★ Doch or Noch?; the difference between the two

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-doch-and-noch-in-the-German-language

 

 

Although the two German words “noch” and “doch” may sound very similar, they have completely different meanings and play different roles in a German sentence.

 

Let’s start with the particle “noch”.

 

Basically, it means “still”, in the sense that a situation is “still” existing, or a condition is “still” met (but maybe soon will come to an end). In connection with “nur noch” it describes something, that still needs to be done, or something that is left over (from something that was more in the beginning), but that something being very small or very few.

Examples:

 

“Bist Du noch böse auf mich?”

— “Are you still angry with me?”

 

“Ich muss noch meinen Koffer packen, bevor wir auf die Reise gehen können.”

— “I still have to pack my suitcase before we can go on our trip.”

 

“Ich muss nur noch meinen Koffer packen, …”

— “[As one last thing to do] I only have to pack my suitcase…”

 

“Ich habe nur noch fünf Pfennig in meinem Geldbeutel übrig.”

— “I have got only five pennies left in my purse.”

 

If you want to emphasize the duration of the situation, you can do so by adding “immer” (“always”), so “immer noch” or “noch immer”:

 

“Und der Rabe weichet nimmer – sitzt noch immer, sitzt noch immer”

— “And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting—still is sitting” (E. A. Poe)

 

If the situation is negated as in “noch nicht”, it is translated as “not yet”. If it refers to a certain noun as in “noch kein …”, it is translated as “no … yet”, or maybe as “not a single …”, “not any …”:

“Ich habe noch keine Arbeit gefunden.“ — “I haven’t found a job yet.”

There are still some more subtle uses of “noch”, which express a kind of expectation or emotional stress, like in

“Das wird Dir noch leid tun!” — “You [once] will be sorry for it!”

or

“Vielleicht kommt er ja noch.” — “Maybe he will come [at last, against all odds].”

Now let’s switch to “doch”. It is an adverb, used in many ways, sometimes also as a colloquial filler, and I fear there is no English equivalent for it in most cases…

 

 

“Doch” is connected to “jedoch”, which means “though”, and in this sense expresses the existence of a circumstance against somebody’s (opposite) expectation, or against all odds, similar to “nevertheless” or “anyway” (but not quite):

 

“Ich hatte meine Teilnahme am Treffen abgesagt, bin dann aber doch gekommen.” — “I had declined my participation in the meeting, but then I came [nevertheless].”

“Und sie bewegt sich doch!” — “But it does move!” (Galileo Galilei)

Most usually, “doch” is used as a contradicting answer to a question or expectation that is expressed by a negation, the answer meaning “On the contrary!”:

“Ich wette, Du hast Dir die Zähne vor dem Zubettgehen nicht geputzt?” - “Doch!” — “I bet you didn’t brush your teeth before going to bed?” - “Yes, I did!”

 

Remark: But you cannot use “doch” as an answer if the underlying question is no negation. In this case, a German would always say “ja”. On the other hand: If you answered “ja” to a German question with a negation, the meaning of that answer would not be clear to a German:

“Willst Du denn nicht mit mir spazieren gehen?” -

- “Nein” (Clearly affirmative: She does not want to go for a walk with me)

- “Doch” (Also clear: Against my expectation, she wants to go)

- “Ja” (Puzzled: Does she or doesn’t she???)

 

Sometimes, by using “doch” we emphasize an expectation which hopefully will be affirmed by the other person (in English, this is emphasis is often expressed by using an explicit form of “to do”):

“Du hast doch das Bügeleisen vor dem Weggehen ausgeschaltet, oder?” — “But you did switch off the iron before you left, didn’t you?”

Sometimes it expresses appeasement or reassurance. Sometimes the English speaker puts in a “but” or a “you know” for it:

“Lass ihn doch!” — “Just leave him alone!” / “Don’t bother!”

“Lass doch!” — “Forget it!”

“Du weißt doch, …” — “But you know, …”

“Du kannst dich doch noch daran erinnern?” — “But you still remember it, don’t you?”

“Er ist doch noch klein (und kann das nicht verstehen).” — “You know he is [but] still a child (and will not understand it).”

 

There are many other meanings of “doch” which you will best learn if you live in Germany for a longer time or listen to German conversations very often. A very nice answer is given to a related question here:

 

https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-German-word-doch-mean/answer/Will-McChesney-1?ch=10&share=948cf2e1&srid=CoR3F