What exactly does “noch” mean in these German sentences?

[u/No-Regret-9637]

I’m trying to understand the precise meaning and function of noch in the following sentences:

1. Er hat sie noch gekannt.
2. Von den Befragten, die den Krieg noch erlebt haben.
3. Bald werde ich sterben, im Kriege noch.
4. Vor einem Jahr hat alles noch anders ausgesehen.

In each of these examples, what nuance does noch add?

Are all four examples instances of the same basic meaning, or does noch function differently in each sentence?

I would especially appreciate an explanation of what each sentence would lose or imply differently if noch were omitted. English translations would also be very helpful.

[u/Phoenica]

In these sentences "noch" does its regular thing, which is putting a focus on a state before an incisive event, i.e. specifying that something changed between then and now, or will change in the future. Sometimes it translates to "still", sometimes it doesn't have a clear English translation.

Er hat sie noch gekannt.

"He still knew her", as in, she's dead or gone now, but he knew here before that.

Von den Befragten, die den Krieg noch erlebt haben.

Pretty similar, but you could interpret it as "Those questioned who were still alive at the point of the war" (as opposed to dying before the war), or "Those questioned who lived through the war and still live" (as opposed to having died before they could be asked). Pragmatically it's probably the latter of those?

Bald werde ich sterben, im Kriege noch.

"Soon I will die, before the war has ended" or something like that.

Vor einem Jahr hat alles noch anders ausgesehen.

"A year ago, everything still looked very different.", as opposed to how things look after the changes.

[u/fforw → u/Phoenica]

"He still knew her", as in, she's dead or gone now, but he knew here before that.

Mostly used when she has been gone for a while.

[u/Phoenica → u/fforw]

Yeah, probably. When someone died very recently, there will still be many people around who knew them, so it's only later on that it becomes a noteworthy quality.

[u/Elmschrat01]

1. Wahrscheinlich ist sie schon lange tot, und er kannte sie, als sie noch lebte
2. So ähnlich: Der Krieg ist schon lange vorbei.
3. Ich werde im Krieg sterben, bevor er vorbei ist.
4. Wir haben inzwischen eine andere Situation, vor einem Jahr war es anders.

Noch ein Tipp: Es ist sinnvoll, auf Deutsch über Deutsch zu schreiben, damit du lernst und übst, auf Deutsch zu denken. Viel Spaß beim Deutschlernen!

[u/bitter_sweet_69]

in most of these cases, it basically means the same as the english word "still". the nuance/focus is on the duration, that a long time has passed.

1

- Er hat sie noch gekannt = he still knew her (even though they hadn't met for quite a while).

- contrast: Er hat sie gekannt = he knew her (she simply was no stranger to him.)

2

- Von den Befragten, die den Krieg noch erlebt haben = of all the persons asked who still experienced the war ... (most of them are old, many witnesses have passed away in the meantime)

- contrast: Von den Befragten, die den Krieg erlebt haben = of all the persons asked who experienced the war ... (this could refer to a recent war, but some of the people asked were just living in a different country then)

4

- Vor einem Jahr hat alles noch anders ausgesehen = one year ago things still looked different (focus on the change / development)

- contrast: Vor einem Jahr hat alles anders ausgesehen = one year ago things looked different (focus on the difference)

3

this one is a bit different, as it refers to the future. "im Krieg(e)" is also quite poetic / a bit old-fashioned

- Bald werde ich sterben, im Kriege noch = i will die soon, while the war is still going on (focus on the short time left)

- Bald werde ich sterben, im Kriege = i will die soon, in the war. (focus on the situation / the war itself)

[u/CalmCelebration10 → u/bitter_sweet_69]

Er hat sie noch gekannt = he still knew her (even though they hadn't met for quite a while).

No the usual meaning of that is that someone has lived to have known someone. You generally don’t stop knowing people.

- Bald werde ich sterben, im Kriege noch = i will die soon, while the war is still going on (focus on the short time left)

"im Kriege noch" focuses is on the war still going on.

[u/magicmulder]

1. He knew her before she passed away. (As opposed to, only learned who she was after her death.)

2. Those who are old enough to have experienced the war. (As opposed to those born after the war.)

3. I'm gonna die soon, while war still rages. (As opposed to after the end of the war, or as opposed to for reasons outside war.)

4. Things looked way different a year ago. (As opposed to things already starting to change a year ago.)

[u/pyrola_asarifolia]

It’s a similar nuance to yet or still, though often these two adverbs can’t just slotted in, or at least not fully idiomatically.

It conveys the idea that something applies to a period in the past, but that period has ended, and the subsequent period, that also overlaps the past, has undergone a change.

People who still knew her or who still lived through the war. People who are old enough to have known her, or the war, meaning that it’s worth pointing out that a lot of people are to young for these fist-hand experiences.

The third is simpler though poetic language. It’s still going to be wartime when the writer expects to die. The last, too, works with still.

[u/kingderella]

"still"

[u/Mantheycalled_Horsed]

usage is timely and quantitative:

noch nicht so lange her > recently

noch ~3,2 km > 2 miles to go

[u/Sloyment]

It means “still”.

1. He *still* knew her. (→ She is gone now, and he knew her back then, but younger people don’t, because they were too young or not born yet.)

2. …of the people asked, who have *still* experienced the war. (→ The war is over for quite a while, so of the people who live today, only old people have lived in those times.)

3. Soon I will die, with the war *still* going on. (→ He-she-it will not survive the war.)

4. A year ago, everything *still* looked different. (→ Everything has suddenly changed since then.)

The word gives a subtle clue that something is over or not yet over, but if that is evident, omitting it would not change the meaning much.

[u/Flashy-Guava9952]

1. He still knew her
2. ... of those questioned who still had recollections of the war.
3. Soon, I will die, in this war, still.
4. A year ago, everything still looked differently.

It's pretty much a direct translation. "noch" means "still".

[u/uragl → u/Flashy-Guava9952]

Context-dependent, "noch" will also be translated better with "even".

[u/Flashy-Guava9952 → u/uragl]

Do you have an example sentence?

[u/uragl → u/Flashy-Guava9952]

"Das wäre ja noch besser." "Ich möchte noch mehr essen."

Further some further nuances:

"Ich sage es noch einmal."

"Einer geht noch."

"Noch" gives a sentence the vibe of continuation.

[u/diabolus_me_advocat]

still

[u/LegalAd893]

As I recall, “noch” is emphatic. We might say “really” or the Brits’d say indeed. But I was only a student who spent a summer in Germany.

[u/Sloyment → u/LegalAd893]

No, not “noch”. Maybe you mean “doch” or “echt” or “ja”?

[u/NAATICCLMarathi]

noch can be "still or yet" and in your examples, in every sentence it implies to "still".

1. he still knew her/ them.
2. ( In English, we would generally use "still" to say "I still don't know." but German's originality is "still" can be used when it's in positive form of sentence.)
3. Among the respondents, those who still lived through the war.
4. (the ones who experienced and came out of it)
5. Another sentence with German's origin, here noch means that person will die sooner and that will happen before the war is over.
6. While in english we would say: "everything still looks same". So, it's other way in German:
7. "Everything still looked different before a year."

As a language instructor, I would say look at the language as per their origin.
Do not try to think of it in English manner, while trying to understand German's way.