Question
Updated on
3 Jul 2020
- Portuguese (Brazil)
-
English (US)
-
German
Question about German
What is the difference between da and dort ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between da and dort ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- German
- English (UK) Near fluent
- English (US) Near fluent
@MT6 Hmm, I cant agree to that. At least not as a stand alone...
Fact is, that there isnt a specific rule saying which range means "da" and which "dort", or how big the deviation is allowed to be. There are also different usages depending on the speaking area.
But what you can keep in mind @lucaswolff2010 : "dort" can basically always be replaced with "da" but not necessarily the other way around, because "da" mostly means "dort" (there) but can also means "hier" (here). Its depending on the context.
"Da" also has additional meanings different from locations. Its also used as:
- "At that moment" -> "Da hat er gelacht." (That's when he laughed.)
- For conditions sometimes (if / then) instead of "dann" but that's rare
- For "In that respect / on that" ("In that respect I do agree.", "Da stimme ich zu.")
- and a few more.
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/da_Adverb_...
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Obviously wrong
Explanation is not enough
Written in a language I can't understand
Answer is not related to the question
Other reason
- German
In German we have "hier", "da" and "dort"
They are used to designate place of varying distance
- 'hier' refers to closest proximity - 'da' refers to a larger distance from the speaker -
- 'dort' indicates largest distance.
Imagine you talk to someone within an interesting park full of interesting features.
'Hier stand die alte Mauer der Stadt, da war der Wachturm, und dort (drüben) war das alte Rathaus'
However, German speakers don't take this rule very seriously. And this makes it difficult for those learning German. Very often "da" and "dort" are used interchangably.
Or sometimes "da" is used like "hier"
e.g.
After a long exhausting journey you have finally reached your destination.
You say:
Ah, endlich sind wir da. (meaning here)
This is a complicated topic in German and there is a lot of discussion and confusion about it. :))
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- German
- English (UK) Near fluent
- English (US) Near fluent
@zwannemail2 "However, German speakers don't take this rule very seriously." -> I have never heard of this rule or can find it anywhere online.
https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/da_Adverb_...
In the enumeration of your example it looks to me more like you want to prevent the multiple use of a word.
"Da stand ..., da ... und da ...!" would sound very unsavory. But I highly doubt that the "Rathaus" necessarily have to be more far away than the "Wachturm" for the correct grammatically usage in this example. ;-)
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- Portuguese (Brazil)
- German
Ich gebe euch Recht. Wir wissen, dass es ein sehr kompliziertes und viel diskutiertes Thema ist und ich habe es mir zu leicht gemacht. Es wäre für mich sehr interessant, zu erfahren, wie man das einem Deutschlerner erklären könnte, ohne ihn total zu verwirren. Wahrscheinlich musste lucaswolff20 auch relativ lange auf eine Antwort warten.
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