[lit-ideas] Re: Quick German Question (Vermutlich und Wahrscheinlich) [part II]
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 21:35:13 -0800
that's why they're asking you that dumb question about the two words. both
words are so
similar. i can't think of a sentence (or situation) in which one would clearly
say one, but
never the other. it just feels to me that wahrscheinlich is about things one
can see, and
vermutlich is about things that one talks about.
there's "approximately", which means both "precisely" and "loosely". "the
mountain lion is
approximately three meters from Robert." is that precisely 300 centimeters? or
2.91 meters?
i suppose German students are tortured with that word.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Erin Holder" <erin.holder@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 9:24 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Quick German Question (Vermutlich und Wahrscheinlich)
[part II]
>> if i think of situations, i'd use wahrscheinlich if it's something that
> one can see.
>> wahrscheinlich, that's a mountain lion in that tree.
>>
>> i'd use vermutlich if i'm talking about a situation. vermutlich, Robert is
> just copying
>> stuff from the web.
>
> I understand what you're getting at but I still don't see the distinction.
> So the former is for things you can see and the latter is for situations,
> but can't you also see situations - e.g. isn't the mountain lion stuck in
> the tree a situation? Or are the two just used differently depending on
> whether one can see the situation or not - e.g. one would use
> 'wahrscheinlich' if it was a situation one could see (in which case I'm
> guessing it would be rarely used) and then 'vermutlich' if it were a
> situation one could not see? That seems almost crazy. But okay, It's 5am.
> I have patience. Really, I do.
>
> Erin
>
>
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