# Doing homework (gerund)



## alc112

Hallo!! Wie geht es ihnen?
wie sagt man "doing homework"?
I wieß nicht, wie man das Gerundium bildet.
I would like a very informal expression (if it is possible) is it right "Ich mache die Hausaufgabe"?


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## Jana337

alc112 said:
			
		

> Hallo!! Wie geht es  ihnen euch?
> wie sagt man "doing homework"?
> I w*ei*ß nicht, wie man das Gerundium bildet.
> I would like a very informal expression (if it is possible) is it right "Ich mache die Hausaufgabe"?


Ja, "ich mache die Hausaufgabe" ist vollkommen richtig. Sonst kann man auch sagen "ich schreibe die Hausaufgabe", "ich beschäftige mich mit der Hausaufgabe", "ich sitze an der Hausaufgabe" und viele weitere. 

Gerundium als solches gibt es in der deutschen Sprache nicht. Es wird je nach Kontext unterschiedlich ausgedrückt. Deswegen wäre nett, wenn du einige Beispiele nennen könntest, so dass wir dir zeigen können, wie sie übersetzt werden.

Meine Beispiele:
I hate washing up. --> Ich hasse Abwaschen. (abwaschen - to wash up, daraus bildet man ein Substantivum: Abwaschen)
Translating the text, I noticed that I had lost my favourite dictionary. --> Während ich den Text übersetzte, bemerkte ich, dass ich mein Lieblingswörterbuch verloren hatte.
I saw her eating an apple. --> Ich habe gesehen, dass sie einen Apfel gegessen hat.

So it really depends.

Jana


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## alc112

Excuse me Jana, Kannst du bitte deinen Post für mir übersetzen?


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## Jana337

alc112 said:
			
		

> Excuse me Jana, Kannst du bitte deinen Post für mi*ch* übersetzen?



Ooops! Gerne. 

Yes, "ich mache die Hausaufgabe" is absolutely correct. Alternatively, you can say "ich schreibe die Hausaufgabe", "ich beschäftige mich mit der Hausaufgabe", "ich sitze an der Hausaufgabe" and many others.

Gerund as such does not exist in German. It is expressed in various ways, depending on the context. That's why it would be nice if you could give us some sentences so that we can show you how to translate them.

My examples:
 I hate washing up. --> Ich hasse Abwaschen. (a_bwaschen - to wash up, from which you derive a noun: Abwaschen_)
 Translating the text, I noticed that I had lost my favourite dictionary. --> Während ich den Text übersetzte, bemerkte ich, dass ich mein Lieblingswörterbuch verloren hatte (_When I was translating the text, I noticed that I had lost my favourite dictionary_)
 I saw her eating an apple. --> Ich habe gesehen, dass sie einen Apfel gegessen hat _(I saw that she was eating an apple_)

Hope this helps.

Jana


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## alc112

thank you very very much, Jana!! You are the woman!!!
Some examples:
I was going to go to the cinema but my mother didn't allow me.
While I was doing my homework, I felt like entering to WR Forums


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## Jana337

alc112 said:
			
		

> thank you very very much, Jana!! You are the woman!!!


I better stop contemplating what this revealing sentence means. 


> Some examples:
> I was going to go to the cinema but my mother didn't  allow let  me (you would need an object after allow).
> While I was doing my homework, I felt like entering to WR Forums



Ich wollte ins Kino zu gehen, aber meine Mutter hat es mir nicht erlaubt.
Während ich meine Hausaufgabe machte, bekam ich Lust/wünschte ich mir/überkam mich die Lust, das WR Forum zu besuchen.

Jana


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## elroy

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Ja, "ich mache die Hausaufgabe" ist vollkommen richtig. Sonst kann man auch sagen "ich schreibe die Hausaufgabe", "ich beschäftige mich mit der Hausaufgabe", "ich sitze an der Hausaufgabe" und viele weitere.
> 
> Gerundium als solches gibt es in der deutschen Sprache nicht. Es wird je nach Kontext unterschiedlich ausgedrückt. Deswegen wäre nett, wenn du einige Beispiele nennen könntest, so dass wir dir zeigen können, wie sie übersetzt werden.
> 
> Meine Beispiele:
> I hate washing up. --> Ich hasse Abwaschen. (abwaschen - to wash up, daraus bildet man ein Substantivum: Abwaschen)
> or
> *Ich wasche nicht gerne ab*
> (althought that's not as strong as hating)
> Translating the text, I noticed that I had lost my favourite dictionary. --> Während ich den Text übersetzte, bemerkte ich, dass ich mein Lieblingswörterbuch verloren hatte.
> also
> *Beim Übersetzen des Textes* bemerkte ich...
> I saw her eating an apple. --> Ich habe gesehen, dass sie einen Apfel gegessen hat.
> 
> So it really depends.
> 
> Jana


 
Some suggestions...


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## elroy

Jana337 said:
			
		

> I better stop contemplating what this revealing sentence means.
> 
> 
> Ich wollte ins Kino zu gehen, aber meine Mutter hat es mir nicht erlaubt.
> or
> *Ich hatte vor*, ins Kino zu gehen, aber...
> Während ich meine Hausaufgabe machte, bekam ich Lust/wünschte ich mir/überkam mich die Lust, das WR Forum zu besuchen.
> 
> Jana


 
Some more suggestions.

By the way, it's "entering the WR forums" - no "to."


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## sohc4

In colloquial German, the Gerund is often translated with "am" + verb. This does work if the senetence starts (or could start) with when, while, etc. A few examples:

While I was doing homework... - Während ich am Hausaufgaben machen war...
When I was watching TV... - Als ich am Fernsehen war...
Translating the text... - Als ich den Text am Übersetzen war...

But it doesn't work for all examples:

I hate washing up... - Ich hasse das Abwaschen...
I saw him reading a book... - Ich habe gesehen, wie er ein Buch gelesen hat...

Axl

P.S. Please note that "doing homework" in Germen usually translates to "Hausaufgaben machen", i.e. plural.  Singular is only used when you are referring to a specific piece of homework.


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## Jana337

sohc4 said:
			
		

> In colloquial German, the Gerund is often translated with "am" + verb. This does work if the senetence starts (or could start) with when, while, etc. A few examples:
> 
> While I was doing homework... - Während ich am Hausaufgaben machen war...
> When I was watching TV... - Als ich am Fernsehen war...
> Translating the text... - Als ich den Text am Übersetzen war...


Alexis, please take this grammar as a distant future and don't use it now that you need to learn standard German. 

Jana


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## Whodunit

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Ooops! Gerne.
> 
> Yes, "ich mache die Hausaufgabe" is absolutely correct.


 
Not really.  Allow me to translate this strange sentence into English and you will laugh: "I'm doing the homework." I have no idea if you could say "die Hausaufgabe" at all, but for some cases, it might be ok:

Ich kann die Hausaufgabe nicht machen.
I can't do this piece of homework.

Die Hausaufgabe in Mathe verstehe ich gar nicht.
This piece of math homework I really don't get (at all).

I hope it's clear now. So, once again for Alexis: I'm doing homework. "Ich mache Hausaufgaben".

"doing homework" is not a gerund, as far as I know, it's just to describe another form of the infinitive (Jana and Elroy, consider Arabic ), so we just translate this as "Hausaufgaben machen", in Spanish I'd say "hacer las tareas".

"Ich mache die Hausaufgabe" sounds like "Hago la/esa/aquella tarea".


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## elroy

sohc4 said:
			
		

> In colloquial German, the Gerund is often translated with "am" + verb. This does work if the senetence starts (or could start) with when, while, etc. A few examples:
> 
> While I was doing homework... - Während ich am Hausaufgaben machen war...
> When I was watching TV... - Als ich am Fernsehen war...
> Translating the text... - Als ich den Text am Übersetzen war...
> 
> But it doesn't work for all examples:
> 
> I hate washing up... - Ich hasse das Abwaschen...
> I saw him reading a book... - Ich habe gesehen, wie er ein Buch gelesen hat...
> 
> Axl
> 
> P.S. Please note that "doing homework" in Germen usually translates to "Hausaufgaben machen", i.e. plural. Singular is only used when you are referring to a specific piece of homework.


 
Wow! That's exactly the way it's done in Dutch, but I didn't know it was also ok in German! 

By the way, the reason it doesn't work in all examples is that the grammatical function is not the same, regardless of the fact that they all look the same ("-ing"). In the first set of examples, they function as part of the verb. In the second set of examples, they function as gerunds.

So really, the "am" construction does *not* work for gerunds, only for present progressive verbs.


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## alc112

I'm not surte if I have translate "homework" as I wanted. I mean the homework teacher give you to do for the next class. I was thinking that Hausaufgabe would mean all the things you do to keep you house cleaned.


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## alc112

Whodunit said:
			
		

> That's what I mean. I just wanted to show that Alexis' question was about "doing homework", so I suppose he didn't ask for gerunds or participles, otherwise he would have asked "after doing homework, I'll ..." or "instead of doing homework, I rather intended to ..." or "I couldn't get used to doing homework until I began to study very intensively". However, as he didn't use an example sentence, I assume he wanted us to translate it as an infinitive "clause" (you know why I'm putting this in parentheses).


 
You are right . Thanks for the corrections
By the way, why the parentheses?


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## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> If you mean "chores", you'd say "Hausarbeit" in German. "Homework" from school is translated as "Hausaufgabe". I'm not sure what your intention was after all, but I think you're searching for "*Hausaufgaben machen*".


 
I think so too.

By the way:



> Originally Posted by *alc112*
> _I'm not *sure* if I have "have" is ok translate*d* "homework" as I wanted* to*. I mean the *kind of* homework *the* teacher give*s* (better: sets no.  "sets" would not work at all.  "Gives" is the most common verb to use here) you to do "to do is ok" for the you need "the" here next class. I was thinking (better: thought) that Hausaufgabe *meant* all the things you do to keep you*r* house (you mean "flat" or "apartment" why would you assume that?) cleaned._


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## Whodunit

alc112 said:
			
		

> You are right . Thanks for the corrections
> By the way, why the parentheses?


 
Because it wasn't a "clause", only two words.


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## elroy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Because it wasn't a "clause", only two words.


 
Which would be a *phrase*.

And you meant *quotation marks*, not parentheses.


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## Whodunit

elroy said:
			
		

> I think so too.
> 
> By the way:
> 
> _
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not *sure* if I have "have" is ok translate*d* "homework" as I wanted* to*. I mean the *kind of* homework *the* teacher give*s* (better: sets no. "sets" would not work at all. "Gives" is the most common verb to use here) you to do "to do is ok" for the you need "the" here next class. I was thinking (better: thought) that Hausaufgabe *meant*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> _
> 
> 
> 
> (I missed this one, thanks)_ all the things you do to keep you*r* house (you mean "flat" or "apartment" why would you assume that?) cleaned._
Click to expand...



Some explanations and questions:
1. Why is "have" ok? He did it, and doesn't do it now anymore. There's no reference to the present.
2. Once you told me that I can say "... if you want" OR "... if you want to", so I suppose this is also valid for "... as I wanted (to)".
3. Example sentence from my dictionary: "She always sets a lot of homework" ~ "Sie gibt immer sehr viel auf". What do you think?
4. "to do" is ok or correct? Is there a better solution? It doesn't sound good to me with these two words. I'd omit them.
5. Why "the next class"? He's speaking for general classes, I think.
6. Because a "house" is a whole building. A "flat" is mostly just one part of that building. Cleaning a house is much harder than claening a flat or apartment (in AE).


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## alc112

I don't know if it's right to continue here this:
I found in a book my teacher borrowed me that gerund does exist::
EL Participio presente equivale al gerundio español:

Ein Lied *pfeifend*, packte er seinen Koffer: 
_*silbando* una canación hizo la maleta_
Die Schule *vergessend*, rannten die Kinder auf die Straße: 
_*Olvidándose* ya de la escuela los niños salieron corriendo a la calle._

This does confuse me. So, can I use this form to say, for example, "I'm writing a letter"?


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## Jana337

alc112 said:
			
		

> I don't know if it's right to continue here this:
> I found in a book my teacher borrowed me that gerund does exist::
> EL Participio presente equivale al gerundio español:
> 
> Ein Lied *pfeifend*, packte er seinen Koffer:
> _*silbando* una canación hizo la maleta_
> Die Schule *vergessend*, rannten die Kinder auf die Straße:
> _*Olvidándose* ya de la escuela los niños salieron corriendo a la calle._
> 
> This does confuse me. So, can I use this form to say, for example, "I'm writing a letter"?


No.  You would need a compound sentence of which one part can be expressed by the gerund:  *Einen Brief schreibend, hörte ich Musik. *
But it sounds quite ridiculous, however correct it might be. No one speaks like that.
I am writing a letter. - Ich schreibe gerade einen Brief.

Jana


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## alc112

Jana337 said:
			
		

> But it sounds quite ridiculous, however correct it might be. No one speaks like that.
> I am writing a letter. - Ich schreibe gerade einen Brief.
> 
> Jana


 
Thank you, Jana!!
Maybe becuase the book was published on 1981. Or at list that is the date of the Copyright things.


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## Jana337

alc112 said:
			
		

> Thank you, Jana!!
> Maybe becuase the book was published on 1981. Or at list that is the date of the Copyright things.


Alexis, 1981 is obviously equivalent to the neolithic period in your mind, but I would be greatly surprised if someone told me that the gerund was used this way back in the 1980s. 

Jana


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## elroy

Jana337 said:
			
		

> No.  You would need a compound sentence of which one part can be expressed by the gerund: *Einen Brief schreibend, hörte ich Musik. *
> But it sounds quite ridiculous, however correct it might be. No one speaks like that.
> I am writing a letter. - Ich schreibe gerade einen Brief.
> 
> Jana


 
I agree that the sentence with "schreibend" sounds absurd, but your example ("I am writing a letter") does not verify that.

As I've said earlier, "writing" in that sentence is not a gerund, but part of a verb.


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## Ralf

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Alexis, 1981 is obviously equivalent to the *neolithic period* in your mind, but I would be greatly surprised if someone told me that the gerund was used this way back in the 1980s.
> 
> Jana





			
				alc112 said:
			
		

> RALF!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> PS: I'm sorry if you are younger than I think you are.


Please excuse my late arrival, but it took me a while to lift my tombstone this morning.

Although I am familar with those phrases (einen Brief schreibend ..., ein Lied pfeifend ..., ... ) I'm pretty sure nobody used it this way back in the 80s or even 70s. Even in poetry it would have sounded a bit odd to me ... that odd, that we kids used to speak in this (rather pompous) way for a while when we learnt about that construction in school--just to make fun of it. But it definitely hadn't been standard language back then.

Well, I'm going to do a time warp now to travel back to the neolithic age.  

Ralf


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## alc112

Thank you so much for the answers!!
So, how do you use that form? or you just don't use it?


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## Jana337

alc112 said:
			
		

> Thank you so much for the answers!!
> So, how do you use that form? or you just don't use it?


It is very useful as an adjective.
Ich habe im Garten drei spielende Kinder gesehen.
Welches Mittel kann man gegen schwitzende Hände benutzen?

Please open a new thread if you want us to elaborate on this. 

Jana


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## amiaustausch3

Auf Englisch würde ich etwas wie "I'm in the middle of doing my homework" sagen. Auch "I'm having difficulty with doing my homework." Wie wäre das auf Deutsch ausgedrückt werden? Ich habe es mit "Ich bin mitten in meine Hausaufgabe machen geworden" versucht aber das klingt mir seltsam. Auch der zweite Beispiel mit "Ich habe Schwierigkeit mit meine Hausaufgaben" aber das drückt kein Aktion aus. 

Also die frage ist, wie ich das englische Gerundium in dieses Zusammenhang auf Deutsch ausdrücken darf. 

Danke!


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## Hutschi

Jana337 said:


> Ja, "ich mache die Hausaufgabe" ist vollkommen richtig. Sonst kann man auch sagen "ich schreibe die Hausaufgabe", "ich beschäftige mich mit der Hausaufgabe", "ich sitze an der Hausaufgabe" und viele weitere. ...
> 
> Jana


 
Hi,

I think "_ich mache die Hausaufgabe_" is not a correct translation for "_I'm doing homework_" (if I understand the English text properly). 

_Ich mache die Hausaufgabe_ is related to a special homework.

As stated before in an answer, use the plural.
I would prefer it without article:

_Ich mache (gerade) Hausaufgaben._ "Gerade" says, that I'm doing it right now, and it may be used for replacing the gerund in many cases. Another method is to use "während": Während ich Hausaufgaben machte, hörte ich Musik. 



alc112 said:


> I'm not surte if I have translate "homework" as I wanted. I mean the homework teacher give you to do for the next class. I was thinking that Hausaufgabe would mean all the things you do to keep you house cleaned.


 
You are right with the first idea. 

"Hausaufgaben" is related to assigments for school you are doing at home (may be for university, too.)

It is not related to cleaning the flat or similar things.


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## Kajjo

_Ich mache gerade Hausaufgaben.
Ich bin gerade bei den Hausaufgaben.

_As Hutschi pointed out correctly, _Hausaufgaben _needs to be in plural.

@amiaustausch3:
_Ich habe gerade Probleme mit meinen Hausaufgaben!_

Kajjo


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