Learn how to conjugate German verbs, how to negate them, and how to address someone correctly while in Germany
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here, Absolute Beginner Season 2, Lesson 3, Lost in German Grammar. |
| Judith: Hi, my name is Judith. And I’m joined here by Chuck. |
| Chuck: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to GermanPod101.com. |
| Judith: What are we learning today? |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask for the way in German. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place on the street in Germany. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Sabina and a young passerby. |
| Judith: Sabina is talking to a kid. Therefore, she will be speaking informal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Judith: Entschuldigung! |
| Chuck: Ja? |
| Judith: Wir suchen die Goethe Schule. |
| Chuck: Lernt ihr Deutsch? |
| Judith: Ich nicht. Ich unterrichte Deutsch, aber Paul lernt Deutsch. Kennst du die Goethe-Schule? |
| Chuck: Ja... Das ist das Gebäude da. |
| Judith: Da links? |
| Chuck: Nein, rechts |
| Judith: Now slowly. |
| Judith: Entschuldigung! |
| Judith: Ja? |
| Judith: Wir suchen die Goethe Schule. |
| Judith: Lernt ihr Deutsch? |
| Judith: Ich nicht. Ich unterrichte Deutsch, aber Paul lernt Deutsch. Kennst du die Goethe-Schule? |
| Judith: Ja... Das ist das Gebäude da. |
| Judith: Da links? |
| Judith: Nein, rechts. |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: Entschuldigung! |
| Chuck: Excuse me. |
| Judith: Ja? |
| Chuck: Yes. |
| Judith: Wir suchen die Goethe Schule. |
| Chuck: We’re looking for the Goethe School. |
| Judith: Lernt ihr Deutsch? |
| Chuck: Are you learning German? |
| Judith: Ich nicht. Ich unterrichte Deutsch, aber Paul lernt Deutsch. Kennst du die Goethe-Schule? |
| Chuck: Not me. I teach German. But Paul is learning German. Do you know the Goethe School? |
| Judith: Ja... Das ist das Gebäude da. |
| Chuck: Yes. It’s that building there. |
| Judith: Da links? |
| Chuck: On the left? |
| Judith: Nein, rechts. |
| Chuck: No, on the right. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Okay. I think it’s about the right time to talk about politeness. In this lesson we saw the other two ways of saying “you” in German. „ihr“ is used when you’re talking to a group of people, much like the French „vous“ or the Spanish „vosotros“. |
| Chuck: Would you say that sounds like a bit like “ya´ll”. |
| Judith: Yes. That’s German “ihr”. But there’s also “du” and “du” doesn’t have an English equivalent or whatsoever. “Du” is used when talking informally to one person. |
| Chuck: Let’s have a look as to when you would use the informal „du“ as oppose to the formal „Sie“ to address someone. |
| Judith: Your default should be to address all Germans you meet as „Sie“. Formal language doesn’t necessarily mean distance, it means respect. Especially older people are very sensitive when it comes to how you address them. And using the formal „Sie“ is the easiest way of saying “I respect you” in German. |
| Chuck: That’s why even some people who’ve known each other for quite a while still use the formal language with each other. Generally, you should only use informal language as new acquaintance if? |
| Judith: If you’re talking to someone under 18 as in this dialogue. |
| Chuck: You and the person you’re talking with are both around student age. |
| Judith: Or if you and the person you’re talking with are relatives. |
| Chuck: In all other cases you should wait to your “S” to switch to informal language. It’s up to the older person or the one higher in rank to do so or not. You’re boss or teacher will certainly never ask you, well, unless you work at the university, but don’t expect it there either, because that would diminish his authority in the eyes of everyone. |
| Judith: Yes. It’s really unusual for that. But even regular acquaintances, don’t switch to using first name as 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 like a child. That being said, as a foreigner you certainly have some leeway in case you should forget. |
| Chuck: Let’s have a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall look at is? |
| Judith: ihr |
| Chuck: You or you, plural. |
| Judith: ihr |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: nicht |
| Chuck: Not. |
| Judith: nicht |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: aber |
| Chuck: But. |
| Judith: aber |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: kennen |
| Chuck: To know someone. |
| Judith: kennen |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: du |
| Chuck: You, informally. |
| Judith: du |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: ist |
| Chuck: Is. |
| Judith: ist |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Gebäude |
| Chuck: Building. |
| Judith: Gebäude it’s neuter. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: da |
| Chuck: There. |
| Judith: da |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: links |
| Chuck: Left or on the left. |
| Judith: links |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: rechts |
| Chuck: Right or on the right. |
| Judith: rechts |
| 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 word we shall look at is the word „aber“. You will soon see that Germans abuse the word „aber“. |
| Chuck: But? |
| Judith: They use it much more often than an English speaker would. Watch out for this and adopt your own usage of the word when speaking German. And the other thing is “Gebäude”. “Gebäude” is the first neutral word we learn. So keep in mind that it’s „das Gebäude“ but „die Schule“. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is conjugational verbs and negation. |
| Judith: In this lesson, we’ve seen all the other endings that regular German verbs get in the present tense. Here’s an overview. Let’s take “lernen” as an example. lernen |
| Chuck: To learn. |
| Judith: ich lern-e |
| Chuck: I learn. |
| Judith: du lern-st |
| Chuck: You learn, informally. |
| Judith: er lern-t |
| Chuck: He learns. |
| Judith: wir lern-en |
| Chuck: We learn. |
| Judith: ihr lern-t |
| Chuck: You learn, addressing more than one person. |
| Judith: sie / Sie lern-en |
| Chuck: They learn or you learn formally. |
| Judith: The same with suchen and trinken this is slightly more difficult than the English present tense. However, German is easier than English and that there is no difference between “I drink” and “I am drinking,” both are „ich trinke“, same for “he learns” and “he is learning,” only one translation Ich lerne, “you search” and “you are searching” Ich suche, there’s a big difference in English and no difference in German. |
| Chuck: Another thing that’s easier in German is the negation. To make a sentence negative, just add „nicht“. |
| Judith: Ich suche nicht. |
| Chuck: I’m not searching or I don’t search. |
| Judith: Ich lerne nicht |
| Chuck: I’m not studying or I don’t study. |
| Judith: Ich trinke nicht. |
| Chuck: I’m not drinking or I don’t drink. That just about does it for today. |
Outro |
| Judith: Listeners, ever have any German language or lesson related questions? |
| Chuck: I bet you do or maybe you have some feedback for us. Leave us a comment or ask a question on the lessons page. |
| Judith: It’s super simple. Go to GermanPod101.com. |
| Chuck: Click on comments. |
| Judith: Enter your comment and name. |
| Chuck: And that’s it. |
| Judith: Commenting is a great way to practice writing and reading in German. |
| Chuck: It helps you learn faster. |
| Judith: And it helps us to get better through your feedback. |
| Chuck: So no excuses. |
| Judith: Go to GermanPod101.com and comment now. |
| Chuck: Now. All right, until next time. |
| Judith: Bis nächstes Mal! |
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