Learn to add more plural nouns
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
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.
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.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: This is Newbie Series Lesson 21. |
| Judith: [Willkommen zurück]. |
| Chuck: Welcome back, listeners. It’s Tuesday again, so time for another Newbie lesson. What have you got prepared for us today, Judith? |
| Judith: Today we’ll spy on Lena as she buys the ingredients for the fruit salad. This lesson will teach you a lot of useful phrases related to shopping, and we review a lot of words that we learned before too. |
| Chuck: Spying on Lena, that sounds like fun. Let’s get started. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Lena Wagner: Guten Tag. |
| Verkäufer: Guten Tag, kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| Lena Wagner: Ja, ich brauche Früchte für einen Fruchtsalat. |
| Verkäufer: Gut. Möchten Sie Bananen? Ich habe hier sehr leckere Bananen aus Ecuador. |
| Lena Wagner: Ok. Dann nehme ich zwei Bananen. Und vielleicht zwei Kiwis und einen Apfel. |
| Verkäufer: Kaufen Sie lieber etwas mehr. Dann haben Sie auch Früchte für zuhause. |
| Lena Wagner: Fünf Mandarinen. |
| Verkäufer: Wir haben auch Ananas und Wassermelonen. |
| Lena Wagner: Das wäre zu viel. |
| Verkäufer: Wir verkaufen auch Ananasstücke. |
| Lena Wagner: Ah, super. Dann hätte ich gerne auch noch 300g Ananas. |
| Verkäufer: Sonst noch etwas? |
| Lena Wagner: Nein danke, das ist alles. |
| Verkäufer: Macht 6,20€. |
| Lena Wagner: Hier sind sieben Euro. |
| Verkäufer: Haben Sie 20 Cent klein? |
| Lena Wagner: Hier bitte. |
| Verkäufer: Danke. Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Lena Wagner: Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Judith: Now read slowly. |
| Lena Wagner: Guten Tag. |
| Verkäufer: Guten Tag, kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| Lena Wagner: Ja, ich brauche Früchte für einen Fruchtsalat. |
| Verkäufer: Gut. Möchten Sie Bananen? Ich habe hier sehr leckere Bananen aus Ecuador. |
| Lena Wagner: Ok. Dann nehme ich zwei Bananen. Und vielleicht zwei Kiwis und einen Apfel. |
| Verkäufer: Kaufen Sie lieber etwas mehr. Dann haben Sie auch Früchte für zuhause. |
| Lena Wagner: Fünf Mandarinen. |
| Verkäufer: Wir haben auch Ananas und Wassermelonen. |
| Lena Wagner: Das wäre zu viel. |
| Verkäufer: Wir verkaufen auch Ananasstücke. |
| Lena Wagner: Ah, super. Dann hätte ich gerne auch noch 300g Ananas. |
| Verkäufer: Sonst noch etwas? |
| Lena Wagner: Nein danke, das ist alles. |
| Verkäufer: Macht 6,20€. |
| Lena Wagner: Hier sind sieben Euro. |
| Verkäufer: Haben Sie 20 Cent klein? |
| Lena Wagner: Hier bitte. |
| Verkäufer: Danke. Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Lena Wagner: Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: Guten Tag. |
| Chuck: Good day. |
| Judith: Guten Tag, kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| Chuck: Good day, can I help you? |
| Judith: Ja, ich brauche Früchte für einen Fruchtsalat. |
| Chuck: Yes I need fruit for a fruit salad. |
| Judith: Gut. Möchten Sie Bananen? |
| Chuck: Good. Would you like bananas? |
| Judith: Ich habe hier sehr leckere Bananen aus Ecuador. |
| Chuck: I have here very delicious bananas from Ecuador. |
| Judith: Ok. Dann nehme ich zwei Bananen. |
| Chuck: Okay. Then I will take two bananas. |
| Judith: Und vielleicht zwei Kiwis und einen Apfel. |
| Chuck: And maybe two kiwis and an apple. |
| Judith: Kaufen Sie lieber etwas mehr. Dann haben Sie auch Früchte für zuhause. |
| Chuck: You should rather buy some more. Then you will also have fruits for home. |
| Judith: Fünf Mandarinen. |
| Chuck: Five tangerines. |
| Judith: Wir haben auch Ananas und Wassermelonen. |
| Chuck: We also have pineapple and watermelons. |
| Judith: Das wäre zu viel. |
| Chuck: That would be too much. |
| Judith: Wir verkaufen auch Ananasstücke. |
| Chuck: We also sell pineapple pieces. |
| Judith: Ah super. |
| Chuck: Ah super. |
| Judith: Dann hätte ich gerne auch noch 300g Ananas. |
| Chuck: Then I would also like 300 grams of pineapple. |
| Judith: Sonst noch etwas? |
| Chuck: Anything else? |
| Judith: Nein danke, das ist alles. |
| Chuck: No thanks that’s all. |
| Judith: Macht 6,20€. |
| Chuck: That’s €6.20. |
| Judith: Hier sind sieben Euro. |
| Chuck: Here is €7. |
| Judith: Haben Sie 20 Cent klein? |
| Chuck: Do you have 20 cents? |
| Judith: Hier bitte. |
| Chuck: Here you are. |
| Judith: Danke. Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Chuck: Thanks. Goodbye. |
| Judith: Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Chuck: “Goodbye.” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Chuck: Wow, that was a long dialogue, but it featured a lot of new words about fruit. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: Yeah, especially words for food. Also some others, so let’s learn some useful words here. The first word is Apfel. |
| Chuck: Apple. |
| Judith: Apfel. |
| Chuck: Apple. |
| Judith: [Der Apfel] so it’s masculine. Next, Banane. |
| Chuck: Banana. |
| Judith: Banane. |
| Chuck: Banana. |
| Judith: [Die Banane], it’s feminine. Next, Mandarine. |
| Chuck: Tangerine. |
| Judith: Mandarine. |
| Chuck: Tangerine. |
| Judith: [Die Mandarine], it’s also feminine. Next, Wassermelone. |
| Chuck: Watermelon. |
| Judith: Wassermelone. Wassermelone. |
| Chuck: Watermelon. |
| Judith: Also feminine. And last fruit for today, Ananas. |
| Chuck: Pineapple. |
| Judith: Ananas. |
| Chuck: Pineapple. |
| Judith: Also feminine. |
| Chuck: That sounds like most of the fruits are feminine. |
| Judith: Yeah, especially those ending in E of course. When German words end in E, they’re very often feminine. |
| Chuck: Ok. |
| Judith: So now for the words that you will find very useful even though they’re not fruit. The first is brauchen. |
| Chuck: To need. |
| Judith: brauchen. |
| Chuck: To need. |
| Judith: If you want to talk about your needs, you know you can say [Ich hätte gern] or [Ich möchte], but [Ich brauche] is also really important if you really want to request something strongly. |
| Chuck: And if you really need fruit. |
| Judith: Yeah, or maybe if you’re in the desert, you’re really thirsty, you could say [Ich brauche Wasser]. You wouldn’t say [Ich möchte Wasser]. There are some situations where [Brauchen] is just better. The next word is nehmen. |
| Chuck: To take. |
| Judith: nehmen. |
| Chuck: To take. |
| Judith: Note that the [Du] and [Er] forms are irregular because they drop the H, have a double M and they change the vowel, so [Ich nehme] and then [Du nimmst] and then going regular again, [Wir nehmen, Sie nehmen]. |
| Chuck: If you play board games you might know the game [Sechs nimmt]. |
| Judith: Yeah. Well, if you know the game then it’s a great way of remembering. The next word is kaufen. |
| Chuck: To buy. |
| Judith: kaufen. |
| Chuck: To buy. |
| Judith: Also really important. Also, in combination with [Möchte]. [Ich möchte] something [Kaufen], this way you can [Start] a shopping trip. Next, mehr. |
| Chuck: More. |
| Judith: mehr. |
| Chuck: More. |
| Judith: Next, zuhause. |
| Chuck: At home. |
| Judith: zuhause. zuhause. |
| Chuck: “At home”. Note here that the zu normally means “to”, but in this one case it means “at home”. |
| Judith: Yeah, it’s one word. If it was a separate word, then it would mean “to”. The next word is verkaufen. |
| Chuck: To sell. |
| Judith: verkaufen. verkaufen. |
| Chuck: “To sell”. Notice the difference with kaufen, “to buy”. |
| Judith: Yes, it’s just one extra prefix - ver. ver is a common verb prefix, you will find it a couple more times. It has a somewhat of a meaning of “away” or something, but I can’t really place it. Anyway, verkaufen “to sell”. Next word, Stück. |
| Chuck: Piece. |
| Judith: Stück. |
| Chuck: Piece. |
| Judith: This word is neutral. You may also have seen [Stückchen]. |
| Chuck: Little piece. |
| Judith: It’s often used in a figurative sense too. And [Chen], of course, is the diminutive. We’ve talked about it before, it makes it little. Next, sonst. |
| Chuck: “Otherwise” or “other than that”. |
| Judith: sonst. |
| Chuck: “Otherwise” or “other than that”. |
| Judith: There’s this very, very common in the phrase [Sonst noch etwas?]. |
| Chuck: “Anything else?” You’ll often hear this when you go into, for example, a bakery where you order something and they’ll say something to you and… I remember my first month in Germany, I had actually no idea what they were saying to me. |
| Judith: Yeah, well, not just in a bakery. Anywhere where you buy things and the salesperson wants you to buy more, they ask you [Sonst noch etwas?], “Would you like to buy anything else?” |
| Chuck: Yeah, but I think for most foreigners where you tend to hear this in is a bakery. |
| Judith: Well, it depends where you shop. |
| Chuck: I guess. |
| Judith: If you go to the market, you’ll hear it all the time. |
| Chuck: Ok, I guess I just never went to the market very often. |
| Judith: Yeah. Ok, one last word for today and it’s also one that you will always hear in a shop, klein. |
| Chuck: Small. |
| Judith: klein. |
| Chuck: “Small”. And that’s spelled just like [Kelvin Klein]. |
| Judith: Yeah, great to mention. The thing is that this works just like the normal adjective “small” in English, but also this can mean “in change” because of the association with [Kleingeld]. [Kleingeld] is a noun meaning “change”. |
| “Small money”, literally. So if somebody asks you [Haben Sie zwanzig Cent klein] meaning “Do you have 20 cents as a coin” or in change, so that you can help them give back a change. |
| CULTURAL INSIGHTS |
| Chuck: One thing I noticed in Germany is that they often really like exact change, or if you can’t give exact change, then something that’s, say, a couple of euros less than exact change. Like if it costs 6 euros and 20 cents, then they would be happy with 7 euros and 20 cents, cause then they can give a one euro coin back. |
| Judith: That’s easier than giving 80 cents back. |
| Chuck: I know they also do this in the Netherlands. I don't know if it’s also common in other countries in Europe or not. |
| Judith: I don't know, I haven’t’ really paid attention. |
| Chuck: Yeah, well I noticed it because at first I didn’t speak the language so I'm just hearing something from the cashier and not really understand what they’re asking for. And you may have the same issue too, so if you hear them ask you something at the end, it’s probably either “do you want anything else?” or “do you have some small pieces of change that will make it better?” |
| Judith: In any case, if you say [Nein] you don’t have to do anything more. |
| Chuck: It works. |
| Judith: Teaching you the shortcuts. Now, this whole lesson was about fruit and maybe this cultural point should be about fruit too as in what about fruit in Germany? I know that Germans like to eat very healthy and I would bet that we eat more fruit than the Americans do. |
| Chuck: Yeah, Germans love their fruit and there’s even a saying that Germans like eating their fruit whereas Americans like drinking their fruit. |
| Judith: Maybe, I don’t know. Yes, smoothies have only become popular in the past couple of years, for example. |
| Chuck: Well, I mean the fact that juice is very popular in the States. |
| Judith: Well, juice is popular here too. Anyway, people like having some fresh fruit in the house and you can just eat it when you’re a bit hungry. And where to get that fruit? There’s several options. One is, of course, the supermarket. In the supermarket you can get any kind of food, but the fruit there might not be particularly good cause it has been handled by so many people on the way. Then, of course, if you want particularly ecologically sound fruit or if you want to get fruit before it has been handled too much, you can go to a special farmer shop or to a weekly market, and there they’re going to sell the fruit that they themselves have farmed or fruit that they know the origin of, that goes through less steps. One special way of having fruit in Germany is, of course, at the [Kirmes], I mean the carnival or the Christmas market. You can have glazed fruit. |
| Chuck: Glazed? You mean like sugar coated? |
| Judith: Yes, sugar coated or sugar and chocolate coated. |
| Chuck: I guess it’s a little bit healthier than glazed donuts. |
| Judith: I don't know about that, about the amount of sugar they put on that. It’s hard coating that you can literally lose your teeth biting on it. It’s yummy and it’s popular. Though I think almonds are more popular, sugar coated almonds. |
| Chuck: Interesting. |
| Judith: Well, sugar coated and roasted. |
| Chuck: One thing you won’t find here are chocolate covered pretzels. |
| Judith: I think we covered the subject of pretzels before and it’s no… like the fruit. So Germans like having fresh fruit around and there’s no shortage even of exotic fruits like every time I go to the supermarket I see some kind of fruit that I’ve never seen before. Not every time but… things like [Kumquats] or [Litchi’s] or whatever is in season in some part of the world. And it’s very nice, you have a great choice and the fruit really, usually even tastes good despite the transport. Well, there’s some fruit even that are native to Germany, for example apples, pears, plums, cherries, strawberries, all kinds of berries. I bet there’s even some that you have never seen before like [Stachelbeere], I wasn’t able to translate that for you earlier. I was making [Stachelbeeren] pie. |
| Chuck: Ah, right. |
| Judith: I still don’t know the English word. A big variety of berries, but now peaches and oranges and the like do not grow in Germany because there’s not enough sun. Well, actually you can grow peaches but you have to be very careful about farming them. So that’s something that people from the south of the States or from Spain or the like might want to get used to, is that you won’t find much freshly squeezed orange juice in Germany just because oranges don’t normally grow here. |
| Chuck: But you can still get things like Tropicana Orange Juice, which is quite good. |
| Judith: Yeah. Or some cafés also offer freshly squeezed orange, it’s just expensive because they have to import the oranges and it’s not that common to drink. Ok, now let’s look at the grammar real quick. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Judith: In the last lesson we already looked at plurals and we shall just continue now. So far we had nouns that didn’t change at all, for example Häppchen in the last lesson. |
| Chuck: “Bits” or “appetizers”. |
| Judith: And we had nouns that add an E for plural such as Freunde. |
| Chuck: Friends. |
| Judith: Or Stücke. |
| Chuck: Pieces. |
| Judith: Stücke is a new word that also fits this description. And we even have nouns that add an E and an Umlaut in the process, for example Früchte. |
| Chuck: Fruits. |
| Judith: The word Apfel which you have encountered in this lesson is actually somewhere in between because it doesn’t get any ending because it ends in EL and EL is one of those that don’t change at all, however it does change the vowel, it adds an Umlaut, the plural is Äpfel from Ä at the at beginning. So Apfel. Äpfel. Today we will learn about two more groups of nouns. First group includes most feminine nouns and all the nouns ending in E. They will change their ending to EN. For example, Bananen. |
| Chuck: Bananas. |
| Judith: Mandarinen. |
| Chuck: Tangerines. |
| Judith: You will note actually that in this case, the ending is EN but the only added ending is the N because the singular already ended in E, Banane, Bananen or also Wassermelone, Wassermelonen. |
| Chuck: Watermelons. |
| Judith: And the second group today is even easier because these are the words that just add S like in English. It’s mostly foreign words and abbreviations. For example, laptops or teams or kiwis. |
| Chuck: I think they’re getting the point here. But another one that’s interesting is taxis. |
| Judith: Yeah, what’s the problem with that? Just like in English, no? |
| Chuck: Yes. |
| Judith: Well, one difference is that if the word ends in Y, for example hobby, then we just add an S in German, hobbys. We don’t do ies so in that sense German is more regular than English. |
| Chuck: Very nice. |
| Judith: Or maybe people just didn’t grasp that grammar rule in English. |
| Chuck: So that’s also true for handy, right? |
| Judith: Yeah, [Handys]. |
| Chuck: [Ys] |
| Judith: Yes. But then [Handy] isn’t an English word to start with. |
| Chuck: And notice that [Handy] is “cellphone” in case you were wondering. Or if you’re British, it’s a mobile phone. |
| Judith: Alright. |
| Chuck: I just got back from London so I’ll give them a bone this time. |
| Judith: Ok, let’s listen to the dialogue one more time. |
| Lena Wagner: Guten Tag. |
| Verkäufer: Guten Tag, kann ich Ihnen helfen? |
| Lena Wagner: Ja, ich brauche Früchte für einen Fruchtsalat. |
| Verkäufer: Gut. Möchten Sie Bananen? Ich habe hier sehr leckere Bananen aus Ecuador. |
| Lena Wagner: Ok. Dann nehme ich zwei Bananen. Und vielleicht zwei Kiwis und einen Apfel. |
| Verkäufer: Kaufen Sie lieber etwas mehr. Dann haben Sie auch Früchte für zuhause. |
| Lena Wagner: Fünf Mandarinen. |
| Verkäufer: Wir haben auch Ananas und Wassermelonen. |
| Lena Wagner: Das wäre zu viel. |
| Verkäufer: Wir verkaufen auch Ananasstücke. |
| Lena Wagner: Ah, super. Dann hätte ich gerne auch noch 300g Ananas. |
| Verkäufer: Sonst noch etwas? |
| Lena Wagner: Nein danke, das ist alles. |
| Verkäufer: Macht 6,20€. |
| Lena Wagner: Hier sind sieben Euro. |
| Verkäufer: Haben Sie 20 Cent klein? |
| Lena Wagner: Hier bitte. |
| Verkäufer: Danke. Auf Wiedersehen. |
| Lena Wagner: Auf Wiedersehen. |
Outro |
| Chuck: Well, [Auf Wiedersehen] dear listeners. And don’t forget to do the exercises in the Learning Center. |
| Judith: We wouldn’t want you to starve just because you don’t remember how to order in German. |
| Chuck: Yeah, that would be bad. Then we’d have less listeners, wouldn’t we? So I hope you tune in again next week. |
| Judith: [Bis nächste Woche]. |
Comments
Hide