Learn about German verb conjugation from a formal conversation between two strangers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hello everyone, and welcome to GermanPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 3, Lesson 1 - Learning the Basics of German. |
| Frank: Hi everyone! Frank here. |
| Gabriella: Thanks for joining us for this course! We’re going to take you on an exciting ride of German language and culture. Let’s get started! |
| Frank: In this lesson, you’ll learn the regular verb conjugation, and how to talk to a stranger in Germany. |
| Gabriella: The conversation takes place on a street in Germany. |
| Frank: It’s between two speakers, Kate and Jens. |
| Gabriella: They’re strangers meeting for the first time, so they’ll be using formal German. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jens: Entschuldigung... |
| Kate: Ja? |
| Jens: Wie heißen Sie? |
| Kate: Ich heiße Kate Andrews. |
| Jens: Ich heiße Jens Schneider! |
| Kate: Ich freue mich, Sie kennen zu lernen! |
| Jens: Ja, freut mich auch! |
| Gina: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jens: Entschuldigung... |
| Kate: Ja? |
| Jens: Wie heißen Sie? |
| Kate: Ich heiße Kate Andrews. |
| Jens: Ich heiße Jens Schneider! |
| Kate: Ich freue mich, Sie kennen zu lernen! |
| Jens: Ja, freut mich auch! |
| Gina: Now, let's hear it with English translation. |
| Jens: Entschuldigung... |
| Gabriella: Excuse me... |
| Kate: Ja? |
| Gabriella: Yes? |
| Jens: Wie heißen Sie? |
| Gabriella: What's your name? |
| Kate: Ich heiße Kate Andrews. |
| Gabriella: My name is Kate Andrews. |
| Jens: Ich heiße Jens Schneider! |
| Gabriella: I'm Jens Schneider! |
| Kate: Ich freue mich, Sie kennen zu lernen! |
| Gabriella: It's nice to meet you! |
| Jens: Ja, freut mich auch! |
| Gabriella: Yes, you too! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: Frank, tell me, when Germans meet someone for the first time, do they ever hug or exchange kisses? |
| Frank: Well, young people do this. It's a custom that Germans imported from the neighboring French. |
| Gabriella: It sounds quite trendy. |
| Frank: It is. Most Germans will shake hands while nodding their heads slightly. |
| Gabriella: This nod prevents prolonged eye contact, which can be perceived as arrogant. And older or higher-ranking people should offer their hand first. |
| Frank: Right, if you fail to observe this rule, some people may turn your handshake down. |
| Gabriella: This is pretty unlikely, though, isn't it?? |
| Frank: Yes, thankfully. |
| Gabriella: That’s good to know. Ok, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gabriella: The first word we shall see is... |
| Frank: Entschuldigung [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: apology, excuse me, I’m sorry |
| Frank: Entschuldigung [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: Entschuldigung [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: kennenlernen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to get to know (someone), to get acquainted |
| Frank: kennenlernen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: kennenlernen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: ja [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: yes |
| Frank: ja [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: ja [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: ich [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: I |
| Frank: ich [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: ich [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: heißen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to be called |
| Frank: heißen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: heißen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: auch [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: also, too |
| Frank: auch [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: auch [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: Sie [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: you (formal) |
| Frank: Sie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: Sie [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: And last, |
| Frank: sich freuen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to be happy |
| Frank: sich freuen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank : sich freuen [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let’s take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Frank: The first word we’ll look at is Sie. |
| Gabriella: This is the formal word for “You.” Like in French, Spanish, and other languages, the word for "you" changes depending on formality. |
| Frank: If you’re addressing somebody by their family name, then you should also call them Sie. |
| Gabriella: There's another word for "you" for informal situations. |
| Frank: Yes, and it’s Du. |
| Gabriella: But Sie is the default, except when you’re talking to children or people who explicitly ask you to switch to this informal manner of address. As a foreigner, you would do well to address everybody as Sie initially. |
| Frank: When you switch between these Sie and Du you also have to change the form of the verb in the sentence. |
| Gabriella: But we'll cover this in more detail later. Next, in the dialogue, both Jens and Kate used variations on "sich freuen." |
| Frank: Yes, Kate said "Ich freue mich" as part of the expression meaning "I'm pleased to meet you." |
| Gabriella: And Jens said in response "freut mich auch," or, “I'm also glad”. |
| Frank: How these work on a grammatical level is a bit outside the scope of this lesson. |
| Gabriella: But you will hear these used all the time in formal conversations. Please check out the lesson notes for more detail on this phrase. |
| Frank: Now, last we have "Entschuldigung." |
| Gabriella: This means "I'm sorry" or "Excuse me," and can also be used to get someone's attention. |
| Frank: That's right, it's a very handy expression. |
| Gabriella: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn about conjugating regular verbs. |
| Frank: "Conjugating" means changing the ending of the verb depending on who or what is doing the action. For example, it will change if the person doing the action is one person or many. |
| Gabriella: Right, and verbs will also conjugate, or change, if it is in the first, second, or third person. |
| Frank: And in a number of other situations too, such as when verbs describe actions that have taken place in the past. |
| Gabriella: When you look in the dictionary, German verbs all end in “EN." |
| Frank: This form is called the infinitive. It's a special form of the verb, which you will learn more about later. |
| Gabriella: For now, you can think of it as a verb stripped down to its essential meaning. That doesn’t mean that verbs will always end in “EN" though. |
| Frank: Right, in a simple sentence, it will have a subject, like "I" in the sentence "I sing." This subject can force the verb to change its form. In German, "I" is |
| Gabriella: ich, |
| Gabriella: Now the verb "to sing" is "singen" in the infinitive. But if it has the subject "ich," it will change to... |
| Frank: singe |
| Gabriella: Together, that's |
| Frank: ich singe |
| Gabriella: The informal word for "you" is |
| Frank: du |
| Gabriella: With du, though, you can't say singe. In this situation, the verb will change to |
| Frank: singst |
| Gabriella: Here is "you sing". |
| Frank: Du singst |
| Gabriella: So singe changed to singst. Frank, what are the words for he, she, and it? |
| Frank: Er is “he”, Sie is “she”, and Es is “it”. When you use these, you need to change the verb for "sing" to Singt. |
| Gabriella: The sentence, "He sings," is |
| Frank: Er Singt. |
| Gabriella: And the sentence "She sings" is |
| Frank: Sie Singt. |
| Gabriella: The sentence, "It sings" is |
| Frank: Es Singt. |
| Gabriella: Okay, and the word for "we" is |
| Frank: Wir |
| Gabriella: And the sentence "we sing," then, is |
| Frank: Wir singen. |
| Gabriella: Great! That's easy. It's just like the infinitive. Now the plural version of "you" is |
| Frank: Ihr |
| Gabriella: Then the sentence, "You all sing," is |
| Frank: Ihr singt. |
| Gabriella: Finally, we have the third person plural, "they," |
| Frank: sie |
| Gabriella: For this, you can just use the same form as the infinitive |
| Frank: Singen |
| Gabriella: Here's the sentence, "They sing." |
| Frank: Sie singen. |
| Gabriella: Now, there's also a formal version of "you," which is |
| Frank: Sie |
| Gabriella: With this, you also use the same form as the infinitive, singen. So the formal sentence "You sing," is |
| Frank: Sie singen. |
| Gabriella: Listeners, let's practice. The German word for "to drink" is |
| Frank: trinken |
| Gabriella: So "I drink" is |
| (pause) |
| Frank: ich trinke |
| Gabriella: And the formal sentence, "You drink" is |
| (pause) |
| Frank: Sie trinken |
| Gabriella: Make sure to check out the lesson notes and practice these forms out loud. You can also practice them in the lesson comments! |
Outro |
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| Gabriella: That’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone! |
| Frank: And be sure to join us for the next lesson. Tschüss! |
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