Kennst du den Harald? > Nein, kenn ich nicht.
Do you know Harald? > No, don’t know him. See also 23.2g (p. 40).
Hast du den Wein schon kaltgestellt? > Hab ich schon heute morgen
gemacht.
Have you cooled the wine? > Did it this morning.Kannst du morgen bei mir vorbeikommen? > (Nein,) geht (leider)
nicht.
Can you come round tomorrow? > (No,) (unfortunately I) can’t.Mir ist kalt, und dir? > Mir auch.
I am cold, and you? > Me too. See 19.6 (p. 28) and 42.3a (p. 109).
Die Musik stört die ganze Nachbarschaft. > Uns nicht.
The music is disturbing the entire neighbourhood. > Not us.58.4 Verb – final position in informal style
In subordinate clauses, verbal elements which should appear at the end of the clause in
careful, formal speech (see 8.1–8.2) are often brought forward in everyday informal
speech:Ich war nicht da, weil ich ein paar Stunden aufräumen musste nach
der Party.
I wasn’t there because I had to tidy up for a few hours after the party.Often this is a result of the speaker trying to make it easier for the listener to pick up the
whole verb complex without having to wait until the end of a long clause. But note that
even in the last example, where the finite verb has moved forward in the sentence, it is
still not the ’second idea’ (see 5.1).59 Spelling and punctuation
A major revision of spelling and punctuation was introduced in the German-speaking
countries of Europe on 1 August 1998 and is due to become binding after a transition
period ending on 31 July 2005. Sections 59.1–59.5 give an outline of the new spelling
and punctuation conventions. Section 59.7 lists the old and new forms of some
common words and phrases. A detailed account of the new rules and the principles on
which they are based can be found in Die deutsche Rechtschreibung, edited by Günther
Drosdowski et al., Duden Verlag, Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich 1996. You are
recommended to use a modern dictionary such as this which gives the new spellings.59.1 Capital letter or small letter?
(a) Generally, a word begins with a capital letter when it is:- the first word in the sentence, except at the beginning of a letter (see 60.7b)
- a noun of any kind, including adjectival nouns (see 28.5), e.g. der Versicherte ‘the
person insured’, das Baden ‘bathing’, die Sieben ‘the number seven’
59
STYLE AND ORTHOGRAPHY