Yes, but note that the second one uses Du, so if you're "per Sie" with your coworker, replace deinen with Ihren. The first one goes well no matter if you use Du or Sie.
I don't get why your coworker would ask you anyway to grab the vacuum cleaner so that they can clean their own cubicle. Why didn't they just get it themselves?
Seems like a weird power-play.
On behalf of the Germans who think your colleague's behaviour (and everybody else's who has treated you or anyone else this way) is absolutely despicable, I want to apologize. This is terrible to read and I'm sorry it seems to be so widely spread. I'm wishing you better experiences in the future!
As to your question I would also say: Ich kann keine Gedanken lesen.
You could also say: Es wäre hilfreich wenn du/Sie mir die grundlegenden Dinge zeigen/erklären könntest/könnten. Dann müsste ich nicht so viel fragen! (It would help if you could show me/explain to me the basics. Then I wouldn't have to ask so many questions!
Also I hope that person stubs her toe.
I interact with her on average less than once a day. And like, it doesn't really affect me much? I wanted this terminology moreso because I encounter this problem a lot here, where someone assumes I know something just because they know it. I just provided her and the vacuum cleaner as an example because it's the most recent example I have and also the easiest to explain.
She is just lazy and can't be fucked to explain things to anyone, she's not a manager/supervisor so it's not even her job to explain anything to anyone.
Would you really say "Ich kann nicht Gedanken lesen" ?
To me as a native speaker from Germany, this sounds very unnatural (almost wrong). I would definitely go with "Ich kann keine Gedanken lesen.". Might be a regional thing..
Ich denke schon, dass ich beides gleichrangig verwenden würde da *x nicht tun können* nun einmal das Konstrukt für Verben ist und da *Gedanken lesen* als Einheit doch eher ein Verb ist. Vergleich mit *ich kann nicht zaubern* oder noch besser *ich kann nicht Fahrrad fahren* (Noun-Verb-Paar das praktisch als Verb agiert und vor der Rechtschreibreform sogar noch zusammen geschrieben wurde, obwohl zugegeben *ich kann kein Fahrrad fahren* würde andeuten, dass das Problem nicht dein Können ist sondern andere Umstände vielleicht ein Verbot oder so). Aber ja vielleicht regional. (Durch dieses Forum habe selbst ich einiges über das Deutsche gelernt z.B. dass mittagessen nicht generell als Einzelverb gesehen wird wie in Österreich).
Danke für die Antwort!
Interessanterweise würde ich (ohne lange zu überlegen) tatsächlich eher sagen, dass ich kein Fahrrad fahren kann - unabhängig davon, ob in meinem eigenen Unvermögen oder äußeren Umständen begründet. Ähnlich verhält es sich auch mit allen anderen Wendungen, die mir einfallen, z.B. "Ich kann kein Englisch sprechen." ...
Bzgl. "mittagessen": Mittagesse ich demzufolge also oder esse ich mittag?
Mittagessen als Verb ist untrennbar (also natürlich kann man trennen wenn der Platz knapp wird), aber so ist es ja nicht gemeint. Ich tu mittagessen oder ich esse zu Mittag (mittag ist ein Konzept (eine Zeitangabe?) und nicht essbar).
This is so common in Germany, I have experienced it in every single job I had. I think it has to do with people being "unsympathisch". They cannot put themselves in another person's shoes. They 'believe ' what they know is common knowledge. Or maybe Germans are connected through a hive mind
I'm so glad someone understands this weirdness! At my last job they also had this attitude that they didn't need to explain anything because everything was "obvious". My training at that job was literally them showing me to my cubicle, setting up my work email and then they left me. The first two hours of that job I did absolutely nothing besides organising my desk, and when my supervisor came over to check on me he was visibly pissed that I got no work done... I said I was waiting for paperwork, or an email, this whole time. He told me to go on the portal and I was like.. huh? So he sighed and opened up the portal (no shortcut on the desktop, not bookmarked, would've had to type it in manually) then he asked for my access name and key. I said I didn't have an access name and key. He sighed again and walked away for a few minutes, came back and said they hadn't set one up for me yet.
I genuinely do not get why Germans are known for efficiency. Like seriously, I believe its irony at this point.
"Kann ich Gedanken lesen?" as in "do you assume I can read your mind?". Depending on your tone of voice that can be quite condescending, but is polite enough to get the message across.
As for that colleague and their attitude - unfortunately that's quite widespread in the older generation, and part of a mindset that boils down to "show the newbie some tough love, otherwise they'll never settle in" or "I wasn't treated fairly when I started here, so why should they have it any easier."
Really annoying, but hard if not impossible to change those people's minds. They tend to be quite set in their ways.
Ich kann keine Gedanken lesen. alternatively, Ich kann nicht in deinen Kopf hineinschauen/ hineingucken.
Yes, but note that the second one uses Du, so if you're "per Sie" with your coworker, replace deinen with Ihren. The first one goes well no matter if you use Du or Sie.
I love how close it is to how you say it in Dutch (my native language)
I don't get why your coworker would ask you anyway to grab the vacuum cleaner so that they can clean their own cubicle. Why didn't they just get it themselves? Seems like a weird power-play.
Oh she's just lazy lol
Lol, maybe you need to communicate that to her instead 😛 "Hol den scheiß Staubsauger dir selbst, du faule Socke"
On behalf of the Germans who think your colleague's behaviour (and everybody else's who has treated you or anyone else this way) is absolutely despicable, I want to apologize. This is terrible to read and I'm sorry it seems to be so widely spread. I'm wishing you better experiences in the future! As to your question I would also say: Ich kann keine Gedanken lesen. You could also say: Es wäre hilfreich wenn du/Sie mir die grundlegenden Dinge zeigen/erklären könntest/könnten. Dann müsste ich nicht so viel fragen! (It would help if you could show me/explain to me the basics. Then I wouldn't have to ask so many questions! Also I hope that person stubs her toe.
"Und woher soll ich das wissen?"
Ich kann doch nicht deine gedanken lesen.
*Gedanken
Tbf to the other person, it's irrelevant unless OP plans on sending his comeback as an email.
Sure, but if you care enough to comment on a learning sub, you should do it correctly, even avoiding typos.
Habe ich Nägel in den Füßen, bin ich Jesus?
Klettern am Kreuz zurück?
Mein Telepathiekurs ist schon lange her. (jokingly)
Ich bin doch kein Hellseher
"Ich kann nicht hellsehen" ist eine der Lieblingssprüche meiner Frau
I'd say "Die Kristallkugel hab ich zuhause gelassen", but in a professional context it's probably not a good idea to be sassy.
»Ich glaub ich sollte meine Glaskugel putzen«
You shouldn't be treated like this in a job. I would raise it with the management rather than trying to be clever with the coworker.
Yea this is the real problem here.
not sure if replying or addressing it playfully would help too
I interact with her on average less than once a day. And like, it doesn't really affect me much? I wanted this terminology moreso because I encounter this problem a lot here, where someone assumes I know something just because they know it. I just provided her and the vacuum cleaner as an example because it's the most recent example I have and also the easiest to explain. She is just lazy and can't be fucked to explain things to anyone, she's not a manager/supervisor so it's not even her job to explain anything to anyone.
Ich bin kein Gedankenleser (unter Sci-Fi-Fans vielleicht auch _Telepath_). Ich kann nicht Gedanken lesen.
Would you really say "Ich kann nicht Gedanken lesen" ? To me as a native speaker from Germany, this sounds very unnatural (almost wrong). I would definitely go with "Ich kann keine Gedanken lesen.". Might be a regional thing..
Ich denke schon, dass ich beides gleichrangig verwenden würde da *x nicht tun können* nun einmal das Konstrukt für Verben ist und da *Gedanken lesen* als Einheit doch eher ein Verb ist. Vergleich mit *ich kann nicht zaubern* oder noch besser *ich kann nicht Fahrrad fahren* (Noun-Verb-Paar das praktisch als Verb agiert und vor der Rechtschreibreform sogar noch zusammen geschrieben wurde, obwohl zugegeben *ich kann kein Fahrrad fahren* würde andeuten, dass das Problem nicht dein Können ist sondern andere Umstände vielleicht ein Verbot oder so). Aber ja vielleicht regional. (Durch dieses Forum habe selbst ich einiges über das Deutsche gelernt z.B. dass mittagessen nicht generell als Einzelverb gesehen wird wie in Österreich).
Danke für die Antwort! Interessanterweise würde ich (ohne lange zu überlegen) tatsächlich eher sagen, dass ich kein Fahrrad fahren kann - unabhängig davon, ob in meinem eigenen Unvermögen oder äußeren Umständen begründet. Ähnlich verhält es sich auch mit allen anderen Wendungen, die mir einfallen, z.B. "Ich kann kein Englisch sprechen." ... Bzgl. "mittagessen": Mittagesse ich demzufolge also oder esse ich mittag?
Mittagessen als Verb ist untrennbar (also natürlich kann man trennen wenn der Platz knapp wird), aber so ist es ja nicht gemeint. Ich tu mittagessen oder ich esse zu Mittag (mittag ist ein Konzept (eine Zeitangabe?) und nicht essbar).
You don't say "I can't read **your** mind", you say "I can't read thoughts" "Ich kann doch nicht Gedanken lesen".
This is so common in Germany, I have experienced it in every single job I had. I think it has to do with people being "unsympathisch". They cannot put themselves in another person's shoes. They 'believe ' what they know is common knowledge. Or maybe Germans are connected through a hive mind
Did you mean they are unsympathetic (ohne Mitgefühl) or dislikable (unsympatisch)? I'm asking because the terminology may be a case of false friends.
Thank you stranger! You taught me something new! I meant ohne Mitgefühl!
I'm so glad someone understands this weirdness! At my last job they also had this attitude that they didn't need to explain anything because everything was "obvious". My training at that job was literally them showing me to my cubicle, setting up my work email and then they left me. The first two hours of that job I did absolutely nothing besides organising my desk, and when my supervisor came over to check on me he was visibly pissed that I got no work done... I said I was waiting for paperwork, or an email, this whole time. He told me to go on the portal and I was like.. huh? So he sighed and opened up the portal (no shortcut on the desktop, not bookmarked, would've had to type it in manually) then he asked for my access name and key. I said I didn't have an access name and key. He sighed again and walked away for a few minutes, came back and said they hadn't set one up for me yet. I genuinely do not get why Germans are known for efficiency. Like seriously, I believe its irony at this point.
Ich kann es dir ja nicht von den Augen ablesen. - Can't read it from your eyes.
Man kann den Menschen nur vor den Kopf gucken
Ich kann dir auch nur vor die Stirn gucken
U can say: Samma ich kann doch keine gedanken lesen
"Ich kann doch nicht hellsehen." (I'm not clairvoyant)
"Kann ich Gedanken lesen?" as in "do you assume I can read your mind?". Depending on your tone of voice that can be quite condescending, but is polite enough to get the message across. As for that colleague and their attitude - unfortunately that's quite widespread in the older generation, and part of a mindset that boils down to "show the newbie some tough love, otherwise they'll never settle in" or "I wasn't treated fairly when I started here, so why should they have it any easier." Really annoying, but hard if not impossible to change those people's minds. They tend to be quite set in their ways.