Learn to ask "Can you take my picture?"
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| M: Hello and welcome to German Survival Phrases brought to you by germanpod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Germany. You will be surprised at how far a little German will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by germanpod101.com and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| F: German Survival Phrases. Lesson 32, Can You Take My_Our Picture in German. |
| M: In today’s lesson, we will introduce a phrase that will come in handy for sure in capturing your memories on film or memory card. Germany is full of beautiful sceneries and obviously, you will take many pictures of landscapes and monuments however I have no doubts that in some moments, you want to be on the picture or have everyone in your party. Therefore there are times when the question, can you take my/our picture will be invaluable. In German, can you take our picture is [Können Sie ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] Let’s break it down by syllable [Können Sie ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] Now let’s hear it once again [Können Sie ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] The first word [Können] means can and it’s the third person plural form of the verb [können] can used in the formal way of speech. Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time [können] and [können] The next word is the personal pronoun [Sie] which means you in the formal way of speech. The indefinite masculine singular article [ein] a follows next and finally the noun Foto, picture. Let’s break it down and say once more [Foto] and Foto. Photo is the short form of [Fotoaufnahme] and we use it more often than the longer version. The next word [von uns] literally meaning of us consists of the preposition [von] of and pronoun [uns] us in the first person plural. Finally we have the infinitive of the verb [aufnehmen] which literally means to record. However in this case, we translate it as to take something. So to recap here, we have [Können Sie ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] literally this means, can you a picture of us take. If you are on your own and you want to ask, can you take my picture in German, you just need to replace [uns] with [mir] so you would have [Können Sie ein Foto von mir aufnehmen] Let’s break it down by syllable [Können Sie ein Foto von mir aufnehmen] Now let’s hear it once again [Können Sie ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] What if you bump into a young person and you don’t need to use the formal level of speech, it’s very easy because the only elements that change are the verb and the personal pronoun. So [können Sie] changes into [Kannst du] can you. The conjugated verb in the second person singular form of the verb [können] can and the personal pronoun also changes from the capitalized [Sie] to the uncapitalized [du] you also second person singular. So altogether you will have [Kannst du ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] Can you take our picture? Let’s break it down by syllable [Kannst du ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] Let’s hear it once again [Kannst du ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] or if you are traveling alone [Kannst du ein Foto von mir aufnehmen] In English, before someone takes a picture, the person taking the picture may say 1, 2, 3, cheese…In German before someone takes a picture, the person taking it says the same except with German numbers or maybe counting opposite before they take the picture. So the person taking the picture may say [drei, zwei, eins, cheese] So to recap here, we have the numbers from 3 to 1 and then cheese [drei, zwei, eins, cheese] Literally this means 3, 2, 1, cheese. So if you are taking the picture, you will say this and if you have your picture taken, you will hear this. |
| Okay to close our today’s lesson, we would like you to practice what you’ve just learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So [Viel Glück] which means good luck in German. |
| Can you take our picture [Können Sie ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] Can you take our picture, less formal version [Kannst du ein Foto von uns aufnehmen] Can you take my picture [Können Sie ein Foto von mir aufnehmen] Can you take my picture, less formal version [Kannst du ein Foto von mir aufnehmen] 1, 2, 3 cheese [drei, zwei, eins, cheese] |
| That’s going to do it for today. |
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