German Word-of-the-Day for Owlet: Day 12

[muckefuck]

gern(e) /ge:rn(ə)/ "gladly"

The translation above can't do justice to this useful little word. A better translation for gern + verb is "like to do (something)". For instance, Ich koche gern. "I like to cook." If you really like to do something, you do it schrecklich gern. It has something closer to the meaning given in fixed expressions like Gern geschehen!, lit. "Gladly happened!", i.e. "My pleasure!" or "Don't mention it." If you want to use it with a nominal object, you need a verb like haben or mögen. Would you like a lovely iced coffee? Then say Ich hätte gern einen Eiskaffee (even if you möchtest lieber einen Eistee.)

Note that there is no *gerner; if you like knitting more than cooking, then you strickst lieber. And if you'd most rather be fencing, then am liebsten fechtest du.

Comments

kleine Korrektur

[pne.livejournal.com]

"Kaffee" ist genauso männlich wie "Tee".