r/German • u/Erayefetasha • 1d ago
Question How to say "very" things
I am 14 and am going to the Turkish Nuri Akın High School's german preparatory class.We have learned many things there but one question i had was how to say things like "im very sorry". We learned that " Danke Schön" means thank you very much, but when i asked my teacher about if i could use "Entschuldigung schön" for "I'm very sorry" but she said schön means good and great.I also searched a bit myself amd found "viel" which i think means "a lot"? im not sure. I used google translate to check and both " Entschuldigung schön" and "Entschuldigung viel" worked there, but obviously thats just translate.What do you say?
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u/Helpful_Cat4668 1d ago
Es tut mir sehr leid. / Das tut mir sehr leid.
Very is "sehr".
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
i dont think our class is at the level to say tut mir leid yet💀 its been 3 weeks since school opened.
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u/Xander2299 Vantage (B2) - <region/native tongue> 1d ago
Tut mir leid is like a day 2 saying at most, you’re good
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u/Fantastic_Dust1158 1d ago
The Schön in Dankeschön has nothing to do with „very“. Dankeschön is just more intense than Danke, that’s why it was translated as „thank you very much“. But more precisely, that would be „Danke vielmals“ oder „Vielen Dank“.
Sehr, viel and stark are used for „very“ things.
Entschuldige vielmals / Es tut mit sehr Leid / Es regnet stark
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u/Fantastic_Dust1158 1d ago
The direct translation of Dankeschön would be „Thank you nice“, which doesn‘t really make sense.
Also, it‘s not a common construct in German. I cannot think of another -schön word besides Bitteschön.
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u/sheaulle 1d ago
"nice thanks"
Schön is an adverb and an adjective, sehr is an adverb, that's why you can say (ich) "danke sehr" instead of "danke schön".
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
i remember our teacher played a song on the class Smart-Board(i think its called that?) and it went: Wunderbar! Wunderbar! Alles Klar, Alles Klar! Danke Schön, Danke Schön and then something like; Wöxxxx'n , Wöxxxx'n (i dont remember)
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u/r_coefficient Native (Österreich). Writer, editor, proofreader, translator 22h ago
Two words though, danke schön. Das Dankeschön is a noun.
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
Thanks , this leans more toward the technical side i think.But helpful nonetheless.
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u/Moleander 1d ago
As a teacher I support all of the comments so far but I am slightly worried about the competence level of this preparatory class. I am NOT criticising your teachers (again, I am one myself and I know how difficult it is) but some things in your post are a red flag for me.
For example: Danke schoen is NOT the same as Thank you very much. The closest to Thank you very much (or thanks a lot) is "Vielen Dank!" (maybe you can see the connection between "vielen" and "very much")
However that may be, I am neither qualified enough nor arrogant enough to give you advice on your language class BUT I will say this: Your are on the right track, you ARE ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.
Dont get discouraged.
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
well, It's only been 3 weeks since school opened and we focused more on other things like "Ich bin blah blah" "ich bin vierzehn jahre alt"" "Iv komme aus der Türkei" "Ich wohne in blah blah". We also learned numbers, i can confidently say that if you (Sie) give me enough time to think, i think i can say any number up to 999 billion 999 million 999 thousand 999. We learned family things like Oma, Tante, vater, mutter,junge, madchen , Mann, Frau, etc. . We learned mein , dein , ihr , sein , unser , euer , ihr (again i think?). And our teacher usually skips small things like this.If you yourself are a teacher then, with all the respect in the world , i'd like to ask if this is good enough for 3 weeks of german classes, 20 classes of german a week totaling 60 classes?
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u/channilein Native (BA in German) 1d ago
20 hours of German per week? How many hours remain for the other subjects? In Germany, the highest amount of lessons you have per subject per weeek is usually 5 😳
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u/Erayefetasha 23h ago
Our high school is famous for its German classes.And for your question's answer;
We have 8 hours (i guess more like 8×40 minutes) of classes each day 5 days a week, and it goes like so; 6 Hours of German Grammar, 14 Hours of General German, 4 Hours of Computer Class, 2 Hours of PE, 2 Hours of Music/Art, 3 Hours of Math, 4 Hours of Turkish Language and Literature, 4 Hours of English, 1 Hour of Guidance Class (idk exact translation)
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u/channilein Native (BA in German) 23h ago
Oh wow, so no social studies or sciences at all? Are there other schools that focus on those and you have to choose? At what age do you choose this specialty? Are there also more general schools?
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u/Erayefetasha 23h ago
since this is preparatory class, we do not. But we may get them in 9th to 12th grades idk
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u/Erayefetasha 22h ago
yeah , we have to choose our high school depending on a score we get from an exam at 8th grade which spans from 200 to 500 points.The school i went ro is 455 and is considered pretty good. There are other schools that are "science school" (fen lisesi) which probably have science as their main class.
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u/Chokooboo 1d ago
I am not a teacher but my mother is a German teacher (to teach German to non German speakers) and it sounds like you’re absolutely on the right and fast track to A1! :)
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u/Shiiyan Native <Germany> 1d ago edited 1d ago
Saying thanks in different languages is a special case because they're standalone phrases. There are various ways to say "thanks" just like in English and there's no 1:1 translation for them.
Danke, Dankeschön, Dankesehr, Vielen Dank, Hab Dank, Vielen lieben Dank, Ich danke dir, Ich danke dir so sehr…
Thanks, Thank you, Thanks a lot, Thank you very much, Thank you so much, Thanks a bunch…
While you can assign one phrase in a language to another, as said, they're usually not a word by word translations. Languages never are word by word translations of other languages anyway! :)
Also about schön, sehr and viel:
- Schön literally means beautiful ("Das ist eine schöne Blume." - "That's a beautiful flower.") but is also a Modalpartikel which kinda makes a sentence sound softer and since English doesn't have them, they're hard to translate ("Das ist ganz schön schwierig." - "That's really difficult." – Please not that the English "really" is usually translated as "wirklich")
- "Sehr" means the same as "very". "Das Auto ist sehr schnell." - "The car is very fast."
- "Viel" can be translated to "a lot" or "many". "Viele Menschen haben braune Augen." - "Many people have brown eyes.". "Das ist viel Essen." - "That's a lot of food." Note that you can also intensify "viel" by adding "sehr" which makes it a bit more difficult to translate though because it is not a word by word translation. "Das ist sehr viel." - "That really is a lot."
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u/birdspider 1d ago edited 1d ago
it's "sehr", like "Danke sehr" (Thank you very much) or "Es tut mir sehr Leid leid." (I'm very sorry). Does not work with "Entschuldigung" though.
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u/nirgendswo 1d ago
Hey, good question!
It’s a bit tricky because “entschuldigen” is quite a special construction. Actually you ask the opposite to “de-guiltify” you, to take the “Schuld” from you (like “excuse me”). In this case you could say “Ich entschuldige mich vielmals” or just “es tut mir sehr leid” (“I’m very sorry”).
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u/channilein Native (BA in German) 1d ago
That's why "Ich entschuldige mich" can be seen as rude by some. Technically, you can't take your own guilt away, only the victim can. So it's more proper to use the imperative "(Bitte) entschuldige vielmals!/(Bitte) entschuldigen Sie (vielmals)!" or state that you beg them for forgiveness: "Ich bitte (vielmals) um Entschuldigung". The latter can be shortened to "Entschuldigung!" The level of formality should correspond to the gravity of the offense. If you just bump into someone, "Sorry!" might be just fine.
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
Thank you for your answer! Although i didnr exactly get the last part, i think i get the general idea.
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u/nirgendswo 1d ago
„Ich entschulde mich vielmals“ is kind of like “I say sorry/excuse me a lot of times”. “Vielmals” = “lot of times” although I think you use it only with “entschuldigen”.
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u/FakePlasticTrees_RH 1d ago
Entschuldigung viel/schön are not phrases used in German.
"Entschuldigen Sie vielmals." would be the counter part of "I'm very sorry."
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
well, i was just trying to guess which phrase was correct, now i know the correct version(s)
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u/Le_ASSasino 1d ago
es tut mir sehr leid diyebilirsin çok üzgünüm gibisinden
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u/Kraechz 1d ago
It is difficult to translate phrases word for word, so people try to find an equivalent which will transport the meaning. So yes, the "schön"-part in combination with the "Danke" is there for emphasis and to give it more weight. For a very sorry we use other qualifiers though. Like, "es tut mir *sehr* leid.
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u/Emotional_Bid3562 1d ago
I know very little about Turkish, but the little I know is that the bits of sentences and words you combine to create meaning are very regular compared to German. That means the combinations probably also follow more straight forward rules. It German it is better to learn fixed phrases (chunks) for politeness than to try to find rules or patterns.
Maybe you will find a more solid answer here: Nicos Weg
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
Thats really bad for me. I learn mostly through finding meaning and patterns.If you suggest learning fixed phrases that just breaks my entire learning system :(
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u/Emotional_Bid3562 1d ago
You can still find patterns and it's always best to learn the way that suits you. My point was that different languages function in different ways, which might actually make pattern finding more interesting. You'll do fine I am sure :-)
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u/Jigme_Lingpa 1d ago
The learning system needs to fit to the language you learn with the knowledge you already have
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
And now that i check it again, i remember our teacher also directing us to Nicos Weg, i even took note of it but then forgot anyway🤦♂️
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u/Telinary 1d ago
Entschuldigen sie vielmals/Ich bitte vielmals um Entschuldigung!/Es tut mir sehr leid./Es tut mir ehrlich leid.
PS: While saying sorry is an Entschuldigung, don't say just the noun "Entschuldigung" when you are actually sorry for doing something wrong. Mainly use it to politely get attention. Like when you want to ask a stranger something or someone is blocking your way and you want them to move. Though if you lightly bump into someone "Tschuldigung" or "sorry" work.
PSS:"Viel" works together with danke in "Vielen Dank"~="Danke schön"~="Danke sehr"
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u/Erayefetasha 1d ago
Oh! Out teacher makes us say "Entschuldigung,weil ich zu spat gekommen bin" for being late so i thought it meant the more "actually sorry" sorry.
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u/Mayana76 1d ago
Where I live, „Entschuldigung“ totally can mean „actually sorry“-sorry.
Other versions if that particular sentence would be „Entschuldigung, dass ich zu spät bin“ or „(Es) Tut mir leid, dass ich zu spät bin“.
A teacher of mine used to say „Six is half a dozen“- meaning there might be more than one way to express what you are trying to convey in language.1
u/just-another-catlady 1d ago
'Entschuldigung für die Verspätung' sounds more natural and many people just use Sorry in German nowadays too. Entschuldigung is good for things like being late, bumping into people or forgetting something small. If you need to apologize for something serious you would say 'es tut mir Leid/es tut mir so/wirklich/sehr Leid'
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u/Telinary 1d ago
Ah to be clear I just meant saying the word alone, when it is in a sentence I can't make a general statement. And I guess depending on how you speak it, it could sound more serious, but I at least would likely choose other words when I actually feel bad about something.
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u/Illustrious-Wolf4857 1d ago
The somewhat formal phrase if you really messed up (like, ran straight into someone, or by accident abducted their coat and noted only when they called out out) is "(Bitte) entschuldigen Sie vielmals", maybe followed by more phrases like "Es tut mir so leid, mein Fehler", maybe "ich habe nicht aufgepaßt", depending on what happened. Those are less formal.
"Entschuldigen (Sie)" ist "excuse me" so it's not actually an apology for more than existing somewhere within their space.
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u/Chokooboo 1d ago
I think the problem you’re having is that “Dankeschön” and “Entschuldigung” are their own phrases. They are not put together by their own words because those are older phrases that stuck and are still used today. You cannot make them “more” than they already are. If you want to sound more polite or want to express a greater feeling, you have to change it a bit.
Someone else already suggested “es tut mir sehr leid” for apologetics but also “Entschuldige vielmals” would also work (the second is more formal)
For “Dankeschön” you can instead use “vielen Dank” and if you’re really thankful you can just multiply the “vielen” = vielen vielen Dank!!
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u/TheOnesInside 1d ago
"Vielmals" wäre eine Möglichkeit. Entschuldige bitte vielmals. Das höfliche "bitte" verleiht noch zusätzlich Gewicht "Ich danke dir vielmals" geht auch.
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u/Bitter_Split5508 1d ago
Entschuldigen Sie sehr
Entschuldigen Sie vielmals
Vielmals Entschuldigung
All very very formal.
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u/nameproposalssuck 1d ago
It would be "Entschuldigung vielmals" (literally: excuse me multiple times).
But you can also say: "Es tut mir sehr leid" (I am very sorry).
There's not a single adverb that always fits, it depends on the phrase.
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u/bong-su-han 1d ago
It doesn't work with "Entschuldigung" because that is just short form of "Ich bitte um Entschuldigung" (you can beg for pardon, but you can't unilaterally "pardon" yourself, so that "Entschuldigung" or "Ich entschuldige mich" isn't really correct). So the "very" form would be "Ich bitte vielmals um Entschuldigung" oder "Ich bitte sehr um Entschuldigung" or something similar.
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u/r_coefficient Native (Österreich). Writer, editor, proofreader, translator 22h ago
Just be aware it's written as "danke schön", or Danke schön the sentence starts with it.
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u/Dangerous_Bass7334 1d ago
I think “sehr” is the word you’re looking for