18811967 Complete German the Basics by Living Language Excerpt

8/3/2019 18811967 Complete German the Basics by Living Language Excerpt

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C O M P L E T E

GERMANT H E B A S I C S

Written by

Helga Schier

Edited by

Suzanne McQuade


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Copyright 2008 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

Living Language is a member of the Random House Information Group

Living Language and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

www.livinglanguage.com

Editor: Suzanne McQuade

Production Editor: Carolyn Roth

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Interior Design: Sophie Chin

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-4000-2411-7

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The Basics

Complete German:

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iv Complete German: The Basics

C O U R S E O U T L I N E

How to use this course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Language learning tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

German spelling and pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvi

UNIT 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions . . . . . . 1

Lesson 1 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2The definite article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Lesson 2 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Personal pronouns in the singular . . . . . . . 6The verb sein (to be) in the singular . . . . . . 8

Lesson 3 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Numbers 010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Numbers 1120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Lesson 4 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Personal pronouns in the plural . . . . . . . 15The verb sein (to be) in the plural . . . . . . 17



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Course outline v

UNIT 2: Talking about family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Lesson 5 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The verb haben (to have) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Regular verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Lesson 6 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Indefinite articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Possessive adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Lesson 7 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Negation with nicht(not) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Negation with kein (no) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34


Asking questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Numbers 20100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

UNIT 3: Everyday life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Lesson 9 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Numbers above 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Lesson 10 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

The months and seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Expressing likes and dislikes with

gern + verb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55



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vi Complete German: The Basics

Lesson 11 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

The plural of nouns 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57The plural of nouns 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Lesson 12 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Descriptive words 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Descriptive words 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

UNIT 4: Health and the human body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Lesson 13 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

The present tense of regular verbs . . . . . . 72The present tense of stem-changingverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Lesson 14 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Separable verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Reflexive verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Lesson 15 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

The accusative case of nouns 1 . . . . . . . . 82The accusative case of nouns 2 . . . . . . . . 85

Lesson 16 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

The accusative ofkein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88The accusative of possessivepronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91



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Course outline vii

UNIT 5: Using the telephone and making appointments . . . . . . 97

Lesson 17 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

The accusative case of personalpronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98N-nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Lesson 18 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

The accusative case of adjectives 1 . . . . 103The accusative case of adjectives 2 . . . . 105

Lesson 19 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Modal verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Talking about the future using thepresent tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111


The future tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115The future tense with modal verbs . . . . 118

UNIT 6: Getting around town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Lesson 21 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

The dative case of nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . 123The dative case ofein-words . . . . . . . . . 127

Lesson 22 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

The dative case of adjectives 1 . . . . . . . 130The dative case of adjectives 2 . . . . . . . 133



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viii Complete German: The Basics


The dative case of personal pronouns . . 136German word order in sentences withtwo objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Lesson 24 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Prepositions with the dative case . . . . . 141Prepositions with the accusative case . . 145

UNIT 7: Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Lesson 25 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Two-way prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Expressing more likes and dislikes . . . . . 155

Lesson 26 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

The present perfect with haben . . . . . . 159The present perfect with sein . . . . . . . . 162


The present perfect of separable verbs . . 165The present perfect of modal verbs . . . . 167


The comparative of adjectives . . . . . . . . 171The superlative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176



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Course outline ix

UNIT 8: Lets eat! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Lesson 29 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Simple past ofsein, haben, andwerden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184Time expressions for the past . . . . . . . . 186

Lesson 30 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

The simple past of regular (weak)verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

The simple past of irregular (strong)verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190


The simple past of modal verbs . . . . . . 194The simple past of mixed verbs . . . . . . . 196


Expressing possession: The genitive . . . 202Prepositions with the genitive . . . . . . . . 206

UNIT 9: School and work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Lesson 33 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

The passive voice 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210The passive voice 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Lesson 34 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Alternatives to the passive voice . . . . . 216Compound nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218



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x Complete German: The Basics


The imperative 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222The imperative 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225


Wenn-sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Dass-sentences and ob-sentences . . . . . 231

UNIT 10: Sports and hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Lesson 37 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Relative clauses 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236Relative clauses 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Lesson 38 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Infinitives with zu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240Weil-sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242


Subordinate clauses with questionpronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Polite speech: The wrde-form and

the subjunctive ofhaben and sein . . . . 246


The subjunctive of modal verbs . . . . . . 251Apologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

German in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Supplemental vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271

Summary of German grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Internet resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395



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Lesson 1 1

Unit 1Talking about yourself and making introductions

Guten Tag! (Good day!) In Unit 1, youll learn how to introduceyourself and others, how to say Hallo! (Hello!), how to explain

where youre from and what you do, and how to ask otherpeo-

ple for basic information about themselves. Naturally, youll

learn greetings and other essential courtesy expressions,

along with important rules on how to put German sentences

together. But dont worry; German grammar is not that tough.Well lead you through it step-by-step, and before you know it,

youll be able to have simple conversations in German.

Lesson 1 (words)

WORD LI ST 1

Guten Tag! (fml.) Good day!

Hallo! (infml.) Hello!

Auf Wiedersehen! (fml.) Good-bye!

Tschss! (infml.) Bye!

Herr Schneider Mr. Schneider

Frau Schneider Ms./Mrs. Schneider

der Lehrer teacher (male)die Lehrerin teacher (female)

der Student student (male)

die Studentin student (female)

der Rechtsanwalt lawyer (male)

die Rechtsanwltin lawyer (female)

NoteThe following abbreviations will be used in this course: (m.) =masculine, (f.) = feminine, (sg.) = singular, (pl.) = plural, (fml.) =formal/polite, and (infml.) = informal.



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2 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Gender

As you begin to acquire a vocabulary in German, youll notice thatall German words have gender. This applies to general vocabulary

words, as well as to words describing people. Lets start by lookingat some words that describe people. You may have noticed in theword list above that there is a male and a female version of the Ger-man word forlawyer: der Rechtsanwalt and die Rechtsanwltin.Most professions have two words, one for a man and one for awoman, and it is quite important to use the gender-appropriateform. Lets take a look at a few more professions showing gender.

der Chef boss (male)

die Chefin boss (female)

der Schauspieler actor

die Schauspielerin actress

The word that comes before each profession, der for a male anddie for a female, is called an article. Well learn about articles next.The female version of the profession often takes the ending -in.

There are a few words that have additional changes. The female

version may change a vowel to an umlauti.e., a becomes .

der Rechtsanwalt lawyer (male)

die Rechtsanwltin lawyer (female)

der Arzt doctor (male)

die rztin doctor (female)



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teacher) are all masculine, while die Frau (woman) and dieLehrerin (female teacher) are feminine, and das Bro (office) anddas Haus (house) are neuter.

Masculine Feminine Neuter

der Mann die Frau das Kind

man woman child

der Lehrer die Lehrerin das Haus

teacher (male) teacher ( female) house

der Bus die Haltestelle das Auto

bus stop car

der Beruf die Uhr das Bro

profession watch, clock office

der Zufall die Welt das Jahr

coincidence world year

But not all nouns have a natural gender. Just look at die Welt

(world) order Bus (bus) ordas Kind (child). There is no naturalreason for the world to be considered feminine, the bus to beconsidered masculine, or the child to be considered neuter. Sothe best thing to do is simply to learn the definite articleder,die, or das (the equivalent of the English the)along with theword. The vocabulary lists will always list the article der, die, ordas as well. Lets look at the genders of some of the nouns youve

learned so far, along with some new nouns.You will also often see the article das used to mean that in Ger-man.



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Lesson 1 5

PRACTICE 2

Insert the correct definite articleder, die, ordas.

1. _____ Welt 4. _____ Bro

2. _____ Haus 5. _____ Zufall

3. _____ Rechtsanwalt 6. _____ Chefin

Tip!There are quite a few different ways to memorize new vocabulary,

so its a good idea to try a few out to see what works for you. Sim-

ply reading a word in a list isnt going to make you remember it.

Write down your new vocabulary in a notebook, and then try to

write it or say it out loud a few times so itll sink in. You can use the

recordings that go with this course for that, too. Make flash cards,

with the German on one side and the English on the other. Start

out translating from German into English, and once youve mas-

tered that, go from English into German. Label things in your home

or office with pieces of paper or sticky notes, so youll see the Ger-man word every time you come into contact with an object. Exper-

iment and explore, but whatever you do, pace yourself. Ideally

youll spend a little bit of time on your German every day

sometimes twenty minutes a day over the course of a week will go

much further than a two-hour sitting in one day. If you cant find

the time to practice some German every day, dont despair. Just

work regularly, and grab a free moment here or there to remindyourself of what youve learned.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1. die Rechtsanwltin;2. der Student; 3. derLehrer; 4. die Schauspielerin; 5. die rztin

PRACTICE 2: 1. die;2. das; 3. der; 4. das; 5. der; 6. die



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Lesson 2 (phrases)

Wie gehts? (How are you?) Are you ready to build on the wordsyouve learned so far?

PHRASE LIST 1

Wie gehts? (infml.) How are you?

Wie geht es Ihnen? (fml.) How are you?

Gut, danke. Good, thanks.

Ich bin Amerikaner. Im American. (male)

Ich bin Amerikanerin. Im American. (female)Ich bin Deutscher. Im German. (male)

Ich bin Deutsche. Im German. (female)

aus Dresden from Dresden

aus Chicago from Chicago

in Mnchen in Munich

in Deutschland in Germany

Ich bin Rechtsanwalt. Im a lawyer. (male)

Ich bin Rechtsanwltin. Im a lawyer. (female)

. . . , nicht wahr? . . . , right?

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Personal pronouns in the singular

The first words youll need to become familiar with in German arethe pronouns. Pronouns are used to talk about yourself and otherpeople without using their names: I, you, he, she, etc. In German,the singular pronouns (pronouns referring to one person) are:

ich I

du (infml.) you

Sie (fml.) you



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Lesson 2 7

er he

sie she

es it

Notice that there are two different words foryou. When speakingGerman, you have to distinguish between talking to strangers,business associates, people older than you, and anyone you wantto show respect to (formal), and talking to family, friends, chil-

dren, and people you know better and are very familiar with (in-formal). German has different forms of the pronounyou to showthis distinction: the formal form Sie, and the informal form du.

PRACTICE 1

Which German pronoun would you use in the following situa-tions?

1. talking to your best friend Andreas

2. asking directions from an older gentleman you see on the street

3. talking about your brother

4. talking about yourself

5. talking about your boss, Frau Berger

PHRASE LIST 2

Guten Morgen. Good morning.

Guten Abend. Good evening.

Gute Nacht. Good night.

Bis bald. See you soon.

Bis morgen. See you tomorrow.

beruflich hier here on business

von Beruf by profession



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Arzt von Beruf doctor by profession

Lehrer von Beruf teacher by profession

Wie peinlich! How embarrassing!

Ganz und gar nicht. Not at all.

pnktlich punctual, on time

NUTS & BOLTS 2

The verb sein (TO BE) in the singular

Now lets look at one of the most important verbs in German,sein (to be). The form sein is called the infinitive, and it corre-sponds to the basic to-form in English, to be. When you change

the forms of a verb to match different subjects, as in the EnglishI speakbut she speaks, its called conjugation. Heres the singularconjugation ofsein (to be):

ich bin I am

du bist (infml.) you are

Sie sind (fml.) you are

er/sie/es ist he/she/it is

Ich bin Amerikaner.

Im American.

Er ist aus Dresden.

He is from Dresden.

Martina, du bist Rechtsanwltin, nicht wahr?

Martina, you are a lawyer, right?

Sind Sie aus Chicago?

Are you from Chicago?

Note in the last example that the first two words in the sen-tence are inverted to form a question, just as you would do in



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English. Well discuss question formation a bit more in a laterunit.

PRACTICE 2

Follow the instructions below.

1. Tell us that Klaus is from Munich.

2. Tell us that Susanne is from Dresden.

3. Talk to your best friend Horst and ask if he is a lawyer.

4. Ask your boss, Frau Schneider, if she is from Chicago.

5. Tell us which city you are from.

Language linkWhod have thought that you can surf the web and learn German

at the same time? Its important to keep in contact with the cul-

ture of the language youre learning, so why not check out a few

websites? For the official and independent portal to all things

German, visit www.deutschland.de. For information on Switzer-

land, visit www.schweiz.ch. You can learn more about Austria at

www.oesterreich.at, and www.dw-world.de offers news and gen-

eral information on all three countries in English.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1:

1. du;2. Sie; 3. er; 4. ich; 5. siePRACTICE 2: 1. Klaus ist aus Mnchen.2. Susanne ist ausDresden. 3. Horst, du bist Rechtsanwalt, nicht wahr? 4. FrauSchneider, Sie sind aus Chicago, nicht wahr? 5. Ich bin aus . . .

Lesson 3 (sentences)

You already began to learn a few sentences in German in the lastlesson; lets expand on those phrases you learned in Lesson 2with sentences such as Wie heien Sie? (Whats your name?)

Lesson 3 9



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SENTENCE LIST 1

Wie heien Sie? (fml.) Whats your name?

Wie heit du? (infml.) Whats your name?

Ich heie . . . My name is . . .

Wie war Ihr Name? (fml.) What was your name again?

Wie war dein Name? (infml.) What was your name again?

Mein Name ist . . . My name is . . .

Woher kommen Sie? (fml.) Where are you from?

Woher kommst du? (infml.) Where are you from?

Ich bin aus Los Angeles. Im from Los Angeles.

Ich bin aus Chicago. I am from Chicago.Ich bin Amerikaner. Im American. (male)

Ich bin Amerikanerin. Im American. ( female)

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Numbers 010

Lets look at the numbers 0 through 10 in German.

null zero

eins one

zwei two

drei threevier four

fnf five

sechs six

sieben seven

acht eight



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Klaus: Ich bin aus Dresden. Ich bin beruflich inMnchen. Ich arbeite bei InterCorp.

Sabine: Na so was! Ich auch.Klaus: Sie sind auch aus Dresden?

Sabine: Nein, ich arbeite auch bei InterCorp.Klaus: Das ist ja ein Zufall.Sabine: Ja, ich bin dort Rechtsanwltin. Ich heie

Sabine Schmidt.Now Klaus is a bit reluctant to continue the conversation.

Sabine: Wie war noch Ihr Name? Klaus . . . ?Klaus: . . . Huber. Ich bin auch . . .

Suddenly Sabine remembers.Sabine: Moment mal . . . Sie sind auch Rechtsanwalt,nicht wahr?

Klaus: Ja.Sabine: Dann bin ich ja . . .Klaus: . . . meine Chefin. Ja.

Klaus: Good evening. My name is Klaus Huber.Sabine: Good evening.Klaus: I am from Dresden. I am in Munich on business. I

work for InterCorp.Sabine: Really? Me, too.Klaus: You are from Dresden as well?Sabine: No, I also work for InterCorp.Klaus: What a coincidence.Sabine: Yes, I am a lawyer there. My name is Sabine Schmidt.Sabine: What was your name again? Klaus . . . ?Klaus: . . . Huber. I am . . .Sabine: Wait a minute . . . You are also a lawyer, right?Klaus: Yes.Sabine: Well, that means I am . . .Klaus: . . . my boss. Yes.




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Lesson 4 15

Notes

Note that Klaus and Sabine are using the formal form Sie whenaddressing each other. From this we can gather that they are prob-ably over twenty years old and dont know each other, at least not

very well. Also note that they introduce themselves with theirfirst and last names. Generally, adults wont be on a first-namebasis until theyve known each other for a little while.

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Personal pronouns in the plural

Now lets look at the personal pronouns that refer to more than

one person.

wir we

ihr (infml.) you, you all

Sie (fml.) you, you all

sie they

Even in the plural, German distinguishes between the informalihr and the formal Sie. Please note that formal forms are alwayscapitalized.

PRACTICE 1

In this exercise, replace each of the following nouns with the cor-rect pronoun.

1. Heinz und Isabella (they)

2. die Chefin und ihr Mann (you)

3. ich, Peter, und Michael4. der Chef

5. Susanne und Claudia (you)



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CONVERSATION 2

Remember Sabine and Klaus? In the brief conversation they hadwhile waiting for the bus, we discovered that Sabine is Klaussboss. Lets see what happens next.

Klaus: Wie peinlich!Sabine: Ganz und gar nicht. Die Welt ist klein. Wie

lange sind Sie schon bei InterCorp?Klaus: Seit vier Jahren. Und Sie?

Sabine: Auch seit vier Jahren.Klaus: Was fr ein Zufall.

Sabine: Ah, da ist der Bus. Die Nummer 13.Klaus: Noch ein Zufall. Das ist auch mein Bus.Sabine: Das ist meine Haltestelle.Klaus: Das ist unglaublich. Schon wieder ein Zufall.

Das ist auch meine Haltestelle.Sabine: Ja, das ist ja geradezu unheimlich. Dann bis

morgen, Herr Huber. Ich bin um acht Uhr imBro.

Klaus: Ja, bis morgen, Frau Schmidt. Pnktlich umacht Uhr. Auf Wiedersehen.

Sabine: Auf Wiedersehen.

Klaus: How embarrassing.Sabine: Not at all. Its a small world. (lit., The world is small.)

How long have you been with InterCorp?

Klaus: Four years. And you?Sabine: Four years as well.Klaus: What a coincidence.Sabine: Ah, theres the bus. Number 13.Klaus: Yet another coincidence. That is my bus, too.Sabine: That is my stop.Klaus: This is unbelievable. Another coincidence. This is my

stop, too.Sabine: Yes, this is uncanny. See you tomorrow, Herr Huber. Illbe in the office at eightA.M.



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Lesson 4 17

Klaus: Yes, see you tomorrow, Frau Schmidt. At eightA.M.sharp. Good-bye.

Sabine: Good-bye.

NotesIn most countries in Europe, parking is difficult in the city, sopeople tend to take public transportation rather than a personalcar to get around town. And because people depend on publictransportation that much, buses, trains, and streetcars adhere totheir schedules and run on time. So make sure you are pnktlich(punctual)!

NUTS & BOLTS 2

The verb sein (TO BE) in the plural

Now lets look at the plural conjugation ofsein (to be).

wir sind we are

ihr seid (infml.) you (all) are

Sie sind (fml.) you (all) are

sie sind they are

Wir sind aus Chicago.

Were from Chicago.

Sie sind Lehrer von Beruf.

They are teachers by profession.

Herr und Frau Schneider, Sie sind beruflich hier, nicht wahr?

Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, you are here on business, right?



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PRACTICE 2

Answer the questions based on the cue in parentheses.

1. Where are you and your friend from? (New York)

2. What is Horst by profession? (doctor)

3. Who is here on business?(Herr und Frau Rosen)

4. Which greeting would you use in the evening?

5. What is your profession? (Please answer truthfully. Check yourGermanEnglish dictionary to find the German word for yourprofession.)

Language linkTrain travel is one of the most preferred forms of public transporta-

tion, particularly in Europe. Who wouldnt want to take a trip on the

fast ICE (Inter City Express), connecting major cities in Germany

and the rest of continental Europe, or the convenient Regional-

express (regional express train), allowing passengers to travel be-

tween smaller cities around a particular metropolitan area? Check

out www.bahn.de to get timetables for the Deutsche Bundesbahn

(German Railway), purchase tickets, and make travel arrangements

including hotel reservations and car rentals. www.oebb.at offers

the same service for the Austrian railway, and www.rail.ch for the

Swiss railroad.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1. sie;2. Sie; 3. wir; 4. er; 5. ihr

PRACTICE 2: 1. Wir sind aus New York.2. Er ist Arzt vonBeruf. 3. Herr und Frau Rosen sind beruflich hier. 4. GutenAbend. 5. Ich bin . . . von Beruf.



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Lesson 4 19

UNIT 1 ESSENTIALS

The following phrases have been introduced in Unit 1. This isnta list of every sentence you learned in the first unit, but it coversthe most essential phrases. Be sure to practice these phrases as

much as possible until they become natural to you.

Guten Tag! (fml.) Good day!

Guten Morgen. Good morning.

Guten Abend. Good evening.

Gute Nacht. Good night.

Hallo! (infml.) Hello!

Wie gehts? (infml.) How are you?

Wie geht es Ihnen? (fml.) How are you?

Gut, danke. Good, thanks.

Auf Wiedersehen! (fml.) Good-bye!

Tschss! (infml.) Bye!

Bis bald. See you soon.

Bis morgen. See you tomorrow.Wie heien Sie? (fml.) Whats your name?

Wie heit du? (infml.) Whats your name?

Ich heie . . . My name is . . .

Wie war Ihr Name? ( fml.) What was your name again?

Wie war dein Name? (infml.) What was your name again?



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Mein Name ist . . . My name is . . .

Woher kommen Sie? ( fml.) Where are you from?

Woher kommst du? (infml.) Where are you from?Ich bin aus . . . Im from . . .



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18811967 Complete German the Basics by Living Language Excerpt

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