Comments on: Q is for question

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:23:41 +0000

@Hassan Thank you:) All is well. Yourself?
@Chris: Completely correct! The other phrase is idiomatic and includes softeners, so that’s our “sorry, but…” Ich haette is conditional “I would like (to have)”; da mal is (literally) “there once” and used as we might say “just” and “sort of”; and haett’ and ‘ne are dialect contractions, southern or western Germany.

By: Hassan Elsisi

Hassan Elsisi — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:31:26 +0000

I have a question.

How are you nowadays ?

By: chris

chris — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:15:00 +0000

Just out of curiosity, if it’s not too much trouble, i wondered if you’d mind answering something?
I can’t think of a better person or a better place to ask.
My German was learnt in passing and was only ever capable of survival but if i wanted to say “i have a question” my mouth would produce “ich habe eine frage”.
How many rules am i breaking and what is the “da mal’ne” doing up there?