Learn how to give the time and the proper etiquette when speaking over the phone
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Absolute Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 17. Do you have the time in Germany? Hello and welcome to GermanPod101.com where we studied modern German in fun educational format. |
| Judith: So, brush up on the German that you started learning long ago or started learning today. |
| Chuck: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson, Judith. What are we looking at today? |
| Judith: In this lesson, you'll learn how to say the time in German. |
| Chuck: This conversation takes place on the phone. |
| Judith: The conversation is between Paul and Sarah. Paul is calling her after school in order to set up the meeting tonight. |
| Chuck: The speakers are classmates; therefore they will be speaking informal German. Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Judith: Hallo! |
| Chuck: Ähm... spreche ich mit Sarah? |
| Judith: Ja. Wer ist da? |
| Chuck: Ich bin's, Paul. |
| Judith: Ach, hallo Paul! Wie geht’s? |
| Chuck: Gut, danke. Also... wegen heute Abend... |
| Judith: Ja? |
| Chuck: Wann sollen wir uns treffen? |
| Judith: Also mein Freund spielt um halb elf, aber ich werde schon früher da sein. |
| Chuck: Wie früh? |
| Judith: Vielleicht komme ich um Viertel nach zehn, oder um zehn Uhr. |
| Chuck: Mit dem Bus bin ich entweder um fünf vor zehn oder um zehn Uhr zwölf da. |
| Judith: Dann nimm den Bus um zehn Uhr zwölf, dann bin ich auf jeden Fall da. |
| Chuck: Okay, dann sehen wir uns heute Abend um Viertel nach zehn im International Pub! |
| Judith: Okay, bis dann! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: Hallo! |
| Chuck: Hello. |
| Judith: Ähm... spreche ich mit Sarah? |
| Chuck: Uh, am I speaking with Sarah? |
| Judith: Ja. Wer ist da? |
| Chuck: Yes, who's there? |
| Judith: Ich bin's, Paul. |
| Chuck: It's me, Paul. |
| Judith: Ach, hallo Paul! Wie geht’s? |
| Chuck: Oh, hello, Paul. How's it going? |
| Judith: Gut, danke. Also... wegen heute Abend... |
| Chuck: Good, thanks. So, about this evening. |
| Judith: Ja? |
| Chuck: Yes? |
| Judith: Wann sollen wir uns treffen? |
| Chuck: When should we meet? |
| Judith: Also mein Freund spielt um halb elf, aber ich werde schon früher da sein. |
| Chuck: Well, my friend plays at 10:30, but I will already be there earlier. |
| Judith: Wie früh? |
| Chuck: How early? |
| Judith: Vielleicht komme ich um Viertel nach zehn, oder um zehn Uhr. |
| Chuck: Perhaps I'll come at quarter past 10:00 or at 10 o'clock. |
| Judith: Mit dem Bus bin ich entweder um fünf vor zehn oder um zehn Uhr zwölf da. |
| Chuck: With the bus, I'll either be there five minutes before 10 or at 10:12. |
| Judith: Dann nimm den Bus um zehn Uhr zwölf, dann bin ich auf jeden Fall da. |
| Chuck: Then take the bus arriving at 10:12. I'll definitely be there then. |
| Judith: Okay, dann sehen wir uns heute Abend um Viertel nach zehn im International Pub! |
| Chuck: Okay, then see you this evening at quarter past 10 in the international pub. |
| Judith: Okay, bis dann! |
| Chuck: Okay, until then |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| . Hey, I know what I want to talk about for our cultural point. |
| Judith: Oh? What? |
| Chuck: Calling someone. |
| Judith: Sounds good. There's one thing that's really striking. When you're calling a home phone in Germany, most people will say their name immediately after picking up the receiver. This is to let you know that you've reached the right person. |
| Chuck: And that they expect the same from you when you call. If they just say their name, then you should definitely say your name when you answer. |
| Judith: Yes. Your answer can be just your name or it can be your name with a greeting. But if you fail to say who you are, then quite a few people will get annoyed at you or maybe they'll even hang up. |
| Chuck: It's just a common courtesy. It also distinguishes you from people who have no business calling like telemarketers or lottery games. |
| Judith: Yeah. If you want to talk to someone else in the household, you should still say your name before asking for the phone to be passed over. And if you want to be really polite, you should also have a brief conversation with whoever answered the phone, especially if you're already acquainted with that person. |
| Chuck: Of course, these rules may be a bit relaxed when you're calling someone's cell phone or talking to a foreigner. For example, today, that condition was met. So we don't hear the typical beginning. What do typical conversations sound like on a phone in Germany? |
| Judith: Well, if we imagine that Paul is calling Sarah, then she should go like, "Sarah?" |
| Chuck: I guess he would answer something like, "Paul here. Hello, Sarah." |
| Judith: "Ah, Paul Wie geht's?." |
| Chuck: I guess that is much more efficient. |
| Judith: Yes. No need to wonder who you're talking to.. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chuck: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is. |
| Judith: wer |
| Chuck: Who. |
| Judith: wer |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: wegen |
| Chuck: Because of. |
| Judith: wegen |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: wann |
| Chuck: When. |
| Judith: wann |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: uns |
| Chuck: Us. |
| Judith: uns |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: treffen |
| Chuck: To meet. |
| Judith: treffen and this is a vowel-changing verb. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: um |
| Chuck: Around or at a point of time. |
| Judith: um |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: halb |
| Chuck: Half. |
| Judith: halb |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: früh |
| Chuck: Early. |
| Judith: früh |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Viertel |
| Chuck: Quarter or a (bureau). |
| Judith: Viertel this is neutral and the plural is the same. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: vor |
| Chuck: Before or some time ago. |
| Judith: vor |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: dann |
| Chuck: Then. |
| Judith: dann |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Chuck: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first phrase we'll look at is „Wie geht’s?“. It's the colloquial short version of „Wie geht es dir?“. |
| Chuck: So it's really saying, "What's up?" Wouldn't you? |
| Judith: Yeah „Wie geht’s?“. Then we should look at „treffen“. |
| Chuck: To meet. |
| Judith: „treffen“ is a funny verb in German because Germans literally say, "We meet us" or "We meet ourselves." Hence, there is the unexpected „uns“ in „wir treffen uns“. You don't just say „wir treffen“ you have to say „wir treffen uns“ |
| Chuck: Sometimes you may even hear Germans say, "We meet ourselves." |
| Judith: Yes. It's a source of mistake. Then we should talk about „früh“. |
| Chuck: Early. |
| Judith: „früh“ means early, so „früher“ means… |
| Chuck: Earlier. |
| Judith: Yes. In German, the comparative form of adjectives is always made by adding "ER". So „früh“, „früher“ / However, I shouldn't tell you this yet. It will be a topic in the intermediate series. Finally, Bis dann! |
| Chuck: Until then. |
| Judith: It's a common informal way of saying Goodbye, like "see you." You can also use „bis“ with other words. For example, „Bis morgen!“. |
| Chuck: See you tomorrow. |
| Judith: Or „Bis heute Abend!“. |
| Chuck: See you tonight. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Judith: The focus of this lesson is the time of the day. In German, there are different ways to tell time. The most common one is to name the nearest quarter of the hour. |
| Judith: So in this case, you would say something like Um ____. |
| Chuck: That would be the full hour. |
| Judith: Yeah. |
| Chuck: Basically, o'clock. |
| Judith: Yeah, at 6 o'clock Um sechs Uhr. or you could say Viertel nach ____. |
| Chuck: A quarter past a certain hour. In this case, 6. |
| Judith: Viertel nach sechs. of course, there's also Viertel vor ____. |
| Chuck: A quarter of an hour or before full hour. |
| Judith: Yes, and Halb ____. |
| Chuck: Half an hour before. |
| Judith: Yes. But careful here because “Halb sechs” is actually half past 5, because we are going towards the next hour. If you say “Halb acht” it's half past 7. You're always thinking a half hour before 8 “Halb acht” |
| Chuck: You can also indicate any amount of minutes before or after the full hour by using „vor“ as in… |
| Judith: Meaning before. |
| Chuck: And „nach“. |
| Judith: After. |
| Chuck: What are some examples of that? |
| Judith: Zehn nach sechs. |
| Chuck: Ten past 6. |
| Judith: Zehn vor vier. |
| Chuck: Ten to 4. Or you can just give the time digitally by reading the numbers like off a wristwatch. |
| Judith: Yes, „Zwölf Uhr Vier“. |
| Chuck: 12:04. When using this approach, almost all Germans will use a 24-hour schema instead of 12. So 5 o'clock in the evening is usually called „Siebzehn Uhr“ 17 o'clock. This is really critical too when you look at the train schedules or flights within Europe. |
Outro |
| Chuck: That just about does it for today. Like our podcasts? |
| Judith: Then like our Facebook page too. |
| Chuck: Get lesson updates on German word of the day and news on Facebook. |
| Judith: Just search for GermanPod101.com and like our fan page. |
| Chuck: And if you like a lesson or series in GermanPod101… |
| Judith: Let us know. |
| Chuck: Click the like button next to the lesson or series. |
| Chuck:That's all for today, see you next week! |
| Judith:Das ist alles für heute, bis nächste Woche! |
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