Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 17 - Why are you late? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask why in German. |
Body |
Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'Why are you late?' in German. |
Albert: [Normal] Warum bist du zu spät? |
Eric: First is a word meaning 'why' |
Albert: [Normal] Warum [Slow] Warum |
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'are' |
Albert: [Normal] bist [Slow] bist |
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'you’ (informal) |
Albert: [Normal] du [Slow] du |
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'too,’ as in ‘too much' |
Albert: [Normal] zu [Slow] zu |
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'late' |
Albert: [Normal] spät [Slow] spät |
Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'Why are you late?' |
Albert: [Slow] Warum bist du zu spät? [Normal] Warum bist du zu spät? |
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the informal way to say, 'I missed the train.' |
Albert: [Normal] Ich habe den Zug verpasst. |
Eric: First is a word meaning 'I' |
Albert: [Normal] Ich [Slow] Ich |
Eric: Next comes the word meaning 'to have' |
Albert: [Normal] habe [Slow] habe |
Eric: Following that comes the word meaning 'the' |
Albert: [Normal] den [Slow] den |
Eric: Then comes the word meaning 'train' |
Albert: [Normal] Zug [Slow] Zug |
Eric: And finally, we have the word for 'missed,’ or ‘lost' |
Albert: [Normal] verpasst [Slow] verpasst |
Eric: Listen again to the informal phrase meaning 'I missed the train.' |
Albert: [Slow] Ich habe den Zug verpasst. [Normal] Ich habe den Zug verpasst. |
Eric: Here's a question meaning 'Why did you buy this?' |
Albert: [Normal] Warum hast du das gekauft? |
Eric: First comes the word meaning 'why' |
Albert: [Normal] Warum [Slow] Warum |
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to have' |
Albert: [Normal] hast [Slow] hast |
Eric: Followed by the word meaning 'you' |
Albert: [Normal] du [Slow] du |
Eric: Then we have the word meaning 'that' |
Albert: [Normal] das [Slow] das |
Eric: And finally comes the word for 'bought' |
Albert: [Normal] gekauft [Slow] gekauft |
Eric: Listeners, please note the rising intonation. Listen again to the question, 'Why did you buy this?' |
Albert: [Slow] Warum hast du das gekauft? [Normal] Warum hast du das gekauft? |
Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'To buy a gift.' |
Albert: [Normal] Um ein Geschenk zu kaufen. |
Eric: First, we have the word meaning 'in order to' |
Albert: [Normal] um [Slow] um |
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'a,’ or ‘an' |
Albert: [Normal] ein [Slow] ein |
Eric: Then comes the word meaning 'present, gift' |
Albert: [Normal] Geschenk [Slow] Geschenk |
Eric: Followed by the word meaning 'too (much)' |
Albert: [Normal] zu [Slow] zu |
Eric: And lastly we have the word meaning 'to buy' |
Albert: [Normal] kaufen [Slow] kaufen |
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'To buy a gift.' |
Albert: [Slow] Um ein Geschenk zu kaufen. [Normal] Um ein Geschenk zu kaufen. |
Cultural Insight |
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
Albert: A famous expression in German is |
Warum nicht? which means "Why not?" just like in English. |
You can use this phrase to accept a proposition if you agree but are not really keen on doing so, or if the question was posed spontaneously. |
For example, if a friend asks you suddenly "How about we go to the cinema tonight?" |
You can answer Warum nicht? which means, "Why not?" |
Outro
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Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
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