Mein Neffe war es gewöhnt, bis spät sitzen zu bleiben.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

My nephew was accustomed to sitting up late.

I’m confused, shouldn’t here be “gewohnt” instead of “gewoehnt”?

#2

Yes, you are right.

Both “gewöhnt” and “gewohnt” exist as words, and mean practically the same, but they require a slightly different syntax.

To be correct, you’d have to use either one of these sentences:

  • Mein Neffe war es gewohnt, bis spät sitzen zu bleiben.
  • Mein Neffe war daran gewöhnt, bis spät sitzen zu bleiben.

However, I bet that even many Germans won’t know this difference between “gewöhnt” and “gewohnt” and will mix them up (which is probably the explanation for how this small mistake found its way into the database). You will be understood in any way though, because these slightly different words have the same meaning.

I can’t think of a better comparison right now, but this difference is somewhat similar to the difference between the words use and utilize. These words are practically the same. Some like the one better, some like the other better.

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