The German verb “lassen” is kinda tricky. It has various meanings:

a) (to) let as in: Let me go! Lass mich gehen!

b) (to) leave as in: Leave me alone! Lass mich in Ruhe!

c) (to) let / have something done as in: Ich lasse mein Auto reparieren. I’m having my car repaired.

In a) and b) “lassen” functions like any other verb that can stand on its own.

In c) it functions like a modal verb that supports another verb (just like e.g. (to) have or (to) be) -> “lassen” is conjugated, the verb that is supported stands in the infinitve.

Example: Tanja lässt (<- conjugated) sich die Haare schneiden (<- infinitive). Tanja is having her hair cut / is getting a haircut.

Here’s how you conjugate the irregular verb “lassen”.

Present tense: ich lasse, du lässt, er/sie/es lässt, wir lassen, ihr lasst, sie lassen

Past tense: ich ließ, du ließest, er/sie/es ließ, wir ließen, ihr ließet, sie ließen

Past participle of “lassen”: “gelassen”

This week’s homework was about conjugating verbs in the present tense. Maybe the way it was set up was too difficult for beginners. I promise, next week’s homework will be easier, so that more of you can actually participate. :)

I decided not to reblog one of the two reblogs this time. But I wanna thank you, @stuwilliams and @2srbs1itln for the reblogs! The main mistakes I noticed were that sometimes you conjugated the verb in the simple past instead of the present tense. But you also got a bunch of things right!

Also thanks to @MikePeavey! You did very well - only one tiny mistake in #9! :)

Here are the correct answers:

1.) Das ist mein Hund Bob. (sein)

2.) Bob isst gern Hundekuchen. (essen)

3.) Jeden Montag kaufe ich ihm welche. (kaufen)

4.) Wir gehen dann immer zusammen zum Zoogeschäft. (gehen)

5.) Der Mann, der dort verkauft ist sehr nett. (verkaufen; sein)

6.) Manchmal sprechen wir noch ein paar Minuten miteinander. (sprechen)

7.) Dann bellt Bob immer von draußen, weil er schon Hunger hat (bellen; haben)

8.) Ich bezahle und verlasse den Laden. (bezahlen; verlassen)

9.) Natürlich freut sich Bob sehr wenn er mich sieht (freuen; sehen)

10.) Ich gebe ihm seinen Hundekuchen und dann machen wir uns auf den Weg nach Hause. (geben; machen)

… to answer this week’s homework. C’mon, guys! Give it a shot! ;) Fill in the blanks with the correct verb form - only present tense - and reblog it for us to learn from your answers! :) If you have difficulties, check out the following GermanHeit posts:

Conjugation of regular verbs in the present tense

Also the posts tagged with “conjugation” may be helpful :)

Have a great Saturday!

“Wie geht es dir/euch (plural)? / Wie geht es Ihnen?” … both translate to “How are you?”. So what’s the difference and is it important to know?

The answer is YES, because Germans tend to be uncomfortable when the “du” / “Sie” rules are broken.

du / ihr (plural) = addresses to someone in a familiar way

Sie / Sie (plural) = addresses to someone in the formal way

Except for English, all Indo-European languages have those two forms for “you”. English has just lost it for some reason - the eqivalent of “du” used to be “thou” a long time ago.

Apart from grammatical problems that will occur if you don’t use “du” and “Sie” correctly (different verb conjugation), it’s also a cultural problem which I will explain in another post.

But now it’s your turn - when do Germans say “du” and when “Sie”? Any guesses?

Today’s conjugation:

schneiden = (to) cut in the simple past (einfache Vergangenheit / Präteritum)

ich schnitt

du schnittst

er / sie / es schnitt

wir schnitten

ihr schnittet

sie schnitten

It’s the end of the week and that means it’s time for another homework assignment! This time, you have to fill in the blanks with the right form of the verb. It’s all present tense. And you’ll know which verb you need to conjugate, cause it’s written in parentheses (infinitive).

1.) Das …….. mein Hund Bob. (sein)

2.) Bob …….. gern Hundekuchen. (essen)

3.) Jeden Montag ……… ich ihm welche. (kaufen)

4.) Wir ……… dann immer zusammen zum Zoogeschäft. (gehen)

5.) Der Mann, der dort …….. …….. sehr nett. (verkaufen; sein)

6.) Manchmal …….. wir noch ein paar Minuten miteinander. (sprechen)

7.) Dann …….. Bob immer von draußen, weil er schon Hunger…. (bellen; haben)

8.) Ich ………. und …………. den Laden. (bezahlen; verlassen)

9.) Natürlich …….. sich Bob sehr wenn er mich ………. (freuen; sehen)

10.) Ich ……… ihm seinen Hundekuchen und dann ………. wir uns auf den Weg nach Hause. (geben; machen)

No language learning without grammar - unfortunately according to some people. ;) But it can also be a fascinating topic. And it’s basically like a big puzzle, so it’s challenging and the reward is so big: Being able to “decode” sentences and therefore being able to understand and eventually have a command over the language - pretty awesome, huh?

Here’s some basic grammar to get started:

German Articles

German Noun Genders

Sentence Structure Statements 1

Sentence Structure Questions 1

The Conjugation Of Regular Verbs In The Present Tense

In my last grammar post, I talked about the infinitive construction “um…zu”. @kat_rees was wondering what the difference between “um…zu” and “damit” is.

The biggest difference is that “damit” is a conjunction. Conjunctions (subordinating conjunctions) introduce a subordinate clause, the part of a sentence that cannot stand by itself and is dependant on the main clause.

A subordinate clause starts with a conjunction like in this case “damit” and ends with a conjugated verb. The other sentence elements e.g. time, manner and place fall into the normal order.

e.g.

Ich arbeite, damit ich Geld verdiene.

I work so that I earn money.

“damit” translates to the English “so that” or “in order that”.

Now we know more about “um…zu” and “damit”. In my next post, I’ll give you examples for both.

Today’s conjugation:

(to) drink = trinken in the simple past (einfache Vergangenheit / Präteritum)

ich trank

du trankst

er / sie / es trank

wir tranken

ihr tranket

sie tranken

The negation “nicht” is positioned depending on the sentence elements. Let me give you a few rules for that today:

Nicht always follows:

- the conjugated verb

(e.g. Paula raucht nicht. Paula doesn’t smoke.)

- specific adverbs of time

(e.g. Paula arbeitet heute nicht. Paula is not working today.)

Nicht precedes most other elements:

- adjectives

(e.g. Paula ist nicht lustig. Paula isn’t funny.)

- most other adverbs

(e.g. Paula singt nicht gut. Paula doesn’t sing well.)

- infinitives

(e.g. Paula geht nicht schwimmen. Paula is not going swimming.)