Rammstein - Du Hast

Frohes Neu Jahr!

Today's song is by the infamous band from Berlin and Schwerin, Germany. Unfortunately, Rammstein and Nena are the only German-singing bands that ever popularized themselves in den USA. The reason I'm covering this song is because many beginners misinterpret the lyrics. "Du Hast" translates into "You have", which when pronounced is ambiguous with "Du hasst" that translates into "You hate."

Lyrics with a full translation is available at http://lyricwiki.org/Rammstein:Du_Hast



Wortschätze
lieben, liebten, geliebt haben - to love, loved, have loved
fragen, fragten, gefragt haben - to ask, asked, to have asked
sagen, sagten, gesagt haben - to say, said, to have said
scheiden, shied, geschieden sein - to separate, separated, to have separated

die Tod, die Tode - death, deaths
der Tag, die Tage - day, days

für alle Tage - forever (for all days)
nichts - nothing
schlecht - bad
treu - true/faithful

Wertvolle Sätze
Du hast.
You have.

Du hast mich.
You have me.

Du hast mich gefragt.
You [have] asked me.

Du hasst mich.
You hate me.

Du hasst mich gefragt.
Nonsensical — it would literally translate into "You hate me asked." Differentiating between hast and hasst in spoken German is easy to do, even without little context.

Willst du bis der Tod euch scheidet treu ihr sein für alle Tage?
This is a tough sentence, so I will analyze it phrase by phrase.

• willst du = do you want
• bis der Tod euch scheidet = until (the) death separates you (plural)
• treu ihr sein = to remain faithful (to be true)
• für alle Tage = forever

Do you want to remain faithful forever until death seperates you?

Hope you enjoyed today's post. I will be out of town until January 7th, at which time you can expect another post! Bis später!