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Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.

Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.
Many users like the post on the internet.
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Questions & Answers about Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.

What does “liken” mean here, and is it real German or just English?

Liken is a loanword (an anglicism) in German, taken from the English verb “to like” (as in clicking the like button on social media).

  • Meaning: In this context, liken means “to click the like button on / to give a like to (a post)”.
  • Status: It is widely used in informal, internet-related German, especially among younger speakers and in social media contexts.
  • Alternatives:
    • den Beitrag mögen – to like the post (more neutral, but less specific to social-media “likes”)
    • den Beitrag mit „Gefällt mir“ markieren – to mark the post with “Like” (very explicit but longer)

So yes, liken is “real” German in everyday usage, but it is informal and somewhat trendy/technical.

How do you conjugate the verb “liken” in German?

Liken is treated like a regular -en verb (a weak verb) in German.

Present tense (Präsens):

  • ich like
  • du likest
  • er / sie / es liket
  • wir liken
  • ihr liket
  • sie / Sie liken

In practice, many speakers (especially online) use slightly different informal forms (e.g. “du likest / er liked”), but in standard grammar you add the normal endings to the stem like-.

In your sentence:

  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.
    • Subject: Viele Nutzer
    • Verb: liken (3rd person plural: sie liken → Nutzer liken)
Why is it “den Beitrag” and not “der Beitrag”?

“Den Beitrag” is in the accusative case, because it’s the direct object of the verb.

  • Beitrag is masculine: der Beitrag (nominative singular).
  • Masculine definite article in the accusative is den.

Pattern for masculine singular:

  • Nominative: der Beitrag – Der Beitrag ist interessant.
  • Accusative: den Beitrag – Ich like den Beitrag.

In your sentence:

  • Verb: liken – something is being liked → direct object.
  • Direct object: den Beitrag (accusative).

So “Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag” is: Nominative (Viele Nutzer) + verb (liken) + accusative object (den Beitrag).

What does “Beitrag” mean in this context?

Literally, Beitrag means “contribution”.

In internet and media contexts, der Beitrag is commonly used for:

  • a post (e.g. on Facebook, Instagram, a forum)
  • an article (in a newspaper, magazine, blog)
  • a segment in a TV or radio show

So “den Beitrag liken” here means “to like the post” (or “the article”) on the internet.

Why is “Beitrag” capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized.

Beitrag is a noun (it refers to a thing, a post/contribution), so it must be written with a capital B:

  • der Beitrag
  • diesen Beitrag
  • viele Beiträge

This is a general German spelling rule: every noun starts with a capital letter.

What is the gender and plural of “Nutzer” and “Beitrag”?

Beitrag

  • Gender: masculine → der Beitrag
  • Plural: die Beiträge

Nutzer

  • As used here, Nutzer is the masculine form (user).
  • Singular:
    • der Nutzer – the (male/unspecified) user
  • Plural:
    • die Nutzer – the users

The word Nutzer itself doesn’t change in the plural form (only the article does).

For a clearly feminine form, you often see:

  • singular: die Nutzerin
  • plural: die Nutzerinnen
Is there a difference between “Nutzer”, “Benutzer”, and “User”?

They are very similar in meaning, but there are stylistic nuances:

  • Nutzer
    • Common, quite neutral.
    • Often used in tech and internet contexts.
  • Benutzer
    • Very similar to Nutzer, sometimes feels a bit more technical or formal.
    • Common in IT: Benutzerkonto (user account), Benutzername (username).
  • User
    • Directly borrowed from English.
    • Informal, tech jargon, marketing, or internet slang.

In your sentence:

  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.

    Using Nutzer is natural, neutral everyday German.
    You could also say:

  • Viele User liken den Beitrag im Internet. (more slangy / informal)
  • Viele Benutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet. (also possible, slightly more technical sounding)
Why is it “Viele Nutzer” and not “Viel Nutzer”?

Viel vs. Viele depends on whether the noun is countable or uncountable:

  • viele = many (for countable things, in the plural)
  • viel = much / a lot of (for uncountable things, usually singular)

Examples:

  • viele Nutzer – many users (you can count users)
  • viel Wasser – much water (uncountable)
  • viele Beiträge – many posts
  • viel Geld – much money

Since Nutzer is a countable plural noun, you must use viele Nutzer, not viel Nutzer.

Why is it “im Internet” and not “in dem Internet”?

“Im” is a contraction of “in dem”:

  • in
    • dem → im

So:

  • im Internet = in dem Internet (grammatically equivalent)
  • Speakers almost always use the contracted form im in normal speech and writing.

Similarly:

  • im Haus = in dem Haus
  • im Jahr 2025 = in dem Jahr 2025

Using “in dem Internet” here is technically correct but sounds unnaturally formal or overly emphasized. “im Internet” is the natural choice.

Could you also say “im Netz” or “online” instead of “im Internet”?

Yes, there are several natural alternatives:

  • im Internet – on the internet (neutral, common)
  • im Netz – in the net (informal, metaphorical, quite common)
  • online – directly from English; very common and natural

Possible variants:

  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.
  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Netz.
  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag online.

All three are understandable and natural; im Internet and online are probably the most neutral.

Is the word order “Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet” fixed, or can I move parts around?

German word order is more flexible than English, but there are rules:

  1. In a main clause, the finite verb must be in 2nd position.

    • Here: Viele Nutzer (1st element) + liken (2nd element / finite verb).

  2. Everything after the verb can usually be rearranged, but some orders sound more natural than others.

Your sentence:

  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.
    • subject – verb – direct object – adverbial (place)
    • This is a very natural order.

Possible but less common variants:

  • Viele Nutzer liken im Internet den Beitrag. (still correct, slight emphasis on “im Internet”)
  • Im Internet liken viele Nutzer den Beitrag. (emphasis on the location “on the internet”)

Incorrect:

  • Viele Nutzer den Beitrag im Internet liken. → verb is not in 2nd position.
Why is it “im Internet” and not “auf dem Internet” like “auf Facebook”?

The choice of preposition with media/platform words is largely idiomatic:

  • im Internet (literally “in the internet”)
  • im Fernsehen (on TV)
  • im Radio
  • auf Facebook
  • auf Instagram
  • auf YouTube
  • auf einer Website

So you’d say:

  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.
  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag auf Facebook.

There isn’t a strict logical rule; you mostly have to learn each expression as a fixed phrase. For “Internet”, the standard is im Internet, not auf dem Internet.

Is the sentence formal or informal? Would it be okay in a formal context?

The sentence is informal, mainly because of the verb liken:

  • Viele Nutzer liken den Beitrag im Internet.
    • This is perfectly fine in informal speech, social media, casual writing, or marketing aimed at a younger audience.

For a more formal or neutral style, you might say:

  • Viele Nutzer markieren den Beitrag im Internet mit „Gefällt mir“.
  • Viele Nutzer bewerten den Beitrag im Internet positiv.
  • Viele Nutzer mögen den Beitrag im Internet. (still a bit vague for the “like button”, but more neutral in style)

So: grammatically it’s fine, but stylistically it’s colloquial / informal because of liken.