#schon

[unes23]

Gigi Hadid by Rayan Ayash for Schon Magazine

[likemonalisa]

Hayley Atwell, Schon! Magazine, 2018

[huayong]

hm…

[that-thing-that-feeling]

Charlie Heaton for Schön! Magazine

[guy60660]

Schön | Finn Christian Peper

[menschenauflauf]

List of Modal Particles in German (Modalpartikeln)

i.e. tone indicators (halt, schon, doch, ja,...)

Modal particles are words that don't really have a meaning when they're isolated but change the tone of a sentence. Confusingly, most modal particles have a homonym belonging to a different word class. (e.g. "aber" is also a conjunction meaning 'but') They're very common in German, especially spoken German.

This list is incomplete.

That's a big cake.

Das ist ein großer Kuchen.

halt: "Das ist halt ein großer Kuchen."

-> Well, it's a big cake. We both know that's simply what big cakes are like.

or "Kuchen sind halt zu groß."

-> Resignation about the fact cakes are too big in general.

eben: "Das ist eben ein großer Kuchen."

-> same as "halt" (very tiny nuance: 'halt' implies the statement is plausible, 'eben' that it's evident, so 'eben' is more apodictic) [2]

nun mal: "Das ist nun mal ein großer Kuchen."

-> same as "eben"

doch: "Ich dachte, wir können den Kuchen auf den kleinen Teller stellen."

"Das ist doch ein großer Kuchen!"

-> As we both know, the cake is big and I want you to reconsider what you said earlier based on that. (doch often implies shared knowledge and a correction)

doch/nur/bloß: "Ach hätte ich doch/nur/bloß ein großes Stück Kuchen!"

-> If only I had a big slice of cake!

wohl: "Warum kommt sie mit einem LKW zur Feier?"

"Es ist wohl ein großer Kuchen."

-> I'm assuming it must be a big cake, then, going from the information we have right now. (I'm using "es" not "das" bc it's implied the speaker hasn't seen it yet) In this case it's a joke.

ja: "Das ist ja ein großer Kuchen."

-> stress on "das": I'm surprised by how big this cake is! And I feel neutral to happy/pleased/positive about that.

or "Das ist ja ein großer Kuchen."

-> stress on "ist": Emphasising that I think we both know that the cake is big.

or similarly: "Das ist ja ein schöner Kuchen, aber viel zu groß!"

-> I'll hand it to you, that cake is nice, but come on, it's way too large! (speaker is using 'ja' to start with an appeasing statement, before disagreeing/giving a new consideration)

einmal/mal: "Das ist mal ein großer Kuchen!"

-> What a pleasant surprise, this is a big cake for once. (Speaker is being nice here)

aber: "Das ist aber ein großer Kuchen."

-> stress on "das": I'm surprised by how big this cake is!

schon: "Das ist schon ein großer Kuchen."

-> Despite what anyone else might say, that cake is big.

denn: "Ist es denn ein großer Kuchen?"

-> I'm especially interested whether the cake is big 👀

vielleicht: "Das ist vielleicht ein großer Kuchen!"

-> Wow, that is one big cake!

Imperatives:

doch: "Bestell doch einen Kuchen."

-> Why don't you order a cake? (speaker gives more or less obvious advice)

halt: Bestell halt einen Kuchen!

->Just order a cake. It's the obvious solution.

mal: Bestellst du mal einen Kuchen?

-> I can't order a cake myself right now, so could you do it for me?

or

-> Could you finally order a cake, please? We're waiting. (especially: "Bestellst du endlich mal einen Kuchen?")

eben:

eh: "Nimm dir doch ein Stück. Ich würde mich freuen und der Kuchen ist eh zu groß."

-> Come on, take a slice. I'd be happy and the cake is too big, anyway.

ruhig: "Fang ruhig an zu essen."

-> Go ahead, you can start eating. I really don't mind.

schon: Fang schon an zu essen!

-> Eat something already!

ja: Und bring ja Kuchen zur Feier mit!

-> You had better bring cake to the party!

Additional meanings that weren't covered in the previous examples:

schon: Wie groß kann der Kuchen schon sein?

-> How big can the cake be? (speaker is implying the cake can't be all that big -> implies irrelevance)

schon: Den Kuchen wird schon keiner essen.

-> Despite your/anyone's worries, I don't think anyone will eat the cake.

Combinations:

Yes! You can combine them to your heart's content!

"Das ist ja vielleicht mal ein großer Kuchen!"

Is a perfectly normal sentence in spoken German. And it means:

"That is yes maybe once a big cake."

"Wow, that is one big cake!"

I might write a follow-up post on how exactly to combine them! Although you can find it all in the book "Modalpartikeln und ihre Kombinationen" by Maria Thurmair. [2]

Literature

[1] Fabian Bross: German modal particles and the common ground. (PDF; 1,6 MB). In: Helikon. A Multidisciplinary Online Journal, 2, 2012, S. 182–209. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230881580_German_modal_particles_and_the_common_ground

[2] Maria Thurmair: Modalpartikeln und ihre Kombinationen. (PDF; 27 MB) Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1989, ISBN 3-484-30223-2. http://epub.uni-regensburg.de/25039/1/ubr13058_ocr.pdf

[fluffycakesistainted]

[Sauron and Galadriel are] intrinsically connected, and they will forever be[.] I think he came to depend on her in season one. I liked the idea of what she brought to him, and how she made him. [...] I think he’s very self-aware and understands that maybe he doesn’t bring much light to the equation. There’s a lot in her than in him, and that may be useful in terms of ruling Middle Earth.

Since they operate on such a high level, I think the connection comes from meeting someone who understands life on the same level and understands the world. They probably do have a connection that runs deeper than just surface. There is more to it than that. That connection will endure as long as the show endures because although they might not be together in proximity...he’s pissed off that she has turned his pitch down [laughter]. That drives him to think, I can make her join me, or I’ll make her pay for this. She will stop at nothing to undo her mistake, to rectify her mistake of letting him in. So, when they do finally meet again...there is so much fuel beneath the fire. They’re driven to find a resolution to where they left off.

--Charlie Vickers (Schön! Magazine)