Leute vs. Menschen | WordReference Forums

Leute vs. Menschen

D

dalila

Senior Member
Italy
Italian
Hallo,
kann jemand mir sagen, was der Unterschied zwischen Menschen und Leute ist?
In einem Beitrag von einem Radio benutzt der Moderator das Wort Leute, aber tauscht er dann "Leute" gegen das Wort Menschen aus. Welches ist der Grund dafuer? In dem Beitrag geht es um Medizin (falls das hilfen sollte).
Das ist der Satz: lDie (Leute) Menschen haben große Schmerzen und...
Vielen Dank im Voraus.
 
    • Die Grundbedeutung ist gleich. In vielen Fällen sind die Formen austauschbar.
    Von "Leute" gibt es keinen Singular.
    "Menschen" ist universeller. Es kann auch "Menschheit" bedeuten. "Leute" bilden meist eine kleinere Gruppe.

    In einer Reihe von Zusammensetzungen mit "Menschen" kann man "Leute" nicht verwenden.

    Menschenauflauf, Menschenrechte


    Ich fühle folgenden Unterschied:
    Ich mache das wegen der Leute: Ich mache das, damit die Leute besser von mir denken.
    Ich mache das wegen der Menschen: Ich mache das, damit es den Menschen besser geht.
     
    Leute ist auch einfach alltäglicher: Auf dem Konzert waren sehr viele Leute, aber ich kannte fast niemanden.
    Menschen würde in diesem Kontext (fast?) etwas seltsam klingen.

    Menschen wird eher vewendet, wenn es - auch nur im weitesten Sinne - um humanitäre oder "menschliche" Aspekte geht oder diese (etwas) betont werden sollen - wie in den unteren Beispielen von Hutschi, und ganz besonders natürlich bei dem Begriff Menschenrechte.
     
    Kevin Beach said:
    Is it fair to say that Mensch(en) corresponds to the English "person(s)", whereas Leute corresponds to "people"?
    Click to expand...
    That may - to some (limited) extent - work as for people/Leute, but I reaally don't think it's as easy as that (I especially don't think you'll be able to find two reliable pairs of equivalents between these (or any other) two languages that'll work fine for any context).

    Menschen can be people, persons, men, humans,..

    It all depends on context, and very much so.

    people smuggling - Menschenschmuggel

    There often isn't a direct equivalent not even within a particular sentence or expression:

    indigenous people - Einheimische
     
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    Kevin Beach said:
    Is it fair to say that Mensch(en) corresponds to the English "person(s)", whereas Leute corresponds to "people"?
    Click to expand...


    In some cases, also "Personen" corresponds to English "persons".

    "Personen" are a relative small group of people or some people with point of view as single persons.

    So you have three similar words: Menschen, Personen, Leute

    In Englich you had also three, but "men" isn't considered anymore as meaning "Mensch" but "Mann", except in older scripts and in mankind.

    If you want to translate "human being" it is "Mensch" (or "menschliches Wesen"). The plural "Menschliche Wesen" includes also hypothetical extraterestrials.
     
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    I think the main difference has been mentioned by Hutschi in his first post: To use the term Leute it has to matter that there is a group (or crowd) of people.

    Kevin Beach said:
    Is it fair to say that Mensch(en) corresponds to the English "person(s)", whereas Leute corresponds to "people"?
    Click to expand...
    Sounds good to me. Depending on context, I would, like Hutschi, also consider the translation human(s) or human being(s) for Mensch(en).
     
    berndf said:
    I think the main difference has been mentioned by Hutschi in his first post: To use the term Leute it has to matter that there is a group (or crowd) of people. (...)
    Click to expand...
    I am not so sure about that group aspect.
    For example, I don't see the group/crowd - and much less that it matters - in sentences like

    Viele Leute sehen lieber zu Hause fern als ins Kino zu gehen.
    Ich habe noch nicht viele Leute getroffen, die schon mal in Korea waren.

    Here, you could easily substitute Leute with Menschen; it would just sound less everyday (maybe a more personal or "human").
     
    Sigianga said:
    Viele Leute sehen lieber zu Hause fern als ins Kino zu gehen.
    Ich habe noch nicht viele Leute getroffen, die schon mal in Korea waren.
    Click to expand...
    In these sentences, you can omit it fully, too. This is another possibility:

    Viele sehen lieber zu Hause fern als ins Kino zu gehen.
    Ich habe noch nicht viele getroffen, die schon mal in Korea waren.

    It is a set (Menge) rather than a crowd.
     
    As I understand it now, Leute is a more general term than Menschen, as pointed out by Hutschi's example of the omission of "viele" in the 2 sentences given by Sigianga. So is it true to say that Menschen places the emphasis on the people, the individuals, the humans, the beings, etc... while Leute is just a common term that refers to "people", without needing to distinguish them from animals or anything else because it is such a common term referring to our automatized conception of "people"?
     
    lrosa said:
    As I understand it now, Leute is a more general term than Menschen, as pointed out by Hutschi's example of the omission of "viele" in the 2 sentences given by Sigianga. So is it true to say that Menschen places the emphasis on the people, the individuals, the humans, the beings, etc... while Leute is just a common term that refers to "people", without needing to distinguish them from animals or anything else because it is such a common term referring to our automatized conception of "people"?
    Click to expand...

    Yes :)
     
    I'd say Leute refers to a more specific group of people, usually a smaller group than Menschen.

    -- Die Leute waren sehr freundlich zu mir. (Certain people at a certain place.)
    -- Die Leute auf dem Konzert waren ...
    -- Die Leute auf der Straße erkannten mich. (thinking of specific people)

    In broader context, you'd use "Menschen." It usually refers to a larger, less specific group than Leute.

    -- Die Menschen wollen endlich Klarheit.
    -- Die Menschen haben schon vor 1000 Jahren ...
    -- Die Menschen können dort nicht mehr leben, weil es kein Wasser mehr gibt.
    -- Die Menschen auf der Straße jubelten ihm zu. (could be anywhere, any city, any crowd of people)

    Referring to an entire country/region/continent, both is possible, but Menschen seems to be preferred.

    die Menschen in Deutschland -- 296000 hits
    die Leute in Deutschland -- 19600

    die Menschen in Europa -- 91700
    die Leute in Europa -- 2460

    die Menschen in Amerika -- 9470
    die Leute in Amerika -- 1610

    die Menschen in Asien -- 8690
    die Leute in Asien -- 395
     
    Johann Nestroy (österreichischer Autor): "die Menschen sind gut, aber die Leut´sind schlecht " :)

    Es gibt auch diesen Unterschied: "Menschen" drückt mehr "Respekt" aus als Leute.
    "Vor dem Haus stehen viele Menschen"
    "Vor dem Haus stehen viele Leute"
     
    How would you say: I like people/I don't like people

    Examples are the only way out of this, I'm thinking!
     
    lrosa said:
    How would you say: I like people/I don't like people

    Examples are the only way out of this, I'm thinking!
    Click to expand...

    Here I´d go for: "Ich mag Menschen", "Ich mag keine Menschen"

    Since it´s a general statement about all people, not about a certain group.

    If you for example would say: "I like the people in my sports club" it´s better to translate it with "Leute" - "Ich mag die Leute in meinem Sportverein"
     
    The "set" aspect:

    "Leute" is not used if there are very view.

    Auf dem Platz standen zwei Menschen.

    In a set with an unknown amout, both can be used:

    Auf dem Platz standen mehrere Menschen.
    Auf dem Platz standen mehrere Leute.

    Auf dem Platz standen Menschen. (Several persons stand there.)
    Auf dem Platz standen Leute. (A crowd of people stand there.)

    In case of very many people, usually "Menschen" is used.

    Auf der Erde leben viele Menschen.

    ---

    "Ich mag die Leute in meinem Sportverein" (abstract people)
    "Ich mag die Menschen in meinem Sportverein" - You mark the human aspect. "Menschen" is often stressed. It means approximately "the group of good persons who behave human." If you stress "Menschen" very much, you mean a subset of special people of the club who behave human, in contrast to the rest.
     
    Hutschi said:
    The "set" aspect:

    "Leute" is not used if there are very view.

    Auf dem Platz standen zwei Menschen. (...)
    Click to expand...
    Sorry to disagree, but that is in no way consistent with my experience. :)

    Especially in everyday speech, I would definitely use zwei Leute here.

    In addition to what has been mentioned earlier, with Menschen that sentence falls also into the category of elevated style (at least to my ears)*, and I would expect to read it in a novel perhaps, or in a (more or less) religious/spiritual context - anywhere where it somehow matters that they are not just people, but "humans" (or at least "good" people).
    But I would not normally expect to hear it in a casual, everyday conversation (I personally would actually be rather surprised to hear it there), apart from set phrases and - here too, of course - contexts where you want to stress the "human" aspect (something, or so it appears, seems to apply to the word Menschen in general [as opposed to Leute]).

    Also, there are quite a few entries in Google with "zwei Leute".
    Maybe a(nother) regional difference?
    _______________________________
    * but it's probably never just about style, it certainly just sounds as though it were simply because the accentuation of the human aspect seldom matters much in everyday language usage
    l
     
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    I hope this isn't too much to ask, but does anyone have any thoughts on which version of Leute/Menshcen/Personen should be used for:

    I stopped opening up to people - I guess "Menschen"
    I know 2 people who have been to Japan - "Leute"
    They were the first 2 people in space - "Menschen"
    I don't like the people in my class - "Leute"
    I like meeting new people - "Menschen"
    The people (strangers) I saw on the street looked at me strangely - "Menschen"
    People are usually too polite to comment on my looks - "Menschen"
    When I went inside, I found two people kissing - "Menschen"
    There are many people who don't like sports - "Leute"
    Too many people never eat breakfast - "Leute"
     
    lrosa said:
    I hope this isn't too much to ask, but does anyone have any thoughts on which version of Leute/Menshcen/Personen should be used for:

    I stopped opening up to people - I guess "Menschen" :tick:
    I know 2 people who have been to Japan - "Leute" :tick:
    They were the first 2 people in space - "Menschen" :tick:
    I don't like the people in my class - "Leute" :tick:
    I like meeting new people - "Menschen" - "Leute" works here as well
    The people (strangers) I saw on the street looked at me strangely - "Menschen" - Same here
    People are usually too polite to comment on my looks - "Menschen" :tick:
    When I went inside, I found two people kissing - "Menschen" :tick:
    There are many people who don't like sports - "Leute" - "Menschen" is possible, too
    Too many people never eat breakfast - "Leute" :warn: I´d prefer "Menschen" here. Although I wouldn´t say "Leute" is absolutly wrong.
    Click to expand...
     
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