) we went

ihr seiet gegangen == (if) you went

sie/Sie seien gegangen == (if) they went ((if) you went—formal address)

Futur I == (future I)

ich werde gehen == (if) I were to go/should go

du werdest gehen == (if) you were to go/should go

er/sie/es werde gehen == (if) he/she/it were to go/should go

wir werden gehen == (if) we were to go/should go

ihr werdet gehen == (if) you were to go/should go

sie/Sie werden gehen == (if) they were to go/should go

((if) you were to go/should go—formal address)

Note: The subjunctive future with “should” is mostly used in BE.

Futur II == (future II)

ich werde gegangen sein

du werdest gegangen sein

er/sie/es werde gegangen sein

wir werden gegangen sein

ihr werdet gegangen sein

sie/Sie werden gegangen sein

Note: German Konjunktiv I Futur II doesn’t seem to have a corresponding English verb tense (on the other hand, the English pluperfect subjunctive doesn’t have a corresponding German verb tense). It is rarely used in modern German anymore.

Konjunktiv II == Conditional

Präsens (Präteritum/Futur I) == (present)

ich ginge/würde gehen == I would go

du gingest/würdest gehen == you would go

er/sie/es ginge/würde gehen == he/she/it would go

wir gingen/würden gehen == we would go

ihr ginget/würdet gehen == you would go

sie/Sie gingen/würden gehen == they would go (you would go—formal address)

Note: Regular verbs have the same forms in Konjunktiv II Präsens as in Präteritum, therefore the modal verb „werden“ is used in its conditional form (würde etc) together with the infinitive to differentiate Konjunktiv II from Präteritum. Some of the irregular forms are identical too.

Vergangenheit (Plusquamperfekt/Futur II) == (past)

ich wäre gegangen/würde gegangen sein == I would have gone

du wärest gegangen/würdest gegangen sein == you would have gone

er/sie/es wäre gegangen/würde gegangen sein == he/she/it would have gone

wir wären gegangen/würden gegangen sein == we would have gone

ihr wär(e)t gegangen/würdet gegangen sein == you would have gone

sie/Sie wären gegangen/würden gegangen sein == they would have gone

(you would have gone—formal address)

Note: In both German Konjunktiv II tenses, both given alternatives (the „natural“ one and the one using „würde“) are equally valid and are used without difference in meaning.

Imperativ == Imperative

Geh(e)! == Go!

Gehen wir! == Let’s go!

Geht! == Go!

Gehen Sie! == Go! (formal address)

Infinitivformen == Participles

Präsens == (present)

gehend == going

Perfekt == (past)

gegangen == gone

Next week, I will provide you with the passive tenses of "gehen".

My Chinese Dialogue As Promised

So, I didn't find time to do my "homework" until yesterday. I got out my textbook, a sharp pencil (for writing the Chinese signs) and my exercise book with extra large squares (the ones German children use in their first year of school).

First, I read through the pronunciation guide again, just to make sure. Then I moved on to the first chapter. I read the text, and the grammar, and skimmed through the grammar pages of the next two chapters as well. After that, I felt confident enough to start my task: write a short Chinese dialogue.

2012 年1月15日 (January 15, 2012)

你好。我叫Theresa。你叫什么名字？
（Hi. My name is Theresa. What is your name?)
——你好。我叫Dana。你好吗？
（Hi。 My name is Dana. How are you?)
我很好。你是哪国人？我是德国人。
（I am fine. Where are you from? I am German.)
——我是美国人。你今年多少岁？
(I am American. How old are you?)
我二十四岁。我学中语。
（Ｉ　ａｍ　２４　ｙｅａｒｓ　ｏｌｄ．I learn Chinese.)
——我也学中语。
(I learn Chinese too.)
再见！
（Goodbye.)
——再见！
（Goodbye.)

Whoa, while writing this into my blogger interface, I learnt that I can switch between Chinese signs and normal letters, and even have a dictionary in my task bar to look up signs! Awesome!

And while I read the text in my textbook, I realised that I remembered quite a lot. I didn't need to look up a single word/sign in order to understand the text.

For next Monday, I will come up with a short text about myself in Chinese. Just need to keep going now that I restarted learning it.

Word of the Week ... XXIII

This week's word is

"flummoxed"

I learnt it from my sweetheart who used it in a conversation, and since I had never heard or read it before, I looked it up. Of course, I thought of sharing it with you at once.

Meaning: baffled

Example: The news of her marriage left him flummoxed.

Do you have other examples? Or maybe similar words? Share them with us!

German Tenses—an Overview Part III.1

Active Tenses, Irregular Verb, with “sein”

Today, we will have a look at one of German's many irregular verbs. I picked one that builds its compound tenses with "sein" (to be), since German verbs don't always build them with "haben" (to have). Instead, when you learn German, you have to remember which verb uses "haben" and which verb uses "sein".

“gehen” is an irregular verb which builds its compound tenses with the modal verb “sein” (to be).

Infinitiv == (infinitive)

gehen == (to go)

Indikativ == Indicative Mode

Präsens == (simple present)

ich gehe == I go

du gehst == you go

er/sie/es geht == he/she/it goes

wir gehen == we go

ihr geht == you go

sie/Sie gehen == they go (you go—formal address)

Präteritum == (simple past)

ich ging == I went

du gingst == you went

er/sie/es ging == he/she/it went

wir gingen == we went

ihr gingt == you went

sie/Sie gingen == they went (you went—formal address)

Perfekt == (present perfect)

ich bin gegangen == I have gone

du bist gegangen == you have gone

er/sie/es ist gegangen == he/she/it has gone

wir sind gegangen == we have gone

ihr seid gegangen == you have gone

sie/Sie sind gegangen == they have gone (you have gone—formal address)

Plusquamperfekt == (past perfect)

ich war gegangen == I had gone

du warst gegangen == you had gone

er/sie/es war gegangen == he/she/it had gone

wir waren gegangen == we had gone

ihr wart gegangen == you had gone

sie/Sie waren gegangen == they had gone (you had gone—formal address)

Futur I == (future I)

ich werde gehen == I will go

du wirst gehen == you will go

er/sie/es wird gehen == he/she/it will go

wir werden gehen == we will go

ihr werdet gehen == you will go

sie/Sie werden gehen == they will go (you will go—formal address)

Futur II == (future II)

ich werde gegangen sein == I will have gone

du wirst gegangen sein == you will have gone

er/sie/es wird gegangen sein == he/she/it will have gone

wir werden gegangen sein == we will have gone

ihr werdet gegangen sein == you will have gone

sie/Sie werden gegangen sein == they will have gone (you will have gone—formal address)

Watch out for PArt III.2 next Wednesday!

My Language Learning--Out in the Open

All right, here we go. I really want to refresh and improve my language skills. To help me along with it, I will post about my learning experiences here, on Language Love, for all of you to follow (and to kick my ass if I slack).

This week, I want to begin with laying open my Chinese (Mandarin) skills. Since I haven't used it in quite some time, I have forgotten almost everything I knew. I still know about the four tones and the pronunciation, and I think I still know in which order to write the signs. I even remember how to say a few basic sentences, but there's about where it stops. Even writing down those few sentences would be a problem; I have forgotten how to write most of the (few) signs I once knew. It is a lot easier on my laptop since it gives me possible signs when I type in the spelling in pinyin, but I still need to know how the sign looks to choose the right one. Well, here's some of what I remember (written down without the help of a dictionary):

我是德国人。我学中语。你好吗？ (I am German. I learn Chinese. How are you?)

I know, it's not much. I remember a few more sentences but am not able to write them down without looking up some signs. It's a shame how much knowledge gets buried in our heads if we don't use it every now and then.

My goal for this week is simple: Write down a simple dialogue in Chinese and memorise the signs and words. Baby steps to get into the language again.

If you can think of a good goal for the week (or the week after), please leave me a comment. Is there anything you are particularly interested in? Let me know, and I'll try to include it in my studies.

I will post my results here next week, including an English translation.

So far,

再见

Fun with Accents

I know it's Saturday, and usually, you get an interesting phrase or word on Saturdays, but I saw this Youtube video last night and thought it was hilarious! It's apparently a very strong Scottish accent, and I have to admit, I haven't been able to understand most of what was said when I first watched it (although one of my English teachers was a Scot, and I've even been told I have a slightly Scottish accent myself).

Have fun with it! Scottish couple in talk show

German Tenses--An Overview (Part II.2)

Today, we'll have a look at Part 2 of our second German tense overview, starting with the subjunctive.

Konjunktiv I == Subjunctive

Präsens == (present)

ich werde gefragt == (that) I be asked

du werdest gefragt == (that) you be asked

er/sie/es werde gefragt == (that) he/she/it be asked

wir warden gefragt == (that) we be asked

ihr werdet gefragt == (that) you be asked

sie/Sie warden gefragt == (that) they be asked ((that) you be asked—formal address)

Vergangenheit (Perfekt) == (past)

ich sei gefragt worden == (if) I were asked

du sei(e)st gefragt worden == (if) you were asked

er/sie/es sei gefragt worden == (if) he/she/it were asked

wir seien gefragt worden == (if) we were asked

ihr seiet gefragt worden == (if) you were asked

sie/Sie seien gefragt worden == (if) they were asked ((if) you were asked—formal address)

Futur I == (future I)

ich werde gefragt werden == (if) I were to be asked/should be asked

du werdest gefragt werden == (if) you were to be asked/should be asked

er/sie/es werde gefragt werden == (if) he/she/it were to be asked/should be asked

wir werden gefragt werden == (if) we were to be asked/should be asked

ihr werdet gefragt werden == (if) you were to be asked/should be asked

sie/Sie werden gefragt werden == (if) they were to be asked/should be asked

((if) you were to be asked/should be asked—formal address)

Note: The subjunctive future with “should” is mostly used in BE.

Futur II == (future II)

ich werde gefragt worden sein

du werdest gefragt worden sein

er/sie/es werde gefragt worden sein

wir werden gefragt worden sein

ihr werdet gefragt worden sein

sie/Sie werden gefragt worden sein

Note: German Konjunktiv I Futur II doesn’t seem to have a corresponding English verb tense (on the other hand, the English pluperfect subjunctive doesn’t have a corresponding German verb tense). It is rarely used in modern German anymore.

Konjunktiv II == Conditional

Präsens (Präteritum/Futur I) == (present)

ich würde gefragt/würde gefragt werden == I would be asked

du würdest gefragt/würdest gefragt werden == you would be asked

er/sie/es würde gefragt/würde gefragt werden == he/she/it would be asked

wir würden gefragt/würden gefragt werden == we would be asked

ihr würdet gefragt/würdet gefragt werden == you would be asked

sie/Sie würden gefragt/würden gefragt werden == they would be asked

(you would be asked—formal address)

Note: Regular verbs have the same forms in Konjunktiv II Präsens as in Präteritum, therefore the modal verb „werden“ is used in its conditional form (würde etc) together with the infinitive to differentiate Konjunktiv II from Präteritum. In Passive voice, however, the natural form is unique (werden->würde is irregular).

Vergangenheit (Plusquamperfekt/Futur II) == (past)

ich wäre gefragt worden/würde gefragt worden sein == I would have been asked

du wärest gefragt worden/würdest gefragt worden sein == you would have been asked

er/sie/es wäre gefragt worden/würde gefragt worden sein == he/she/it would have been asked

wir wären gefragt worden/würden gefragt worden sein == we would have been asked

ihr wäret gefragt worden/würdet gefragt worden sein == you would have been asked

sie/Sie wären gefragt worden/würden gefragt worden sein == they would have been asked

(you would have been asked—formal address)

Note: In both German Konjunktiv II tenses, both given alternatives (the „natural“ one and the one using „würde“) are equally valid and are used without difference in meaning.

Imperativ == Imperative

Werd(e) gefragt! == Be asked!

Werden wir gefragt! == Let’s be asked!

Werdet gefragt! == Be asked!

Werden Sie gefragt! == Be asked! (formal address)

Infinitivformen == Participles

Präsens == (present)

gefragt werdend == being asked

Perfekt == (past)

gefragt worden == been asked

Watch out for the start of Part III next week!

Puns--Playing with Language

Puns--everyone has heard or used them before. They are seen as either very bad jokes, or a fun and smart way to play with language, depending on who you ask. Many comedians build their programmes around subtle puns which require some thinking instead of taking their audience by their hands. The best puns are usually those that make you laugh out loud all of a sudden hours after the pun has been told.

Not only comedians use puns, though. Asterix, a popular French comic book series, relies on puns a lot, for example. Most of the characters' names are puns, intended to portray the characters' quirks or strengths in an often satirical way.

Why are puns seen in two completely different ways?

Honestly, some puns are probably too old, too commonly known, to be more than a groaner. Other puns, however, are so subtle that most people won't even notice them at first, and might burst out laughing in an inappropriate moment hours later when they suddenly understand them.

I personally love puns. They are one of the fun parts of language. A playground, if you want, where all we language lovers can let out our inner child and have fun.

Feel free to share your favourite puns in the comments; I would love to read them!