Learning German language

the question was what is the difference between am and der, I have never heard 'am' being used. The best car - Der beste Wagen, when is 'am besten' used?

The one is the use as adjective, the other one as adverb.

Adjective

In Vancouver treffen sich die besten Wintersportler.
In Vancouver the best winter athletes meet.

Das beste Bier wird in Bayern gebraut.
The best beer ist brewed in Bavaria.


Adverb:

Suppe wird am besten warm gegessen.
Soup is best eaten warm.

Wer zuletzt lacht, lacht am besten.
He who laughs last, laughs best.

Hope that answers your question

Originally Posted by TheNuttyOne

how does 'sich' change the verb's meaning? What is the difference between gehen/sich gehen and fallen/sich fallen etc

Aber "sich fallen" gibt es doch. Zumindest umgangssprachlich ...
Er hat sich gefallen.

...

No, just like you said this is a form of "GEfallen", not "fallen"
fallen = to fall
(sich) gefallen = to please (oneself)
Two different shoes.

I figured out the answer to my question long time ago , I thought that sich was a part of the verb like 'auf' and 'an' in auflegen, anlegen. But it is a pronoun like mich, dich.

'nix' is nichts (I think), but what is 'ham'

Ham = HABEN.... wir haben

is 'der' 'die' 'das' used to mean 'he', 'she', or 'it' ?

"Siehst du. Der ist so dumm, dass er nach Hause fährt und schaut ob er zu Hause ist."

Der ist so dumm - He is so dumb, right? Is that a slangy expression. Is it grammatically correct? Would it be wrong to say 'Er ist so dumm'. What's the difference?

I know that der, die, das can also be used for 'which/who':
Die Leute die in Australien lebe ...... The people who live in Australia .....

Originally Posted by TheNuttyOne

is 'der' 'die' 'das' used to mean 'he', 'she', or 'it' ?

"Siehst du. Der ist so dumm, dass er nach Hause fährt und schaut ob er zu Hause ist."

Der ist so dumm - He is so dumb, right? Is that a slangy expression. Is it grammatically correct? Would it be wrong to say 'Er ist so dumm'. What's the difference?

I know that der, die, das can also be used for 'which/who':
Die Leute die in Australien lebe ...... The people who live in Australia .....

In relative clauses der/die/das can be used for which/who, you are right .
In your sentence ("Der ist so dumm ...") der also stands for something, for example "Der Typ" or "Der Thomas" and so on. When you use only der in this case, it means that the name or the person in question has already been mentioned before. It's really somewhat slangy but it's also gramatically correct. Using only der or (like I suggested) der Thomas is slightly derogatory, just as it is intended in the sentence you mentioned. If you are to choose between der and er, I'd always take "er" to avoid slang and depreciation, in case it's not intended.

"der" is a demonstrative pronoun, I think.

Originally Posted by Steena

No, just like you said this is a form of "GEfallen", not "fallen"
fallen = to fall
(sich) gefallen = to please (oneself)
Two different shoes.

I know what I said, and I meant "gefallen" as (wie heißt das auf DeutschP Auch partizip, wie im Englischen? Hab ich mir noch nie Gedachnken drüber gemacht). Partizip of "fallen"
er ist gefallen, ich bin gefallen. Ich habe mich gefallen. (ist aber auch egal ... it's really just slang)Else I'd say "ich habe mir gefallen ..."

Thanks for this thread!
It is very helpful! Viele Danke to all of you.

how can i say "do you like this"?)
thanks

Originally Posted by rosina_todorova

how can i say "do you like this"?)
thanks

You can say: "Magst du das?"

What does a 'S-Fehler' refer to when speaking?

As far as I know "S-Fehler" refers to Sigmatismus or sigmatism/lisping in English

Yes, sigmatism but at least to me its not a very common term.

I looooove this thread!!!!
Thank u all !!!

ok i hope i can eplain it. "am"
Der beste Wagen. is the same like: Der Wagen ist am Besten. just another using of the sentence.
Its countryspecific how the ppl like to use it. but it has got the same meaning

I will try to help out a bit about "am":

Syntactically, "der beste Wagen" is no sentence at all.
It consists of 'article(=der)', 'adjective(=beste)' and 'subject(=Wagen)', but as in almost every other language, for a gramatically full sentence, we also need a verb.
So here comes the "am" + superlative to use.
If, for a sentence, you have no more detail but, that there is a car and that it is best for a purpose or something similar, you use "am".

Now, you cannot say "Der beste Wagen."
It would be as though you said "The best car" in English. You just cannot do that.
You cannot recite "The best car", and stop in the middle of the sentence
So, you have to say "Der Wagen ist am Besten." → "The car is best."

NOTICE: "Der Wagen ist der Beste" means "The car is THE best."
Yet, "Der Wagen ist am Besten (für...)." means "The car is best (suitable for...)."

I hope, it is a bit more clear. If not, just forget it.

Originally Posted by Steena

Some basic stuff just coming to my mind
Ich liebe dich – I love you.
Ich mag dich – I like you.
Ich hasse dich – I hate you.

A word of caution, here: while, in the english world, for instance a girl may shout "I hate you" to her boyfriend after something as serious as him pranking her, "ich hasse dich" is strong language in German. Expect things to get physical fast – really seriously –after this. Also, even if they don't, in case something bad happens to the addressee within the next ten years, expect to be put straight on top of the list of suspects right away.