101 german beginer1.pdf

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2/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #1 - ARE YOU MICHAELA WUCHER? 2

GERMAN

1. John: Entschuldigung! Sind Sie Michaela Wucher?

2. Michael: Nein, ich bin nicht Michaela Wucher. Wer sind S ie?

3. John: Ich bin John Williams. Ich bin aus Pennsylvania...

4. Michael: Ahhh! Sie sind John Williams! Ich bin Michaela Wucher, but it is

pronounced Michaela Wucher.

5. John: Oh, Entschuldigung!

ENGLISH

1. John: Excuse me! Are you Michaela Wucher?

2. Michael: No, I am not Michaela Wucher. Who are you?

3. John: I am John Williams. I am from Pennsylvania...

4. Michael: Ahhh! You are John Williams! I am Michaela Wucher, but it is


5. John: Oh, sorry!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. John: tschuldigung! Bist du "Michaela Wucher?

2. Michael: Nein, ich bin nicht Michaela Wucher. Wer bist du?

CONT'D OVER



3. John: Ich bin John Williams. Ich bin aus Pennsylvania...

4. Michael: Ahhh! Du bist John Williams! Ich bin Michaela Wucher, but it is


5. John: Oh, Entschuldigung!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. John: Excuse me! Are you Michaela Wucher?

2. Michael: No, I am not Michaela Wucher. Who are you?

3. John: I am John Williams. I am from Pennsylvania...

4. Michael: Ahhh! You are John Williams! I am Michaela Wucher, but it is


5. John: Oh, sorry!

VOCABULARY

Ge r man E nglish C lass Ge nde r

Entschuldigungapology; excuse me;

Im sorry

plural:

Entschuldigungen;

the expression is

always singular.

Sie you (formal) personal pronoun

ich I personal pronoun

wer who pronoun



sein to be verb

ich bin, du bist, er ist,

wir sind, ihr seid, sie

sind

nein noexpression; Yes is

"Ja" Yes is "Ja"

nicht not adverb

aus from preposition

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich nehm e die Entschuldigu ng an.

I accept the apology.

Haben Sie ei ne andere Kreditkar te?

Do you have another credit card?

S prechen Sie Engl isch?

Do you speak English?

Sie s ind Herr Smith

You are Mr Smith.

Ich hatte le tzte Woche so viel zu

tun!I was so busy last week!

Ich bin Lisa .

I am Lisa.

Wer ist das?

Who is that?

Das kann doch nicht wahr sein!

That can't be true!

Ich bin S tudent.

I am a student.

Nein, ich bin nicht aus Kln.

No, I am not from Cologne.

Das habe ich nicht gesagt!

I didn't say that!

Du bist nicht mein Vater!

You aren't my father!

Komm st du aus Ber l in oder von

auerhalb?

Do you come from Berlin or fromelsewhere?

Ich bin aus Deutschla nd.

I am from Germany.



GRAMMAR

In this lesson, you have seen a generous amount of ich bin (I am) and Sie sind (you are,

formal). If you have access to the extra material, you have even heard du bist, the informal

equivalent of Sie sind. All of these are forms of the verb sein (to be), which is irregular in

German, just like in English.

Here is a table with all the present tense forms:

sein to be

ich bin I am

du bist you are (informal)

er ist / sie ist / es ist he is / she is / it is

wir sind we are

ihr seid you are (plural)

sie sind / Sie sind they are / you are (formal)

As you can see, the formal Sie sind (you are) is the same form as sie sind (they are),

except for the capital letter that indicates respect. The formal form in German will always

correspond to the they form (3rd person plural).

Some examples of this very useful verb in action: Ich bin Michael. I am Michael. Du bist

schn. You are pretty. Er ist Student. He is a student. Sie ist aus England. She is from

England. Es ist nicht gut. It is not good. Wir sind Freunde. We are friends. Seid ihr bereit?

Are you ready? Wer sind sie? Who are they? Wer sind S ie? Who are you (formal) ?

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Use Entschuldigung as the equivalent of either Excuse me or Im sorry, for example

when:

* getting somebodys attention

* trying to move through a crowd, thus asking them to step aside

* stepping on somebodys foot

* really screwing up (in that case youd use further expressions in addition to justEntschuldigung)



Donotsayi twhen somebody tells you sad news. Germans do not apologize for things that

are not their fault, such as a friend not getting a job. Rather, youd express encouragement

there. In severe cases however, such as somebodys mother being sent to the hospital, you

can say Es tut mir leid (It pains me; I am chagrined) as a way of commiserating.

The formality of the conversation may seem a bit odd to you, seeing that John and Michaela

have known each other through e-mail, but John wasnt absolutely sure he was talking to

Michaela and so he had to make sure he was being polite to this stranger. Using informal

language on this occasion already would have been like saying Hey you, are you

Michaela? and would probably have provoked an annoyed reaction. Especially older people

are very sensitive when it comes to how you address them, because they expect to be shown

respect, and using formal language is the easiest way of saying I respect you in German.

That is why sometimes even people who have known each other for a long time use formal

language with each other.

Generally, you should only use informal language with a new acquaintance if:

* you are talking to somebody under 18

* you and the person youre talking with are both around student age

* you and the person youre talking with are relatives

In all other cases, you should wait till you are asked to switch to informal language its up to

the older person or the one higher in rank to do so or not. Your boss or teacher will certainly

never ask you, as that would diminish his authority in the eyes of everybody. However, even

regular acquaintances dont switch to using first names nearly as quickly as they do in the

USA. If you just start by addressing a stranger informally, he may feel offended as you seem

to treat him l ike a child. That being said, as a foreigner you certainly have some leeway in

case you should forget.


7/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#2

Goinghome

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German

3 Informal English3 Vocabulary

3 Sample Sentences

4 Grammar

5 Cultural Insight

#

2

COPYRIGHT 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


8/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #2 - GOING HOME 2

GERMAN

1. #2: Entschuldigung!

2. #1: Es ist okay, Herr Williams. Sind Sie sehr mde?

3. #2: Nein, ich bin nicht sehr mde, nur ein bisschen.

4. #1: Mein Auto ist dort drben. In zehn Minuten sind wir zuhause.

5. #2: Gut.

ENGLISH

1. #2: Sorry!

2. #1: Its okay, Mr Williams. Are you very tired?

3. #2: No, I am not very tired, just a bit.

4. #1: My car is over there. In ten minutes were home. (we will be home)

5. #2: Good.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #2: Entschuldigung!

2. #1: Es ist okay, John. Bist du sehr mde?

3. #2: Nein, ich bin nicht sehr mde, nur ein bisschen.

CONT'D OVER



4. #1: Mein Auto ist dort drben. In zehn Minuten sind wir zuhause.

5. #2: Gut.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #2: Sorry!

2. #1: Its okay, John. Are you tired?

3.

#2: No, I am not very tired, just a bit.

4. #1: My car is over there. In ten minutes were home. (we will be home)

5. #2: Good.

VOCABULARY

Ge r man E nglish Class

mde tired adjective

sehr very adverb

nur only, just adverb

ein bisschen a little adverb

mein my possessive pronoun

Auto car noun

dort drben over there expression

zehn ten (10) numeral

Zuhause, zu Hause home, at home

SAMPLE SENTENCES



Heute bin ich sehr m de.

I am very tired today.

Das ist sehr gut!

That's very good!

Ich esse nur Gem se.

I only eat vegetables.

Ich spreche n ur ein bisschen

Deutsch.

I only speak a little German.

Mein Nam e ist Tim.

My name is Tim.

Mein Nam e ist Lisa.

My name is Lisa.

Das Auto i st das Lieblin gsspiel zeug

des Mannes in De utschland.

The car is a man's favorite toy in Germany.

Mein Auto ist ein bisschen dreckig.

My car is a li ttle dirty.

S andra ist dor t drben.

Sandra is over there.

Ich bin zehn J ahre a lt.

I am ten years old.

Bist du zuhau se?

Are you home?

GRAMMAR

In the last lesson, we saw the present tense forms of sein (to be). Here they are again:

sein to be

ich bin I am

du bist you are (informal)

er ist / sie ist / es ist he is / she is / it is

wir sind we are

ihr seid you are (plural)



sie sind / Sie sind they are / you are (formal)

Now wed like to draw your attention to how verbs are used in German.

In quest ionsand negativesentences:

Bist du mde? Are you tired? (informal)Wer sind Sie? Who are you? (formal)

Ich bin nicht mde. I am not tired.

This word order for questions is very common in German, but not very common in English

actually: compare to Singen Sie oft? Do you often sing?. Same goes for the way of

making a sentence negative: while I am not tired corresponds 1:1 to Ich bin nicht mde,

English typically uses a more complicated structure whereas for German this structure is

natural. See for example Ich singe nicht oft. I dont sing often. In German, its enough to

add nicht to a sentence to make it negative.

In longer sentences:

Whenever the subject is not the first item in a sentence, for example when a time or place is

mentioned first or when a subclause comes first, the verb still has to go in second place in

German, so that the subject and the rest of the sentence follow afterwards. Example

sentence: In zehn Minuten sind wir zuhause (literally: in ten minutes are we home). This

word order may seem strange to you at first, however English uses it too in some special

cases: for example Only after the sermon were we allowed to leave. Just try to rememberthat German uses it all the time.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Cars are a lot of German mens pride. Unlike in the case of beer, i t is very okay to own a

foreign-brand car, provided it is fast enough. Germans dont care all that much about SUVs as

Americans do, since its hard to find parking spots for them in the cities and the vast majority

of people live in cities. However, cars have to be fast. There is (as of yet) no speed limit on the

Autobahnen (highways), so when youre in a hurry or on a long trip you may really want to

push the pedal to the metal.

The recommended speed on Autobahnen is 130 km/h (roughly 81 mph), so thats about the

speed youd find on the middle one of 3 lanes most of the time. The right lane is typically

occupied by truck drivers, who arent legally allowed to drive more than 100 km/h or even

less, depending on the type of truck. Apart from the trucks, you will find comparatively few cars

on there, except those that are planning to get off at the next town or resting area (exits are



always on the right, making it easier to slow down). The left-most lane is intended for

overtaking other cars, and youre supposed to return back to the right once you have done

that, but the people driving 200 km/h or so usually just stay on the left-most lane anyway.


13/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#3

TheOldtown

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Vocabulary3 Sample Sentences

3 Grammar

4 Cultural Insight

#

3



14/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #3 - THE OLDTOWN 2

GERMAN

1. #2: Es gibt viele schne Gebude hier.

2. #1: Ja, das ist die Altstadt. Hier gibt es auch viele Bars.

3. #2: Und was ist das?

4. #1: Das ist der Rhein dort drben.

5. ...

6. #1: John, wir sind da. Das ist mein Haus.

ENGLISH

1. #2: There are many nice buildings here.

2. #1: Yes, this is the oldtown. There are also many bars here.

3. #2: And what is that?

4. #1: That is the [river] Rhine over there.

5. ...

6. #1: John, were there. This is my house.

VOCABULARY




es gibt there is, there areexpression; very

useful expression!

very useful

expression!

viele many adverb

schn nice, pretty adjective

Gebude building noun

Neuter; plural is the

same.

das that, the (neuter)

demonstrative

pronoun / definite

article

Altstadt oldtown noun, feminine, die

was what pronoun

Haus house noun plural: Huser

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Es gibt viele C afs hier.

There are many cafs here.

Viele S tudente n sind arm .

Many students are poor.

Es ist schn, dass S ie da sind.

It's nice that you're there.

Die ses Gebude i st 100 J ahre al t.

This building is 100 years old.

Das Wasser ist kalt.

The water is cold.

Die D sseldo rfer Altstadt ist sehr

schn.

Dsseldorf's oldtown is very nice.

Was ist das?

What is this?

Mein Ha us ist n icht gro.

My house isn't big.

GRAMMAR



Heres an extremely important notion when learning German: German divides everything

into three genders: masculine (male), feminine (female) and neuter (neutral). This means

that not just people or pets have a gender but all random objects (e. g. a pencil is masculine)

and even concepts (e. g. hope is feminine) do. Most of the time the assignment of gender

doesnt make sense, so you have to learn it along with the noun. A great way to learn the

gender is to imagine some male or female or neutral archetypes or stars in a memorable,

funny or weird situation along with the word.

Masculine words get the article der, feminine words get the article die and neuter words

get the article das. The gender of a noun will always be mentioned in the vocabulary list. For

compound words like Altstadt, its easy to determine the gender: just look at the noun that is

the last part of it. That noun determines the gender of the whole word. In this case the last part

is Stadt, which is feminine, and so Altstadt is feminine too.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Many German cities have nice historic oldtowns. Some cities can be traced as far back as 500

BC. If you are interested in history, the Western part of Germany should be particularly

interesting to you, because that is where Frankish empire with its medieval castles stretched.

Especially the area along the upper Rhine is known for its castles. In the extreme western part

of Germany, you can also find Roman ruins. The Rhine was a natural border to their empire.

Germans tend not to identify much with Germany as a modern country and there is probably

less patriotism in Germany than anywhere else in the world, but there is a broad interest inhistorical Germany. For example, there are parks, fairs and re-enactments festivals dedicated

to any part of German history before 1900: the barbarian life, the Romans, the Frankish

empire, medieval crafts and trades, the industrial revolution, the war against Napoleon, and

so on.

So Germany is the place to be if you like history or also beauty, because most cities and

most houses are designed with beauty in mind, not plain functionality. And of course there

are also plenty of museums, theatres, amusement parks, spas and the like. In fact, when

there are several big cities close to each other, like Dsseldorf and Cologne or like all of thecities of the Ruhrgebiet, there is rivalry between them and every city tries to outdo the other in

terms of museums, parks, theatres, clubs etcetera, which is beneficial for the people living

there, who can benefit from a wide variety of choices.


17/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#4

Presentingpeople

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

3 Informal German


5 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

4



18/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #4 - PRESENTING PEOPLE 2

GERMAN

1. #1: John, das ist mein Mann Heinz.

2. Heinz, das ist John Williams aus den USA.

3. #2: Angenehm.

4. #3: Angenehm. Herr Williams, woher genau kommen Sie? Wo sind

Sie zuhause?

5. #2: Ich komme aus Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6. #3: Aha. Und was machen Sie beruflich?

7. #2: hmm...

8. #1: John arbeitet als Freiberufler.

9. #3: Er ist arbeitslos?

ENGLISH

1. #1: John, this is my husband Heinz.

2.

Heinz, this is John Williams aus den USA.

3. #2: Its a pleasure to meet you. [literally pleasant]

4. #3: Its a pleasure to meet you. Mr Williams, where exactly do you

come from? Where is your home?

CONT'D OVER



5. #2: I come from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6. #3: Ah. And what do you do for a living?

7. #2: Emm...

8. #1: John works as a freelancer.

9. #3: He is unemployed?

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #1: John, das ist mein Mann Heinz.

2. Heinz, das ist John Williams aus den USA.

3. #2: Angenehm.

4. #3: Angenehm. John, woher genau kommst du? Wo bist du zuhause?

5. #2: Ich komme aus Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6. #3: Aha. Und was machst du beruflich?

7. #2: hmm...

8. #1: John arbeitet als Freiberufler.

9. #3: Er ist arbeitslos?

INFORMAL ENGLISH

CONT'D OVER



1. #1: John, this is my husband Heinz.

2. Heinz, this is John Williams aus den USA.

3. #2: Its a pleasure to meet you. [literally pleasant]

4. #3: Its a pleasure to meet you. John, where exactly do you come from?

Where is your home?

5. #2: I come from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

6. #3: Ah. And what do you do for a living?

7. #2: Emm...

8. #1: John works as a freelancer.

9. #3: He is unemployed?

VOCABULARY


Mann man noun

plural: Mnner;

means husband

when used with a

possessive pronoun

(e.g. "mein Mann")

angenehm pleasant

woher from where question word

genau exactly

kommen to come verb weak verb



machen to make / do verb, weak verb weak verb

beruflichby profession,

professionally

Freiberufler freelancer

noun, masculine,

der; literally means

free-profession-er

masculine; literally

means free-

profession-er

arbeitslos unemployed adjective literally: work-less

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Mein Mann arbeitet hier .

My husband works here.

Der Wind ist angenehm .

The wind is pleasant.

Woher kom m st du?

Where are you from?

Woher komm t Robert?

Where does Robert come from?

Der Treffpunkt ist genau hie r.

The meet-up point is here exactly.

Lisa kom m t heute nicht.

Lisa isn't coming today.

Die Autos machen viel Lrm .

The cars are making a lot of noise.

Was machst du berufl ich?

What is your profession?

Ich bin Freiberufler.

I am a freelancer.

Bist du arbeitslos?

Are you unemployed?

GRAMMAR

In this lesson you have encountered a couple regular verbs: kommen (to come),

machen (to make / do) and arbeiten (to work). You have encountered them in various

forms. Here is a complete scheme of the present tense forms:

komm-en (to come)

ich komm-e (I come)



du komm-st (you come, informal to one person)

er / sie / es komm-t (he / she / it comes)

wir komm-en (we come)

ihr komm-t (you come, informal to several people)

sie komm-en / Sie komm-en (they come / you come, formal to one or several people)

There are two noticeable similarities to the endings of the verb sein, which you encounteredalready:

- the second person singular ends in st : bist, kommst

- the third person singular ends in t : ist, kommt

You will find that even irregular verbs still adopt at least these two endings.

The complete forms of machen: ich mache, du machst, er macht, wir m achen, ihr macht,

sie machen

The complete forms of arbeiten: ich arbeite, du arbeitest, er arbeitet, wir arbeiten, ihr

arbeitet, sie arbeiten

Note that in German there is no difference between I work and I am working; ich arbeite

covers both.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

When being introduced to somebody, the standard things to say are Angenehm (Its apleasure) or Freut mich (I am joyed), both of which have om itted Sie kennenzulernen (to

meet you). Its not wrong to use the complete phrase Angenehm Sie kennenzulernen

though and you may hear it on formal occasions. Careful: if the person introducing somebody

refers to him informally by his first name, that doesnt mean that you may do so either. In

most cases it is expected that you will address somebody formally until he explicitly tells you

otherwise which can take a while in Germany.

When you want to get to know somebody better, be aware that there are certain questions that

are taboo:- you may not explicitly ask for their first name

- you may not ask for their age

- you may not ask for their income

Even though you can probably guess somebodys wealth by their appearance and style of

language, talk about money is taboo for most, just like talk about religion. In Germany,

religion is something between you and God, and maybe the church. Its not a matter you

would flaunt or discuss with others. The majority of Germans are non-practicing Christians,

but even if people are very convinced in their beliefs it is understood that they wont try to



convert you just as you shouldnt be trying to convert them. Televangelists are unheard of and

some money-oriented sects are actually banned, but occasionally you may see Jehovahs

Witnesses silently standing in the pedestrian zones offering their magazines.

Germany is actually unique when it comes to religion because here the public schools (and

there are extremely few private ones) have to provide religious education classes. The

mission of German high schools is to produce mature adults who are capable of independent

thought, and who have some idea of what their purpose in life is, who know what is good andwhat is wrong, and so on. Thats where the religious education classes come in. Of course

atheists, Muslims and also everybody else can opt out of those classes for reasons of

conscience, but then they have to take philosophy classes instead, which strive to answer the

same basic questions and ethical problems. Religious education classes typically come in the

flavours Catholic and Protestant, but most of the content is not specific to one particular

faith. A lot of time is spent on getting an overview of the beliefs of Christianity and the beliefs of

other religions (with tolerance being the goal) and to discuss issues people might need help

with: drugs, sex, abuse, abortion and so on.


24/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#5

Languageissues

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

5 Cultural Insight

#

5



25/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #5 - LANGUAGE ISSUES 2

GERMAN

1. #3: Herr Williams, sprechen Sie Deutsch?

2. #2: Ja, ich spreche Deutsch, nur nicht viel.

3. #3: In meinem Haus sprechen alle Deutsch.

4. #2: Sprechen Sie kein Englisch?

5. #3: Nein.

6. #2: Dann sprechen Sie bitte langsam. Ich verstehe langsames Deutsch.

ENGLISH

1. #3: Mr Williams, do you speak German?

2. #2: Yes, I speak German, just not much.

3. #3: In my house, everybody speaks German.

4. #2: Dont you speak (any) English?

5. #3: No.

6. #2: Then please speak slowly. I understand slow German.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #3: John, sprichst du Deutsch?

CONT'D OVER



2. #2: Ja, ich spreche Deutsch, nur nicht viel.

3. #3: In meinem Haus sprechen alle Deutsch.

4. #2: Sprichst du kein Englisch?

5. #3: Nein.

6. #2: Dann sprich bitte langsam. Ich verstehe langsames Deutsch.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #3: John, do you speak German?

2. #2: Yes, I speak German, just not much.

3. #3: In my house, everybody speaks German.

4. #2: Dont you speak (any) English?

5. #3: No.

6. #2: Then please speak slowly. I understand slow German.

VOCABULARY


sprechen to speak verber spricht, er sprach,

er hat gesprochen

Deutsch German language noun, neuter, das


27/163



Ich verstehe S ie ni cht.

I don't understand you.

GRAMMAR

Sprechen (to speak) is another verb that appears to follow the pattern you have learned in

the previous lesson, but here there is one specialty: for the second and third person singular

(singular informal you and he / she / it) the stem vowel changes from a short E to a short I.

The endings stay the same:

sprechen (to speak)

ich sprech-e (I speak)

du sprich-st (you speak, informal to one person)

er / sie / es sprich-t (he / she / it speaks)

wir sprech-en (we speak)

ihr sprech-t (you speak, informal to several people)

sie sprech-en / Sie sprech-en (they come / you come, formal to one or several people)

There are several German verbs that change vowels like this, for example also brechen (to

break).

Another thing Id like to draw your attention to is the sprechen Sie bitte langsam. This is

actually not the present tense anymore but an imperative (a command form). You will find it

extremely easy though because the formal imperative (the one to use with people that you

call S ie) is exactly the same as the formal present tense form for regular verbs, just inverted.

The informal imperative, which wasnt used in the main dialogue, corresponds to just the

word stem without any ending. In the case of vowel-changing verbs, i ts a stem that includes

the vowel change. Examples:

Sprechen Sie bitte langsamer! Please speak more slowly! (formal)

Sprich bitte langsamer! Please speak more slowly! (informal)

Kommen Sie nach Deutschland! Come to Germany! (formal)Komm nach Deutschland! Come to Germany! (informal)

CULTURAL INSIGHT

In Germany, English is a mandatory subject at school for at least 5 years, 7 if you want to go

to university. Its also increasingly present in kindergartens. However, the quality of instruction

varies a lot and most people wont remember any of their English 10 years after they have

gone to school, unless they have had to use it often in the meantime hence if you want to



ask a German something in English, your best bet is a student or a businessman.

Among other groups, understanding of English is actually quite low. For example, in a recent

study more than 50% of Germans were unable to understand English slogans used in

German TV ads, things as simple as where money lives. This is another reason for you to

learn German of course!

Other than English, French is the most commonly studied foreign language, followed by

Latin. However, these wouldnt normally be studied instead of English, rather, they are

studied as a second foreign language. In Eastern Germany, Russian used to be the most

common foreign language. If you intend to go to university, you will have to study two foreign

languages for at least 5 years each at high school, which is supposed to give you fluent

command of them. You have the option of studying up to 4 foreign languages even, but few

will do that foreign language classes, once chosen, can usually not be dropped easily, and

they will effect your mark average.


30/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#6

Themorningafter

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

6



31/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #6 - THE MORNING AFTER 2

GERMAN

1. #1: Guten Morgen, John!

2. #2: Guten Morgen, Michaela!

3. #1: Wie geht es Ihnen heute?

4. #2: Gut, danke.

5. #1: Mein Mann ist schon auf der Arbeit. Wir sind allein.

6. #2: Schn. Was gibt es zum Frhstck?

ENGLISH

1. #1: Good morning, John!

2. #2: Good morning, Michaela!

3. #1: How are you today?

4. #2: Good, thanks.

5. #1: My husband is already at work. We are alone.

6. #2: Nice. What's for breakfast?

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #1: Guten Morgen, John!

CONT'D OVER



2. #2: Guten Morgen, Michaela!

3. #1: Wie geht es dir heute?

4. #2: Gut, danke.

5. #1: Mein Mann ist schon auf der Arbeit. Wir sind allein.

6. #2: Schn. Was gibt es zum Frhstck?

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #1: Good morning, John!

2. #2: Good morning, Michaela!

3. #1: How are you today?

4. #2: Good, thanks.

5. #1: My husband is already at work. We are alone.

6. #2: Nice. What's for breakfast?

VOCABULARY




Wie geht es dir? How are you?

(informal)

expression; literally:

How goes it to

you?, formal

version is "Wie geht

es Ihnen?"

literally: How goes it

to you?, formal

version is "Wie geht

es Ihnen?"

Morgen morning noun masculine

heute today noun

schon already adverb

auf on, onto

preposition; also

used for some cases

where English would

use in or at, as

prepositions usually

don't correspond

across languages.

also used for some

cases where English

would use in or

at, as prepositions

usually don't

correspond across

languages.

allein(e) alone adverb

Arbeit work

noun, feminine, die;

compare to

"arbeitslos" -

unemployed

compare to

"arbeitslos" -

unemployed

zum Frhstck for breakfast expression

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Wie geht es Ihnen, Herr Ml ler?

How are you, Mr Mller?

Heute ist e in wunderschner

Morgen.

Today is a beautiful morning.

Guten Morgen!

Good morning!

Heute gi bt es Freibier i n der

Al ts ta dt.

Today there is free beer [available] in the

old town.



Bist du schon m de?

Are you tired already?

Die Zeitung l ieg t auf dem Tisch.

The newspaper lies on the table.

Verste hst du m ich, wenn ich auf

Englisch spreche?

Do you understand me when I speak on

(in) English?

Hausarbeit ma cht sich nicht von

al le in .

The house work doesn't do itself.

Das ist e inzig und al le in dei ne

Schuld.

That's solely and only your fault.

Komm st du a l le in oder komm t dein

Mann auch?

Are you coming alone or is your husband

coming, too?

Das ist e ine sehr angenehm e

Arbe i t.

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

Es gibt Brot zum Frhstck.

There's bread for breakfast.

GRAMMAR

You already learned that der is used for masculine nouns, die is used for feminine nouns

and das is used for neuter nouns. So far so good. However, we know for a fact that

Arbeit(work) is feminine and you heard the phrase auf der Arbeit in the dialogue. This is

because German has something called cases. Cases mean that you change words

depending on the circumstances in which they are used. In this case, using a word as a

preposition requires a different case than using it as the subject of the sentence, the one who

does something.

In German, most of the changes are made to the article, so that the noun stays recognizable.

der, die and das are the articles you use for subjects, depending on the gender of the

word. This changes to dem, der and dem when you use the same word after a

preposition. Take Arbeit as an example. A sentence with Arbeit as the subject is Die Arbeit

ist schwer. (the work is hard). It is die Arbeit, since Arbeit is feminine. die changes to

der however after prepositions, so it is Ich bin auf der Arbeit (I am at [the] work).

Another example with das Haus: Das Haus ist schn. (the house is nice) BUT Ich bin auf

dem Haus (I am on top of the house).



There is one more thing to pay attention to: when the ending of a preposition is -n or a vowel,

the Dative -m of dem will simply add itself to the preposition, so that you only hear one word:

in dem

If you want to say I am in the house (I am inside it), you have to say Ich bin im Haus. In

very colloquial German you can even hear contractions like aufm instead of auf dem,

ausm instead of aus dem, and so on!

CULTURAL INSIGHT

In Germany, the vast majority of people have a 9-to-5 (or 8-to-4) job and are happy with that.

They always get up at the same time, drive or commute to the office (very few have a home

office!) and spend the required amount of hours there. Then, they go home and relax and

don't think much of their work anymore until the next day. This way, work and leisure is

separated quite strictly and you will hardly find people who work flexible hours or who domore work at home. You will also find less entrepreneurial spirit and less people who claim

that work should be fun. Structures are harder here, less open to diverging from the rules or

the required.

Laws and regulations take the employee's side of an issue really often. Trade unions are

strong, weekly average hours are low, laws require companies to give you plenty of holidays,

to contribute a lot to your mandatory health care and pension plans and to pay you a lot more

if you work overtime, night or Sundays. This is very nice for the employee and it doesn't seem

to hurt the economy too much, but it has a few downsides for customers, such ascomparatively strict opening hours and hardly anything being open on Sundays. If you are

planning to party over the weekend, be sure you buy everything you need on Fridays,

because on Sundays you won't be able to and on Saturdays there are typically huge crowds

shopping, because of the Sunday rush and also because on Saturdays a lot of shops close

around 2pm or so already. In the biggest cities, such as Berlin, you will be able to find 24 hour

stores, but everywhere else you are really limited to kiosks and gas stations to provide

everyday items.


36/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#7

BreakfastTime!

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

7



37/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #7 - BREAKFAST TIME! 2

GERMAN

1. #2: Was gibt es zum Frhstck?

2. #1: Es gibt Brtchen, Butter, Marmelade...

3. #2: Gibt es keine Eier? Oder Pfannkuchen?

4. #1: Pfannkuchen zum Frhstck???

5. #2: Oder Wrstchen? In Deutschland isst man viele Wrstchen, oder?

6. #1: Ich mache Ihnen ein Ei und Wrstchen.

ENGLISH

1. #2: Whats for breakfast?

2. #1: There are rolls, butter, jam

3. #2: Arent there any eggs? Or pancakes?

4. #1: Pancakes for breakfast???

5. #2: Or sausages? In Germany people eat a lot of sausages, dont they?

6. #1: Ill make you an egg and sausage.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #2: Was gibt es zum Frhstck?

CONT'D OVER



2. #1: Es gibt Brtchen, Butter, Marmelade...

3. #2: Gibt es keine Eier? Oder Pfannkuchen?

4. #1: Pfannkuchen zum Frhstck???

5. #2: Oder Wrstchen? In Deutschland isst man viele Wrstchen, oder?

6. #1: Ich mache dir ein Ei und Wrstchen.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #2: Whats for breakfast?

2. #1: There are rolls, butter, jam

3. #2: Arent there any eggs? Or pancakes?

4. #1: Pancakes for breakfast???

5. #2: Or sausages? In Germany people eat a lot of sausages, dont they?

6. #1: Ill make you an egg and sausage.

VOCABULARY


Brtchen roll noun, neuter, dasneuter; plural is the

same



man one, you, people

pronoun; used to talk

about people in

general; dont

confuse with

Mann (man)

used to talk about

people in general;

dont confuse with

Mann (man)

essen to eat verb

er isst, er a, er hat

gegessen

Wrstchen little sausage

noun, neuter, das; -

chen makes this little

or cute

neuter; plural is the

same; -chen makes

this little or cute

Pfannkuchen pancake noun, masculine, der masculine; plural is

the same

oder or

conjunction; used as

isnt it?-type

question at the end

of a sentence.

used as isnt it?-

type question at the

end of a sentence.

Ei egg noun neuter; plural: Eier

Marmelade jam

noun, feminine, die;

any kind of jam;

what the British call

marmelade (on the

basis of oranges) is

uncommon.

feminine; plural:

Marmeladen; any

kind of jam; what the

British call

marmelade (on the

basis of oranges) is

uncommon.

Butter butter noun feminine; no plural

dir to youpersonal pronoun;

Dative of du Dative of du

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich esse gerne Brtchen.

I like eating rolls.

Wie sagt man "train" auf Deutsch?

How do you say "train" in German?



Ich esse gerne Brtchen .

I like eating rolls.

Vegeta rier essen keine Butter, sie

essen Margar ine.

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

margarine.

In Deutschland g ibt es r ichtig

leckere Wrstchen.

In Germany there are really delicious

sausages.

Ich l i ebe Blau beer-Pfannkuchen .

I love blueberry pancakes.

Ich muss doch nicht al les auf

einm al bezahlen, oder?

But I don't have to pay everything at once,

do I?

Reicht eine J acke oder brauche ich

einen Mantel?

Is a jacket enough or will I need a coat?

Ein Huhn legt ein Ei.

A chicken lays an egg.

Der Koch hat ein Ei ge braten.

The cook fried an egg.

Mchtest du ein Brot mit

Marmelade?

Do you want a [piece of] bread with jam?

Vegeta rier essen keine Butter, sie

essen Margar ine.

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

margarine.

Kann ich dir helfen?

Can I help you?

GRAMMAR

In this lesson well have a first look at the plural. In German, plurals are sometimes hard to

predict, so we will come back to the topic of plurals in a later lesson, too. The easiest nouns

are the ones ending in er, -en or el, because they dont change at all for plural. You can

only tell by the article: instead of having to pick between der, die and das, it will always be

die for plural.

Examples:



der Freiberufler die Freiberufler (the freelancer the freelancers)

das Brtchen die Brtchen (the roll the rolls)

der Zettel die Zettel (the note the notes)

Easy so far, isnt it? A lot of words are in this category, because er is a very common ending

for professions or nationalities and the like and chen is the diminutive ending. Note that the

word Gebude (building), which you already learned, is also part of this category, despite

not having any of the characteristic endings. Then theres a category of nouns ending in

some other consonant and that will add er for plural, for example:

das Lied die Lieder (the song the songs)

das Ei die Eier (the egg the eggs)

A special case in this category are words that will add er but also add two dots above the

vowel. This is usually the case when theres only a single vowel in the word. Examples:

der Mann die Mnner (the man the men)

das Buch die Bcher (the book the books)

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Most Germans will eat bread or rolls with butter for breakfast. Further toppings can vary: jam,

honey, Nutella (a chocolate-hazelnut spread), cheese, ham or cut sausage. Peanut butter is

uncommon. Some people also regularly include yoghurt, curds, cereal, fruit or boiled eggs in

their breakfast diet, or eat croissants in addition to rolls. Apart from eggs, its very uncommonto have something that requires heating or cooking even. In exchange, there is a really big

selection of different types of bread and rolls. People typically buy these immediately at a

bakery, and at a typical bakery you can find at least 6 types of rolls, 12 types of bread and lots

of delicious cakes and pastries.

As a breakfast drink, regular coffee is very popular with adults, though Italian coffee variants

like cappuccino, caff latte and espresso are getting more popular. A minority drinks tea

instead. Children are usually given hot cocoa or milk, or maybe juice. A specialty drink is hot

milk with a spoonful of honey, this is said to be good against coughing and sore throats.


42/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#8

BreakfastTime!2

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

3 Informal German


5 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

8



43/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #8 - BREAKFAST TIME! 2 2

GERMAN

1. 1: Herr Williams, trinken Sie Kaffee zum Frhstck? Oder lieber Tee?

2. #2: Kaffee ist gut.

3. #1: Hier ist Ihr Kaffee.

4. #2: Danke.

5. #1: Herr Williams, geben Sie mir bitte den Honig.

6. #2: Bitte.

7. #1: Danke.

8. #2: Ich nehme mir noch zwei Wrstchen, ist das okay?

9. #1: Ja.

ENGLISH

1. #1: Mr Williams, do you drink coffee for breakfast? Or [would you] rather

[have] tea?

2.

#2: Coffee is good.

3. #1: Heres your coffee.

4. #2: Thanks.

5. #1: John, please give me the honey.

CONT'D OVER



6. #2: Here you are.

7. #1: Thanks.

8. #2: Im taking two more sausages, okay?

9. #1: Yes.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1.

#1: John, trinkst du Kaffee zum Frhstck? Oder lieber Tee?

2. #2: Kaffee ist gut.

3. #1: Hier ist dein Kaffee.

4. #2: Danke.

5. #1: John, gib mir bitte den Honig.

6. #2: Bitte.

7. #1: Danke.

8. #2: Ich nehme mir noch zwei Wrstchen, okay?

9. #1: Ja.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

CONT'D OVER



1. #1: John, do you drink coffee for breakfast? Or [would you] rather

[have] tea?

2. #2: Coffee is good.

3. #1: Heres your coffee.

4. #2: Thanks.

5. #1: John, please give me the honey.

6. #2: Here you are.

7. #1: Thanks.

8. #2: Im taking two more sausages, okay?

9. #1: Yes.

VOCABULARY


trinken to drink verb

noch still; yet; another adverb

nehmen to take verb

vowel-changing

verb: ich nehme, du

nimmst, er nimmt,

wir nehmen

Honig honey noun, masculine, der masculine; no plural

mir to mepersonal pronoun;

Dative Dative



geben to give verb

vowel-changing

verb: ich gebe, du

gibst, er gibt, wir

geben

dein your (informal) possessive pronoun

Tee tea noun masculine; no plural

lieber rather adverb

zwei two (2) numeral

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich tr inke imm er Kaffee, wenn ich

arbeite.

I always drink coffee when I work.

Ich tr inke kein Bi er.

I don't drink any beer.

Es ist noch Winter.

It's still winter.

Nim m di r noch ein Stck Fleisch!

Take another piece of meat!

Ich tr inke gerne Milch mi t Honig.

I like drinking milk with honey.

Bitte gib mi r etwas zu tr inken!

Please give me something to drink!

Bitte gib mir e twas zu tr inken !

Please give me something to drink!

Dein Haus ist sehr gro.

Your house is very big.

Komm st du a l le in oder komm t deinMann auch?

Are you coming alone or is your husband

coming, too?

Mchtest du einen grnen Tee?

Would you like some green tea?

Isst du l i eber Steak oder S chnitzel?

Do you prefer eating steak or schnitzel?

Mchtest du ein ode r zwei

Brtchen?

Do you want one or two rolls?

GRAMMAR



Remember cases from the 6th beginner lesson? You already saw the Nominative case, the

default case for which der, die and das dont change. In the 6th lesson, you also saw the

Dative case, which turns the articles into dem, der and dem. The Dative case is usually

used after prepositions, or also for people when they are the object of a sentence. For

example, we met dir in the last lessons dialog, and mir in this lessons dialog, and they

are the Dative equivalents of du and ich.

Now in todays lesson, well have a glance at another case, the Accusative. As the name

suggests, this case would be used in the sentence You accuse me of the me in there is

the Accusative of I. However, the Accusative is not lim ited to that sentence. In German, its

used whenever a thing is an object of a sentence (as opposed to the Dative case, which is for

people), and sometimes its even used for people as well! Well dive more into those

irregularities later, for now its enough if you remember that:

- Nominative is used for the subject of a sentence, for dictionary entries and the like

- Dative is used after most prepositions and it is often used when people are the object of a

sentence

- Accusative is used when things or people are the object of a sentence

Just like the other cases, Accusative does not require any change to the noun, only the article

changes. Instead of der, die and das you get den, die, das so actually you only

need to pay attention to masculine nouns. And for plural, the article doesnt change either, its

still die. Heres a little overview of the forms of der, die and das in the forms that weve

encountered so far. You can find an absolutely complete list of forms in the Grammar Bank.

Singular

Nominative: der, die, das

Dative: dem, der, dem

Accusative: den, die, das

Plural

Nominative: die, die, die

Accusative: die, die, die

CULTURAL INSIGHT

There are some things you should know about having meals in Germany. First is, that people

generally try to have meals together, as a family or as a group of friends, and people are

adverse to eating regular meals on the side, that is, while watching TV, while standing or

anything that does not involve sitting down at a table together with others and eating leisurely.

Once everybody has sat down, somebody will say GutenAppetit(to wish people a good

appetite or enjoyment of the meal), others will respond the same or Danke,

gleichfalls(thanks, to you too) or the like and then everybody can start eating. Its impolite to



start before everybody has sat down or before wishing people a good appetite. Some families

will also pray before the meal, and if youre with a big party, somebody may want to make a

speech before people start eating. In order not to commit a faux pas, just assume things are

going to be this way. If really people want you to start without them, they will tell you.

Once youre done, dont just get up but wait until everybody else is done, too, so that you

dont ruin the calm atmosphere people dont like feeling hurried during their meal. Again, if

its different, people will tell you that you can already leave.

People like to drink beer with simple dishes and wine with more fancy dishes. Very often,

especially when its for lunch, people will just have water or Apfelschorleinstead though.

Apfelschorleis apple juice mixed with carbonated mineral water. Its refreshing and quite

healthy. Note that some households will not have any soda, lemonade or non-carbonated

water. Restaurants and cafs always have soda (though the selection is different in Germany

than in the states), but still no lemonade or non-carbonated water.


49/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#9

TheWeather

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

9



50/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #9 - THE WEATHER 2

GERMAN

1. #2: Frau Wucher, wie wird das Wetter heute? Wird es kalt?

2. #1: Nein, es wird wahrscheinlich sehr schn warm und sonnig.

3. #2: Wird es sehr warm sein?

4. #1: Nein, nicht zu warm.

5. #2: Dann werde ich Jeans tragen. Wird es spter Regen geben?

6. #1: Wahrscheinlich nicht.

7. #2: Gut.

ENGLISH

1. #2: Ms Wucher, how is the weather going to be today?

2. #1: It will probably be very nice warm and sunny.

3. #2: Will it be very warm?

4. #1: No, not too warm.

5. #2: Then I will wear jeans. Will there be rain later?

6. #1: Probably not.

7. #2: Good.

INFORMAL GERMAN

CONT'D OVER



1. #2: Michaela, wie wird das Wetter heute? Wird es kalt?

2. #1: Nein, es wird wahrscheinlich sehr schn warm und sonnig.

3. #2: Wird es sehr warm sein?

4. #1: Nein, nicht zu warm.

5. #2: Dann werde ich Jeans tragen. Wird es spter Regen geben?

6. #1: Wahrscheinlich nicht.

7. #2: Gut.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #2: Michaela, how is the weather going to be today?

2. #1: It will probably be very nice warm and sunny.

3. #2: Will it be very warm?

4. #1: No, not too warm.

5. #2: Then I will wear jeans. Will there be rain later?

6. #1: Probably not.

7. #2: Good.

VOCABULARY




wie how pronoun

when not used as a

question word, wie

has the meaning of

as

tragen to wear; to carry verb

zu too (much) adverb / preposition

dann then adverb

spter later adverb

sonnig sunny adjective

wahrscheinlich probably adverb

kalt cold adjective

Wetter weather noun plural is the same

Regen rain noun masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Wie ist dein Nam e?

What's your name?

Wie heit du?

How are you called?

Unser Baum trgt viele Frchte

dieses Jahr.

Our tree is carrying a lot of fruits this year.

Fr diesen Ausflug sol l ten S ie

widersta ndsf hige Kleidung tr agen.

You should wear resistant, as in resistantto wind or rain, clothing for this excursion.

Er trgt nur Markenklamotten.

He only wears brand-name clothes.

Die S chwestern tragen heute das

gle iche Kle id .

The sisters are wearing the same dress

today.



Die Am eisen tragen Essen.

The ants are carrying food.

Ich trage einen Helm .

I'm wearing a helmet. / I'm carrying a

helmet.

Das i st zu teuer.

That is too expensive.

Morgen arbeite ich und da nn f l iegeich nach Boston.

Tomorrow I work and then I fly to Boston.

Es wird spter Reg en ge ben.

There will be rain later.

Es ist e in sonnig er Morgen.

It's a sunny morning.

Wahrscheinl ich wi rd es regnen.

It will probably rain.

Heute ist es kalt.

Today it's cold.

Das Wetter heu te ist sehr schwl.

The weather is really humid today.

Es wird spter Reg en geben.

There will be rain later.

GRAMMAR

A question like "Wie wird das Wetter morgen?" (How is the weather going to be tomorrow?)

requires the future tense. In German, the future is formed using a form of werdenand the

infinitive of the verb you intend to use.Unfortunately werdenis not just a vowel-changing verb

but also irregular. The forms are: ich werde, du wirst, er wird, wir werden, ihr werdet, sie

werden

Also, you need to be careful whenever there are two verbs (or auxiliary + verb) in a German

sentence: the second one wil l go to the end of the sentence. Compare for example "ich esseeinen Pfannkuchen" (I eat a pancake) and "Ich werde einen Pfannkuchen essen" (I will eat a

pancake) - this literally translates to "I will a pancake eat" and sounds a bit like Yoda, but in

German it's the only right way to say this.

The special expression "es gibt" (there is/are) changes to "es wird geben" (there wil l be), and

this is often used when talking about the weather, for example you will often hear "es wird

Regen geben(there wil l be rain).

Finally, you can also dismiss all of this and use the present tense with a future meaning when



the context is clear: for example in the last lesson we heard "ich nehme mir noch zwei

Wrstchen", meaning "I will take two more sausages" rather than "I am taking two more

sausages".

CULTURAL INSIGHT

The weather in Germany is quite typical for its region. As in the remaining countries of central

Europe, a temperate cool and cloudy weather dominates. The weather in the northern part of

Germany is influenced by winds from the North Sea most of the time, so temperatures over

28C in summer and below 0C in winter are rare (note that everybody in Germany uses

degrees Celsius and may not have heard of Fahrenheit).

If you want to do winter sports during Christmas time, you either have to visit the southern part

of Germany or one of the indoor-skiing centers that have become very popular in the last

years in the northern part of Germany.

For people in the Ruhrpott (a megalopolis in the north west) and the surrounding areas it is a

very common custom to go to the Baggerloch on hot summer days to swim, relax or just

enjoy the weather. These Baggerlcher (= plural of Baggerloch) are huge man-made

lakes which are a relict of the gravel-mining in the area. If you want to go to one of these, be

cautious: There are some Baggerlcher which are opened for the public and guaranteed to

be safe to swim in but many more are fenced in and officially part of a company site. Typically,

no one will care if someone comes there to swim and there will be fewer people than in the

others but you never know if it might be dangerous to swim there as there could be old steelcables in the water or the water depth could increase suddenly, so if you go there take

someone with you who knows where its safe.


55/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#10

JetlaggedinDsseldorf

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

4 Grammar

5 Cultural Insight

#

10



56/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #10 - JETLAGGED IN DSSELDORF 2

GERMAN

1. #1: Was werden Sie heute machen?

2. #2: Ich bin mir noch nicht sicher. Wahrscheinlich werde ich mir

Dsseldorf ansehen, aber ich bin auch sehr mde...

3. #1: Das ist der Jet Lag. Ruhen Sie sich heute aus.

4. #2: Aber ich bin in Deutschland! Ich werde mir die Umgebung ansehen.

Kommen Sie mit?

5. #1: Jetzt?

ENGLISH

1. #1: What are you going to do today?

2. #2: Im not sure yet myself. I will probably have a look at Dsseldorf, but

I am also very tired...

3. #1: Its the jet lag. Relax today.

4. #2: But I am in Germany! I will have a look at the surroundings. Are

you coming along?

5. #1: Now?

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #1: Was wirst du heute machen?

CONT'D OVER



2. #2: Ich bin mir noch nicht sicher. Wahrscheinlich werde ich mir

Dsseldorf ansehen,

3. aber ich bin auch sehr mde...

4. #1: Das ist der Jet Lag. Ruh dich heute aus.

5. #2: Aber ich bin in Deutschland! Ich werde mir die Umgebung ansehen.

Kommst du mit?

6. #1: Jetzt?

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #1: What are you going to do today?

2. #2: Im not sure yet myself. I will probably have a look at Dsseldorf, but

I am also very tired...

3. #1: Its the jet lag. Relax today.

4. #2: But I am in Germany! I will have a look at the surroundings. Are you

coming along?

5. #1: Now?

VOCABULARY


sicher sure adjective

mitkommen to come along verb



Umgebung surroundings noun, feminine, die feminine

Deutschland Germany proper noun

dichyou, yourself (often

not translated)

pronoun; Accusative

of du Accusative of du

ausruhen relax verb splitting verb

auch also adverb

aber but conjunction

ansehen have a look at verber sieht an, er sah

an, er hat angesehen

jetzt now adverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Bist du dir sicher?

Are you sure?

Mchtest du mi tkomm en?

Would you like to come along?

Wir fahren nach Deutschland.

We go to Germany.

Ich ma g dich.

I like you.

Lass uns heute ausruhen .

Lets relax today.

Ich mchte auch Deutsch lernen.

I also want to learn German.

Abe r ich wol l te doch fe rnsehen!

But I wanted to watch TV!

Ich werde mir die S tadt ansehen.

I will have a look at the town.

Ich m chte jetzt gehen.

I want to go now.

Wo wohn st du j etzt?

Where do you live now?

GRAMMAR



Ansehen, ausruhenand mitkommenare examples of a new species of German verbs, which

you havent met so far: splitting verbs.

There are certain prefixes that are sometimes connected to the verb and sometimes split off.

an, aus and mit are among them. They stay connected for the infinitive (and hence also

for the future tense, which consists ofwerdenand the infinitive), and on some other

occasions, which well cover later. They split off for the present tense, and the prefix then goes

to the end of the sentence.

A lot of splitting verbs can be easily identified because they match phrasal verbs in English:

verbs such as come along, bring along, go out, go away, leave behind You can also

identify them by the prefix its always the same prefixes that split off, and eventually you will

recognize them instinctively.

Here is an example of phrases with splitting verbs:

Ich werde ausgehen. (Ich gehe aus.) Kommst du mit? Nein, ich ruhe mich lieber aus.

(I will go out / I go out. Are you coming along? No, I [would] rather relax [myself] [out].)

CULTURAL INSIGHT

In German residential areas, depending on what an area you are in, you will see everything

from detached houses with gardens in front of them to apartment buildings with smallish

playgrounds in the backyard. The rather narrow streets always have sidewalks and most of

the time a separated bicycle path, too.

Small shops selling products of everyday life, barbers, bakeries and some small

supermarkets in the nearer surroundings make sure you dont have to go far to get everything

you need, whereas the real large supermarkets, do-it-yourself stores and so on usually are a

small distance outside of the residential area nearer to the town center. Elementary schools

and kindergartens are also often found near the residential areas, sometimes even directly

inside of them.

As there are several different types of secondary schools, they need to be more centered so

everyone can reach them as easy as possible. Therefore they are usually near the town

center or at least somewhere you can easily go by bus from most suburbs and the

surrounding area. Churches are usually spread all over town, if you are in a rather old and/or

small city theres usually a single church in the town center and maybe a few in the suburbs.

This is a relic of medieval times, when city just meant a few houses standing near together

and the church marked the center.


60/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#11

10thingstouristsmustknow

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

5 Cultural Insight

#

11



61/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #11 - 10 THINGS TOURISTS MUST KNOW 2

GERMAN

1. (lautes Klingeln)

2. #1: Hey, Sie! Gehen Sie zur Seite! Das ist der Fahrradweg!

3. #2: Fahrradweg?

4. #1: Ja. Haben Sie keine Augen im Kopf?? Der Gehweg ist da!

5. #2: Oh, Entschuldigung.

6. #1: Nchstes Mal machen Sie die Augen auf!

ENGLISH

1. (loud ringing)

2. #1: Hey, you! Go to the side! This is the bicycle path!

3. #2: Bike path?

4. #1: Yes. Dont you have any eyes [in the head]?? The sidewalk is there!

5. #2: Oh, excuse me.

6. #1: Next time, open your eyes!

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. (lautes Klingeln)

CONT'D OVER



2. #1: Hey, du! Geh zur Seite! Das ist der Fahrradweg!

3. #2: Fahrradweg?

4. #1: Ja. Hast du keine Augen im Kopf?? Der Gehweg ist da!

5. #2: Oh, Entschuldigung.

6. #1: Nchstes Mal mach die Augen auf!

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. (loud ringing)

2. #1: Hey, you! Go to the side! This is the bicycle path!

3. #2: Bike path?

4. #1: Yes. Dont you have any eyes [in the head]?? The sidewalk is there!

5. #2: Oh, excuse me.

6. #1: Next time, open your eyes!

VOCABULARY


gehen to go, to walk verb

not used for "going

by car" which would

be "(Auto) fahren"

nchstes Mal next time phrase



da there adverb

Kopf head noun masculine

Auge eye nounneuter, plural: "Die

Augen"

Seite side noun, feminine, die feminine

Gehweg sidewalk noun, masculine, der masculine

Fahrradweg bike path noun, masculine, der masculine

haben to have verb

irregular; ich habe,

du hast, er hat, wir

haben, ihr habt, sie

haben

aufmachen open verb; splitting verb "auf" splits off

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ich gehe nach Am erika.

I go to America.

Lass uns ins Kino gehen.

Let's go to the movies.

Nchstes Mal wird al les anders.

Next time it will be completely different.

Die Post ist da!

The mail is there! [has arrived]

Er steht da drben.

He stands over there.

Er nickt mit dem Kopf.

He nods with his head.

Mach die Augen au f!

Open your eyes!

Du m usst auf der rechten S eite

fahren.

You have to drive on the right side.

Die S eiten dieses Buches sind total

verklebt.

The pages of this books are stickingtogether really hard.

Es gibt imm er zwei S eiten.

There are always two sides.



Dies ist e in Geh weg.

This is a sidewalk.

Der Fahrradweg ist dor t .

The bike path is over there.

Du ha st eine groe Kla ppe.

You have a big mouth.

Haben S ie Zeit?

Do you have time?

Machst du bitte das Fenster auf?

Would you please open the window?

Kannst du die Tr aufmachen?

Can you open the door?

GRAMMAR

Todays Grammar Point features a very important German verb: haben- to have

While this is undoubtedly one of the most important verbs, it also happens to be irregular.

Therefore it is:

ich habe

du hast

er hat

wir habenihr habt

sie haben

In the future tense, it behaves like a regular verb:

ich werde haben

du wirst haben

etc.

Examples:

Ich habe ein Auto. - I have a car.

Du hast ein Haus. - You have a house.

Er hat keine Arbeit. - He doesn't have work.

Wir werden schnes Wetter haben. - We will have beautiful weather.

This verb is very versatile, because you can use it in a lot of cases.You can use it to say that

you are hungry or thirsty or to brag about personal belongings.

CULTURAL INSIGHT



When you come to Germany you will find that bikes often go on the sidewalk. For children it is

accepted to ride their bikes on the sidewalk. Adults are basically expected to ride their bike on

the street, unless of course there is a Fahrradweg(bike path). So if you don't want to end up in

a similar situation as John, it might be worth to have a look at some important street signs.

For example:

If you see a round blue sign, with a woman holding the hand of a child on the left, a vertical

linein the middle and a bike on the right, then this is the sign that the sidewalk is shared and

both pedestrians and bikes can use the full width of the path.

A blue round sign with a woman holding the hand of a child on the upper half, a horizontalline

in the middle and a bike in the lower half indicates that both bikes and pedestrians each have

a separated section of the path. This is often indicated by a line or by a different pavement

color.

There is also a round blue sign only showing the woman holding the hand of a child. Thismeans bikes mustnt go on the sidewalk. Instead they are supposed to go along the very right

edge of the street.

And these are only a few vital signs for pedestrians. Streets signs are very vital to understand

what's going on around you and if you are planning to come to Germany, then you should

study street signs more in depth, as a lot of signs look different than they do in the USA.

But there are also a few other unspoken rules you should be aware of.

One of them is the "rightbeforeleft" rule. If you are driving your car in residential areas you will

find that there are hardly any street signs and almost no trafic lights. So if two or more cars

approach a cross-way, it is simply expected for the one withouta car to his rightside to go first.

You will also find that this makes pedestrians really secure when crossing streets near such a

point. Since the cars are supposed to slow down and check for other drivers anyway,

pedestrians also expect the car to wait till they crossed the street.

You won't have to worry about street signs when you go by train, however there are also a few

rules to keep in mind.

Especially when you ride a long-distance train, many seats are reserved. If you sit there you

will have to get up when/if the person who reserved the seat comes in. So it spares you a lot

of trouble if you don't just avoid sitting in reserved seats, but also reserve a seat of your own.

This costs a small fee, but if your train journey lasts a few hours it is well worth it. However, be

careful which class you book. The first class is way more expensive but also more luxurious.

Unless you bought a first class ticket, you really shouldn't sit there. If you aren't sure which

class you just entered, you can either take a look at the wagons, since there is usually a

number indicating the class on the outside, or on the walls and doors, since you will often find



the indicating number there, too.

Unfortunately this only counts if you are traveling long-distance, on the ICE, IC or EC type

train. If you travel regional you should make sure to get your ticket before you enter the train,

because you can't just buy them in the train when you are traveling regional and there are

some pretty high fines if one gets caught dodging the fare.

The same goes when you travel by bus. It is always handy to have your ticket before you

enter. You can always buy one from the driver, but they are often a bit more expensive. And

don't try to get in at the back by all means. If the driver does not open the door, it means you

are expected to get in at the front. This way the driver checks if you already have a ticket and if

not you have to buy one. Sometimes the driver will refuse to drive on a single centimeter

unless he is sure that everyone has a ticket.

Please also keep in mind that while it is okay to eat or drink a bit when going a long distance

by train, it is not tolerated in busses or other kinds of local traffic. The drivers are really

articulate about not bringing ice cream, cola cups or Dner with you, because it could spill

and ruin other peoples clothes or soil the vehicle.

Also: there is a no-smoking rule in effect in Germany, which include many public building and

the public transport system as well as airports. Try not to forget it, because many people are

really touchy about it and you won't want to get into trouble.


67/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#12

What'sthatcabbagecalled?

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

3 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

12



68/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #12 - WHAT'S THAT CABBAGE CALLED? 2

GERMAN

1. #2: Da bin ich wieder.

2. #1: Hallo Herr Williams!

3. #2: Jetzt habe ich Hunger. Haben Sie etwas zu essen?

4. #1: Ja, es gibt gleich Mittagessen.

5. #2: Schn. Was gibt es?

6. #1: Pfannkuchen mit Speck.

7. #2: Pfannkuchen zum Mittagessen? Ich habe Lust auf Schnitzel. Haben

Sie keine Zeit, Schnitzel zu machen?

8. #1: Nein, es gibt Pfannkuchen.

ENGLISH

1. #2: There I am again.

2. #1: Hello John!

3.

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

4. #1: Yes, soon we will have lunch [there will be noon-food].

5. #2: Nice. What are we having? [What is there?]

6. #1: Pancakes with bacon.

CONT'D OVER



7. #2: Pancakes for lunch? I am in the mood for schnitzel [I have desire of

schnitzel]. Dont you have time to make schnitzel?

8. #1: No, we are having [there are] pancakes.

INFORMAL GERMAN

1. #2: Da bin ich wieder.

2. #1: Hallo John!

3. #2: Jetzt habe ich Hunger. Hast du etwas zu essen?

4. #1: Ja, es gibt gleich Mittagessen.

5. #2: Schn. Was gibt es?

6. #1: Pfannkuchen mit Speck.

7. #2: Pfannkuchen zum Mittagessen? Ich habe Lust auf Schnitzel. Hast

du keine Zeit, Schnitzel zu machen?

8. #1: Nein, es gibt Pfannkuchen.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #2: There I am again.

2. #1: Hello John!

CONT'D OVER



3. #2: Now I am hungry [I have hunger]. Do you have something to eat?

4. #1: Yes, soon we will have lunch [there will be noon-food].

5. #2: Nice. What are we having? [What is there?]

6. #1: Pancakes with bacon.

7. #2: Pancakes for lunch? I am in the mood for schnitzel [I have desire of

schnitzel]. Dont you have time to make schnitzel?

8. #1: No, we are having [there are] pancakes.

VOCABULARY


da there adverb

Hunger hunger noun, masculine, der no plural

Speck bacon noun, masculine, der masculine

Mittagessen lunch nounneuter; Mittag =

noon + Essen = food

etwas something adverb

wieder again adverb

Zeit time noun; feminine, die plural: Zeiten

Lust (auf) desire (of) noun, feminine, die feminine

mit with preposition

gleich shortly

SAMPLE SENTENCES



Die Post ist da!

The mail is there! [has arrived]

Er steht da drben.

He stands over there.

Ich habe Hunge r.

I am hungry.

Das Mittagessen ist gleich fertig.

Lunch wil l soon be ready.

Ja, e twas.

Yes, I speak some.

Ich wi l l etwas trinken.

I want to drink something.

Musst du wie der G itarre spielen?

Do you have to play the guitar again?

Die Zeiten nd ern sich.

Times change.

Ich h abe j etzt Zei t.

I have time now.

Ich habe Lust auf Fernseh en.

I am in the mood for TV.

Ich habe Lust auf Kaffee.

I am in the mood for coffee. (literally: I

have desire of coffee)

Ich muss m it dem Hund rausgehen.

I have to go out with the dog. / I have to

walk the dog.

Er spiel t mi t dem Hun d.

He plays with the dog.

Al le Menschen sind gleich.

All men are equal.

Ich bin gl eich wieder da.

I will be back shortly.

GRAMMAR

This lesson gives you the chance to let things settle in a bit, and to review the forms of haben.

Here they are again: ich habe, du hast, er hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie haben.

Habenis a very versatile verb, as evidenced by this lessons dialog. Here are some useful

expressions that involve haben:

- Hunger haben (to have hunger = to be hungry)

- Lust haben auf ... (to have desire of = to be in the mood for)



- Zeit haben (to have time)

And some more that werent in the dialog:

- Durst haben (to have thirst = to be thirsty)

- Interesse haben (to have interest = to be interested)

- Angst haben (to have fear = to be afraid)

- Recht haben (to have right = to be right) / Unrecht haben (to have wrong = to be wrong)

- gern haben (willingly have = to like)

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Typical German lunch foods what is typical German food?

It varies a lot by region; e. g. the Southern German cuisine is much more similar to the one of

Austria and Switzerland.

Some ingredients that can be found everywhere:- sausages

- mustard

- potatoes

- cabbage in different forms: Sauerkraut, Rotkohl, Grnkohl, Kohlrabi, Rosenkohl,

In dishes:

- potato soup

- potato salad

- sptzle

- kndel (dumplings made from potatoes)

- schnitzel

- Reibekuchen (potato pancakes)

Adopted food from immigrants:

- pizza and pasta

- dner kebab

- gyros


73/163

LESSONNOTES

Beginner#13

HavingfuninGermany

CONTENTS

2 German

2 English

2 Informal German


4 Sample Sentences

5 Grammar

6 Cultural Insight

#

13



74/163GERMANPOD101.COM BEGINNER #13 - HAVING FUN IN GERMANY 2

GERMAN

1. #1: Und? Ist es schn drauen?

2. #2: Ja. Ich liebe die schnen Grten, die kleinen Straen und die

lachenden Kinder. Dsseldorf ist eine groe Stadt, aber in groen

Stdten in Amerika ist die Umgebung nicht so schn..

3. #1: Sind Sie jetzt mde?

4. #2: Ja, ich bin sehr mde. Ich werde mich ausruhen.

5. #1: Wahrscheinlich kommt mein Mann spter. Er geht noch zu seinem

Verein.

6. #2: Okay.

ENGLISH

1. #1: And? Is it nice outside?

2. #2: Yes. I love the nice gardens, the small streets and the laughing

children. Dsseldorf is a big city, but in big cities in America the

surroundings arent as nice.

3. #1: Are you tired now?

4. #2: Yes, I am very tired. I will rest.

5. #1: My husband will probably come later. He is still going to his club.

6. #2: Okay.

INFORMAL GERMAN

CONT'D OVER



1. #1: Und? Ist es schn drauen?

2. #2: Ja. Ich liebe die schnen Grten, die kleinen Straen und die

lachenden Kinder. Dsseldorf ist eine groe Stadt, aber in groen

Stdten in Amerika ist die Umgebung nicht so schn..

3. #1: Bist du jetzt mde?

4. #2: Ja, ich bin sehr mde. Ich werde mich ausruhen.

5. #1: Wahrscheinlich kommt mein Mann spter. Er geht noch zu seinem

Verein.

6. #2: Okay.

INFORMAL ENGLISH

1. #1: And? Is it nice outside?

2. #2: Yes. I love the nice gardens, the small streets and the laughing

children. Dsseldorf is a big city, but in big cities in America the

surroundings arent as nice.

3. #1: Are you tired now?

4. #2: Yes, I am very tired. I will rest.

5. #1: My husband will probably come later. He is still going to his club.

6. #2: Okay.

VOCABULARY




drauen outside adverb

sein his possessive pronoun

Stadt town; city noun, feminine, diefeminine; plural:

Stdte

gro tall, big adjective

Kind child noun neuter; plural: Kinder

lachend laughing(ly)

adjective; derived

from lachen(to

laugh) add d to

any verb to create

participle-adjectives

like this

derived from

lachen(to laugh)

add d to any verb to

create participle-

adjectives like this

Strae street nounfeminine; plural:

Straen

klein small adjective

Garten garden nounmasculine; plural:

Grten

lieben to love verb

Verein club noun, masculine, der masculine; plural:

Vereine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Es ist schn dra uen.

It's nice outside.

Drauen ist es heute sehr schn.

It's very nice outside today.

S eine Arbeit ist nicht sehr

interessant.

His work isn't very interesting.

Diese S tadt ist wirk l ich gro.

This city is really big.



Thomas ist genauso gro wie Sven.

Thomas is just as tall as Sven.

Du hast ein e groe Klappe.

You have a big mouth.

Marion kr iegt bald ihr erstes Kind.

Marion will soon have her first baby.

Ich bin ei n Einzelkind.

I'm an only child.

Die Kinder freuen sich auf die

Fer ien.

The kids are looking forward to the

holidays.

Kinder an die Macht!

Kids to the power!

Er ging lachend nach Hause.

He went home laughingly.

Geh die S trae ent lang.

Go along the street.

Ich l iebe klei ne Parks.

I love small parks.

Dein G arten ist sehr schn.

Your garden is very beautiful.

Ich l iebe dich.

I love you.

Ich bin Mitgl ied im S chach-Verein.

I am member of the chess club.

GRAMMAR

In this lesson we are going to study adjectives and possessive pronouns more closely. As you

probably noticed by now, they tend to change their endings when combined with different

nouns. This happens so that they can reflect the case or gender, when there is no definite

article that could reflect it. Accordingly, the endings will remind you of the endings the definitearti

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