German

[coccinelle]

When someone asks you Wie geht's? instead of just saying the usual 'Gut' what can you say to say 'not too bad'?
Is this correct? Was hast du heute gemacht?
And what is the german for a park, as in a park you would go walking around?

[DTCwordfan]

surprisingly perhaps but der park

[DTCwordfan]

and also ein parkplatz

[KARL]

Not too bad might be stated as "Nicht so schlecht" or Nicht schlimm". If you want to say What have you done today, then it is correct as you have written it. Stadtpark can be the equivalent of a town park but that is often/usually bigger and more elaborate than a simple green area for dogs to cr@p on (google it on google.de). Parkplatz is a car park.

[PokerMan]

could you reply to wie gehts with 'alles klar'? = alright/ok. lit, everything is clear

[DTCwordfan]

sorry Karl - you are correct.

[KARL]

You can say Alles klar, meaning everything is fine (literally in order), although from what I know of German that might not be the first response that would spring to mind.

[Bambiagain]

Nicht schlecht is fine. Alles klar is pretty much the same as ok, but not really appropriate as an answer in this case.

And Karl, if you are caught letting your dog cr@p in the park here, you're in trouble! Always carry a doggy bag.

[KARL]

No fear of my dog cr@pping in any park - I don't have one and disapprove of them in urban areas, on public transport, etc. except for guide dogs et.al.

[Bambiagain]

Oh, and there's no problem actually telling people if things aren't good. My German OH thought it was strange when I was asked how I was in England and, despite having a stinking cold, said I was fine. You're allowed to tell people if you don't feel well here.

[Bambiagain]

Good thing I live in a small village and don't use public transport, then, Karl!

[CJ242]

'Was hast du heute gemacht', means 'what have you made today'!

'Ich bin nicht so schlecht', means 'I am not so bad'.

Hope that helps x

[KARL]

A village is an urban area in my book ;)

[KARL]

One of the meanings in English of the German verb zu machen is to do.

[Bambiagain]

You don't find odd houses out in the middle of nowhere here - the town or village comes to a stop when the sign says you are leaving it, so urban is town and the nearest you get to rural is in a village. Hope you aren't trying to ban dogs altogether.

Back to the subject of this post, the verb machen means to do (to make as well, but the verbs are not used the same way as in English), so "was machst du/was machen Sie?" means what are you doing? Basteln is also to make. My friend yeterday told me she had made her husband's new business cards, and the verb used was basteln. Sometimes direct translations don't come across as you think they will.

[CJ242]

'Zu tun' means 'To do'. For example
'Zu tun nichts' means 'To do nothing'!

'Zu machen' means 'To make'

[jaydah]

Ich bin gut, wie sind sie = I am well, how are you ?

[KARL]

...Was machst du ? = What are you doing ?. Ask any native German speaker if you don't believe the nearest dictionary. Yes, tun also means do but it is no more (less ?) frequently used in this context than machen and the above question is highly unlikely to be Was tust du ? (in fact it would appear distinctly odd/ungerman). It is easy to stare at the similarity in origin/spelling of make and machen but nevertheless the meanings are not directly/strictly equal.

[Bambiagain]

Normally the verb does not use "zu" - do do is tun or machen, although machen is more normally used as tun is seen as a lazy word/verb.

Mir geht's gut is better. Question - "wie geht es dir" (informal) so reply also uses the dative "mir".

Guten Nacht, alle. Ich gehe ins Bett. Hier ist es eine Stunde spaeter als in England!

Tschues.

[KARL]

Oh, and it would be Nichts zu tun = to do nothing

[Bambiagain]

Oops - to do.

Karl, Sie haben Recht.