# bei mir würde auch ... gehen



## Lucja

Hello, I have a question...
A german friend of mine send me an email with this sentence. It's about a date that we are trying to plan.

*"Alternativ würde bei mir auch Donnerstag oder Wochenende gehen."*

I wonder if it means : 
_"The alternativ would be to meet at my place on Thursday or during the week end"_

or

_"The alternative of meeting on Thursday or during the week end is fine for me"_ 

So, actually I am wondering if "bei jmd ein Alternativ gehen" means something or if he just want us to meet at his place 

Ich bedanke mich im Voraus for your answers!!


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## ErOtto

The meaning is:

1 - My proposal is to meet on Friday.
2 - You told me "I cannot on Friday"

3 - I say: for me it´s also possible on Thursday or on weekend.

Alternativ - also possible
würde gehen - could be possible

Re
Er


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## Lucja

Oh ok!!!!
It was a confusing german sentence, I must say 

Thank a lot ErOtto!!


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## ravachol

"Bei mir" means in this context "as far as I am concern". When people try to find a common date for a meeting they say,"bei mir geht es am Freitag", "bei mir geht es am Samstag. In your sentence, It is just like "ich kann alternativ am Donnerstag oder am Wochenende".


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## trance0

ravachol said:


> "Bei mir" means in this context "as far as I am concerned". When people try to find a common date for a meeting they say,"bei mir geht es am Freitag", "bei mir geht es am Samstag. In your sentence, It is just like "ich kann alternativ am Donnerstag oder am Wochenende".


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## esprit

If the person wanted to invite you over, would he not say "Alternativ würde *zu mir *auch Donnerstag oder Wochenende* kommen*."?


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## se16teddy

In idiomatic English, you could say _Otherwise, Thursday or the weekend would be OK with me too. _


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## berndf

esprit said:


> If the person wanted to invite you over, would he not say "Alternativ würde *zu mir *auch Donnerstag oder Wochenende* kommen*."?


 
No, this doesn't compute.
I guess you mean "Alternativ würde *bei mir/für mich *auch Donnerstag oder *das* Wochenende* in Frage kommen*."


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## Kazuma

I guess esprit wanted to say "(come) to me" when writing "zu mir". But for this you'd need a totally different construction, like:

_Alternativ könntest Du auch am Donnerstag oder am Wochenende *zu mir* kommen._

_Otherwise/alternatively you could also come over/to me on Thursday or during the weekend._


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## cesrob

Sorry if I intervene..now I have a doubt....

I've always used _für mich_, is it also correct? I hope so, othewise I've always made a mistake!
I've never used _bei mir_, but from now on I'll introduce this expression in my German!

Thanks,
Rob


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## Kazuma

It depends on the context. Could you give us an example?


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## Kurtchen

cesrob said:


> Sorry if I intervene..now I have a doubt....
> 
> I've always used _für mich_, is it also correct? I hope so, othewise I've always made a mistake!
> I've never used _bei mir_, but from now on I'll introduce this expression in my German!
> 
> Thanks,
> Rob



Rob, both are fine and widely used. 

_Bei mir geht Freitag/Für mich geht Freitag/Mir paßt's am Freitag/Mir paßt der Freitag _- the first being very much as colloquial as it gets, the latter examples less so

_ Am Freitag hätte ich Zeit._ - is a formal, polite way (notice the subjunctive)

Also possible: _Freitag ist/wäre gut für mich. Freitag kann/könnte ich. 
_ 
All these are interchangeable, ie. 

A: _Geht Freitag bei dir? _
B: _Ja, Freitag hab ich Zeit. 
_ 
A: _Paßt dir Freitag?_
B: _Nein, Freitag wäre nicht so gut (für mich)._


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## sokol

se16teddy said:


> In idiomatic English, you could say _Otherwise, Thursday or the weekend would be OK with me too. _



Exactly - this would be the correct translation of the German sentence to English.
As ravachol too already has pointed out. In the original sentence there is absolutely no reference at all as to _where_ to meet - "... bei mir ... gehen" here just means that the person saying or writing this would be okay with the proposition given.


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## Kazuma

@Kurtchen: Ich weiß nicht, ob es so gut ist, Nichtmuttersprachlern die alte Rechtschreibung beizubringen. Natürlich möchte ich dir nicht vorschreiben, in welcher Orthographie du persönlich schreibst, aber die Leute haben vielleicht Prüfungen/Sprachtests abzulegen.

By the way: "Für mich geht Freitag" sounds a bit odd to me. If we want to use "für mich", why don't we say "Freitag ist in Ordnung/okay für mich"?


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## esprit

Danke, Kazuma fuer die Corrigierung!


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## Ladi

Definitely an expression you should remember. Used quite often in German.

"Freitag geht (es) bei mir nicht" = "Freitag habe ich keine Zeit"

"Wann geht's bei dir?" = "Wann hast/hättest du Zeit"

"Die Corrigierung" heißt richtig "Die Korrektur" ;-)


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## esprit

oh! danke! ich kann es nicht "edit" aber... habe es ... "notiert"? (taken note!)


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## lux_

Saying "_alternative wurde bei mir beide Donnerstag oder Wochenende gehen_" would be totally wrong?
So you can you use "auch" even meaning "both"?


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## Kumpel

lux_ said:


> Saying "_alternativ wü__rde bei mir beide Donnerstag oder Wochenende gehen_" would be totally wrong?
> So you can you use "auch" even meaning "both"?



I'm not a native, but possibly even use both.

_Alternativ wü__rde bei mir *auch beide* Donnerstag oder Wochenende gehen_.

It's like, "_I'm good for *both *Thursday and the weekend, *too*._"

Without _beide_:
It's like, "_I'm good for Thursday and the weekend, *too*._"


*EDIT:* Of course, that's me thinking in English (as always *sigh* ...). _So wohl ... als auch _ ... is the kind of _both _that you want here. Thanks Kazuma.

_Alternativ wü__rde bei mir sowohl Donnerstag als auch das Wochenende gehen_.


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## Kazuma

lux_ said:


> Saying "_alternative wurde bei mir beide Donnerstag oder Wochenende gehen_" would be totally wrong?
> So you can you use "auch" even meaning "both"?



Yes, I think it's totally wrong. Firstly, _Alternative_ is a noun and you have to integrate it somehow: _Als Alternative_ (as an alternative). Next, _beide_ doesn't fit at all because it only means _both_ / _entrambe_ / _tutte e due_. What you need is a construction like _sia ... che ..._, in German _sowohl ... als auch ..._

*Als Alternative würde* (or *würden*) *bei mir Donnerstag oder das Wochenende gehen.*

Regarding your second question, I can't think of any context in which _auch_ could mean both in the sense you mean. I don't think you can use it here.

*Edit:* Sorry, had an edit conflict(?) with Kumpel. But he's right understanding your _alternative _as the adjectiv _alternativ_. Then it we'd have

*Alternativ würde* (or *würden*) *bei mir Donnerstag  oder das Wochenende gehen.*


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## berndf

Kumpel said:


> _Alternativ wü__rde bei mir *auch beide* Donnerstag oder *das* Wochenende gehen_.





Kazuma said:


> *Alternativ würde* (or *würden*) *bei mir Donnerstag oder das Wochenende gehen.*


But this has a different meaning. You could say this if some-one had suggested a different date and you wanted to give *two additional* alternatives. Starting a sentence with _alternativ_ usually refers back to a previous sentence. Usage example:
A:_ Können wir uns am Freitag sehen?_
B: Ja, a_lternativ würde bei mir auch Donnerstag oder das Wochenende gehen._


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## Kumpel

I agree, berndf.
Lux_ asked about the word _both_, which is where _beide_ came in (read my edit, I know my mistake).

Lloyd


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## lux_

Danke sehr!


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