Dialogue

Want to Understand & Master the German Dialogue 100%?

Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do German by GermanPod101.com.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for something at a grocery store in German.
For example, "This, please." is
Das, bitte.
Aron Ahrens is at a small grocery store.
After finding something he wants, he points at the item and asks for it.
Before you hear the conversation, let's learn some of its key components.
Das
"this"
Das
Das
Bitte.
"Here you are."
Bitte.
Bitte.
Das, bitte.
Bitte.
Once more with the English translation.
Das, bitte.
"This, please."
Bitte.
"Here you are."
Let's break down Aron's request.
Do you remember how Aron Ahrens says,
"This, please."
Das, bitte.
This standard way of asking for something follows a simple pattern.
First is das, "this," in this context. Das. Das.
Next is bitte, "please." Bitte. Bitte.
Note: bitte has multiple meanings depending on the situation.
In this case, the word is used to make a polite request, "Please." Bitte.
All together, it's Das, bitte, "This, please."
Das, bitte.
Do you remember how the clerk says,
"Here you are."
Bitte.
Bitte, meaning "Here you are," in this situation. Bitte. Bitte.
Again, bitte has multiple meanings depending on the situation.
In this case, the word is used as an invitation to take something, as in "Here you are," or "Go ahead."
Bitte, "Here you are," in this case.
Bitte.
The pattern is:
Das, bitte.
In modern German, "this" and "that" are both expressed with the pronoun das. Therefore, das, bitte can mean both "this, please," and "that, please."
Imagine there is something located far from you.
Say
"That, please."
Ready?
Das, bitte.
"That, please."
Das, bitte.
There are actually words to differentiate between "this" and "that" in German.
It’s dieses, "this," for something close.
And jenes, "that," for something far.
However, these are rarely used in contemporary German and may sound old-fashioned to native German speakers.
In modern German, "this" and "that" are both expressed with the pronoun das, as in das, bitte, which can mean both "this, please," and "that, please."
If you want to be precise about the location of the object, you can add the following adverbs:
hier, "here," as in das hier, literally, "this here," and
da, "there," as in das da, literally, "this there," but translating as "that here," or simply "that."
Applied to this lesson:
Das hier, bitte. "This here, please." Das hier, bitte.
Das da, bitte. "That there, please." Das da, bitte.
Note, da can also be replaced with the dort, also meaning "there." However, in spoken language it's rarely used.
Again, the pattern is
Das, bitte.
Let's look at some examples.
Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.
Das, bitte.
"This, please."
Das, bitte.
Das hier, bitte.
"This here, please."
Das hier, bitte.
Das da, bitte.
"This there, please."
Das da, bitte.
Das und das, bitte.
"This and this, please."
Das und das, bitte.
Das hier und das da, bitte.
"This and that, please."
Das hier und das da, bitte.
Did you notice how the native speaker used a different sentence pattern?
Das hier und das da, bitte.
"This here and that there, please." Das hier und das da, bitte.
She used the phrases das hier and das da together.
Das hier, "this here." Das hier.
Next is Und. "And." Und.
When requesting multiple items, you can join them with und, "and."
Last is das da, "that there." Das da.
All together, Das hier und das da, bitte,
"This here and that there, please."
Let’s review the new words.
das hier
"this"
das hier
das hier
das da
"that there"
das da
das da
und
"and"
und
und
Let's review.
Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.
Ready?
Do you remember how to say "please?"
Bitte.
Bitte.
Do you remember how Aron says,
"This, please."
Das, bitte.
Das, bitte.
Do you remember how the clerk says,
"Here you are."
Bitte.
Bitte.
When you don't know the name of something, do you remember how to say "this here?"
das hier
das hier
When you don’t know the name of something, do you remember how to say "that there?"
das da
das da
Let's practice.
Imagine you're Aron. You're at the grocery store to buy some bread, but you don't know the word.
Instead you point at it and ask for "this," or das.
Ready?
Das, bitte.
Bitte.
Listen again and repeat.
Das, bitte.
Das, bitte.
Let's try another.
Imagine you're Anouk, and you see a snack on the counter you'd like to try.
Ask for "this here," or das hier.
Ready?
Das hier, bitte.
Bitte.
Listen again and repeat.
Das hier, bitte.
Das hier, bitte.
Let’s try one more.
Imagine you're Aylin, and you see a sandwich in the showcase behind the counter.
Ask for "that there," or das da.
Ready?
Das da, bitte.
Bitte.
Listen again and repeat.
Das da, bitte.
Das da, bitte.
Well done! This is the end of this lesson.
In this lesson, you learned how to request something by pointing, an essential skill for shopping at a grocery store.
Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.
What's next?
Show us what you can do.
When you're ready, take your assessment.
You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.
Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results.
Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson!

Comments

Hide