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LEARNING GERMAN

German word of the day: Der Teufelskreis

Looking for the German version of ‘Catch-22’? This powerful compound word sums up a situation in which you feel stuck whichever way you turn. 

Published: 23 April 2021 14:28 CEST
Updated: 20 April 2023 16:39 CEST
German word of the day: Der Teufelskreis
Symbol photo shows members of the Cirk La Putyka ensemble in Prague dressed as angels, devils and Father Christmas for a performance in December 2020. Photo: DPA

Der Teufelskreis literally means devil’s circle and describes a seemingly hopeless situation that is created by a chain of unpleasant, mutually dependent events. 

We have a version of this in English, a vicious circle, but the German speakers go one step further with the expression. Getting locked in an inescapable cycle can be immensely frustrating, so they suggest the devil must have some influence in this chain reaction.

The German word, like the English, has its origins in the latin circulus vitiosus. Though vitiosus is usually translated to vicious, it can also mean wicked or malicious, so the Germanics choose to translate it to devil, the embodiment of evil. 

Unfortunately, a Teufelskreis can be quite common. Most of us are familiar with being so worried about a work presentation or school exam that we spend more of our time being anxious than actually preparing for it. 

The below tweet reads: “Motivation to learn for the Abitur (up), anxiety because I haven’t learned anything for the Abitur (down). It’s just a vicious circle.”

You may also encounter a common Teufelskreis when learning a new language. If you find you are nervous to make mistakes and don’t push yourself to speak the language with locals, you will not improve as quickly and so are more likely to make basic mistakes, building upon the initial anxiety. This is a Teufelskreis; a sequence of events that worsens your initial situation. 

READ ALSO: 10 German words that strike fear into the hearts of language learners

Der Teufelskreis is a fairly everyday term and often appears in popular culture. In 2008, the German rapper and hip hop artist Alligatoah released his hit track Teufelskreis, which explores the vicious circle of violence. 

The word Teufel, meaning devil or demon, actually crops up in German colloquialisms more than you might expect. Examples include der Teufelsgeiger, meaning a passionate virtuoso violinist, and die Teufelskunst, or black magic. 

Examples:

Es handelt sich um einen Teufelskreis.

It is a vicious circle.

Er konnte aus dem Teufelskreis von Hass ausbrechen.

He was able to escape the vicious circle of hate.

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GERMAN LANGUAGE

Ask a German: Do you ever forget the gender of words?

Remembering whether a noun is der, die or das can be tricky for non-natives. In the first of our series where we find answers to the burning questions that foreigners want to know, we ask a German: do you ever forget the gender of articles?

Published: 19 April 2024 16:04 CEST
Ask a German: Do you ever forget the gender of words?

For lots of non-natives, speaking German is a bit like a lottery: when you are not 100 percent sure about the article of a German word, you take a guess. And you have a one in three chance of getting it right. 

But knowing whether a singular noun is der (masculine), die (feminine) or das (neutral) is key to developing your language skills in order to construct fuller sentences. Think of it like the foundations: you need to learn the gender of the word as well as the word itself so you can build the rest of your German language house. 

But do native German speakers always know whether a word is der, die or das?

Berlin-based German teacher Seraphine Peries told The Local that although German speakers tend to know intuitively what the article of most nouns are because they learn them while growing up, they “definitely” have doubts. 

“German native speakers make a lot of mistakes when it comes to certain words,” said Peries. “For example, the word ‘Email’ is feminine in German: die Email. But the further you go south of Germany, they use the neutral form: das Email. So there’s a bit of a discussion about that, it’s a regional thing.”

Peries said there are lots of debates on the gender of English words that been transported into German, as well as newer words.

She also said product names provoke discussion. One of the most famous is Nutella. 

“A lot of people say die Nutella because it’s like the Italian ella, but others say der Nutella because they think of the German word der Aufstrich, which means ‘spread’. And then there are people who say das Nutella because it’s a foreign word so they say it must be das.”

Although the makers of Nutella have never revealed the gender of the word so perhaps everyone is right in this case.

And then there are the words that change their meaning depending on the article that definitely confuse natives (as well as foreigners, no doubt).

“A few words in German are known as Genuswechsel (gender change),” said Peries. “These are words that change their meaning when they change gender.”

Peries highlighted the word der Verdienst, which means earnings or income, and das Verdienst, which means merit or credit. 

So you could say:

Der Verdienst für die Stelle war zu niedrig.

The income for the job was too low

OR

Es ist das Verdienst der Eltern, dass das Kind so gut erzogen ist.

It is to the credit of the parents that the child is so well brought up.

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