Learn to ask "How are you?"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 4 - How are you? In this lesson, you’ll learn to ask how somebody is in German. |
| Body |
| Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'How are you?' in German. |
| Albert: [Normal] Wie geht es dir? |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'how' |
| Albert: [Normal] wie [Slow] wie |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to go' |
| Albert: [Normal] geht [Slow] geht |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'it' |
| Albert: [Normal] es [Slow] es |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'you’ (informal) |
| Albert: [Normal] dir [Slow] dir |
| Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'How are you?' |
| Albert: [Slow] Wie geht es dir? [Normal] Wie geht es dir? |
| Eric: Now, imagine that you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'How are you?' |
| Albert: [Normal] Wie geht es Ihnen? |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'how' |
| Albert: [Normal] wie [Slow] wie |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to go' |
| Albert: [Normal] geht [Slow] geht |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'it' |
| Albert: [Normal] es [Slow] es |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'you (formal)' |
| Albert: [Normal] Ihnen [Slow] Ihnen |
| Eric: Note again the rising intonation here. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'How are you?' |
| Albert: [Slow] Wie geht es Ihnen? [Normal] Wie geht es Ihnen? |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning 'I'm fine.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Mir geht es gut. |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'I' |
| Albert: [Normal] Mir [Slow] Mir |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to go' |
| Albert: [Normal] geht [Slow] geht |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'it' |
| Albert: [Normal] es [Slow] es |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'good' |
| Albert: [Normal] gut [Slow] gut |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I'm fine.' |
| Albert: [Slow] Mir geht es gut. [Normal] Mir geht es gut. |
| Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'I'm not well.' |
| Albert: [Normal] Mir geht es nicht gut. |
| Eric: First is a word meaning 'I' |
| Albert: [Normal] Mir [Slow] Mir |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to go' |
| Albert: [Normal] geht [Slow] geht |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'it' |
| Albert: [Normal] es [Slow] es |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning 'not' |
| Albert: [Normal] nicht [Slow] nicht |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning 'good' |
| Albert: [Normal] gut [Slow] gut |
| Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I'm not well.' |
| Albert: [Slow] Mir geht es nicht gut. [Normal] Mir geht es nicht gut. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Albert: To ask somebody about their well-being, we usually use the expression Wie geht es dir? which is "How are you?". A more polite way is Wie geht es Ihnen? Ihnen is the formal version of Dir. When you're talking to friends the shorter version Wie geht's? is mostly used. |
Outro |
|---|
| 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! |
Comments
Hide