Guten Morgen
Guten Tag
Guten Abend
goot-en mor-gen
goot-en tahk
goot-en ah-bent
Good Morning
Hello/Good Day
Good Evening
Gute Nacht
Tag / Hallo / Servus
Auf Wiedersehen
goot-eh nakht
tahk / hah-loh / sair-voohs
owf vee-dair-zayn
Good Night
Hi / Hello / Hi & Bye
Goodbye
(Southern Germany & Austria)
Grüß dich / Grüß Gott! Hello! / Greetings! (Southern
Tschüs / Tschau
Gehen wir!
tchews / chow
geh-en veer
Germany & Austria)
Bye!
Let's go!
Bis später
Bis bald
Bis morgen
biss shpay-ter
biss bahlt
biss mohr-gen
See you later
See you soon
See you tomorrow
Bitte
Danke (schön / sehr)
Bitte schön
bih-tuh
dahn-kuh shurn/zair
bih-tuh shurn
Please
Thank you
You're welcome
Es tut mir leid.
Entschuldigen Sie
ehs toot meer lite
ehnt-shool-dih-gun zee
Verzeihung Pardon me
I'm sorry
Excuse me
Wie geht es Ihnen?
Wie geht's?
(Sehr) Gut / So lala
vee gayt es ee-nen
vee gayts
zair goot / zo lahlah
How are you? (formal)
How are you? (informal)
(Very) Good / OK
Schlecht / Nicht Gut
Es geht.
Ja / Nein
shlekht / nisht goot
ess gate
yah / nine
Bad / Not good
I'm ok. (informal)
Yes / No
Wie heißen Sie?
Wie heißt du?
Ich heiße...
vee hie-ssen zee
vee hiesst doo
ikh hie-ssuh
What's your name? (formal)
What's your name? (informal)
My name is... [I am called...]
Es freut mich.
Gleichfalls.
Herr / Frau / Fräulein
froyt mikh
glykh-fals
hair / frow / froi-line
Pleased to meet you.
Likewise.
Mister / Misses / Miss
Woher kommen Sie?
Woher kommst du?
Ich komme aus...
vo-hair koh-men zee
vo-hair kohmst doo
ikh koh-muh ows...
Where are you from? (formal)
Where are you from? (informal)
I'm from...
Wo wohnen Sie?
Wo wohnst du?
Ich wohne in...
vo voh-nen zee
vo vohnst doo
ikh voh-nuh in
Where do you live? (formal)
Where do you live? (informal)
I live in...
Wie alt sind Sie?
Wie alt bist du?
Ich bin ____ Jahre alt.
vee alt zint zee
vee alt bisst doo
ikh bin ____ yaa-reh alt
How old are you? (formal)
How old are you? (informal)
I am ____ years old.
Sprechen Sie deutsch?
Sprichst du englisch?
Ich spreche (kein)...
shpreck-en zee doytch
shprikhst doo eng-lish
ikh shpreck-uh kine
Do you speak German? (formal)
Do you speak English? (informal)
I (don't) speak...
Verstehen Sie? / Verstehst du?
Ich verstehe (nicht).
Ich weiß (nicht).
ikh fehr-shtay-eh nikht
ikh vise nikht
fehr-shtay-en zee / fehr shtayst doo
I (don't) understand.
I (don't) know.
Können Sie mir helfen?
Kannst du mir helfen?
Natürlich / Gerne
ker-nen zee meer hell-fen
kahnst doo meer hell-fen
nah-tewr-likh / gair-nuh
Can you help me? (formal)
Can you help me? (informal)
Of course / Gladly
Kann ich Ihnen helfen?
Kann ich dir helfen?
Wie bitte?
kahn ikh ee-nen hell-fen
kahn ikh deer hell-fen
vee bih-tuh
May I help you? (formal)
May I help you? (informal)
What? Pardon me?
Wie heißt ___ auf deutsch?
Wo ist / Wo sind... ?
Es gibt...
voh ist / voh zint
ess geept
vee heist ___ owf doytch
Where is / Where are... ?
There is / are...
Was ist los?
Das macht nichts.
Das ist mir egal.
vahs ist lohs
dass makht nikhts
dass ist meer eh-gahl
What's the matter?
It doesn't matter.
I don't care.
Keine Angst!
Ich habe es vergessen.
Jetzt muss ich gehen.
ky-nuh ahngst
ikh hah-buh ess fehr-geh sen
yetz mooss ikh geh-en
Do you understand? (formal / informal)
How do you say ___ in German?
Don't worry!
I must go now.
I forgot.
Ich habe Hunger / Durst.
Ich bin krank / müde .
Ich habe Langeweile.
ikh hah-buh hoong-er / dirst
ikh bin krahnk moo-duh
ikh hah-buh lahn-guh-vyluh
I'm sick / tired.
I'm hungry / thirsty.
Ich möchte / Ich hätte gern... ikh merkh-tuh / ikh heh-tuh gairn
I'd like...
I'm bored.
Das gefällt mir.
Prima / Toll / Super!
dahs geh-fehlt meer
pree-mah / tohl / zoo-pair
I like it.
Great / Fantastic!
Gesundheit! geh-soont-hyt
Herzlichen Glückwunsch!
Sei ruhig! zy roo-hikh
Bless you!
herts-likh-en glewk-voonsh
Be quiet! (informal)
Congratulations!
Willkommen!
Viel Glück!
vil-koh-men
feel glewk
Welcome!
Good luck!
Schauen Sie mal! / Schau mal! show-en zee mal / show mal
Look! (formal / informal)
Bitte schön? Yes? / What would you like to order?
Was darf's sein? What can I get you? / How can I help you?
Sonst noch etwas? Anything else?
Bitte schön. Here you go. (handing something to someone)
Zahlen bitte! The check, please!
Stimmt so. Keep the change.
Ich bin satt. I'm full.
Mir ist schlecht. I feel sick.
Es tut mir weh. It hurts.
Ich liebe dich.
Du fehlst mir. I miss you. (informal)
Alles ist in Ordnung. Everything is fine.
Was für ein...? What kind of (a)...?
Nicht wahr? [general tag question]
ikh leeb-uh dikh
I love you. (informal)
Wie wäre es mit ... ? How about...?
Ich is not actually pronounced ikh, unless you are speaking a northern dialect of German. If you are speaking a southern dialect, then it is more like ish. There is no equivalent sound in English. English. In standard German, it is somewhere somewhere between ish and ikh. Technically, it is a voiceless palatal fricative and its voiced counterpart is the y sound in yes.
2. Pronunciation
German Vowels [i] viel [y] kühl [] Tisch [ʏ ] hübsch [e] Tee [ø] schön Bett [ɛ ] ɪ
English Pronunciation meet, eat
ee rounded / long vowel mitt, it
ih rounded / short vo vowel mate, wait
ay rounded / long vowel met, wet
[œ] [a] [ɑ ] [u] [ʊ ] [o] [ɔ ] [ə] [ɐ ]
zwölf Mann kam gut muss Sohn Stock bitte Wetter
eh rounded / short vowel mop, not
ah / longer vowel than [a] boot, suit put, soot coat, goat caught, bought cut, what
uhr / also short vowel like [ ə]
Highlighted vowels do not exist in English.
Notice that words spelled with ö and ü can be pronounced with a long or short vowel, so determining the pronunciation based on the spelling is not possible. The other umlauted letter, ä, is generally pronounced as [e], though it can be pronounced as [ ɛ] in some dialects. A general rule for pronunciation, however, states that the short vowels / ɪ ʏ ʊ ɛ ɔ / must be followed by a consonant, whereas the long vowels / i y u e ø o / can occur at the end of the syllable or word.
German Diphthongs English Pronunciation
[a ] [aʊ ] [ɔ ]
ein, mein auf, k aufen neu, Gebäude
ɪ
ɪ
a
ah
eye, buy, why cow, now, how toy, boy, foil astronaut
der Adler (eagle), Januar (January)
Bb
approximate: baby bay
Cc
approximate: creative, der Chor , der Christkindlmarkt (south tsay Celcius (soft c German term for der Weihnachtsmarkt/ sound in Christmas market), Celcius German sounds like ts)
Dd
approximate: dollar day
Dienstag (Tuesday), oder (or)
Ee
approximate: elegant ay
essen (to eat), zuerst (first)
F f
eff
der Freund (friend), offen (open)
Gg
approximate: gorgeous gay
effort
der Bruder (brother), aber (but)
gut (good), gemein (mean)
Hh
haa
hammer
der Hammer , dieMühle (mill)
Ii
eeh
Igor
der Igel (porcupine), der Imbiss (snack), sieben (seven)
Jj
yot
yellow
das Jahr (year), jeder (each)
K k
kah
camel
das Kamel, der Kuchen (cake)
Ll
ell
love
die Leute (people), das Land (land)
Mm
em
man
der Mann, die Ameise
N n
en
nice
nicht (not), die Münze (coin)
Oo
oh
oven
Ostern (Easter),rot (red)
Pp
approximate: party pay
die Polizei (police), der Apfel
Qq
koo
das Quadrat (square), die Quelle (source) Note: All German words start with qu (kw - sound)
R r
approximate: rich er
der Rücken (the back), der Stern (star)
Ss
es
summen (to hum), schön (pretty, nice), die Maus
Tt
approximate: tyrant tay
Uu
ooh
ou sound in you die Universität (university), der Mund (mouth)
Vv
fow
father
Ww
approximate: van vay
die Wange (cheek), das Schwein (pig, wieviel (how much)
Xx
ix
sounds like kz
das Xylofon/ Xylophon, die Hexe (witch) Note: There are hardly any German words that start with X
Yy
uep-si-lohn
yellow
die Yucca, der Yeti Note: There are hardly any German words that start with Y .
Zz
tset
sounds like ts
die Zeitung (newspaper), der Zigeuner (gypsy)
Umlaut + ß
coral
zoo, shine, mouse
der Tyrann, acht (eight)
der Vogel (bird), die Nerven (nerves)
Aussprache des Buchstaben/
Beispiele/ Examples
Pronunciation of Letter ä
sounds similar to the e in melon
ähnlich (similar), gähnen (to yawn)
ö
sounds similar to the i in girl
Österreich (Austria), der Löwe (lion)
ü
no equivalent nor approximate sound in English
über (over),müde (tired)
ß (esszet) double s sound
heiß (hot),d
German Consonants There are a few German consonants that do not exist in English, and some consonant combinations that are not common in English. Notice that the pronunciation of the German r changes according to the location in the countries that speak German, i.e. [R] in northern Germany and [r] in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Spelling
IPA
ch (with vowels e and [ç] i) ch (with vowels a, o, [x] u) Pf [pf]
Sample words How to pronounce: Chemie, Make yuh sound voiceless (no mich, nicht vibration of vocal cords) Buch, lachen, Make kuh sound a fricative kochen (continuous airflow) Apfel, Pferd, Pronounce together as one sound
Pfanne Z [ts] Zeit, Zug, Tanz J ja, Januar, [j] Junge Qu [kv] Quote, Quiz, Quitte st / sp (at beginning of [ʃt] / Stadt, syllable) [ʃp] sprechen Sch schenken, [ʃ] schlafen Th Theater, [t] Thron V Vater, [f] verboten W Wasser, [v] warm ß Straße, groß [s]
Pronounce together as one sound Yuh Kv sht / shp Sh T F V S
s (before vowel)
Salz, seit, Sitz Z
[z]
In addition, the sounds [b], [d], and [g] lose their voicing at the end of a syllable, so they are pronounced as their voiceless counterparts [p], [t], and [k], respectively. However, the spelling does not reflect the pronunciation.
Stress Stress generally falls on the first syllable of the word, except in words borrowed from other languages, where the stress falls on the last syllable (especially with French words.)
3. Alphabet
a ah
j
yoht s
Ess
b bay k kah
t
c
u Oo
tsay l
el
Tay
d day m em
v fow
e
n
en
w vay
f eff o
oh
x eeks
ay
g gay p pay
y irp-se-lon
h hah q
koo
z
i
ehr
ee
r
tset
There is another letter in written German, ß (es-zet), pronounced like [s]. However, this letter is only used after long vowels or diphthongs, and it is not used at all in Switzerland.
4. Nouns & Cases All nouns have a gender in German, either masculine, feminine or neuter. There really isn't a lot of logic to which nouns are which gender, so you must memorize the gender of each noun. 1. Male persons or animals, the seasons, months, and days are all masculine, as are nouns ending in -ant, -ast, -ich, -ig, -ismus, -ling, -or and -us.
2. Female persons or animals, and numerals are all feminine, as are nouns ending in -a, -anz, -ei, -enz, -heit, -ie, -ik, -in, -keit, -schaft, -sion, -sis, -tät, -tion, -ung and -ur. 3. Young persons or animals, metals, chemical elements, letters of the alphabet, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, continents, countries and provinces are all neuter, as are nouns that end in -chen, -icht, -il, -it, -lein, -ma, -ment, -tel, -tum, and -um. Nouns referring to things that end in -al, -an, -ar, -ät, -ent, -ett, -ier, -iv, -o and -on, as well as most words with the prefix ge- and most nouns ending in -nis and -sal are also neuter.
All nouns in German are capitalized in writing. All nouns (as well as pronouns and adjectives) have a case depending on what function they serve in the sentence. These may seem strange, but remember that English uses cases also; however, we would say direct object instead of accusative, or indirect object instead of dative. Although these cases may make learning new words difficult, they actually help with word order because the position of words in a sentence is not as fixed in German as it is in English. And the reason for that is because words can occur in these four cases:
Nominative subject of the sentence Accusative direct objects Dative
indirect objects
Genitive
indicates possession or relationship
The girl is reading. We see the mountain. I bought a gift. We talk to the guide. I gave my mom a gift. The book of the girl. The dog's tail.
The nouns you look up in a dictionary will be in the nominative case.
5. Articles & Demonstratives
Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive
Definite Articles (The) Masculine Feminine der (dare) die (dee) den (dane) Die dem (dame) Der des (dess) Der
Neuter das (dahs) das dem des
Plural die die den der
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Indefinite Articles (A, An) Masculine Feminine Neuter ein (ine) eine (ine-uh) ein einen (ine-en) eine ein einem (ine-em) einer(ine-er) einem eines (ine-es) einer eines Demonstratives (This, That, These, Those) This / These That / Those Masc. Fem. Neu. Pl. Masc. Fem. Neu. dieser diese dieses diese der die das diesen diese dieses diese den die das diesem dieser diesem diesen dem der dem dieses dieser dieses dieser des der des
Pl. die die den der
Jener is an older word found in written German that was used to mean that or those, but today in spoken German the definite articles are used. Dort or da may accompany the definite articles for emphasis. Das is also a universal demonstrative and therefore shows no agreement. Notice the last letter of each of the words above. They correspond to the last letters of the words for the definite articles. Words that are formed this same way are called der-words because they follow the pattern of the der-die-das declension. Other der-words are: jeder-every, and welcher-which. Mancher (many) and solcher (such) are also der-words, but they are used almost always in the plural.
6. Subject (Nominative) Pronouns
ich du er, sie, es, man
Subject Pronouns wir veer we ikh I ihr doo eer you (all) you (familiar) air, zee, ess, he, she, it, one sie, Sie zee they, you (formal) mahn
Man can be translated as one, we, they or the people in general. When referring to nouns as it , you use er for masculine nouns, sie for feminine nouns and es for neuter nouns. However, the definite articles der, die and das can be substituted for er, sie and es to show more emphasis.
7. To Be, to Have, & to Become
I am you are (familiar) he/she/it is
Present tense of sein - to be (zine) ich bin ikh bin we are doo bihst du bist you (plural) are er/sie/es ist air/zee/ess isst
ich war
I was you were (familiar) he/she/it was
wir sind ihr seid
veer zint eer zide
they/you (formal) sie/Sie sind zee zint are
Past tense of sein ikh var we were
wir waren veer vah-
du warst
doo varst
you (plural) were ihr wart
ren eer vart
er/sie/es war
air/zee/es var
they/you (formal) sie/Sie waren were
zee vahren
Present tense of haben - to have (hah-ben) ich habe wir haben hah-buh hah-ben du hast ihr habt hahst hahbt haht hah-ben er/sie/es hat sie/Sie haben Past tense of haben hah-tuh hah-ten ich hatte wir hatten du hattest ihr hattet hah-test hah-tet hah-tuh hah-ten er/sie/es hatte sie/Sie hatten Present tense of werden - to become (vair-den) ich werde wir werden vair-duh vair-den du wirst ihr werdet veerst vair-det er/sie/es wird sie/Sie werden veert vair-den
ich wurde du wurdest er/sie/es wurde
Past tense of werden wir wurden voor-duh ihr wurdet voor-dest sie/Sie wurden voor-duh
voor-den voor-det voor-den
Haben is frequently used in expressions that would normally take to be in English. Ich habe Hunger. = I am hungry. Ich hatte Durst. = I was thirsty. Ich habe Langeweile. = I am bored. Ich hatte Heimweh. = I was homesick. Ich habe Angst. = I am afraid.
In everyday speech, the final -e on the ich conjugations can be dropped: ich hab' or hab' ich
8. Useful Words And But Very Or Here Also Both some Only again hopefully between therefore a lot, many really together All Now So another already
und aber sehr oder hier auch beide etwas nur wieder hoffentlich zwischen deshalb viel(e) wirklich zusammen alle jetzt also noch ein schon
oont ah-ber zair oh-der here owkh by-duh eht-vahss noor vee-der hoh-fent-likh zvish-en des-halp feel(uh) veerk-lish tsoo-zah-men ahl-luh yetst al-zoh nohkh ine shone
isn't it? too bad Gladly Immediately sure(ly) but, rather Finally right! Anyway Enough exact(ly) Sometimes Always Never Often of course Perhaps a little a little not at all not a bit
nicht wahr? schade gern sofort sicher(lich) sondern schließlich stimmt überhaupt genug genau manchmal immer nie oft klar vielleicht ein bisschen ein wenig gar nicht kein bisschen
nikht vahr shah-duh gehrn zoh-fort zikh-er-likh zohn-dehrn shleess-likh shtimt oo-ber-howpt guh-nook guh-now mahnch-mal im-er nee ohft klahr fee-likht ine biss-khen ine vay-nikh gar nikht kine biss-khen
Es gibt is commonly used to mean there is/are and it is always followed by the accusative case.
9. Question Words Who
wer
vehr Whom Wen
What
was
Why
warum vah-
vahs
room
When wann
vahn
Where wo
voh
(acc.) Whom (dat.) How come Where from Where
vain
wem
vaim
wieso
vee-zo
woher
vo-hair
wohin
vo-hin
How
wie
vee
to Which welche/- velshr/-s uh/er/es
10. Numbers / Die Nummern 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1,000
null eins zwei drei vier fünf sechs sieben acht neun zehn elf zwölf dreizehn vierzehn fünfzehn sechzehn siebzehn achtzehn neunzehn zwanzig einundzwanzig zweiundzwanzig dreiundzwanzig vierundzwanzig dreißig vierzig fünfzig sechzig siebzig achtzig neunzig (ein)hundert (ein)tausend
nool ines tsvy dry feer fewnf zecks zee-bun ahkht noyn tsayn elf tsvurlf dry-tsayn feer-tsayn fewnf-tsayn zeck-tsayn zeep-tsayn ahkh-tsayn noyn-tsayn tsvahn-tsikh ine-oont-tsvahn-tsikh tsvy-oont-tsvahn-tsikh dry-oont-tsvahn-tsikh feer-oont-tsvahn-tsikh dry-sikh feer-tsikh fewnf-tsikh zekh-tsikh zeep-tsikh ahkh-tsikh noyn-tsikh ine-hoon-duhrt ine-tow-zuhnt
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 30th 40th 50th 60th 70th 80th 90th
erste zweite dritte vierte fünfte sechste siebte achte neunte zehnte elfte zwölfte dreizehnte vierzehnte fünfzehnte sechzehnte siebzehnte achtzehnte neunzehnte zwanzigste einundzwanzigste zweiundzwanzigste dreiundzwanzigste vierundzwanzigste dreißigste vierzigste fünfzigste sechzigste siebzigste achtzigste neunzigste
Sometimes zwo (tsvoh) is used instead of zwei to avoid confusion with drei when talking on the telephone. The use of commas and periods is switched in German, though a space is commonly used to separate thousandths, i.e. 1,000 would be 1 000. When saying telephone numbers, you can either say each number individually or group them in twos. For years, you use the hundreds: 1972 is neunzehn hundert zweiundsiebzig; or the thousands: 2005 is zwei tausend fünf.
Wann sind Sie geboren? When were you born? Ich bin in 1982 geboren. I was born in 1982.
11. Days of the Week / Die Tage Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday ( N & E Germany) Sunday day morning afternoon evening night today tomorrow tonight yesterday last night week weekend daily weekly
Montag Dienstag Mittwoch Donnerstag Freitag Samstag
mohn-tahk deens-tahk mit-vock don-ers-tahk fry-tahk zahms-tahk
Sonnabend
zon-nah-bent
Sonntag zon-tahk der Tag (-e) dehr tahk der Morgen (-) mawr-gun der Nachmittag (-e) nakh-mih-tahk der Abend (-e) ah-bunt die Nacht (ä, -e) nahkt heute hoy-tuh mawr-gun morgen heute Abend hoy-tuh ah-bunt gestern geh-stairn gestern Abend geh-stairn ah-bunt die Woche (-n) voh-kuh das Wochenende (-n) voh-ken-en-duh täglich teh-glikh wöchentlich wer-khent-likh
To say on a certain day or the weekend, use am. Add an -s to the day to express "on Mondays, Tuesdays, etc." All days, months and seasons are masculine so they all use the same form of these words: jeden - every, nächsten - next, letzten - last (as in the last of a series), vorigen - previous. In der Woche is the expression for "during the week" in Northern and Eastern Germany, while unter der Woche is used in Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
12. Months of the Year / Die Monate January
Januar
yah-noo-ahr
(Austria)
Jänner
yeh-ner
Februar März April Mai Juni Juli August September Oktober November Dezember der Monat (-e) das Jahr (-e) monatlich jährlich
fay-broo-ahr mehrts ah-pril my yoo-nee yoo-lee ow-goost zehp-tehm-ber ok-toh-ber no-vehm-ber deh-tsem-ber moh-naht yaar moh-naht-likh jehr-likh
February March April May June July August September October November December month year monthly yearly
To say in a certain month, use im.
Wann hast du Geburtstag? When is your birthday? Mein Geburtstag ist im Mai. My birthday is in May.
13. Seasons / Die Jahreszeiten Winter Spring Summer Autumn
der Winter der Frühling der Sommer der Herbst
To say in the + a season, use im.
14. Directions / Die Richtungen right left
rechts links
dehr vin-ter dehr frew-ling dehr zom-mer dehr hehrpst
straight North South East West
geradeaus der Norden der Süden der Osten der Westen
im Norden = in the North nach Osten = to the East aus Westen = from the West
15. Colors & Shapes / Die Farben & Die Formen orange pink purple blue yellow red black brown gray white green turquoise beige silver gold
orange rosa violett / lila blau gelb rot schwarz braun grau weiß grün türkis beige silber gold
square circle triangle rectangle oval octagon cube sphere cone cylinder
das Viereck der Kreis das Dreieck das Rechteck das Oval das Achteck der Würfel die Kugel der Kegel der Zylinder
Because colors are adjectives, they must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe if they are placed before the noun. However, not all adjectives agree, such as colors ending in -a or -e; nor do they agree when they are used as predicate adjectives. To say that a color is light , put hell- before it, and to say that a color is dark , put dunkel- before it.
Das Viereck ist braun. The square is brown. Das Rechteck ist hellblau. The rectange is light blue.
16. Time / Die Zeit What time is it? (It is) 2 AM 2 PM 6:20 half past 3 quarter past 4 quarter to 5 10 past 11 20 to 7 noon midnight in the morning in the evening It's exactly... At 8. early(ier) late(r)
Wie spät ist es? Es ist zwei Uhr nachts Es ist zwei Uhr nachmittags Es ist sechs Uhr zwanzig Es ist halb vier Es ist Viertel nach vier Es ist Viertel vor fünf Es ist zehn nach elf Es ist zwanzig vor sieben Es ist nachmittag Es ist mitternacht morgens / früh abends Es ist genau... Um 8 Uhr. früh(er) spät(er)
vee shpayt isst ess ess ist tsvy oor nahkts tsvy oor nahk-mih-tahks zex oor tsvahn-tsikh hahlp feer feer-tel nahk feer feer-tel for fewnf tsyan nahk elf tsvahn-tsikh for zee-bun nakh-mih-tahk mih-ter-nahk mawr-guns / frew aah-bunts ess ist guh-now oom akht oor frew(er) shpayt(er)
Official time, such as for bus and train schedules, always uses the 24 hour clock. Notice that halb + number means half to, not half past , so you have to use the hour that comes next.
17. Weather / Das Wetter How's the weather today? It's hot It's cold It's beautiful It's bad It's clear It's icy It's warm It's sunny It's windy It's cloudy It's hazy It's muggy
Wie ist das Wetter heute? Es ist heiß Es ist kalt Es ist schön Es ist schlecht Es ist klar Es ist eisig Es ist warm Es ist sonnig Es ist windig Es ist bewölkt Es ist dunstig Es ist schwül
vie ist dahs vet-ter hoytuh ess isst hise ess isst kahlt ess isst shern ess isst shlehkt ess isst klahr ess isst ise-ikh ess isst varm ess isst zohn-ikh ess isst vin-dikh ess isst beh-verlkt ess isst doons-tikh ess isst schvool
Es ist feucht Es ist nebelig Es schneit Es regnet Es friert Es sieht nach Regen aus. The weather is clearing Das Wetter klärt sich auf. It's humid It's foggy It's snowing It's raining It's freezing It looks like rain.
ess isst foikht ess isst neh-beh-likh ess schnite ess rayg-net ess freert es seet nahkh ray-gen ows dahs vett-er klairt sikh owf
18. Family / Die Familie Parents Mother Father Son
die Eltern die Mutter (ü) der Vater (ä) der Sohn (ö, -e)
Daughter Brother Sister Grandparents Grandfather Grandmother Grandchildren Grandson Granddaughter Niece Nephew
die Tochter (ö) der Bruder (ü) die Schwester (-n) die Großeltern der Großvater (ä) die Großmutter (ü) die Enkelkinder der Enkel (-) die Enkelin (-nen) die Nichte (-n) der Neffe (-n)
Cousin (m)
der Vetter (-n)
Cousin (f) Uncle Aunt Siblings Baby Godfather Godmother Step-in-law Brother-in-law Sister-in-law
die Kusine (-n) der Onkel (-) die Tante (-n) die Geschwister das Baby (-s) der Pate (-n) die Patin (-nen) der/die Stiefder/die Schwiegerder Schwager (ä) die Schwägerin (-
Relative Man Sir / Mister Woman / Ma'am / Mrs. / Ms. Husband Wife Boy Girl Grandpa Grandma Dad Mom Friend (m) Friend (f) Partner / Significant Other (m) Partner / Significant Other (f) Marital Status Single Married Divorced Male Female Child Toddler Teenager Adult Twin
der Verwandte (-n) der Mann (ä, -er) der Herr (-en) die Frau (-en) der Ehemann (ä, -er) die Ehefrau (-en) der Junge (-n) das Mädchen (-) der Opa (-s) die Oma (-s) der Vati die Mutti der Freund (-e) die Freundin (-nen) der Partner (-) die Partnerin (-nen) der Familienstand ledig verheiratet geschieden männlich weiblich das Kind (-er) das Kleinkind (-er) der Teenager (-) der Erwachsene (-n) der Zwilling (-e)
nen)
The letters in parentheses indicate the plural form of the noun. Notice that sometimes an umlaut is placed over the main vowel of the word in the plural. For example, der Mann is singular (the man) and die Männer is plural (the men). For step- and -in-law relations, just add Stief- or Schwieger- before the main person, except in the case of brother-in-law and sister-in-law noted noted above. The plurals follow the pattern for the the main person, i.e. die Schwiegermutter (singular) and die Schwiegermütter (plural)
19. To Know People & Facts
kennen - to know people ich kenne wir kennen kenkendu kennst er/sie/es kennt
nuh kenst kent
ihr kennt sie/Sie kennen
nun kent kennun
wissen - to know facts ich weiß vise wir wissen vih-sun du weißt er/sie/es weiß
vist vise
ihr wisst sie/Sie wissen
vihst vih-sun
Kennen is a regular verb, while wissen is irregular in the present tense. You must use the subject pronouns (ich, du, er...); however, I will leave them out of future conjugations.
20. Formation of Plural Nouns Plural nouns in German are unpredictable, so it's best to memorize the plural f orm with the singular. However, here are are some rules that can can help: 1. Feminine nouns usually add -n or -en. Nouns that end end in -in (such as the female equivalents of masculine nouns) add -nen. eine Lampe eine Tür eine Studentin eine Gabel
zwei Lampe n zwei Tür en zwei Studentin nen zwei Gabel n
2. Masculine and neuter nouns usually add -e or -er. Many masculine masculine plural nouns nouns ending in -e add an umlaut as well, but neuter plural nouns ending in -e don't. Plurals that end in -er add an umlaut when the stem vowel is a, o , u or au.
Masculine ein Rock zwei R ö ck e ein Mann zwei Männer
Neuter ein Heft zwei Hefte ein Buch zwei B ücher
3. Masculine and neuter singular nouns that end in -er either add an umlaut or change nothing at all. Many nouns with a stem vowel of a, o, u or au add an umlaut. Masculine and neuter singular nouns that end in -el also add nothing at all (with three exceptions: Pantoffel, Stachel, Muskel).
Masculine ein Bruder zwei Br üder ein Kegel zwei Kegel
Neuter ein Fenster zwei Fenster ein Mittel zwei Mittel
4. Nouns that end in a vowel other than an unstressed -e and nouns of foreign origin add -s. zwei Hobbys zwei Hotel s
ein Hobby ein Hotel
21. Possessive Adjectives
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Masc. mein meinen meinem meines
Fem. meine meine meiner meiner
Neu. mein mein meinem meines
Pl. meine meine meinen meiner
Other words that are formed like mein (my) are: ein - a/an, dein-your (du form), sein-his/its, ihr-her, unser-our, euer-your (ihr form), ihr-their, Ihr-your (Sie form), and kein-no/not any.
22. Accusative Case The accusative case case corresponds to direct objects. Here are the accusative forms forms of the definite and indefinite articles. Note that only the masculine changes changes in this case.
Definite
Definite and Indefinite Articles Masc. Fem. Neuter den die das
Plural die
Indefinite
einen
eine
ein
keine
Some masculine nouns add an -(e)n to the accusative form, such as international nouns ending in -t (Dirigent, Komponist, Patient, Polizist, Soldat, Student, Tourist, Journalist); nouns ending in -e denoting male persons or animals (Drache, Junge, Kunde, Löwe, Neffe, Riese, Vorfahre, Zeuge); and the following nouns: Elefant, Herr, Mensch, Nachbar. And wen (whom) is the accusative of wer (who).
ich Du Er Sie Es
I you he she it
Personal Pronouns - Nominative & Accusative me we mich uns wir dich euch you you ihr ihn sie him they sie sie Sie her you Sie es it
us you them you
German uses the case system to show the function of a word in a sentence, whereas English relies mainly on word order. Take, for example, example, the following sentences: sentences: Ich esse den Apfel translates into I eat the apple. In German, you you can switch switch the word order around without affecting the meaning. Den Apfel esse ich is also I eat the apple, but in English, if you were to change word order, you would have to say the apple eats me. English does not not accommodate for the the direct object to be placed placed before the subject and and verb like German German does. Usually, Usually, word order reflects (subjective) focus: the noun having the speakers focus is usually put as much as possible towards the the beginning of a sentence. sentence.
23. Dative Case The dative case corresponds corresponds to indirect objects. Usually in English, we use the words to or for for to indicate an indirect indirect object. But German relies on the endings of the dative dative case. Here are the dative dative forms of the definite and and indefinite articles.
Definite Indefinite
Definite and Indefinite Articles Masc. Fem. Neuter dem de r dem einem einer einem
Plural den keinen
Those same masculine nouns that added an -(e)n in the accusative form also add an (e)n in the dative dative form. And all plural nouns add an -(e)n in the dative plural , unless they already end in an -n or -s. And wem (to/for whom) is the dative of wer (who).
mir dir ihm ihr ihm
me you him her it
Personal Pronouns uns euch ihnen Ihnen
us you they you
In sentences with both a direct and indirect object, the noun in the dative case precedes the accusative noun, unless the accusative case is a pronoun.
Ich schenke meinem Bruder eine Krawatte. I give (to) my brother a tie. Ich schenke sie meinem Bruder. I give it to my brother.
24. Genitive Case The genitive case is used to show possession, more often in writing than in speech. When speaking, most people use von ( of ) plus the dative case to show possession. For proper nouns, German only adds an -s to the noun, whereas English would add an apostrophe and an -s. Feminine and Plural nouns do not change in the Genitive case. Masculine and Neuter nouns add an -s if the word is more than one syllable, or an -es if the word is one syllable. Except the weak masculine nouns that added -(e)n in the accusative and dative; they also add -(e)n in the genitive. There are some irregular nouns that add -s after -en in the genitive case as well, for example der Name becomes des Namens and das Herz becomes des Herzens. die Farbe des Vogel s - the color of the bird die Grösse des Haus es - the size of the house die Tasche meiner Mutter - my mother's purse [the purse of my mother] der Bleistift des Studenten - the student's pencil [the pencil of the student]
Definite Indefinite
Definite and Indefinite Articles Masc. Fem. Neu. des der des eines einer eines
Plural der keiner
25. To Do or Make
mache machst
machen - to do or make machen mock-uh macht mockst
mock-en mockt
macht
mockt
machen
mock-en
26. Work and School
actor architect artist author bank clerk businessman/woman cashier civil servant conductor cook custodian dentist doctor engineer farmer flight attendant hairdresser journalist judge lawyer lecturer librarian mechanic nurse pensioner (retired) pharmacist photographer pilot police officer politician postal worker president priest professor salesperson secretary
masculine
feminine
Schauspieler Architekt (en) Künstler Schriftsteller Bankangestellter Geschäftsmann Kassierer Beamter Dirigent Koch (ö, e) Hausmeister Zahnarzt (ä, e) Arzt (e) Ingenieur Landwirt Flugbegleiter Friseur Journalist Richter Anwalt (ä, e) Dozent Bibliothekar Automechaniker Krankenpfleger Rentner Drogist Fotograf Pilot (en) Polizist (en) Politiker Postangestellter Präsident (en) Priester Professor Verkäufer Sekretär
Schauspielerin Architektin Künstlerin Schriftstellerin Bankangestellte Geschäftsfrau Kassiererin Beamtin Dirigentin Köchin Hausmeisterin Zahnärztin Ärztin Ingenieurin Landwirtin Flugbegleiterin Friseurin Journalistin Richterin Anwältin Dozentin Bibliothekarin Automechanikerin Krankenpflegerin Rentnerin Drogistin Fotografin Pilotin Polizistin Politikerin Postangestellte Präsidentin Priesterin Professorin Verkäuferin Sekretärin
student taxi driver teacher TV reporter waiter worker writer
Student Taxifahrer Lehrer Fernsehreporter Kellner Arbeiter Schriftsteller
Studentin Taxifahrerin Lehrerin Fernsehreporterin Kellnerin Arbeiterin Schriftstellerin
Besides the plural forms shown above, the rest of the male professions are the same (they do not add anything) in the plural, while all the feminine add -nen in the plural. Also, German does not use articles before professions. You would only say Ich bin Kellner if you mean I am a waiter.
Was sind Sie von Beruf? What do you do for a living? Ich bin Arzt. I'm a doctor (male). School University College / University Subject Literature Social Studies Biology Philosophy Earth science Math Geometry Mechanical Engineering Management Marketing Physics Music Drawing Test Lunchtime Cafeteria Dictionary Scissors Eraser
die Schule (n) Elementary School die Grundschule (n) die Universität (en) Secondary School das Gymnasium die Hochschule (n) High School die Oberschule (n) das Fach (ä, er) Literatur Sozialkunde Biologie Philosophie Erdkunde Mathematik Geometrie Maschinenbau
Foreign languages Linguistics History Natural Science Psychology Sociology Geography Computer science Economics
Fremdsprachen Linguistik Geschichte Naturwissenschaft Psychologie Soziologie Geographie Informatik Wirtschaft
Betriebswirtschaft Marketing Physik Musik Zeichnen die Prüfung (en) die Mittagspause die Mensa das Wörterbuch (ü, er) die Schere (n) das Radiergummi (s)
Chemistry Media Studies Political Science Art Band Class Lunch School Supplies Stapler
Chemie Medienwissenschaft Politik Kunst Musikkapelle die Klasse (n) das Mittagessen die Schulsachen die Heftmaschine (n) das Lineal (e) die Kreide
Ruler Chalk
Book Pencil Schoolbag
das Buch (ü, er) Notebook der Bleistift (e) Sheet of Paper die Schultasche (n) Calculator
Pen
der Kugelschreiber / der Kuli das Mädchen (-) der Freund (e) der Schüler (-) der Student (en) der Lehrer (-) der Professor
Homework
die Noten der Kurs (e) das Semester (-) der Stundenplan (ä, e)
hard easy Vacation Assignment
Girl Friend (m) Pupil/Student (m) Student (m) Teacher (m) Professor (m) Grades Course Semester Schedule
Boy Friend (f) Pupil/Student (f) Student (f) Teacher (f) Professor (f)
das Heft (e) das Blatt Papier der Taschenrechner (-) die Hausaufgaben der Junge (n) die Freundin (nen) die Schülerin (nen) die Studentin (nen) die Lehrerin (nen) die Professorin (nen) schwer leicht die Ferien (pl.) die Aufgabe (n)
In Germany, students must pass das Abitur in order to graduate from high school. In Austria, this final exam is called die Matura. Notice that there are two words for student: Schüler is used for students in primary and secondary schools, while Student is only used for university students.
The verb studieren is used for university study or to state your major. The verb lernen should be used for studying in general, and especially for learning a language.
Er studiert in Freiburg. He studies (goes to university) in Freiburg. Ich studiere Französisch. I study French (in college). / French is my major. Ich lerne Spanisch und Italienisch. I'm studying/learning Spanish and Italian.
27. Prepositions
durch gegen um
Prepositions that take the Accusative case through against around / at
für ohne bis
for without until Preps. that take the Dative case aus out (of), from (country, town or place) mit with, by means of (transportation) von from (person, open space, or direction), by seit since, for bei near, at, at home of or place of business nach after, to (cities and countries) zu to (mostly people and specifically named buildings) gegenüber across from außer except for, besides Preps. that take the Genitive case während during trotz in spite of (an)statt instead of wegen because of außerhalb outside of innerhalb inside of Preps. that may take Acc. or Dat. (two-way) an at, to, on (vertical surfaces, denotes border or limiting area) auf onto, on (horizontal surfaces), to (some public buildings) hinter behind in in, into, to (building, enclosed space, feminine or plural countries) neben beside, next to über over, above, across, about unter under, below, among, beneath vor in front of, before zwischen between For the two-way prepositions: The accusative form indicates direction and
movement and answers the question where to? The dative form indicates position and location and answers the question where? For example: In die Schule means to school and uses the accusative form because it is a direction. In der Schule means in school and uses the dative form because it is a location. But one exception is zu Hause - at home (dat.) and nach Hause - (to) home (acc.) Ich bin zu Hause is I am at home, and Ich gehe nach Hause is I am going home.
Accusative: movement & direction
Dative: location & position
Er hängt das Bild über das Sofa. He hangs the picture over the sofa. Stell es unter den Tisch. Put it under the table. Fahren Sie den Wagen hinter das Haus. Drive the car behind the house. Stellen Sie die Flaschen vor die Tür. Put the bottles in front of the door. Stell es auf den Tisch. Put it on the table. Schreib es an die Tafel. Write it on the board. Er geht in die Küche. He goes into the kitchen. Stellen Sie es neben das Haus. Put it beside the house. Stell die Lampe zwischen das Sofa und den Tisch. Put the lamp between the sofa and the table.
Das Bild hängt über dem Sofa. The picture hangs over the sofa. Es ist unter dem Tisch. It is under the table. Der Wagen steht hinter dem Haus. The car is behind the house. Die Flaschen stehen vor der Tür. The bottles are in front of the door. Es liegt auf dem Tisch. It's lying on the table. Es steht an der Tafel. It is on the board. Er ist in der Küche. He is in the kitchen. Es ist neben dem Haus. It is beside the house. Die Lampe steht zwischen dem Sofa und dem Tisch. The lamp is between the sofa and the table.
Stellen, legen and setzen use the accusative case, while stehen, liegen and sitzen use the dative case.
28. Prepositional Contractions Contractions in Writing
an dem auf das für das in das zu dem an das bei dem in dem von dem zu der durch das um das
am aufs fürs ins zum ans beim im vom zur durchs ums
29. Countries and Nationalities
Contractions in Informal Speech
an den auf den auf dem aus den für den gegen das in den nach dem
an'n auf'n auf'm aus'n für'n gegen's in'n nach'm
Africa African Albania Albanian America American Argentina Argentine Asia Asian Australia Australian Austria Austrian Belgium Belgian Bosnia Bosnian Brazil Brazilian Bulgaria Bulgarian Canada Canadian China Chinese Croatia Croatian Cyprus Cypriot Czech Republic Czech Denmark Danish Egypt Egyptian England English Estonia Estonian Europe
Afrika Afrikaner/in Albanien Albaner/in Amerika Amerikaner/in Argentinien Argentinier/in Asien Asiat/in Australien Australier/in Österreich Österreicher/in Belgien Belgier/in Bosnien Bosnier/in Brasilien Brasilianer/in Bulgarien Bulgare/Bulgarin Kanada Kanadier/in China Chinese/Chinesin Kroatien Kroate/Kroatin Zypern Zypriot/in die Tschechische Republik Tscheche/Tschechin Dänemark Däne/Dänin Ägypten Ägypter/in England Engländer/in Estland Este/Estin Europa
Ireland Irishman Israel Israeli Hebrew Italy Italian Japan Japanese Latvia Latvian Lithuania Lithuanian Luxembourg Luxembourger Macedonia Macedonian Malta Maltese Mexico Mexican Netherlands Dutch New Zealand New Zealander Norway Norwegian Poland Polish Portugal Portuguese
Irland Ire/Irin Israel Israeli Hebräisch Italien Italiener/in Japan Japaner/in Lettland Lette/Lettin Litauen Litauer/in Luxemburg Luxemburger/in Mazedonien Mazedonier/in Malta Malteser/in Mexiko Mexikaner/in die Niederlande Holländer/in Neuseeland Neuseeländer/in Norwegen Norweger/in Polen Pole/Polin Portugal Portugiese/Portugiesin
Romania Romanian Russia Russian Scotland Scottish Serbia Serbian Slovakia Slovak
Rumänien Rumäne/Rumänin Russland Russe/Russin Schottland Schotte/Schottin Serbien Serbe/Serbin die Slowakei Slowake/Slowakin
European Finland Finnish France French Germany German Great Britain British Greece Greek Hungary Hungarian Iceland Icelandic India Indian Indonesia Indonesian
Europäer/in Finnland Finne/Finnin Frankreich Franzose/Französin Deutschland Deutscher/Deutsche Großbritannien Brite/Britin Griechenland Grieche/Griechin Ungarn Ungar/in Island Isländer/in Indien Inder/in Indonesien Indonesier/in
Slovenia Slovene South Africa South African Spain Spanish Sweden Swedish Switzerland Swiss Turkey Turk Ukraine Ukrainian United Kingdom United States Wales Welsh
Slowenien Slowene/Slowenin Südafrika Südafrikaner/in Spanien Spanier/in Schweden Schwede/in die Schweiz Schweizer/in die Türkei Türke/Türkin die Ukraine Ukrainer/in Vereinigtes Königreich die Vereinigten Staaten Wales Waliser/in
Female nationalities add -in to the masculine nationality but some need to delete the final -e before adding -in. A few nationalities are slightly irregular or have spelling changes: Deutscher (German man), Deutsche (German woman), Franzose (Frenchman), Französin (Frenchwoman) To form the adjective, use the masculine nationality stem and add -isch: amerikanisch, belgisch, griechisch, polnisch, schwedisch , etc. Some are slightly irregular: deutsch, englisch, französisch The adjectives can also refer to the language, but then the word must be capitalized, i.e. deutsch is the adjective that is usually followed by a noun, whereas Deutsch is the German language.
30. Negative Sentences
Nicht and kein are forms of negation, but nicht means not and kein means no, not a, or not any. Kein is used to negate nouns that either have no articles or are preceded by the indefinite article. Kein precedes the nouns in sentences. It is declined as an ein-word. Ist das eine Katze?
Is that a cat?
Nein, das ist keine Katze.
No, that's not a cat.
Nicht negates nouns preceded by a definite article or a possessive adjective; or it could negate any part (verb, noun, adjective) or all of a sentence. Nicht always follows the verb, but usually precedes the part of the sentence to be negated. It you want to negate an entire sentence, nicht comes last. Nicht also follows expressions of time. Das ist meine Frau. Das ist nicht meine Frau. Heute ist es kalt. Heute ist es nicht kalt.
That's my wife. That's not my wife. It is cold today. It is not cold today.
31. To and From Countries and Cities to from in
nach aus in
In also means to when it is used before a country that has a definite article (feminine and plural countries.) Ich fliege in die Schweiz. I'm flying to Switzerland. Ich fliege nach Deutschland. I'm flying to Germany. And when aus is used with feminine or plural countries, the definite article must also be used. Ich bin aus den USA . I am from the US. Ich bin aus Frankreich . I am from France.
32. To Come and to Go kommen - to come
komme kommst kommt
koh-muh kohmst kohmt
kommen kommt kommen
koh-men kohmt koh-men
gehen - to go
gehe gehst geht
geh-uh gehst gate
gehen geht gehen
geh-in gate geh-in
33. Modal Verbs German has six modal verbs that you should memorize. They express an attitude about an action or condition described by the main verb. The modal auxiliary is conjugated and placed in the second position of the sentence. The main verb is in the infinitive form and placed at the end of the clause or sentence.
Ich kann eine Fahrkarte kaufen. (I can buy a ticket.) Kann is the conjugated auxiliary verb and kaufen is the main verb in infinitive form.
ich kann du kannst er/sie/es kann
können - to be able to, can wir können ihr könnt sie/Sie können
ich muß du mußt er/sie/es muß
müssen - to have to, must wir müssen ihr müsst sie/Sie müssen
ich darf du darfst er/sie/es darf
dürfen - to be allowed/permitted to wir dürfen ihr dürft sie/Sie dürfen
Nicht müssen translates to do not have to or do not need to . Nicht dürfen translates to must not . Du mußt es nicht machen is you don't have to do it . Du darfst es nicht machen is you must not (or are not allowed) to do it .
sollen - to be supposed to wir sollen ihr sollt sie/Sie sollen wollen - to want (to) wir wollen ihr wollt sie/Sie wollen
ich soll du sollst er/sie/es soll
ich will du willst er/sie/es will mögen - to like ich mag wir mögen du magst ihr mögt er/sie/es mag sie/Sie mögen Subjunctive of mögen - would like ich möchte wir möchten du möchtest ihr möchtet er/sie/es möchte sie/Sie möchten This subjunctive of mögen expresses would like to and is used more often than the indicative of mögen. Ich möchte eine Fahrkarte kaufen means I would like to buy a ticket. Sometimes the infinitive is not required with modal verbs, if the meaning is clear enough without them. For example, you can often omit sprechen and tun after können and you can omit verbs of motion if there is an adverb of place.
Ich kann Spanisch. I can/know how to speak Spanish. Er will nach Hause. He wants to go home.
34. Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Present Tense To conjugate means to give the different forms of a verb depending on the subject. English only has two regular conjugations in the present tense, no ending and -s ending ( I, you, we, they run vs. he/she/it runs). To form regular verbs in German, remove the -en ending and add these endings:
-e -st -t
-en -t -en
Regular Verbs in the Present Tense antworten
to answer
machen
to make
arbeiten beginnen bekommen benutzen besuchen bezahlen bleiben brauchen dauern denken entdecken erfinden ergänzen erlauben erzählen essen finden fischen fliegen fragen gehen gewinnen glauben helfen kaufen kennen kommen laufen lehren lernen lieben liegen
to work to begin to get to use to visit to pay for to remain/stay to need to last to think to discover to invent to complete to permit to tell to eat to find to fish to fly to ask to go to win to believe/think to help to buy to know (people) to come to run to teach to learn to love to lay
passieren rauchen reisen rennen rufen sagen schlafen schreiben schwimmen sehen singen sitzen sparen stecken stehen studieren suchen tanzen treffen trennen trinken verdienen vergessen verlieren versprechen verstehen warten waschen winken wischen wünschen ziehen
to happen to smoke to travel to run to call to say to sleep to write to swim to see to sing to sit to save (money) to put to stand to study to look for to dance to meet to separate to drink to earn (money) to forget to lose to promise to understand to wait to wash to wave to wipe to wish/desire to move
English has three ways of expressing the present tense, such as I run, I am running, I do run. All three of these tenses are translated as one tense in German (ich laufe.) However, you can add gerade after the verb to indicate the progressive form. Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben can be translated as I do my homework or I'm doing my homework . Ich mache gerade meine Hausaufgaben is translated as I'm doing my homework .
35. Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs express an action that reciprocates back to the subject. In other words, whoever is speaking is doing an action to himself. Examples in English would be: I wash myself, he hurts himself, we hate ourselves. Usually the -self words are a clue in English; however, there are more reflexive verbs in German than in English.
Reflexive Pronouns Accusative
mich dich sich
uns euch sich
Dative
mir dir sich
uns euch sich
The reflexive pronoun follows the verb and agrees with the subject. When a clause contains another object besides the reflexive pronoun, then the reflexive pronoun is in the dative case since the other object is in the accusative case. This is when you use the dative reflexive pronouns instead of the accusative ones. Accusative: Ich fühle mich nicht wohl - I don't feel well. Dative: Ich ziehe mir den Mantel aus - I'm taking off my coat. Also note that parts of the body and articles of clothing use the definite article, not a possessive.
Reflexive Verbs sich ärgern sich aufregen to get angry to get agitated sich ausruhen sich erkälten to rest to catch a cold sich freuen sich (wohl) fühlen to feel (well) to be happy sich hinlegen sich anziehen to lie down to get dressed sich verletzen sich ausziehen to get hurt to get undressed sich beeilen sich setzen to hurry to sit down sich erholen sich vorstellen to relax to imagine Reflexive Verbs + Accusative: sich ärgern über to get annoyed about sich erinnern an to remember sich freuen über to be happy about sich freuen auf to look forward to sich gewöhnen an to get used to sich kümmern um to take care of sich bewerben um to apply for sich interessieren für to be interested in sich konzentrieren auf to concentrate on sich vorbereiten auf to prepare for
sich entscheiden für to decide on sich verlieben in to fall in love with Reflexive Verbs + Dative: sich trennen von to break up with sich erkundigen nach to ask about sich fürchten vor to be afraid of
36. Exceptions: Irregularities in Regular verbs 1) Some verbs require an umlaut over the a in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.
fahre f ährst f ährt
Fahren-to travel fahren fahrt fahren
Examples: fallen-to fall, schlafen-to sleep, tragen-to carry, waschen-to wash, laufen-to
run 2) Some verbs change the e to ie in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.
sehe siehst sieht
Sehen-to see sehen seht sehen
Examples: lesen- to read, befehlen-to command, empfehlen-to recommend,
geschehen-to happen, stehlen-to steal 3) Some verbs change the e to an i in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.
gebe gi bst gi bt
Geben-to give geben gebt geben
Examples: brechen-to break, essen-to eat, helfen-to help, sprechen-to speak, sterben-
to die, treffen-to meet, werfen-to throw *nehmen has another irregularity: it doubles the m and drops the h* nehme nimmst
nehmen nehmt
nimmt
nehmen
4) Verb stems ending -d or -t, add an e before three endings.
Reden-to speak reden redet reden
rede redest redet
5) Verb stems ending in an s or z sound, have -t for du form ending instead of -st.
Sitzen-to sit sitzen sitzt sitzen
sitze sitzt sitzt
6) Infinitives ending in -n (not -en) only have -n ending for wir and sie forms. Infinitive stems ending in -el or -er can drop the e in the ich form.
tue tust tut
tun tut tun
Tun-to do / Segeln-to sail segle segel n segelst segelt segelt segel n
37. Verbs with Prepositions Accusative denken an to think about glauben an to believe in
Dative
arbeiten an erkennen an
to work on to recognize something by to die of to participate in to help with to begin with
kommen an to come to schreiben an to write to achten auf to pay attention to ankommen to come down to/be a auf question of antworten to answer auf böse sein auf to be angry at
sterben an teilnehmen an helfen bei anfangen mit
gespannt to be excited about sein auf hoffen auf to hope for warten auf to wait for
sprechen mit
to go/travel (by means of) to count on, expect to talk to
fragen nach riechen nach
to ask about to smell of/like
fahren mit rechnen mit
danken für to thank for sorgen für to care for lachen über to laugh about
abhängen von erzählen von halten von
lesen über
to read about
handeln von
nachdenken über reden über schreiben über sprechen über bitten um kämpfen um
to think about
sprechen von
to talk about to write about
träumen von verstehen von
to talk about
wissen von
to dream about to know about/understand to know of
to ask for/request to fight for
Angst haben vor retten vor
to be afraid of to save from
to depend on to tell about to think/feel about to deal with/be about to talk about
Fahren mit cannot be used with all forms of transportation, such as on foot or by plane.
38. Separable Prefixes
aban-
aufaus-
beiein-
losfern-
mitnach-
vorvorbei-
wegzu-
zurückzusammen-
These prefixes are added to the infinitive and change the meaning of the verb. Kommen is to come, but ankommen is to arrive. When conjugated, the prefix goes to the end of the sentence. Er kommt um fünf Uhr an means "he is arriving at 5." But Er kommt um drei Uhr means "he is coming at 3." With modals, the infinitive goes to the end of the sentence as usual, but the prefix remains attached. Ich will jetzt ausgehen means "I want to go out now."
Verbs with Separable Prefixes abholen abräumen abtrocknen abwischen anfangen ankommen anmachen anrufen
to pick up to clear (the table) to dry (dishes) to wipe clean to begin to arrive to turn on to call up
ausmachen aussehen austragen auswandern ausziehen einkaufen einladen einpacken
to turn off to look like, appear to deliver to emigrate to take off clothes to shop to invite to pack up
anschauen ansehen anziehen anzünden aufhören aufmachen aufräumen aufstehen aufwachen aufwischen ausfüllen ausgeben ausgehen ausleeren
to look at to look at, watch to put on clothes to light (candles) to stop to open to tidy up (clothes) to get up to wake up to mop up to fill in (the blanks) to spend to go out to empty
einschlafen einsteigen fernsehen mitkommen mitnehmen vorbeikommen vorschlagen vorstellen weggehen wegstellen zuhören zumachen zurückkommen zusehen
to fall asleep to board to watch TV to come with to take with to come by to suggest to introduce to go away to put away to listen to to close to come back to observe
Ausgehen can also mean to be on good/bad terms with someone.
39. Inseparable Prefixes
beemp-
enter-
gemiss-
verzer-
These prefixes always remain attached to their infinitives. The inseparable prefixes are unstressed syllables, as compared to the separable prefixes which can stand alone as different words. Some examples of verbs with inseparable prefixes are besuchen to visit, erzählen - to tell, gewinnen - to win, and versprechen - to promise.
Unter and über can function as separable prefixes, but they are much more commonly used as inseparable prefixes. When prefixes are stressed, they are separable; when they are not stressed, they are inseparable. The stress on the following verbs in not on the prefix, so they are all inseparable: unterhalten - to entertain, unternehmen - to undertake, überholen - to overtake, and übersetzen - to translate.
The German National Anthem: Deutschland-Lied by Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit für das deutsche Vaterland! Danach lasst uns alle streben brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit sind des Glückes Unterpfand Blüh im Glanze dieses Glückes blühe deutsches Vaterland! Unity and right and freedom for the German fatherland; Let us all pursue this purpose brotherly, with heart and hands. Unity and right and freedom are the pawns of happiness. Flourish in this blessing's glory, flourish, German fatherland.
The Austrian National Anthem: Österreichische Bundeshymne by Paula von Preradovic
Land der Berge, Land am Strome, Land der Äcker, Land der Dome, Land der Hämmer, zukunftsreich! Heimat bist du großer Söhne, Volk, begnadet für das Schöne, Vielgerühmtes Österreich. Heiß umfehdet, wild umstritten leigst dem Erdteil du inmitten einem starken Herzen gleich. Hast seit frühen Ahnentagen Hoher Sendung Last getragen Vielgeprüftes Österreich. Mutig in die neuen Zeiten, Frei und gläubig sich uns schreiten, Arbeitsfroh und hoffnungsreich. Einig laß in Brüderchören, Vaterland, dir Treue schwören, Vielgeliebtes Österreich. Land of mountains, land of streams, Land of fields, land of spires, Land of hammers, with a rich future. You are the home of great sons, A nation blessed by its sense of beauty, Highly praised Austria. Strongly fought for, fiercely contested, You are in the centre of the Continent Like a strong heart. You have borne since the earliest days.
The burden of a high mission, Much tried Austria. Watch us striding free and believing, With courage, into new eras, Working cheerfully and full of hope. In fraternal chorus let us take in unity The oath of allegiance to you, our country, Our much beloved Austria.
The Swiss National Anthem: Schweizerpsalm by Leonhard Widmer
Trittst im Morgenrot daher, Seh' ich dich im Strahlenmeer, Dich, du Hocherhabener, Herrlicher! Wenn der Alpenfirn sich rötet, Betet, freie Schweizer, betet! Eure fromme Seele ahnt Gott im hehren Vaterland, Gott, den Herrn, im hehren Vaterland. Kommst im Abendglühn daher, Find' ich dich im Sternenheer, Dich, du Menschenfreundlicher, Liebender! In des Himmels lichten Räumen Kann ich froh und selig träumen! Denn die fromme Seele ahnt Gott im hehren Vaterland, Gott, den Herrn, im hehren Vaterland. Ziehst im Nebelflor daher, Such' ich dich im Wolkenmeer, Dich, du Unergründlicher, Ewiger! Aus dem grauen Luftgebilde Tritt die Sonne klar und milde, Und die fromme Seele ahnt Gott im hehren Vaterland, Gott, den Herrn, im hehren Vaterland.
Fährst im wilden Sturm daher, Bist Du selbst uns Hort und Wehr, Du, allmächtig Waltender, Rettender! In Gewitternacht und Grauen Lasst uns kindlich ihm vertrauen! Ja, die fromme Seele ahnt, Ja, die fromme Seele ahnt Gott im hehren Vaterland, Gott, den Herrn, im hehren Vaterland !
40. Present Perfect or Past Indefinite Tense This tense is used more often than the simple past, especially in conversation, and is equivalent to I have done or I did. Regular verbs use a form of haben or sein and a past participle. Past participles are made by adding ge- to the beginning of the verb stem and -t (or -et, if stem ends in -t or -d) to the end.
Fragen is to ask, and - frag- is the stem; therefore gefragt is the past participle. Arbeiten is to work, and -arbeit- is the stem; therefore gearbeitet is the past participle. Machen is to do/make, and -mach- is the stem; therefore gemacht is the past participle. Verbs ending in -ieren only add the -t ending. Studieren is to study and studier- is the stem, so studiert is the past participle. The form of haben or sein is placed where the verb should be, and the past participle goes to the end of the sentence. Ex: Ich habe meinen Bruder gefragt - I asked my brother .
Haben or Sein Most verbs use haben, but a few use sein, if and only if, both of these conditions are met: 1. The verb expresses motion or change of condition. 2. The verb is intransitive (i.e. cannot take a direct object.)
Double Infinitive: When modals are used in the present perfect tense with a dependent infinitive, the past participle is not used. The infinitive of the modal acts as the past participle. Logically, I had to go home would be translated as ich habe nach Hause gehen gemußt . However, it is actually Ich habe nach Hause gehen müssen.
When there is no other infinitive in the sentence, then the past participles of the modals are used. I had to would be translated as Ich habe gemußt. → All modals, as well as reflexive verbs, use haben in the present perfect tense. The reflexive pronouns follow the auxiliary verb as in Ich habe mir den Arm gebrochen. I broke my arm. → With separable prefixes, the prefix comes before the ge- in a past participle, such as angekommen and aufgestanden. From the participle of the base verb, and then add the prefix to the beginning. But note that the prefix does change the entire meaning of the verb, and it may take a different auxiliary verb than its base verb. For example, stehen takes haben, but aufstehen takes sein. → With inseparable prefixes, whether the verb is regular or irregular, there is no ge prefix when forming the past participle, such as besucht and verloren. → To express something that has been going on or happening for a period of time, German using the present tense (rather than the past) and the word schon. "I have been studying German for two years" translates to Ich studiere Deutsch schon zwei Jahre.
41. Irregular Past Participles with Haben
These irregular past participles end with -en, and some have vowel changes in the stem. All of the following irregular past participles use haben as the auxiliary verb.
angefangen anfangen begin aufgestanden aufstehen get up befehlen order, command befohlen begonnen beginnen begin gebissen bite beißen bekommen bekommen get, receive beworben bewerben apply gebunden tie binden gebeten ask bitten gebrochen break brechen eingeladen invite einladen empfohlen empfehlen recommend
raten reißen riechen rufen scheinen schieben schlafen schließen schneiden schreiben schreien schweigen
advise tear smell call shine push sleep shut cut write yell be silent
geraten gerissen gerochen gerufen geschienen geschoben geschlafen geschlossen geschnitten geschrieben geschrieen geschwiegen
essen finden fressen frieren geben gewinnen gießen greifen halten hängen heben heißen helfen klingen lassen leiden leihen lesen liegen lügen nehmen pfeifen
eat find eat (of animals) freeze give win pour, water reach hold hang, suspend lift be called help sound let, allow suffer lend read recline lie, fib take whistle
gegessen gefunden gefressen gefroren gegeben gewonnen gegossen gegriffen gehalten gehangen gehoben geheißen geholfen geklungen gelassen gelitten geliehen gelesen gelegen gelogen genommen gepfiffen
geschwungen schwingen swing gesehen see sehen gesungen sing singen gesessen sit sitzen gesprochen sprechen speak gestanden stand stehen gestohlen steal stehlen quarrel gestritten streiten getragen wear tragen meet getroffen treffen getrunken drink trinken getan do tun verboten verbieten forbid vergessen vergessen forget verlassen verlassen leave verloren lose verlieren versprochen versprechen promise verstehen understand verstanden verziehen verzeihen forgive gewaschen wash waschen geworfen throw werfen gezogen pull ziehen
Some verbs change their stems, like all irregular verbs; but take the endings for regular verbs instead of irregular verbs. They form their past participles like regular verbs. (Ge-stem-t)
Infinitive brennen-to burn bringen-to bring denken-to think kennen-to know (people) nennen-to call, name rennen-to run wenden-to turn wissen-to know (facts)
Irregular Stem brannbrachdachkannnannrannwandwuß-
42. Sein Verbs and Past Participles
Past Participle gebrannt gebracht gedacht gekannt genannt gerannt gewandt gewußt
The following verbs use sein as the auxiliary verb, and many have irregular past participles.
aufgewacht laufen geblieben passieren erschienen reisen ertrunken reiten
run
drive, go, travel
gefahren
rennen
run
fall
gefallen geflogen gefolgt geboren gegangen gelungen geschehen gejoggt geklettert gekommen gekrochen
schwimmen swim be sein sink sinken jump springen climb steigen die sterben step treten grow wachsen hike wandern become werden
aufwachen bleiben erscheinen ertrinken
wake up
fahren fallen fliegen folgen gebren gehen gelingen geschehen joggen klettern kommen kriechen
remain appear drown
fly follow be born go succeed happen jog climb come creep
happen travel ride (horseback)
gelaufen passiert gereist geritten gerannt geschwommen gewesen gesunken gesprungen gestiegen gestorben getreten gewachsen gewandert geworden
43. Food and Meals breakfast lunch dinner glass fork spoon knife napkin plate silverware tea steak cake chicken coffee
das Frühstück das Mittagessen das Abendessen das Glas (ä, er) die Gabel (n) der Löffel (-) das Messer (-) die Serviette (n) der Teller (-) das Besteck der Tee das Steak der Kuchen das Huhn der Kaffee
bread pepper salt ice vinegar oil sugar butter table dishes juice water wine beer soft drink
das Brot (e) der Pfeffer das Salz das Eis der Essig das Öl der Zucker die Butter der Tisch (e) das Geschirr der Saft (ä, e) das Wasser der Wein das Bier die Limonade
fish ham ice cream jam rice salad soup
der Fisch der Schinken das Eis die Marmelade der Reis der Salat die Suppe
milk egg honey snack cheese mustard pie
die Milch das Ei (er) der Honig der Imbiss der Käse der Senf die Torte (n)
44. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats fruit pineapple apple apricot banana pear strawberry raspberry cherry lime lemon orange peach grape vegetable cauliflower bean pea cucumber carrot potato cabbage
das Obst die Ananas (-) der Apfel (ä) die Aprikose (n) die Banane (n) die Birne (n) die Erdbeere (n) die Himbeere (n) die Kirsche (n) die Limone (n) die Zitrone (n) die Orange (n) der Pfirsisch (e) die Traube (n) das Gemüse der Blumenkohl die Bohne (n) die Erbse (n) die Gurke (n) die Karotte (n) die Kartoffel (n) der Kohl
pumpkin olive raddish lettuce tomato onion green beans corn meat roast veal lamb beef pork bacon sausage poultry duck goose chicken turkey fish
der Kürbis (e) die Olive (n) der Rettich (e) der Salat die Tomate (n) die Zwiebel (n) die grünen Bohnen der Mais das Fleisch der Braten (-) das Kalbfleisch das Lammfleisch das Rindfleisch das Schweinefleisch der Speck die Wurst (ü, e) das Geflügel die Ente (n) die Gans (ä, e) das Huhn (ü, er) der Truthahn (ä, e) der Fisch (e)
In Austria, der Karfiol is cauliflower, die Fisolen is green beans, and der Kukuruz is corn.
45. Genitive Partitive
The genitive partitive is mostly mostly used when talking talking about quantities of of food. Both words are in the nominative case in German, and of is not needed. a glass of water - ein Glas Wasser a piece of cake - ein Stück Kuchen a slice of pizza - ein Stück Pizza
46. Commands du form ihr form wir form Sie form
conjugated form, mi minus -(s)t conjugated form conjugated form with wir following conjugated fo form wi with Sie following
Gehen-to go Geh! Geht! Gehen wir!
Gehen Sie!
Verbs that take an umlaut in conjugations leave it off in commands. commands. Verbs that stem vowel from e to i use the changed stem in the du form. change their stem form. All commands require an exclamation point. The wir forms translate as Let's + verb in English.
du form ihr form Sie form
Imperative of Sein Sei! Seid! Seien Sie!
47. Subordinating Conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions are used to connect an independent and dependent clause together, and they do affect word order. An independent independent (or main) clause contains a subject and verb and can stand stand alone as its own sentence. sentence. A dependent (or subordinate) clause also contains a subject and verb, but is introduced with a subordinating conjunction and cannot stand alone as its own sentence. There are also other conjunctions (called coordinating) that do not affect word order. The easiest way to tell the two types of conjunctions apart is to memorize the coordinating ones. Und, aber, denn - for/because, sondern - but (on the contrary) and oder are the coordinating coordinating conjunctions. The rest of the conjunctions conjunctions act as
subordinating, and interrogative words can also act as subordinating conjunctions. Some examples are als-when, bevor- before, before, bis-until, damit-so that, dass-that, wenn-if/when, ob-whether, obwohl-although, nachdem-after, da-since, währendwhile, weil-because, and wie-how. 1. In clauses introduced by subordinating subordinating conjunctions, conjunctions, the conjugated verb is forced to the end of the clause (not sentence) and a comma is placed before the conjunction. Ich bleibe bleibe zu Hause. Ich bin krank. krank. I'm staying staying home. home. I am sick. Ich bleibe zu Hause , weil ich krank bin. I'm staying home home because because I am sick. sick. (weil is the subordinating conjunction, and bin must go to the end.) Sie kommt nach zu dir. Sie hat gegessen. She's coming coming to your place. place. She has eaten. Sie kommt nach zu dir , nachdem sie gegessen hat . She's coming coming to your your place after after she has eaten. (nachdem is the sub. conjunction, and hat must go to the end.) → However, when a double infinitive construction is involved, the conjugated verb form precedes the two infinitives. The double infinitive infinitive always goes to the the end of the clause or sentence. Ich weiß nicht , ob er hat mitkommen wollen. wollen. I don't know if he wanted wanted to come along. 2. When a sentence begins begins with a subordinating conjunction, conjunction, the main clause begins with the conjugated verb in keeping with the normal word order of German that states verbs are always in the second position. position. The subordinate clause clause becomes the first position, so the verb verb of the main clause must occupy the second position. position. Hans telefoniert mit Ihnen, während Sie in Berlin sind. sind. Hans will call you you while you're in Berlin. Während Sie in Berlin sind, telefoniert Hans mit Ihnen. Ihnen. While you are are in Berlin, Hans will call you. (während is a subordinating conjunction, and the subordinating clause occupies the first position of the sentence, so the second position must be occupied by the verb of the main clause, telefoniert .) .) 3. If there is a separable prefix verb in a dependent dependent clause, the prefix remains attached to the verb, and the entire verb goes to the end of the clause, whereas normally the prefix would go to the end. Er ist immer müde, wenn er früh aufsteht. He is always tired when he gets up early. 4. When there are two verbs in a dependent dependent clause (such as a modal modal and an infinitive), the modal goes last, following the infinitive.
Er ist müde, wenn er früh aufstehen muss. He is tired when he must get up early.
48. Holiday Phrases Frohe Weihnachten! Frohe Ostern! Glückliches Neues Jahr! Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! das Silvester das Neujahr der Valentinstag der Fasching (S. Germany) / der Karneval (Rhineland) das Ostern das Weihnachten der Geburtstag die Hochzeit
Merry Christmas! Happy Easter! Happy New Year! Happy Birthday! New Year's Eve New Year's Day Valentine's Day Mardi Gras Easter Christmas birthday wedding
49. Helfen, lassen and the senses Helfen, lassen and verbs indicating the senses (such as sehen and hören) function like modal auxiliaries. Like the modals, modals, these verbs require require a double infinitive construction when forming the present perfect tense if there is a dependent infinitive involved. After verbs of this type, English often uses a present present participle, but German uses a dependent infinitive. Ich sehe ihn kommen. I see him coming. coming. Ich habe ihn kommen hören. I heard him coming. coming.
Lassen can have different meanings depending on how it is used in the sentence. Usually, lassen means to let or allow, as in Laß den Jungen spielen! Let the boy play! (Notice that lassen takes takes an accusative accusative object) But it can also mean mean to have something done or to have someone do something. Wir lassen uns ein Haus bauen. We're having a house built./We're building a house. Ich lasse meinen Sohn die Post abholen. I'm having my son pick up the mail.
50. Places street
die Straße (n)
strass-uh
bank
die Bank (en)
bahnk
hotel
das Hotel (s)
hoh-tel
restaurant
das Restaurant (s) res-tohrahn
pharmacy die Apotheke ah-poh(n) tek-uh drugstore die Drogerie droh-ger(n) ee die Fabrik fah-breek factory (en) die Metzgerei mets-geh butcher (en) rie shop die rien-eedry cleaner's Reinigung gunk (en) booch bookstore der lah-den Buchladen (ä) der flookairport Flughafen (ä) hahf-en die Garage gah-rahgarage (n) zhuh town hall das Rathaus rahthouse (ä) das Schloss shlohss castle (ö, er) die Schule (n) shoo-luh school
theater
das Theater (-)
tay-ah-ter
store
das Geschäft / der Laden (ä)
lah-den
museum
moo-zayum
church
das Museum (Museen) die Kirche (n)
square
der Platz (ä, e)
plahtz
monument
das Denkmal (ä, er) denk-mall
building
das Gebäude (-)
guh-boyduh
house
das Haus (ä, er)
house
grocery store
das Lebensmittelgeschäft (e)
lay-buns- bar mittel-geh sheft
library
die Bibliothek (en) beeb-lee-
keer-kuh
city
cathedral
die Stadt (ä, shtaht e) die Kneipe knigh-puh (n) der Dom (e)
dome
oh-tek
hospital stadium movie theater hardware store stationery
das Krankenhaus krahnk-en- village (ä, er) house shtah-dee- cemetery das Stadion (Stadien) on das Kino (s) kee-noh backery das Eisenwarengeschäft (e)
ise-enwar-en geh-sheft
das Schreibwaren- shribe-
das Dorf (ö, dorf er) der Friedhof freed-hoff (ö, e) die Bäckerei beck-er-ie (en) shoe store das Schuh- shoo-gehgeschäft (e) sheft
store
geschäft (e)
var-en geh-scheft
In Austria and Southern Germany, die Buchhandlung is used for bookstore.
51. Transportation bus trolleybus subway train airplane ship boat motorcycle automobile streetcar moped bike car on foot
der Bus (se) der Obus die U-Bahn der Zug (ü, e) das Flugzeug (e) das Schiff (e) das Boot (e) das Motorrad (ä, er) das Auto (s) die Straßenbahn (en) das Moped (s) das Fahrrad (ä, er) der Wagen (-) zu Fuss
boos oh-boos oo-bahn tsook flook-tsoyk shiff boat moh-toh-raht ow-toh shtrass-en-bahn mo-ped fah-raht vah-gen foos
Die U-Bahn is short for die Untergrundbahn and der Obus is short for der Oberleitungsbus. To say by bus, train, etc., use mit dem + the noun for masculine and neuter nouns; and mit der + the noun for feminine nouns.
52. Simple Past / Imperfect Tense In English, this tense corresponds to I did, you saw, he cried, etc. and is used less often in spoken German than the present perfect tense. It is used more often in writing to tell a sequence of past events. Nevertheless, even in conversational German, sein, haben, werden, wissen and the modal verbs are preferred in the simple past tense than in the present perfect tense . In addition, the simple past tense is commonly used in clauses that begin with als (when). All regular verbs add these endings to their original stems:
-te -test -te
-ten -tet -ten
Verb stems ending in -d or -t, add an -e before all endings for ease of pronunciation. Simple Past of sein, haben & werden sein
war warst war waren wart waren
ich du er, sie, es wir ihr sie
haben
werden
hatte hattest hatte hatten hattet hatten
wurde wurdest wurde wurden wurdet wurden
For the modal verbs, drop the umlaut found in the infinitive before adding the endings. Mögen changes the g to ch as well. Simple Past of Modals können
ich du er, sie, es wir ihr sie
konnte konntest konnte konnten konntet konnten
müssen
mußte mußtest mußte mußten mußtet mußten
dürfen
sollen
wollen
mögen
durfte durftest durfte durften durftet durften
sollte solltest sollte sollten solltet sollten
wollte wolltest wollte wollten wolltet wollten
mochte mochtest mochte mochten mochtet mochten
The following verbs are called mixed verbs because although they have an irregular stem, they still use the imperfect endings for regular verbs. These are the same stems that are used in the present perfect tense as well. Simple Past of Mixed Verbs wissen
bringen
denken
kennen
brennen
nennen
rennen
wenden
ich wußte brachte dachte kannte brannte nannte rannte wandte du wußtest brachtest dachtest kanntest branntest nanntest ranntest wandtest er, wußte brachte dachte kannte brannte nannte rannte wandte sie,
es wir wußten brachten dachten kannten brannten nannten rannten wandten ihr wußtet brachtet dachtet kanntet branntet nanntet ranntet wandtet sie wußten brachten dachten kannten brannten nannten rannten wandten
53. Irregular Stems in Simple Past / Imperfect Tense
Irregular verbs have a different stem for the past tense and add different endings than those of the regular verbs. You will have to memorize these stems, as they can be unpredictable (and unlike the past participles). Remember the simple past forms given below are just the stems; you must add different irregular endings depending on the subject. Infinitive
Simple Past
Past Participle
anfangen aufstehen befehlen beginnen beissen begreifen bekommen bewerben binden biegen bieten bitten blasen bleiben brechen einladen entscheiden empfehlen erscheinen ertrinken essen fahren fallen fangen finden fliegen
fing ... an stand ... auf befahl begann biss begriff bekam bewarb band bog bot bat blies blieb brach lud ... ein entschied empfahl erschien ertrank aß fuhr fiel fing fand flog
angefangen aufgestanden befohlen begonnen gebissen begriffen bekommen beworben gebunden gebogen geboten gebeten geblasen ist geblieben gebrochen eingeladen entschieden empfohlen ist erschienen ist ertrunken gegessen ist gefahren ist gefallen gefangen gefunden ist geflogen
Translation begin get up order, command begin bite comprehend get, receive apply tie turn, bend offer ask blow remain break invite decide recommend appear drown eat drive, go, travel fall catch find fly
fressen frieren geben gebören gehen gelingen geschehen gewinnen gießen greifen halten hngen heben heißen helfen klingen kommen kriechen lassen laufen leiden leihen lesen liegen lügen nehmen pfeifen raten reissen reiten riechen rufen scheinen schieben schiessen schlafen schlagen schließen schneiden schreiben schreien schweigen
fraß fror gab gebar ging gelang geschah gewann goss griff hielt hing hob hieß half klang kam kroch liess lief litt lieh las lag log nahm pfiff riet riss ritt roch rief schien schob schoss schlief schlug schloss schnitt schrieb schrie schwieg
gefressen gefroren gegeben ist geboren ist gegangen ist gelungen ist geschehen gewonnen gegossen gegriffen gehalten gehangen gehoben geheißen geholfen geklungen ist gekommen ist gekrochen gelassen ist gelaufen gelitten geliehen gelesen gelegen gelogen genommen gepfiffen geraten gerissen ist geritten gerochen gerufen geschienen geschoben geschossen geschlafen geschlagen geschlossen geschnitten geschrieben geschrieen geschwiegen
eat (of animals) freeze give be born go succeed happen win pour, water reach hold hang, suspend lift be called help sound come creep let, allow run suffer lend read recline lie, fib take whistle advise tear ride (horseback) smell call shine push shoot sleep hit shut cut write cry be silent
schwimmen schwingen sehen sein singen sinken sitzen spinnen sprechen springen stehen stehlen steigen sterben streiten tragen treffen treiben treten trinken tun verbieten vergessen vergleichen verlassen verlieren versprechen verstehen verzeihen vorschlagen wachsen waschen werfen ziehen
schwamm schwang sah war sang sank saß span sprach sprang stand stahl stieg starb stritt trug traf trieb trat trank tat verbot vergaß verglich verliess verlor versprach verstand verzieh schlug ... vor wuchs wusch warf zog -st -
ist geschwommen geschwungen gesehen ist gewesen gesungen ist gesunken gesessen gesponnen gesprochen ist gesprungen gestanden gestohlen ist gestiegen ist gestorben gestritten getragen getroffen getrieben ist getreten getrunken getan verboten vergessen verglichen verlassen verloren versprochen verstanden verziehen vorgeschlagen ist gewachsen gewaschen geworfen gezogen Irregular Endings -en -t -en
swim swing see be sing sink sit spin speak jump stand steal climb die quarrel wear meet play sports step drink do forbid forget compare leave lose promise understand forgive suggest grow wash throw pull
There are no endings for the 1st and 3rd person singular. If the verb stem ends in an s sound (such as aß-), the du form ending becomes -est (du aßest.) If the verb stem ends in -t or -d, the ihr form ending becomes -et while the du form ending sometimes becomes -est. Most verb stems do add -est in the du form, but some do not. For example, finden is conjugated without the -e- (du fandst ) while sich befinden is conjugated with the -e- (du befandest dich.) Similarly, stehen is conjugated without the -e- (du standst ) while verstehen is conjugated with the -e- (du verstandest .) The other main verbs that are conjugated without the -e- are braten (brietst; to roast), erfinden (erfandst, to invent), laden (ludst, to invite), leiden (littst, to suffer), and schneiden (schnittst, to cut).
54. House and Furniture window curtain clock bookcase lamp table sofa chair armchair mirror towel toilet wastebasket bathroom sink (clothes) closet picture nightstand vase dresser bed rug room bathroom bedroom living room kitchen
das Fenster (-) der Vorhang (ä, e)
ground floor 1st floor/storey die Uhr (en) floor/ground das Bücherregal (e) roof die Lampe (n) shower der Tisch (e) bathtub das Sofa (s) stairs/steps der Stuhl (ü, e) stove der Sessel (-) oven der Spiegel (-) refrigerator das Handtuch (ü, er) dishwasher
die Toilette (n) der Papierkorb (ö, e) das Waschbecken (-) der (Kleider)schrank (ä, e) das Bild (er) der Nachttisch (e) die Vase (n) die Kommode (n) das Bett (en) der Teppich (e) das Zimmer (-) das Badezimmer (-) das Schlafzimmer (-) das Wohnzimmer (-) die Küche (n)
das Erdgeschoss der erste Stock
faucet pot, pan drawer silverware
der Boden (ö) das Dach (ä, er) die Dusche (n) die Badewanne (n) die Treppen der Herd (e) der Backofen (ö) der Kühlschrank (e) die Geschirrspülmaschine (n) der Wasserhahn (ä, e) der Topf (ö, e) die Schublade (n) das Besteck
dishes kitchen sink desk alarm clock shelf television telephone VCR CD Player computer radio
das Geschirr das Spülbecken (-) der Schreibtisch (e) der Wecker (-) das Regal (e) der Fernseher (-) das Telefon (e) der Videorekorder (-) der CD-Spieler (-) der Computer (-) das Radio (s)
hallway/corridor der Flur (e) der Balkon (e) balcony die Möbel furniture wall lawn
die Wand (ä, e) der Rasen
pillow cupboard blanket, ceiling door garden, yard
das Kopfkissen (-) der Schrank (ä, e) die Decke (n) die Tür (en) der Garten (ä)
Remember that in Europe, buildings always start with the ground floor, and then the next floor up is the first floor. Many Americans would refer to these floors as the first floor and second floor, respectively, and not even use ground floor.
55. Location vs. Direction Location: the prepositions in, an, auf and bei (followed by the dative case) are used with fixed locations, while aus and von (also followed by the dative case) are used to signify origin.
in
enclosed spaces
an
denotes border or limiting area
auf on surfaces, or at public buildings bei before name of place or business where someone lives or works aus comes from enclosed or defined space, such as country, town or building von comes from open space, particular direction or person
Ich bin in der Kirche. I'm at church. Wir sind in der Schule. We are at school. Er ist am See. He is at the lake. Das Bild ist an der The picture is on the Wand. wall. Es ist auf dem Tisch. It's on the table. Sie sind auf der Bank. They are at the bank. Ich arbeite bei I work at McDonald's. McDonald's. I live at my Aunt's Ich wohne bei meiner (house). Tante. Sie kommt aus dem She comes from the Zimmer. bedroom. Ich komme aus den I come from the USA. USA. Das Auto kommt von The car comes from the rechts. right. Ich weiß es von ihm. I know it from him.
Direction: the prepositions in and auf (followed by the accusative case) or zu and nach (followed by the dative case) are used.
in
building or enclosed space; countries
Ich gehe in die Kirche.
I'm going to church. I'm flying to the USA.
and cities that have definite articles* auf open spaces or public buildings zu specifically named buildings or places, and people
Ich fliege in die USA. Er geht auf den Markt. Sie geht zum Strand. Sie gehen zu McDonald's. Ich gehe zur Bank.
nach countries and cities that have Ich fliege nach no articles Österreich. Ich fliege nach Paris.
He's going to the market. She's going to the beach. They're going to McDonald's I'm going to the bank. I'm flying to Austria. I'm flying to Paris.
Only a few countries include the articles, such as der Iran (m.), die Niederlande (pl.), die Schweiz (f.), die Türkei (f.), and die USA (pl.), because they are not neuter. Remember the two idioms with Haus: zu Hause is a location and means at home, while nach Hause is a direction and means (to) home.
56. Clothing jacket dress blouse shirt T-shirt skirt sweater pullover tie sock shoe boot sandal purse belt scarf swimsuit
die Jacke (n) das Kleid (er) die Bluse (n) das Hemd (en) das T-Shirt (s) der Rock (ö, e) der Pullover (-) der Pulli (s) die Krawatte (n) die Socke (n) der Schuh (e) der Stiefel (-) die Sandale (n) die Handtasche (n) der Gürtel (-) der Schal (s) der Badeanzug (ü, e)
ring necklace bracelet earring glove jeans watch glasses man's suit woman's suit sports jacket bag, pocket underwear pants raincoat coat hat
der Ring (e) die Halskette (n) das Armband (ä, er) der Ohrring (e) der Handschuh (e) die Jeans die Armbanduhr (en) die Brille der Anzug (ü, e) das Kostüm (e) das Sakko (s) die Tasche (n) die Unterwäsche die Hose (n) der Regenmantel (ä) der Mantel (ä) der Hut (ü, e)
A few words to describe patterns are: kariert - plaid, gepunktet - polka-dotted, gestreift - striped, geblümt - flowered, gemustert - patterned. A few verbs that require dative objects can be used with clothing: gefallen - to like, passen - to fit, stehen - to look (good/bad)
Gefällt dir dieses Hemd? Do you like this shirt? Die Farbe steht mir nicht. The color doesn't look good on me. Größe 48 paßt ihr bestimmt. Size 48 fits her well.
57. Future Tense The future tense is simple to form in German. Just use the present tense forms of werden and put the infinitive to the end of the sentence. However, German usually relies on the present tense to indicate the future (implied future) and uses time expressions, such as tonight, tomorrow, etc. so the actual future tense is not quite as common in German as it is in English. Wir gehen morgen nach Deutschland is translated as We are going to Germany tomorrow , and implies a future action, yet it uses the present tense, in both German and English. To express present or future probability, use wohl (probably) with the future tense.
Present tense of werden
werde wirst wird
werden werdet werden
I will fly to Germany. Ich werde nach Deutschland fliegen. You will help me! Du wirst mir helfen! We will learn Latin. Wir werden Latein lernen. My friend should be home now. Mein Freund wird jetzt wohl zu Hause sein. (Expresses probability)
58. Asking Questions 1. Simply add a question mark
2. Invert the verb and subject 3. Use a question word + verb + subject 4. Add nicht wahr? to the end of the statement
59. Declensions of Adjectives There are three types of declensions for adjectives: adjectives used with der words, adjectives used with ein words, and independent adjectives. Predicate adjectives (Das brot ist frisch. The bread is fresh.) are not declined and usually follow a form of sein.
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Adjectives used after der words (Weak Endings) Masc. Fem. Neu. Plural der gute Wein die gute Milch das gut e Brot die guten Freunde den guten Wein die gute Milch das gut e Brot die guten Freunde dem guten Wein der guten Milch dem guten Brot den guten Freunden des gut en Weines der guten Milch des gut en Brotes der guten Freunde Adjectives used after ein words (Weak Endings) Masc. Fem. Neu. Plural kein guter Wein keine gute Milch kein gutes Brot keine guten Freunde keinen guten Wein keine gute Milch kein gutes Brot keine guten Freunde keinem guten keiner guten keinem gut en keinen guten Wein Milch Brot Freunden keines guten keiner guten keines guten keiner guten Freunde Weines Milch Brotes
The only difference between the adjectives used after der words and the adjectives used after ein words are the masculine and neuter nominative, and neuter accusative. The rest of the endings are the same. These types of attributive adjectives are the weak endings. The strong endings (below) are used on adjectives that have no preceding article. They are the same as the endings for the der words (with the exception of the masculine and neuter genitive.)
Nom. Acc. Dat.
Independent Adjectives (Strong Endings) Masc. Fem. Neu. Plural guter Wein gute Milch gutes Brot gute Freunde guten Wein gute Milch gutes Brot gute Freunde gutem Wein guter Milch gutem Brot guten Freunden
Gen.
guten Weines
guter Milch
guten Brotes
guter Freunde
Viele (many), wenige (few), andere (other), einige (some), and mehrere (several) are all plural expressions that do not act as limiting words. Adjectives that follow them take strong endings. In the singular, mancher (many a) and solcher (such) also use strong endings (when used with another adjective in the singular, they turn into manch ein and so ein), but in the plural they function as normal limiting words.
60. Adjectives short long loud quiet cute perfect sad happy dear famous different easy difficult pretty ugly small large good bad new tired angry annoying wonderful
kurz lang laut ruhig niedlich perfekt traurig glücklich lieb berühmt unterschiedlich leicht schwierig hübsch häßlich klein groß gut schlecht neu müde wütend ärgerlich wunderbar
high, tall wide fat, thick thin narrow weak strong deep lazy cheap dumb early near nice inexpensive expensive crazy far beautiful curious old young interesting fantastic
61. Comparative & Superlative
hoch breit dick dünn eng schwach stark tief faul billig dumm früh nah nett preiswert teuer verrückt weit schön neugierig alt jung interessant fantastisch
light dark terrible sweet in love serious clean dirty shy nervous comfortable worried right wrong jealous drunk popular excellent valuable alone important busy sick ready
hell dunkel furchtbar süß verliebt ernsthaft sauber schmutzig schüchtern nervös bequem besorgt richtig falsch eifersüchtig betrunken beliebt ausgezeichnet wertvoll allein wichtig beschäftigt krank fertig
For comparisons of equality, use the construction so + adjective or adverb + wie to mean as + adjective or adverb + as. You can also add nicht in front of the so for a comparison of inequality. Die Küche ist so gross wie das Wohnzimmer. The kitchen is as big as the living room. Eine Waschmaschine ist nicht so schwer wie ein Kühlschrank. A washing machine is not as heavy as a refrigerator.
Comparative 1. For comparisons of superiority and inferiority, add -er to the adjective or adverb, followed by als (than). German always uses the -er ending, although English sometimes uses the word more before the adjective instead of the ending. Ein radio is billiger als ein Fernseher. A radio is cheaper than a TV. Jens läuft schnell er als Ernst. Jens runs faster than Ernst. Lydia ist intelligent er als ihr Bruder. Lydia is more intelligent than her brother. 2. Adjectives that end in -el, -en or -er, drop the -e in the comparative form. Teuer becomes teurer instead of teuerer, and dunkel becomes dunkler instead of dunkeler. Some one-syllable adjectives and adverbs whose stem vowel is a, o, or u add an umlaut in the comparative, such as alt, arm, dumm, grob, groß, hart, jung, kalt, klug, krank, kurz, lang, oft, scharf, schwach, stark, warm . Adjectives that never add an umlaut are flach, froh, klar, rasch, roh, schlank, stolz, toll, voll and zart.
Superlative 1. To form the superlative, add -(e)st to the adjective. The ending -est is used when the word ends in -d, -t, or an s sound. The adjectives that end in -el, -en, or -er retain the -s in the superlative form. The same adjectives that took an umlaut in the comparative take an umlaut in the superlative as well. 2. The superlative also has an alternative form: am + adjective or adverb + sten. When the adjective or adverb ends in a d, t or s sound, an e is inserted between the stem and ending (am grössten is an exception.) This is the only form of the superlative of adverbs, but either forms of the superlative can be used for adjectives. Hans is am jüngsten. Hans is the youngest. Sie ist am intelligentesten. She is the most intelligent.
Irregular Forms Adj. / Adv.
gern
Comparative
lieber
Superlative
am liebsten
gut hoch nah viel
besser höher näher mehr
am besten am höchsten am nächsten am meisten
Common forms of the comparative Je mehr, desto besser. The more, the better. Je mehr Geld er hat, desto glücklicher ist er. The more money he has, the happier he is. Die preise werden immer höher. The prices are getting higher and higher. Julia wird immer hübscher. Julia is getting prettier and prettier. Keep in mind that the comparative and superlative forms take normal adjective endings when they precede a noun. And the adjective form of the superlative must always take an adjective ending because it is preceded by the definite article. Haben Sie billig ere Anzüge? Do you have less expensive suits? Diese Anzüge sind die billig sten. These suits are the least expensive.
62. Sports & Hobbies to do sports golf soccer volleyball football basketball baseball hockey tennis table tennis bowling sailing horseback riding boxing
Sport treiben hang-gliding Golf spielen windsurfing Fußball spielen water-skiing Volleyball fishing spielen Football spielen aerobics Basketball bungee-jumping spielen Baseball spielen gymnastics Eishockey mountaineering spielen Tennis spielen climbing Tischtennis judo spielen kegeln weight training segeln wrestling reiten diving boxen to tinker, build
Drachen fliegen Windsurfing gehen Wasserski fahren angeln Aerobic machen Bungee-jumping gehen turnen bergsteigen gehen klettern Judo machen Body-building machen ringen tauchen basteln
skiing
Rollschuh laufen Schlittschuh laufen Ski fahren
bicycling
Radfahren
roller-skating ice-skating
Schwimmen gehen joggen jogging wandern hiking Camping gehen camping im Garten gardening arbeiten go out with friends mit Freunden ausgehen faulenzen to lie around, be lazy swimming
things to listen to music
Musik hören
to play cards
Karten spielen
to collect coins/stamps to play video games photography
Münzen/Briefmarken sammeln Videospiele spielen
to do ceramics to draw to play chess to knit
töpfern zeichnen Schach spielen stricken
to watch TV
fernsehen
go to the movies
ins Kino gehen
fotografieren
A lot of sports/hobbies exist as nouns and as verbs, so just as in English, you can say either I like to fish or I like to go fishing . If it's capitalized, it's a noun and if it's not capitalized, it's a verb.
kegeln - to bowl das Kegeln - bowling
63. Nature barn bridge hill mountain beach lake river street farm field
die Scheune (n) die Brücke (n) der Hügel (-) der Berg (e) der Strand (ä, e) der See (n) die Fluss (ü, e) die Straße (n) der Bauernhof (ö, e) das Feld (er)
stream sky island air meadow desert pond grass leaf flower
der Bach (ä, e) der Himmel der Insel (n) die Luft die Wiese (n) die Wüste (n) der Teich (e) das Gras das Blatt (ä, er) die Blume (n)
forest plant city sea bay mountain range
der Wald (ä, er) ocean die Pflanze (n) tree die Stadt (ä, e) country die See / das Meer (e) valley die Bucht (en) coast das Gebirge jungle
der Ozean (e) der Baum (ä, e) das Land (ä, er) das Tal (ä, er) die Küste (n) der Dschungel (-)
64. Object Pronouns Subject (Nom.) ich I du you (fam.) er he sie she es it wir we ihr you (pl.) sie they Sie you (pol.)
Direct Objects (Acc.) mich me dich you ihn him sie her es it uns us euch you sie them Sie you
Indirect Objects (Dat.) mir (to) me dir (to) you ihm (to) him ihr (to) her ihm (to) it uns (to) us euch (to) you ihnen (to) them Ihnen (to) you
If there are two nouns in a sentence, one accusative and one dative, then the dative noun will be first. However, if there are two pronouns, one accusative and one dative, then the accusative pronoun will be first. In sentences with one noun and one pronoun (regardless of which is accusative or dative), the pronoun will be first. Some verbs always take indirect objects, even if they take direct objects in English. For verbs that can take two objects, the direct object will usually be a thing, and the indirect object will usually refer to a person.
antworten schenken bringen danken zuhören gehören glauben helfen gratulieren begegnen vertrauen
to answer (a person) to give to bring to thank to listen to to belong to to believe to help to congratulate to meet to trust
The following four need an object as a subject:
schaden schmecken stehen passen
to be harmful to to taste good to to suit to fit
The following two need the subject and object inverted from the original English construction:
fehlen gefallen
to be missing to to be pleasing to
empfehlen geben kaufen leihen sagen schicken schreiben wünschen zeigen
to recommend to give to buy to lend, borrow to tell, say to give as a gift to write to wish to show
65. Parts of the Body body arm eye cheek belly leg chest finger foot ankle brain hair neck hand wrist skin heart jaw
der Körper (-) der Arm (e) das Auge (n) die Backe (n) der Bauch (ä, e) das Bein (e) die Brust (ü, e) der Finger der Fuss (ü, e) das Fussgelenk (e) das Gehirn das Haar (e) der Hals (ä, e) die Hand (ä, e) das Handgelenk (e) die Haut (ä, e) das Herz (en) der Kiefer (-)
chin knee bone head lip stomach nail mouth nose ear back shoulder forehead tooth toe tongue face cheek
Ich fühle mich nicht wohl. I don't feel well. Mir ist schlecht. I feel sick. Mir ist kalt/warm. I'm cold/hot. Was fehlt dir? What's the matter? Der Hals tut mir weh. My throat hurts.
das Kinn (e) das Knie (-) der Knochen (-) der Kopf (ö, e) die Lippe (n) der Magen (ä) der Nagel (ä) der Mund (ü, er) die Nase (n) das Ohr (en) der Rücken (-) die Schulter (n) die Stirn (en) der Zahn (ä, e) die Zehe (n) die Zunge (n) das Gesicht (er) die Wange (n)
The separable verb wehtun is used to say that something hurts. Remember when the noun is plural, the verb needs to be plural as well and that parts of the body do not use possessive articles.
Die Füße tun ihm weh. His feet hurt. (The feet are hurting to him.)
Other health expressions:
Ich habe Kopfschmerzen. Ich habe Halsschmerzen. Ich habe Rückenschmerzen. Ich habe Bauchschmerzen. Ich habe eine Erkältung. Ich habe Fieber. Ich habe die Grippe. Ich habe Husten. Ich habe Schnupfen. Ich habe zu viel gegessen. Gute Besserung!
I have a headache. I have a sore throat. I have a backache. I have a stomachache. I have a cold. I have a fever. I have the flu. I have a cough. I have a head cold. I ate too much. Get well soon!
66. Relative Pronouns Relative clauses begin with relative pronouns - words that correspond to who, whom, that and which in English. These may be omitted in English, but must be included in German. A comma always precedes the relative pronoun, which is put into the correct gender depending on the noun it refers to, and the correct case depending on its function in the clause. (In the following example, the relative pronoun is in the masculine accusative case because Mantel is masculine, and is a direct object of the verb "to buy", therefore, it is accusative.) The conjugated verb goes to the end of the sentence as well. That's the coat (that) I bought yesterday. Das is der Mantel, den ich gestern gekauft habe.
Relative pronouns have the same gender and number as the nouns they refer to, and the forms closely resemble those of the definite articles:
Nom. Acc.
Masc. der den
Fem. die die
Neu. das das
Plural die die
der dem denen deren dessen deren Examples Nominative Der Fluss, der durch Wien fliesst, heißt Donau. Dat. Gen.
dem dessen
The river, that through Vienna flows, is called the Danube.
The river that flows through Vienna is called the Danube. Accusative
Der Hund, den ich letzte Woche gesehen habe, war Julias. The dog, that I last week seen have, was Julia's.
The dog that I saw last week was Julia's. Dative
Mein Vater ist der einzige Mensch, dem ich nichts davon erzählt habe. My father is the only person, to whom I nothing about it told have.
My father is the only person (to) whom I have told nothing about it.
When a relative pronoun follows a preposition, the preposition determines the case, while the gender and number are determined by the noun. The preposition and pronoun always stay together as one unit as well.
Wer war die Frau, mit der ich dich gesehen habe? Who was the woman, with whom I you seen have?
Who was the woman (whom) I saw you with?
67. Da- and Wo- Compounds Personal pronouns are used after prepositions when referring to people. However, when you need to refer to a thing, a compound using da- (or dar- if the preposition begins with a vowel) plus the preposition is used.
auf dem Tisch (on the table) becomes darauf (on it) in der Tasche (in the pocket) becomes darin (in it) vor der Schule (in front of the school) becomes davor (in front of it) hinter den Häusern (behind the houses) becomes dahinter (behind them)
zwischen dem Haus und der Schule (between the house and the school) becomes dazwischen (between them)
daraus damit
Da(r) Compounds out of it/them dagegen against it/them darüber darunter with it/them darin in it/them
davon
from it/them
daran
in it/them
daneben
dazu
to it/them
darauf
on top of it/them
dazwischen between it/them
dadurch through it/them dafür for it/them
over it/them underneath it/them next to it/them
dahinter behind it/them dabei
on me/you
davor
that's why
in front of it/them
darum
Dahin is commonly used with verbs of motion to show location, regardless of the preposition used. The English translation is usually there. Dahin can be shortened to hin in everyday speech, and sometimes da is placed at the beginning of the sentence and hin is placed at the end. Ich muß heute zur Bank. I have to go to the bank. Ich muß auch dahin. I have to go there too. Dabei and darum are idioms. Hast du Geld dabei? Do you have any money on you? Darum hast du kein Glück. That's why you have no luck. Not all prepositions + pronouns can be replaced by the da(r) compounds. Ohne, ausser, and seit can never form a da(r) compound, and here are others that cannot:
ohnedies bis dahin ausserdem seit dem
without it until then besides since
stattdessen trotzdem währenddessen deswegen
instead nevertheless in the meanwhile for that reason
There are also corresponding questions word that use wo(r)- as the prefix. Wo(r) can be substituted in all of the above da(r) compounds. When asking about people, use a preposition and wen/wem, and use a preposition and the corresponding personal pronoun to answer.
Worüber sprechen Sie?
Ich spreche darüber.
What are you talking about? Woran denkst du? What are you thinking about? Mit wem gehst du ins Theater? Who are you going to the Theater with?
I'm talking about it. Ich denke daran. I'm thinking about it. Mit ihr! With her!
Wo- compounds can also be used as shortcuts for the relative pronouns because you do not need to the know the gender or case to form the relative pronoun. This shortcut can only be used with things and not people. Die Uhr, mit der er reist, hat viel gekostet. = Die Uhr, womit er reist, hat viel gekostet. The watch, with which he travels, cost a lot. Die Stadt, in der wir wohnen, hat ein großes Konzerthaus. = Die Stadt, worin wir wohnen, hat ein großes Konzerthaus. The city, in which we live, has a large concert hall.
68. Animals animal bear squirrel fox hare dog calf rabbit cat kitten cow lion mouse horse rat turtle snake
das Tier (e) der Bär (en) das Eichhörnchen (-) der Fuchs (ü, e) die Hase (n) der Hund (e) das Kalb (ä, er) das Kaninchen (-) die Katze (n) das Kätzchen (-) die Kuh (ü, e) der Löwe (n) die Maus (ä, e) das Pferd (e) die Ratte (n) die Schildkröte (n) die Schlange (n)
bull wolf worm bird rooster hen eagle chick ant bee fly grasshopper moth mosquito butterfly spider chicken
der Stier (e) der Wolf (ö, e) der Wurm (ü, er) der Vogel (ö) der Hahn (ä, e) die Henne (n) der Adler (-) das Küken (-) die Ameise (n) die Biene (n) die Fliege (n) die Heuschrecke (n) die Motte(n) die Mücke (n) der Schmetterling (e) die Spinne (n) das Huhn
69. Likes and Dislikes
Use the words gern, nicht gern, lieber, and am liebsten after a verb to express preferences. Ich spiele gern Fussball. Ich spiele lieber Hockey Ich spiele am liebsten Tennis. Ich spiele nicht gern Basketball.
I like to play soccer. I prefer to play hockey. I like to play tennis most of all. I don't like to play Basketball.
Or just use haben with any of the four phrases for general likes/dislikes. Ich habe Fussball gern. Ich habe Julia am liebsten. Ich habe das Restaurant nicht gern.
I like soccer. I like Julia most of all. I don't like the restaurant.
Gefallen is another verb used for expressing likes. It literally means to please. To use it correctly, you must switch the object in English with the subject in German. Das Zimmer is the object in English, but it becomes the subject in German. And the object in German (mir) would become the subject in English (I). It is always in the dative case in German. German sentence Das Zimmer gefällt mir.
Literally The room pleases me.
Translated I like the room.
You could always just use the verb mögen to express likes and dislikes, but another common way of saying that you like (doing) something is macht spaß.
Was macht dir spaß? What do you like (to do)? Fußball macht mir spaß. I like soccer.
70. Past Perfect Tense The Past Perfect Tense or Pluperfect corresponds to the English had + past participle and refers to something that had already happened when something else happened. It
consists of the imperfect of haben or sein and a past participle and is comparable to the present perfect tense. Present perfect: Ich habe in Wiesbaden gewohnt. I (have) lived in Wiesbaden. Past perfect: Ich hatte in Wiesbaden gewohnt. I had lived in Wiesbaden. Present perfect: Was ist passiert? What (has) happened? Past perfect: Was war passiert? What had happened?
71. Als, wenn and wann All three words correspond to when and act as subordinating conjunctions (therefore, the conjugated verb goes to the end of the sentence.) Als is used in past time contexts for a single event, wenn is used to mean whenever or if , as well as in future time, and wann is an adverb of time or a question word and can be used in declarative sentences.
Als ich ihn fand...
When I found him.. (followed by simple past tense)
Wenn er kommt...
Whenever he comes... If he comes... When he comes... (followed by future tense)
Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt. I don't know when (or at what time) he's coming.
72. Review of Word Order 1. In most sentences, the order is subject - verb - time - manner - place.
Ich gehe morgen mit dem Bus in die Schule. I'm going to school tomorrow by bus. 2. Sometimes another element begins a sentence instead of a subject. Then the verb is still in the second position, but the subject follows it.
Morgen gehe ich mit dem Bus in die Schule. Tomorrow I'm going to school by bus. 3. In sentences with more than one verb or with past participles, the conjugated verb remains in the normal position and the infinitive or past participle goes to the end of the sentence.
Ich will nach Hause gehen. I want to go home. Ich habe dir geglaubt. I believed you.
4. When asking questions, you can usually just invert the subject and verb.
Kann ich jetzt gehen? Can I go now? 5. In sentences with dependent clauses (phrases that have a subject and verb but cannot stand alone as sentences), the verb in the dependent clause is last. Dependent clauses are introduced with a comma and certain conjunctions, such as als-when, bevor- before, bis-until, damit-so that, dass-that, wenn-if/when, ob-whether, obwohlalthough, nachdem-after, da-since, während-while, weil-because, and wie-how. However, these conjunctions use normal word order: und-and, oder-or, aber-but, denn-for/because.
Ich bleibe im Bett, wenn ich krank bin . I stay in bed when I am sick. 6. If there is a separable prefix verb in a dependent clause, the prefix remains attached to the verb, and the entire verb goes to the end of the sentence, whereas normally the prefix would go to the end.
Er ist immer müde, wenn er früh aufsteht. He is always tired when he gets up early. 7. When there are two verbs in a dependent clause (such as a modal and an infinitive), the modal goes last, following the infinitive.
Er ist müde, wenn er früh aufstehen muss. He is tired when he must get up early. 8. And when a dependent clause begins a sentence, it acts as an element, therefore the subject and verb in the following clause are inverted.
Wenn ich krank bin, bleibe ich im Bett. When I am sick, I stay in bed. 9. If you have both direct and indirect pronouns in your sentence, remember that if the direct object is a noun it is placed after the indirect object. If the direct object is a pronoun, it goes before the indirect object. So basically the only time the accusative is placed before the dative is when the accusative is a pronoun.
Ich schenke meinem Bruder eine Krawatte. I give my brother a tie. Ich schenke sie meinem Bruder. I give it to my brother.
73. Flavoring Particles German has many words that cannot be translated literally into English. These words are mostly for emphasis.
doch
yes, of course
ja aber denn gerade nur, bloß mal
really is it ever well then right now only, just sometime, someday
counteracts negative statement, used for persuasion, or implies something is obvious emphasis emphasis indicates impatience, or adds emphasis to question immediacy
used in suggestions, or softens commands
74. Colloquial Expressions and Idioms In informal speech and writing, es is commonly contracted with the preceding word by 's. Geht es = geht's Es is also used as an impersonal pronoun (es regnet, it's raining), but it can also be
used as an introductory word for emphasis or stylistic reasons. Es begins the sentence, and the true subject follows the verb.
Es ist niemand zu Hause. No one is at home. Es kommen heute drei Kinder. Three children are coming today. Es can also be used to anticipate a dependent clause or infinitive phrase. This is almost like in English when we say I hate it when that happens instead of I hate when that happens . "It" has no real meaning in the first sentence, but it is not incorrect to
say it.
Ich kann es nicht glauben, daß er sich vor nichts fürchtet. I can't believe that he's not afraid of anything. Er haßt es, nichts davon zu wissen. He hates not knowing anything about it. Other idioms:
Sie ist mit ihrem Urteil immer sehr schnell bei der Hand. She makes her judgments rather quickly. (Literally: She is quick at hand with her judgments.) Alles ist in Butter. Everything is fine. (Literally: Everything is in butter.) Er geht mit dem Kopf durch die Wand. He does as he pleases. (Literally: He goes with his head through the wall.)
75. Word Formation Noun compounds German uses compounds more often than English and they are formed by simply putting the two words together (sometimes adding an -n or -s in between), and using the gender of the last word. Die Woche (week) + der Tag (day) = der Wochentag (Days of the week) The prefix unAs in English, the prefix un- gives a word a negative or opposite meaning. klar (clear) - unklar (unclear) The suffix -los This suffix is often the equivalent of the English suffix -less, and is used to form adjectives and adverbs from nouns. das Ende (the end) - endlos (endless) The suffix -haft The suffix -haft is used to form adjectives from nouns so as to designate related qualities. das Kind (the child) - kindhaft (childlike) The suffix -ung This suffix may be added to the stem of a verb to form a noun. All nouns ending in -ung are feminine. wandern (to hike) - die Wanderung (the hike) The suffix -er This suffix designates a person is from a certain place. Frankfurt (a city) Frankfurter (a person from Frankfurt) The suffix -in This suffix designates a female person and is added to the male counterpart. Architekt (male architect) - Architektin (female architect)
76. Adjectival Nouns When referring to people, adjectives can sometimes be used as nouns. The definite article precedes the adjective, which is now capitalized because it is functioning as a noun. The adjectival nouns take the regular adjective endings for adjectives preceded by a der word as well.
der Alte - the old man die Alte - the old woman
das Alte - everything that is old die Alten - the old people
77. Ordinal Numbers To form the ordinal numbers, just add -te to the cardinal numbers for 1-19, and -ste for 20 and up. The exceptions are erste, dritte, siebte, and achte. first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth
erste zweite dritte vierte fünfte sechste siebte achte neunte zehnte
eleventh twelfth thirteenth fourteenth fifteenth sixteenth seventeenth eighteenth nineteenth twentieth
elfte zwölfte dreizehnte vierzehnte fünfzehnte sechzehnte siebzehnte achtzehnte neunzehnte zwanzigste
In writing dates, German uses the number followed by a period. On February 2nd would be am 2. Februar. However, when saying this out loud, you would say am zweiten Februar. You must use the construction am + -en to answer a question beginning with Wann? But you use the construction der + -e to answer the question Welches Datum? Wann sind Sie geboren? When were you born?
Am achzehnte n Mai. On May 18th. Welches Datum is heute? What is today's date?
Heute ist der neunte Oktober. Today is October ninth.
78. Passive Voice To change a sentence from the active to the passive, change three things: 1. accusative object of active sentence to nominative subject of passive sentence 2. active verb to a tense of werden (same tense!) plus the past participle of verb in
active sentence 3. subject to von + dative object in the passive sentence, if agent is mentioned Present Tense
Viele Studenten lesen diesen Roman. = Dieser Roman wird von vielen Studenten gelesen. Many students read this novel. = This novel is read by many students. Imperfect Tense
Viele Studenten lasen diesen Roman. = Dieser Roman wurde von vielen Studenten gelesen. Many students read this novel. = This novel was read by many students. Future Tense
Viele Studenten werden diesen Roman lesen. = Dieser Roman wird von vielen Studenten gelesen werden. Many students will read this novel. = This novel will be read by many students. Present Perfect Tense
Viele Studenten haben diesen Roman gelesen. = Dieser Roman ist von vielen Studenten gelesen worden. Many students have read this novel. = This novel has been read by many students. Past Perfect Tense
Viele Studenten hatten diesen Roman gelesen. = Dieser Roman war von vielen Studenten gelesen worden. Many students had read this novel. = This novel had been read by many students. *Notice that in the passive voice, the past participle of werden is worden and not geworden.
Durch can replace von when the agent is an impersonal force (fire, wind, etc.); but it cannot be used if preceded by a limiting word (such as an article or adjective.) Passive with modals Shifts in tense will only affect the modal part of the sentence. The infinitive forms of the past participles are used with modals in the passive voice as well. And where you might expect something like Das Haus hat werden müssen verkauft , the actual construction is Das Haus hat verkauft werden müssen because of the double infinitive construction. Double infinitives always go to the end of the sentence, but you only need to worry about these in the present perfect and past perfect tenses. Passive Infinitives To be + past participle in English is translated as the past participle + werden in
German. With a passive infinitive, usually only the present or simple past of modals is used. Die Tiere konnten gerettet werden. The animals were able to be saved .
79. Problems with the Passive False Passive Grammatically, the false passive is the same as sein + an adjective. This construction describes a condition rather than an action. Das Haus ist verkauft is the false passive, while das Haus wird verkauft is the true passive. The false passive sentence indicates that the house is already sold (condition), while the true passive indicates the house is in the process of being sold (action). Passive with Absentee Subjects Passive forms may have a definite or indefinite subject, or no apparent subject at all. The accusative object of an active sentence becomes the nominative subject of the passive sentence. But sometimes there is no accusative object. Since a verb cannot be in the first position of sentence without turning the sentence into a question, es is used as the subject. Man antwortet ihnen nicht is an active sentence, but if it were turned into the passive,
there would be no accusative object. The passive would have to be es wird ihnen nicht geantwortet. (Here werden agrees with the apparent subject, es.) But if another element, such as a dative object or time expression, can be put in the first position, then es is omitted. Ihnen wird nicht geantwortet can also be used as the passive. There is no apparent subject, only an implied es, so the form of werden remains wird to agree with es.
80. Avoiding the Passive 1. The construction man + an active verb can be used instead of the passive voice. Man translates to one, you, we, they, people and constitutes the subject. Diese Bluse wird gereinigt. This blouse is being dry-cleaned Man reinigt diese Bluse. They are dry-cleaning this blouse. Der Dieb wurde gefunden. The thief was caught Man fand den Dieb. They caught the thief.
2. Man + modal + an infinitive is frequently used with müssen or können. Der Flecken kann nicht entfernt werden. The stain cannot be removed. Den Flecken kann man nicht entfernen. We can't remove the stain. 3. Sein + zu + an infinitive can be used with können or müssen to express the possibility or necessity of an action. Das kann schnell gemacht werden. That can be done quickly. Das ist schnell zu machen. That is quickly done. 4. Sich lassen + an infinitive can replace können and a passive infinitive. Das kann gemacht werden. That can be done. Das läßt sich machen. That can be done.
Die Lorelei by Heinrich Heine
Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten Daß ich so traurig bin; Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.
I know not, what it is portending that I am so depressed; a legend from olden days past will not leave my mind alone.
Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt, Und ruhig fließt der Rhein; Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt Im Abendsonnenschein.
The breeze is cool and it darkens, and peaceful flows the Rhine; the peak of the mountain sparkles with evening's setting sun.
Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet Dort oben wunderbar, Ihr gold'nes Geschmeide blitzet Sie kämmt ihr gold'nes Haar.
The fairest maiden sits perched right up there wondrously, her golden jewelry flashes she combs her golden hair.
Sie kämmt es mit gold'nem Kamme Und singt ein Lied dabei; Das hat eine wundersame Gewaltige Melodei.
She combs with a comb all golden and thus she sings a song; that has a mysteriously Tyrannical melody.
Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe ergreift es mit wildem Weh,
The sailor in tiny vessel is seized with a savage woe,
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe, Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh'.
he sees not the rocky reef edge, he looks only up toward the height.
Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn; Und das hat mit ihrem Singen Die Lorelei getan.
I think that the waves have devoured at last the sailor and boat; and that's the deed, by her singing the Lorelei has done.
81. Showing Purpose Weil (because) + a dependent clause shows the reason for an action; however, damit and um…zu ( so that, in order to) show the goal of an action. Damit is also followed by a dependent clause, whereas um…zu introduces an infinitive. Sie macht das Fenster zu, damit sie nicht friert. = Sie macht das Fenster zu, um nicht zu frieren. She closes the window, so that she won't freeze . = She closes the window, in order to not freeze. Commonly, you use damit when the subject of the main clause is different from the subject of the dependent clause, and um…zu when the understood subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main clause.
82. Shopping box VCR camera video camera film wristwatch handkerchief perfume wallet radio razor size department (in store) greeting card
die Schachtel der Videorecorder die Kamera die Videokamera der Film die Armbanduhr das Taschentuch das Parfüm der Geldbeutel, die Geldbörse das Radio das Rasiermesser die Größe die Abteilung die Glückwunschkarte
83. Post Office and Bank letter postcard stamp phone booth mailbox mail slot address sender/return address label
der Brief teller die Postkarte bill die Briefmarke check die Telefonzelle checkbook der Briefkasten ATM der Briefeinwurf key die Adresse lock der Absender filing cabinet
der Kassierer (in) der Schein der Scheck das Scheckbuch der Geldautomat die Schlüssel das Schloß der Aktenschrank
das Etikett
das Bankschließfach
packing tape package postmark rubber band ink pad
das Paketklebeband das Paket der Poststempel das Gummiband das Stempelkissen
safety deposit box notepad
die Kreditkarte die Überwachungsanlage die Wache der Autoschalter
string
die Schnur
credit card security camera security guard drive-thru window safe
der Notizblock
der Tresor
84. Zu with Infinitives Infinitives are usually preceded by zu (except when modals are used) when they act as complements of verbs, adjectives or nouns. Zu + infinitive is always the last element in a sentence. If a separable prefix is used in the infinitive, the zu is inserted between the prefix and the stem. Hast du Lust, den Dom zu besichtigen? Do you feel like visiting the cathedral? Es dauert lange, durch die Stadt zu fahren. It takes a long time to drive through the city. Es ist zu früh um auf zustehen. It is too early to get up.
Um, ohne and anstatt can be used with zu as well. They introduce infinitival clauses. Um.. zu is used to indicate purpose, while ohne...zu and anstatt...zu are used with infinitives, and translated as present participles in English. (Um...zu must be used instead of just zu when the English equivalent "in order to" can be used sensibly.) Er kam, um das Buch ab zuholen. He came in order to pick up the book. Sie sagte es, ohne mich an zu sehen. She said it, without looking at me. Statt hier zu sitzen, sollten wir ihn suchen. Instead of sitting here, we should look for him.
Sein + zu + an infinitive is used the same way in English and German, but the construction is far more common in German. Das ist nicht zu machen. That can't be done. Das ist in jedem Laden zu finden. That can be found in any store. The verbs brauchen (to need) and scheinen (to seem, appear) are often used with zu + an infinitive. Brauchen in the negative is usually translated as to not have to , and is the opposite of müssen. Es scheint kaputt zu sein. It seems to be broken. Ich brauche heute nicht zu arbeiten. I don't have to work today.
85. Office & School Supplies compact disc floppy disk document computer monitor keyboard mouse
die Compact Disc die Diskette das Dokument der Computer der Monitor die Tastatur die Maus
printer memo paper photocopier typewriter software file / computer file cabinet briefcase
calculator eraser notebook folder colored pencil ruler pencil sharpener der Drucker pencil die Mitteilung pen das Papier scissors das Fotokopierer glue die Schreibmaschine binder die Software chalk die Akten / die Datei chalkboard
der Taschenrechner der Radiergummi das Heft das Prospekt der Buntstift das Lineal der Anspitzer (or Spitzer) der Bleistift der Kuli die Schere der Klebstoff der Ordner die Kreide die Tafel
der Schrank die Aktentasche
der Rucksack die Heftmaschine
backpack stapler
86. Expressions of Time The accusative case is used to indicate definite time when no preposition is used.
Letzten Sonntag blieb ich zu Hause. Last Sunday I stayed home. Sie fährt nächste Woche nach Deutschland. She's going to Germany next week. Er hat uns voriges Jahr besucht. He visited us last year.
Time expressions with the prepositions an, in and vor are in the dative case. Wir müssen am Sonntag zurück. We must return on Sunday. In der Nacht wird es kalt. It gets cold at night. Vor drei Jahren war es hier genau so kalt. Three years ago it was just as cold here. The genitive case is used to express indefinite time, and may refer to the future or past.
Eines Tages war er krank. One day he was sick. Eines Morgens wird er zu spät kommen. One morning he'll be late.
87. Travelling / Airport Customs Office Airline Office Travel Agency Information Office Train Station departure arrival flight tickets baggage bag suitcase passport left right next (to) near straight ahead along the (noun) over the (noun) past the (noun) up to, as far as the (noun) across from the (noun)
88. Another
das Zollamt das Büro der Fluglinie das Reisebüro das Auskunftsbüro der Bahnhof (ö, e) die Abfahrt (en) die Ankunft (ü, e) die Flugkarten das Gepäck die Tasche (-n) der Koffer (-) der Pass (ä, e) links rechts neben bei geradeaus (acc. noun +) entlang über (+ acc. noun) an (noun) vorbei bis zu (noun) gegenüber von (noun)
Ein(e) ander- and noch ein- both mean another, but they cannot be used interchangeably. Ein(e) ander- means a different one, and ander- takes the adjective endings for adjectives preceded by ein words. Noch ein means one more. Sollen wir ein anderes Mal wiederkommen? Should we come again at another (a different) time? Möchtest du noch einen Raum anschauen? Would you like to look at another (one more) room?
89. Cosmetics & Toiletries toothbrush toothpaste dental floss hair brush comb shampoo curling iron shaving cream razor mousse
die Zahnbürste die Zahnpasta die Zahnseide die Bürste der Kamm das Shampoo der Lockenstab die Rasiercreme das Rasiermesser der Schaum
hair spray hair dryer nail polish mascara lipstick powder soap makeup perfume cologne
der Haarfestiger der Fön der Nagellack die Wimperntusche der Lippenstift der Puder die Seife die Schminke das Parfüm das Kölnisch Wasser
90. Subjunctive II or General Subjunctive (Conditional) This subjunctive mood is used to make statements that are contrary to fact, instead of factual statements that are made in the indicative mood. There are two forms of the German subjunctive: Subjunctive II and Subjunctive I. Subjunctive II or the general subjunctive is used with if...then ( wenn... dann ) statements and conditional sentences. Subjunctive I or special subjunctive is a less common mood that is used with indirect discourse. (If you study other languages with a subjunctive mood, please don't confuse it with the German subjunctive. They are not the same!) The present tense of Subjunctive II is derived from the simple past / imperfect tense of the indicative. For weak (regular) verbs, the subjunctive II is the same as the simple past tense. For strong (irregular) verbs, the present tense of the subjunctive II uses the stem of the simple past, adds an umlaut where possible, and then adds the following endings:
-e
-en
-est -e
-et -en
Strong verbs in the subjunctive II
ginge gingest ginge
gehen gingen ginget gingen
fahren führen führet führen
führe führest führe
flöge flögest flöge
fliegen flögen flöget flögen
Sein, haben and werden in the subjunctive II
wäre wärest wäre
sein wären wäret wären
hätte hättest hätte
haben hätten hättet hätten
würde würdest würde
werden würden würdet würden
Some exceptions include the mixed verbs, modals and wissen which use the same endings as the simple past:
Imperfekt brachte dachte durfte konnte mochte sollte wollte mußte wußte
Subjunctive II brächte dächte dürfte könnte möchte sollte wollte müßte wüßte
The past tense of Subjunctive II is simply the subjunctive II of sein or haben (whichever auxiliary the verb takes in the indicative) and a past participle. The future tense of Subjunctive II is the subjunctive II of werden and an infinitive.
Conditional sentences These sentences are based on an if... then (wenn... dann) pattern in both English and German. Dann can be omitted in these sentences also. Remember that wenn is a subordinating conjunction, and forces the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.
Present Subj. II: Wenn ich Zeit hätte, (dann) ginge ich ins Kino. If I had time,
(then) I would go to the movies. Past Subj. II: Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, dann wäre ich ins Kino gegangen. If I had had time, (then) I would have gone to the movies. Wenn clauses may be introduced by a verb, and in this case, wenn disappears and dann may be replaced by so:
Kommt er heute nicht, (so) kommt er morgen. If he's not coming today, then he'll come tomorrow. A conditional sentence may begin with the dann clause as well; but in this case, dann is not actually used and the clause uses normal word order:
Wir trinken den Kaffee nicht, wenn er zu heiß ist. We don't drink coffee if it is too hot. Forms of würden + an infinitive Würde and an infinitive translates to would + infinitive and is more common than the one word form in the dann clause. Wenn clauses tend to avoid the würde construction, except with these eight verbs: helfen, stehen, sterben, werfen, brennen, kennen, nennen, and rennen. These eight verbs use the würde construction in the wenn clause because the one word forms are archaic. Moreover, conversational German tends to replace many subjunctive II forms of strong verbs with the würde construction. However, this construction is generally not used with the modal auxiliaries, wissen, haben or sein. Wenn ich Zeit hätte, Wenn ich Geld hätte,
dann ginge ich ins Kino. dann würde ich ins Kino gehen. dann flöge ich nach Deutschland. dann würde ich nach Deutschland fliegen.
If I had time, I would go to the movies. If I had money, I would fly to Germany.
91. Other uses of Subjunctive II 1. Being Polite To be more polite, use the subjunctive II form of the modals. Subjunctive II forms of modals
ich du er, sie, es
können könnte könntest könnte
müssen müsste müsstest müsste
dürfen dürfte dürftest dürfte
sollen sollte solltest sollte
wollen wollte wolltest wollte
mögen möchte möchtest möchte
wir ihr sie
könnten könntet könnten
müssten müsstet müssten
dürften dürftet dürften
sollten solltet sollten
wollten wolltet wollten
möchten möchtet möchten
Könnten sie mir bitte helfen? Could you please help me? Dürfte ich Ihr Telefon benutzen? Could I use your phone? In modern German, the subjunctive forms of mögen has become almost a synonym of wollen. Was willst du? = What do you want? Was möchtest du? = What would you like?
Hätte gern is also becoming common as a synonym for "would like" especially when ordering food. Wir hätten gern zwei Colas, bitte. = We would like two colas, please. Note that these polite forms are only limited to the modal verbs, sein, haben and werden. For this reason, you may hear Würden Sie mir helfen? but never Hülfen Sie mir?
2. Expressing Wishes The subjunctive II is also used to express wishes. These phrases generally begin with "I wish" or "If only" in English. Wenn (if) can be omitted from these statements, but then you must move the conjugated verb in the subjunctive II to the place of wenn at the beginning of the phrase. When expressing wishes, the present and past tenses of the subjunctive II can be used. Wenn ich nur noch jung wäre! = Wäre ich nur noch jung! I wish I were still young! / If only I were still young! Wenn er nur früher gekommen wäre! = Wäre er nur früher gekommen! If only he had come earlier! Wenn sie doch mehr Zeit gehabt hätten! = Hätten sie doch mehr Zeit gehabt! If only they had had more time! Ich wünschte and ich wollte (I wish) are fixed expressions followed by the subjunctive II or würde + infinitive. Another expression always followed by the subjunctive is an deiner Stelle (in your place / If I were you) when giving advice.
92. Subjunctive I or Special Subjunctive (Indirect Discourse) The Subjunctive I form is used with indirect discourse when reporting what someone says in a formal, impartial way. The indicative can also be used to imply a statement of fact, while the subjunctive II can be used to imply the statement is open to question (since subjunctive II is used with contrary to fact statements.) These three distinctions
are quite subtle, although they are important. In everyday conversation, the tendency is to avoid the subjunctive I and to choose instead between the indicative and subjunctive II. The present tense of Subjunctive I is derived from the present tense of the indicative and formed by adding the following endings to the stem of the verb. Note that the subjunctive I forms never have the stem vowel change found in their present indicative counterparts (a does not become ä, e does not become ie, etc.)
-e -est -e
-en -et -en
Haben, werden and wissen in the subjunctive I
habe habest habe
haben haben habet haben
werde werdest werde
werden werden werdet werden
wisse wissest wisse
wissen wissen wisset wissen
Notice that sein has no endings in the ich and er forms:
sei seiest sei
seien seiet seien
The past tense of Subjunctive I is derived from the present perfect tense of the indicative. It is composed of the subjunctive I form of haben or sein and a past participle. The future tense of Subjunctive I is simply the subjunctive I form of werden and an infinitive.
Tenses The tense used in an indirect quotation is dependent upon the tense used in the direct quotation that underlies it. If the direct quotation is in the present tense of the indicative, then the indirect quotation must be in the present tense of the subjunctive I. If the direct quotation is in any tense referring to past time in the indicative (simple past, present perfect, or past perfect), then the indirect quotation is in the past tense of the subjunctive I. Subjunctive I only has one tense when referring to past time, as compared to the three tenses of the indicative. If the direct quotation is in the future
tense, then the future tense of subjunctive I is used. If the original quotation is in subjunctive II, then the indirect quotation will also be in subjunctive II.
Tense in direct quotation Tense in indirect quotation present indicative present subjunctive I simple past, present perfect, past perfect past subjunctive I indicative future indicative future subjunctive I subjunctive II subjunctive II In certain cases, the subjunctive I forms and the indicative forms are identical, so the subjunctive II forms must be used instead. Overall, you can use subjunctive I solely for the third person singular form, and use subjunctive II forms for all other persons.
93. Parts of a Car brake horn
die Bremse (n) die Hupe (n)
wheel car
hood flat tire gear trunk
die Motorhaube (n) die Reifenpanne (n) der Gang (ä, e) der Kofferraum (ä, e)
tire windshield wiper seat belt seat steering wheel parking space
der Reifen (-) der Scheibenwischer (-) der Sicherheitsgurt (e) der Sitz (e) das Lenkrad (ä, er) die Parklücke (n)
traffic light highway intersection (one-way) street pedestrian sidewalk traffic jam ticket (traffic) sign license plate
das Rad (ä, er) der Wagen (-) / der PKW die Ampel (n) die Autobahn (en) die Kreuzung (en) die (Einbahn)straße (n) der Fussgänger (-) der Fussgängerweg (e) der Stau (s) der Strafzettel (-) das (Verkehrs)schild (er) das Nummernschild (er)
Der PKW is short for der Personenkraftwagen. Der LKW is also commonly used to mean truck . It is short for der Lastkraftwagen.
94. Present Participle
To form the present participle, simply add -d to the infinitive. It usually functions as an adjective and takes the normal adjective endings. It can also function as an adverb, but then of course, it does not add any endings.
kochendes Wasser - boiling water die führenden Kritiker - the leading critics im kommenden Sommer - in the coming summer Sie spricht fließend Deutsch. She speaks German fluently.
95. In the Ocean scuba diver der Taucher
shipwreck
der Schiffbruch
wet suit
der Wasseranzug
helm
der Helm
flipper
die Schwimmflosse
anchor
der Anker
oxygen tank der Lufttank
treasure chest die Schatzkiste
snorkel
der Schnorchel
barnacle
die Entenmuschel
mask
die Tauchermaske (or Tauchmask)
coral
die Koralle
seashell
die Muschel
wave
die Welle
sand
der Sand
bubble
die Blase
clam
die Muschel
crab
die Krabbe
starfish
der Seestern jellyfish
die Qualle sea urchin
der Seeigel sea horse
das Seepferdchen seaweed
der Seetang fishing line
die Angelschnur fish hook
der Angelhaken
96. Als ob / Als wenn
The conjunctions als wenn and als ob are interchangeable; they both mean "as if" or "as though." Both introduce a dependent clause, so the conjugated verb must go to the end. In addition, both require the subjunctive II.
Als ob ich das nicht wüßte! As if I didn't know that! Er tut, als wenn er nichts Besseres zu tun hätte. He acts as though he had nothing better to do.
97. In Space astronaut
der Astronaut
beaker
das Becherglas
space shuttle
die Raumfähre
test tube
das Reagenzglas
control panel
die Kontrolltafel
galaxy
die Milchstraße
satellite
der Satellit
Earth
die Erde
spaceship
das Raumschiff
moon
der Mond
alien
der Ausserirdische
sun
die Sonne
asteroid
der Asteroid
planet
der Planet
space suit
der Raumanzug
rings
die Höfe
lunar rover
das Mondfahrzeug
crater
der Krater
landing capsule
das Landungsgerät
stars
die Sterne
space station
die Raumstation
comet
der Komet
solar panel
die Sonnenzellen
rocket
die Rakete
meteor shower
der Meteorschwarm
robot
der Roboter
constellation
das Sternbild
nebula
der Nebelfleck
solar system
das Sonnensystem
laboratory
das Labor
98. Future Perfect
The future perfect tense is comparable to the other perfect tenses. It is formed with the future of haben or sein, and the past participle. The future perfect deals with the future as if it were already past time (he will have done it), or it is used to imply probability (that was probably him.) The latter case commonly uses the past tense in English though. Er wird gegangen sein. He will have gone. Ich werde es genommen haben. I will have taken it. Es wird dunkel geworden sein. It will have become dark. Das wird Rudi gewesen sein. That will have been Rudi. / That was probably Rudi. When using modals, the future perfect tense can create the double infinitive construction, so make sure to put the double infinitive at the very end. Die Uhr wird sehr viel gekostet haben müssen.
99. Fantasy & Make-Believe dragon
der Drache
unicorn
das Einhorn
fairy
die Fee
shield
der Schild
elf
der Elf / die Elfe
sword
das Schwert
giant
der Riese
lance
die Lanze
tower
der Turm
ax
die Axt
knight
der Ritter
drawbridge
die Zugbrücke
squire
der Edelknabe
crown
die Krone
court jester
der Hofnarr
king
der König
minstrel
der Minnesänger
queen
die Königin
armor
die Rüstung
princess
die Prinzessin
dungeon
der Kerker
prince
der Prinz
moat
der Burggraben
throne
der Thron
castle
das Schloß
100. Spelling Reform Recently, there has been a spelling reform of the German language. The following are a few points that have changed: 1. Write ss after a short vowel, and ß after a long vowel or diphthong. Please note that ß is not used in Switzerland or Liechtenstein and a lot of people don't pay attention to this rule anyway. Also, there is no capital letter that corresponds to the lower case ß, so it must be written as SS. 2. Words that are now capitalized: (auf) Deutsch, Mittag, Abend, Morgen, Recht haben, Leid tun… 3. The forms of Du (familiar you) are no longer capitalized in letters. 4. A comma is not necessary when two independent clauses are joined by und.
Review of Declensions of Nouns 1) Feminine Singular nouns remain unchanged in all Singular cases. Singular:
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Typewriter die Schreibmaschine die Schreibmaschine der Schreibmaschine der Schreibmaschine
Street die Straße die Straße der Straße der Straße
2) All Neuter and most Masculine Singular add -s or -es (if one syllable) to Genitive Singular. Singular:
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Shoe der Schuh den Schuh dem Schuh des Schuh es
Shirt das Hemd das Hemd dem Hemd des Hemdes
Note: The genitive singular of shoe is generally written des Schuhs in colloquial
German.
3) Masculine nouns that end in -e in Nom. Sing. and designate living things add -n to form both Singular and Plural for all cases.
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Lion(s) Singular der Löwe den Löwen dem Löwen des Löwen
Plural die Löwen die Löwen den Löwen der Löwen
4) All Dative Plural either adds -n or -en. Man Woman Child der Mann die Frau das Kind
Nom. Sing. Dat. Pl. den Männer n
den Frauen
den Kinder n
5) In Plurals of all declensions of all genders, the Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative Plural are the same.
Nom. Sing. Nom. Pl. Acc. Pl.
Forest der Wald die Wälder die Wälder
Pear die Birne die Birnen die Birnen
Dat. Pl.
den Wäldern
den Birnen
Gen. Pl.
der Wälder
der Birnen
To form the Dative Plural , add -n or -en to the Nominative Plural, unless it already ends in -s or -n, then add nothing. Most singular declensions can be formed from the first three rules above, but plural nouns are more complex and irregular. Some may add -n, -en, -r, -er, -e, or an umlaut over the stem vowel with a final -e, and some nouns do not change from singular to plural.
Group 1 -Singular follows rules -Plural adds umlaut to stem vowel and -n to all datives
Father(s) (masc.)
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Sing. der Vater den Vater dem Vater des Vater s
Plural die Väter die V äter den V äter n der Väter
Nouns belonging to this group: Most nouns whose Nom. Sing. end in -el, -en, -er;
and neuter nouns that begin with Ge- and end with -e
Group 2 -Singular follows rules -Plural sometimes adds umlaut to stem vowel and -e to Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative; -en to Dative
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Fruit (fem.) Sing. Plural die Frucht die Fr üchte die Frucht die Fr ü chte der Frucht den Fr ü chten der Frucht der Fr ü chte
Nouns belonging to this group: Masculine that are one syllable; half of feminine and
neuter that are one syllable
Group 3 -Singular follow rules -Plural adds umlaut to stem vowel and -er to Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative; -ern to Dative
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Man/men (masc.) Sing. Plural der Mann die Männer den Mann die M änner dem Mann den M ännern des Mannes der M änner
Nouns belonging to this group: Many neuter that are one syllable; no feminine nouns
Group 4 -Singular adds -en to all Masculine Dative, Accusative, and Genitive; Feminine follows rule -Plural adds -n or -en to all forms
Student (s) Sing. Plural
Woman/Women Sing. Plural
Nom. der Student Acc. den Studenten Dat. dem Studenten Gen. des Studenten
die Studenten die Studenten den Studenten der Studenten
die Frau die Frau der Frau der Frau
die Frauen die Frauen den Frauen der Frauen
Nouns belonging to this group: Most feminine that are more than one syllable, most
masculine that denote living things; no neuter nouns
Group 5 -Add -s to Genitive Singular -Add -s to all plural forms
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Auto(s) (neu.) Sing. Plural das Auto die Autos das Auto die Auto s dem Auto den Auto s des Auto s der Autos
Nouns belonging to this group: Foreign origin words, such as das Radio, das
Restaurant, and das Hotel.
Group 6 - Irregular -Add -ns or -ens to Genitive Singular -Add -en to Dative Singular, may add -en to Accusative Singular -All plural add -en
Heart(s) Sing. Plural Nom. das Herz die Herzen Acc. das Herz die Herz en Dat. dem Herzen den Herzen Gen. des Herzens der Herzen
Name(s) Sing. Plural der Name die Namen den Namen die Namen dem Namen den Namen des Namens der Namen
Group 7 - Mixed -Add -s or -es for Genitive Singular -Add -n or -en for all plural
Bed(s) (neu.)
Nom. Acc. Dat. Gen.
Sing. das Bett das Bett dem Bett des Bett es
Plural die Betten die Bett en den Bett en der Betten
German States / BundeslAnder
German States Baden-Württemberg Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Bayern Sachsen Thüringen Hessen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Niedersachsen Nordrhein-Westfalen Rheinland-Pfalz Saarland Sachsen-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein
English Translation Baden-Württemberg Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Bavaria Saxony Thuringia Hesse Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Lower Saxony North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate Saarland Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein
Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are cities as well as states.
Austrian States / BundeslAnder
Austrian States Burgenland Kämten Niederösterreich Oberösterreich Salzburg Steiermark Tirol Vorarlberg Wien
English Translation Burgenland Carinthia Lower Austria Upper Austria Salzburg Styria Tyrol Vorarlberg Vienna
There are 4 declinations in German:
1. NOMINATIV - (Subject): Answers questions such as: Who? (Wer?) and What? (Was?)
Gender
Definitive
Indefinite
Negative
Demonstrative (Pronoun)
Masculine: Feminine: Neutral: Plural:
Der Die Das Die
Ein Eine Ein ---
Kein Keine Kein Keine
Dieser Diese Dieses Diese
AKUSATIV: (Direct Object). Answers questions such as: Whom? (Wen?) and What? 2. (Was?)
Gender
Definitive
Indefinite
Negative
Demonstrative (Pronoun)
Masculine: Feminine: Neutral: Plural:
Den Die Die Die
Einen Eine Ein ---
Keinen Keine Kein Keine
Diesen Diese Dieses Diese
3. DATIV: (Indirect Object) Answers questions such as: To whom? (Wem?)
Gender
Definitive
Indefinite
Negative
Demonstrative (Pronoun)
Masculine: Feminine: Neutral: Plural:
Dem Der Dem Den
Einem Einer Einem ---
Keinem Keiner Keinem Keinem
Diesem Dieser Diesem Diesen + n at the end of the noun
4. GENITIV: (Possessive case):answers questions such as: Whose? (Wessen?)
Gender
Definitive
Indefinite
Negative
Demonstrative (Pronoun)
Masculine:
Des
Eines
Keines
Feminine:
Der
Einer
Keiner
Dieses + e/es at the end of the noun Dieser
Neutral:
Des
Eines
Keines
Plural:
Der
---
Keiner
Dieses + e/es at the end of the noun Dieser
Observation : a) these endings accomplish also other kind of pronouns like possessives,
indefinites etc. b) the cases Akusativ, Dativ and Genitiv also depend on prepositions (not detailed here). Examples: Nominativ (Masculine):
WER ist das? (Who is this?) Das ist der/ein/kein/dieser Fußballspieler. (That is the/a/not a/this soccer player). Nominativ (Neutral) :
WAS ist das? (What is this?) Das ist das/ein/kein/dieses Buch. (That is the/a/not a/this book).
Akusativ (Masculine):
WEN siehst du? (Whom do you see?) Ich see den/einen/keinen/diesen Mann. (I see the/a/not a/that Mann). Akusativ (Feminine):
WAS kauft Linda? (What does Linda buy?) Sie kauft die/eine/keine/diese Tasche. (She buys the/a/not a/these purse).
Dativ (Plural):
WEM gehört dieses Haus? (To whom belongs this house?) Das Haus gehört den/keinen/diesen Leuten. (This house belongs to the/these people). Genetive (Neutral):
WESSEN Spielzeug ist das? (Whose toy is that?) Das ist das Spielzeug des/eines/keines/dieses Kindes. (It is the child’s toy)
The verb “Sein” – “to be” in German is very similar in his use as in English. Conjugation in present tense:
Singular:
Ich bin (I am) Du bist (You are – informal) Sie sind (You are – formal) Er ist (He is) Sie ist (she is) Es ist (it is) Plural
Wir sind (we are) Ihr seid (you are – informal) Sie sind (You are – formal) Sie sind (they are) Formal form is always written with capital letters, the others only at beginning of a sentence. Examples:
Ich bin Amerikaner. (I am American.) Bist du glücklich? (Are you happy?) Er ist aus England. (He is from England.) Ist sie auch aus England? (Is she also from England?) Das ist ihr Kind. (This is her child). Wir sind in Urlaub. (We are on vacation) Seid ihr meine Freunde? (Are you my friends?) Herr Schmidt, Sie sind herzlich willkommen! (Mr. Schmidt you are welkomm!) Die Kinder sind im Garten. (The children are in the Garden)
Definite and Indefinite articles – Definit and Indefinit Artikel
Definite articles precede a noun Indefinite articles (positive or negative*) indicate that a thing or person is not unique in some way
* In German you deny a noun with a negative article: English: This is not (isn’t) a book. German: Das ist kein Buch. There are 3 Articles:
Singular:
Definite
Indefinite Positive Indefinite Negative
Masculine: Feminine: Neutral: Plural **:
Der Die Das Die
Ein Eine Ein ---
Kein Keine Kein Keine
** Plural is the same for all 3 articles. Plural has several forms in German. Note: all nouns in German are written with capital letters.
Examples masculine:
Der / Ein / Kein Mann, Vater, Direktor, Fußball, Tisch (singular)......ist..... Die / - - / Keine Männer, Väter, Direktoren, Fußbälle, Tische (plural).....sind.... Note: Fußball means soccer. ß is equivalent to double s – you get it by pressing ALT 225 in windows/word. Tisch means table. As you see plural can be formed in various ways. Examples feminine:
Die / Eine /Keine Frau, Mutter, Direktorin, Lektion, Blume (singular) ....ist..... Die / --- / Keine Frauen, Mütter, Direktorinnen, Lektionen, Blumen (plural)...sind... Note: Frau means lady/ misses, Blume means flower Examples neutral :
Das / Ein / Kein Kind, Bier / Museum / Hotel / Haus (singular)....ist..... Die / --- / Keine Kinder, Biere, Museen, Hotels, Häuser (plural) ....sind.....
Note: Kind means child, Bier beer, Haus house.
Diphthongs Diphthong Double Vowels
Aussprache Pronunciation
Beispiele / Examples
ai / ei
eye
bei (at, near), das Ei (egg), der Mai (May)
au
ow
auch (also), das Auge (eye), aus (out of)
eu / äu
oy
Häuser (houses), Europa (Europe), neu (new)
ie
eeh
bieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you)
Grouped Consonants Buchstabe Consonant
Aussprache Pronunciation
Beispiele / Examples
ck
k
dick (fat, thick), der Schock (shock)
ch
>>
After a, o, u and au, pronounced like the guttural ch in Scottish "loch" - das Buch (book), auch (also). Otherwise it is a palatal sound as in: mich (me), welche (which), wirklich (really). TIP: If no air is passing over your tongue when you say a ch-sound, you aren't saying it correctly. No true equivalent in English. - Although ch doesn't usually have a hard k sound, there are exceptions: Chor, Christoph, Chaos, Orchester, Wachs (wax)
pf
pf
ph
f
das Alphabet, phonetisch - Some words formerly spelled with ph are now spelled with f: das Telefon, das Foto
qu
kv
die Qual (anguish, torture), die Quittung (receipt)
sch
sh
schön (pretty), die Schule (school) - The German sch combination is never split, whereas sh usually is ( Grashalme, Gras/Halme; but die Show, a foreign
Both letters are (quickly) pronounced as a combined puff-sound: das Pf erd (horse), der Pf ennig. If this is difficult for you, an f sound will work, but try to do it!
word).
sp / st
shp / sht
th
t
At the start of a word, the s in sp/st has a sch sound as in English "show, she." sprechen (speak), stehen (stand)
das Theater (tay-AHTER), das Thema (TAY-muh), topic - Always sounds like a t (TAY). NEVER has the English th sound! Letters in Words
Spelling
Aussprache Pronunciation
Beispiele / Examples
final b
p
Lob (LOHP)
final d
t
Freund (FROYNT), Wald (VALT)
final g
k
genug (guh-NOOK)
silent h
-
gehen (GAY-en), sehen (ZAY-en)
When h follows a vowel, it is silent. When it precedes a vowel ( Hund), the h is pronounced. German th
t
Theorie (TAY-oh-ree)
German v
f
Vater (FAHT-er)
In some foreign, non-Germanic words with v, the v is pronounced as in English: Vase (VAH-suh), Villa (VILL-ah) German w
v
Wunder (VOON-der)
German z
ts
Zeit (TSITE), like ts in "cats"; never like an English soft z (as in "zoo")
Similar Words Pronunciation Pitfalls Wort Word
Aussprache Pronunciation
Bombe bomb
BOM-buh
The m, b, and e are all heard
Genie genius
zhuh-NEE
The g is soft, like the s sound in "leisure"
Nation nation
NAHT-see-ohn
The German -tion suffix is pronounced TSEE-ohn
Papier paper
pah-PEER
Stress on the last syllable
Pizza pizza
PITS-uh
Comments
The i is a short vowel because of the double z
1 Main Sentence If a verb has a separable prefix, this prefix is moved to the end of the sentence. Ich werde den Müll wegwerfen. ("I will throw away the rubbish.", literally "I
will the rubbish away-throw.") Ich werfe den Müll weg. (statement) ("I'm throwing away / I throw away the rubbish.", literally "I throw the rubbish away.") Werfe ich den Müll weg? (question) ("Am I throwing away the rubbish?", literally "Throw I the rubbish away?") Wirf den Müll weg! (command, familiar form) ("Throw away the rubbish!", literally "Throw the rubbish away!")
2
Statement
A normal statement is quite simple to construct. First the Subject, then the conjugated verb, at last the rest of the infinitive without this verb. Ich + den Baum sehen -> Ich sehe den Baum.
("I + to see the tree" -> I see the tree.) Ein Text + geschrieben werden -> Ein Text wird geschrieben ("A text + to be written -> A text is being written.") Wir + den Raum verlassen -> Wir verlassen den Raum ("we + to leave the room -> We leave the room.") Der König + eine Burg bauen lassen -> Der König lässt eine Burg bauen. ("the king + to have a castle built -> The king has a castle built.") If the conjugated verb has a separable prefix, this prefix stays at the end of the sentence. Ich + den Müll wegwerfen -> Ich werfe den Müll weg.
("I + to dispose of the trash -> I dispose of the trash.") In addition, past participles in the perfect tenses fall at the end of the sentence, with the conjugated auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb) in the second position of the sentence. Conventional German syntax presents information within a sentence in the following order: • • • • •
Wichtigstes (what is the most important thing of the things following? *, **) Was (what? the conjugated verb***) Wer (who? the subject) Wem (to/for whom - dative object) Wann (when - time)
• • • • • •
Warum (why - reason) Wie (how - manner) Wo (where - place) Wen (whom - accusative object) Wohin/Woher (to/from where) Verb, nochmal (first part of the separable verb)
*The word "da" with the meaning "then suddenly" must take the first place. A "dann", then, does so often, but not necessarily; otherwise, the Subject will do. **If the verb is most important, the first part of the separable verb is placed here, but even then separated from the second part. If the verb is not separable or periphrastical, the infinitive will do. ***and in this case, a form of "tun" is legitimately inserted for the conjugated verb, as in Arbeiten tun wir. "Working, that's what we do."
Wir gehen am Freitag miteinander ins Kino. Literally,
"We go on Friday together to the movies." Wegen ihres Jahrestages bereiten wir unseren Eltern eine Exkursion (Ausflug) nach München vor . Literally, We are planning for our parents today because of their anniversary a trip to Munich.
Comparisons can be put after both parts of the verb, or before the place of its later part. So: Er ist größer gewesen als ich. / Er war größer als ich. "He was greater than me." OR Er ist größer als ich gewesen
Additionally, German often structures a sentence according to increasing news value. So: Wir gehen am Donnerstag ins Kino. We're going to the movies on Thursday. BUT An welchem Tag gehen wir ins Kino? (On) What day are we going to the movies? Am Donnerstag gehen wir ins Kino. OR Wir gehen am Donnerstag ins Kino. On Thursday we're going to the movies. OR We're going on Thursday to the movies."
Additionally, when the accusative object is a pronoun, it moves in front of the dative object. Florian gibt mir morgen das Buch. "Florian is giving me tomorrow the book." BUT Florian gibt es mir morgen. "Florian is giving it to me tomorrow."
Inversion By an inversion you emphasize a component of the sentence: an adverbial phrase, a predicative or an object, or even an inner verbal phrase. The subject phrase is put directly behind the conjugated verb, and the component to emphasize is taken to the
beginning. The conjugated verb is always the second sentence element in indicative statements. Ich fliege schnell - Schnell fliege ich ("I fly fast - I fly fast ") Du bist wunderschön - wunderschön bist du ("You are lovely - you are lovely") Ich bin gelaufen - Gelaufen bin ich ("I ran - I ran")
3
Questions
Questions may be divided into yes/no questions, asking for the truthfulness of a statement, and specific questions, which ask for a concrete aspect of a statement. Specific questions are similar to inverted statements. They begin with a question word, then there is the conjugated verb, followed by the subject (if there is one), and the rest of the sentence follows. Was machst du jetzt? ("What are you doing now?") Wer geht ins Kino? ("Who is going to the cinema?" -- In this sentence, the interrogative pronoun wer serves as the subject)
Yes/No questions This kind of question is similar to the inversion: you put the inflected verb at the beginning of the (not inverted) sentence. Du kommst. - Kommst du? ("You are coming - Are you coming?") Ich habe geschlafen. - Habe ich geschlafen? ("I slept - Did I sleep?") Ich werde das Spiel beenden. - Werde ich das Spiel beenden? ("I'm going to
(lit. 'I will') finish the game - Am I going to (lit. 'Will I') finish the game?") Du wirfst den Torwart raus. - Wirfst du den Torwart raus? ("You are throwing the goalkeeper out - Are you throwing the goalkeeper out?")
Asking for subject or object In a normal question, you replace the subject phrase or object phrase with a corresponding interrogative pronoun, then move it to the beginning of the sentence, like an inversion. Theoretically, you must use the interrogative pronoun of welcher, welche, welches or a nominal phrase with the interrogative article. Du hast deiner Frau einen Ring gekauft. ("You bought your wife a ring.") - Welchen hast du deiner Frau gekauft? ("Which one did you buy your
wife?") Du hast deiner Frau einen roten Ring gekauft. ("You bought your wife a red
ring.")
- Welchen Ring hast du deiner Frau gekauft? ("Which ring did you buy your wife?") Du hast deiner Frau einen roten Ring gekauft. ("You bought your wife a red ring.") - Welchen Roten hast du deiner Frau gekauft? ("Which red one did you buy your wife?") Du hast deiner Frau einen roten Ring gekauft. ("You bought your wife a red ring.") - Welchen roten Ring hast du deiner Frau gekauft? ("Which red ring did you buy your wife?") But the usage of this pronoun implies that the speaker knows both the gender and number of the unknown object. So, practically, you replace these pronouns by short forms. Du hast deiner Frau einen Ring gekauft. ("You bought your wife a ring.") - Was hast du deiner Frau gekauft? ("What did you buy your wife?")
person thing nominative wer was genitive (object) wessen wessen dative wem wem accusative wen was Regardless of whether you use the full pronoun or the short form, the genitive case is practically only used for genitive objects.
Asking for a predicative You ask for a predicative with the either interrogative pronoun Was or, if knowing it is not a nominal phrase, Wie. Er ist schnell - Wie/Was ist er? ("He's fast - What is he?") Ein Schmetterling ist ein Insekt - Was ist ein Schmetterling? ("A butterfly is an
insect - What is a butterfly?") You can also use other interrogative pronouns like Wo. Asking for an adverb
It is possible to ask for the adverb of a predicative, if it is not a nominal phrase (and even for the adverb of the adverb etc.) Der Baum ist 3 Meter hoch.- Wie hoch ist der Baum? ("The tree is three metres tall - How tall is the tree?")
Asking for a possessor When searching for the possessor of a nominal phrase, you first act as if you would invert the corresponding statement, placing the noun with the unknown possessor at the beginning. Then give it the possessive interrogative article ( wessen for all cases, genders and numbers). Of course, this nominal phrase may not have a genitive possessor. Ich habe das Auto des Chefs gesehen. - Wessen Auto hast du gesehen? ("I saw
the boss's car - Whose car did you see?") Ich habe sein Auto gesehen - Wessen Auto hast du gesehen? ("I saw his car Whose car did you see?") Ich habe sein Auto gesehen - Wessen hast du gesehen? ("I saw his car - Whose did you see?") (Wessen is no longer an article, but a pronoun) Usage is the same for both unknown possessive articles as for unknown genitive possessors.
Asking for an adverb First the interrogative pronoun ( Wie), then the conjugated verb, next the subject, then the rest of the sentence. Der Vogel fliegt schnell am Himmel - Wie fliegt der Vogel am Himmel? ("The
bird flies quickly in the sky - How does the bird fly in the sky?") If the adverb describes another adverb or an adjective: Der Vogel fliegt ungeheuer schnell - Wie schnell fliegt der Vogel? ("The bird
flies amazingly quickly - How quickly does the bird fly?")
Asking for position or adverbial clause Developing the question for an adverbial phrase may be slightly more complicated. Theoretically, like the other specific questions, the unknown position is inverted to the beginning of the sentence. Whereas the pre- or post- position remains, the nominal part is replaced either by an interrogative pronoun or by a nominal phrase having the interrogative article. Er sah den Vogel auf dem Baum. - Auf welchem Baum sah er den Vogel? ("He
saw the bird in the tree - In which tree did he see the bird?") Dein Hund wurde in diesem Jahr geboren. ("Your dog was born this year")
- In welchem Jahr wurde dein Hund geboren? ("Which year was your dog born?") Practically, the person asking the question will know neither the gender of the noun, nor the number of the noun, nor even the kind of preposition, before he hears the answer. So a short form is used instead in nearly every case. These short forms are also the only way to ask for an adverbial clause or for a proposition. Er sah den Vogel auf dem Baum. - Wo sah er den Vogel? ("He saw the bird in
the tree - Where did he see the bird?") Dein Hund wurde damals geboren. - Wann wurde dein Hund geboren? ("Your dog was born at that time - When was your dog born?") Some interrogative pronouns: Wo, Woher, Wohin, Wann, Wieso, Weshalb, Warum, Weswegen.
4
Commands
For a command, take the imperative form of the conjugated verb from the infinitive and put it at the beginning of the sentence followed by the corresponding personal pronoun. There also must be an exclamation point at the end of the sentence to make it a command. The separable prefix, if there is one, remains at its old place, separated. In the literary language it is possible to leave the verb at the second place. If the verb changes the vowel in the second and third person singular, the vowel is also changed in the second person singular of the imperative. The 2nd person plural pronoun is always omitted. In archaic language, or to emphasize who is ordered for the action, the 2nd person singular pronoun may be left. Das Tier verfolgen - Verfolge (du) das Tier! ("to trail the animal - Trail the
animal!") Das Tier verfolgen lassen - Lass(e) (du) das Tier verfolgen! ("to have the
animal trailed - Have the animal trailed!") wegfahren - Fahr(e) (du) weg! ("to drive away - Drive away!") jemanden mitnehmen - Nimm (du) jemanden mit! ("to give someone a lift Give someone a lift!") Note that an "'e"' may be added on to the end of the command form, but only if the verb does not have a stem-change. This is a result of the spoken language and has no difference in meaning. Schreib das Wort auf! means the same as Schreibe das Wort auf! ("Write the word down!")
*Lese das Buch! , though very common in spoken language, is considered incorrect because the stem changes from les to lies in the command form. Lies das Buch! ("Read the book!") (singular) and Lest das Buch! (plural) are correct.
There are no imperative forms for first person plural and second person formal. The first and third person plural of the conditional of the present (this is mostly the same form as verb infinitive aside from sein 'to be' for which seien is used) is used (but not for tun 'to do' for which tun is used). You must put it to beginning of the sentence, separate the separable prefix before that, and place the personal pronouns wir or Sie directly after it. wegfahren - Fahren wir weg! (Let's drive away!) - Fahren Sie weg! (You)
Drive away! froh sein - Seien wir froh! (Let's be glad!) - Seien Sie froh! Be glad! Note that imperatives must have the same word order as yes/no questions. As a matter of fact, actual commands are often given as simple unconjugated infinitive. This is inevitable in the military (excepting the formal commands Rührt euch and Richt't euch), but way not restricted to it. In Linie antreten! (Line up! to soldiers) but also Warm anziehen und den Schlüssel nicht vergessen! (Put some warm clothes on
and do not forget your key; a mother to her child) Hey, nicht faulenzen, arbeiten! (Hey yo, do not laze around, get some work done!, normal imperative would be very odd) The military command "Stillgestanden", Freeze!, oddly even takes the perfect participle for an imperative.
5 Subordinate clauses A subordinate clause (Nebensatz) is always incorporated in a main sentence (or another subordinate clause). Any part of the main clause can be replaced by it, but some conjugated verb must remain. However, subclauses are generally moved to the end of the sentence if it can be done without inconvenience, and if they do not take the first place because of importance. As for its word order, it differs in two things only from a main clause: 1. In general, it begins with a special word, a 'subordinating conjunction' or a relative pronoun, setting it into relation with the encompassing sentence. 2. The verb is, without separation, sent to the place where the first part of a separable verb would be in a main clause, i. e. at the end of the sentence.
Ich nehme das frühere Flugzeug, damit ich heute noch ankomme. = "I'll take
the earlier plane so that I arrive even today." Question words (in the following example, 'wohin') have the same effect as subordinating conjunctions within a sentence. Wohin ist er gelaufen? Niemand wusste, wohin er gelaufen ist. ("Where did he run
(to)? No one knew where he ran (to)." -- Note that, unlike in English, a subordinate or dependent clause is always separated from the independent clause (Hauptsatz) by a comma.) Oddities: 1. Final clauses can be replaced by an "um-zu"-infinitive, if the subject is identical; in practice, um behaves as conjunction, and the infinitive, with a zu, as conjugated verb, and the subject falls away. Wir haben genug Geld, um diese CD zu kaufen. = Wir haben genug Geld, damit wir diese CD kaufen. "We have enough money to/that we buy this CD."
2. In conditional phrases, the conjunction wenn may be left out in the main clause and the verb put into its place. In this case, so replaces dann in the subordinate clause. Hast du genügend Geld, so no "dann" in this case kannst du diese CD kaufen. = Wenn du genügend Geld hast, dann kannst du dies e CD kaufen. "If you have
enough money, then you can buy this CD." 3. Indirect speech may behave as subclause in relation to the main clause, but the conjunction (which would be "dass") may be left out and then its word-order is as in main clauses. Er sagte, er sei mit der Arbeit fertig. = Er sagte, dass er mit der Arbeit fertig sei. = "He said (that) he had finished his work."
4. Denn, by custom translated into English as for , is in practice just an equivalent to weil "because", but it requires a main-clause word-order and may even take a semicolon instead of a comma. Er kommt nicht zur Arbeit, denn er ist krank. (He doesn't come to work, for he's ill.) = Er kommt nicht zur Arbeit, weil er krank ist. = "He doesn't come to
work because he's ill." To confuse things, in some dialects weil has the role which denn has in Standard German. However this doesn't mean they generally neglect the subclause word order, since other conjunctions meaning the
same, i. e. da "as" or even a "deswegen weil" (literally: because of that because) take ordinary subclauses even there.
6
Subordinate sentence structure
Just as in English, a subordinate clause may be used at the beginning or end of a complete expression, so long as it is paired with at least one independent clause. For instance, just as one could say either: I will go with you, if I can. or If I can, I will go with you.
so you can also say in German: Ich komme mit, wenn ich kann. or Wenn ich kann, komme ich mit.
Note, however, that in German when the independent clause comes after a subordinate clause the conjugated verb comes before the subject. This arises from the basic rule that always places the conjugated verb in a sentence in the second position, even if that puts it ahead of the sentence's subject.
7
Clauses with dass
Subordinate clauses beginning with dass [thus, so, that] enable the speaker to use statements like nominal phrases or pronouns. These sentences are singular, neuter and either nominative or accusative. However, the verb must go at the end of the sentence. Ich denke, dass er ein Vater ist. Dass Spinnen keine Insekten sind, ist allgemein bekannt. ("It's well-known that
spiders are not insects.") Ich weiß, dass Spinnen keine Insekten sind. - Ich weiß das. ("I know that
spiders are not insects - I know that.")
8
Indirect questions with ob
Whereas the word dass indicates that the statement is a fact, ob starts an indirect yes/no question. Ich weiß nicht, ob ich fliegen soll. ("I don't know whether I should fly.")
9 Specific indirect question 10 Relative clauses The outer nominal phrase the relative clause relates to can be any nominal phrase in any case. The clause begins with a form of the relative pronoun derived from and largely identical to the definite pronoun (der/die/das), or the interrogative pronoun
(welchem/welcher/welches), the remaining words are put after it. Using the interrogative pronoun without good cause is considered typical for legalese language. Der Mann, der/welcher seiner Frau den Hund schenkt (nominative subject)
("The man who gives his wife the dog") Der Hund, den/welchen der Mann seiner Frau schenkt (accusative object)
("The dog which the man gives his wife") Die Frau, der/welcher der Mann den Hund schenkt (dative object) ("The
woman to whom the man gives the dog") Der Mann, der/welcher ich bin (predicative noun) ("The man I am") The outer nominal phrase can also be the possessor of a noun inside. You use the genitive case of a relative pronoun matching the outer nominal phrase in gender and number. Der Mann, dessen Auto auf der Straße parkt ("The man whose car is parked
on the street") Die Person, deren Auto ich kaufe ("The person whose car I am buying") Das Auto, dessen Fahrer ich helfe ("The car whose driver I am helping") Die Kinder, deren Lehrer ich kenne ("The children whose teacher I know")
Prepositions/Postpositions are attached to these phrases in the relative clause if necessary. Das Haus, in dem ich lebe ("The house I live in") Die Person, derentwegen ich hier bin ("The person I am here because of") Das Haus, durch dessen Tür ich gegangen bin ("The house whose door I came
in by") If the relative pronoun is identical to the definite article several identical forms may follow each other. Der, der der Frau, der ich schon Honig gegeben hatte, Honig gab, muss mehr Honig kaufen ("The man who gave honey to the woman I had already given
honey to, has to buy more honey") Such constructions are generally avoided by using forms of welch- as relative pronouns. Der, welcher der Frau, welcher ...
or rather Derjenige, welcher der Frau, der ich ...
Otherwise, welcher is rarely used (never in the genitive), and without a difference in meaning. If the relative pronoun refers to a thing as yet unknown or a whole sentence and not a part of it, was is used instead, always equivalent here to an English "which". Der Chef stellte einen Arbeiter ein, was diesen sehr gefreut hat. - "The
manager hired a worker, which the latter was very happy about." From sentences such as this In dem Geschäft, wo ( or in dem) man auch Brot kaufen kann, kaufe ich Bier. -
"In this shop where you also can buy bread I am buying beer." one may understand why colloquial usage extends this to other quasi-locational prepositional expressions Die Zeit, wo (= in der) wir Rom besucht haben, war sehr schön. - "The time lit. where we visited Rome was really fine." Regular "in der", literally "in which", would translate to a "when" in English.
and then, in Northern German slang, to all relative clauses: Der Mann, wo bei Siemens arbeitet, hat an der Technischen Universität studiert. "The man where works at Siemens's has graduated from the
Technical University." Southern Germans never use this form, but they have constructed a double form "der wo, die wo, das wo" which is almost necessary in their dialect. "Wo" may here be replaced by "was", which for undiscoverable reasons seems to occur mostly in the feminine genus.
11 Adverbial clauses An adverbial clause begins with a conjunction, defining its relation to the verb or nominal phrase described. Als ich auf dem Meer segelte ("When/As I was sailing on the sea")
Some examples of conjunctions: als, während, nachdem, weil?
German Gender: Masuline Suffix: Most nouns ending in -en, -el, -ling, -ner, -ismus, -ig, -ich, or -er are masculine:
der Boden (ground), der Vog el (bird), der Frühling (spring), der Vat er (father). Rules: Days, months, and seasons, weather (rain, snow…) are usually masculine in German. der Sonntag (Sunday), der Winter (winter), der Februar (February, der Regen (rain), der Schnee (snow), but das Wetter (the weather). Note that these suffixes and rules can only assist you in increasing your chance of guessing what the gender would be, but it’s still guessing, because there are some exceptions that can be found time to time.
German Gender: Feminine Suffix: Nouns ending in -heit, -ie, -ik, -age, -ei ,-ion, -itis, -keit, -ur, -schaft, -tät, and -ung are feminine: die Freiheit (freedom), die Gar age (garage), die Opera tion (operation), die Möglichkeit (possibility), die Nat ur (nature), die Freund schaft (friendship), die Qualität (quality), die Ehr ung, (honor). Rules: Trees, flowers, fruit, and cardinal numbers are most of the time feminine: die Föhre (pine tree), die Rose (rose), die Orange (Orange), die Sieben (the seven).
German Gender: Neuter Suffix: Nouns ending in -ett, -chen, -lein, -il, -ium, -ma, -ment, -nis, -tel, -tum, -um and -o are neuter: das Bett (bed), das Kaninchen (Rabbit), das Stadium (stage), das Klima (climat), das Geheimnis (secret), das Viertel (quarter), das Album (album), das Fräulein (young lady). Rules: Names of towns, countries, colors, infinitives used as nouns, and the diminutives that we’ve seen above ending in -chen or -lein, they’re all usually neuter: das Berlin (Berlin), das Deutschland (Germany), das Rot (Red), das Schwimmen (swimming), das Hünd chen (little dog), das Kindlein (little child).
12 The Plural in German German is more diverse in its plural than in English, to express the plural in English we simply add “s” or “es” to the end of the noun, well in German it’s not the case. Some nouns add “ e” to their end: der Freund (friend) becomes die Freunde (friends), der Schuh (a shoe) becomes die Schuhe (shoes).
Other nouns add “ en” to their end: der Student (student) becomes die Studenten (students), die Zeit (time) becomes die Zeiten (times). The other forms of plural in German are: (-n) for example: die Schule becomes die Schule n (schools). (no diffrence) for example: das Fenster (window) stays die Fenster (windows). (-¨) for example: der Br uder becomes die Br üder (brothers). (-¨er or -er) for example: das Haus becomes die Häuser (houses), or das Kind becomes die Kinder (childen). (-s) for example: das Radio becomes die Radios (this form can be used usually with foreign words) das Baby becomes die Babys
Tips: Note that most nouns ending in the suffixes (-heit, -ie, -ik, -age, -ei ,-ion, -itis, -keit, -ur, -schaft, -tät, and -ung) add -en in the plural. Feminine nouns ending in (- in) add -nen to form their plural. Note that most German plurals add an extra - n or -en to the plural form in the dative case. Finally note that while English takes capital letter only in countries names or days… in German all nouns take a capital letter as you may have noticed in this lesson.
13 German Articles If you don’t know it yet articles in German change depending on the case used in the sentences. If you’re not familiar with that then please check the German Cases page before proceeding to this page.
German Definite Articles The definite articles in German refer to specific persons, objects, ideas…etc. and they are : der, die, das, die (plural) they all mean the expression “ the” in English, der is used for masculine nouns, die is used for feminine nouns, das is used for neuter nouns, and finally die used also for plural nouns.
German Definite Article
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
der Mann (the man) die Frau (the woman) das Brot (the bread) die Männer (the men), die Frauen (the women), die Brote (the breads)
Well, that’s not all; the form we went through above is only for the nominative case. Now let’s have a look at all the rest:
Nominative case Accusative case Dative case Genitive cases
German Definite Articles masculine feminine neuter plural der die das die den die das die dem der dem den des der des der
the the to the of the
Here are some examples:
Nominative: der Mann ist hier (the man is here) Accusative: Ich grüße den Mann (I greet the man) Dative: Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch (I give the book to the man) Genitive: Ich habe das Buch des Mannes (I have the book of the man) You may have noticed how the definite article changes each time the case changes. So try to memorize the table above by heart, I’m sure it’s not that hard.
14 German Indefinite Articles The indefinite articles in German refer to unspecified persons, objects, ideas…etc. and they are: ein, eine, ein, they all mean the indefinite article “ a, an” in English, ein is used for masculine nouns, eine is used for feminine nouns, ein is used for neuter nouns, and there is no plural for the indefinite article.
Masculine Feminine Neuter
German Indefinite Article ein Mann (a man) eine Frau (the woman) ein Brot (a bread)
Again, that’s not all; the form we went through above is only for the nominative case. Now let’s have a look at all the rest:
Nominative case
German Indefinite Articles masculine feminine neuter ein eine ein
a, an
Accusative case Dative case Genitive cases
einen einem eines
eine einer einer
ein einem eines
a, an to a, to an of a, of an
Here are some examples:
Nominative: ein Mann ist hier (a man is here) Accusative: Ich grüße einen Mann (I greet a man) Dative: Ich gebe einem Mann ein Buch (I give the book to a man) Genitive: Ich habe das Buch eines Mannes (I have the book of a man) So the same thing happens to the indefinite article, it changes each time the case changes. So try to memorize the table above by heart as well.
A. GENERAL GENDER RULES AND TIPS 1. With words referring to people, the grammatical gender usually coincides with the person's sex. 2. Many words which can be used to refer to human beings of either gender are masculine. 3. With most of the words in category 2 above, the feminine form can be created by adding the suffix -in. 4. The masculine version of some nouns is frequently used to refer to females, even when feminine forms with the suffix -in exist [Frau Doktor Kranzl ist Professor (Professor in) an der Universität]. 5. With animals, generally nouns referring to the animal as a category where no thought is given to gender, are neuter. 6. Young animals also tend to be neuter. 7. Where for some reason an animal is thought to have more feminine or more masculine characteristics. that gender is used. Sometimes the gender may be due to the structure of the word. 8. Compound nouns take the gender of the last element of the compound.
B. FEMININE NOUNS 1. Most nouns which end in -e (but not -ee). 2. Those words denoting feminine human beings (and occasionally animals) which are formed from the masculine words by adding -in.
3. Numerals used as nouns. 4. Nouns with the Germanic suffixes -ei, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ung . 5. Nouns with the suffixes -d and -t are usually feminine. The ending must be a suffix, though, and not just a -d or -t ending.
6. Nouns with the common foreign suffixes -ie, -ik, -ion, -et . 7. A host of other foreign suffixes are also feminine, including -a, -ade, -age, -eille, -aise, -anee, -äne, -anz, -elle, -enz, -esse, -ette, -euse, -(i)ere, -ille, -ine, -isse, -itis, -ive, -ose, -sis, -se, -ur, -üre.
C. MASCULINE NOUNS 1. Male human beings and nouns referring specifically to the male of an animal species. 2. Names of days of the week, months, seasons and directions. 3. Names of most stones and minerals. 4. Names for storms and most other weather phenomena. 5. Five nouns ending in -ee. 6. Nouns with the suffix -ling . 7. Those nouns which indicate the person doing a given verb action (agent nouns) which are formed by adding -er to the stem of the verb. 8. Many other nouns ending in -er , most ending in -s, and a large percentage (but not all) of those ending in -en and -el . 9. Almost all nouns formed from one of the principle parts of a verb, especially one-syllable ones formed from strong verbs. 10. Nouns formed with the foreign suffixes -and, -ant, -ar, -är, -ast, -ent, -cur, -ier, -iker, -ikus, -ismus, -ist, -or, -us. Of these, the most important are -ier, -ismus, -ist, -or .
D. NEUTER NOUNS 1. Those nouns which end in -chen and -lein.
2. Young persons and animals except those which, because of a suffix, have another gender). 3. Names for many animals designating both male and female collectively. 4. Names of cities, touns, most countries and continents. Note: the article is not generally used with any of these geographic entities, unless an adjective precedes the name. 5. Other parts of speech used as nouns, unless they designate persons. 6. Most collective nouns, especially those formed with the prefix ge- and the suffix -e. 7. Most nouns with the suffixes -icht, -tel, -tum. 8. Most nouns ending with the foreign suffixes -ett, -il, -in, -ium, -ma, -ment, -um. 9. Letters of the Alphabet.
E. NOUNS WITH MORE THAN ONE GENDER
Some nouns have two different genders, depending on the definition. Here is a list of the most common such words. der Alp (nightmare) der Band (volume) der Bauer (farmer) der Bund (federation) der Erbe (heir) der Flur (hallway) der Gefallen (favor) der Gehalt (content) der Harz (mountain range) der Heide (heathen) der Hut (hat) der Junge (boy) der Kiefer (jaw) der Kristall (type of mineral) der Kunde (customer) der Leiter (leader) das Mark (marrow) der Marsch (march) das Maß (measure) der Mast (mast) der Messer (surveyor) der Moment (moment, instant) der Otter (otter) der Reis (rice) der Schild (shield) der See (lake) das Steuer (rudder) der Stift (pin) der Tau (dew) der Tor (fool) der Verdienst (earnings) das Wehr (dam)
die Alp (mountain pasture) das Band* (ribbon) das (der) Bauer (birdcage) das Bund (bundle, bunch) das Erbe (inheritance) die Flur (meadow) das Gefallen (pleasure) das Gehalt (salary) das Harz (resin) die Heide (heath) die Hut (protection) das Junge (animal offspring) die Kiefer (pine tree) das Kristall (type of glass) die Kunde (news, information) die Leiter (ladder) die Mark (monetary unit) die Marsch (marsh) die Maß (liter container--Bavaria) die Mast (fattening of animals) das Messer (knife) das Moment (motive, factor) die Otter (adder) das Reis (twig) das Schild (sign) die See (sea) die Steuer (tax) das Stift (convent) das Tau (rope) das Tor (gate) das Verdienst (merit) die Wehr (defense)
* also "die Band" (with English pronunciation; band) The words "Meter" and "Teil" and their compounds occur as both neuters and masculines.
•
•
"Meter" by itself was originally neuter but it is now usually considered masculine. In compounds indicating units of length it is always masculine: "der Zentimeter," "der Kilometer." Compounds indicating a measuring device are neuter: "das Thermometer," "das Barometer." "Teil" is masculine if it is felt to be a component part of the whole: "der westlichc Teil." If it designates a separate part or an individual share it is neuter: "Das ist mein Teil." In a store displaying various unrelated items on sale for the same price you frequently see a sign indicating the price for "jedes Teil." Compounds of "Teil" vary in gender: "das Abteil," "das Urteil," "der Vorteil," "der Nachteil," "der Körperteil," "der Bruchteil."
With a few nouns two (or, rarely, even all three genders) are possible without any difference in meaning. Most of them are foreign words for which a firm gender has not (yet) been determined, but there are also a few old Germanic ones in this category: der (die) Abscheu der (das) Mündel der (das) Dotter der (das) Sims der (das) Erbteil der (die) Wulst der (das) Knäuel der (das) Zubehör Some of the foreign words include the following: der (das) Barock der (das, die) Dschungel der (das) Katheder der (das) Kompromiß der (das) Lasso das Taxi/die Taxe der (das) Bonbon der (das Filter der (das) Keks der (das) Lampion der (das) Radar die (das) Cola
15 German Vocabulary a (indefinite article) a (indefinite article)
eine (for feminine) ein (for masculine & neuter)
ability able, capable about (circa) about (concerning) above abroad absent accept accident account achieve across (through) act (verb) action activity actor actress actual actually add added additional address adequate administration adult advanced advantage advertising advice affairs (plural) afraid after after that afternoon afterwards again against age ago agree agreement aid (help) aim air airplane airport alarm clock alcohol alive all allow almost
Fähigkeit, f fähig etwa über über, darüber im Ausland abwesend annehmen Unfall, m Konto, n erreichen durch handeln Handlung, f Tätigkeit, f Schauspieler, m Schauspielerin, f tatsächlich eigentlich hinzufügen zusätzlich beigefügt Adresse, f angemessen Verwaltung, f erwachsen fortgeschritten Vorteil, m Werbung, f Rat, m Geschäfte, pl besorgt nach darnach Nachmittag, m nachher wieder gegen Alter, n vor zustimmen Vereinbarung, f Hilfe, f Ziel, n Luft, f Flugzeug, n Flughafen, m Wecker, m Alkohol, m lebendig alle erlauben fast
alone along already also (too) although always among amount amuse ancient and and so on angle angry animal ankle announce annual another answer ant any anyone anything anywhere apartment appear appetite apple apply approach appropriate approval approximately apricot April area argument arm armchair arms (plural) army around arrival arrive art article artist (feminine) artist (masculine) as (like) as (when) ask (beg) ask (question)
allein entlang schon auch obwohl immer unter, zwischen Betrag, m vergnügen alt und und so weiter (or simply usw.) Winkel, m wütend Tier, n Fessel, f ankündigen jährlich ein anderer,-e,-es Antwort, f Ameise, f jeder, e, -es irgend jemand irgend etwas irgendwo Wohnung, f erscheinen Appetit, m Apfel, m anwenden sich nähern passend Billigung, f ungefähr Aprikose, f April, m Gebiet, n Beweis, m Arm, m Sessel, m Waffen, pl Armee, f herum Ankunft, f ankommen Kunst, f Artikel, m Künstlerin, f Künstler, m, wie als bitten fragen
aspect assembly assignment assistance association assume at (hour) at (place) at last at least at most at the same time attack attempt attention attitude attorney August aunt author (feminine) author (masculine) autumn available avoid awake aware away baby back back (body) background bacon bad badly bag baggage bake baker bakery balcony ball banana band bank bank note bar base based basement basic basket bath bathroom
Anblick, m Versammlung, f Zuweisung, f Beistand, m, Assistenz, f Verband, m annehmen um an endlich wenigstens höchstens zur gleichen Zeit angreifen Versuch, m Achtung, f Haltung, f Anwalt, m August, m Tante, f Schriftstellerin, f Schriftsteller, m, Herbst, m käuflich vermeiden erwachen aufgeweckt weg Baby, n zurück Rücken, m Hintergrund, m Speck, m schlechter,-e,-es schlecht Tasche, f Gepäck, n backen Bäcker, m Bäckerei, f Balkon, m Ball, m Banane, f Band, n Bank, f Banknote, f Bar, f Grundlage, f beruhen auf Keller, m grundlegend Korb, m Bad, n Badezimmer, n
battle bay be be called be valid beach bean bear beard beat beautiful beauty because become bed bedroom bee beef beefsteak beer before begin beginning behavior behind belief believe bell (door) below belt beneath benefit beside besides best bet better between beverage beyond bible bicycle big bill bird birth birthday biscuit bit bitter black black blanket
Schlacht, f Bucht, f sein heissen gültig sein Strand, m Bohne, f Bär, m Bart, m schlagen schön Schönheit, f weil werden Bett, n Schlafzimmer, n Biene, f Rindfleisch, n Steak, n Bier, n vor beginnen Anfang, m Benehmen, n hinter Glauben, m glauben Klingel, f unter Gurt, m unter Nutzen, m neben ausserdem bester,-e,-es Wette, f besser zwischen Getränk, n jenseits Bibel, f Fahrrad, n gross Rechnung, f Vogel, m Geburt, f Geburtstag, m Biscuit, n Stück, f bitter schwarz schwarz Decke, f
blind block blood blouse blue board boat body boil bone book bookshop boring both bottle bottom bowl box boy brain brake bread break breakfast breast breath bridge brief bright brilliant bring broad broke broom brother brown brush budget build building burn burning bus business busy but butcher butter butterfly button buy buy by (a person)
blind Block, m Blut, n Bluse, f blau Brett, f Boot, n Körper, m kochen Knochen, m Buch, n Buchhandlung, f langweilg beide Flasche, f Boden, m Schale, f Schachtel, f Junge, m Gehirn, n Bremse, f Brot, n brechen Frühstück, n Brust, f Atem, m Brücke, f kurz hell strahlend bringen breit pleite Besen, m Bruder, m braun Bürste, f Budget, f bauen Gebäude, n brennen Verbrennung, Verbrennu ng, f Bus, m Geschäft, n beschäftigt aber Metzger, m Butter, f Schmetterling,, m Schmetterling Knopf, m kaufen kaufen durch, von
by chance by heart by the way
zufällig auswendig übrigens
cabbage café cake calf call camp can candle capacity capital captain car card care career careful carpet carrot carry case, instance cashier cat catch cathedral cattle cauliflower cause cell cellar center central century certain certainly chain chair chairman chance changable change (noun) change (verb) chapter character characteristics charge cheap check (verb)
Kohl, m Café, n Kuchen, m Kalb, n rufen, anrufen Lager, n können Kerze, f Aufnahmefähigkeit, Aufnahmefä higkeit, f Kapital, n Kapitän, m Wagen, m, Auto, n Karte, f sorgen Karriere, f vorsichtig Teppich, m Rübe, f, Karrotte, f tragen Fall, m Kassierer, m, Katze fangen Kathedrale,, f Kathedrale Vieh, n Blumenkohl, m Grund, m Zelle, f Keller, m Zentrum, n zentral Jahrhundert, Jahrhund ert, n gewiss gewiss Kette, f Stuhl, m Vordsitzender, Vordsitzende r, m Chance, f veränderlich Wechsel wechseln Kapitel, f Charakter, m Merkmal beladen billig prüfen
cheek cheese chemical cherry chest chicken chief child childhood chill chin china chinese chocolate choice choose christian christmas church cigarette circle circumstances citizen city civil claim class clay clean clear client clock(tower) clock,watch close closely clothes cloud club coast coat coffee cold collar collection college color column comb combination come come back command commerce
Wange, f Käse, m chemisch Kirsche, f Brust, f Hühnchen, n Leiter, m Kind, n Kindheit, f kühlen Kinn, n Porzellan, n chinesisch Schokolade, f Wahl, f wählen, auswählen christlich Weihnachten Kirche, f Zigarette, f Kreis, m Umstände, pl Bürger, m Stadt, f bürgerlich Anspruch, m Klasse, f Lehm, m sauber klar, hell Kunde, m Uhr, f Armbanduhr, Armbanduh r, f nahe, bei eng Kleider, pl Wolke, f Club, m Küste, f Mantel, m Kaffee, m kalt Kragen, m Sammlung, f College, n Farbe, f Säule, f Kamm, m Verbindung, f kommen zurückkommen befehlen Handel, m
commercial commission committee common communication company compare competition complete complexion comrade concept concern conclusion condition conduct conference confess confidence conflict congress connection consider considerable construction contact contain contemporary content continue contract contrary contrast control conversation conviction convince cook cook cool cord corner corporation correct cost council count country county couple course court cousin
Werbespot, m Kommission, f Komittee, n gewöhnlich Verbindung, f Gesellschaft, f vergleichen Wettbewerb, m vollständig Hautfarbe, f Kamarad, m Planung, f betreffen Ergebnis, n Bedingung, f Verhalten, n Besprechung, f bekennen Zutrauen, n Konflikt, m Kongress, m Verbindung, f erwägen, überlegen beträchtlich Bauwerk, n kontaktieren enthalten zeitgenössisch Inhalt, m fortsetzen Vertrag, m Gegenteil, n Gegensatz, m Kontrolle, f Gespräch, n Ueberzeugung, f überzeugen kochen Koch, m, Köchin, f kühl Seil, n Ecke, f Gesellschaft, f richtig kosten Ratsversammlung, f zählen, berechnen Land, n Grafschaft, f Paar, n Lauf, m, Verlauf, m Gericht, n Cousin, m, Cousine, f
cover cow cream create credit crime crisis critical cross crowd crown cry, weep cucumber cultural culture cup cupboard current curtain customs cut daddy daily dance danger dangerous dark data date daughter day dead deaf deal dear December decide decision declare deep defense degree demand demand democratic dentist depart, leave department departure depth describe desert design
bedecken Kuh, f Sahne, f erschaffen Kredit, m Verbrechen, n Krise, f kritisch Kreuz, n Menge, f Krone, f weinen Gurke, f kulturell Kultur, f Tasse, f Schrank, m laufend Vorhang, m Zoll, m schneiden Papa, m täglich tanzen Gefahr, f gefährlich dunkel Daten, pl Datum, n Tochter, f Tag, m tot taub Abmachung, f teuer, lieb Dezember entscheiden Entscheidung, f bekanntgeben tief Verteidigung, f Grad, m Anfrage, f verlangen demokratisch Zahnarzt, m abreisen Abteilung, f Abfahrt, f Tiefe, f beschreiben Wüste, f entwerfen
desire desk despite dessert detail detective determine determined develop development device devoted dictionary die difference different difficult dining room dinner direct direction directly director dirty disappointed discover discuss discussion disease distance distribute district divided division do doctor dog domestic dominant donkey door double doubt down dozen dramatic draw drawer dream dress drink drive drunk
begehren Schreibtisch, m trotz Dessert, n Detail, f Detektiv, m bestimmen entschlossen entwickeln Entwicklung, f Gerät, n ergeben Wörterbuch, n sterben Unterschied, m verschieden schwierig Esszimmer, n Abendessen, n lenken Richtung, f direkt Direktor, m schmutzig enttäuscht entdecken besprechen Besprechung Krankheit, f Distanz, f verteilen Distrikt, m geteilt Abteilung, f tun, machen Arzt, m, Aerztin, f Hund, m häuslich herrschend Esel, m Türe, f doppelt Zweifel, m unten, hinunter Dutzend, n dramatisch zeichnen Schublade, f Traum, m Kleid, n trinken Auto fahren betrunken
dry duck due during dust duty dwelling each ear early earn earth east easy eat economy edge editor education effect effective effort egg eight either elbow election electric electronic element elephant elevator eleven else emotional employee empty end enemy energy engine enjoy enough enter entire entrance envelope equal equipment escape especially essential establish
trocken Ente, f Gebühr, f während Staub, m Pflicht, f Wohnung, f jeder, -e, -es Ohr, n früh verdienen Erde, f Osten leicht essen Wirtschaft, f Kante, f Herausgeber, m Erziehung, f, Bildung, f Wirkung, f wirksam Anstrengung, f Ei, n acht beide Ellbogen, m Wahl, f elektrisch elektronisch Element, n Elefant, m Fahrstuhl, m, Lift, m elf sonst gefühlsmässig Angestellter, m leer Ende, n Feind, m Energie, f Motor, m geniessen genug eintreten ganzer Eingang, m Briefumschlag, m gleich Ausrüstung, f entkommen besonders wesentlich einrichten
estate estimated even A622 evening event eventually ever every everybody everyone everything everywhere evidence evil exactly example excellent except exchange executive exercise exist existence exit expect expenses expensive experience experiment explain express expression extended extent extra extreme eye face facilities fact factor factory fail failure fair fairly fairy tale faith fall false, familiar family far
Liegenschaft, f geschätzt sogar Abend, m Ereignis, n schliesslich jemals, immer jeden,-e,-es jeder jeder alles überall Beweis, m Übel, n genau Beispiel, f ausgezeichnet ausser Wechsel, m Geschäftsführer, m Uebung, f existieren Dasein, n Ausgang, m erwarten Auslagen, pl teuer Erfahrung, f Experiment, n erklären ausdrücken Ausdruck, m erweitert Ausdehnung, f zusätzlich äusserst Auge, n Gesicht, n Möglichkeiten Tatsache, f Faktor, m Fabrik, f fehlschlagen Versagen, n ehrlich eher Märchen, n Glauben, m fallen falsch gewohnt, vertraut Familie, f weit
farm fashion fast fat father fault favor fear features February feed feel (good) feeling felicitate female fetch few field fifteen fifty fig fight figure out file fill film finally find fine finger finish (verb) fire first fish five flat flat (adj.) flesh (body) floor flour flow flower fly (insect) fly (verb) follow food foot for forbidden force foreign forest forget
Bauernhof, m Mode, f schnell fett Vater, m Fehler, m Gefallen, m Angst, f Eigenschaften Februar, m ernähren, füttern sich fühlen Gefühl, n beglückwünschen weiblich holen wenig Feld, n fünfzehn fünfzig Feige, f Kampf, m herausfinden Akte, f füllen Film, m endlich finden fein, schön Finger, m beenden Feuer, n erster,-e,-es Fisch, m fünf Wohnung flach Fleisch Boden, m Mehl, n fliessen Blume, f Fliege, f fliegen folgen Nahrung, f, Essen, n Fuss, m für verboten Kraft, f fremd, ausländisch Wald, m vergessen
forgive fork form former forty fountain four fourteen fox frame free free (not occupied) frequently fresh Friday friend friendly frighten from front full fundamental funny furniture further future gain game garden gas gasoline general get girl give glad gladly glass glasses go goal God gold goldfish good good-bye goods goose government gradually grandfather grandmother grass
vergeben Gabel, f Form, f früherer vierzig Brunnen, m vier vierzehn Fuchs, m Rahmen, m gratis frei häufig frisch Freitag, m Freund, m, freundin, f freundlich erschrecken von Vorderseite, f voll grundlegend lustig Möbel, pl weiterer, -e, -es Zukunft, f Gewinn, m Spiel, n Garten, m Gas, n Benzin, n allgemein bekommen Mädchen, n geben fröhlich, froh gerne Glas, n Brille, f gehen Ziel, n Gott, n Gold, n Goldfisch, m gut auf Wiedersehen Waren, pl Gans, f Regierung, f allmählich Grossvater, m Grossmutter, f Gras, n
gray green green greetings grey ground group grow guess guest gun guy hair half hall ham hammer hamster hand handbag handkerchief handle hang happen happy hard hardly harvest hat hate have he head health healthy hear heart heat heavy hell help (noun) help (verb) hen here hero high highway hill him,her, it his history hit hold
grau grün grün Wünsche, pl grau Boden, m Gruppe, f wachsen vermuten Gast, m Gewehr, n Kerl, m Haare, pl halb Halle, f Schinken, m Hammer, m Hamster, m Hand, f Handtasche, f Taschentuch, n umgehen mit hängen geschehen glücklich hard kaum Ernte, f Hut, m hassen haben er Kopf, m Gesundheit, f gesund hören Herz, n Hitze, f schwer Hölle, f Hilfe helfen Huhn, n hier Held, m hoch Landstrasse, f Hügel, m ihn, sie, es sein Geschichte, f schlagen halten
hole holiday home, at home honor hope horrible horse hospital hot hotel, inn hour house how however huge human hundred hungry hurry hurt, injure husband I ice ice cream idea ideal if image imagine immediately impact important impossible improve in in front of in spite of inch include increase indeed independent index index finger influence initial inner insect inside instead interest interesting interior
Loch, n Ferien, pl zuhause Ehre, f Hoffnung, f schrecklich Pferd, n Spital, n heiss Hotel, n Stunde, f Haus, n wie wie auch immer riesig menschlich hundert hungrig sich beeilen verletzen Ehemann, m ich Eis, n Eiskrem, Eis Idee, f ideal wenn Bild, n sich vorstellen sofort Einfluss, m wichtig unmöglich verbessern in vor trotz Zoll, m beinhalten zunehmen tatsächlich unabhängig Inhaltsverzeichnis Zeigefinger Einfluss, m anfänglich innerer, -e, -es Insekt, n drinnen anstatt Interesse interessant Innere, f
into invite involve iron island issue it it's cold it's foggy it's freezing it's hot it's nice it's rainy it's snowy it's sunny it's windy jacket jam January job join judge juice July jump June just (only) justice keep key kill kind king kiss kitchen kitten knee knife know (person) know to knowledge labor lack ladder lady lake lamp land language large last last (previous) late
in.....hinein einladen verwickeln Eisen, n Insel, f Problem, n es es ist kalt es ist neblig es friert Kälte ein es ist heiß es ist nett es ist regnerisch es ist schneebedeckt es ist sonnig es ist windig Jacke, f Marmelade, f Januar, m Job, m sich anschliessen Richter, m Saft, m Juli, m springen Juni, m nur Gerechtigkeit, f halten Schlüssel, m töten Art, f König, m Kuss, m Küche, f Kätzchen, n Knie, n Messer, n kennen können Wissen, n Arbeit, f mangeln Leiter, f Dame, f See, m Lampe, f Land, n Sprache, d breit letzter,-e,-es letzte spät
laugh law lay lead leader learn leave left leg legal lemon length less let (allow) letter library lie lie life lift (verb) light (adjective) light (electr) lightning like (as) like (verb) likely line lip liquid list listen literature little (amount) little (size) live live, dwell local located location lock (noun) long (object) long (time) look lose loss lot loud love (noun) love (verb) low luck lunch machine
lachen Recht, n legen führen Anführer, d lernen weggehen links Bein, n gesetzlich Zitrone, f Länge, f weniger lassen Brief, m Bibliothek, f liegen lügen Leben, f heben leicht Licht Blitz, m wie mögen wahrscheinlich Linie, f Lippe, f flüssig Liste, f hören, zuhören Literatur, f wenig klein leben wohnen lokal gelegen Standort, m Schloss, n lang lange schauen verlieren Verlust, m Haufen, m laut Liebe, f lieben leise Glück, n Mittagessen, n Maschine, f
magazine mail maintain majority make man manner many map March march mark market marriage married mass material matter maximum May may maybe me meadow meal mean meaning means meanwhile measure meat meet member memory mention merely message metal method midday, noon middle midnight mile milk million mind minimum minister minute mirror Miss miss (verb) mistake
Magazin, n Post, f instandhalten Mehrheit, f machen Mann, m, Mensch, m Art, f viele Landkarte, f März, m marschieren kennzeichnen Markt, m Hochzeit, f verheiratet Messe, f Material, n Gegenstand, m Maximum, n Mai, m dürfen vielleicht mich (accusative), mir (dative) Wiese, f Mahlzeit, f meinen, denken Bedeutung, f Mittel, n unterdessen Mass, n Fleisch, n treffen Mitglied, n Gedächtnis, n erwähnen kaum Botschaft, f Metall, n Methode, f Mittag mittlerer,-e,-es Mitternacht Meile, f Milch, f Million, f Sinn, m, Geist, m Minimum, n Minister, m Minute, f Spiegel, m Fräulein vermissen Fehler, m
modern moment Monday money month moon more more... than morning most mother motion motor mountain mouse mouth move movement Mr. Mrs. much murder music must my myself nail name napkin narrow nasty natural nature near necessary neck need needle neighbor neighborhood neither...nor never nevertheless new news newspaper next nice night nine nineteen ninety no
modern Augenblick, m, Moment, m Montag, m Geld, n Monat, m Mond, m mehr mehr...als Morgen, m die meisten Mutter, f Bewegung, f Motor, m Berg, m Maus, f Mund, m bewegen Bewegung, f Herr Frau viel Mord, m Musik, f müssen mein,-e mich Nagel, m Name, m Serviette, f eng böse, schlimm natürlich Natur, f nahe notwendig Hals, m brauchen Nadel, f Nachbar, m Nachbarschaft, f weder...noch nie trotzdem neu Nachrichten, pl Zeitung, f nächster,-e,-es nett Nacht, f neun neunzehn neunzig nein
nobody nod noise none nor normal north nose not note nothing notice novel November now nowhere number nurse nut oak observe obtain obvious occasion occur October of of course off offer office officer official often oil old on on time,in time once one one(impers.) oneself onion only open opinion opportunity opposite or orange orange (color) orchestra order
niemand nicken Lärm, m niemand weder normal Norden Nase, f nicht Notiz, f nichts bemerken Roman, m November, m jetzt nirgendwo Zahl, f Krankenschwester, f Nuss, f Eiche, f beobachten erhalten offensichtlich Gelegenheit, f vorfallen Oktober, m von natürlich, gewiss weg anbieten Büro, n Offizier, Beamter offiziell oft Oel, n alt auf pünktlich ein mal ein, eine man sich Zwiebel, f nur öffnen Meinung, f Gelegenheit, f gegenüberstehend oder Orange, f orangegelb Orchester, n bestellen
ordinary organization original orning other otherwise our outside oven over overcoat own
gewöhnlich Organisation, f original Morgen, m anderer,-e,-es sonst unser, -e draussen Ofen über Mantel, m eigener,-e,-es
page pain painting pair pale paper parents park parking part particular partly party passport past patient pattern pay payment pea peace pear pen people performance perhaps period permit person personal pick picture piece pig pink place, spot plan plant plate play
Seite, f Schmerz, m Gemälde, n Paar, n Bleich Papier, n Eltern, pl Park, m Parkieren Teil, m Besonders teilweise Party, f Pass, m Vergangenheit, f geduldig Muster, n zahlen Zahlung, f Erbe, f Frieden, m Birne, f Kugelschreiber, m Leute, pl Leistung,Vorstellung, f vielleicht Punkt(Zeichen), m erlauben Person, f persönlich pflücken Bild, n Stück, n Schwein, n blaßrot Ort, m, Stelle, f Plan, m Pflanze, f Teller, m spielen
pleasant please pleasure plenty point police pool poor popular population pork portion position possible post office postcard pot potato power powerful practice pray prepare present president pressure pretty prevent previous price probably problem product program progress promise property proposal propose protection proud prove provide prune public publish pull pure purple purpose push put quality
angenehm bitte Vergnügen, n sehr viel Punkt, m Polizei, f Schwimmbecken, n arm beliebt Bevölkerung, f Schweinefleisch, n Teil, m Lage, f möglich Postbüro, n Postkarte, f Topf, m Kartoffel, f Macht, f,Kraft, f mächtig Uebung, f beten, bitten vorbereiten Geschenk, n Präsident, m Druck, m hübsch vorbeugen vorheriger,-e,-es Preis, m wahrscheinlich Problem, n Produkt, n Programm, n Fortschritt, m versprechen Eigentum, n Vorschlag vorschlagen Schutz, m stolz beweisen liefern Zwetschge, f öffentlich veröffentlichen ziehen rein purpurfarbig Zweck, m stossen legen, stellen Qualität, f
queen question quickly quiet quite rabbit race radio railroad rain rain (verb) raise range rapidly rare rate rather raw reach, manage read ready real reality realize really rear reason reasonable receive recently recognize record recover red reduce refrigerator refuse regard region regular relation relatively relief religion remain remark remember remove repeat reply report represent require
Königin, f Frage, f schnell ruhig ganz Kaninchen, n Rasse, f Radio, n Eisenbahn, f Regen, m regnen aufziehen Bereich, m schnell selten Kurs, m,Preis, m eher roh erreichen lesen bereit wirklich Wirklichkeit, f erkennen,ausführen wirklich Hinterseite, f Grund, m vernünftig erhalten, bekommen kürzlich erkennen Schallplatte, f sich erholen rot verringern Kühlschrank, m ablehnen Hinblick, m Gegend regelmässig, üblich Verhältnis, n verhältnismässig Erleichterung, f Religion, f zurückbleiben Bemerkung, f sich erinnern entfernen wiedeerholen antworten berichten darstellen erfordern
research (do ~) research (noun) responsible rest restaurant result return rice rich right (direction) right (fair) right (noun) ring rise risk river road rock role roof room round rule run sad safe salad salt same sample satisfied Saturday sausage save say scarcely scene school science scissors screw sea search season seat second secret secretary see seek seem seldom select
Forschen Forschung, f verantwortlich sich ausruhen Restaurant, n Ergebnis, n zurückkehren Reis, m reich rechts rechtig Recht, n läuten aufstehen Risiko, n Fluss Landstrasse, f Fels, m Rolle, f Dach, n Zimmer, n rund Regel, f laufen, rennen traurig sicher Salat, m Salz, n gleicher,-e,-es Probe, f zufrieden Samstag, m Wurst, f retten, sichern sagen kaum Szene Schule, f Wissenschaft, f Schere, f Schraube, f Meer, n suchen Jahreszeit, f Sitz, m zweiter,-e,-es Geheimnis, n Sekretärin, f sehen suchen scheinen selten auswählen
sell send sense September serious serve as service settled seven seventeen seventy several sex sexual shadow shall shape share sharp shave she sheep shelter ship shirt shoes shoot shop shore short shot shoulder show sick, ill side sign (noun) sign (verb) signal signify silence silver similar simple sin since sing sister sit situation six sixteen sixty size
verkaufen senden, schicken Sinn, m, Gefühl, n September, m ernsthaft dienen als Dienst, m abgemacht sieben siebzehn siebzig mehrere Geschlecht, n sexuell Schatten, m sollen Form, f teilen scharf sich rasieren sie Schaf, n Obdach, n Schiff, n Hemd, n Schuhe, pl schiessen Laden, m Strand, m kurz Schuss Schulter, f zeigen krank Seite, f Zeichen, n unterschreiben Signal, n bedeuten Ruhe, f Silber, n gleich einfach Sünde, f seit singen Schwester, f sich setzen Lage, f sechs sechzehn sechzig Grösse, f
skin skirt sky sleep slight slow small smell smile smith smoke smooth snail snake snow so soap society soft soil soldier solid solution some (object) somebody someone sometimes somewhere son song soon sound soup sour source south space speak speed spend spider spirit splendid spoon spot spread spring square staff stage stairs stamp stand
Haut, f Rock, m Himmel, m schlafen geringfügig langsam klein riechen lächeln Schmied, m rauchen weich, glatt Schnecke, f Schlange, f Schnee, m so Seife, f Gesellschaft, f weich Boden(Erde), m Soldat, m fest Lösung, f einige jemand jemand manchmal irgendwo Sohn, m Lied, n bald Klang, m Suppe, f sauer Quelle, f Süden Raum, m sprechen Geschwindigkeit, f ausgeben Stall, m Geist, m prächtig Löffel, m Stelle, f, Ort, m ausbreiten Frühling, m Platz, m Personal, n Bühne, f Treppe, f Briefmarke, f stehen
star stare start state station stay steel step still stir stock stomach stone stop stop (verb) store storm story stove straight strange strawberry stream street strength strong struggle student study success successful such suddenly sufficient sugar suggest suit suit (verb) suitable summer sun Sunday supper supply support suppose supreme sure surface surprise sweet swim Table
Stern, m starren, blicken beginnen Staat, m Bahnhof, m bleiben Stahl, m Schritt, m immer noch rühren Aktie, f Magen, m Stein, m Haltestelle, f anhalten Laden, m Sturm, m Geschichte, f Ofen, m geradeaus fremd, seltsam Erdbeere, f Strom, m, Fluss, m Strasse Kraft, f , Stärke, f stark streiten,kämpfen Student, m,-in, f studieren Erfolg, m erfolgreich solcher,-e,-es plötzlich genügend Zucker, m empfehlen Anzug, m passen passend Sommer, m Sonne, f Sonntag, m Abendessen, n liefern unterstützen annehmen höchster,-e,-es sicher Oberfläche, f Ueberraschung, f süss schwimmen Tisch, f
take talk tall task taste (noun) taste (verb) taxes tea teach teacher tear (verb) tears technique telephone television tell temperature ten tension term test than thank thank you that that (which) the the( plural) theater their then there therefore these they thick thin thing think thirst thirteen thirty this this morning though thought thousand thread three throat through throw thumb
nehmen reden gross Aufgabe, f Geschmack, m abschmecken Steuern, pl Tee, m lehren Lehrer, m, Lehrerin, f reissen Tränen, pl Technik, f Telefon, n Fernsehen, n erzählen Temperatur, f zehn Spannung, f Semester, n testen als danken danke das welcher,-e,-es der, die, das die Theater, n ihre dann dort deswegen diese sie dick dünn Sache, f, Ding, n denken Durst, m dreizehn dreissig dieser,-e,-es heute morgen obwohl Gedanke, m tausend Faden, m drei Hals, m durch werfen Daumen, m
thunder Thursday thus ticket tie tiger till time times (many) tiny tire tired title to to you today toe together toilet tomato tomorrow tone tongs tongue too too much tooth toothbrush tortoise total touch tower town trade traffic train translate travel (verb) treatment tree trip trouble trousers truck true, trust truth try Tuesday turn twelve twenty twice
Donner, m Donnerstag, m so, darum Fahrkarte, f Kravatte, f Tiger, m bis Zeit, f mal winzig Reifen, m müde Titel, m zu dir heute Zehe, f zusammen Toilette, f Tomate, f morgen Ton, m,Klang, m Zange, f Zunge, f auch zu viel Zahn, m Zahnbürste, f Schildkröte, f total berühren Turm, m Stadt, f Handel, m Verkehr, m Zug, m übersetzen reisen Behandlung, f Baum, m Reise, f Schwierigkeiten Hose, f Lastwagen, m wahr Vertrauen, n, Trust, m Wahrheit, f versuchen Dienstag, m Kurve, f, Reihe, f zwölf zwanzig zwei mal
two ugly umbrella uncle under underground understand unique universe university unless until unusual up up to now us use vacuum cleaner valley value various vast veal vegetable very victory view village visit voice volume vote wage wagon wait waiter walk (go) wall want war warm wash watch (noun) watch (verb) water way we weapons wear (clothes) weather Wednesday week weight
zwei hässlich Schirm, m Onkel, m unter U-Bahn verstehen einmalig Weltall, n Universität, f falls nicht bis unüblich auf, nach oben bis jetzt uns gebrauchen Staubsauger, m Tal, n Wert, m verschieden weit, ausgedehnt Kalbfleisch, n Gemüse, n sehr Sieg, m Sicht, f , Ansicht, f Dorf, n besuchen Stimme, f Lautstärke, f wählen, abstimmen Lohn, m Lastwagen,, m Lastwagen warten Kellner, m gehen Mauer, f wollen Krieg, m warm waschen Uhr, f betrachten Wasser, n Weg, m wir Waffen, pl tragen Wetter, n Mittwoch, m Woche, f Gewicht, n
welcome welfare well west wet what wheel when where whether which while white who whole whom whose why wide wife wild win wind window wine winter wish (verb) with with that within without woman wonder (verb) wonderful wood wool word work (noun) work (verb) worker world worse worthless write wrong yard year yellow yellow yes yesterday yet you
willkommen Fürsorge, f gut Westen nass was Rad, n wann wo ob welcher,-e,-es während weiß wer, welcher ganz welchen,-e,-es wessen warum weit Ehefrau, f wild gewinnen Wind, m Fenster, n Wein, m Winter, m wünschen mit damit darin ohne Frau, f sich fragen wunderbar Holz, n Wolle, f Wort, n Arbeit, f arbeiten Arbeiter Welt, f schlimmer wertlos schreiben falsch Hof, m,Yard, m Jahr, n gelb gelb ja gestern noch dich, dir
you (plural) you(singular) young your (plural) your (singular) youth zero
ihr du, Sie jung euer, Ihr dein, Ihr Jugend, f null
Adjectives proceeded by the indefinite articles (ein/ eine/ ein) or the pronouns such as mein (my, mine), sein (his)… kein (no) have an irregular declension:
singular nominative accusative dative genitive
Adjetives in German masculine feminine ein guter Mann eine schöne Rose einen guten Mann eine schön e Rose einem gut en Mann einer schön en Rose eines gut en Mannes einer schön en Rose
neuter ein alt es Buch ein alt es Buch einem alt en Buch eines alt en Buches
The plural endings for strong adjectives are the same for all three genders:
Plural adjectives nominative keine guten Männer accusative keine guten Männer dative keinen guten Männern genitive keiner guten Männer
Below is a list of some common adjectives in German, they’re in their original form, so they’re not yet influenced by any other cases like (accusative, dative, and genitive), so take that into consideration when you put these adjectives in a non nominative case. For example: Er ist schnell (he is fast). (but) Er ist ein schnell er Mann.(note how in the first setences the adjective schnell wasn’t influenced by anything and therefore stayed in its original form, but in the second example “ein” made it take “ er” at the end). The same thing may occur to the adjectives below:
ambitious American annoying bad beautiful big, large blonde boring brave careless cautious certain charming cheerful Chinese conceited conventional coward crazy, nuts cruel difficult disagreeable dull, boring easy English fake fat few, a little French frequent friendly fun, amusing funny general generous German good handsome hard-working high, tall honest intelligent interesting kind laid-back lazy little, small low, short mean modest
List of German Adjectives ehrgeizig Amerikaner ärgerlich schlecht schön groß blondine langweilig tapfer unbesonnen vorsichtig bestimmt charmant fröhlich Chinesisch eingebildet herkömmlich feigling verrückt, Nüsse grausam schwierig unangenehm dumm, langweilig leicht Englisch unecht Fett wenige, ein wenig Französisch häufig freundlich lustig, amüsant komisch, komisch General großzügig Deutsch gut hübsch fleißig hoch, hoch ehrlich intelligent interessant Art entspannend faul wenig, klein niedrig, kurz niedrig bescheiden
moody naive narrow-minded new nice (person) old perfect personal pious polite poor possible pretty proud rapid, fast realistic recent reliable rich sad selfish sensitive shy silly, dumb skinny slender, slim slow small Spanish strict strong stubborn talkative trustworthy ugly various weak weird white young
launisch naiv engstirnig neu nett alt vollkommen Persönlicher fromm höflich schlecht möglich ziemlich stolz schnell, schnell realistisch neu zuverlässig reich jämmerlich egoistisch empfindlich schüchtern dumm, stumm dünn schlank langsam klein Spanisch streng stark störrisch gesprächig vertrauenswürdig hässlich verschieden schwach unheimlich weiß jung
Top 1,000 Words in German Computer analysis of word frequency with single word variations
1-20 der die und in den
21-40 als auch es an werden
41-60 einem über einen Das so
61-80 sei In Prozent hatte kann
81-100 Es Jahr zwei Jahren diese
von zu das mit sich des auf für ist im dem nicht ein Die eine
101-120 Er gibt alle DM* diesem seit muß wurden beim doch jetzt waren drei Jahre Mit neue neuen damit bereits da
201-220 wäre SPD* kommt vergangenen denen fast fünf könnte nicht nur hätten Frau
aus er hat daß* sie nach wird bei einer Der um am sind noch wie
121-140 Auch ihr seinen müssen ab ihrer Nach ohne sondern selbst ersten nun etwa Bei heute ihren weil ihm seien Menschen
221-240 Von Mann Da sollte würde also bisher Leben Milliarden Welt Regierung
Sie zum war haben nur oder aber vor zur bis mehr durch man sein wurde
141-160 Deutschland anderen werde Ich sagt Wir Eine rund Für Aber ihn Ende jedoch Zeit sollen ins Wenn So seinem uns
241-260 USA heißt dies zurück Kinder dessen ihnen deren sogar Frage gewesen
gegen vom können schon wenn habe seine Mark** ihre dann unter wir soll ich eines
161-180 Stadt geht Doch sehr hier ganz erst wollen Berlin vor allem sowie hatten kein deutschen machen lassen Als Unternehmen andere ob
261-280 dass** hätte eigenen kaum sieht große Denn weitere Was sehen macht
dieser wieder keine Uhr seiner worden Und will zwischen Im immer Millionen Ein was sagte
181-200 dieses steht dabei wegen weiter denn beiden einmal etwas Wie nichts allerdings vier gut viele wo viel dort alles Auf
281-300 wohl später könne deshalb aller kam Arbeit mich gegenüber nächsten bleibt
Am dafür kommen diesen letzten zwar Diese großen dazu
401-420 Tage Donnerstag halten gleich nehmen solche Entscheidung besser alte Leute Ergebnis Samstag Daß sagen System März tun Monaten kleinen lang
501-520
konnte ihrem Frauen während Land zehn würden stehen ja
421-440 Nicht knapp bringen wissen Kosten Erfolg bekannt findet daran künftig wer acht Grünen schnell Grund scheint Zukunft Stuttgart bin liegen
521-540
immer wieder Mitte Form Verfügung Münchner Buch AG* dürfen anders Unter ihres jeweils völlig einigen beispielsweise Zum gute Umsatz bislang spielen August Daten Hand welche jede müßten GmbH** hieß Film paar Minuten nachdem erreicht Kunst
erste gab liegt gar davon gestern geben Teil Polizei
441-460 politischen Gruppe Rolle stellt Juni sieben September nämlich Männer Oktober Mrd* überhaupt eigene Dann gegeben Außerdem Stunden eigentlich Meter ließ
541-560 Noch jeden Ihre Sprecher recht erneut längst europäischen Sein Eltern Beginn besteht Seine mindestens machte Jetzt bietet
Angaben weniger gerade läßt Geld München deutsche allen darauf
461-480 Probleme vielleicht ebenso Bereich zum Beispiel Bis Höhe Familie Während Bild Ländern Informationen Frankreich Tagen schwer zuvor Vor genau April stellen
561-580 bald Deutsche Schon Fragen klar Durch Seiten gehören Dort erstmals zeigen Titel Stück größten FDP*** setzt Wert
wenig lange gemacht Wer Dies Fall mir gehen Berliner
481-500 neu erwartet Hamburg sicher führen Mal Über mehrere Wirtschaft Mio** Programm offenbar Hier weiteren natürlich konnten stark Dezember Juli ganze
581-600
beide Musik Kritik
601-620 möchte daher wolle Bundesregierung lediglich Nacht Krieg Opfer Tod nimmt Firma zuletzt Werk hohen leben unter anderem Dieser Kirche weiterhin gebe
Euro gebracht Problem
621-640
außerdem Bürger Trainer
641-660
Frankfurter Staat
661-680
681-700
gestellt Mitglieder Rahmen zweite Paris Situation gefunden Wochenende internationalen Wasser
Sache arbeiten Monate Mutter berichtet letzte Gericht wollten Ihr zwölf
obwohl Kopf spielt Interesse Westen verloren Preis Erst jedem erreichen
Bayern Kilometer gemeinsam Bedeutung Chance Politiker Dazu Zwei besten Ansicht
Recht sonst stand Hälfte Möglichkeit versucht blieb junge Mehrheit Straße
zumindest Wahl genug Weise Vater Bericht amerikanischen hoch beginnt Wort
setzen spricht früher teilte Landes zudem einzelnen bereit Blick Druck
endlich Stelle direkt Beim Bevölkerung Viele solchen Alle solle jungen
701-720
721-740
Einsatz richtig größte sofort neuer ehemaligen unserer dürfte schaffen Augen Rußland Internet Allerdings Raum Mannschaft neun kamen Ausstellung Zeiten Dem*
einzige meine Nun Verfahren Angebot Richtung Projekt niemand Kampf weder tatsächlich Personen dpa** Heute geführt Gespräch Kreis Hamburger Schule guten
741-760 Hauptstadt durchaus Zusammenarbeit darin Amt Schritt meist groß zufolge Sprache Region Punkte Vergleich genommen gleichen du Ob Soldaten Universität verschiedenen
761-780 Kollegen neues Bürgermeister Angst stellte Sommer danach anderer gesagt Sicherheit Macht Bau handelt Folge Bilder lag Osten Handel sprach Aufgabe
781-800 Chef frei dennoch DDR hohe Firmen bzw*** Koalition Mädchen Zur entwickelt fand Diskussion bringt Deshalb Hause Gefahr per zugleich früheren
