December 2010
20 posts
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auffallen, ausfallen, einfallen, entfallen,...
Oh man… I guess I’m confused! There are so many different verbs with “-fallen” in German. What do they mean? When do I use them?… Don’t despair… here’s some help for at least some of the many “fallen” verbs:
(1) auffallen -> (to) notice sth (also: (to) strike so as sth / stand out)
Example: Have you noticed my new haircut? Ist dir...
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Answers to yesterday's exercise
Good morning, folks!
Here’s the translation to Kling Glöckchen:
Ring, little bell, ringalingaling! Ring, little bell, ring! Let me in, you kids! So cold is the winter! Open the doors for me! Don’t let me freeze! Ring, little bell, ringalingaling! Ring, little bell, ring!
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Answers to yesterday's blackboard translation
“Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann, kommt mit seinen Gaben.”
“die Gabe” is an oldfashioned way to say “present”. Maybe you notice the similarity to the verb “geben” which means “to give”.
Santa’s coming tomorrow, coming with his presents.
Listen to the song here!
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10 expressions with "Weihnachten"
1. Weihnachten = Christmas
2. der Weihnachtsbaum = Christmas tree
3. der Weihnachtsmann = Santa Claus
4. das Weihnachtsessen = Christmas dinner
5. das Weihnachtsgeschenk = Christmas present
6. das Weihnachtslied = Christmas carol
7. das Weihnachtsplätzchen = Christmas cookie
8. der Weihnachtsmarkt = Christmas market
9. der Weihnachtsstern = poinsettia
10. die Weihnachtszeit = Christmas...
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The past participle of German verbs
What?! Past what?? ;) … Relax. It’s not as bad as it sounds:
You have the same thing in English to form past tenses like the present/past perfect or the passive voice. For example (to) write - written. “written” is the past participle of (to) write.
The following rule applies to German regular verbs:
ge- + 3rd person singular form of the verb. Examples:
spielen (to...
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Definite articles in the Dative and Accusative...
Last time, we took a look at how the definite articles “der, die, das” change in the Genitive case.
Today: Dative and Accusative case! You have to make changes in both:
Dative: Ich gebe DEM Mann / DER Frau / DEM Kind einen Apfel.(I give the man / woman / child an apple)
Accusative: Ich verlasse DEN Laden / DIE Schule / DAS Haus. (I leave the store / school / house).
Let’s...
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Definite articles in the Nominative and Genitive...
Recently, one of my readers, Caitlin, asked me to post a list of the German articles and how they change in the different cases.
Remember the articles in German? der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neuter) -> “the”
The good news is: In the Nominative case, nothing changes. e.g. DER Mann / DIE Frau / DAS Kind geht nach Hause.
However, in the Genitive case, you have to make some...
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How to turn Google Translate into a beatbox....
How to turn Google Translate into a beatbox:
1) Go to Google Translate 2) Set the translator to translate German to German 3) Copy + paste the following into the translate box: pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch…… 4) Click “listen”
LOL!
(via my friend Nicole)
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The verb "werden" Part 3 - passive voice
The passive voice is - just like in English - not super easy, which means I cannot explain it in just one post. The passive is used when someone / something is not actively doing something but something is done to them. Example: Ich schreibe einen Brief -> active (I’m writing a letter). Der Brief wird geschrieben -> passive (The letter is written).
So let’s just quickly focus on...
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