There Are No Official Rules of Swiss German Orthography In Germany and Austria, it would be spelled ‘ Hausstraße‘ on a sign, while in Switzerland this ß is replaced by a ‘ss’, forming ‘ Hausstrasse‘. This way, ‘House street’ would be ‘ Hausstrasse‘. ![]() What is curious is that even official signs, which are written in High German, use a double ‘s’ instead of a ‘ß’.įor example, street names in Switzerland, as well as in Germany and Austria, have also the word ‘street’ on it. ![]() This is surprising to many that visit the country for the first time and, unlike in Germany, do not see the letter ß, which stands for a double ‘s’. It sounds a bit complicated but it really isn’t. For example, when used in the meaning of “go (to) do something” and “come (to) do something”. In Swiss German, the motion verbs choo (to come) and gaa (to go) can be doubled in certain situations. ![]() Some Verbs are Doubled When Used Together This way, instead of saying “I stayed at the beach all day yesterday”, Swiss German says “I have stayed all day at the beach yesterday”. However, the past perfect tense can also be formed by adapting Pärfekt’s auxiliary verbs. For that matter, the only past tense in Swiss German is present perfect, or Pärfekt. ![]() Swiss German does not use the simple past tense. Swiss German Doesn’t Use the Simple Past Tense Standard German das ‘ Buch des Professors’ (“the professor’s book”) although this form is less used than the first one. Another way of constructing it would be saying ‘ s Buech vom Profässer‘ vs.My mum’s house would be ‘ S Huus vo minere Mueter‘, which translated to High German using the genitive case is ‘Das Haus meiner Mutter’.The genitive case indicates possession, that in Swiss German is constructed with the preposition von (written vo). On a first note, Swiss German does not have the genitive case, unlike High German. Let’s start to see the main grammatical norms I’m talking about: There Is No Genitive Case The main ones are the lack of genitive case, of past simple, of the “ß” letter and the doubling of certain verbs such as “to come” and “to go”, as well as the difference in the diminutives. Swiss German grammar differs from the High German one in various aspects. However, these grammatical norms we will tell you about are followed by the different dialects, and what differs the most amongst them is pronunciation and some vocabulary. In addition, Swiss German dialects vary from region to region, which makes it difficult when it comes to writing, since not all dialects write similarly. Particularly because it’s not a language per se, but actually a collection of dialects. Give us a call, and we will help you with your decision.Swiss German is not the easiest language to learn. Swiss German has its own grammar and vocabulary, and learning Swiss German is as easy or as difficult as learning any other European language.įor native German speaker we offer Swiss German courses with double speed. You may decide to learn Swiss German instead of High German, because you want to understand the Swiss in their everyday life. You will soon be able to understand everyday conversations, and making the effort to get your tongue around Swiss German pronunciation will make you a winner with the locals. If you already know some High German, we recommend a crash course in basic Swiss German. All lessons are taught in High German, which is also the language of the newspapers, magazines and most books and media. Swiss German children learn High German in school. The written language in Switzerland is High German. Casual conversation in particular tends to be conducted in Swiss German, to convey humor and express opinions and feelings. It is spoken practically everywhere and in every situation in German-speaking Switzerland. Swiss German is an old Alemannic dialect, free of any social connotation and accepted as a proper language.
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