Good to Know: “stehen” – English books and instruction manuals, signs, laptop and mobile phone displays and a host of other inanimate objects speak to us directly, whereas in German things “stand” on them.

For example, in English you would say “The sign says STOP”. In German, you would have to say “Auf dem Schild steht STOP.” Literally, in other words, “on the sign stands STOP”. No talking signs here.

– “It says the tank is empty.” – “Da steht, dass der Tank leer ist.”
– “The instruction manual says we should use a screwdriver.” – “In der Anweisung steht dass wir einen Schraubenzieher benutzen sollen.”
“Here it says that Canberra is the capital of Australia.” – “Hier steht, dass Canberra die Hauptstadt von Australien ist.”
“Wikipedia says so!” – “Auf Wikipedia steht es so (geschrieben)!”