XIV Conveying attitudes and mental states
100 Asserting and denying the truth of something
100.1 Commenting on the truthfulness of something
Das ist ganz/völlig richtig/falsch. ‘That’s entirely correct/completely wrong.’
Das stimmt (eigentlich)./Das stimmt (eigentlich) nicht (ganz). ‘That is (in fact)
correct./That isn’t (really) (quite) correct.’
Das ist (wirklich)/(eigentlich) (nicht) wahr. ‘That’s (really)/(actually)(not) true.’
So ein (völliger) Unsinn/Blödsinn (very derogatory)/Schwachsinn! (probably
insulting) ‘(That’s) (total) nonsense/rubbish!’A dictionary will provide further reference for expressions with:wahr sein ‘to be true’
-e Wahrheit/Unwahrheit ‘truth/untruth’
gelogen ‘lied/a lie’
lügen ‘to lie’
-e Lüge ‘lie’100.2 The most common way to express belief or disbelief involves jmdm. etw. glauben ‘to
believe (sb.) sth.’, and an jmdn./etw. glauben ‘to believe in sb./sth.’
See^12 (pp. 17–18) for the order of noun and pronoun objects; and 42.3a–b (pp. 109–12)
for verb completion with one or two elements.Ich glaube ihm seine Ausrede.
I believe (him) his pretext/excuse.Wir glauben an Gott.
We believe in God.Sie glaubt fest an sie.
She firmly believes in her.Sie glaubt an seinen Erfolg.
She believes in his success.