Learn some noun basics using an informal conversation as an example
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hi everyone! Welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 3, Lesson 2. What’s Your Favorite Kind Of German Film? I’m Gabriella. |
| Frank: Hallo! Ich bin Frank! And I’m Frank! |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the gender of German nouns. |
| Frank: The conversation you'll hear takes place in a German street. |
| Gabriella: The conversation is between Kate and Jens. The speakers are now acquainted and are friends. So they'll be using formal German. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jens: Kate, magst du auch Filme? |
| Kate: Ja! Ich gehe oft ins Kino. |
| Jens: Ahh. Ich auch. Was für Filme siehst du gerne? |
| Kate: Komödien! |
| Jens: Super! |
| Kate: Und du? |
| Jens: Ich?.. Hmm...Action! |
| Kate: Das ist auch interessant! |
| Gina: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jens: Kate, magst du auch Filme? |
| Kate: Ja! Ich gehe oft ins Kino. |
| Jens: Ahh. Ich auch. Was für Filme siehst du gerne? |
| Kate: Komödien! |
| Jens: Super! |
| Kate: Und du? |
| Jens: Ich?.. Hmm...Action! |
| Kate: Das ist auch interessant! |
| Gina: Now, let's hear it with English translation. |
| Jens: Kate, magst du auch Filme? |
| Gabriella: kate, do you also like films? |
| Kate: Ja! Ich gehe oft ins Kino. |
| Gabriella: Yes, I often go to the cinema. |
| Jens: Ahh. Ich auch. Was für Filme siehst du gerne? |
| Gabriella: Ahh. Me too. What kind of films do you enjoy seeing? |
| Kate: Komödien! |
| Gabriella: Comedies! |
| Jens: Super! |
| Gabriella: Great! |
| Kate: Und du? |
| Gabriella: And you? |
| Jens: Ich?.. Hmm...Action! |
| Gabriella: Me?.. Hmm...Action! |
| Kate: Das ist auch interessant! |
| Gabriella: That's also interesting! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Frank: So Gabriella, when I mention Germany and the Germans, what springs to mind? |
| Gabriella: Well, punctuality, being hard working... |
| Frank: And beer? |
| Gabriella (Haha) Well, beer, too, and I admit that lederhosen also comes to mind. But how accurate is all this? |
| Frank: Well, I think it's fair to say that punctuality is important. |
| Gabriella Yes, in Germany, if you’re ever running more than five minutes late, you should call ahead, apologize profusely, and explain why you’re late. |
| Frank: As for working hard, Germans in some ways put in fewer hours than people in other countries. |
| Gabriella: That's true. There are many public holidays, and Germans typically work less than 40 hours a week. |
| Frank: Plus there's a mandated four weeks of vacation every year. But I'd say, while they are at work, Germans don't waste a lot of time. |
| Gabriella: Ok, well how about drinking a lot of beer? |
| Frank: Well, collectively Germans do drink a lot of beer. |
| Gabriella: I hear there's a significant minority, though, that skews this statistic by consuming six or seven bottles a night… |
| Frank: That may be true. Ok, I want to clear up this question about lederhosen... |
| Gabriella: You know, I only saw it once in Austria, but never in Germany except during Oktoberfest, the famous beer-drinking festival. It's really only in Bavaria, isn’t it? |
| Frank: That's right, and there it's more a traditional form of dress than something people actually wear. |
| Gabriella: Interesting! Ok, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Gabriella: The first word we shall see is... |
| Frank: du [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: you (informal) |
| Frank: du [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: du [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: mögen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: to like |
| Frank: mögen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: mögen [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: Kino [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: cinema |
| Frank: Kino [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: Kino [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: Komödie [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: comedy |
| Frank: Komödie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: Komödie [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: Next |
| Frank: interessant [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: interesting |
| Frank: interessant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: interessant [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: And last, |
| Frank: super [natural native speed] |
| Gabriella: super, great |
| Frank: super [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Frank: super [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Frank: The first word we shall look at is du. du is the informal personal pronoun in German that is used for friends, relatives and in more casual or relaxed environments. du takes the “st” form. |
| Gabriella: Can you give us some examples, Frank? |
| Frank: du sprichst |
| Gabriella: meaning “you are speaking” |
| Frank: du singst |
| Gabriella: meaning “you are singing” |
| Gabriella: So, you can hear the -st endings at the end of these words, which is the du conjugation. Okay, Frank, what’s our next word? |
| Frank: mögen |
| Gabriella: mögen is a modal verb - it’s an important one as it means “to like”, “to want” and can also be used like the verb "may" in English. It has an irregular conjugation, so be careful with this one! |
| Frank: Yes, please see the lesson notes for more detail about how to conjugate it. |
| Gabriella: Okay, next is one wonderful little word we want to make you aware of most of all. |
| Frank: Yes! And that word is super! Das ist ja super! |
| Gabriella: (laughs) And it means “great”, “brilliant” or “super”! |
| Frank: It’s an easy one to remember and you'll hear it a lot in Germany! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you’ll learn the gender of German nouns. |
| Frank: Now, an important difference between English and German is that all nouns have an assigned gender. |
| Gabriella: That's right Now, while other European languages, like Spanish and French, also assign a masculine or feminine gender to all nouns... |
| Frank: German actually has a third — the neuter gender. |
| Gabriella: This word "neuter" is simply another way of saying "neither." |
| Frank: But it is still treated like a gender in its own right. Now, it can be very difficult to guess a noun's gender… |
| Gabriella: In fact, it can seem quite random. |
| Frank: But listeners, stick with us, and we'll give you a tip for how to learn them at the end of the lesson. |
| Gabriella: Now, the important thing about this gender is that it can force you to change the adjectives that modify the noun. |
| Frank: Right, and this is also true of the articles. |
| Gabriella: For example? |
| Frank: der, as in der Mann. |
| Gabriella: Right, this is like saying "the man." |
| Frank: Right, the article "der" is a bit like the word "the" in English, but be careful, you can't use it exactly the same way. |
| Gabriella: Good point. Now, Frank, if the gender of a noun changes the article, how do you say "the woman?" |
| Fank die Frau |
| Gabriella: So "der" becomes "die" for a feminine word. And now, in German, the word for "beer" is neuter. How do you say "the beer"? |
| Frank: das Bier |
| Gabriella: So it's |
| Frank: der |
| Gabriella: for masculine words… |
| Frank: die… |
| Gabriella: ...for feminine words and… |
| Frank: das |
| Gabriella: ...for neuter words. Now, Frank, in the dialogue we didn't hear any of these words, did we? |
| Frank: Actually, there was one, but it was hidden! |
| Gabriella: Wait, you mean when Kate said, "I often go to the cinema?" |
| Frank: Yes, she says, "Ich gehe oft ins Kino." |
| Gabriella: So the "ins" before the word "Kino," which means cinema, was actually two words contracted into one. Which words were they? |
| Frank: in das |
| Gabriella: So, "das" came before "Kino!" And that means that the German word for “cinema”... |
| Frank: ..."Kino" |
| Gabriella: Is neuter, right? |
| Frank: That's right. And this is the secret to learning the gender of German nouns. |
| Gabriella: Memorize the article when you learn the noun, and you will also learn its gender! |
Outro |
| Frank: Listeners, can you understand German TV shows, movies or songs? |
| Gabriella: How about friends and loved ones? conversations in German? |
| Frank: If you want to know what's going on, we have a tool to help. |
| Gabriella: Line-by-line audio. |
| Frank: Listen to the lesson conversations Line-By-Line, and learn to understand natural German fast! |
| Gabriella: It's simple really. |
| Frank: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Gabriella: Listen again and again, and tune your ear to natural German. |
| Frank: Rapidly understand natural German with this powerful tool. |
| Gabriella: Find this feature on the lesson page under Premium Member resources at GermanPod101.com. |
| Gabriella: That’s all for this lesson. Make sure to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone! |
| Frank: And we’ll see you next time. Tschüss! |
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