Question about song lyrics... Right? Noticably wrong? Just colloquial speech or slang (but wrong)? There is a song I heard called "Wer Ist Der Typ?". On one of the lines, he says "Ich weiß, wer den

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Zach

Question about song lyrics... Right? Noticably wrong? Just colloquial speech or slang (but wrong)? There is a song I heard called "Wer Ist Der Typ?". On one of the lines, he says "Ich weiß, wer den Bundeskanzler wählt." I am guessing this is just is just something that perhaps wouldn't matter in colloquial speech, but, shouldn't he have used "wen" instead of "wer" when talking about who he picks? Another question, I think "auswählen" means to select, but why is it just "wählen" here? Is there a difference?

Feb 18, 2017 9:06 PM

Answers · 3

Both "auswählen" and "wählen" may mean "to choose". However, when you're talking about voting, the word is always "jemanden wählen" (to vote for somebody). "Ich weiß, wer den Bundeskanzler wählt" = I know who votes for (or: chooses) the chancellor otherwise it would have to be: "Ich weiß, wen der Bundeskanzler wählt" = I know who(m) the chancellor chooses (or: votes for) which would also be a correct sentence, but with a different meaning :)

February 18, 2017

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