Like words

[DerVille]

Konnen sie mir helfen bitte,

Can someone give some clarification on these like German words as to whether they are interchangeable and the speaker can use which ever word they feel like or whether there are rules for when to use one word or the other?

Inside/Outside: draußen, drinnen/Außerhalb, innerhalb.

Castle: Schloß/Burg.

Box: Karton/Packung/Schachtel.

Identification: Ausweiß/Identifikation.

Date: Datum/Termin.

Car: Wagon/Auto.

Vielen Dank.

 

[Beechwell]

Konnen sie mir helfen bitte,

Can someone give some clarification on these like German words as to whether they are interchangeable and the speaker can use which ever word they feel like or whether there are rules for when to use one word or the other?

I'll gladly try

Inside/Outside: draußen, drinnen/Außerhalb, innerhalb.

I'd say one says "außerhalb/innerhalb" only if also referring to what you are outside/inside of ("außerhalb, innerhalb von X"). If you just want to say you are outdoors, you would just say "Ich bin draußen".

Castle: Schloß/Burg.

A "Burg" is a medieval castle, primarily build with fortification in mind (close to a fortress, but also for living in). A "Schloss" (today written with "ss", instead of "ß") is always a representative building, with little or no defensive function.

Box: Karton/Packung/Schachtel.

"Packung" is very general, and probably better translated as package. A "Schachtel" is a small openable box, like so you can carry it in one hand. A "Karton" is larger and made of cardboard (which is also named "Karton" in German).

Identification: Ausweiß/Identifikation.

An "Ausweis" is always a card of identification. "Identifikation" is more abstract, some form of identification in general (can be an "Identifikationsnummer", "Identifikationsausweis" (!), Stimmenidentifikation (voice identification)).

Date: Datum/Termin.

"Datum" refers to a point in time, or rather a day (like 9/11 2001 is a "Datum"). "Termin" is an appointment, when you have to be somewhere.

Car: Wagon/Auto.

These are generally interchangable, when referring to cars. "Wagen" is more general, though, and can also refer to a cart or (railway-) wagon.

Vielen Dank.

Hope I could help

 

[DerVille]

Vielen Dank,

Das ist eine große Hilfe.

 

[DerVille]

Actually there is another situation that confuses me, maybe you could help clarify?

When do you use "wieder" and when do you use "noch einmal"? That always confuses me and I get it wrong a lot.

Thanks

 

[Beechwell]

Hi again. Sorry for the long wait

"Wieder" and "noch einmal" is a though one. Actually I would say in many situations they are exchangable. "Noch einmal" is probably less used, and usually when putting special emphasis on the repetition.
However I think the difference lies mostly in certain phrases that are common, and use either one of the two words. For example if you ask someone to repeat something he said, you would say
"Kannst du das bitte noch einmal sagen?"
or
"Kannst du das bitte (noch einmal) wiederholen?"
but not
"Kannst du das bitte wieder sagen?"
although the last sentence would also be grammatically correct. I can't even say why it sounds off, but it does.

If you are really interested, maybe you could post some sentences where the usage of "wieder" or "noch einmal" confuses you. Because other than what I said above, I can't really think of any general guidelines.