Learn more about special conditional forms
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: This Beginner Series, Lesson 23. |
| Judith: Willkommen zurück. |
| Chuck: Welcome back! I’m glad you’re with us for another GermanPod101 Beginner lesson. |
| Judith: Yes. I’m glad too! I love teaching you my native language. |
| Chuck: So what are you going to teach us today? |
| Judith: In today’s lesson, we’ll cover a lot more numbers and the form “möchte”, which will come in really handy when shopping in Germany. Today’s vocabulary is also very useful for shopping. |
| Chuck: And the dialogue? What’s today’s dialogue about? |
| Judith: Today, we have a very long, juicy dialogue which is taking place at a German post office. John is there to send out his post cards and then to bug the clerk with more questions. I will play the clerk. |
| Chuck: All right. Let’s listen in. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Clerk: Der Nächste, bitte! |
| John: Guten Tag! |
| Clerk: Guten Tag. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| John: Ich möchte diese zwanzig Postkarten verschicken. |
| Clerk: Wohin? |
| John: Achtzehn gehen nach Amerika und zwei nach Deutschland. |
| Clerk: Haben Sie schon Briefmarken? |
| John: Nein, ich möchte Briefmarken hier kaufen. Was kosten die Briefmarken? |
| Clerk: Die Postkarten nach Deutschland kosten je 45 Cent, die Postkarten nach Amerika kosten je einen Euro, also insgesamt achtzehn Euro neunzig. |
| John: Hier sind zwanzig Euro. |
| Clerk: Danke, und hier sind zehn Cent zurück. Sonst noch etwas? |
| John: Was kostet ein Brief nach Amerika? |
| Clerk: Wie groß ist der Brief denn, und wie dick? Geben Sie ihn mir. |
| John: Ich habe noch keinen Brief, aber ich werde einen Brief schreiben. |
| Clerk: Ein normaler Brief kostet einen Euro siebzig. |
| John: Und ein Paket oder Päckchen? |
| Clerk: Was denn jetzt, ein Paket oder ein Päckchen? Wie groß und wie schwer? Per Luftpost oder nicht? |
| John: Ähmm… sagen Sie mir einfach alles. |
| Clerk: Alles??? Das würde Stunden dauern! … Aber nehmen Sie sich doch diese Broschüre. |
| John: Ah, danke. |
| Clerk: War das jetzt alles, oder möchten Sie noch etwas? |
| John: Das war alles. |
| Clerk: Okay, dann auf Wiedersehen! |
| John: Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Clerk: Der nächste bitte! |
| Judith: Okay. Now read slowly. |
| Clerk: Der Nächste, bitte! |
| John: Guten Tag! |
| Clerk: Guten Tag. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| John: Ich möchte diese zwanzig Postkarten verschicken. |
| Clerk: Wohin? |
| John: Achtzehn gehen nach Amerika und zwei nach Deutschland. |
| Clerk: Haben Sie schon Briefmarken? |
| John: Nein, ich möchte Briefmarken hier kaufen. Was kosten die Briefmarken? |
| Clerk: Die Postkarten nach Deutschland kosten je 45 Cent, die Postkarten nach Amerika kosten je einen Euro, also insgesamt achtzehn Euro neunzig. |
| John: Hier sind zwanzig Euro. |
| Clerk: Danke, und hier sind zehn Cent zurück. Sonst noch etwas? |
| John: Was kostet ein Brief nach Amerika? |
| Clerk: Wie groß ist der Brief denn, und wie dick? Geben Sie ihn mir. |
| John: Ich habe noch keinen Brief, aber ich werde einen Brief schreiben. |
| Clerk: Ein normaler Brief kostet einen Euro siebzig. |
| John: Und ein Paket oder Päckchen? |
| Clerk: Was denn jetzt, ein Paket oder ein Päckchen? Wie groß und wie schwer? Per Luftpost oder nicht? |
| John: Ähmm… sagen Sie mir einfach alles. |
| Clerk: Alles??? Das würde Stunden dauern! … Aber nehmen Sie sich doch diese Broschüre. |
| John: Ah, danke. |
| Clerk: War das jetzt alles, oder möchten Sie noch etwas? |
| John: Das war alles. |
| Clerk: Okay, dann auf Wiedersehen! |
| John: Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Clerk: Der nächste bitte! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: Der Nächste, bitte! |
| Chuck: Next, please! |
| Judith: Guten Tag! Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| Chuck: Good day. How can I help you? |
| Judith: Ich möchte diese zwanzig Postkarten verschicken. |
| Chuck: I would like to send off these twenty postcards. |
| Judith: Wohin? |
| Chuck: Where to? |
| Judith: Achtzehn gehen nach Amerika und zwei nach Deutschland. |
| Chuck: Eighteen are going to America and two to Germany. |
| Judith: Haben Sie schon Briefmarken? |
| Chuck: Do you already have stamps? |
| Judith: Nein, ich möchte Briefmarken hier kaufen. |
| Chuck: No, I’d like to buy stamps here. |
| Judith: Was kosten die Briefmarken? |
| John: What do the stamps cost? |
| Judith: Die Postkarten nach Deutschland kosten je 45 Cent. |
| Chuck: The postcards to Germany cost 45 cents each. |
| Judith: die Postkarten nach Amerika kosten je einen Euro |
| Chuck: The postcards to America each cost one Euro. |
| Judith: Also insgesamt achtzehn Euro neunzig. |
| Chuck: So together, eighteen euros and ninety cents. |
| Judith: Hier sind zwanzig Euro. |
| Chuck: Here are twenty euros. |
| Judith: Danke, und hier sind zehn Cent zurück. |
| Chuck: Thanks, and here is ten cents back. |
| Judith: Sonst noch etwas? |
| Chuck: Anything else? |
| Judith: Was kostet ein Brief nach Amerika? |
| Chuck: What does a letter to America cost? |
| Judith: Wie groß ist der Brief denn, und wie dick? |
| Chuck: How big is your letter, and how thick? |
| Judith: Geben Sie ihn mir. |
| Chuck: Give it to me. |
| Judith: Ich habe noch keinen Brief, aber ich werde einen Brief schreiben. |
| Chuck: I don’t yet have a letter, but I will write a letter. |
| Judith: Ein normaler Brief kostet einen Euro siebzig. |
| Chuck: A normal letter costs one Euro and seventy cents. |
| Judith: [*] |
| Chuck: Ah, so expensive? |
| Judith: Und ein Paket oder Päckchen? |
| Chuck: And a package or a little package? |
| Judith: Was denn jetzt, ein Paket oder ein Päckchen? |
| Chuck: What then now, a package or a little package? |
| Judith: Wie groß und wie schwer? |
| Chuck: How big and how heavy? |
| Judith: Per Luftpost oder nicht? |
| Chuck: By air mail or not? |
| Judith: Ähmm… sagen Sie mir einfach alles. |
| Chuck: Ehmm… just tell me everything. |
| Judith: Alles??? Das würde Stunden dauern! … |
| Chuck: Everything??? That would take (last) hours! … |
| Judith: Aber nehmen Sie sich doch diese Broschüre. |
| Chuck: But take this brochure. |
| Judith: Ah, danke. |
| Chuck: Ah, thanks. |
| Judith: War das jetzt alles, oder möchten Sie noch etwas? |
| Chuck: Was that now everything or would you like something else? |
| Judith: Das war alles. |
| Chuck: That was everything. |
| Judith: Okay, dann auf Wiedersehen! |
| Chuck: Okay, then goodbye! |
| Judith: Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Chuck: Goodbye! |
| Judith: Der nächste bitte! |
| Chuck: Next, please! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chuck: Man, that was one long dialogue. |
| Judith: Yeah, but it contained a lot of phrases that you’re likely to need in Germany. |
| Chuck: So if I were you, I would use the dialogue track to review this dialogue several more times and use the line-by-line audio tool in the learning center to practice saying each phrase. |
| Judith: Yeah. That way, you’ll be prepared to send off your post cards from Germany. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Okay, let’s cover some of the vocabulary more in depths now. The first word is Nächster. |
| Chuck: “Next.” |
| Judith: Nächster [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Next”. |
| Judith: This is an adjective, so it changes with the word; Nächster for masculine; nächste for feminine; nächstes for a neuter. And you know the whole declension. In the dialogue, we saw the form Der nächste bitte. |
| Chuck: “Next, please”. |
| Judith: “The next one, please” literally. At the end of our lesson, we often say, “Bis nächste Woche”. |
| Chuck: “Until next week”. |
| Judith: So you should already know this word. The next word is Helfen [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “To help”. |
| Judith: Helfen [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Helfen [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “To help”. |
| Judith: This is a vowel-changing verb. The E changes to I; “Ich helfe, du hilfst” and “er hilft”. Next, Wohin [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Where to”. |
| Judith: Wohin [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Wohin [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Where to”. |
| Judith: Next, Briefmarke [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Stamp”. |
| Judith: Briefmarke [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Briefmarke [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Stamp”. |
| Judith: This word is feminine, die Briefmarke. And the plural is Briefmarken. |
| Chuck: “Stamps”. |
| Judith: Next, Kosten [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “To cost”. |
| Judith: Kosten [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Kosten [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “To cost”. |
| Judith: This can also mean, “to taste” in a different context; if you want to taste a little of a new dish. |
| Chuck: I don’t hear that very often, though. |
| Judith: Yeah. Kosten, “to cost”, is more usual usage. Next, Insgesamt [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “In total”. |
| Judith: Insgesamt [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Insgesamt [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “In total”. |
| Judith: For example, the question “Was kostet das insgesamt?” |
| Chuck: “So what cost that in total?” |
| Judith: You’re saying it in German. |
| Chuck: Yeah. I can’t think of the English verse right now. |
| Judith: Okay, that’s fine. You’re becoming Germanized. |
| Chuck: Yey! |
| Judith: That’s totally okay. Next word, Zurück [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Back”. |
| Judith: Zurück [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Zurück [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Back”. |
| Judith: This is not just an own word; it’s also a verb prefix. For example, “zurückgehen”. |
| Chuck: “To go back”. |
| Judith: Or “zurücknehmen”. |
| Chuck: “To take back”. |
| Judith: And there are a lot of other words with zurück. Next, Sonst [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Otherwise or other than that.” |
| Judith: Sonst [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Otherwise or other than that”. |
| Judith: Next, Brief [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Letter”. |
| Judith: Brief [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Letter”. |
| Judith: This word is masculine, der Brief. And the plural is Briefe. |
| Chuck: “Letters”. Notice this is only for the paper that you send people, not the letters in a word. |
| Judith: Yes. Next, Dick [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Thick or fat.” |
| Judith: Dick [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Thick or fat”. |
| Judith: Next, Schwer [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Heavy or difficult”. |
| Judith: Schwer [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Heavy or difficult”. |
| Judith: Next, a phrase: Per Luftpost [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “By air-mail”. |
| Judith: Per Luftpost [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Per Luftpost [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “By air-mail”. |
| Judith: Next, Einfach [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Easy or simply”. |
| Judith: Einfach [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Einfach [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Easy or simply”. |
| Judith: Next, Dauern [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “To last or take (a certain amount of time)”. |
| Judith: Dauern [slowly - broken down by syllable]. Dauern [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “To last or take (a certain amount of time)”. |
| Judith: And final word for today, Je [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: “Each”. |
| Judith: Je [natural native speed]. |
| Chuck: Yey! |
| Judith: No. It means each. Note that this word is used before the amount. For example, in English you would say “Five Euros each”, but in German we say, “Je fünf Euro.” |
| Chuck: But you might also hear it if you find five Euros, then you say, “Je, five Euros”. I guess the meaning is a bit different though. |
| Judith: Yeah. In English, you have this S at the end of Euros. That’s how they can determine if it’s “Yey” or if it’s “Je”. |
| Chuck: I guess that sounds, right? |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Judith: Note that in German, currency names do not have to be plural. We’d also say “Je fünf dollar.”, for example. |
| Chuck: And also, you noticed in the text, that was “zehn cent” not “zehn cents”. |
| Judith: Yeah. So this is something to pay attention to. By the way, have you seen the Euro? It might appear in music videos or movies or the like. But for those who haven’t seen them, we’re going to describe the Germany currency. The Euro bills come in sizes of five, ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, two hundred, and five hundred Euros. Each of these have a distinct color. So if you have a lot of denominations of money in Europe vault, then it will be a very colorful wallet. Quite a difference to American money, isn’t it? |
| Chuck: Certainly. It’s also interesting to notice that almost every bill has a hologram on it and watermarks to make it very difficult to counterfeit. |
| Judith: Yes. And some way, that the blind can touch the bill and feel what amount it is. |
| Chuck: Not only that but all bills are in different sizes to help the blind as well. |
| Judith: Yes. Now about the bills themselves, it’s true that we can’t put some faces or places on them that would be identified with any one nation because there are just too many countries that have the Euro as a currency. So what the people chose to do is that they put architectural styles on them, and kind of styles that can be found all over Europe. As you go from small money to a lot of money, the styles go from ancient to very modern. On the front of the bill, you don’t have a face but you have a window; and on the back of the bill, you have a bridge. That is supposed to show the unification of Europe that are growing together; bridges and windows. |
| So to show you how the styles go from ancient to modern, for example, on the five-Euro bill, you have an antique window in the front and on the back you have an antique bridge. On the 10 Euro bill, you have a window from the Romanticism era and a bridge from Romanticism era. Then for the 20 Euro bill, it is both Gothic style and so on until the 500-Euro bill shows some modern architecture. |
| Chuck: Notice the bills are independent of which country it was made, but coins have a national flip side. But no matter which country created the coin, you can use them all over Europe. So when you get your change back, you will notice that you have change from lots of different countries of Europe. |
| Judith: Yes. This mixing is really fascinating to watch. The other day, I found a Finnish coin in my wallet. |
| Chuck: But I bet you didn’t find a Finnish one or two cent coin, did you? |
| Judith: The thing, the Finnish only have flat prices. They don’t have this common 99 cents. They only have one Euro, two Euro, and so on, so the one and two cent pieces are not even in circulation. |
| Chuck: But you know why they have that like that. |
| Judith: No. |
| Chuck: It’s because it was actually banned by law to have coins produced that were that low in value. So when they change the Euro, they had to abide by their own national laws and they weren’t allowed to produce one and two cent pieces. |
| Judith: I didn’t know that part. But I think they did produce some and they’re now in the hands of collectors. |
| Chuck: Yeah. Well, I mean they’re not allowed to produce them to be actually used. So if you kind of want a one or two cent Finnish Euro coin, then be sure to keep it. |
| Judith: Not a Euro cent coin. |
| Chuck: Right. Yeah. |
| Judith: Anyway, so enough about the Finnish money. How about the German money? The German coins show… well, the one, two, and five Euro cent coins from Germany show oak leaves. |
| Chuck: Why is that? |
| Judith: Oak leaves were the symbol of the German confederation. It’s a movement that meant to unite all the small countries in Germany and Austria. There was a lot of political tension between Germany and Austria at that time because both wanted to be the dominant part. But the German confederation went a long way in establishing a unified trade system. Then, the 10, 20, and 50 Euro cent coins show the Brandenburg Gate. You should probably know it. It’s the symbol for Germany. You can find it on all of German course books too because it’s a symbol. But how is it a symbol? Do you know? |
| Chuck: That was a symbol to unite east and west Germany, wasn’t it? |
| Judith: Yes, because when the Berlin wall was erected, the gate was closed. When the wall fell, east and west Germans embraced each other on the square in front of the gate first. So it’s a symbol for the united Germany. That’s right. By extension, it’s also a symbol for the end of the Cold War and the European unification. Then finally, we have one and two Euro coins. On these, you will find the coat of arms of Germany, an eagle. The symbol has been used on and off since 1871 and it’s used in its current design since 1950. If you look closely, on the side of the two Euro coin, you will also find the word “Einigkeit Und Recht Und Freiheit” engraved. |
| Chuck: “Unity, and justice, and freedom”. |
| Judith: And that’s the beginning of the current German national anthem. |
| Chuck: I really recommend if you want to learn more about the Euro and, well, money in general, to visit the money museum in Frankfurt because I was there a few years ago, and it was very interesting to read about all the details of the Euro bills and also the deutsche mark from before. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: Germans are actually lucky because the euro is actually half of what the German marks where. So, for example, if something cost 10 German marks, it would then be five Euros. |
| Judith: Theoretically. You must see a lot of shops just made it 10 Euros while people weren’t yet sure what the currency was worth. It’s not as smooth as that. The official rate was some, I think, one Deutchmark 95 Pfenning into a Euro. But yeah, everybody just calculate it as half. |
| Chuck: It was actually quite funny because when I came to Europe in 2002 and 2003, me, as an American, actually understood the values better than the natives. |
| Judith: Yeah. Because in 2002, Germany first adopted the Euro and everybody was still getting used to it. |
| Chuck: And at that time, one euro was one dollar. |
| Judith: Yeah. And now, one euro is approximately $1.50 American dollars. |
| Chuck: Yeah. It’s pretty amazing how far the dollars dropped since then. |
| Judith: Yeah. And the euro has been a lot stronger than people expected. I mean, at one point, the euro was down to 80 American cents and now it’s up to $1.50. |
| Chuck: Yeah. I remember that was pretty crazy. I think the dollar is even below the Canadian dollar now. But anyway, that’s another topic. |
| Judith: So I would suggest you should bring 250 to 300 Euros a week. Of course, it depends on our lifestyle and how many souvenirs you’re going to buy, how often you eat out, how often you have friends to treat to a meal and things like that. |
| Chuck: Yeah. Whether you’re staying in a hotel or staying with a friend or family. |
| Judith: Well, that’s… yeah. You can avoid bringing that much money if you have a credit card, but you have to keep in mind that in Germany, credit cards as not common as in the States. |
| Chuck: But one thing… |
| Judith: If you’re in a restaurant or another shop, you can’t necessary pay by your credit card. You should first look. |
| Chuck: One thing I also found funny is you don’t get really strange looks if you give out a large bill like you would in the States. For example, once I was paying for a 40 Euro train ticket and I handed over 200 Euro bill and she didn’t really think of anything. I mean, she just gave me the change back. |
| Judith: Yeah. Well, that’s because we have a 200 Euro bill. No. It’s accepted. And as I said, credit cards are not as common. You can still bring a credit card, for example, as insurance. In case of emergency, you can use your credit card to withdraw money from a German ATM machine so that you can get some more cash when you need it. Credit cards are not limited to paying in the shops with it. But I wouldn’t recommended this as the standard way of doing things because your bank is probably going to charge you a lot if you use your credit card as a debit card to withdraw money. |
| Chuck: Well, that’s actually debatable because some people find that it’s cheaper than changing money at money changing places. |
| Judith: Well, it depends you get ripped off. Why would you like to be ripped off? You can choose. |
| Chuck: Yeah. Because we have justice and freedom here in Germany. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Judith: Okay. Let’s cover some grammar. There’s one weird verb form in today’s dialogue and that is “möchte”. It’s the one that Chuck can’t pronounce. |
| Chuck: I would like. |
| Judith: Yes. I know you would like to pronounce it, right, but it will need some practice because of the “ö” and because of the “ch”. “Ich möchte”. |
| Chuck: Those evil words. But eventually I was able to pronounce that [*] so I should be able to get this eventually. |
| Judith: Yeah. I’m sure it’s just because you spent so much time with the Swabians in southern Germany that they are known to pronounce everything as a “sh”. |
| Chuck: Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. |
| Judith: Anyway, “Ich möchte”. Getting back to “Ich möchte”, this is the true conditional form of “mögen”. |
| Chuck: “To like”. |
| Judith: So “Ich möchte” means… |
| Chuck: “I would like”. |
| Judith: We told you just last lesson that “würde” is for the conditional mood; that “würde” is actually just a bad habit. The verbs also used to have a true conditional form and these forms are now mostly out of use, especially in spoken language. A few verbs, like “mögen” for example, retain this form, however. |
| Chuck: I don’t think it’s a bad habit. I think it’s people making the language easier to use. |
| Judith: Yeah. So it’s probably a good idea for you to learn “würde” anyway. But “möchte”, you can’t go around because ”würde mögen” just sounds too weird. |
| Chuck: That is true. |
| Judith: Anyway, so that’s the one thing. It’s now also high time to learn some more numbers. |
| Chuck: Actually, high time is kind of funny because if you translate it literally to German, it would mean Hochzeit, which is a wedding. |
| Judith: No. In German, we would say “Es ist höchste Eisenen”. Most of you have probably learned the numbers already, but we’ll cover them again anyway for those that haven’t. So officially, we had the numbers up to 12, “zwölf”, and after that comes “dreizehn”. |
| Chuck: “Thirteen”. |
| Judith: “vierzehn” |
| Chuck: “Fourteen”. |
| Judith: “fünfzehn” |
| Chuck: I think you’re getting this already but fifteen. |
| Judith: “sechzehn” |
| Chuck: “Sixteen”. |
| Judith: “siebzehn” |
| Chuck: “Seventeen”. |
| Judith: “achtzehn” |
| Chuck: “Eighteen.” |
| Judith: “neunzehn” |
| Chuck: “Nineteen”. |
| Judith: These are, like, counting 3, 4, 5, and just adding the ending “zehn”, which corresponds to the English “-teen”. But you have to be careful with “sechzehn” and “siebzehn” because these have been shortened a bit for pronunciation reasons. You don’t want to say “sechszehn” or “siebenzehn”, you say “siebzehn” and “sechzehn”. |
| Chuck: She’s speaking to me because I always say “sechszehn”. |
| Judith: Okay. Moving on, there’s “zwanzig”. |
| Chuck: “Twenty”. |
| Judith: “dreißig” |
| Chuck: “Thirty”. |
| Judith: “vierzig” |
| Chuck: “Forty”. |
| Judith: And from then on, it’s just the same; the same base numbers and the ending “zig”. ”fünfzig” . |
| Chuck: “Fifty”. |
| Judith: “sechzig” |
| Chuck: “Sixty”. |
| Judith: “siebzig” |
| Chuck: “Seventy”. |
| Judith: “achtzig” |
| Chuck: “Eighty”. |
| Judith: “neunzig” |
| Chuck: “Ninety”. |
| Judith: The only thing you need to pay attention to is that we are counting differently in German. We say literally “ein und zwanzig”. |
| Chuck: One and twenty… oh, I mean, twenty-one. |
| Judith: “zwei und zwanzig” |
| Chuck: “Twenty-two”. |
| Judith: Yeah. So you see, we have number one and twenty, two and twenty. And this is the way that English used to count, if you’re looking at Jane Austen, the novelist, for example. |
| Chuck: Then they realize how illogical it was and changed it. But the Germans haven’t figured it out yet. |
| Judith: Hey, stop it! |
| Chuck: We just have to deal with that. |
| Judith: Come on. It’s just one difference. Every language is different and it’s beautiful that way. |
| Chuck: Sure it is. |
| Judith: Okay. Now after… |
| Chuck: It’s beautiful means difficult. |
| Judith: … after “neun und neunzig”. |
| Chuck: Ninety-nine. |
| Judith: You will need the… |
| Chuck: “neun und neunzig Luftballons” |
| Judith: Yeah. You will need… |
| Chuck: Oh, that’s our intermediate series. Sorry. |
| Judith: Yes. No singing here. |
| Chuck: Okay. |
| Judith: And even there, I try to eliminate. After 99, you will need the word “hundert”… |
| Chuck: “One hundred”. |
| Judith: …to continue. But that’s not too hard either because it’s almost the same as in English. “zweihundert”. |
| Chuck: “Two hundred”. |
| Judith: “vierhundert fünfzig” |
| Chuck: “Four hundred fifty”. |
| Judith: You see it all corresponds. And same for thousands and everything then on. The German word is “tausend”. |
| Chuck: “Thousand”. |
| Judith: And you can describe a lot, a lot of numbers like this. Even “fünftausend vierhundert zwei und draißig”. |
| Chuck: Oh, you want to make this hard on me, don’t you? |
| Judith: Yeah. |
| Chuck: Five thousand… |
| Judith: Yeah. |
| Chuck: Five thousand four hundred thirty-two. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: Or shall we say five thousand four hundred and two and thirty. |
| Judith: That’s the spirit. |
| Chuck: Well, as you know, the PDF contains a summary of the grammar and culture points if you want to re-read them. |
| Judith: Yes. I think in this lesson, it’s really, really worthwhile. Okay. So… |
| Chuck: So I guess we’re done. |
| Judith: No. First, the dialogue one more time. |
| Chuck: But that dialogue is really long. |
| Judith: Yes. Lots of useful German words and expressions. |
| Chuck: All right. And pick out the numbers this time. |
| Judith: Uh-hmm. And then “möchte”. |
| Chuck: “I would like to”. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Clerk: Der Nächste, bitte! |
| John: Guten Tag! |
| Clerk: Guten Tag. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| John: Ich möchte diese zwanzig Postkarten verschicken. |
| Clerk: Wohin? |
| John: Achtzehn gehen nach Amerika und zwei nach Deutschland. |
| Clerk: Haben Sie schon Briefmarken? |
| John: Nein, ich möchte Briefmarken hier kaufen. Was kosten die Briefmarken? |
| Clerk: Die Postkarten nach Deutschland kosten je 45 Cent, die Postkarten nach Amerika kosten je einen Euro, also insgesamt achtzehn Euro neunzig. |
| John: Hier sind zwanzig Euro. |
| Clerk: Danke, und hier sind zehn Cent zurück. Sonst noch etwas? |
| John: Was kostet ein Brief nach Amerika? |
| Clerk: Wie groß ist der Brief denn, und wie dick? Geben Sie ihn mir. |
| John: Ich habe noch keinen Brief, aber ich werde einen Brief schreiben. |
| Clerk: Ein normaler Brief kostet einen Euro siebzig. |
| John: Und ein Paket oder Päckchen? |
| Clerk: Was denn jetzt, ein Paket oder ein Päckchen? Wie groß und wie schwer? Per Luftpost oder nicht? |
| John: Ähmm… sagen Sie mir einfach alles. |
| Clerk: Alles??? Das würde Stunden dauern! … Aber nehmen Sie sich doch diese Broschüre. |
| John: Ah, danke. |
| Clerk: War das jetzt alles, oder möchten Sie noch etwas? |
| John: Das war alles. |
| Clerk: Okay, dann auf Wiedersehen! |
| John: Auf Wiedersehen! |
| Clerk: Der nächste bitte! |
Outro |
| Chuck: We made it. |
| Judith: Yes, we did. Be sure to review this lesson’s information in the learning center and in the PDF. |
| Chuck: See you next week. |
| Judith: Bis nächste Woche. |
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