Question on use of dative and word for 'equipment'
Hello,

I wonder if someone could help with the following two questions;

1. ‘Wie spart ihr denn zu Hause Energie?’

Why is the dative ‘ihr’, tather than ‘Sie’ used here? This doesn’t seem to imply ‘to you’ which would indicate that the dative should be used and the dictionary definition doesn’t indicate use of the dative either.

2. Is their any difference in use between ‘Ausrüstung’ and ‘Geräte’ for the word ‘equipment’.

For example,which would I use in the following;

Gym (Fitnesszentrum) equipment
Safety equipment

Thanks very much for your help

Gemma

Question

Question on use of dative and word for 'equipment'
Hello,

I wonder if someone could help with the following two questions;

1.  ‘Wie spart ihr denn zu Hause Energie?’

Why is the dative ‘ihr’, tather than ‘Sie’ used here?  This doesn’t seem to imply ‘to you’ which would indicate that the dative should be used and the dictionary definition doesn’t indicate use of the dative either.


2.  Is their any difference in use between ‘Ausrüstung’ and ‘Geräte’ for the word ‘equipment’.

For example,which would I use in the following;

Gym (Fitnesszentrum) equipment
Safety equipment

Thanks very much for your help

Gemma

Answer

Question 1: "Ihr" is the form of address in this sentence (plural form of "Du"), it is not dative. The sentence's direct translation would be "How do you save energy at home?"

Question 2: "Ausrüstung" can be anything (shoes, a bag, whatever) while Geräte is something more specific, something mechanical (like a machine).
So - in the gym there are usually Geräte, Safety equipment would be (Sicherheits)ausrüstung as it could be a rope, a torch, etc.

Hope that helps!

Answer

1. The pronoun "ihr", when uncapitalised, denotes the nominative familiar second person plural. This is reflected in the conjugation of the verb "sparen" in this sentence, which is "spart", the conjugation for "ihr".

2. Both are equivalent words for "equipment", so it's really a matter of how commonly each is used. I've found that gym equipment can be Fitnessgeräte, Fitnessausrüstung. Gymnastikausrüstung or Gymnastikgeräte. Safety equipment can be either Sicherheitsausrüstung or Sicherheitsgeräte.

Answers · 3

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!