101 german beginer1.pdf

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #1 Are you Michaela Wucher?

CONTENTS 2 2 2 3 3 4

German English Informal German Informal English Vocabulary Sample Sentences

4 5

Grammar Cultural Insight

#

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1

GERMAN

1.

John:

Entschuldigung! Sind Sie “Michaela Wucher”?

2.

Michael:

Nein, ich bin nicht “Michaela Wucher”. Wer sind Si e?

3.

John:

Ich bin John Williams. Ich bin aus Pennsylvania...

4.

Michael:

Ahhh! Si e sind Jo hn Williams! Ich bin “Michaela Wucher”, but it is pronounced Michaela Wucher.

5.

John:

Oh,Entschuldigung!

ENGLISH

1.

John:

Excuse me!Are you Michaela Wucher?

2.

Michael:

No, I am not “Michaela Wucher”. Who are you?

3.

John:

I am John Williams. I am from Pennsylvania...

4.

Michael:

Ahhh! You are Jo hn Williams! I am “ Michaela Wucher”, but it is pronounced Michaela Wucher.

5.

John:

Oh,sorry!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

John:

’tschuldigung! Bist du "Michaela Wucher“?

2.

Michael:

Nein, ich bin nicht “Michaela Wucher”. Wer bist du?

CONT'D OVER GERMANPOD101.COM

BEGINNER #1 - ARE YOU MICHAELA WUCHER?

2

3.

John:

Ich bin John Williams. Ich bin aus Pennsylvania...

4.

Michael:

Ahhh! Du bist Jo hn Williams! Ich bin “Michaela Wucher”, but it is pronounced Michaela Wucher.

5.

John:

Oh,Entschuldigung!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

John:

Excuse me!Are you Michaela Wucher?

2.

Michael:

No, I am not “Michaela Wucher”. Who are you?

3.

John:

I am John Williams. I am from Pennsylvania...

4.

Michael:

Ahhh! You are Jo hn Williams! I am “ Michaela Wucher”, but it is pronounced Michaela Wucher.

5.

John:

Oh,sorry!

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r plural:

Entschuldigung

apology; excuse m e;

Entschuldigungen;

I’m sorry

the expression is always singular.

Sie

you(formal)

personalpronoun

ich

I

personal pronoun

wer

who

GERMANPOD101.COM

pronoun


3

ich bin, du bist, er ist, sein

be to

wir sind, ihr seid, sie

verb

sind expression; Yes is nein

no

"Ja"

nicht

not

adverb

aus

from

preposition

Yes is "Ja"

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ic h nehm e die Entsc huldigu ng an.

Haben Sie ei

I accept the apology.

Do you have an other credit card?

S prechen Sie Englisch?

Sie sind Herr Smith

Do you speak English?

You are Mr Sm ith.

Ich hatte le tz te Woche so

viel zu

tun!

ne andere Kreditkart

e?

Ich bin L isa . I am Lisa.

I was so busy last week!

Wer ist das?

Das kann doch nicht wahr sein!

Who is that?

That can't be true!

Ich b in S tudent.

Nein, ich b in nicht aus Köln.

I am a student.

No, I am not fr om C ologne.

Das habe ich nicht gesagt!

Du bist nicht mein

I didn't say that!

You aren't my father!

Komm st du aus Berlin oder von

Ich b in aus Deutschla

außerhalb?

Vater !

nd.

I am from G ermany.

Do you come from Berlin or fr om elsewhere?

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GRAMMAR In this lesson, you ha ve seen a generous am ount of “ich bin” (I am) and “S ie sind” (you are, formal ). If you have access to the extra ma terial, you h ave even heard “du bist”, the informal equival ent of “Sie sind ”. All of these are forms of the verb “sein” (to be), w hich is irregul ar in Germ an, ju st like in English. Here i s a table w ith all the present tense forms:

se i n bin ich du bist erist/sieist/esist sind wir ihr seid siesind/Siesind

t o be am I you are (informal) heis/sheis/itis are we you are (plural) theyare/youare(formal)

As you can see, the formal “S ie sind” (you are) is the same form as “sie sind” (they are), except for the capital letter t hat indi cates respect. The form al form in G erm an wi ll a lways correspond to the “they” form (3rd person plural). Som e exam ples of this very usef ul verb in action: I ch bin Michae l. – I am Michae l. Du bist schön. – You are pretty. Er ist Student. – He is a student. S ie i st aus England. – S he is from England . Es ist nicht gut. – It is not good. Wir sind Freunde. – We are friends. S eid i hr bereit? – Are you ready? Wer sind sie? – Who are they? Wer sind S ie? – Who are you (form al) ?

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Use “Entschuldi gung” as the equival ent of either “Excuse me” or “I’m sorry”, for example when: * getting som ebody’s attention * trying to move through a crowd, thus asking them to step aside * stepping on somebody’s foot * reall y screwing up (in that case you’d use further exp ressions in ad dition to just “Entschuldigung”)

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D o n o t s a y i t when som ebody tells you sad news. Germ ans do no t apologi ze for things that are not their fault, such as a friend not getting a job. Rather, you’d e xpress encouragem ent there. In severe cases however, such as som ebody’s mother being sent to t he hospital, you can say “Es tut mir leid ” (It pains m e; I am chagrined ) as a way of comm iserating. The form ality of the conversation ma y seem a bit odd to you, seeing that Jo hn and Michael a have known ea ch other through e-mail, but John wasn’t absolutely sure he was talking to Michaela a nd so he had to m ake sure he was being p olite to this stranger. Using in formal language on this occasion already would have been like saying “Hey you, are you Michaela? ” and would probably have provoked an annoyed reaction. Especially o lder people are very sensitive when i t comes to how you address them , because they expect to be shown respect, and using formal l anguag e is the easiest way of s aying “I respect you” in G erm an. That is why sometim es even people who have known each other for a long tim e use ‘formal ’ language with each other. Generally, you should only use informal language with a new acquaintance if : * you a re talking to some body und er 18 * you and the person you’re talkin g with are both around student age * you and the person you’re talking with are relatives In all other cases, you shoul d wait till you are asked to switch t o inform al la nguage – it’s up to the older person or the one hi gher in rank to do so or not. Your boss or teacher will certainly never ask you, as that would di minish hi s authority in the eyes of everybody. However, even regula r acquaintances don’t switch to using first nam es nearly as quickly as they do in the US A. If you just start by addressing a stranger inform ally, he m ay feel offended a s you seem to treat him l ike a child. That being said , as a foreigner you certainly have som e leeway in case you shoul d forget.

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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #2 Going home



4 5


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2

GERMAN

1.

#2:

Entschuldigung!

2.

#1:

Es istokay, Herr Williams.Sind Sie sehr müde?

3.

#2:

Nein, ich bin nichtsehr müde, nur ein bisschen.

4.

#1:

Mein Auto ist dort drüben. In zehn Minuten sind wir zuhause.

5.

#2:

Gut.

ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Sorry!

2.

#1:

It’s okay, Mr Williams.Are you very tired?

3.

#2:

No,Iam notverytired,justabit.

4.

#1:

My car is over there. In ten minutes we’re home. (we will be home)

5.

#2:

Good.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#2:

Entschuldigung!

2.

#1:

Esistokay, John.Bistdusehrmüde?

3.

#2:

Nein, ich bin nichtsehr müde, nur ein bisschen.


BEGINNER#2 - GOING HOME

2

4.

#1:

Mein Auto ist dort drüben. In zehn Minuten sind wir zuhause.

5.

#2:

Gut.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Sorry!

2.

#1:

It’sokay,John.Areyoutired?

3.

#2:

No,Iam notverytired,justabit.

4.

#1:

My car is over there. In ten minutes we’re home. (we will be home)

5.

#2:

Good.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E n g l i sh

C l ass

müde

tired

adjective

sehr

very

adverb

nur

only, just

ein bisschen

little a

adverb adverb

mein

my

Auto

car

noun

overthere

expression

dortdrüben zehn

ten (10)

Zuhause, zuHause

home, athome

possessive pronoun

numeral

SAMPLE SENTENCES GERMANPOD101.COM


3

Heute b in ich sehr m

üde.

Das ist sehr gut!

I am very tired today.

That's very good!

Ich esse nur Gem

Ich sp reche n ur ein bisschen

üse.

Deutsch.

I only e at vegetables.

I only speak a little Germ an.

Mein Nam e ist Tim. My name is Tim.

Mein Nam e ist L isa. My name is Lisa.

Das Auto i st das Lieb lin gssp iel zeug

Mein Auto ist ein bisschen dreckig.

des Mannes in De

utsc hland.

My car is a li ttle d irty.

The car is a man 's favorite toy in Germ any.

S andra ist dort drüb

en.

Ich b in z ehn J ahre a lt.

Sand ra is over ther e.

I am ten years old.

Bist du z uhau se? Are you hom e?

GRAMMAR In the last lesson, we saw the present tense forms of “sein” (to be). Here they are agai n:

se i n bin ich du bist erist/sieist/esist sind wir ihr seid

GERMANPOD101.COM

t o be am I you are (informal) heis/sheis/itis are we you are (plural)


4

siesind/Siesind

theyare/youare(formal)

Now we ’d li ke to draw your attention to how verbs are used in G erm an.

I n questions a n d negative sentences: Bist du m üde? – Are you tired? (inform al) Wer sind S ie? – Who are you? (form al) Ich bin ni cht müd e. – I am not tired. This word order f or questions is very comm on in Germ an, but not very comm on in English actually: compare t o “S ingen Sie oft?” – “Do you often sing?”. Sam e goes for the way of making a sen tence negative: while “I am no t tired” corresponds 1:1 to “Ich bin nicht mü de”, English typically uses a m ore com plicated structure whe reas for Germ an this structure is natural. S ee for exam ple “Ich singe ni cht oft.” – “I don’t sing often. ” In Germ an, it’s enough to add “ni cht” to a sentence to m ake it negative.

I n longer sentences: Whenever the subject is not the firs t item i n a sentence, for example when a tim e or place is mentioned first or when a subclause com es first, the verb still has to go in second place in Germ an, so that the subject and the rest of the sentence follow afterwards. Example sentence: “In zehn Minu ten sind wi r zuhause” (li terally: in ten m inutes are we h om e). This word order m ay seem strange to you at first, ho wever English uses it too in som e special cases: for example “Only af ter the serm on were we allo wed to leave”. Ju st try to remem ber that Germ an uses it all the tim e.

CULTURAL INSIGHT Cars are a lot of Germ an m en’s pride. Unlike in the case of b eer, i t is very okay to own a foreign-brand car, provided i t is fast enough. Ge rmans don’ t care all that mu ch about SUVs as Americans do, since it’s hard to find parking spots for them in the cities and the vast majority of people live i n cities. However, cars have to be fast. There i s (as of yet) no speed l im it on the Autobahnen (highways), so when you’re in a hurry or on a long trip you m ay really want to push the pedal to the m etal. The recom mended speed on Autobahnen is 130 km/h (roughl y 81 mph), so that’s about the speed you’d find on the m iddle one of 3 lanes m ost of the time. The right lane is typ ically occupied by truck drivers, who aren’t lega lly al lowed to drive m ore than 100 km/h or even less, depending on the type of truck. Apart from the trucks, you w ill find com paratively few cars on there, except those that are planni ng to get off at the next town or resting area (exits are

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always on the right, making it easier to slow dow n). The left-most lane is intended for overtaking other cars, and you’ re supposed to return back t o the righ t once you ha ve done that, but the people d riving 200 km/h o r so usua lly j ust stay on the left-most lane anyway.

GERMANPOD101.COM


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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #3 The Oldtown

CONTENTS 2 2 2 3 3

German English Vocabulary Sample Sentences Grammar

4

Cultural Insight

#


3

GERMAN

1.

#2:

EsgibtvieleschöneGebäudehier.

2.

#1:

Ja, das ist die Altstadt. Hier gibt es auch viele Bars.

3.

#2:

Undwasistdas?

4.

#1:

DasistderRheindortdrüben.

5.

...

6.

#1:

John, wirsindda.DasistmeinHaus.

ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Therearemanynicebuildingshere.

2.

#1:

Yes, this is the oldtown. There are also many bars here.

3.

#2:

Andwhatisthat?

4.

#1:

Thatisthe[river] Rhineoverthere.

5.

...

6.

#1:

John, we’rethere.Thisismyhouse.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

GERMANPOD101.COM

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r

BEGINNER#3 - THE OLDTOWN

2

expression; very

very useful

there is, there are

useful expression!

expression!

viele

many

adverb

schön

nice,pretty

Gebäude

building

es gibt

adjective Neuter; plural is the noun

same.

demonstrative das

that,the(neuter)

pronoun / definite article

Altstadt

oldtown

noun, fem inine, die

was

what

pronoun

Haus

house

noun

plural: Häuser

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Es gibt viele C afés hier.

V i e l e S t u d e n te n s i n d a r m .

There are man y cafés here.

Many students are poor.

Es ist schön, dass S

Die ses Gebäude i

ie da sind.

st 1 00 J ahre al t.

It's nice that you're there.

This building is 100 years old.

Das Wasser ist kalt.

Die D üsseldo rfer Altst adt ist sehr

The water is cold.

schön. Düsseldorf's oldtown is very nice.

Was ist das?

Mein Ha us ist nicht groß.

What is this?

My house isn't big.

GRAMMAR

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Here’s an extremely im portant notion when learning Germ an: Germ an divides everyt hing into three genders: masculine (m ale), feminine (fem ale) and neuter (neut ral). This m eans that not just people or pets have a gender but all ra ndom objects (e. g. a pencil i s m asculine) and even concepts (e. g. hope is fem inin e) do. Most of the time the assignm ent of gender doesn’t m ake sense, so you ha ve to learn it along wi th the noun . A great way to learn the gender is to imagine some m ale or female or neutral arc hetypes or stars in a m emorable, funny or weird situation alon g with the word. Masculine words get the art icle “der”, fem inine w ords get the article “die” and neuter words get the article “das”. T he gen der of a noun will always be men tioned in the vocabulary li st. For com pound w ords like „Altstadt “, i t’s easy to determ ine the ge nder: just look at the noun that is the last part of it. That noun determi nes the gen der of the who le w ord. In this case the last p art is “Stadt”, whi ch is fem inin e, an d so “Altstadt” is fem inine too.

CULTURAL INSIGHT Many Ge rman cities have nice hi storic oldtowns. Som e cities can be traced as far b ack as 500 BC. If you are interested in hi story, the Western part of Germa ny should be particularly interesting to you, because that is where Frankish em pire with i ts medi eval castles stretched. Especially the area al ong the u pper Rhi ne i s known for its castles. I n the extrem e western part of Germ any, you can also find Rom an ruins. The Rhin e was a natural border to their em pire.

Germ ans tend not to identify much with Germ any as a m odern country and there is p robably less patriotism in G erm any than anywhere el se in the world, but there is a broad interest in historical G erm any. For exam ple, there are parks, fairs and re-enactments fest ivals ded icated to any part of German history before 1900: the “barbarian” life, the Romans, the Frankish empire, medieval crafts and trades, the industrial revolution, the war against Napoleon, and so on. So Germ any is the place to be if you like history – or also beauty , because m ost cities and most houses are designed wi th beauty in m ind, not plain functionali ty. And of course there are also plenty of museum s, theatres, am usem ent parks, spas and the like. In f act, when there are several b ig cities close to each other, li ke Düsseldorf and Col ogne or li ke all of the cities of the Ruh rgebiet, there i s rivalry between them and every city tries t o outdo the other in terms of m useum s, parks, theatres, clu bs etcetera, which i s beneficial for the people li ving there, w ho can benefit from a wid e variety of choices.

GERMANPOD101.COM


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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #4 Presenting people



5 6


#


4

GERMAN

1.

#1:

John,dasistmeinMannHeinz.

2.

Heinz, das ist John William s aus den USA.

3.

#2:

Angenehm.

4.

#3:

Angenehm. Herr Williams, woher genau kommen Sie? Wo sind Sie zuhause?

5.

#2:

Ich komme ausHarrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6.

#3:

Aha.UndwasmachenSieberuflich?

7.

#2:

Ähmm...

8.

#1:

JohnarbeitetalsFreiberufler.

9.

#3:

Eristarbeitslos?

ENGLISH

1.

#1:

John,thisismyhusbandHeinz.

2.

Heinz, this is J ohn Williams aus den US A.

3.

#2:

It’s a pleasure to meetyou.[literally “pleasant”]

4.

#3:

It’s a pleasure to meet you. Mr Williams, where exactly do you come from? Where is your home?


BEGINNER#4 - PRESENTING PEOPLE

2

5.

#2:

Icome from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6.

#3:

Ah.Andwhatdoyoudoforaliving?

7.

#2:

Emm...

8.

#1:

Johnworksasafreelancer.

9.

#3:

Heisunemployed?

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#1:

John,dasistmeinMannHeinz.

2.

Heinz, das ist John William s aus den USA.

3.

#2:

Angenehm.

4.

#3:

Angenehm. John, woher genau kommst du? Wo bist du zuhause?

5.

#2:

Ich komme ausHarrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6.

#3:

Aha.Undwasmachstduberuflich?

7.

#2:

Ähmm...

8.

#1:

JohnarbeitetalsFreiberufler.

9.

#3:

Eristarbeitslos?

INFORMAL ENGLISH



3

1.

#1:

John,thisismyhusbandHeinz.

2.

Heinz, this is John William s aus den USA.

3.

#2:

It’s a pleasure to meetyou. [literally “pleasant”]

4.

#3:

It’s a pleasure to meet you. John, where exactly do you come from? Where is your hom e?

5.

#2:

Icome from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6.

#3:

Ah.Andwhatdoyoudoforaliving?

7.

#2:

Emm...

8.

#1:

Johnworksasafreelancer.

9.

#3:

Heisunemployed?

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

Mann

man

angenehm

pleasant

woher

fromwhere

genau

exactly

kommen

GERMANPOD101.COM

to come

C l ass

noun

Ge nde r

plural: Männer; means “husband” when used with a possessive pronoun (e.g. "mein Mann ")

questionword

verb

weak verb


4

machen

tomake/do

verb,weakverb

weakverb

by profession, professionally

beruflich

Freiberufler

freelancer

noun, m asculine, der; literally means “free-profession-er”

arbeitslos

unemployed

adjective

masculine; literally means “freeprofession-er” literally:work-less

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Mein Mann

arb eitet hier.

Der Wind ist

angenehm .

My husband w orks here.

The wind i s pleasant.

Woher k om m st du?

Woher komm

Where are you from?

Where does Robert come from?

Der Treffp unkt ist genau

hie r.

t Rob ert?

Lisa kom m t heute nicht.

The meet-up point is here exactly.

Lisa isn't comin g today.

Die Autos machen viel L

Was machst du beruflich?

ärm .

The cars are making a lot of noise.

What is your profession?

Ich bin Freiberufler.

Bist du arbeitslos?

I am a freelancer .

Are you unemployed?

GRAMMAR

In this lesson you have en countered a couple regular verb s: “kommen” (to come), “machen” (to ma ke / do) and “arbeiten” (to work). You have encou ntered them i n various forms. Here is a com plete schem e of the present tense form s: komm -en (to come) ich komm -e (I come)

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du kom m-st (you come, inform al to one person) er / sie / es komm -t (he / she / it comes) wir komm -en (we come) ihr kom m-t (you come , informal to several people) sie kom m-en / Sie kom m-en (they come / you come, formal to one or several peop le) There are two noticeab le sim ilarities to the endings of the verb “sein”, w hich you encoun tered already: - the second person singula r ends i n –st : bist, kom mst - the third person singul ar ends in –t : ist, kom mt You wi ll find that even irregula r verbs still adopt at least t hese two en dings. The com plete forms of “machen”: ich mache, du machst, er m acht, wir m achen, ihr m acht, sie machen The com plete form s of “arbeiten”: ich arbeite, du arbeitest, er arbeitet, wir a rbeiten, ihr arbeitet, sie arbeiten Note that in Germ an there is no difference between “I work” and “I am working”; “ich arbeite” covers both.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

When being i ntroduced to som ebody, the standard thin gs to say are “Angenehm ” (It’s a pleasure) or “Freut mich” (I am j oyed), both of which have om itted “Sie kenn enzulernen ” (to meet you). It’s not wrong to use the complete p hrase “Angenehm Sie kennen zulernen ” though and you m ay hear it on forma l occasions. Careful: if the person introducing som ebody refers to him inform ally by his first nam e, that doesn’t m ean that you ma y do so either. In most cases it is expected that you will ad dress some body forma lly until he explicitly tells you otherwise – which can take a while in G ermany. When you wan t to get to know som ebody better, be aware that there are certain questions that are taboo: - you m ay not explicitly ask f or their first nam e - you m ay not ask for their age - you m ay not ask for their in come Even though you can probably guess som ebody’s wealth by their app earance a nd style of langu age, talk about mon ey is taboo for most, just like talk ab out religion . In Germ any, religi on is some thing between you and G od, a nd m aybe the church. It’s not a matter you would flaunt or discuss with ot hers. The m ajority of Germ ans are non-practicing Christians, but even i f people are very convi nced i n their belie fs it is unde rstood that they won’t try to

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convert you just as you shouldn’t be tr ying to convert them. Televangeli sts are unheard of and some money-oriented sects are actually banned , but occasionall y you may see J ehovah’ s Witnesses silently standin g in the pedestrian zones offering thei r m agazines. Germ any is actually unique whe n it comes to religion because here the p ublic schools (and there are extreme ly few private ones) have to pr ovide rel igio us education classes. The mission of Germ an high schools is to produce m ature adults who are capab le of independent thought, and wh o have som e idea of what their purpose in life is, who kno w what is good and what is wrong, and so on. That’s where the religiou s education classes come i n. Of course atheists, Muslim s and a lso everybody else can opt out of t hose classes for reasons of conscience, but then they have to take philosop hy classes instead, which strive to answer the same basic questions and ethical prob lem s. Religious edu cation classes typically com e in the flavours “Catholic” and “Protestant”, but most of the content is not specific to one particular faith. A lot of tim e is spent on getting an overview of the beliefs of Christianity and the beliefs of other religi ons (with tolerance b eing the goa l) and to discuss issues p eople mi ght need hel p with: drugs, sex, abuse, abortion and so on.

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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #5 Language issues



5 5


#


5

GERMAN

1.

#3:

HerrWilliams, sprechenSieDeutsch?

2.

#2:

Ja, ichspreche Deutsch, nurnichtviel.

3.

#3:

Inmeinem HaussprechenalleDeutsch.

4.

#2:

SprechenSiekeinEnglisch?

5.

#3:

Nein.

6.

#2:

Dann sprechen Sie bitte langsam. Ich verstehe langsames Deutsch.

ENGLISH

1.

#3:

MrWilliams,doyouspeakGerman?

2.

#2:

Yes, IspeakGerman, justnotmuch.

3.

#3:

Inmyhouse, everybodyspeaksGerman.

4.

#2:

Don’tyouspeak(any)English?

5.

#3:

No.

6.

#2:

Then please speak slowly. I understand slow German.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#3:

John,sprichstduDeutsch?


BEGINNER#5 - LANGUAGE ISSUES

2

2.

#2:

Ja, ich sprecheDeutsch, nurnichtviel.

3.

#3:

Inmeinem HaussprechenalleDeutsch.

4.

#2:

SprichstdukeinEnglisch?

5.

#3:

Nein.

6.

#2:

Dann sprich bitte langsam. Ich verstehe langsames Deutsch.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#3:

John,doyouspeakGerman?

2.

#2:

Yes, IspeakGerman, justnotmuch.

3.

#3:

Inmyhouse, everybodyspeaksGerman.

4.

#2:

Don’tyouspeak(any)English?

5.

#3:

No.

6.

#2:

Then please speak slowly. I understand slow German.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

sprechen

to speak

verb

Deutsch

German language

Ge nde r er spricht, er sprach,

GERMANPOD101.COM

er ha t gesprochen

noun, neuter, das


3

alle

all,everybody

pronoun adverb; Do not use

kein

notany,no

Englisch

English language

bitte

please

langsam

slow,slowly

"nicht" in a ddition to

Do no t use "nicht" in

this!

addition to this!

noun, neuter, das noun

er versteht, er verstehen

tounderstand

verstand, er hat

verb

verstanden

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ents chuldigung,

ich spr eche kein

Deutsch.

Ich sp reche D eutsch. I speak Germ an.

Sorry, I don't speak Germ an.

Deutsch ist eine interessante Sprache.

A l l e k o m m e n zu r Pa r t y , d u a u c h ? Everybody is com ing to the party, you too?

Germ an is an interest ing language.

Ich t rinke kei n Bier. I don't drink any beer.

Können S ie b itt e mi t mir Englisch sprechen? Could you please speak English with m e?

S prichst du Englisch?

Bitt e spr echen S ie Engl isch.

Do you speak English?

Please speak Eng lish.

Wir sp rechen imm

Ich verst ehe kei n Deutsch.

er langsam .

We always speak slowly.

GERMANPOD101.COM

I do not underst and Germ an.


4

Ich vers tehe S ie ni cht. I don't understand you.

GRAMMAR “Sprechen” (to speak) is another verb that ap pears to follow the pattern you ha ve lea rned i n the previous le sson, but here there is on e specialty: for the second and third person singu lar (singula r inform al “you” and “he / she / it”) the stem vowel chan ges from a short E to a short I. The ending s stay the sam e: sprechen (to speak) ich sprech-e (I speak) du sprich-st (you speak, inform al to one person) er / sie / es sprich-t (he / she / it speaks) wir sprech-en (we speak) ihr sprech-t (you speak, informal to several people) sie sprech-en / S ie sprech-en (they com e / you com e, formal to one or several peop le) There are several Germ an verbs that change vowel s like this, for exam ple also “brechen” (t o break). Another thing I’d like to draw your attention to is the “sprechen S ie bitte langsam ”. This is actually not the present tense anymo re but an im perative (a com mand form ). You wi ll find i t extremel y easy though because the forma l im perative (the one to use with peop le that you call “S ie”) is exactly the same as the formal present tense form for regular verbs , just inverted. The informal imperative, which wasn’t used in the main dialogue, corresponds to just the word stem without any endi ng. In the case of vowel-changing verbs , i t’s a stem that includes the vowel chang e. Examples: Sprechen S ie bitte langsam er! – Please speak more slowl y! (formal ) Sprich bitte langsam er! – Please speak more slo wly! (informa l) Komm en S ie nach Deuts chland! – Com e to Germany! (f ormal) Komm nach Deuts chland! – Come to Germ any! (informal)

CULTURAL INSIGHT In Germ any, English i s a m andatory subject at school for at least 5 years, 7 i f you want to go to university. It’s also increasin gly present in kindergartens. However, the quali ty of instruction varies a l ot and m ost people won’t rem em ber any o f their English 10 years after they have gone to school, unless they have had to use it oft en in the m eantim e – hence if you want to

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

ask a Germ an som ething in Engl ish, you r best bet is a student or a businessman. Among other groups, understanding of English is actually quite low. For exam ple, in a recent study more than 50% of Germ ans were una ble to understand Engli sh slogans used in Germ an TV ads, things as sim ple as “where m oney lives”. This is another reason for you to learn G erman of course! Other than English, French is the most commonly studied foreign language, followed by Latin. However, these wouldn ’t norma lly be studied instead of E nglish, rather, they are studied as a second foreign la nguage . In Eastern Germ any, R ussian used to be the mo st com mon foreign lang uage. If you intend to go to university, you will h ave to study two foreign langu ages for at least 5 years each at high schoo l, which i s supposed to give you fluen t com mand of them . You have the o ption of studying up t o 4 foreign langua ges even, but few will d o that – foreign l anguag e classes, once chosen, can usual ly not be dropped easily, and they will e ffect your mark average .

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #6 The morning after



5 6


#


6

GERMAN

1.

#1:

GutenMorgen,John!

2.

#2:

GutenMorgen,Michaela!

3.

#1:

WiegehtesIhnenheute?

4.

#2:

Gut,danke.

5.

#1:

Mein Mann ist schon auf der Arbeit. Wir sind allein.

6.

#2:

Schön.Wasgibteszum Frühstück?

ENGLISH

1.

#1:

Goodmorning,John!

2.

#2:

Goodmorning,Michaela!

3.

#1:

Howareyoutoday?

4.

#2:

Good,thanks.

5.

#1:

My husband is already atwork.We are alone.

6.

#2:

Nice.What'sforbreakfast?

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#1:

GutenMorgen,John!


BEGINNER#6 - THE MORNING AFTER

2

2.

#2:

GutenMorgen,Michaela!

3.

#1:

Wiegehtesdirheute?

4.

#2:

Gut,danke.

5.

#1:

Mein Mann ist schon auf der Arbeit. Wir sind allein.

6.

#2:

Schön.Wasgibteszum Frühstück?

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#1:

Goodmorning,John!

2.

#2:

Goodmorning,Michaela!

3.

#1:

Howareyoutoday?

4.

#2:

Good,thanks.

5.

#1:

My husband is already atwork.We are alone.

6.

#2:

Nice.What'sforbreakfast?

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

GERMANPOD101.COM

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r


3

expression; literally: literally: “How goes it

“How goe s it to Wie geht es dir?

How are you? (informal)

you?”, for mal

to you?”, for mal

version is "Wie geht

version is "Wie geht

es Ihnen?"

es Ihnen?" masculine

Morgen

morning

noun

heute

today

noun

schon

already

adverb preposition; also used for some cases

auf

allein(e)

on, onto

alone

also used for some cases where English

where English would

would use “in” or

use “in” or “at”, as

“at”, as prepositions

prepositions usually

usually don 't

don't correspond

correspond across

across languages.

languages.

adverb noun, feminine, die;

Arbeit

zum Frühstück

work

forbreakfast

com pare to

com pare to

"arbeitslos" -

"arbeitslos" -

unemployed

unemployed

expression

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Wie geht es I hnen, Herr Müller? How are you, Mr Müller?

Heute ist ein wunderschöner Morgen. Today is a beautiful m orning.

Guten Morgen! Good m ornin g!

Heute gi bt es Freib ier i n der A l ts ta d t. Today there is free beer [availab le] in the old town.

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Bist du schon m üde?

Die Z eitung lieg

t auf dem Tisc h.

Are you tired already?

The newspaper lies on the table.

V e r s te h s t d u m i c h , w e n n i c h a u f

Hausarbeit ma

Englisch spreche?

allein.

Do you und erstand me w hen I speak on

The house wo rk doesn't do itself.

cht s ich nicht von

(in) English?

Das ist einz ig und al lein dei ne

Komm st du allein oder komm

Schuld.

Mann auch?

t dein

That's solely an d onl y your fault.

Are you com ing alone or is your husband coming, too?

Das ist eine sehr angenehm

e

A r be i t .

Es gibt Brot z um Frühstück. There's bread for breakfast.

That is a very pleasant/nice [type of] work.

GRAMMAR You alread y learned that “der” is used for masculin e nouns, “di e” is used for femi nine nou ns and “das” i s used for neuter nouns. S o far so good. However, we know for a fact that “Arbeit”(work) is femin ine an d you hea rd the phrase “auf der Arb eit” in the dia logue . This is because German has something called cases. Cases mean that you change words depending on the circum stances in which they are used. I n this case, using a w ord as a preposition requi res a di fferent case than usin g it as the subject of t he sentence, the one w ho does som ething. In Germ an, most of the changes are m ade to the article, so that t he noun stays recogniz able. “der”, “d ie” and “das” are the articles you use for sub jects, depending on the gender o f the word. This changes to “dem”, “der” and “dem ” when you use the same word after a preposition. Take “Arbeit” as an example. A sentence with “Arbeit” as the subject is “Die Arbeit ist schwer.” (the wo rk is hard). It is “die Arb eit”, sin ce “Arbeit” is fem inine . “die” change s to “der” how ever after prepositions, so it is “Ich bin auf de r Arbeit” (I am at [the] work). Another exam ple with “das Haus”: “Das Haus ist schön.” (the house is nice) BUT “Ich bin auf dem Haus” (I am on top of the house).

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

There is one m ore thing to pay at tention to: when the endin g of a preposition is -n or a vowel, the Dative -m of “dem ” will sim ply add i tself to the preposition, so that you only hear on e word: in dem If you want to say “I am i n the house” (I am inside it), you ha ve to say “Ich bin im Haus”. In very colloquial Germ an you can even hear contrac tions like “auf m” instead of “auf dem ”, “ausm” instead of “aus dem”, and so on!

CULTURAL INSIGHT In Germany, the vast majority of people have a 9-to-5 (or 8-to-4) job and are happy with that. They always get up at the sam e tim e, d rive or com mute to the office (very few have a hom e office!) and spend the requi red am ount of hours there. Then, they go hom e and rel ax and don't think m uch of their work anym ore until the next day. T his way, w ork and lei sure is separated quite strictly and you will hardly find people wh o work flexible hours or who d o more work at hom e. You wil l also find le ss entrepreneuria l spirit and less people who cla im that work should be f un. Structures are harder he re, l ess open to divergi ng from the rules or the required. Laws and reg ulations take the em ployee's side of an issue rea lly often. Trade uni ons are strong, weekly average hou rs are low, la ws require com panies to give you plenty of holi days, to contribute a lot to your m andatory health care an d pension plans and to pay you a lo t more if you work overtime, night or S undays. This is very nice for t he em ployee and it doesn't seem to hurt the econom y too much, but it has a few down sides for custom ers, such as com paratively strict opening hours and h ardly anything being open on S undays. If you are planni ng to party over the weekend, be sure you buy everyt hing you need on Fridays, because on S undays you wo n't be able to and on S aturdays there are typically hu ge crowds shopping, because of the S unday rush an d also because on S aturdays a lot of shop s close around 2 pm or so already. In the biggest cities, such as Berlin, you will be able to find 24 hou r stores, but everywhere else you a re reall y lim ited to kiosks and gas stations t o provide everyday items.

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #7 Breakfast Time!



5 6


#


7

GERMAN

1.

#2:

WasgibteszumFrühstück?

2.

#1:

EsgibtBrötchen, Butter, Marmelade...

3.

#2:

Gibteskeine Eier?OderPfannkuchen?

4.

#1:

Pfannkuchenzum Frühstück???

5.

#2:

Oder Würstchen? In Deutschland isst man viele Würstchen, oder?

6.

#1:

IchmacheIhneneinEiundWürstchen.

ENGLISH

1.

#2:

What’sforbreakfast?

2.

#1:

Therearerolls,butter,jam…

3.

#2:

Aren’tthereanyeggs?Orpancakes?

4.

#1:

Pancakesforbreakfast???

5.

#2:

Or sausages? In Germany people eat a lot of sausages, don’t they?

6.

#1:

I’llmakeyouaneggandsausage.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#2:

WasgibteszumFrühstück?


BEGINNER#7 - BREAKFAST TIME!

2

2.

#1:

EsgibtBrötchen, Butter, Marmelade...

3.

#2:

GibteskeineEier? OderPfannkuchen?

4.

#1:

Pfannkuchenzum Frühstück???

5.

#2:

Oder Würstchen? In Deutschland isst man viele Würstchen, oder?

6.

#1:

IchmachedireinEiundWürstchen.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#2:

What’sforbreakfast?

2.

#1:

Therearerolls,butter,jam…

3.

#2:

Aren’tthereanyeggs?Orpancakes?

4.

#1:

Pancakesforbreakfast???

5.

#2:

Or sausages? In Germany people eat a lot of sausages, don’t they?

6.

#1:

I’llmakeyouaneggandsausage.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r neuter; plural is the

Brötchen

GERMANPOD101.COM

roll

noun,neuter,das

same


3

pronoun; used to talk man

one, you, people

about people in

used to talk about

general; don’t

people in g eneral;

confuse with

don’t confuse with

“Mann” (man)

“Mann” (man) er isst, er aß, e r hat

essen

Würstchen

eat to

littlesausage

verb

gegessen

noun, neuter, das; -

neuter; plural is the

chen m akes this little

sam e; -chen m akes

or cute

this little or cute masculine; plural is

Pfannkuchen

pancake

noun,masculine,der

the sam e

conjunction; used as oder

Ei

or

egg

“isn’t it?”-type

used as “isn’t it?”-

question at the end

type question at the

of a sentence.

end of a sentence.

noun

neuter; plural: Eier feminine; plural:

Marmelade

Butter

jam

butter

noun, feminine, die;

Marmeladen; any

any kind of jam; what the British call

kind of jam ; what the British call

marm elade (on t he

marmelade (on t he

basis of orang es) is

basis of orang es) is

uncommon.

uncommon.

noun

feminine;noplural

personal pronoun; dir

you to

Dative of “du”

Dative of “du”

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich esse gerne Brötchen.

Wie sagt man "train" auf Deutsch?

I like eating rolls.

How do you say "train" in Germ an?

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Ich esse gerne Brötchen

.

V e g e ta r i e r e s s e n k e i n e B u tt e r , s i e essen Margarine.


Vegetarians don 't eat (any) butter, they eat margarine.

In Deutschland g

ibt es richtig

leckere Würstchen.

Ich li ebe Blau beer-P fannkuchen . I love blueberry pancakes.

In Germany there are really delicious sausages.

Ich muss doch nicht alles auf

Reicht eine J

einm al b ez ahlen, oder?

einen Mantel?

acke oder b rauche ich

But I don't have to pay everyt hing at once,

Is a jacket enough or wi ll I need a coat?

do I?

Ein Huhn legt ein Ei.

Der Koch hat ein Ei ge

A chicken lays an egg.

The cook fried an eg g.

Möcht est du ein Marmelade?

V e g e ta r i e r e s s e n k e i n e B u tt e r , s i e essen Margarine.

Brot mit

Do you wan t a [piece of] bread with jam ?

braten.

Vegetarians don 't eat (any) butter, they eat margarine.

Kann ich dir helfen? Can I help you?

GRAMMAR

In this lesson we’ ll have a first look at t he plural. In Ge rman, plurals are som etim es hard to predict, so we will com e back to the topic of plurals i n a la ter lesson, too. The easiest nouns are the ones en ding in –er, -en or –el, because they don’t change at all for plural. You can only tell by the article: instead of having to pick between “der”, “die” and “das”, i t will al ways be “die” for plural. Examples:

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

der Freiberufler – di e Freiberufler (the freela ncer – the freela ncers) das Brötchen – die Brötchen (the roll – the roll s) der Zettel – die Zettel (the note – the notes) Easy so far, i sn’t it? A lot of words are in this category, b ecause –er is a very comm on endi ng for professions or nationalities and the li ke and –chen is the dim inutive endi ng. Note that the word “G ebäude” (building), which you al ready learne d, i s also part of this category, d espite not having a ny of the characteristic endings. Then there’s a category of nouns endi ng in som e other consonant and that will add –er for plural, for example: das Lied – die Lieder (the song – the songs) das Ei – die Eier (the egg – the eggs) A special case in this category are words that will add –er but also add two dots above the vowel. This is usually the case when there’s only a singl e vowel in the word. Examples: der Mann – die Männer (t he m an – the men) das Buch – die Bücher (the book – the books )

CULTURAL INSIGHT Most Germ ans wi ll eat bread or roll s with butter for breakfast. Further toppings can vary: jam , honey, Nutella (a chocolate-hazelnut spread), cheese, ham or cut sausage. Peanut butter is uncomm on. Som e people also regularly include yoghurt, curds, cereal, fruit or b oiled eggs in their breakfast diet, o r eat croissants in addition to roll s. Apart from eggs, it’s very uncomm on to have some thing that requires heating or cooking e ven. In exchange, there is a really big selection of d ifferent types of bread and rolls. People typically buy these im mediately a t a bakery, and at a typical bakery you can find at least 6 types of rolls, 12 types of bread and lots of deli cious cakes an d pastries. As a breakfast drink, regular coffee is very popular with adults, though Italian coffee variants like cappuccino, caffé latte and espresso are getting m ore popular. A m inority drinks tea instead. Children a re usually gi ven hot cocoa or mi lk, or m aybe juice. A specialty drink is hot milk with a spoonful of honey, this is said to be good ag ainst coughing a nd sore throats.

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #8 Breakfast Time! 2



5 6


#


8

GERMAN

1.

1:

Herr Williams, trinken Sie Kaffee zum Frühstück? Oder lieber Tee?

2.

#2:

Kaffeeistgut.

3.

#1:

HieristIhrKaffee.

4.

#2:

Danke.

5.

#1:

Herr Williams, geben Sie mir bitte den Honig.

6.

#2:

Bitte.

7.

#1:

Danke.

8.

#2:

Ich nehme mir noch zwei Würstchen, istdas okay?

9.

#1:

Ja.

ENGLISH

1.

#1:

Mr Williams, do you drink coffee for breakfast? Or [would you] rather [have] tea?

2.

#2:

Coffeeisgood.

3.

#1:

Here’syourcoffee.

4.

#2:

Thanks.

5.

#1:

John,pleasegivemethehoney.


BEGINNER #8 - BREAKFAST TIME! 2

2

6.

#2:

Hereyouare.

7.

#1:

Thanks.

8.

#2:

I’m takingtwomoresausages, okay?

9.

#1:

Yes.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#1:

John, trinkst du Kaffee zum Frühstück? Oder lieber Tee?

2.

#2:

Kaffeeistgut.

3.

#1:

HieristdeinKaffee.

4.

#2:

Danke.

5.

#1:

John,gibmirbittedenHonig.

6.

#2:

Bitte.

7.

#1:

Danke.

8.

#2:

Ichnehme mirnoch zwei Würstchen, okay?

9.

#1:

Ja.

INFORMAL ENGLISH



3

1.

#1:

John, do you drink coffee for breakfast? Or [would you] rather [have] tea?

2.

#2:

Coffeeisgood.

3.

#1:

Here’syourcoffee.

#2:

Thanks.

5.

#1:

John,pleasegivemethehoney.

6.

#2:

Hereyouare.

7.

#1:

Thanks.

8.

#2:

I’m takingtwomoresausages, okay?

9.

#1:

Yes.

4.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

trinken

to drink

verb

noch

still;yet;another

adverb

Ge nde r

vowel-changing verb: ich nehm e, du nehmen

to take

verb

nimm st, er nimmt, wir nehmen…

Honig

honey

noun,masculine,der

masculine;noplural

personal pronoun; mir

GERMANPOD101.COM

me to

Dative

Dative


4

vowel-changing verb: ich gebe, du

geben

to give

verb

gibst, er g ibt, wir geben…

dein

your(informal)

possessivepronoun

Tee

tea

noun

lieber

rather

adverb

zwei

two (2)

masculine; no plural

numeral

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ic h trinke imm

er Kaff ee, wenn ich

arbeite.

Ich t rinke kein Bi

er.

I don't drink an y beer.

I always drink coffee when I work.

Es ist noch Winter.

Nim m di r noch ein Stück

It's still winter.

Take another piece of me at!

Ic h trinke gerne Milch mi

t Honig.

Fleisch!

Bitte gib mi r etwas z u trinken!

I like drinking m ilk with honey.

Please give m e som ething to drink!

Bitte gib mir e

Dein Haus ist sehr groß.

twas z u trinken !

Please give me something to drink!

Your house is very big.

Komm st du allein oder komm

Möcht est du einen

t dein

Mann auch?

grünen Tee?

Would you like some green tea?

Are you com ing alone or is your husband coming, too?

Isst du li eber Steak oder S

chnitz el?

Do you prefer eating steak or schnitzel?

Möchtest du ein ode

r z wei

Brötchen? Do you want one or two rolls?

GRAMMAR GERMANPOD101.COM


5

Rem em ber cases from the 6th beginn er lesson? You alrea dy saw the Nom inative case, the default case for which “der”, “die” an d “das” don’t change. In the 6 th lesson, you al so saw the Dative case, which turns the art icles into “dem ”, “der” and “dem ”. The Dative case is usually used a fter prepositions, or al so for people w hen they are the o bject of a sen tence. For example, we m et “dir” in the last les son’s dialog, and “mir” in this lesson’s dialog, and they are the Dative equival ents of “du” and “ich”. Now in today’s lesson, we’ll have a glance at another case, the Acc usative. As the nam e suggests, this case would be used i n the sentence “You accuse m e of…” – the “m e” in there is the Accusative of “I”. However, the Accusative is not lim ited to that sentence. In Germ an, it’s used whe never a thing i s an object of a sentence (as opposed to the Dative case, w hich is for people), and som etim es it’s even used for people as well! We’ll dive m ore into those irregul arities later, for now it’s enough if you remem ber that: - Nom inative is used for the subject of a sentence, for dictionary entries and the like - Dative is used after m ost prepositions and it is often used when people are the object of a sentence - Accusative i s used w hen things or people are the object of a sen tence Just like the other cas es, Accusative does not require any change to the noun, only the article changes. Instead of “der”, “di e” and “das” you get “den”, “die”, “das” – so actually you on ly need to pay attention to m asculine n ouns. And for plural, the article doesn’t change either, it’s still “die”. Here’s a li ttle overview of the forms of “der”, “die ” and “das” in the forms that we’ve encountered so far. You can find a n absolutely complete list of f orm s in the G ram mar Bank. Singular Nom inative: der, die, das Dative: dem , der, dem Accusative: den, die, das Plural Nom inative: die, die, die Accusative: die, die, die

CULTURAL INSIGHT There are some things you should know a bout having m eals in G erm any. First is, that people general ly try to have me als together, as a fam ily or as a group of friends, and people are adverse to eating regular meals “on the side”, that is, while watching TV, while standing or anything that does not involve sitting dow n at a table together with others and eating le isurely. Once everybody has sat down, som ebody wil l say “Guten Appetit” (to wish peop le a good appetite or enjoym ent of the m eal), others will respond the same or “Danke, gleichfalls” (thanks, to you too) or the like and then everybody can start eating. It ’s im polite to

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

start before everybody has sat dow n or before wishing people a goo d appetite. Som e fam ili es will also pray before the meal , an d if you’re with a big p arty, some body m ay want to make a speech before people start eating. In order no t to comm it a faux pas, just assume things are going to be this way. If really p eople want you to start without them, they will tell you. Once you’re done, don’t just get up but wait until everyb ody else i s done, too, so that you don’t ruin the calm atmosphere… people don’t like feeling hurried d uring their m eal. Again, if it’s different, people will tell you that you can alrea dy leave. People like to drink beer with sim ple di shes and wi ne wi th mo re fancy dishes. Very often, especiall y when i t’s for lunch, people will just have water or Apfelschorle instead though. Apfelschorle is apple jui ce mi xed with carbonated m ineral w ater. It’s refreshing and quite healthy. Note that some hou seholds wil l not have any soda, lem onade or non -carbonated water. Restaurants and cafés always have soda (though the selection is different in Germ any than in the states), but still no le monade or non-carbonated wa ter.

GERMANPOD101.COM


7

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #9 The Weather



5 6


#


9

GERMAN

1.

#2:

Frau Wucher, wie wird das Wetter heute? Wird es kalt?

2.

#1:

Nein, es wird wahrscheinlich sehr schön warm und sonnig.

3.

#2:

Wirdessehrwarmsein?

4.

#1:

Nein,nichtzuwarm.

5.

#2:

Dann werde ich Jeans tragen. Wird es später Regen geben?

6.

#1:

Wahrscheinlichnicht.

7.

#2:

Gut.

ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Ms Wucher, how is the weather going to be today?

2.

#1:

Itwill probably be very nice warm and sunny.

3.

#2:

Willitbeverywarm?

4.

#1:

No,nottoowarm.

5.

#2:

Then I will wear jeans. Will there be rain later?

6.

#1:

Probablynot.

7.

#2:

Good.

INFORMAL GERMAN CONT'D OVER GERMANPOD101.COM

BEGINNER#9 - THE WEATHER

2

1.

#2:

Michaela, wie wird das Wetter heute? Wird es kalt?

2.

#1:

Nein, es wird wahrscheinlich sehr schön warm und sonnig.

3.

#2:

Wirdessehrwarmsein?

4.

#1:

Nein,nichtzuwarm.

5.

#2:

Dann werde ich Jeans tragen. Wird es später Regen geben?

6.

#1:

Wahrscheinlichnicht.

7.

#2:

Gut.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Michaela, how is the weather going to be today?

2.

#1:

Itwill probably be very nice warm and sunny.

3.

#2:

Willitbeverywarm?

4.

#1:

No,nottoowarm.

5.

#2:

Then I will wear jeans. Will there be rain later?

6.

#1:

Probablynot.

7.

#2:

Good.

VOCABULARY

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3

G e r m an

E ng l i sh

C lass

Ge nde r when no t used as a question word, “wie”

wie

how

pronoun

has the meaning of “as”

tragen

towear;tocarry

verb

zu

too(much)

adverb/preposition

dann

then

später

later

adverb

sonnig

sunny

adjective

wahrscheinlich

probably

adverb

kalt

cold

adjective

Wetter

weather

noun

Regen

rain

noun

adverb

pluralisthesame masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Wie ist dein Nam e?

Wie heißt du?

What's your name ?

How are you called?

Unser Baum

Für diesen Ausf

trägt v iele Fr üchte

lug sollten S

ie

dieses Jahr.

w i d e r s ta n d s fä h i g e K l e i d u n g tr a g e n .

Our tree i s carrying a l ot of fruits this year.

You shoul d wear re sistant, as in resistant to wind or rain, clothing for this excursion.

Er trägt nur Markenklamotten. He onl y wears brand-nam e clothes.

Die S chwest ern tragen heute das gleiche Kleid. The sisters are wearing the same d ress today.

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4

Die Am eisen tragen Ess

en.

The ants are carrying food.

Ic h trage einen Helm

.

I'm w earing a hel met. / I'm carrying a helmet.

Das i st z u teuer.

Morgen arb eite ich und da

That is too expensive.

nn fliege

ich nach Bost on. Tomorrow I work and then I fly to Boston.

Es wird spät er Reg en ge ben.

Es ist ein sonnig er Morgen.

There will be rain later.

It's a sunny m orning.

Wahrs cheinlich wi

Heute ist es kalt.

rd es regnen.

It will probably rain.

Today it's cold.

Das Wett er heu te ist sehr schwül.

Es wird spät er Reg en geben.

The weather is really humid today.

There will be rain later.

GRAMMAR A question like "Wie wird das Wetter morgen?" (How is the weather going to be tomorrow?) requires the future t ense. In Ge rma n, the future is formed usin g a form o f werden and the infinitive o f the verb you i ntend to use.Unfortunately werden is no t just a vowel-changi ng verb but also irregular. T he forms are: ich werde, d u wirst, er wird, w ir werden, ihr werdet, sie werden Also, you need to be careful whenever there are two verbs (or auxiliary + verb) in a German sentence: the second o ne wil l go to the end of the sentence. Com pare for exam ple "ich esse einen Pfannkuchen" (I eat a p ancake) and "Ich werde einen Pfannkuchen essen" (I will eat a pancake) - this l iterally translates to "I will a pancake eat" and soun ds a bit like Yoda, but in Germ an it's the onl y right way to say this. The special expression "es gibt" (there is/are) changes to "es wird g eben" (there wil l be), a nd this is often used whe n talking about the weather, for example you will often hear "es wird Regen g eben”(there wil l be rain). Finally, you can al so dism iss all of this and use the present tense with a future m eanin g when

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5

the context is clear: for exam ple in the la st lesson we he ard "ich nehm e m ir noch zwei Würstchen", me aning "I will take two m ore sausages" rather t han "I am taking two m ore sausages".

CULTURAL INSIGHT The weather in Ge rmany is quite typical for its region. As in the rem aini ng countries of centr al Europe, a temperate cool and cl oudy weather do minates. The wea ther in the northern part of Germ any is influenced by winds from the North S ea m ost of the tim e, so tem peratures over 28°C in summ er and below 0°C in wi nter are rare (note t hat everybody in G erm any uses degrees Cel sius and m ay not have heard of Fahrenheit). If you want to do wi nter sports during Christm as time , you either have to visit the southern p art of Germ any or one of the indoor-skiing cen ters that have becom e very popular i n the last years in the northern part of Germ any. For people in the “Ruhrpott ” (a m egalo polis i n the north west) and the surroundin g areas it is a very comm on custom to go to the “B aggerloch” on hot summ er days to swim , relax or just enjoy the weather. T hese “Baggerlöcher” (= plural of “Baggerloch”) are huge m an-made lakes whi ch are a rel ict of the gravel -mining in the area. If you want to go to one of these, be cautious: There are som e “Baggerlö cher” which are opened for the public and guaranteed to be safe to swim in but many m ore are fenced i n and officiall y part of a company site. Typically, no one wi ll care if someon e com es there to swim and there will be f ewer people than in the others but you never know if it m ight be dangerous to swim there as there could be old steel cables in the water or the water dept h could i ncrease suddenl y, so if you go there take som eone wi th you who knows where its safe.

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #10 Jetlagged in Düsseldorf



4 5


#

10


GERMAN

1.

#1:

WaswerdenSieheutemachen?

2.

#2:

Ich bin mir noch nicht sicher. Wahrscheinlich werde ich mir Düsseldorf ansehen, aber ich bin auch sehr mü de...

3.

#1:

Das istder JetLag.Ruhen Sie sich heute aus.

4.

#2:

Aber ich bin in Deutschland! Ich werde mir die Umgebung ansehen. Kommen Sie m it?

5.

#1:

Jetzt?

ENGLISH

1.

#1:

Whatareyougoingtodotoday?

2.

#2:

I’m n ot sure yet myself. I will probably have a look at Düsseldorf, but I am also very tired...

3.

#1:

It’sthejetlag.Relaxtoday.

4.

#2:

But I am in Germany! I will have a look at the surroundings. Are you com ing along?

5.

#1:

Now?

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#1:

Waswirstduheutemachen?


BEGINNER #10 - JETLAGGED IN DüSSELDORF

2

2.

#2:

Ich bin mir noch nicht sicher. Wahrscheinlich werde ich mir Düsseldorf ansehen,

3.

aber ich bin auch sehr m üde...

4.

#1:

DasistderJetLag.Ruhdichheuteaus.

#2:

Aber ich bin in Deutschland! Ich werde mir die Umgebung ansehen. Komm st du mit?

#1:

Jetzt?

5.

6.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#1:

Whatareyougoingtodotoday?

2.

#2:

I’m n ot sure yet myself. I will probably have a look at Düsseldorf, but I am also very tired...

3.

#1:

It’sthejetlag.Relaxtoday.

4.

#2:

But I am in Germany! I will have a look at the surroundings. Are you coming along?

5.

#1:

Now?

VOCABULARY G e r m an sicher mitkommen

GERMANPOD101.COM

E ng li sh sure tocomealong

C l ass

Ge nde r

adjective verb


3

Umgebung

surroundings

noun,feminine,die

Deutschland

Germany

propernoun

you, you rself (often

pronoun; Accusative

dich

not translated)

of “du”

ausruhen

relax

verb

auch

also

adverb

aber

but

conjunction

ansehen

havealookat

jetzt

now

feminine

Accusative of “du” splitting verb

er sieht an, er sah an, er hat angesehen

verb adverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Bist du dir sicher?

Möcht est du mi tkomm en?

Are you sure?

Would you like t o come along?

Wir fahren nach Deutschland.

Ich ma g dich.

We go to Germany.

I like you.

Lass uns heute ausruhen

.

Ich möchte auch Deutsch lernen.

Let´s relax today.

I also want t o learn Germ an.

A be r i c h w o l l t e d o c h fe r n s e h e n !

Ich werde mir die S

But I wanted to watch TV!

I will have a l ook at the town.

Ich mö chte jetz t gehen.

Wo wohn st du j etz t?

I want to go now.

Where do you live now?

tadt ansehen.

GRAMMAR

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4

Ansehe n , ausruhen

and mitkommen are exam ples of a new species of Germ an verbs, whi ch you haven’t met so far: splitting verbs. There are certain prefixes t hat are som etim es connected to the verb and som etim es split off. “an”, “aus” and “m it” are amon g them. They stay connected for the infinitive (and hence al so for the future tense, which con sists of werden and the infinitive) , and on som e other occasions, which w e’ll cover later. They split off for the present tense, and the prefix then goes to the end o f the sentence. A lot of splitting verbs can be easily identified because they match phrasal verbs in English: verbs such as “com e along ”, “bring along”, “go out”, “go a way”, “le ave behind ”… You can also identify them by the prefix – it’s always the sam e prefixes that split off, and eventually you will recognize them instinctively. Here is an exam ple o f phrases with splitt ing verbs: Ich werde ausgehen. (Ic h gehe aus.) Komm st du m it? Nein, ich ruhe m ich lieber aus. (I will go ou t / I go out. Are you comi ng alo ng? No, I [would ] rather relax [m yself] [out].)

CULTURAL INSIGHT In German residential areas, depending on what an area you are in, you will see everyt hing from detached hou ses with gardens in front of them to apartmen t build ings with sma llish playground s in the backyard. The rather narrow streets always have sid ewalks an d m ost of the time a separated bicycle path, too. Small shops selling product s of everyday life, barbers, bakeries and som e sma ll superm arkets in the nearer surround ings m ake sure you don´t have to go far t o get everything you need, whereas the real la rge superm arkets, do-it-yourself stores and so on usual ly are a sma ll di stance outside of the residential area nearer to the town center. Elem entary schools and kindergartens are also often found near the residential areas, sometimes even directly inside of them. As there are several different types of secondary schools, they need to be more centered so everyone can reach them as easy as possible. Therefore they are usual ly near the town center or at least som ewhere you can ea sily go by bus from most suburbs and the surrounding a rea. Churches are usually sp read all o ver town, if you are in a rather old and/or sma ll city there´s usually a sing le church in the town center and m aybe a few in the suburbs. This is a relic of me dieval tim es, whe n “city” just meant a few houses st andin g near together and the church m arked the center.

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #11 10 things tourists must know



5 5


#

11


GERMAN

1.

(lautes Klingeln)

2.

#1:

Hey, Sie! Gehen Sie zur Seite! Das ist der Fahrradweg!

3.

#2:

Fahrradweg?

4.

#1:

Ja.Haben Sie keine Augen im Kopf?? Der Gehweg istda!

5.

#2:

Oh,Entschuldigung.

6.

#1:

NächstesMal machenSiedieAugenauf!

ENGLISH

1.

(loud ringing)

2.

#1:

Hey, you!Go to the side!This is the bicycle path!

3.

#2:

Bikepath?

4.

#1:

Yes. Don’t you have any eyes [in the head]?? The sidewalk is there!

5.

#2:

Oh,excuseme.

6.

#1:

Nexttime,openyoureyes!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

(lautes Klingeln)


BEGINNER#11 - 10 THINGSTOURISTS MUST KNOW

2

2.

#1:

Hey, du!Geh zur Seite!Das istder Fahrradweg!

3.

#2:

Fahrradweg?

4.

#1:

Ja.Hastdu keine Augen im Kopf?? Der Gehweg istda!

5.

#2:

Oh,Entschuldigung.

6.

#1:

NächstesMalmachdieAugenauf!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

(loud ringing)

2.

#1:

Hey, you!Go to the side!This is the bicycle path!

3.

#2:

Bikepath?

4.

#1:

Yes. Don’t you have any eyes [in the head]?? The sidewalk is there!

5.

#2:

Oh,excuseme.

6.

#1:

Nexttime,openyoureyes!

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r not used for "going

gehen

togo,towalk

verb

by car" which woul d be "(Auto) fahren"

nächstesMal

GERMANPOD101.COM

nexttime

phrase


3

da

there

adverb

Kopf

head

noun

Auge

eye

noun

Seite

side

noun,feminine,die

Gehweg

sidewalk

noun,masculine,der

masculine

Fahrradweg

bikepath

noun,masculine,der

masculine

masculine neuter, plural: "Die Augen" feminine

irregula r; ich habe, du hast, er hat, wir haben

have to

verb

haben, ihr habt, sie haben

aufmachen

open

verb;splittingverb

"auf"splitsoff

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ic h gehe nach Am

erika.

Lass uns ins Kino

I go to America.

gehen.

Let's go to the m ovies.

Nächst es Mal wird al

les anders.

Die Post ist da!

Next time i t will be com pletely different.

The ma il is there! [has arr ived]

Er steht da drüben.

Er nickt mit dem

He stands over there.

He nods with his head.

Mach die Augen au

f!

Kopf .

Du m usst auf der recht

en S eite

fahren.

Open your eyes!

You have to dri ve on the right side.

Die S eiten dieses Buches s

ind total

verklebt.

Es gib t imm er z wei S eiten. There are always two sides.

The pages of this books are sticking together really hard.

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Dies ist ein Geh weg.

Der Fahrradweg

This is a sidewalk.

The bike path is over there.

Du ha st eine große Kla

ppe.

ist dort.

Haben S ie Z eit?

You have a big m outh.

Do you have time?

Machst du bitte das Fenster auf?

Kannst du die Tür aufmachen?

Would you please op en the win dow?

Can you open the door?

GRAMMAR Todays Gram mar Point features a very important Germa n verb: haben - to have While this is un doubtedly on e of the m ost im portant verbs, i t also happens to be irregular. Therefore it is: ich habe du hast er hat wir haben ihr habt sie haben In the future tense, it behaves li ke a reg ular verb: ich werde haben du wi rst haben etc. Examples: Ich habe ein Auto. - I have a car. Du ha st ein Hau s. - You ha ve a hou se. Er hat keine Arbeit. - He doesn't have work. Wir werden schönes Wetter haben. - We wi ll have beautiful weather. This verb is very versat ile, because you can use it in a lo t of cases.You can use it to say that you are hungry or thirsty or to brag about personal belong ings.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

When you come to G erm any you will find that bikes often go on the side walk. For child ren it is accepted to ride their bikes on the sid ewalk. Adults are basically e xpected to ride their bike on the street, un less of course there is a Fahrradweg(bike path). So if you don't want to end up in a sim ilar situation as J ohn, it mi ght be worth to have a look at some i mportant street signs. For exam ple: If you see a round blue sign, with a wom an hold ing the hand of a child on the left, a vertical line in the m iddl e and a bike on the right, then this is the sign that t he sidewa lk is shared and both pedestrians and bikes can use the full width of the path. A blue round sign with a wom an holding the hand of a child on the upper half, a horizontal line in the m iddle and a bike in the lo wer hal f indicates that both bikes and pedestrians each have a separated section of the path. This is often ind icated by a line or by a different pavem ent color. There is also a round b lue sign onl y showing the wom an hold ing the hand of a child. T his means bikes mustn’t go on the side walk. Instead they are supposed to go al ong the very right edge of the street. And these are only a few vital signs for pedestrians. Streets signs are very vital to understand what's going on around you and if you are planning to come to G ermany, then you should study street signs m ore in depth, as a lot of signs loo k different than they do i n the US A. But there are a lso a few other unspoken rules you shoul d be aware of. One of them is the " right beforeleft" rule. If you are driving your car in residen tial areas you wil l find that there are hard ly any street signs and alm ost no trafic lights. So if two or more cars approach a cross-way, it is simply expected for the one without a car to his right side to go first. You wi ll al so find that this m akes pedestrians reall y secure when crossing streets near such a point. Sin ce the cars are supposed to slow dow n and che ck for other drivers anyway, pedestrians also expect the car to wait till they crossed the street. You wo n't have to worry about s treet signs when you go by train, however there are also a few rules to keep in m ind. Especially w hen you ri de a l ong-distance train, many seats are reserved. I f you sit there you will have to get up when/if t he person who reserved the seat com es in. S o it spares you a lo t of trouble i f you don't just avoid sitting in reserved seats, but also reserve a seat of your ow n. This costs a sm all fee, but if your train j ourney lasts a few hours it is wel l worth it. However, be careful which class you book. The first class is way m ore expensive but also m ore lu xurious. Unless you bought a first class ticket , you real ly should n't sit there. If you aren't sure which class you just entered, you can either take a look at the wagons, sin ce there is usually a num ber indicating the class on the outs ide, or on the walls and doors, since you will often find

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

the indicating num ber there, too. Unfortunately this only counts if you are traveling l ong-distance, on the ICE, IC or EC type train. If you travel regi onal you should m ake sure to get your ticket before you enter the train, because you can't just buy them in the train when you are traveling re gional and there are som e pretty high fines if one ge ts caught dodging the fare. The sam e goe s when you travel by bus. It is alw ays handy to have your ticket before you enter. You can always buy one from the driver, but they are often a bit more e xpensive. And don't try to get in at the back by all means. If the dri ver does no t open the d oor, it m eans you are expected to ge t in at the front. This way the driver checks if you alre ady have a ticket and if not you have to buy one. Som etim es the driver will refuse t o drive on a single centim eter unless he is sure that everyone ha s a ticket. Please al so keep in m ind that while i t is okay to eat or drink a bit when go ing a l ong distance by train, it is not tolerated in busses or other kinds o f local traffic. The dri vers are reall y articulate about not bringin g ice cream , col a cups or Döne r with you, because it could spill and rui n other peoples clothes or soil the vehi cle. Also: there is a no-smoking rule in effect in Germ any, which include m any public building and the public transport system as well as airports. Try not to forget it, because many people are really touchy about it and you wo n't want to get into trouble.

GERMANPOD101.COM


7

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #12 What's that cabbage called?



5 6


#

12


GERMAN

1.

#2:

Dabinichwieder.

2.

#1:

HalloHerrWilliams!

3.

#2:

Jetzt habe ich Hunger. Haben Sie etwas zu essen?

4.

#1:

Ja,esgibtgleichMittagessen.

5.

#2:

Schön.Wasgibtes?

6.

#1:

PfannkuchenmitSpeck.

7.

#2:

Pfannkuchen zum Mittagessen? Ich habe Lust auf Schnitzel. Haben Sie keine Zeit, S chnitzel zu m achen?

8.

#1:

Nein,esgibtPfannkuchen.

ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Theream I again.

2.

#1:

HelloJohn!

3.

#2:

Now I am hungry [I have hunger]. Do you have something to eat?

4.

#1:

Yes, soon we will have lunch [there will be noon-food].

5.

#2:

Nice.Whatare we having? [Whatisthere?]

6.

#1:

Pancakeswithbacon.


BEGINNER#12 - WHAT'S THAT CABBAGE CALLED?

2

7.

#2:

Pancakes for lunch? I am i n the mood for schnitzel [I have desire of schnitzel] . Don’t you have tim e to m ake schnitzel?

8.

#1:

No, we are having [there are] pancakes.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#2:

Dabinichwieder.

2.

#1:

HalloJohn!

3.

#2:

Jetzthabe ich Hunger.Hastdu etwas zu essen?

4.

#1:

Ja,esgibtgleichMittagessen.

5.

#2:

Schön.Wasgibtes?

6.

#1:

PfannkuchenmitSpeck.

7.

#2:

Pfannkuchen zum Mittagessen? Ich habe Lust auf Schnitzel. Hast du keine Zeit, S chnitzel zu m achen?

8.

#1:

Nein,esgibtPfannkuchen.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#2:

Theream I again.

2.

#1:

HelloJohn!



3

3.

#2:

Now I am hungry [I have hunger]. Do you have something to eat?

4.

#1:

Yes, soon we will have lunch [there will be noon-food].

5.

#2:

Nice.Whatare we having? [Whatisthere?]

6.

#1:

Pancakeswithbacon.

7.

#2:

Pancakes for lunch? I am i n the mood for schnitzel [I have desire of schnitzel] . Don’t you have tim e to m ake schnitzel?

8.

#1:

No, we are having [there are] pancakes.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r

da

there

adverb

Hunger

hunger

noun,masculine,der

noplural

Speck

bacon

noun,masculine,der

masculine

Mittagessen

lunch

noun

etwas

something

adverb

wieder

again

adverb

Zeit

time

neuter; Mittag =

Lust(auf)

desire(of)

mit

with

gleich

shortly

noun;feminine,die noun,feminine,die

noon + Essen = food

plural:Zeiten feminine

preposition

SAMPLE SENTENCES

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Die Post ist da!

Er steht da drüben.

The mai l is there! [has arrived]

He stands over there.

Ich hab e Hunge r.

Das Mittagessen ist gleich fertig.

I am hungry.

Lunch wil l soon be ready.

Ja, etw as.

Ic h wi ll etwas tr inken.

Yes, I speak some.

I want to drink som ething.

Musst du wie der G itarre sp ielen?

Die Z eiten änd ern sich.

Do you have to play the gui tar again?

Tim es change.

Ich h abe j etz t Z ei t.

Ich habe Lust auf F

I have tim e now.

I am in the m ood for TV.

Ich habe Lust auf Kaffee.

Ic h muss m it dem Hund rausgehen.

I am in the m ood for coffee. (literally: I

I have to go ou t with the dog. / I have to

have de sire of coffee)

walk the dog.

Er sp ielt mi t dem Hun d.

Al l e Men sch en si n d gl ei ch.

He plays with the dog.

All m en are equal.

Ich b in gl eich wieder

ernseh en.

da.

I will be back shortly.

GRAMMAR This lesson gives you the chance to le t things settle in a bit, and to review the forms of haben. Here they are again: ich habe, du hast, er hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie haben. Haben is a very vers atile verb, as evidenced by this lesson’s dialo g. Here are som e useful expressions that involve haben: - Hunge r haben (to have hu nger = to be hung ry) - Lust haben auf ... (to have desire of = to be in the mood for)

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5

- Zeit haben (to have tim e) And som e more that weren’t in the dialog: - Durst haben (to have thirst = to be thirsty) - Interesse haben (to have interest = to be interested) - Angst haben (to have fear = to be afraid) - Recht haben (to have right = to be righ t) / Unrecht haben (to have wrong = to be wrong ) - gern haben (willin gly have = to like)

CULTURAL INSIGHT Typical G erm an lun ch foods – what is typical G erm an food? It varies a lot by region; e. g. the S outhern Germ an cuisine is m uch m ore sim ilar to the one of Austria and Switzerland. Som e ingredi ents that can be found everywhere: - sausages - mustard - potatoes - cabbage in di fferent forms: Sauerkraut, Rotkohl, Grünkoh l, Kohl rabi, R osenkohl, …

In dishes: - potato soup - potato salad - spätzle - knödel (du mplings m ade from potatoes) - schnitzel - Reibekuchen (potato pancakes) Adopted food from immigrants: - pizza and pasta - döner kebab - gyros

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #13 Having fun in Germany



5 6


#

13


GERMAN

1.

#1:

Und?Istesschöndraußen?

2.

#2:

Ja. Ich liebe die schönen Gärten, die kleinen Straßen und die lachende n Kinder. Düsseldorf ist eine große Stadt, aber in großen Städten in Amerika ist die Um gebung nicht so schön..

3.

#1:

SindSiejetztmüde?

4.

#2:

Ja, ich bin sehr müde.Ich werde mich ausruhen.

5.

#1:

Wahrscheinlich kommt mein Mann später. Er geht noch zu seinem Verein.

6.

#2:

Okay.

ENGLISH

1.

#1:

And?Isitniceoutside?

2.

#2:

Yes. I love the nice gardens, the small streets and the laughing children. Düsseldo rf is a big city, but in big cities in Am erica the surroundings aren’t as nice.

3.

#1:

Areyoutirednow?

4.

#2:

Yes,Iam verytired.Iwillrest.

5.

#1:

My husband will probably come later. He is still going to his club.

6.

#2:

Okay.


BEGINNER#13 - HAVING FUN IN GERMANY

2

1.

#1:

Und?Istesschöndraußen?

2.

#2:

Ja. Ich liebe die schönen Gärten, die kleinen Straßen und die lachende n Kinder. Düsseldorf ist eine große Stadt, a ber in großen Städten in Amerika ist die Um gebung nicht so schön..

3.

#1:

Bistdujetztmüde?

4.

#2:

Ja, ich bin sehr müde.Ich werde mich ausruhen.

5.

#1:

Wahrscheinlich kommt mein Mann später. Er geht noch zu seinem Verein.

6.

#2:

Okay.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#1:

And?Isitniceoutside?

2.

#2:

Yes. I love the nice gardens, the small streets and the laughing children. Düsseldo rf is a big city, but in big cities in Am erica the surroundings aren’t as nice.

3.

#1:

Areyoutirednow?

4.

#2:

Yes,Iam verytired.Iwillrest.

5.

#1:

My husband will probably come later. He is still going to his club.

6.

#2:

Okay.

VOCABULARY

GERMANPOD101.COM


3

G e r m an

E ng l i sh

C lass

Ge nde r

draußen

outside

adverb

sein

his

Stadt

town;city

noun,feminine,die

groß

tall,big

adjective

Kind

child

noun

possessivepronoun feminine; plural: Städte

neuter;plural:Kinder

adjective; derived from „lachen“(to lachend

laughing(ly)

derived from

laugh ) – add –d to

„lachen“(to laugh) –

any verb to create

add –d to any verb to

participle-adjectives

create participle-

like this

adjectives like this feminine; plural:

S traße

street

noun

klein

small

adjective

Garten

garden

noun

lieben

to love

Straßen

masculine; plural: Gärten

verb masculine; plural:

Verein

club

noun,masculine,der

Vereine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Es ist s chön dra ußen.

Draußen ist es heute sehr

It's nice outside.

It's very nice outside today.

S eine Arbeit ist

nicht sehr

interessant.

schön.

Diese S tadt ist wirklich groß. This city is reall y big.

His work i sn't very interesting.

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Thomas ist genauso groß wie Sven.

Du hast ein e große Klapp e.

Thoma s is just as tall as Sven.

You have a big mo uth.

Marion kriegt bald ihr

Ich b in ei n Einzelkind.

erst es Kind.

Marion w ill soon have her first baby.

I'm an only child.

Die Kinder freuen sich auf die

Kinder an die

Ferien. The kids are looking forward to the

Kids to the power!

Macht !

holidays.

Er ging lachend nach Hause.

Geh die S traß e entlang.

He went home laughingly.

Go al ong the street.

Ich liebe klei

Dein G arten ist s ehr schön.

ne Parks.

I love sma ll parks.

Your garden is very beautiful.

Ich liebe dich.

Ic h bin Mitglied im

I love you.

I am m em ber of the chess club .

S chach- Verein.

GRAMMAR In this lesson we are g oing to study adjectives and possess ive pronoun s mo re closely. As you probably noticed by now, they tend to change their endi ngs when com bined with different nouns. This happens so that they can reflect the case or gend er, when there is no definite article that could reflect it. Accordingly, the en dings wi ll rem ind you of the endin gs the definite article would take if there was one . Nomi native Sg. der Mann - ein großer Mann die Frau – eine große Frau das Kind – ein großes Kind Dative dem Mann – einem großen Mann der Frau – einer großen Frau dem Kind – einem großen Kind

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

Accusative den Mann – einen großen Mann die Frau – eine große Frau das Kind – ein großes Kind Nom inative Pl. der Mann - die Männe r die Frau - die Fauen das Kind - die Kinde r Accusative Pl. die Männer – große Männer – mein e Männer; die Frauen – groß e Frauen – mein e Frauen etc. (all the sam e) (same for Accusative plural)

CULTURAL INSIGHT In their free time, Germ ans watch a lot of TV – 3 ½ hours a day on average. This is st ill lower than the American a verage of roughly 4 ½ hours a day, but steadil y rising. The singl e m ost popular hobby apart from watching TV or surfing the internet is probably soccer. The majority of Germ ans are or ha ve been i n a soccer club at som e point in their life. The entire scene of hobby clubs is more developed than in Ame rica because schools don’t typ ically o ffer m any clubs of their o wn – so you ths and adu lts alike j oin public clubs instead. Every city has a large range of sports clubs, from ball g am es to martial arts and dancing. There are al so gam ing cl ubs; particularly popular are Skat and Doppelkopf (German card gam es), chess and Germ an board gam es. Then, there are clubs dedicated to keep alive som e part of culture, such as the shooting clu bs, Karneval clubs, di alect clubs and foreign folklore clubs. Finally, there are breeding cl ubs (rabbits, pigeons…), col lector clubs and m uch more.

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #14 Embarrassing Possessions



5 5


#

14


GERMAN

1.

#2:

FrauWucher, lesenSiedie"Bravo"??

2.

#1:

Die "Bravo"? ... Das ist Lisas "Bravo". Lisa ist meine Kusine.

3.

#2:

UndwasistmitdenHelloKittySachen?

4.

#1:

Ähmm...Dassind die Sachen meinerFreundin.

5.

#2:

Und dieses Foto? Sie sind wirklich süß mit Nutella um den Mund... Ist das das Foto Ihres Mannes?

6.

#1:

...

ENGLISH

1.

#2:

MrsWucher, doyoureadthe"Bravo"??

2.

#1:

The "Bravo"? ... That’s Lisa’s "Bravo". Lisa is my (female) cousin.

3.

#2:

And whataboutthe HelloKittythings?

4.

#1:

Ehm...Those are my (female) friend’s things.

5.

#2:

And this photograph? You are really cute with nutella around the mouth... is this your husband's fotograph?

6.

#1:

...

INFORMAL GERMAN


BEGINNER#14 - EMBARRASSING POSSESSIONS

2

1.

#2:

HeyMichaela, liestdudie"Bravo"??

2.

#1:

Die "Bravo"? ... Das ist Lisas "Bravo". Lisa ist meine Kusine.

3.

#2:

UndwasistmitdenHelloKittySachen?

4.

#1:

Ähmm...Dassind die Sachen meinerFreundin.

5.

#2:

Und dieses Foto? Du bist wirklich süß mit Nutella um den Mund... Ist das das Foto dein es Mannes?

6.

#1:

...

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

#2:

HeyMichaela, doyou read the"Bravo"??

2.

#1:

The "Bravo"? ... That’s Lisa’s "Bravo". Lisa is my (female) cousin.

3.

#2:

And whataboutthe HelloKittythings?

4.

#1:

Ehm...Those are my (female) friend’s things.

5.

#2:

And this photograph? You are really cute with nutella around the mouth... is this your husband's fotograph?

6.

#1:

...

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

GERMANPOD101.COM

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r


3

dieses süß

this sweet;cute

demonstrative pronoun adjective

wirklich

really

adverb

Foto

photo

noun

Freundin

femalefriend

noun,feminine, die

Sache

thing

noun;feminine,die

Kusine

femalecousin

noun,feminine,die

neuter;plural:Fotos feminine; plural: Freundinnen plural:Sachen feminine; plural: Kusinen er liest, er las, er hat gelesen

lesen

read to

verb

Mund

mouth

noun

um

around

preposition

masculine; plural: Münder

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Diese S tadt ist sehr b erühm t.

Die ser Fisch ist

This city is very famous.

This fish is reall y old.

Ic h m ag dieses Lied.

In Deutschlan

I like this song.

sehr alt.

d gibt es nur süßes

Popcorn, kei n sal zige s.

In Germ any there is onl y sweet popcorn, no salty popcorn. Die Bon bons sind seh r süß.

S ie ist süß .

The candy is very sweet.

Sh e is cute.

Diese S tadt ist wirklich groß.

Das war wirklich l

This city is reall y big.

This was really y um my.

GERMANPOD101.COM

ecker.


4

Ich habe F otos gem acht.

Das ist m eine Freundin.

I took some pictures.

This is my girld friend. / This is a (female) friend of m ine.

Diese S ache macht mir P

rob lem e.

Das ist m eine Kusine.

This thing i s troublesome to m e.

This is m y (female) cousin.

Ich lese gerade ein g

Du hast da was

utes Buc h.

am Mund.

I am reading a good book at the mom ent.

There is something at your mouth.

Er st eht jeden Morgen um

Au to s r a se n u m d i e

8 Uhr

auf.

A u t o r e n n s tr e c k e .

He gets up at 8am every mo rning.

Cars speed a round the auto racing track.

GRAMMAR

In this lesson we a re going to lea rn the Geni tive case. The Geni tive case is used for describing possession: for exam ple in the English sentence “this is m y husband’s m agazine”, the ‘s in “husband’s” ind icates that it is Genitive. In Germ an, Genitive is a bit mo re complicated than that. A lso, it changes both noun and the article. In that way it is unlike the cases you have l earned before. Geni tive Si ngular: des Mannes – eines großen Manne s; der Frau – einer großen Frau; des Kindes – ei nes großen Kind es (characteristic –es) Geni tive Plural: der Männer – großer Männer – m einer Männ er; der Frauen – großer Frauen – meiner Frauen, etc. (all the same) Congratulations, this was the last of the Ge rman cases. Now the only form that you haven’t encountered yet is the Dative plural. L et’s throw this in so that we can say we’re d one wi th all rules concer ning G erman nouns. Dative Plural: den Männ ern – großen Männern – m einen Männern; den Frauen – großen Frauen – mein en Frauen, etc. (all the sam e; in plural everything is the same)

CULTURAL INSIGHT

There are a lot of Germ an m agazines. You can find one for alm ost every topic. Not just TV magazines but ma gazines a bout every singl e hobby (from astrology to chess to stamp

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

collecting), every science, l ots of com puter ma gazines of every flavour, l ots of lifestyle magazines, magazines about royalty or stars … . A few well-known ones: - BRAVO for teenies, mostly about boygroups and famous pop singers; - Das Go ldene Blatt about royals, no bles and stars for older wom en; - Der Spiegel for politics; - Brigitte for wom en; …

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #15 There's a package for you



5 6


#

15


GERMAN

1.

*doorbell* *open door*

2.

Michaela:

Hallo?

3.

Postman:

Hallo, ein Paket für Sie.

4.

Michaela:

Für mich? Ich erwarte gar kein Paket…

5.

Postma n:

Na ja, es ist für Ihren Nachbarn, Herrn Schröder.

6.

Michaela:

Oh, der neue Nachbar.

7.

Postma n:

Hier ist das Paket, d anke. Ich gehe jetzt.

8.

Michaela:

Wieso ma cht das Paket komi sche Geräusche??

9.

Postman:

AufWiedersehen!

10.

* going away *

ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

Hello?

2.

Postman:

Hello, a package for you.

3.

Michaela:

For me? I am not expecting a package.

4.

Postma n:

Well, i t’s for your neighbour, Mr. Schröder.


BEGINNER#15 - THERE'SA PACKAGE FOR YOU

2

5.

Michaela:

Oh, the new neighbour.

6.

Postma n:

Here’s the package, thanks. I’m g oing now.

7.

Michaela:

Why is the package ma king strange noises??

8.

Postman:

Goodbye!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

Hallo?

2.

Postman:

Hallo, ein Paket für dich.

3.

Michaela:

Für mich? Ich erwarte gar kein Paket…

4.

Postma n:

Na ja, es ist für deinen Nachbarn, Herrn Schröder.

5.

Michaela:

Oh, der neue Nachbar.

6.

Postma n:

Hier ist das Paket, d anke. Ich gehe jetzt.

7.

Michaela:

Wieso ma cht das Paket komi sche Geräusche??

8.

Postman:

Tschüss!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

Hello?



3

2.

Postman:

Hello, a package for you.

3.

Michaela:

For me? I am n ot expecting a package.

4.

Postma n:

Well, i t’s for your neighbour, M r. Schröder.

5.

Michaela:

Oh, the new neighbour.

6.

Postma n:

Here’s the package, thanks. I’m g oing now.

7.

Michaela:

Why is the package ma king strange noises??

8.

Postman:

Bye!

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

Herr

Mister

noun,masculine,der

erwarten

expect,await

verb

no, any, absolutely

expression; stronger

gar kein

no

than „kein“

Nachbar

neighbor

noun

neu

new

adjective

Geräusch

noise,sound

noun,neuter,das

komisch

strange, weird;funny

adjective

Paket

package

noun,neuter,das

wieso

why

question word

für

for

Ge nde r masculine

stronger than „kein “ masculine; plural: Nachbarn

neuter; plural: Geräusche

neuter;plural:Pakete

preposition

SAMPLE SENTENCES GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Herr Smith

Ic h erwarte noch

Mr Sm ith

I’m still awai ting a letter.

Ich habe gar kein

e Lust auf Kino.

einen Brief.

Mein Nachbar ist komisch.

I’m in absolutely no m ood for the movies.

My neighbor is strange.

Ist der P ull i neu ?

Was ist das für ein Gerä

Is that pullover new?

What kind o f noise is that?

Mein Na chb ar ist kom isch.

Ist das Paket f ür m ich?

My neighbor is strange.

Is that package for m e?

Wieso is t der Himm el blau?

Wieso ist das so?

Why is the sky blue?

Why is that so?

usch?

Ist das P aket für m ich? Is that package for me?

GRAMMAR In this lesson’s dialo g, you can review many of the case rules that we talked about so far. However, we wou ld now a lso like to draw your attention to what t he cases do to personal pronouns. So far we’ve been covering them one at a time – for exam ple you al ready saw mich, di ch, dir and the like in the vocabulary list . Now we’re giving you an overview : Nom inative – Da tive – Accusative (G enitive i s handl ed by possessive pronouns) I: ich – m ir - mich you (informa l): du – dir – dich he: er – ihm – ihn (or “sich” when “him self” is m eant) she: sie – ihr – sie (or “sich” when “hersel f” is meant) it: es – ihm – es (or “sich” wh en “itself” is me ant) we: wir – uns – uns you (plural): ihr – euch – euch they / you (formal ): sie – ihnen – sie (or “sich” when “themsel ves” is mea nt) Examples: Ich liebe dich.

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

Si e findet ihn süß. Sie gi bt ihm ei n Geschenk. Er findet sie süß. Er gibt ihr ein Geschenk. Wir erzählen von uns. Ihr erzählt von euch.

CULTURAL INSIGHT Germ an postal service: - How to add ress a letter to/within G erm any: first name last name street and nu mber postal code and city country - Postal code usually only specifies the city, not the street or block or an ything. Only ma jor cities (or cities that used to b e several towns) m ay have a few different postal codes rough ly specifying the area of town. - Postal codes, li ke phone nu mbers, all ow you to identify t he regio n within G erm any - If you wa nt to send a postcard from Germ any: you can ge t a postcard anywhere, but for stamps you usually ha ve to go to a post office (bright yellow). Y ou can then send your card from there or you throw it into one of the b right yellow m ail boxes anywhere around town. Note that the num ber of m ailboxes has been dra stically reduced - Within Germ any, a stam p for a postcard i s 45 cents, and a standard letter is 55 cents. - To most places in Europe, a postcard is 65 cents and a standard letter is 70 cents - To the US A, a postcard is 1 Euro and a standard le tter is € 1,70 Within G erm any, you r letters or parcels will probably be delivered arou nd noo n on the ne xt day. On S undays there is no service h owever.

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #16 When will we see?



5 6


#

16


GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

So, Herr Williams, was machen wir heute?

2.

John:

Ich weißnicht… gehen wir in die Stadt?

3.

Michaela:

Gute Idee, d ann sehen Si e Düsseldorfs Se henswürdigkeiten. Also, gehen wir!

4.

John:

Jetzt?? Ich schreibe gerade eine Postkarte.

5.

Michaela:

Okay, d ann gehen wir später. Um h alb zwei vielleicht?

6.

John:

Dannbinichbeieinem Freund.

7.

Michaela:

Bei einem Freund?

8.

John:

Ja.Wie wäre esum viertel vorvier?

9.

Michaela:

Da ma che ich Mittagessen für me inen Mann. Und wenn wir noch später geh en…

ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

So, John, what are we going to do today?

2.

John:

Idon’tknow…do we go into the city?

3.

Michaela:

Good idea, then you’ll see Düsseldorf’s sights. So let’s go!

4.

John:

Now?? I’m justwriting a postcard.


BEGINNER#16 - WHEN WILL WE SEE?

2

5.

Michaela:

Okay, then we’ll go later. Maybe around half past one?

6.

John:

Then I’ll be ata friend’splace.

7.

Michaela:

Atafriend’s?

8.

John:

Yes.How’boutquarterto four?

9.

Michaela:

That’s when I’m preparing lunch for my husband. And if we go even later…

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

So, John, was machen wir heute?

2.

John:

Ich weißnicht… gehen wir in die Stadt?

3.

Michaela:

Gute Idee, d ann siehst du D üsseldorfs S ehenswürdigkeiten. Also, gehen wir!

4.

John:

Jetzt?? Ich schreibe gerade eine Postkarte.

5.

Michaela:

Okay, d ann gehen wir später. Um h alb zwei vielleicht?

6.

John:

Dannbinichbeieinem Freund.

7.

Michaela:

Bei einem Freund?

8.

John:

Ja.Wie wäre esum viertel vorvier?

9.

Michaela:

Da ma che ich Mittagessen für me inen Mann. Und wenn wir noch später geh en…

INFORMAL ENGLISH GERMANPOD101.COM

CONT'D OVER BEGINNER#16 - WHEN WILL WE SEE?

3

1.

Michaela:

So, John, what are we going to do today?

2.

John:

Idon’tknow… do we go into the city?

3.

Michaela:

Good idea, then you’ll see Düsseldorf’s sights. So let’s go!

4.

John:

Now?? I’m justwriting a postcard.

5.

Michaela:

Okay, then we’ll go later. Maybe around half past one?

6.

John:

Then I’ll be ata friend’splace.

7.

Michaela:

Atafriend’s?

8.

John:

Yes.How’boutquarterto four?

9.

Michaela:

That’s when I’m preparing lunch for my husband. And if we go even later…

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

sehen

see to

verb

Ge nde r vowel-changing

bei

at(aperson’splace)

verb: e -> ie

preposition

vielleicht

maybe

adverb

Postkarte

postcard

noun,feminine,die

schreiben

to write

verb

femal e; plural: Postkarten

feminine; plural: Sehenswürdigkeit

GERMANPOD101.COM

sight

noun,feminine,die

Sehenswürdigkeiten


4

feminine; plural:

Idee

idea

gerade

right now

noun,feminine,die

Ideen

adverb conjunction,

also

so

wie wäre es (mit)

how ‘bout (having)

expression expression

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ic h sehe e in gutes Café.

Welchen F ilm m öchtes t du sehen?

I see a good café.

Which movie would you like to see?

Ich b in bei Max.

V i e l l e i c h t s pä te r .

I am a t Max's place. (with him there)

Maybe later.

Ich schreibe ei

Ich schreibe ei

ne Postk arte.

ne Postk arte.

I am w riting a post card.

I am writing a post card.

Düsseldorf hat viele

Ich hab e eine Ide e.

Sehenswürdigkeiten.

I have an idea.

Düsseldorf has man y sights.

Ic h halte ihn

nicht gerade für eine

Stimmungskanone.

Ich arb eite gerade

daran.

I am wo rking at it right now.

I am no t exactly taking him for a great joker.

S o ist das also. Ah, so it is.

Ich möchte nicht gehen, ich.

also bleib e

I don't want to go, so I stay.

Wie wäre es mit mo rgen?

Wie wäre es

How a bout toworrow?

How about having an ice?

GERMANPOD101.COM

m it einem

Eis?


5

GRAMMAR Numbers 1-12 This will probably be a refresher for most: 1 – Eins, 2 – Zwei, 3 – Drei, 4 – Vier, 5 – Fünf, 6 – S echs, 7 – Sieben, 8 – Acht, 9 – Neun, 10 – Zehn, 11 – Elf, 12 – Zwölf These are also im portant to know for phone num bers. (For telling your phone n um ber you wil l also need the number 0 , whi ch in Germ an is “Null”) Telling t he time in Germ an There are ma ny ways of telli ng the time . Once you are fluent you will have no trouble giving it as “17 Uhr 14” (5:14) for exam ple, but until then you can just round it and still be close e nough. The full hour: X Uhr = X o’clock, e . g. 3 Uhr = 3 o’clock A half hour: Halb X+1 = half past X, e. g. halb 4 = half past 3 - Germans always see the pointer as being ha lf way to the next hour A quarter: Viertel vor/nach X = quarter to/past X

CULTURAL INSIGHT Lunch at quarter to four? Not really, traditional l unch time i s 12 o’clock, or between 12 and 2. However, school children an d people with an 8-4 job may decide to have lunch only when ho me, an d have som ething li ght in between (e. g. Judi th’s father). Other meals: Frühstück before 8 (getting up at half past six); Kaffee around 4 o’clock; Abendessen/Abendbrot around 6 o’clock; Snacks with TV starting 8:15.

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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #17 Who would send THAT in a package?

CONTENTS 2 2 3 3 4

German English Informal German Informal English Vocabulary

5 6 6

Sample Sentences Grammar Cultural Insight

#

17


GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

Was ist denn hier los??

2.

John:

Was?

3.

Michaela:

Wo kommt denn der Hund her??

4.

John:

Ein Hund? Sie haben doch keinen Hund.

5.

Michaela:

Genau. Hey, sitz! Sitzsage ich!

6.

John:

Das ist ein sehr junger Hund, vielleicht...

7.

Michaela:

Oh je! Und jetzt pinkelt er auf me inen Teppich!

8.

John:

Oh nein!Derwarsicherim Paket!

ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

What’suphere??

2.

John:

What?

3.

Michaela:

Where is that dog coming from now??

4.

John:

Adog?Youdon’thaveanydog.

5.

Michaela:

Exactly. Hey, sit! I say sit!

6.

John:

Thatisa veryyoung dog, maybe...


BEGINNER#17 - WHO WOULD SEND THAT IN A PACKAGE?

2

7.

Michaela:

Oh dear! And now it’s peeing on my carpet!

8.

John:

Oh no!Itwas probably in the package!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

Was ist denn hier los??

2.

John:

Was?

3.

Michaela:

Wo kommt denn der Hund her??

4.

John:

Ein Hund? Du hastdoch keinen Hund.

5.

Michaela:

Genau. Hey, sitz! Sitzsage ich!

6.

John:

Das ist ein sehr junger Hund, vielleicht...

7.

Michaela:

Oh je! Und jetzt pinkelt er auf me inen Teppich!

8.

John:

Oh nein!Derwarsicherim Paket!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

What’suphere??

2.

John:

What?

3.

Michaela:

Where is that dog coming from now??



3

4.

John:

Adog?Youdon’thaveanydog.

5.

Michaela:

Exactly. Hey, sit! I say sit!

6.

John:

Thatisa veryyoung dog, maybe...

7.

Michaela:

Oh dear! And now it’s peeing on my carpet!

8.

John:

Oh no!Itwas probably in the package!

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

sitzen

to sit

Teppich

carpet, rug

pinkeln jung

to pee

C l ass

Ge nde r

verb; er sitzt, er saß,

er sitzt, er saß, er hat

er hat gesessen

gesessen

noun;masculine, der

plural:Teppiche

verb

young to be up, to be afoot;

expression;

los sein

be rid of

conjugates like “sein”

conjugates like “sein”

Hund

dog

noun

masculine

sagen

say to

verb

this is the doch

affirmative,

modifier

encouraging because; ad ds denn

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emphasis

modifier


4

particle; building her-

to here

block for m any

buildi ng block for

splitting verbs:

many splitting verbs:

herkommen,

herkommen,

hersehen, herrufen…

hersehen, herrufen…

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Dieses Kleid hat die richtige Größe, aber es sitzt

ni cht gut.

Wo mö chtest du sitz en? Where would you li ke to sit?

This dress is in the right size, but it doesn't drape well.

Der Tep pich i st schön.

Er p inkel t in die Ecke!

That's a nice carpet.

He is peeing in the corner!

Er ist sehr jung.

Endlich bin ich das los.

He is very young.

Finally I am ri d of this.

Was ist denn hi er los?

Wo k om m t denn der Hund her?

What are you up to?

Where does the dog com e from?

Und da nn sagte er... .

Sag doch was !

And then he said...

Com e on, say something!

Sag doch was!

Komm doch!

Com e on, say something!

Do come!

Du m agst d och keine Schokolade, oder? - Doch!

Ic h m ag kein S ushi, denn ich hasse Fisch.

You surely do n't like chocolate, do you? –

I don't like sushi because I hate fish.

Yes I do!

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Wie siehst

du denn aus!

What a sight you are!

Komm sofort her! Come her imm ediately!

Wo k om m t denn der Hund her? Where does the dog com e from?

GRAMMAR Word order Germ an word orde r is a lot less strict than Engli sh word order. You just have to ma ke sure that the verb always comes i n second place, no matter whether a sub ject or an adverbial precedes it. For exam ple: Ich habe eine n Hund. Heute habe ich einen H und. After the verb, the subject follows if it hasn’t been mentioned so far. Then the remaining sentence parts (if available) usually com e in the followi ng order: m odifier, adverbials, object of the sentence, anything e lse, any rem ainin g verb parts (such as infinitives or split-off parts). An exam ple sentences with lots of parts: John sieht sich doch mit Michaela heute die Altstadt an. / Heute sieht sich J ohn doch m it Michaela di e Altstadt an. English speakers should note that the tim e is usually m entioned before the place in Germ an, for example “Ich gehe h eute ins Kino.” (I go today to the cinem a). Speakers of Rom an langu ages should note that adjectives always com e before the noun.

CULTURAL INSIGHT Dogs in Germany - Germ ans love their d ogs but there are a lot of rules - dogs m ay not be acceptable i n a ren ted apartment; must talk to landl ord beforehand - dogs usual ly aren’t all owed i nto shops offering food; also o ther places m ay have a sign “wir müssen draußen warten” - due to problem s with aggre ssive dogs in the past few years, “dan gerous” dog breeds (e. g. pit bulls, bull terriers) are test ed for viciousness an d m ay not be im ported; other dog breeds may be require d to wear a m uzzle or to always go on l eash - you are le gall y responsible for anything the dog doe s, m ay want to get insurance - travelling w ith a dog is usuall y possible (e. g. trains and airplanes), ask in advance; on entering the country you may nee d to prove vaccinations and or have your dog u ndergo a

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quarantine period

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7

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #18 I want my dog!



5 6


#

18


GERMAN

1.

X:

Hallo, ich bin der neue Nachbar! Sie haben ein Paket für mich?

2.

Michaela:

Wie können Si e einen Hund als Paket bestellen!

3.

X:

Nun…

4.

Michaela:

DerarmeHund!

5.

X:

Ich will einen Hund haben, und ich habe keine Zeit, ihn irgendwo abzuholen.

6.

Michaela:

Si e können den Hund nicht abholen? Wie werden Si e dann Zeit für den Hund haben?

7.

X:

GebenSiemirjetztmeinenHund!

8.

Michaela:

Ich kann Ihnen den Hund nicht geben…

ENGLISH

1.

X:

Hello, I am the new neighbour!You have a package for me?

2.

Michaela:

How can you order a dog as a package!

3.

X:

Well…

4.

Michaela:

Thepoordog!

5.

X:

I want to have a dog, and I don’t have any time to pick him up somewhere.


BEGINNER#18 - I WANT MY DOG!

2

6.

Michaela:

You can’t pick up the dog? How will you have time for the dog then?

7.

X:

Nowgivememydog!

8.

Michaela:

Ican’tgive you the dog…

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

X:

Hey, ich bin der neue Nachbar! Du hast ein Paket für mich?

2.

Michaela:

Wie können Si e einen Hund als Paket bestellen!

3.

X:

Nun…

4.

Michaela:

DerarmeHund!

5.

X:

Ich will einen Hund haben, und ich habe keine Zeit, ihn irgendwo abzuholen.

6.

Michaela:

Du kannst den Hund nicht abholen? Wie wirst du dann Zeit für den Hund haben?

7.

X:

GibmirjetztmeinenHund!

8.

Michaela:

Ich kann dir den Hund nicht geben…

INFORMAL ENGLISH 1.

X:

Hello, I am the new neighbour!You have a package for me?



3

2.

Michaela:

How can you order a dog as a package!

3.

X:

Well…

4.

Michaela:

Thepoordog!

5.

X:

I want to have a dog, and I don’t have any time to pick him up somewhere.

6.

Michaela:

You can’t pick up the dog? How will you have time for the dog then?

7.

X:

Nowgivememydog!

8.

Michaela:

Ican’tgive you the dog…

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r

preposition; sam e as als

as

in English

same as in English irregular; ich kann,

können

can, to be able to, to be allo wed to

du kannst , er kann, verb

wir können, ihr könnt, sie können

bestellen

to order

nun

now

arm

poor

verb

weak verb

adjective Children are taught to say “Ich mö chte” (I

wollen

to want

verb

would like) rather than “Ich will ”, as it is more polite; irregular

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4

irgendwo

somewhere

abholen

topickup

adverb; irgend- is a

irgend- is a prefix like

prefix like some -

some-

verb

"ab"splitsoff

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich arbeite als Lehrer.

Was machst du als Linguist?

I work as a teacher.

What do you do as a li nguist?

Kannst du deutsches Essen essen?

Ich kann nicht gut

Can you eat German food?

I can't sing wel l.

Ic h m öchte ein Buch

Der arme Hund!

bestellen.

singe n.

I would l ike to order a book.

The poor (pitiable) dog.

V i e l e S tu d e n te n s i n d a r m .

Mein Hund will im

Many students are poor.

My dog al ways wants to play.

Wir s ind uns nicht einig,

welches

Haus wir kaufen wollen.

mer sp ielen.

Es muss doch hier irgendwo sein. It has to be here som ewhere.

We haven't reached an agreem ent about which ho use we w ant to buy.

Ic h m öchte m ein Paket ab holen. I would like to pick up my package.

GRAMMAR Modal verbs können (can) and wollen (want) In this lesson’s dia log you ha ve encountered forms of two extremely useful G erm an verbs: können (can) and w ollen (want). These are known a s mod al verbs and they always have to be used in conj unction wi th another verb.

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5

The conjugation: können: ic h kann, du kannst , er kann, wir können, ihr könnt, sie können wollen: ich will, du willst, er will, wir wollen, i hr wollt, sie wollen As you can see, the two forms of the two modal verbs run parallel, and m ost of the endings are wh at you woul d expect, except that singul ar and plural have di fferent vowels. Yet we can’ t lum p them with the vowel-changing verbs b ecause vowel -changin g verbs only change for 2nd and 3rd person singul ar ( du and er forms), and these verbs change their vowe l for the 1st person singula r as well. Both verbs are used in the sam e way: with an infinitive verb , like in Engli sh. However, in Germ an the infinitive verb is placed at the very end of t he sentence, w hile the m odal verb stays in 2n d place. This unexpected verb movem ent occurs whenever there is m ore than one verb in a G erm an sentence. Examples: Willst du etwas singen? – Do you want to sing some thing? Ich kann nicht gut singen. – I can’t s ing w ell. Herr Wucher kann heute früh nach Hause komm en. – Mr Wucher can come ho me early today.

CULTURAL INSIGHT Other animal s in Germ any Last lesson we already talked about dogs. There are 5 milli on dogs in Germ any. Dogs beware how ever: there are 7.2 m illi on cats. There are also 4.7 m illi on pet birds and 5.8 mill ion sma ll pets such as rabbits, guin ea pigs or ham sters, and of course countless fish. Statist ically, every other househo ld ha s a pet. It’s reall y a lot. In terms of wild anim als however, there are not as many in Germ any as there are in the states. Since Europe has been civili sed for a longe r time than North Ameri ca, a lot of anim als have become extinct over here, o r at least pushed to the n ational parks. This issue h as two sides of course. On the down side, there is just less v ariety of anima ls – only the mu dflats near the north coast are known for a great variety of anim als. On the upside, this me ans that it’s very unlikely that you’ll e ncounter a dangerous anim al, such as a poisonou s snake. There are two types of poisonous snakes in Germ any and both of them are rare, not usually aggressive and the bites are not lethal. Ot her dang erous wil dlife, such as aggressive bears, are also very rarel y found. If there’s an angry bear causing p roblem s some where i n Germ any, it will be all over national ne ws for several weeks! Even anim als that are quite com mon in the states, such as squirrels, chipmun ks and racoons, are no t as com mon here. There are som e squirrels, thoug h typically the red kind and not enou gh of them to annoy gard eners. I believe there are al so a couple racoons som ebody let loose som ewhere in the Thurigian w oods, but unfortunately chances of seeing those in natura, o r seeing chipmun ks, are reall y really reall y slim . Your best chance is a zoo.

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Germ any has a lot of big we ll-tended zoos.

GERMANPOD101.COM


7

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #19 My dog did what?



5 6


#

19


GERMAN

1.

X:

Sie können mir den Hund nicht geben? Sie müssen aber! Es ist mei n Hund und m ein Paket!

2.

Michaela:

Na schön, aber IHR Hund hat MEIN Wohnzimme r verwüstet! Bezahlen S ie erst einm al den S chaden, dann kriegen Si e Ihren Hund.

3.

X:

Verwüstet?WiehochistderSchaden?

4.

Michaela:

Hmm, mü ssen wohl etwa 1000 Euro sein…

5.

X:

1000EuroSchaden???

ENGLISH

1.

X:

You can’tgive me the dog? You have to!It’s my dog and my package!

2.

Michaela:

Fair enough, but YOUR dog has devastated MY living-room! Pay for the dama ges first, then you’ll g et your dog.

3.

X:

Devastated?Howmuchisthedamage?

4.

Michaela:

Hmm, probably around 1000 euros…

5.

X:

1000Eurosindamage???

INFORMAL GERMAN


BEGINNER#19 - MY DOG DID WHAT?

2

1.

X:

Du kannst mir den Hund nicht geben? Du musst aber! Es ist mein Hund und m ein Paket!

2.

Michaela:

Na schön, aber DEIN Hund hat MEIN Wohnzimme r verwüstet! Bezahle erst einmal den S chaden, dann kriegst du deinen Hund.

3.

X:

Verwüstet?WiehochistderSchaden?

4.

Michaela:

Hmm , müssen wohl etwa 1000 Euro sein…

5.

X:

1000EuroSchaden???

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

X:

You can’tgive me the dog? You have to!It’s my dog and my package!

2.

Michaela:

Fair enough, but YOUR dog has devastated MY living-room! Pay for the dama ges first, then you’ll g et your dog.

3.

X:

Devastated?Howmuchisthedamage?

4.

Michaela:

Hmm, probably around 1000 euros…

5.

X:

1000Eurosindamage???

VOCABULARY G e r m an

E ng li sh

C l ass

müssen

must;haveto

modalverb;irregular

hoch

GERMANPOD101.COM

high

Ge nde r irregular

adjective


3

kriegen

receive

Schaden

damage

verb masculine; plural: noun,masculine,der

erst (einmal)

first

adverb

bezahlen

to pay

verb

verwüstet

devastated

Wohnzimmer

living-room

naschön

fairenough

Schäden

weak verb

participle noun,neuter,das

neuter

expression

approxim ately; (in etwa

questions:) surely

adverb; note the

note the question

not?

question use!

use!

probably

adverb

wohl

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ic h m uss den Film sehen.

nicht unb edingt

Musst du wi eder G itarre sp ielen? Do you have to play the gui tar again?

I don't absolutely have to watch that movie.

Ic h m uss viel für die Uni lernen.

Der Turm ist z

I have to study a lot for uni versity.

That tower is pretty high.

Ic h kriege noch Ge

Dich kriege ich noch!

ld von dir!

You still owe m e m oney!

Wer k riegt diese Blum

I will get you!

en?

Who receives these flowers?

GERMANPOD101.COM

iem lich hoch.

Der S chaden i st b ereits angerichtet

.

The damage is already done.


4

Erst einm al wirst du mir sagen,

was

Ich habe noch viel

zu tun, aber erst

hier los ist!

nehme ich mi r einen Kaff ee.

First you are goin g to tell m e what's going

I still have a lot to do but first I get myself a

on here!

coffee.

Er mu sst e S traf e bez ahlen, weil er

Ich würde gerne bez

im Hal teverb ot geparkt hatte.

ahl en.

I would like to pay. / The bill , please.

He had to pay a fee, because he ha d parked his car in a clearwa y.

Der Hund hat meinen

Garten

Ic h m uss dir unb edingt m ein neue s

verwüstet!

W ohnz im m er zeigen.

The dog devastated m y garden!

I absolutely have to show you my new(ly decorated) livin g-room

Na schön , a ber du ge hst z uerst!

Na schön, d u hast ja Recht.

Fair enough , but you go first!

Fair enough, you're right. (In the sense of "I'm giving in.")

Magst du etwa Tokio Hotel?

Si e war etwa 3

Ja hre alt.

Surely you don't like T okio Hotel?

She was approxim ately 3 years old.

Das wird wohl nichts mehr. That probably won't work out anymore

GRAMMAR Modal verb müssen (m ust) Continuing on with G erman modal verbs, “m üssen” is anot her really i mportant one to know. I t mea ns “m ust”. The conjugation: müssen: ich muss, du m usst, er m uss, wir müssen, ihr m üsst, sie m üssen The form s are also paralle l to the ones of „wollen“ and „könne n“, al so displaying this vowelchangin g from singul ar to plural. The usage is also the s am e. Examples:

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5

Ich m uss heute noch Klavier üben. – I must p ractise playing the piano today. Musst du das wi rklich tun? – Do you rea lly have to do that?

CULTURAL INSIGHT - neigh bourly disputes are just as c om mon in Germ any as in the states; and the subjects are mostly the sam e, too; e. g. a tree having branches on the other side of a fence, or som ebody partying rather too l oudly at night… (the police can come by for that) - Germ any houses a l ot of people on very little land, so everybody lives closer together than in the states; - huge estates are uncom mon, and so are big stretches of land w here you don’ t see anybody or anything - highw ays are never com pletely free; even at 3am and far from m ajor cities; around m ajor cities they are of course cramm ed - less ethnic strif e sim ply because there aren’ t as man y large ethni c groups; Germ any is not a country of imm igrants; particularly noticeable is the lack of Germ an-born blacks, while there are some German-born Asians

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #20 About that dog...



6 6


#

20


GERMAN

1.

X:

1000EuroSchaden???

2.

Michaela:

Das ganze Wohnzim me r ist verwüstet! Mein Perser-Teppich und die Möbel ...

3.

X:

Aber ich gebe keine 1000Euro für den Hund aus, da kaufe ich mir lieber einen and eren. Wie wäre e s dam it? ich bezahle n ichts und Sie dürfen den Hund behalt en.

4.

Michaela:

Okay. Übrigens, im Tierheim i n der Stadt gibt es viele Hunde, da können Si e einen aussuchen und sofort mitnehmen. S ie brauchen dann n icht auf ein Paket warten.

5.

X:

Ah,dankefürdenTipp.

ENGLISH

1.

X:

1000Eurosindamages???

2.

Michaela:

The entire living-room i s devastated! My Persian rug and the furniture....

3.

X:

But I am not spending 1000 Euros on the dog, I'd rather buy another. How'bout this? I pay nothing and you may keep the do g.

4.

Michaela:

Okay. By the way, in the anima l shelter in the city there are m any dogs, there you could select one and im mediately take it wit h you. You don't need to wait for a package then.

5.

X:

Ah,thanksforthetip.


BEGINNER#20 - ABOUT THAT DOG...

2

1.

X:

1000EuroSchaden???

2.

Michaela:

Das ganze Wohnzimm er ist verwüstet! Mein Perser-Teppich und die Möbel ...

3.

X:

Aber ich gebe keine 1000Euro für den Hund aus, da kaufe ich mir lieber einen an deren. Wie wäre es dam it? ich bezahle ni chts und du darfst den Hu nd behalten.

4.

Michaela:

Okay. Übrigens, im Tierheim i n der Stadt gibt es viele Hunde, da kannst du einen au ssuchen und sofort mitnehm en. Du brauchst dann nicht auf ein Paket warten.

5.

X:

Ah,dankefürdenTipp.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

X:

1000Eurosindamages???

2.

Michaela:

The entire living-room i s devastated! My Persian rug and the furniture....

3.

X:

But I am not spending 1000 Euros on the dog, I'd rather buy another. How'bout this? I pay nothing and you may keep the do g.

4.

Michaela:

Okay. By the way, in the anima l shelter in the city there are m any dogs, there you could select one and im mediately take it wit h you. You don't need to wait for a package then.

5.

X:

Ah,thanksforthetip.

VOCABULARY

GERMANPOD101.COM


3

G e r m an

E ng l i sh

C lass

Ge nde r

sofort

immediately

adverb

ausgeben

to spend (money)

verb; „aus“ splits off; behaves l ike „geben“

kaufen anderer; andere; anderes

buy to other,another

„aus“ splits off; behaves li ke „geben“

verb pronoun vowel-changi ng a to ä: ich halte, du hältst, er hält, wir halten

halten

to hold; to consider sb./sth. as

behalten

to keep

verb

übrigens

bytheway

interjection

Tierheim

animalshelter

noun,neuter,das

aussuchen

to select, choose

verb; “aus” splits off

“aus” splits off

mitnehmen

totakealong

verb; “mit” splits off; the rest behaves li ke “nehmen”

“mit” splits off; the rest behaves l ike “nehmen”

brauchen

to need

verb

warten

to wait

verb

ganz

completely

Möbel

furniture

verb

noun

er behält, er behiel t, er hat behalten

neuter; plural: Tierheime

weak verb

alwaysplural

SAMPLE SENTENCES

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4

Legen S ie nicht sofort

wieder auf,

ich m uss Ihnen etwas Wicht

iges

sagen!

Don't hang up im mediately again, I have to tell you som ething im portant!

Nach dem

Essen möchte ich sofort

nach Hause fahren.

After the meal I imm ediately want to drive home.

Komm t sof ort.

Ic h gebe eine Runde

Com ing up im medi ately.

I pay for a round.

Er gib t viel Geld

W ir sind uns nicht einig,

aus.

He spends a lot of mo ney.

aus.

welches

Haus wir kaufen wollen.

We haven't reached an agreem ent about which ho use we wa nt to buy. S tirb an einem

anderen Tag

Ic h will einen and

eren F ilm sehen.

Die another day

I want so see a different movie.

Halten S ie bitt e an der Ecke.

Kannst du das kurz

Please stop at the corner.

Can you hol d that for a second?

Ich halte ihn für klug.

Das W echselgeld können S

I think he i s intellige nt.

hal ten?

ie

behalten.

You can keep the chan ge. Ich habe m einen Hund aus dem

Hab en S ie sich schon ents

Tierheim.

oder suchen Si

I've got my dog from the anim al shelter.

chieden,

e noch etwas aus

der Karte aus?

Did you m ake up your mind or are you st ill selecting som ething from the menu? Er hat sich ein ro

tes Auto

ausgesucht.

Ic h nehm e b esser S onnenm ilch mi t.

I better take alon g som e sun lo tion.

He selected/ chose a red car.

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

Kann ich einen F

reund mi tnehmen ?

Dieser Raum

braucht neue Möb

Can I take a friend al ong?

This room need s new furniture.

Brauc hen S ie eine Rechnung?

Musstest du lan ge warten?

Do you need a bill?

Did you have to wait a long time?

J etz t hab e ich ei n gan zes S et.

Privat ist er

Now I have a complete set.

In private he is com pletely di fferent.

Dieser Raum

braucht neue Möb

el.

ganz anders.

el.

This room needs new furniture.

GRAMMAR

Modal verb dürfen (may) Continuin g on wi th Germ an m odal verbs, "dürfen" is another really im portant one to know. It means "may" , as in being allowed to do som ething. The conjugation: dürfen: ich darf, du darfst , er da rf, wir dürfen, ihr dürft, sie dürfen The form s are also parallel to the ones of " wolle n", "können" and "müssen", al so displaying this vowel-changin g from sing ular to plural. The usage is also the sam e. Examples: Darf ich S ie du zen? - May I speak to you in formal ly? Tom da rf heute nicht am Com puter spielen . – Tom is not allo wed to play on the computer today.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

About the expensive li ving room s: - Germ ans don't have as big hou ses as Am ericans, but they typically take a lot of care with the interior desig n (nice-look over simple functionality) - nice curtains, rugs, well-chosen furniture (IK EA a students' solution here an d fashionable there) - book-case m ustn't be m issing, must contain som e classics - maybe another case di splaying the best china or other n ice objects

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

- Germ ans m ight spend m ore than 1000 Euros on a couch al one - because of the general value o f rugs and things, and also because a lot of Germ an wom en need everything to be absolutely clean, you wil l often be expected to rem ove your street shoes upon entering the house, so that mud a nd dirt don't spread to the floors of the other room s. People m ay even expect you to take off your shoes w ithout asking you to, so best follow your h ost's exam ple or ask. You wil l walk around i n socks or you m ay have (or be given) sli ppers to use in the house.

GERMANPOD101.COM


7

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #21 What now?

CONTENTS 2 2 2 3 4

Informal German Informal English Vocabulary Sample Sentences Grammar

4

Cultural Insight

#

21


INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

John:

IstderSchaden wirklich so hoch?

2.

Michaela:

Nein. Der Teppich war schon alt…

3.

John:

UnddieMöbel?

4.

Michaela:

Der Hund me iner Freundin war hier vor ein paar Wochen und er fand die Möbel lecker…

5.

Jo hn:

Ah, so ist das! Und was passiert jetzt mi t dem H und des Nachbarn?

6.

Michaela:

Vielleicht will eine Freundin ihn… Hauptsache er kommt in gute Hände. Ich traue dem Nachbarn nicht.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

John:

Isthe damage reallythathigh?

2.

Michaela:

No. The rug was already old…

3.

John:

Andthefurniture?

4.

Michaela:

My friend’s dog was here a couple weeks ago and he found the furniture yumm y…

5.

John ( amuse d):

Ah, that’s how it is! And what happens now with the neigh bour’s dog?

6.

Michaela:

Maybe a friend wants him … Most important thing is that he will be in good h ands. I don’t trust t he ne ighbour.

VOCABULARY

GERMANPOD101.COM

BEGINNER#21 - WHAT NOW?

2

G e r m an

E ng l i sh

C lass

alt

old

adjective

Hand

hand

noun

Ge nde r

feminine; plural: Hände

the main thing, m ost Hauptsache

im portant point

passieren

tohappen

finden

to find

noun, feminine, die verb

feminine weak verb ich finde, ich fand,

einpaar

acouple,afew

verb

ich habe gefunden

expression always before the

vor

before;...ago

lecker

yummy,delicious

Woche

week

preposition

noun phrase!

adjective feminine; plural:

trauenvertrauen /

totrust

noun

Wochen

verb

weakverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Der Mann i st sehr alt.

Die ses Gebäude i

st 1 00 J ahre al t.

The man i s very old.

This building is 100 years old.

Was hat der M ann in der Hand?

Hauptsache,

What does the man h ave in his hand?

Most important thing is that you're here

du bist jetz t hier.

now.

Ein p aar Leut e wissen im nicht, was passiert ist

m er noch

.

A few people still don't know what

Hast du den Treff punkt gut gefunden? Did you ea sily find the me eting-point?

happened.

GERMANPOD101.COM


3

Ich finde dieses Lied wirklich

Ein p aar L eute wissen im

m er noch

langweilig.

nicht, w as p assiert ist.

I find this song to be really boring.

A few people still don't know what happened.

Ich wart e vor dem

Bahnhof auf dich.

I'm waiting for you i n front of the train station.

V o r e i n e r Wo c h e w a r s t d u n o c h dagegen. A week ago you were still against it.

In Deutschland g

ibt es richtig

Michaela hat die

se Woche

leckere Würstchen.

Geburtstag.

In Germany there are really delicious

It's Michaela's birthday this week.

sausages.

Ich t raue dem

Anschein nicht.

I don't trust this semblance.

GRAMMAR Past tense (preterite) of sein : ich war (I was) du warst (you were) er war (he was) wir waren (we were) ihr wart (you were, plural) sie waren (they were) Examples: Das Essen war sehr gut! – The food w as very good! Du wa rst sehr jung. – You we re very young. Ich war in d er Altstadt. – I was in the old town.

CULTURAL INSIGHT Suing i n Germany

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

Suing i sn't nearly as comm on in G erm any as it is in the United S tates. Part of the reason may be that "stupidity" sues (such as suin g som ebody for not w arning you that your m ug o f coffee might be too hot) just don't have a chance of success in Germ any - hearing about these cases from Am erica is a constant source of am usem ent however. Another reason to not sue is that the m oney awa rded for winni ng a case i s just not that high. You can't usually sue peop le or com panies for m illi ons of dolla rs; very often the sum s are just not worth the troub le, or worth the court costs. In contrast to the US A, G erm an la wyers also don't get p aid a share of the money they are a ble to exact for you, they just get fixed p aym ent. The reputation o f lawyers is much better here than it is in the states ; for exam ple you w on't find m any lawyer j okes.

GERMANPOD101.COM


5

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #22 I need more time!



6 7


#

22


GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

So , ich werde jetzt zu me iner Freundin fahren und sie wegen dem Hund fragen. Am besten nehm e ich ihn schon m it. Komm en S ie auch mit, Herr Williams?

2.

Jo hn:

Je tzt? Ich würde gerne mi tkomm en, aber ich mu ss die Postkarten zu Ende schreiben...

3.

Michaela:

Und wenn ich erst in einer halben Stunde fahre? Würden Si e dann mitkommen?

4.

John:

Ich werde wahrscheinlich mehr Zeit brauchen.

5.

Michaela:

Wie lang brauchen Sie denn noch?

6.

John:

Ich würde sagen noch eine Stunde.

7.

Michaela:

Okay, dann fahren wir in einer Stunde.

8.

Jo hn:

Vielleicht können wir dann auch die Postkarten verschicken.

9.

Michaela:

Gute Idee, das machen wir.

ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

So , I'm n ow going to drive to m y friend and ask her about (because of) the dog . It would be best for m e to take him along already. Are you coming along, too, Mr William s?

2.

John:

Now? I would gladly come along, but I must finish writing the postcard...


BEGINNER#22 - I NEED MORE TIME!

2

3.

Michaela:

And if I drive in half an hour only? Would you come along then?

4.

John:

Iwill probablyneed moretime.

5.

Michaela:

How long do you need still?

6.

John:

Iwouldsayanotherhour.

7.

Michaela:

Okay, then we leave in one hour.

8.

John:

Maybe we can send out those postcards then too.

9.

Michaela:

Good idea, we'll do that.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

So , ich werde jetzt zu me iner Freundin fahren und sie wegen dem Hund fragen. A m besten nehm e ich ihn schon mit. Komm st du auch m it, John?

2.

Jo hn:

Je tzt? Ich würde gerne mi tkomm en, aber ich mu ss die Postkarten zu Ende schreiben...

3.

Michaela:

Und wenn ich erst in einer halben Stunde fahre? Würdest du dann mitkommen?

4.

John:

Ich werde wahrscheinlich mehr Zeit brauchen.

5.

Michaela:

Wie lang brauchst du denn noch?

6.

John:

Ich würde sagen noch eine Stunde.



3

7.

Michaela:

Okay, dann fahren wir in einer Stunde.

8.

Jo hn:

Vielleicht können wir dann auch die Postkarten verschicken.

9.

Michaela:

Gute Idee, das machen wir.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

So , I'm n ow going to drive to m y friend and ask her about (because of) the dog . It would be best for m e to take him along already. Are you com ing along, too, John?

2.

John:

Now? I would gladly come along, but I must finish writing the postcard...

3.

Michaela:

And if I drive in half an hour only? Would you come along then?

4.

John:

Iwill probablyneedmore time.

5.

Michaela:

How long do you need still?

6.

John:

Iwouldsayanotherhour.

7.

Michaela:

Okay, then we leave in one hour.

8.

John:

Maybe we can send out those postcards then too.

9.

Michaela:

Good idea, we'll do that.

VOCABULARY

GERMANPOD101.COM


4

G e r m an

E ng l i sh

gern(e)

lang

gladly

long,alongtime

C lass

Ge nde r

adverb; "gern" and

"gern" and "gerne"

"gerne" are used

are used

interchangeably.

interchangeably.

adjective feminine; plural:

Stunde

hour

Ende

end

am besten

itwouldbebestif

fragen

to ask

noun

Stunden

noun; neuter,das

neuter

expression verb

weak verb either used with

wegen

becauseof

Dative or Genitive

preposition

(older usage) not just when you to drive, ride a fahren

vehicle as a passenger, or to go

are the driver, not just for cars (also

verb

bicycles, buses,

but not by foot mehr

more

trains...) adverb conjunction; the

wenn

when, if

question word

the question word

"when" is "wann" in

"when" is "wann" in

Germ an! ; (means

Germ an! ; (means

„when“ onl y for

„when“ onl y for

something in the

something in the future)

future) verschicken

tosendout,mail

verb

weakverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Rufe n S ie m ich gerne an.

Ich esse gerne Brötchen

Do not hesitate to call m e.


GERMANPOD101.COM

.


5

Ich t rinke gerne Milch m

it Honig.

Wie lang bist

du schon hi er?

I like drinking m ilk with honey.

How long h ave you been here?

V o r d e m G e s c h ä ft w a r e i n e l a n g e

Ich warte sc hon sei t einer gan zen

Schlange.

Stunde!

In front of the shop there was a lon g lin e.

I'm already waiting for a whole hour!

A m E n d e zä h l t n u r , o b d a s Te a m gewinnt.

Ich weiß nicht, o b du di e Gri ppe hast. Am besten bleibst du i m Bett.

In the end i t only matters if the team wins.

I don't know if you have the flu. It would be best if you stay in bed.

Ich werde den

Lehrer fragen.

W egen der Vogelgri

ppe sind viele

Leute nicht nach Asien g

I will a sk the teacher.

ereist.

Because of the bird flu m any people di dn't travel to Asia.

Du m usst auf der recht

en S eite

fahren.

W ir fahren na

ch Deutschland.

We go to G ermany.

You have to dri ve on the right side.

Möcht est du noch m

ehr?

Would you like (even) more?

Ic h trinke imm

er Kaff ee, w enn ich

arbeite. I always drink coffee when I work.

V e r s te h s t d u m i c h , w e n n i c h a u f

Ic h m öchte heute noch diesen Brief

Englisch spreche?

verschicken.

Do you und erstand me w hen I speak on

I want to send out this letter today still.

(in) English?

GRAMMAR In German, the conditional mood (confusingly called Konjunktiv) can be formed using würde:

GERMANPOD101.COM


6

ich würde du würdest er würde wir würden ihr würdet sie würden Use with an infinitive verb, just like the future: Ich werde ins Schwimmbad gehen. (I will go to the swimming-pool) Note that in Ge rman, the condi tional m ood m ay be used on both sides of a conditional statement: Ich würde mitkom men, w enn du das Treffen verschieben würdest. - I would com e along, if you moved the meeting. (German: would move)

CULTURAL INSIGHT Liebe Anna, wie g eht es dir? Mir ge ht es gut. Ich wohne jetzt bei Michael a in D üsseldorf. Ihr Haus un d die Um gebung sind sehr schön, un d ich finde Deu tschland seh r interessant. Das Bier hier ist auch sehr lecker. Morgen gehen wir vielleicht in die Stadt und sehen uns die Sehenswürd igkeiten an. Ich hoffe es gib t keinen Reg en. Je tzt gerade ist das Wet ter schön, aber ich muss um 4 Uhr bei eine m Freund sein. Ich schreibe dir später me hr. Liebe Grüße, John

GERMANPOD101.COM


7

LESSON NOTES

Beginner #23 At the Post Oﬃce

CONTENTS 2 3 5 7 8 9 10 11

German English Informal German Informal English Vocabulary Sample Sentences Grammar Cultural Insight

#

23


GERMAN

1.

A:

DerNächste,bitte!

2.

John:

GutenTag!

3.

A:

GutenTag.WiekannichIhnenhelfen?

4.

John:

Ich möchte diese zwanzig Postkarten verschicken.

5.

A:

Wohin?

6.

John:

Achtzehn gehen nach Amerika und zwei nach Deutschland.

7.

A:

HabenSieschonBriefmarken?

8.

John:

Nein, ich mö chte Briefmarken hier kaufen. Was kosten die Briefmarken?

9.

A:

Die Postkarten nach Deutschland kosten je 45 Cent, die Postkarten nach Ame rika kosten je ein en Euro, al so insgesam t achtzehn Euro neunzig.

10.

John:

HiersindzwanzigEuro.

11.

A:

Danke, und hier sind zehn Centzurück. Sonst noch etwas?

12.

John:

Waskostetein Briefnach Amerika?

13.

A:

Wie großistder Briefdenn, und wie dick? Geben Sie ihn mir.

14.

Jo hn:

Ich habe noch keinen Brief, aber ich werde einen Brief schreiben.

15.

A:

Ein normalerBriefkosteteinen Euro siebzig.


BEGINNER#23 - AT THE POST OFFICE

2

16.

John:

UndeinPaketoderPäckchen?

17.

A:

Was denn jetzt, ein Paket oder ein Päckchen? Wie groß und wie schwer? Per Luftpost oder nicht?

18.

John:

Ähmm…sagen Sie mireinfach alles.

A:

Alles??? Das würde Stunden dauern! … Aber nehmen Sie sich doch diese Broschüre.

20.

John:

Ah,danke.

21.

A:

Wardas jetztalles, odermöchten Sie noch etwas?

22.

John:

Daswaralles.

23.

A:

Okay,dannaufWiedersehen!

24.

John:

AufWiedersehen!

25.

A.:

Dernächstebitte!

19.

ENGLISH

1.

A:

Nextoneplease!

2.

John:

Goodday!

3.

A:

Goodday.HowcanIhelpyou?

4.

John:

I would like to send off these twenty postcards.



3

5.

A:

Where to?

6.

John:

Eighteen go to America and two to Germany.

7.

A:

Doyoualreadyhavestamps?

8.

John:

No, I would like to buy stamps here. What do the stamps cost?

9.

A:

The postcards to Germany cost 45cents each, the postcards to America cost one Euro each, so in total eighteen euro s and ninety cents.

10.

John:

Herearetwentyeuros.

11.

A:

Thanks, and here you have ten cents back.Anything else?

12.

John:

Whatdoesa letterto the USAcost?

13.

A:

How big is your letter, and how thick? Give itto me.

14.

John:

I don’t have a letter yet, but I will write a letter.

15.

A:

A normal lettercosts one Euro and seventy cents.

16.

John:

Anda packageora smallparcel?

17.

A:

What now, a package or a small parcel? How big and how heavy? By air mail or not?

18.

John:

Ehmm…justtellmeeverything.

19.

A:

Everything??? That would take (last) hours! … But just take this brochure.



4

20.

John:

Ah,thanks.

21.

A:

Wasthatall now ordoyou wantanything else?

22.

John:

Thatwasall.

23.

A:

Okay,thengoodbye!

24.

John:

Goodbye!

25.

A.:

Nextoneplease!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

A:

DerNächste,bitte!

2.

John:

GutenTag!

3.

A:

GutenTag.Wiekannichdirhelfen?

4.

John:

Ich möchte diese zwanzig Postkarten verschicken.

5.

A:

Wohin?

6.

John:

Achtzehn gehen nach Amerika und zwei nach Deutschland.

7.

A:

HastduschonBriefmarken?

8.

John:

Nein, ich mö chte Briefmarken hier kaufen. Was kosten die Briefmarken?



5

9.

A:

Die Postkarten nach Deutschland kosten je 45 Cent, die Postkarten nach Ame rika kosten je ein en Euro, al so insgesam t achtzehn Euro neunzig.

10.

John:

HiersindzwanzigEuro.

11.

A:

Danke, und hier sind zehn Cent zurück.Sonstnoch etwas?

12.

John:

Waskostetein Briefnach Amerika?

13.

A:

Wie großistder Briefdenn, und wie dick? Gibihn mir.

14.

John:

Ich habe noch keinen Brief, aber ich werde einen Brief schreiben.

15.

A:

Ein normalerBriefkosteteinen Euro siebzig.

16.

John:

UndeinPaketoderPäckchen?

17.

A:

Was denn jetzt, ein Paket oder ein Päckchen? Wie groß und wie schwer? Per Luftpost oder nicht?

18.

John:

Ähmm…sagmireinfachalles.

19.

A:

Alles??? Das würde Stunden dauern! … Aber nimm doch diese Broschüre.

20.

John:

Ah,danke.

21.

A:

War das jetztalles, oder möchtestdu noch etwas?

22.

John:

Daswaralles.

23.

A:

Okay,danntschüss!



6

24.

John:

Tschüss!

25.

A.:

Dernächstebitte!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

A:

Nextoneplease!

2.

John:

Goodday!

3.

A:

Goodday.HowcanIhelpyou?

4.

John:

I would like to send off these twenty postcards.

5.

A:

Where to?

6.

John:

Eighteen go to America and two to Germany.

7.

A:

Doyoualreadyhavestamps?

8.

John:

No, I would like to buy stamps here. What do the stamps cost?

9.

A:

The postcards to Germany cost 45 cents each, the postcards to America cost one Euro each, so in total eighteen eu ros and ninety cents.

10.

John:

Herearetwentyeuros.

11.

A:

Thanks, and here you have ten cents back. Anything else?

12.

John:

Whatdoesa letterto the USAcost?



7

13.

A:

How big is your letter, and how thick? Give itto me.

14.

John:

I don’t have a letter yet, but I will write a letter.

15.

A:

A normal lettercosts one Euro and seventy cents.

16.

John:

Anda packageora smallparcel?

17.

A:

What now, a package or a small parcel? How big and how heavy? By air mail or not?

18.

John:

Ehmm…justtellmeeverything.

19.

A:

Everything??? That would take (last) hours! … But just take this brochure.

20.

John:

Ah,thanks.

21.

A:

Wasthatall now ordoyou wantanything else?

22.

John:

Thatwasall.

23.

A:

Okay,thengoodbye!

24.

John:

Goodbye!

25.

A.:

Nextoneplease!

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

GERMANPOD101.COM

E ng li sh

C l ass

Ge nde r


8

vowel-changing verb: e i for 2nd and 3rd person singula r; er hilft, er half, er hat geholfen →

helfen

Briefmarke kosten

to help

stamp to cost

je

each

insgesamt

intotal

zurück

verb

noun verb adverb

feminine; plural: Briefmarken weak verb placed before the price, not after

adverb

back

adverb

dick

thick,fat

adjective

perLuftpost

byair-mail

expression

also a verb prefix with that meani ng, e. g. “zurückkommen”, “zurückgeben”, …

masculine; plural: Brief

letter

noun

Briefe

dauern

to last, to take (a certain amo unt of time)

verb

weakverb

schwer

heavy,difficult

nächster / nächste / nächstes

next

einfach

easy;simply

adjective adjective adjective

otherwise, other sonst wohin

conjunction than that whereto

questionword

SAMPLE SENTENCES

GERMANPOD101.COM


9

Ent sc huldigung,

könnt en S ie m ir

bitte hel fen?

Drei Briefm

arken, b itt e.

Three stamps, please.

Excuse me, cou ld you please hel p me? Die Bri efma rken kosten je 55

Cen t.

Ins gesam t s ind wir m it dem Ergebnis sehr z

The stamps are 55 cents each.

ufriede n.

In total we are very pleased with the result. Wann wirst du zurück sein?

Ic h m ag dicke Bücher li

eb er als

dünne.

When wil l you be back?

I prefer thick books to thin ones. Ich werden m

einen Brief p

er

Ic h werden m einen Brief p er

Luftpost verschicken.

Luftpost verschicken.

I am go ing to send m y letter by air-mail.

I am goi ng to send m y letter by air-mail.

Ich möchte heute noch d

Ic h erwarte noch

iesen Brief

verschicken.

einen Brief.

I’m still awai ting a letter.

I want to send out this le tter today still. Warum dauert das so lange?

Der S chrank ist sc

Why is this taking so lo ng?

The wardrobe is heavy.

Das war ei ne schwere Aufgab

e.

Der Nä chste, bitt e.

That was a difficult task.

Next, please.

Diese Lekt ion war sehr ei nfach.

Magst du dein

This lesson was very ea sy.

hwer.

W eihnachtsgeschenk? S

onst

verkaufe es doch.

Do you like your Ch ristmas present? Otherwise just sell i t.

GRAMMAR

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In this lesson’s di alog you h ave found one wei rd verb form: “ich m öchte”. This is actually the conditional that we learned in the la st lesson, but it’s the true conditional of “möge n” (to like), so “ich möchte” m eans “I would like”. F orm ing the conditional w ith “würde” is actually just a bad ha bit, w hich is taking over all of Germ any. Verbs also ha ve a na tive form – but for the vast majority of verbs, that form is no long er used (especially no t in the spoken lang uage) and instead we used som ething with “würde ”. “mögen” how ever is one of the few verb s that retain their srcin al form, and that is “möchte”. I t conjugates just like “würde”. It’s now also hi gh tim e to learn som e more num bers, though m ost of you have probably learne d them before anyway: We already had the numbers up to 12. After that com es: 13 dreizehn, 14 vierzehn, 15 fünfzehn, 16 sechzehn, 17 siebzehn, 18 achtzehn, 19 neunzehn - these are like counting, 2, 3, 5... and just adding the ending “zehn”, which corresponds to the English “-teen”. Be careful with 16 and 17, because these h ave been shortened a bit for pronunciation reasons. 20 is zwanzig. 30 is dreißig. 40 is vierz ig an d from then on the remaining nu mbers always consist of a base num ber you al ready know and the e nding –zig: Fünfzig, sechzig, siebzig, achtzig, neunzig. Counting w ith these is a bit weird, because Germ ans will say the equivalent of “one and twenty, two and twenty, three and twenty…” and so on – but actually, if you read Jane Austen, you will notice that old English was doing the same. After 99, you wil l nee d the wo rd “hunde rt” to continue – but that’s not hard, because it’s al most the sam e as in Eng lish. And “zweihu ndert” corresponds to “two hundred” a nd “vierhundertfünfzig” corresponds to “four hundred fifty” , and so on. S am e for thousands, the Germ an word i s “tausend”. This way you can describ e a lot of num bers, even “fünftausendvierhu ndertzweiun ddreißig” – five thousand four hund red thirty-two, or sho uld w e say five thousand four hundred two-and-thirty.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Currency: the Euro Nowada ys it becom es more an d more popular in Music videos, so chances are you have seen som e Euro bills before. The Bills themsel ves are easy to recognize and look the same everywhere: And w illBill find pattern The 5you Euro i sagray withthere. an antiqu e building. The 10 Euro Bill is red wi th a buildi ng from the rom anticism a rea. The 20 Euro Bill i s blue w ith a gothic building The 50 Euro Bill is oran ge with a renna isance building The 100 Euro Bill is green with a barocke and rococo buildi ng. The 200 Euro Bill i s yellow-brown wi th a build ing from the industrial are a.

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The 500 Euro Bil l is purple w ith a sam ple of modern architecture. On the back you find a matching bridge and a silho uette of Europe. The coins are easy to m emorize too: The 1, 2 and 5 Euro Cent coins show som e oak leaves. These are a symbol of the Germ an Confederation, a m ovement that meant to unite all the small contries in Germany and Austria. There was a lot of political tension between G erm any and Austria, because both wanted to be the dom inant power. But the Ge rman Confederation w ent a long wa y in establishin g a uni fied trade system . And the 10, 20 and 50 Euro Cent coins show the Brandenburg Gate. It is a very im portant symbol for Ge rmany. When the Berli n Wall was erected the G ate was closed and w hen the Wall fell East and W est Germ ans em braced each other on the place in front of the Gate first. Today it is a symbol for a united G erm any. Si nce it also was part of the End of the cold war, it also represente the European unification process. Now for the 1 and 2 Euro coins. There you will find the Coat of arm s of Germ any, a n eagl e. It was used on and off since 1871 and is used in it’s current design since 1950. You wil l also find the words “Einig keit und Recht und Freiheit”, wh ich is the beginn ing of the current Germ an national anthem . - right now 1 Euro is approxim ately $ 1.50 - bring approximately 250-300 euros per person per week when visiting Germany, of course depending on your li festyle, the am ount of souvenirs… - if you have a credi t card, you do n’t need to bring as m uch m oney. It’s not always possible to pay by credit card, as credit cards are less common in G erm any, but in an em ergency situation you can use your credit card t o withdraw m oney from a G erman ATM machine . Your bank is probably going to charge you a ri diculou s sum for that service though, better ask them beforehand.

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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #24 What's next?



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24


GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

Willkomme n zurück, H err Williams! Wie war das Treffen m it Ihrem Freund?

2.

John:

Eswarschön,danke.

3.

Michaela:

Was haben Sie morgen vor?

4.

John:

Ich habe noch nichts vor, aber ich möchte endlich die Sehenswürdigkeiten sehen. K önnten wir in die S tadt fahren?

5.

Michaela:

Ja , sicher. Bis jetzt waren Si e ja beschäftigt Freunde treffen, Postkarten schreiben, essen, schlafen…

6.

John:

Aber ich war doch nicht jeden Tag beschäftigt!

7.

Michaela:

Doch…

8.

John:

Gestern waren Sie den ganzen Tag beschäftigt!

9.

Michaela:

Das istnichtwahr!

10.

John:

Es ist okay. Ich möchte nur mo rgen die Se henswürdigkeiten sehen, wenn es geht.

ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

Welcome back, Mr Williams! How was the m eeting with your friend?

2.

John:

Itwasnice,thanks.

3.

Michaela:

What do you intend to do tomorrow?


BEGINNER#24 - WHAT'S NEXT?

2

4.

Jo hn:

I didn’t plan anything yet, but I would like to finally see the sights. Could we go in to the city?

5.

Michaela:

Yes, sure. Until now you have been busy me eting friends, writing postcards, eating, sleeping…

6.

John:

ButIwasn’tbusyeveryday!

7.

Michaela:

Yes…

8.

John:

Yesterday you were busy the entire day!

9.

Michaela:

Thatisn’ttrue!

10.

Jo hn:

It’s okay. I would just like to see the sights tomo rrow, i f it’s possible.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

Michaela:

Willkomme n zurück, Jo hn! Wie war das Treffen mi t deinem Freund?

2.

John:

Eswarschön,danke.

3.

Michaela:

Was hastdu morgen vor?

4.

John:

Ich habe noch nichts vor, aber ich möchte endlich die Sehenswürdigkeiten sehen. K önnten wir in die S tadt fahren?

5.

Michaela:

Ja , sicher. Bis jetzt warst du ja beschäftigt Freunde treffen, Postkarten schreiben, essen, schlafen…

6.

John:

Aber ich war doch nicht jeden Tag beschäftigt!



3

7.

Michaela:

Doch…

8.

John:

Gestern warst du den ganzen Tag beschäftigt!

9.

Michaela:

Das istnichtwahr!

10.

John:

Es ist okay. Ich mö chte nur morgen die Sehenswürdigkeiten sehen, wenn es geht.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

Michaela:

Welcome back, Jo hn! How was the m eeting with your friend?

2.

John:

Itwasnice,thanks.

3.

Michaela:

What do you intend to do tomorrow?

4.

Jo hn:

I didn’t plan anything yet, but I would like to finally see the sights. Could w e go in to the city?

5.

Michaela:

Yes, sure. Until now you have been busy me eting friends, writing postcards, eating, sleeping…

6.

John:

ButIwasn’tbusyeveryday!

7.

Michaela:

Yes…

8.

John:

Yesterday you were busy the entire day!

9.

Michaela:

Thatisn’ttrue!

10.

Jo hn:

It’s okay. I would just like to see the sights tomo rrow, i f it’s possible.

VOCABULARY GERMANPOD101.COM


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G e r m an

E ng l i sh

C lass

treffen

to meet

verb

wahr

true

Ge nde r

adjective „vor“ splits off; ich habe vor, ich hatte

vorhaben

toplan,intend

verb

vor, ich ha be vorgehabt

endlich

finally

adverb

beschäftigt

busy

adjective

jeder, jede, jedes

every

misc

gestern

yesterday

noun

Tag

day

noun

bis

until

adverb

change like an adjective

plural: Tage

for “day after tomorrow ” there is a special word: morgen

tomorrow

noun

“überm orgen”; don’t confuse with „der Morgen“ (the morning) ich schlafe, ich

schlafen

to sleep

verb

schlief, ich ha be geschlafen

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich t reff e jetz t mei nen neue n Boss.

Das ist nicht wahr!

I am m eeting my new boss now.

That's not true!

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Hast du morgen schon was vor?

Endlich bin ich das los.

Do you alread y plan som ething for

Finally I am rid of this.

tomorrow?

J etz t nicht. Ich bin beschäftigt! Not now. I'm busy!

Er geht jeden schwimmen.

Donnerst ag

He goes swim mi ng every T hursday.

Übrigen s: I ch ha be gestern P eter getroffen.

Dieser Tag ist ein Feiertag. This day is a public ho liday.

By the way: I met Peter yesterday.

Heute ist ein guter Tag.

Freddie w ird d as bis sp äter schaffen.

Today is a good day.

Freddie will make it until later .

Morgen hab e ich einen

Ter min .

Tomorrow I have an appointm ent.

Ich schlafe j ede n Tag bis 1 0 Uhr. I sleep until 10 am every day.

GRAMMAR Rem em ber what we said about native form s of the conditional, which do not use “würde”? In this lesson’s dialog, you have encountered one m ore: “könnte”. This is derived from “können” (can), so “könnte” should be translated as “could”. T he personal endin gs are of course the same ag ain as for “würde” and “m öchte”. “könnte” is particularly useful when you want to m ake a polite request: e. g. “Könnten Si e m ir (bitte) helfen?” – Could you (please) hel p me? Even without the “b itte”, it’s so m uch m ore polite than if you had started the question with “Können Sie…”. Another quick tip for today: you can turn any verb into a noun just by capitalising it. This way you get the noun that describ es the action, and this noun w ill a lways be neuter and have no plural. Examples: treffen – das Treffen (to m eet – the m eeting) essen – das Essen (to eat – t he eating – in this case, “Essen” can al so m ean “the food”) trinken – das Trinken (to drink – the drinking)

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These verb-nouns are particularly p opular in official Ge rman, for example “Das Trinken im Unterricht ist nicht erlaubt .” (The dri nking [of stuff] durin g the class is n ot allow ed.)

CULTURAL INSIGHT 6 tips for sight-seeing in G erm any 1. Plan e nough tim e. Despite being a sm all country area-wise, Germ any is full of great sights, and every region is very different from the next. You could spend a lifetim e in G erm any and still discover things you haven ’t seen. If you com e here for a w eek, d on’t expect to get m ore than an overview of one Germ an region , and com e back later for the others. 2. Try the local food. While G erm an food isn’t yet famou s internationally, m ost Germ an food is delicio us and m eals are usuall y well-balanced . Also try Germ an bakery goods (bread, cake, pastries…), this is what Germa ns mi ss the m ost when living abroad. 3. Avoid a sking your host for num bers. Germ any’s m ost popular sigh ts don’t generally fit in the categories “biggest”, “tallest”, “fastest ” and so on, and even i f they do, Germ ans general ly don’t care to know the num bers. Look them up online. 4. Bring your cam era. What Germ ans do care about is beauty. That is nice architecture (even on norm al houses), interior arrangem ent, art… you will find plenty of things to take photos of. 5. Learn a bit about history. Despite the bombings, there are plenty of old houses i n G erm an cities, old churches, cathedrals, even medieval castles and ruins dating back to Roman time s. You wi ll appreciate these mu ch better (and avoi d m aking a fool of yourself) if you know a little about Germ an history, or European history in general. (watch out f or new aud ioblogs on hi story) 6. Give public transport a try. Since the city centres of mo st Germ an big cities were laid out long before cars were around , m any streets in the city centres are now too narrow for the am ount of traffic that should pass through them. Not to mention that Germ ans like their pedestrian zones, where cars don’t have a ny access. Parking l ots in the centre city are also extremel y scarce; parking hou ses would be your best bet, and they are expensive as hel l. So , to save yourself a lot of st ress and m oney, use the subway, bus, tram or train to get around. (This is particularly true f or Köln, Colog ne, where the m ain train station will d rop you off right next to the big cathedral that is Cologn e’s m ain sig ht and in the center of the pedestrian shopping streets. Try getting there by car!)

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LESSON NOTES

Beginner #25 Are you coming, or what?



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25


GERMAN

1.

John:

Sind Sie fertig, Frau Wucher? Ich möchte jetzt gehen.

2.

Michaela:

Noch nicht. Ich mu ss mi ch noch duschen. Und Si e?

3.

John:

Ichbinschonfertig.

4.

…

5.

John:

Wasist, Frau Wucher? Kommen Sie?

6.

Michaela:

Ich bin noch im Badezimm er, sehen Si e das nicht?

7.

John:

Ich frage ja nur. Was machen Sie so lange im Badezimmer?

8.

Michaela:

Chhh! Was ma cht ma n wohl im B adezimme r?! Ich wasche m ir die Haare, trock ne m ir die Haare ab, ich kämm e m ich, ich put ze m ir die Zähne…

9.

…

10.

John:

Und jetzt? Sind Sie jetzt fertig? Ich möchte endlich die Sehenswürdigkeiten sehen!

11.

Michaela:

Ich muss mich noch anziehen.

12.

John:

Okay, ich warte schon mal an der Tür.

13.

…

14.

Michaela:

So, dabinich!

15.

John:

Gut,gehenwir!


BEGINNER #25 - ARE YOU CO MING, OR WHAT?

2

16.

Michaela:

Sie wollen so gehen??

17.

John:

Ja,warumnicht?

18.

Michaela:

So nehme ich Si e nicht mi t. Si e mü ssen sich erst rasieren. Ich werde draußen auf Sie warten.

ENGLISH

1.

John:

Are you ready, Ms Wucher? I would like to go now.

2.

Michaela:

Not yet. I still have to shower. And you?

3.

John:

I’malreadyready.

4.

…

5.

John:

What’s up, Ms Wucher? Are you coming?

6.

Michaela:

I’m still in the bathroom, don’t you see that?

7.

Jo hn:

I’m just asking. What are you doing in the bathroom for so long?

8.

Michaela:

Chhh! What do people do in the bathroom? ! I am w ashing my hair, drying my hair, combing it, br ushing m y teeth…

9.

…

10.

Jo hn:

And now? Are you ready now? I would like to finally see the sights!

11.

Michaela:

I first have to get dressed still.



3

12.

John:

Okay, I’m going to waitatthe door.

13.

…

14.

Michaela:

So,hereIam!

15.

John:

Alright,let’sgo!

16.

Michaela:

You want to go like this??

17.

John:

Yes,whynot?

18.

Michaela:

I’m no t taking you along like this. You first have to shave. I will wait for you outside.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

John:

Bist du fertig, Michaela? Ich möchte jetzt gehen.

2.

Michaela:

Noch nicht. Ich mu ss mi ch noch duschen. Und du?

3.

John:

Ichbinschonfertig.

4.

…

5.

John:

Wasist, Michaela?Kommstdu?

6.

Michaela:

Ich bin noch im Badezimm er, siehst du das nicht?

7.

John:

Ich frage ja nur. Was machst du so lange im Badezimmer?



4

8.

Michaela:

Chhh! Was ma cht ma n wohl im B adezimme r?! Ich wasche m ir die Haare, trock ne m ir die Haare ab, ich kämm e m ich, ich put ze m ir die Zähne…

9.

…

10.

John:

Und jetzt? Bist du jetzt fertig? Ich mö chte endlich die Sehenswürdigkeiten sehen!

11.

Michaela:

Ich muss mich noch anziehen.

12.

John:

Okay, ich warte schon mal an der Tür.

13.

…

14.

Michaela:

So, dabinich!

15.

John:

Gut,gehenwir!

16.

Michaela:

Du willstso gehen??

17.

John:

Ja,warumnicht?

18.

Michaela:

So nehme ich dich nicht mi t. Du m usst dich erst rasieren. Ich werde draußen auf dich warten.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1.

John:

Are you ready, Michaela? I would like to go now.

2.

Michaela:

Not yet. I still have to shower. And you?



5

3.

John:

I’malreadyready.

4.

…

5.

John:

What’s up, Michaela? Are you coming?

6.

Michaela:

I’m still in the bathroom, don’t you see that?

7.

Jo hn:

I’m just asking. What are you doing in the bathroom for so long?

8.

Michaela:

Chhh! What do people do in the bathroom? ! I am w ashing my hair, drying my hai r, com bing it, brushing my teeth…

9.

…

10.

Jo hn:

And now? Are you ready now? I would like to finally see the sights!

11.

Michaela:

I first have to get dressed still.

12.

John:

Okay, I’m going to waitatthe door.

13.

…

14.

Michaela:

So,hereIam!

15.

John:

Alright,let’sgo!

16.

Michaela:

You want to go like this??

17.

John:

Yes,whynot?



6

18.

Michaela:

I’m no t taking you along like this. You first have to shave. I will wait for you outside.

VOCABULARY

G e r m an

E ng li sh

fertig

completed,ready

Badezimmer

bathroom

C l ass

Ge nde r

neuter; plural is the noun

same can be reflexive; vowel-changi ng a ->

waschen

to wash

verb

ä, ich wasche, du wäschst can be reflexive;

abtrocknen

to dry

verb

weak verb; “ab” splits off

Haar

hair

noun;neuter,das

neuter;plural:Haare can be reflexive;

kämmen dieZähneputzen

to comb tobrushteeth

verb

weak verb

expression

canbereflexive can be reflexive; er

anziehen

towear,toputon

zieht an, er zog an,

verb

er hat ang ezogen feminine; plural: Tür

door

warum

why

noun

Türen synonymous with

question word

“wieso” can be reflexive;

rasieren

to shave

verb

duschen

toshower

verb

weak verb reflexive;weakverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

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Das Mittagessen ist gleich fertig.

W o ist euer Badezimm

Lunch wil l soon be ready.

Where is your bathroom ?

Ich muss den Hund waschen.

Ich t rockne das G eschirr ab.

I need to wash the dog.

I'll d ry the dishes.

Du hast gesunde Haare.

Si e kämm t ihre Haare sehr of

You have h ealthy hair.

She com bs her hair very often.

Man sollte sich

Kann ich das

nach jed er Mahlz eit

er?

t.

rote Kleid z u den

di e Z ähn e putz en.

blauen S chuhen anziehen?

One should brush ones teeth after every

Can I wear the red dress together with the

meal.

blue shoe s? (Implied: do they m atch?)

Kannst du die Tür aufmachen?

W arum dauert das so lange?

Can you open the door?

Why is this taking so lon g?

Er hat sich b eim Rasieren

Ich sollte mi

geschnitten.

ch z uerst duschen.

I should show er first.

He cut himself while shaving.

GRAMMAR Reflexive verbs Reflexive verbs are verbs that refer back to the subject. In English, you can recognize such a verb because it is u sed with a pronoun endin g in –self or –selves, for exam ple “I dry m yself off” – in German: “Ich trockne mich ab”. You probably recognize the “m ich” as the Accusative of “ich”. I n Germ an, there are no special pronouns for these reflexive verbs, they just use the Accusative personal pronouns – except in the 3rd person (singu lar and plural), which al ways uses “sich”. So it is “Er wäscht sich” (He washes himself) rat her than “Er wäs cht ihn”, which would mean he washes som e other mal e person - or the “ihn” could al so reference an ob ject that is gram matically m asculine i n German.

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A lot of verbs can be reflexive or not, as the above case dem onstrates. You can wash yourself, which wo uld be reflexive, but you can also wash your car, wh ich woul d not be reflexive. A special case is when you are washing something that is a part of you, for exam ple your face (das Gesicht ). Then the verb is still considered reflexive, but on the other hand you need a n Accusative object to indicate what you are washing. And that is a problem , because Germ an sentences mu st not have two Accusative objects at the sam e tim e (you, to indicate it being reflexive, and your face). So wh at happens is that the pronoun wil l be Dative instead then (but still “sich” if it’s 3rd p erson). You’d say “Ich wasche m ir das G esicht”, whi ch translates rather funnily to “I wash m yself the face”. This is the only qu irky part about reflexive verb s in G erm an, but you’ll g et used to it quickly as you hear it m ore often.

CULTURAL INSIGHT - turning off water while showering, environmental - being able to stop flushing -> ways of flushing the toilet - ability to hol d the showe r head - liqu id shower gel - laundromats much less comm on - sauna i s m ore popular - ligh t switches often ou tside the room

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101 german beginer1.pdf

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