Ss

I wonder whether they do not use ß in German anymore. It’s a very beautiful letter. Why did they stop using it?

Lots of people still use the beta in German. I see it all over the place.

The don’t use ß in daß, do they?

Do they still use essen–aß–gegessen, du ißt, er ißt?

Here are the new rules: Duden | s-Schreibung: s, ss und ß

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No, unfortunately, they don’t! It was said it was too difficult for people to decide whether it should be an “ß” or “ss”. The fact remains that people still have to decide whether it is the sort of “das” which requires a single “s” or whether it is the “das” which requires the “double s”.

Es ergibt keinen Sinn für mich, dass es so bestimmt wurde. Das ergibt doch keinen Sinn! Es wäre ein klares “ß” bei … für mich, daß es…" und ein klares “das” bei “das ergibt doch…”. Ich vermute, das wird von einigen noch so empfunden, dass es so ist, kann ich leider nicht bestätigen.

Please, study the rules; short vocal - ß → ss (like nass, Fass, du isst, er isst) vs. long vocal - always ß (but not in Switzerland: always ss) (like er aß, Straße, etc.)

In Austria, when something is annoying, they call it ‘ein Schmerz in the aß’

Ist es schmerzempfindlich?

Actually, there is no difference in long & short vocals in certain languages. For this reason, it is good to know this rule but, in reality, it doesn’t do much help. At the beginning, I just crammed them all and let the time plays the role. :slight_smile:

You don’t hear the difference of the length of the “a” in “Straße”, “saß”, “Maß” vs. “Fass” or “nass” or “Hass”?

Of course, if I pay attention to it or if someone emphasizes it, I can tell the difference. However, while conversing with others in the normal speed, I could hardly find the differences. I would just want to bring out that it takes some time to notice the minutes which don’t exist in your language background, e.g. tones for non-tonal language speakers. :slight_smile: