June 2009
38 posts
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#Conjugation (present tense): fahren
Today’s conjugation:
(to) drive = fahren in the present tense / Gegenwart
ich fahre du fährst er / sie / es fährt wir fahren ihr fahrt sie fahren
May 2009
53 posts
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#German sentence structure: Middle of the clause
#grammar
In the middle of a clause, the following order is valid:
1. Time
2. Objects
3. Manner
4. Place
Example:
Ich gehe heute mit meinem Freund nach der Arbeit ins Kino.
(S) (V) (time) - (object) - - (manner) - - (place) - .
Literally: I’m going today with my friend after work to the movies.
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#German - English idioms 2
Das ist hinausgeworfenes Geld. = That’s throwing good money away.
Literally: That’s thrown out money.
Modern usage: yes
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#German sentence structure: Statements 2
#grammar
Statements 1 dealt with sentences that only have ONE object. So what happens if we have more than one?
1.) two nouns: Dative before accusative!
Example: Ich gebe meinem Freund einen Brief. I give a letter to my friend.
(S) (V) (dative O) (acc. O) .
2.) one noun, one pronoun: The pronoun always goes first!
Example: Ich gebe ihm einen Brief. I give a letter to him.
(S) ...
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#German - English idioms
Being able to use #idioms or sayings in a foreign language doesn’t only make the usage more fun. It also shows people you’re talking to that you’re interested in their language on a different level.
That’s why I wanna teach you German idioms, too. Some of them are used all the time - almost without noticing it. Some are rather rare or oldfashioned, but still important and interesting to learn.
...
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#podcast
Finally part 3 of my German...
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Conjugation (simple past) : sein
#conjugation
Today’s conjugation:
(to) be = sein in the simple past tense (einfache Vergangenheit / Präteritum)
ich war
du warst
er / sie / es war
wir waren
ihr wart
sie waren
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What is what in #German? Today: Neverending Story...
#culture #neverendingstory
Did you know that “The Neverending Story” - Die Unendliche Geschichte - was written by a very popular German children’s book author called Michael Ende?
It was one of my favourite books when I was a kid. And I have wanted to read it again for a long time, because the story is so detailed, intense and beautiful. Much better than the movies or let’s say - the first movie...
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#German sentence structure: Questions 1
#grammar
Last time we learned how the sentence structure of an easy statement works. But how do we construct a question in German?
First of all we have to distinguish between yes/no questions and specific questions. I wanna tell you about yes/no questions today, which ask for the truthfulness of a statement.
The order of the elements is the following:
Prädikat/Verb (conjugated verb) - Subjekt...
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Watch#music This is probably one of the shortest music video clips ever ;) “Yoko Ono” by “Die Ärzte”. Doesn’t make any sense, but it’s hilarious! Lyrics: Du hast mir nichts als Pech gebracht, hast mich nur belogen. Du hast mich lächerlich gemacht, mein Konto überzogen. Du nervst noch mehr als Yoko Ono. Du gehst mir ewig auf den Sack. Du haust nicht ab aus meiner Wohnung. Du hast einen beschissenen...
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#German sentence structure: Statements 1
#grammar
I’ve always heard from people learning the German language is difficult due to its weird sentence structure. Although I’d say it’s not that weird. It may just be a bit unusual at first. That’s why I wanna dedicate a couple of posts to it. Maybe they will help you understand it a bit better. :)
A normal statement with one object is pretty easy to construct. In elementary school we were...
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Another 3 #German tongue-twisters
Yeah - some more to practise!! But be careful not to twist your tongue! Brecht euch nicht die Zunge! ;) Hehe.
1.) Zwischen zwei Zwetschgenzweigen sitzen zwei zwitschernde Schwalben.
(Two twittering swallows are sitting between two plum branches.)
2.) Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid.
(Red cabbage remains red cabbage and wedding dress remains wedding dress.)
3.) Der...
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#German keyboard shortcuts for Mac
For those of you who use Macs, here’s a list of shortcuts that you can use to type the special German letters.
Option +:
ä u, then a Ä u, then A
ö u, then o Ö u, then O
ü u, then u Ü u, then U
ß s
Since I don’t have a Mac, I cannot try the combinations out myself. So if there’s anything wrong with them, please let me know. Thx! :)
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Die Welt ist bunt - the world is colorful :)
#vocab
The world is full of beautiful colors! And knowing the colors in a foreign language helps you a lot to describe the things that are around you. Here are some basic colors in German:
rot = red orange = orange gelb = yellow grün = green blau = blue grau = grey violett = violet lila = purple rosa = pink schwarz = black weiß ...
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What is what in #German? Today: #Terminator x 10
I have to admit, I’m pretty excited! Today is the release of the new Terminator movie with Christian Bale. Can’t wait to go see it. What about you?
So today’s what is what in German: all about the Terminator movies :)
1.) Judgement Day = Tag der Abrechnung
2.) Rise of the Machines = Rebellion der Maschinen
3.) Salvation = Erlösung (f)
4.) nuclear war = Atomkrieg (m)
5.) artificial...
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The #German spelling alphabet
Recently, @kat_rees...
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10 ways to say you're wasted in #German
#vocab
Last time I taught you 10 ways to say you’re drunk in German. But sometimes you lose control at a party and are way MORE than just drunk… ehm… and that’s why I also have to teach you the following expressions:
1.) voll sein
2.) besoffen sein
3.) hackedicht sein
4.) sturzbetrunken sein
5.) sternhagelvoll sein
6.) rotzevoll sein
7.) ...
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3 #German tongue-twisters
Ha - we know them all! Maybe we also hated them all when we were kids. Tongue-twisters - sentences that were designed to be difficult to pronounce - even for native speakers. And especially when saying them fast! One of the most difficult tongue-twister in English is:
The sixth sick sheikh’s sixth sheep’s sick.
Holy…. ehm… ;) Well, let me introduce you to some German ones! Just like many...
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Conjugation (present tense): wollen
#conjugation
Today’s conjugation:
(to) want = wollen in the present tense (Präsens/Gegenwart)
ich will
du willst
er / sie / es will
wir wollen
ihr wollt
sie wollen
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A list of #German question words
#vocabulary
Warum / Wieso / Weshalb? = why?
Wer? = who?
Wo? = where?
Was? = what?
Wie? = how?
Wann? = when?
Wofür / Wozu? = what for?
Wohin? = where to?
Woher? = where from?
Wessen? = whose?
Welcher (m) / Welche (f) / Welches (n)? = which?
Wem? (dative) = whom?
Wen? (accusative) = who?
Wieviel? = how much?
Wieviele? = how many?
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First small talk 3: Where are you from?
#German #phrases
This post will teach you how to talk about where you are from. :)
Question 1:
Woher bist/kommst du? / Woher sind/kommen Sie? = Where are you from? (informal / formal)
- Ich komme/bin aus… = I come / I’m from…
Question 2:
Wo wohnst du? / Wo wohnen Sie? = Where do you live? (informal / formal)
- Ich wohne in… = I live in…
Vocabulary:
Woher? = Where from?
kommen =...
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#German keyboard shortcuts for Windows
English keyboards don’t have the special German letters of course. But don’t worry - there are special codes which you can use! Personally I like the alt-codes for windows best. I also use them when I write something in Swedish e.g. å. And I think they are easy to remember after having used them a couple of times.
ALT-codes for Windows
ALT +:
ä 0228 Ä 0196
ö 0246 Ö 0214
ü...
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What is what in #German? Today Lord of the Rings x...
#culture #lotr
Yeah, I have to admit I’m a big Lord of the Rings fan. So today, I wanna tell you what is what in German ;)
1.) The Lord of the Rings = Der Herr der Ringe
2.) Baggins = Beutlin
3.) The Shire = Das Auenland
4.) Rivendell = Bruchtal
5.) Middle Earth = Mittelerde
6.) Helm’s Deep = Helms Klamm
7.) Mount Doom = Der Schicksalsberg
8.) The Weathertop = Die...
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10 ways to say you're drunk in #German
10 ways to say that you’re drunk or tipsy in German:
1.) betrunken sein
2.) blau sein
3.) einen in der Mütze haben
4.) einen in der Krone haben
5.) breit sein
6.) beschickert sein
7.) zu tief ins Glas geschaut haben
8.) einen intus haben
9.) bedüdelt sein
10.) angeheitert sein
Next time: 10 ways to say you’re wasted - hehe ;)
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Regular and irregular verbs
#grammar
When you learn German verbs, you’ll stumble upon two different kinds:
Irregular / strong verbs (unregelmäßige / starke Verben) are verbs, that change their stems in certain tenses - mostly the past tense. Sometimes the present tense is also affected. There are less than 200 irregular verbs in the German language, so mostly you’re lucky and come across regular / weak verbs (regelmäßige /...
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#podcast
You want to know more about the...
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First small talk 2: age
#phrases
Let’s continue learning a couple of small talk phrases. :)
Question 1:
Wie alt bist du? / Wie alt sind Sie? = How old are you? (informal / formal)
- Ich bin… Jahre alt. = I’m … years old.
Question 2:
Wann hast du Geburtstag? / Wann haben Sie Geburtstag? = When is your birthday? (informal / formal)
- Mein Geburtstag ist am… / Ich habe am … Geburtstag. = My birthday is on…
...
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Conjugation (present tense): essen
#conjugation
Today’s conjugation:
(to) eat = essen (irregular) in the present tense (Präsens/Gegenwart)
ich esse
du isst
er / sie / es isst
wir essen
ihr esst
sie essen
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What is what in #German? Star Wars x 10
#culture #starwars
Movies are usually dubbed in Germany and play in the dubbed version only at cinemas (unless it’s a special screening or a foreign language theatre). But apart from just translating film dialogues etc., e.g. names are often totally “germanized”. Sometimes it’s a direct translation from the original language, sometimes a complete new term / word was made up. So every once...
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German nicknames for lovers ;)
#vocab
Yeah, I know - some of them are really cheesy but we all use them - wherever we are on this planet. Honey, baby, darling, sweetheart - I guess these nicknames are the most popular in the English speaking world, right? Of course the German language has terms of endearment, too!
We distinguish between two different words for “nickname”
der Kosename = nickname (as used by...
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German articles
#grammar
Like in English, there are two kinds of articles in German:
The indefinite and the definite article.
Singular: ein, eine, ein = a = indefinite article
der, die, das = the = definite article
Plural:
left out like in English = indefinite article
die (for all 3 genders) = the = definite article
Note: The indefinite article is inflected, depending on the gender and the case of the...
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“Wer kämpft, kann verlieren. Wer nicht kämpft, hat schon verloren.
Those who...”
– Bertolt Brecht
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First small talk 1: names
#phrases
Question 1:
Wie heißt du? / Wie heißen Sie? = What’s your name? (informal / formal)?
(literally: How are you called?)
- Mein Name ist… / Ich heiße… = My name is… / I’m ….
Question 2:
Wie ist dein Nachname? / Wie ist Ihr Nachname? = What’s your last name (informal / formal)
- Mein Nachname ist… / Ich heiße… mit Nachnamen. = My last name is….
Vocabulary:
der Name = name
der...
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#podcast
My first podcast ever! I’m excited and a...
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