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COMPLETE
GERMAN THE BASICS
Written by Helga Schier
Edited by Suzanne McQuade
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Copyright Š 2008 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Living Language is a member of the Random House Information Group Living Language and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. www.livinglanguage.com Editor: Suzanne McQuade Production Editor: Carolyn Roth Production Manager: Tom Marshall Interior Design: Sophie Chin First Edition ISBN: 978-1-4000-2411-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request. This book is available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions or premiums. Special editions, including personalized covers, excerpts of existing books, and corporate imprints, can be created in large quantities for special needs. For more information, write to Special Markets/Premium Sales, 1745 Broadway, MD 6-2, New York, New York 10019 or e-mail specialmarkets@randomhouse.com. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Complete German: The Basics
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COURSE OUTLINE How to use this course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Language learning tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv German spelling and pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvi
UNIT 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions . . . . . . 1 Lesson 1 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The definite article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Lesson 2 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Personal pronouns in the singular . . . . . . . 6 The verb sein (to be) in the singular . . . . . . 8
Lesson 3 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Numbers 0–10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Numbers 11–20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Lesson 4 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Personal pronouns in the plural . . . . . . . 15 The verb sein (to be) in the plural . . . . . . 17
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UNIT 2: Talking about family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lesson 5 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The verb haben (to have) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Regular verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Lesson 6 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Indefinite articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Possessive adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Lesson 7 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Negation with nicht (not) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Negation with kein (no) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Lesson 8 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Asking questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Numbers 20–100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
UNIT 3: Everyday life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Lesson 9 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Numbers above 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Lesson 10 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 The months and seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Expressing likes and dislikes with gern + verb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Course outline
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Lesson 11 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The plural of nouns 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 The plural of nouns 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Lesson 12 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Descriptive words 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Descriptive words 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
UNIT 4: Health and the human body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Lesson 13 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 The present tense of regular verbs . . . . . . 72 The present tense of stem-changing verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Lesson 14 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Separable verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Reflexive verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Lesson 15 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 The accusative case of nouns 1 . . . . . . . . 82 The accusative case of nouns 2 . . . . . . . . 85
Lesson 16 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 The accusative of kein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 The accusative of possessive pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
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UNIT 5: Using the telephone and making appointments . . . . . . 97 Lesson 17 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 The accusative case of personal pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 N-nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Lesson 18 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 The accusative case of adjectives 1 . . . . 103 The accusative case of adjectives 2 . . . . 105
Lesson 19 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Modal verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Talking about the future using the present tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Lesson 20 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 The future tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 The future tense with modal verbs . . . . 118
UNIT 6: Getting around town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Lesson 21 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 The dative case of nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 The dative case of ein-words . . . . . . . . . 127
Lesson 22 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 The dative case of adjectives 1 . . . . . . . 130 The dative case of adjectives 2 . . . . . . . 133
Course outline
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Lesson 23 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 The dative case of personal pronouns . . 136 German word order in sentences with two objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Lesson 24 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Prepositions with the dative case . . . . . 141 Prepositions with the accusative case . . 145
UNIT 7: Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Lesson 25 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Two-way prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Expressing more likes and dislikes . . . . . 155
Lesson 26 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 The present perfect with haben . . . . . . 159 The present perfect with sein . . . . . . . . 162
Lesson 27 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 The present perfect of separable verbs . . 165 The present perfect of modal verbs . . . . 167
Lesson 28 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 The comparative of adjectives . . . . . . . . 171 The superlative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
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UNIT 8: Let’s eat! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Lesson 29 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Simple past of sein, haben, and werden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Time expressions for the past . . . . . . . . 186
Lesson 30 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 The simple past of regular (weak) verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 The simple past of irregular (strong) verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Lesson 31 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 The simple past of modal verbs . . . . . . 194 The simple past of mixed verbs . . . . . . . 196
Lesson 32 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Expressing possession: The genitive . . . 202 Prepositions with the genitive . . . . . . . . 206
UNIT 9: School and work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Lesson 33 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 The passive voice 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 The passive voice 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Lesson 34 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Alternatives to the passive voice . . . . . 216 Compound nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Course outline
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Lesson 35 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 The imperative 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 The imperative 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Lesson 36 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Wenn-sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Dass-sentences and ob-sentences . . . . . 231
UNIT 10: Sports and hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Lesson 37 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Relative clauses 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Relative clauses 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Lesson 38 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Infinitives with zu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Weil-sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Lesson 39 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Subordinate clauses with question pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Polite speech: The w端rde-form and the subjunctive of haben and sein . . . . 246
Lesson 40 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 The subjunctive of modal verbs . . . . . . 251 Apologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 German in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Supplemental vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 Summary of German grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Internet resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 x
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Unit 1 Talking about yourself and making introductions Guten Tag! (Good day!) In Unit 1, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself and others, how to say Hallo! (Hello!), how to explain where you’re from and what you do, and how to ask other people for basic information about themselves. Naturally, you’ll learn greetings and other essential courtesy expressions, along with important rules on how to put German sentences together. But don’t worry; German grammar is not that tough. We’ll lead you through it step-by-step, and before you know it, you’ll be able to have simple conversations in German.
Lesson 1 (words) WORD LIST 1 Guten Tag! (fml.) Hallo! (infml.) Auf Wiedersehen! (fml.) Tschüss! (infml.) Herr Schneider Frau Schneider der Lehrer die Lehrerin der Student die Studentin der Rechtsanwalt die Rechtsanwältin
Good day! Hello! Good-bye! Bye! Mr. Schneider Ms./Mrs. Schneider teacher (male) teacher (female) student (male) student (female) lawyer (male) lawyer (female)
Note
The following abbreviations will be used in this course: (m.) = masculine, (f.) = feminine, (sg.) = singular, (pl.) = plural, (fml.) = formal/polite, and (infml.) = informal. Lesson 1
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NUTS & BOLTS 1 Gender As you begin to acquire a vocabulary in German, you’ll notice that all German words have gender. This applies to general vocabulary words, as well as to words describing people. Let’s start by looking at some words that describe people. You may have noticed in the word list above that there is a male and a female version of the German word for lawyer: der Rechtsanwalt and die Rechtsanwältin. Most professions have two words, one for a man and one for a woman, and it is quite important to use the gender-appropriate form. Let’s take a look at a few more professions showing gender.
der Chef
boss (male)
die Chefin
boss (female)
der Schauspieler
actor
die Schauspielerin
actress
The word that comes before each profession, der for a male and die for a female, is called an article. We’ll learn about articles next. The female version of the profession often takes the ending -in. There are a few words that have additional changes. The female version may change a vowel to an umlaut—i.e., a becomes ä.
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der Rechtsanwalt
lawyer (male)
die Rechtsanwältin
lawyer (female)
der Arzt
doctor (male)
die Ärztin
doctor (female)
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PRACTICE 1 Decide which vocabulary word best describes the person below. 1. Frau Schneider, lawyer
4. Marilyn Monroe, actress
2. Peter, student
5. Frau Schmidt, doctor
3. Herr Berger, teacher WORD LIST 2 der Mann die Frau das Kind das Haus das Büro der Bus die Welt der Amerikaner die Amerikanerin und heißen arbeiten bei aus in
man woman child house office bus world American (male) American (female) and to be called to work at from in
NUTS & BOLTS 2 The definite article As we said above, in German every noun has a gender—either masculine, feminine, or neuter—and this gender can be seen in many ways, including the form that the takes: der for masculine, die for feminine, and das for neuter words. For nouns with natural gender, this is easy—der Mann (man) and der Lehrer (male
Lesson 1
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teacher) are all masculine, while die Frau (woman) and die Lehrerin (female teacher) are feminine, and das Büro (office) and das Haus (house) are neuter. Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
der Mann
die Frau
das Kind
man
woman
child
der Lehrer
die Lehrerin
das Haus
teacher (male)
teacher ( female)
house
der Bus
die Haltestelle
das Auto
bus
stop
car
der Beruf
die Uhr
das Büro
profession
watch, clock
office
der Zufall
die Welt
das Jahr
coincidence
world
year
But not all nouns have a natural gender. Just look at die Welt (world) or der Bus (bus) or das Kind (child). There is no natural reason for the world to be considered feminine, the bus to be considered masculine, or the child to be considered neuter. So the best thing to do is simply to learn the definite article—der, die, or das (the equivalent of the English the)—along with the word. The vocabulary lists will always list the article der, die, or das as well. Let’s look at the genders of some of the nouns you’ve learned so far, along with some new nouns. You will also often see the article das used to mean that in German. 4
Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions
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PRACTICE 2 Insert the correct definite article—der, die, or das. 1. _____ Welt
4. _____ Büro
2. _____ Haus
5. _____ Zufall
3. _____ Rechtsanwalt
6. _____ Chefin
Tip! There are quite a few different ways to memorize new vocabulary, so it’s a good idea to try a few out to see what works for you. Simply reading a word in a list isn’t going to make you remember it. Write down your new vocabulary in a notebook, and then try to write it or say it out loud a few times so it’ll sink in. You can use the recordings that go with this course for that, too. Make flash cards, with the German on one side and the English on the other. Start out translating from German into English, and once you’ve mastered that, go from English into German. Label things in your home or office with pieces of paper or sticky notes, so you’ll see the German word every time you come into contact with an object. Experiment and explore, but whatever you do, pace yourself. Ideally you’ll spend a little bit of time on your German every day— sometimes twenty minutes a day over the course of a week will go much further than a two-hour sitting in one day. If you can’t find the time to practice some German every day, don’t despair. Just work regularly, and grab a free moment here or there to remind yourself of what you’ve learned.
ANSWERS PRACTICE 1: 1. die Rechtsanwältin; 2. der Student; 3. der Lehrer; 4. die Schauspielerin; 5. die Ärztin PRACTICE 2: 1. die; 2. das; 3. der; 4. das; 5. der; 6. die
Lesson 1
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Lesson 2 (phrases) Wie geht’s? (How are you?) Are you ready to build on the words you’ve learned so far? PHRASE LIST 1 Wie geht’s? (infml.) Wie geht es Ihnen? (fml.) Gut, danke. Ich bin Amerikaner. Ich bin Amerikanerin. Ich bin Deutscher. Ich bin Deutsche. aus Dresden aus Chicago in München in Deutschland Ich bin Rechtsanwalt. Ich bin Rechtsanwältin. . . . , nicht wahr?
How are you? How are you? Good, thanks. I’m American. (male) I’m American. (female) I’m German. (male) I’m German. (female) from Dresden from Chicago in Munich in Germany I’m a lawyer. (male) I’m a lawyer. (female) . . . , right?
NUTS & BOLTS 1 Personal pronouns in the singular The first words you’ll need to become familiar with in German are the pronouns. Pronouns are used to talk about yourself and other people without using their names: I, you, he, she, etc. In German, the singular pronouns (pronouns referring to one person) are:
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ich
I
du (infml.)
you
Sie (fml.)
you
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er
he
sie
she
es
it
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Notice that there are two different words for you. When speaking German, you have to distinguish between talking to strangers, business associates, people older than you, and anyone you want to show respect to (formal), and talking to family, friends, children, and people you know better and are very familiar with (informal). German has different forms of the pronoun you to show this distinction: the formal form Sie, and the informal form du. PRACTICE 1 Which German pronoun would you use in the following situations? 1. talking to your best friend Andreas 2. asking directions from an older gentleman you see on the street 3. talking about your brother 4. talking about yourself 5. talking about your boss, Frau Berger PHRASE LIST 2 Guten Morgen. Guten Abend. Gute Nacht. Bis bald. Bis morgen. beruflich hier von Beruf
Good morning. Good evening. Good night. See you soon. See you tomorrow. here on business by profession Lesson 2
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doctor by profession teacher by profession How embarrassing! Not at all. punctual, on time
Arzt von Beruf Lehrer von Beruf Wie peinlich! Ganz und gar nicht. pünktlich
NUTS & BOLTS 2 The verb sein (TO BE) in the singular Now let’s look at one of the most important verbs in German, sein (to be). The form sein is called the infinitive, and it corresponds to the basic to-form in English, to be. When you change the forms of a verb to match different subjects, as in the English I speak but she speaks, it’s called conjugation. Here’s the singular conjugation of sein (to be): ich bin
I am
du bist (infml.)
you are
Sie sind (fml.)
you are
er/sie/es ist
he/she/it is
Ich bin Amerikaner. I’m American. Er ist aus Dresden. He is from Dresden. Martina, du bist Rechtsanwältin, nicht wahr? Martina, you are a lawyer, right? Sind Sie aus Chicago? Are you from Chicago?
Note in the last example that the first two words in the sentence are inverted to form a question, just as you would do in 8
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English. We’ll discuss question formation a bit more in a later unit. PRACTICE 2 Follow the instructions below. 1. Tell us that Klaus is from Munich. 2. Tell us that Susanne is from Dresden. 3. Talk to your best friend Horst and ask if he is a lawyer. 4. Ask your boss, Frau Schneider, if she is from Chicago. 5. Tell us which city you are from.
Language link Who’d have thought that you can surf the web and learn German at the same time? It’s important to keep in contact with the culture of the language you’re learning, so why not check out a few websites? For the official and independent portal to all things German, visit www.deutschland.de. For information on Switzerland, visit www.schweiz.ch. You can learn more about Austria at www.oesterreich.at, and www.dw-world.de offers news and general information on all three countries in English.
ANSWERS PRACTICE 1: 1. du; 2. Sie; 3. er; 4. ich; 5. sie PRACTICE 2: 1. Klaus ist aus München. 2. Susanne ist aus Dresden. 3. Horst, du bist Rechtsanwalt, nicht wahr? 4. Frau Schneider, Sie sind aus Chicago, nicht wahr? 5. Ich bin aus . . .
Lesson 3 (sentences) You already began to learn a few sentences in German in the last lesson; let’s expand on those phrases you learned in Lesson 2 with sentences such as Wie heißen Sie? (What’s your name?) Lesson 3
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SENTENCE LIST 1 Wie heißen Sie? (fml.)
What’s your name?
Wie heißt du? (infml.)
What’s your name?
Ich heiße . . .
My name is . . .
Wie war Ihr Name? (fml.)
What was your name again?
Wie war dein Name? (infml.)
What was your name again?
Mein Name ist . . .
My name is . . .
Woher kommen Sie? (fml.)
Where are you from?
Woher kommst du? (infml.)
Where are you from?
Ich bin aus Los Angeles.
I’m from Los Angeles.
Ich bin aus Chicago.
I am from Chicago.
Ich bin Amerikaner.
I’m American. (male)
Ich bin Amerikanerin.
I’m American. (female)
NUTS & BOLTS 1 Numbers 0–10 Let’s look at the numbers 0 through 10 in German. null
zero
eins
one
zwei
two
drei
three
vier
four
fünf
five
sechs
six
sieben
seven
acht
eight
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neun
nine
zehn
ten
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Eins und eins ist zwei. One and one is two. Fünf und drei ist acht. Five and three is eight. Sechs und vier ist zehn. Six and four is ten.
PRACTICE 1 Complete the sentences. 1. Zwei und zwei ist . . . ?
4. Drei und sieben ist . . . ?
2. Zwei und fünf ist . . . ?
5. Neun und eins ist . . . ?
3. Fünf und vier ist . . . ? SENTENCE LIST 2 Wie spät ist es?
What time is it?
Es ist sieben Uhr.
It’s seven A.M.
Wir sind pünktlich um zehn Uhr hier.
We are here at ten A.M. sharp.
Ich bin um neun Uhr im Büro.
I’ll be in the office at nine A.M.
Wie lange sind Sie schon bei InterCorp?
How long have you been with InterCorp?
Seit fünf Jahren.
For five years.
Das ist mein Bus.
That’s my bus.
Das ist meine Haltestelle.
That’s my stop.
Das ist unglaublich.
That’s unbelievable.
Das ist ja geradezu unheimlich.
That’s truly uncanny.
Lesson 3
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NUTS & BOLTS 2 Numbers 11–20 Now let’s look at the numbers 11 through 20 in German. elf
eleven
zwölf
twelve
dreizehn
thirteen
vierzehn
fourteen
fünfzehn
fifteen
sechzehn
sixteen
siebzehn
seventeen
achtzehn
eighteen
neunzehn
nineteen
zwanzig
twenty
Note that sechs loses the -s and sieben looses the -en when combined with zehn. PRACTICE 2 Answer in German. 1. How many months are in a year? 2. How much is a baker’s dozen? 3. At what age are you allowed to vote in the USA? 4. How many fingers are there on your hands? 5. Now add up all your fingers and toes.
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Discovery activity Learning the numbers in German can be a lot of fun. Memorize your telephone number in German. Go through your dresser and count all your socks in German—not the pairs, but the individual socks. Go through your kitchen drawers and count all your spoons, knives, and forks. How many chairs do you have in your house? And what about windows? How many people are in your immediate family, including spouses and children? How many in your family of origin, including parents and siblings? How many in your extended family, including grandparents, aunts, and uncles? How many years did you go to school, including college? The things you could count are endless—trees on your street, tables in your favorite restaurant, cups of coffee you drink every day. Make a point to find at least drei things to count per day for the next sieben days. Enjoy!
ANSWERS PRACTICE 1: 1. vier; 2. sieben; 3. neun; 4. zehn; 5. zehn PRACTICE 2: 1. zwölf; 2. dreizehn; 3. achtzehn; 4. zehn;
5. zwanzig
Lesson 4 (conversations) Words, phrases, and sentences put together make up a conversation. Let’s listen in. CONVERSATION 1 Sabine Schmidt and Klaus Huber are waiting for the bus. Klaus is bored, so he decides to speak to the woman sitting next to him. Klaus: Guten Abend. Ich heiße Klaus Huber. Sabine: Guten Abend. Sabine is reluctant to continue the conversation. After all, it is late at night, and Klaus is a stranger.
Lesson 4
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Klaus: Ich bin aus Dresden. Ich bin beruflich in München. Ich arbeite bei InterCorp. Sabine: Na so was! Ich auch. Klaus: Sie sind auch aus Dresden? Sabine: Nein, ich arbeite auch bei InterCorp. Klaus: Das ist ja ein Zufall. Sabine: Ja, ich bin dort Rechtsanwältin. Ich heiße Sabine Schmidt. Now Klaus is a bit reluctant to continue the conversation. Sabine: Wie war noch Ihr Name? Klaus . . . ? Klaus: . . . Huber. Ich bin auch . . . Suddenly Sabine remembers. Sabine: Moment mal . . . Sie sind auch Rechtsanwalt, nicht wahr? Klaus: Ja. Sabine: Dann bin ich ja . . . Klaus: . . . meine Chefin. Ja. Klaus: Good evening. My name is Klaus Huber. Sabine: Good evening. Klaus: I am from Dresden. I am in Munich on business. I work for InterCorp. Sabine: Really? Me, too. Klaus: You are from Dresden as well? Sabine: No, I also work for InterCorp. Klaus: What a coincidence. Sabine: Yes, I am a lawyer there. My name is Sabine Schmidt. Sabine: What was your name again? Klaus . . . ? Klaus: . . . Huber. I am . . . Sabine: Wait a minute . . . You are also a lawyer, right? Klaus: Yes. Sabine: Well, that means I am . . . Klaus: . . . my boss. Yes.
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Notes
Note that Klaus and Sabine are using the formal form Sie when addressing each other. From this we can gather that they are probably over twenty years old and don’t know each other, at least not very well. Also note that they introduce themselves with their first and last names. Generally, adults won’t be on a first-name basis until they’ve known each other for a little while. NUTS & BOLTS 1 Personal pronouns in the plural Now let’s look at the personal pronouns that refer to more than one person. wir
we
ihr (infml.)
you, you all
Sie (fml.)
you, you all
sie
they
Even in the plural, German distinguishes between the informal ihr and the formal Sie. Please note that formal forms are always capitalized. PRACTICE 1 In this exercise, replace each of the following nouns with the correct pronoun. 1. Heinz und Isabella (they) 2. die Chefin und ihr Mann (you) 3. ich, Peter, und Michael 4. der Chef 5. Susanne und Claudia (you) Lesson 4
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CONVERSATION 2 Remember Sabine and Klaus? In the brief conversation they had while waiting for the bus, we discovered that Sabine is Klaus’s boss. Let’s see what happens next. Klaus: Wie peinlich! Sabine: Ganz und gar nicht. Die Welt ist klein. Wie lange sind Sie schon bei InterCorp? Klaus: Seit vier Jahren. Und Sie? Sabine: Auch seit vier Jahren. Klaus: Was für ein Zufall. Sabine: Ah, da ist der Bus. Die Nummer 13. Klaus: Noch ein Zufall. Das ist auch mein Bus. Sabine: Das ist meine Haltestelle. Klaus: Das ist unglaublich. Schon wieder ein Zufall. Das ist auch meine Haltestelle. Sabine: Ja, das ist ja geradezu unheimlich. Dann bis morgen, Herr Huber. Ich bin um acht Uhr im Büro. Klaus: Ja, bis morgen, Frau Schmidt. Pünktlich um acht Uhr. Auf Wiedersehen. Sabine: Auf Wiedersehen. Klaus: How embarrassing. Sabine: Not at all. It’s a small world. (lit., The world is small.) How long have you been with InterCorp? Klaus: Four years. And you? Sabine: Four years as well. Klaus: What a coincidence. Sabine: Ah, there’s the bus. Number 13. Klaus: Yet another coincidence. That is my bus, too. Sabine: That is my stop. Klaus: This is unbelievable. Another coincidence. This is my stop, too. Sabine: Yes, this is uncanny. See you tomorrow, Herr Huber. I’ll be in the office at eight A.M.
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Klaus: Yes, see you tomorrow, Frau Schmidt. At eight A.M. sharp. Good-bye. Sabine: Good-bye. Notes
In most countries in Europe, parking is difficult in the city, so people tend to take public transportation rather than a personal car to get around town. And because people depend on public transportation that much, buses, trains, and streetcars adhere to their schedules and run on time. So make sure you are pünktlich (punctual)! NUTS & BOLTS 2 The verb sein (TO BE) in the plural Now let’s look at the plural conjugation of sein (to be). wir sind
we are
ihr seid (infml.)
you (all) are
Sie sind (fml.)
you (all) are
sie sind
they are
Wir sind aus Chicago. We’re from Chicago. Sie sind Lehrer von Beruf. They are teachers by profession. Herr und Frau Schneider, Sie sind beruflich hier, nicht wahr? Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, you are here on business, right?
Lesson 4
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PRACTICE 2 Answer the questions based on the cue in parentheses. 1. Where are you and your friend from? (New York) 2. What is Horst by profession? (doctor) 3. Who is here on business? (Herr und Frau Rosen) 4. Which greeting would you use in the evening? 5. What is your profession? (Please answer truthfully. Check your German–English dictionary to find the German word for your profession.)
Language link Train travel is one of the most preferred forms of public transportation, particularly in Europe. Who wouldn’t want to take a trip on the fast ICE (Inter City Express), connecting major cities in Germany and the rest of continental Europe, or the convenient Regionalexpress (regional express train), allowing passengers to travel between smaller cities around a particular metropolitan area? Check out www.bahn.de to get timetables for the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Railway), purchase tickets, and make travel arrangements including hotel reservations and car rentals. www.oebb.at offers the same service for the Austrian railway, and www.rail.ch for the Swiss railroad.
ANSWERS PRACTICE 1: 1. sie; 2. Sie; 3. wir; 4. er; 5. ihr PRACTICE 2: 1. Wir sind aus New York. 2. Er ist Arzt von
Beruf. 3. Herr und Frau Rosen sind beruflich hier. 4. Guten Abend. 5. Ich bin . . . von Beruf.
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UNIT 1 ESSENTIALS The following phrases have been introduced in Unit 1. This isn’t a list of every sentence you learned in the first unit, but it covers the most essential phrases. Be sure to practice these phrases as much as possible until they become natural to you. Guten Tag! (fml.)
Good day!
Guten Morgen.
Good morning.
Guten Abend.
Good evening.
Gute Nacht.
Good night.
Hallo! (infml.)
Hello!
Wie geht’s? (infml.)
How are you?
Wie geht es Ihnen? (fml.)
How are you?
Gut, danke.
Good, thanks.
Auf Wiedersehen! (fml.)
Good-bye!
Tschüss! (infml.)
Bye!
Bis bald.
See you soon.
Bis morgen.
See you tomorrow.
Wie heißen Sie? (fml.)
What’s your name?
Wie heißt du? (infml.)
What’s your name?
Ich heiße . . .
My name is . . .
Wie war Ihr Name? (fml.)
What was your name again?
Wie war dein Name? (infml.)
What was your name again?
Lesson 4
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Mein Name ist . . .
My name is . . .
Woher kommen Sie? (fml.)
Where are you from?
Woher kommst du? (infml.)
Where are you from?
Ich bin aus . . .
I’m from . . .
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