Welcome, Linguaholics! Today we will take a deep dive into German sayings…and there is definitely a lot to be explored here! If your native language is English, some of these sayings might sound familiar while others most certainly won’t ring a bell. So, without further ado, let’s get right to the point! We will start …
Marcel Iseli
Table of Contents What is a Participial Phrase? What is a Participle? What is an Adjective? Present Participial Phrases The Difference Between Present Participles and Gerunds Past Participial Phrases Participial Phrases Exceptions: Irregular Verbs Perfect Participial Phrases Punctuation for Participial Phrases Mistakes to Avoid When …
Showing gratitude is of the utmost importance in both our personal and our professional lives. It makes us feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves, like we belong. And, this sense of belonging can give tremendous meaning to our actions. Additionally, showing gratitude can make others feel validated and respected, propelling them …
Every time we investigate a certain word, we invariably look at the culture that spawned it. For instance, the term “crow tit” forced us to take a closer look at Korean culture as well as the disparity between different generations. Lately, we have been fascinated by a particular online subculture, that of Twitch. Not only …
Affect vs. effect is a commonly discussed problem; people often still struggle to choose the right one. Which one you should go for, obviously, always depends on the context and the very meaning of the sentence. But is that the same for “no effect vs. no affect?” Well, not exactly, because one of these two …
What is an appositive phrase? An appositive phrase is a special kind of noun phrase that explains or identifies another noun or pronoun. There are two kinds of appositive phrases: Essential appositive phrases (also called restrictive appositive phrases) and non-essential appositive phrases (also called nonrestrictive appositive phrases). How to find out if an …
Writing e-mails in a foreign language is not always easy. Sometimes this is due to a lack of knowledge of the technical vocabulary, but sometimes the problems are simply related to a lack of knowledge of the foreign culture. How formal should an e-mail in German be? When should you use “Sie” and when can …
If you’ve been following my blog, then you’ve heard me talk about how language and culture intertwine. For instance, when discussing what the phrase “crow tit” meant, we delved into Korean culture, analyzed one of their proverbs, and saw how the culture of one generation influenced the culture of the next one. We even saw …
Language is an ever-changing, evolving creature; not only do grammatical rules change with time (just take a look at Shakespearean English to get an idea of how different things are today), but words also change meaning all the time. Some words that were known for their literal meaning develop a figurative meaning, one that becomes …