*Achtung*
For quick reference, here are all the attention sections again:
All activities in this e-textbook require ä, ö, ü, and ß where necessary and you should learn how to spell words the way we present them. You also need to use ä, ö, ü, and ß when you write tasks and quizzes. If you do not know how to make an umlaut or Eszett (ß), please refer to this short article. Also please note that we try to always provide the special characters for you so that you can copy and paste them from the instructions. In the German-speaking countries, people usually only use the ae, oe, ue as mentioned in the video when they do a crossword puzzle. Otherwise, they use the umlaut.
1.5
All German nouns are capitalized, whether they are common nouns (objects, concepts: “die Sprache”, “der Kanadier“, “das Jahr”) or proper nouns (names of people, countries, etc.: “Stefan”, “Deutschland”). Improper capitalization will cause you get answers wrong. This is a very important part of the German language.
1.6
You will often use colours as adjectives to describe things:
Der Frosch ist grün.
Der Apfel ist rot.
However, there may be times when you use a colour as a noun. Remember all nouns are always capitalized.
Was ist deine Lieblingsfarbe? Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist Blau.
If you want to more specific in your colour description you can also use adjectives such as: dunkel (dark) / hell (light)
Das Auto ist dunkelblau.
Die Socken sind hellblau.
1.8
Just because we now know “I am …” or “I have …” doesn’t mean we can just translate from English into German. One of the biggest mistakes that language learners make is to think you can just translate from one language into the other.
For example: How are you? I am good.
You may want to say:
Wie bist du? Ich bin gut.
This does NOT work in German. Remember what we learned in 1.1 and 1.5:
Wie geht es dir? Mir geht es gut.
You will learn other expressions like this through out the book.
1.10
In this unit we learned about our “Lieblingsfarbe” and we can even talk about our “Lieblingszahl“; however this doesn’t work with “Wetter“. We cannot say: Lieblingswetter. Talking about your favourite weather is a little more complicated. If you want to include weather in your selfie video, please focus on the weather in your current city rather than your favourite weather.
2.2
In German, when stating someone’s nationality, place of residence or occupation no indefinite article is used.
Fatih Akin ist Deutscher. Fatih Akin is a German.
Maren ist Studentin. Maren is a student.
Ich bin Berliner. I am a Berliner.
[Remember when J.F. Kennedy visited Berlin in 1963, he said: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Had he learned German with us, he would have known not to use the indefinite article. Literally, he said “I’m a jelly donut”. However, the historical significance of his statement, though not entirely correct, was not lost on the people of Berlin.]
– All days of the week are masculine (der Montag).
– When you make a sentence with a day of the week you will need to use the preposition “am“.
Ich habe am Montag Deutsch.
Ich arbeite am Sonntag.
As you have seen in this presentation as well as earlier in this unit, German verbs are sometimes a combination of a noun + verb or verb + verb:
Fußball spielen – Luca spielt gern Fußball.
Musik hören – Karolina hört gern Musik.
Fotos machen – Houssem macht gern Fotos.
ins Konzert gehen – Houssem geht heute Abend ins Konzert.
Sport machen – Sasha macht gern Sport.
essen gehen – Houssem geht mit Freunden essen.Please note that you conjugate the verb in the second position and put the other verb or noun at the end of your sentence. It is the complement that gives you more information about the verb.
2.10
In the previous video, you may have noticed “gerne” and thought: How is that different than “gern“? We have great news for you today! They are interchangeable and both work. Throughout the activities in this book we use “gern“, but in your daily German life you are able to use either form.
2.10
We have been learning many different hobbies. It is important to understand the different ways one can ask you about your hobbies. Here are a few of the ways we have seen thus far:
Was ist Ihr/dein Hobby?
– Ich spiele gern Gitarre.
Was machen Sie gern in Ihrer Freizeit?/Was machst du gern in deiner Freizeit?**
– In meiner Freizeit wandere ich gern. / Ich wandere gern in meiner Freizeit.
Was ist Ihre/deine Lieblingsfreizeitaktivität?
– Meine Lieblingsfreizeitaktivität ist Tanzen.
**Please note, the verb “machen” is only used in the answer if “machen” is part of the hobby. For example:
Was ist dein Hobby? Ich mache gern Yoga.
You heard these sentences in the listenings:
Ja, ich suche eine neue Hose.
Diese Jeans kostet nur 39 Euro.
Please note that “die Hose”, “die Jeans” and “die Brille” are singular. There are plural forms as well.
Die Hosen sind teuer.
Die Jeans kosten mehr als die Jogginghosen.
3.12
Throughout the e-textbook you will encounter this expression:
es gibt … = “there is” and “there are”
Bei MediaMarkt gibt es einen sehr billigen Computer. (singular)
Es gibt viele Personen in meiner Familie. (plural)
Have you ever struggled to decide which word to use to say “to”? Going to a dictionary isn’t really helpful when there are so many options. Here is a quick review:
Nach is used if you are going to a city or a country.
Katelyn fährt mit dem Schiff nach St. Goarshausen.
Im August fliegt sie wieder nach Kanada.
Nach is also used when you say you are going home: Ich gehe nach Hause. (I’m going home.)
Zu is used if you are going to a building, a place of business, or someone’s residence.
Katelyn ist mit dem Bus zum Hafen gefahren.
Heute fahren wir zu Schäfers.
Zu is also used in the idiomatic expression: Ich bin zu Hause. (I am at home.)
In is used instead of nach to express that you are going to a country if the name of the country has an article (z.B. der Libanon, die Schweiz, die USA). The article is in the accusative case.
Nächstes Jahr fahre ich in den Libanon.
Am Wochenende fahre ich in die Schweiz zum Ski fahren.
Morgen fliegen wir in die USA.
Here is a good list of countries with articles.
Here are some helpful sentences to help you express your food allergies and intolerances. This is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it helps you learn some of the common structures.
Ich bin allergisch gegen Eier /Erdnüsse / Milch / Soja … – I am allergic to eggs / peanuts / milk / soy …
Ich esse glutenfrei, weil ich Zöliakie habe. – I eat gluten free, because I have celiac disease.
Ich bin Veganer, Vegetarierin, usw. – I am vegan, vegetarian, etc.
Ich kann Laktose nicht vertragen. – I’m intolerant to lactose.
Ich kann keine Meeresfrüchte essen. – I can’t eat seafood.
Ich esse kein Fleisch. – I don’t eat meat.
Kann ich dieses Gericht ohne Erdnüsse haben? – Can I have this dish without the peanuts?
Enthält das Weizen? – Does this contain wheat?
10.2
Throughout Nachbar Nr. 5 you will learn different idioms (Redewendungen). These phrases often make no sense when interpreted literally. They will often have an English equivalent, however not always. Learning idioms will make your German sound more authentic. Here are a few common idioms that are not used in the book, but that you may find fun to use in your own German.
Das ist mir Wurst! – It’s all the same to me!
Ich bin fix und fertig. – I’m wiped out. / I’m exhausted.
die Daumen drücken – to keep one’s fingers crossed
10.8
Throughout the first few chapters of this book, we have seen interesting usages of the words: ja, aber, doch, denn, etc. These little words are called modal particles. These words add “flavour” or change the tone of a sentence, question, etc. Sometimes they can soften the harshness of a comment or even add a persuasive or suggestive element to a request. Here are some examples from the book so far:
Mach doch eine kleine Pause.
Wer bist du denn?
Im Internet sehen Sie aber ein bisschen älter aus.
Wir haben ja vor einigen Tagen telefoniert.
