Learn how to use perfect past tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Intermediate Series Season 2, Lesson 21. I was invited here for German food in the past. Hello and welcome to GermanPod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn German. I'm joined in the studio by… |
| Judith: Hello, everyone. Judith here. |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the past perfect tense in German. This conversation takes place at a German home. |
| Judith: The conversation is between Mike, who just came home from his interview, and his German friend. |
| Chuck: The speakers are friends, therefore they will be speaking informal German. Now, if you don’t already have one… |
| Judith: Stop by GermanPod101.com… |
| Chuck: And sign up for your free lifetime account. |
| Judith: You can sign up in less than 30 seconds. |
| Chuck: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| D: Ah, Mike, wie war das Interview? |
| A: Nicht schlecht. |
| D: Hast du den Ort gut gefunden? |
| A: Ja, mit der Karte, die du mir ausgedruckt hattest, war es gar kein Problem. |
| D: Na also! Warst du pünktlich? |
| A: Ja, ich war sogar 5 Minuten zu früh da. Aber es war gut, dass du mich gedrängt hattest, schon zu gehen, denn sonst hätte ich den Bus verpasst. Er kam zu früh. |
| D: Das passiert schon mal. Also, denkst du, du kriegst den Job? |
| A: Ich hatte mir ja gute Antworten überlegt, und die meisten auch benutzt, aber ich bin mir trotzdem nicht sicher. |
| D: Wir werden sehen. Jedenfalls lade ich dich heute zum Essen ein, zur Feier des Tages! |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| D: Ah, Mike, wie war das Interview? |
| A: Nicht schlecht. |
| D: Hast du den Ort gut gefunden? |
| A: Ja, mit der Karte, die du mir ausgedruckt hattest, war es gar kein Problem. |
| D: Na also! Warst du pünktlich? |
| A: Ja, ich war sogar 5 Minuten zu früh da. Aber es war gut, dass du mich gedrängt hattest, schon zu gehen, denn sonst hätte ich den Bus verpasst. Er kam zu früh. |
| D: Das passiert schon mal. Also, denkst du, du kriegst den Job? |
| A: Ich hatte mir ja gute Antworten überlegt, und die meisten auch benutzt, aber ich bin mir trotzdem nicht sicher. |
| D: Wir werden sehen. Jedenfalls lade ich dich heute zum Essen ein, zur Feier des Tages! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| D: Ah, Mike, wie war das Interview? |
| D: Ah, Mike, how was the interview? |
| A: Nicht schlecht. |
| A: Not bad. |
| D: Hast du den Ort gut gefunden? |
| D: Did you easily find the place? |
| A: Ja, mit der Karte, die du mir ausgedruckt hattest, war es gar kein Problem. |
| A: Yes, with the map, which you had printed for me, it was no problem at all. |
| D: Na also! Warst du pünktlich? |
| D: So there! Were you on time? |
| A: Ja, ich war sogar 5 Minuten zu früh da. Aber es war gut, dass du mich gedrängt hattest, schon zu gehen, denn sonst hätte ich den Bus verpasst. Er kam zu früh. |
| A: Yes, I was even 5 minutes too early. But it was good that you had urged me to leave already, because otherwise I would have missed the bus. It came too early. |
| D: Das passiert schon mal. Also, denkst du, du kriegst den Job? |
| D: It happens sometimes. So, do you think you will get the job? |
| A: Ich hatte mir ja gute Antworten überlegt, und die meisten auch benutzt, aber ich bin mir trotzdem nicht sicher. |
| A: I had thought of some good answers, and used most of them, too, but I am still not certain. |
| D: Wir werden sehen. Jedenfalls lade ich dich heute zum Essen ein, zur Feier des Tages! |
| D: We will see. Anyway I am treating you to a meal today, to celebrate the day! |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Judith: So what should our cultural point be today? |
| Chuck: We’ve already done interviews… |
| Judith: How about invitations? |
| Chuck: Ok. |
| Judith: The thing is, in Germany, unless somebody specifically used the word [Einladen], expect to pay for your own food. |
| Chuck: For example even when a small company has a get together at a restaurant. You may still have to pay for your own food. So, I remember, it was funny; I had a co-worker once, we’d always go out to lunch together and, well, in the states what I always do is I would pay sometimes, my colleagues would pay sometimes and then… just to be nice, and I found that I would sometimes pay for our food and, well, he never reciprocated it. So eventually just kept paying separately all the time. |
| Judith: Yeah, going Dutch is the normal way in Germany. |
| Chuck: Yes. |
| Judith: When you’re invited to somebody’s home, the most common gift is either flowers or wine, and possibly beer if you know that your host prefers beer to wine. |
| Chuck: Over chocolates, as Americans would give. Well, they won’t make your host frown but they’re a bit unusual. |
| Judith: I’d say every girl likes chocolates it’s just not a very typical gift. Among students it’s also common to just bring part of the meal if you’re going to eat there, but only if you agreed on that beforehand. |
| Chuck: Or you might also just bring a snack. |
| Judith: Yeah, if you’re going to watch a movie at home or something. |
| Chuck: Or have a board games’ night. |
| Judith: You and your board games. |
| Chuck: Let’s look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: First word, [Ort]. |
| Chuck: Place. |
| Judith: [Ort, Ort] This word is masculine, [Der Ort], and the plural is [Orte]. Next, [Karte]. |
| Chuck: “Map”, “card” or “ticket”. |
| Judith: [Karte, Karte, die Karte] and the plural is [Karten]. Next, [Ausdrucken]. |
| Chuck: To print out. |
| Judith: [Ausdrucken, ausdrucken] And the [Aus] splits off, as usual. Next, [Gar]. |
| Chuck: “Cooked” or “none”, “not at all”. |
| Judith: [Gar] Next, [Sogar]. |
| Chuck: Even. |
| Judith: [Sogar, sogar] Next, [Früh]. |
| Chuck: Early. |
| Judith: [Früh, früh] Next, [Drängen]. |
| Chuck: “To urge” or “press”. |
| Judith: [Drängen, drängen] Next, [Verpassen]. |
| Chuck: “To miss” as in a bus or a train. |
| Judith: [Verpassen, verpassen] Next, [Überlegen]. |
| Chuck: “To think of”, “to ponder”. |
| Judith: [Überlegen, überlegen] And in this case the [Über] stays attached. Next, [Die meisten]. |
| Chuck: Most. |
| Judith: [Die meisten, die meisten] Next, [Benutzen]. |
| Chuck: To use. |
| Judith: [Benutzen, benutzen] Next, [Feier]. |
| Chuck: “Celebration” or “party”. |
| Judith: [Feier, Feier, die Feier] this is feminine, and the plural is [Feiern]. |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Judith: The first word we’ll look at is [Gar]. |
| Chuck: As an adjective, this is the opposite of [Raw]. |
| Judith: However, you also find it in the combinations [Gar nicht]. |
| Chuck: Not at all. |
| Judith: [Gar nichts] |
| Chuck: None at all. |
| Judith: And [Garkein]. |
| Chuck: Not any. |
| Judith: Where it just strengthens the expression. Second this, [Na also]. |
| Chuck: So, there! |
| Judith: This is an expression that expresses satisfaction, like “I told you so”, [Na also], or “I'm glad it finally worked out”, [Na also]. The third expression we look at is [Schon mal]. |
| Chuck: “Ever” or “sometime”. |
| Judith: [Hast du den Film schon mal gesehen?] |
| Chuck: Have you already seen that film? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is the past perfect. The past perfect, also called plus perfect, is used when you’re talking about the past and then you have to mention something that’s even further in the past. |
| Judith: In German, as in English, it is formed by taking the past tense for of [Haben]. |
| Chuck: To have. |
| Judith: Followed by the past participle, which we’ve already used for the perfect tense. |
| Chuck: So past tense and perfect tense give the past perfect. Easy, isn’t it? |
| Judith: There’s only one extra rule to remember. Since the German perfect tense sometimes uses [Sein] instead of [Haben], so does the past perfect. The same verbs that use a form of [Sein] for the perfect tense also use a form of [Sein] for the past perfect. |
| Chuck: Ok, I think this calls for some examples. |
| Judith: First example, [Ich sah einen Mann, der den letzten Bus verpasst hatte]. |
| Chuck: I saw a man who had missed the last bus. |
| Judith: [Als ich ankam, war der Laden schon geschlossen]. |
| Chuck: “When I arrived, the shop was already closed.” |
Outro |
| Chuck: That just about does it for today. Premium Members, use the Review Track to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Judith: Available in the Premium Section of the website… |
| Chuck: The Learning Center… |
| Judith: And through iTunes via the Premium Feed… |
| Chuck: The Review Track gives you vocabulary and phrases followed by a short pause so you can repeat the words aloud. |
| Judith: The best way to get good fast. |
| Chuck: Alright, see you next week! |
| Judith: Bis nächste Woche! |
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