Lächeln

lächeln German thumb|right|Ein Lächeln Etymology Nominalised infinitive of de lächeln to smile. Pronunciation de /ˈlɛçəln/ de De-Lächeln.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>) Noun n,,- smile facial expression de mit einem Lächeln im Gesicht with a smile on his/her face de ein gequältes Lächeln a pained smile Usage notes Lächeln is grammatically peculiar in that it does not have a generally accepted plural form despite being clearly countable; one can say, de ein Lächeln a smile, or, de sein erstes und sein zweites Lächeln his first and his second smile. Even so, actual plural usage occurs only seldom, chiefly in the vernacular: de seine beiden Lächeln his two smiles. This usage is awkward and may sound ungrammatical to many speakers. This is explained by the fact that German gerunds as a class don't pluralize. Therefore, the plural is generally preferably expressed using a paraphrase (for example: de die beiden Male, als er gelächelt hat the two times that he smiled). Apart from this, German often uses the singular where English would use the plural: de das Lächeln der Leute the smiles of the people. Further reading de Facial expressions