Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Miriam asks,
"How's the weather?"
Wie ist das Wetter?
First is wie, translating as "how" in this context. Wie. Wie.
Next is ist, "is." Ist. Ist.
Ist is from the verb, sein, "to be." Sein.
Next is das Wetter, "the weather." das Wetter.
Let’s start with Wetter, "weather." Wetter. Wetter.
In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Wetter is neuter and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
Before Wetter is the article das. Think of it like "the" in English. Das (clearly ). Das.
Das is also neuter and singular to agree with Wetter.
Together, das Wetter, "the weather." das Wetter.
All together, it’s Wie ist das Wetter? "How is the weather?"
Wie ist das Wetter?
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Karen says,
"It’s sunny?"
Es ist sonnig.
This starts with es, "it." Es. Es.
Next is ist, "is." Ist.
Ist is from the verb sein, meaning "to be." Sein.
Last is sonnig, "sunny." Sonnig. Sonnig.
All together, it’s Es ist sonnig. This literally means "It is sunny," or "It’s sunny."
Es ist sonnig.
The pattern is
Es ist WEATHER CONDITION.
It’s WEATHER CONDITION.
Es ist WEATHER CONDITION.
To use this pattern, simply replace the WEATHER CONDITION placeholder with the current weather condition.
Note: This pattern requires an adjective.
Imagine it's cloudy, bewölkt. "Cloudy." Bewölkt. Bewölkt.
Say
"It's cloudy."
Ready?
Es ist bewölkt.
"It's cloudy."
Es ist bewölkt.
When talking about the weather, it’s common to use impersonal verbs in German. Impersonal verbs are verbs without a fully stated subject and which are conjugated in the third person singular.
For example,"It’s snowing," Es schneit.
Es schneit, literally, "It snows," but translates as "It’s snowing." Es schneit.
Schneit is the third person singular from the verb schneien, “to snow.” Schneien.
Note, impersonal verbs are usually accompanied by es.
Pay attention. You’ll see another example of this pattern shortly.

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