Here's a conversation between strangers in Köln (Cologne).
A: "Entschuldigung! Wo ist der Dom?"
B: "Es tut mir leid, ich bin nicht von hier. Ich bin Amerikaner."
...
A: "Entschuldigung! Sind Sie Deutscher? Sind Sie von hier?"
C: "Ich bin Deutscher, aber ich bin nicht von hier."
D: "Ich bin von hier."
A: "Wo ist der Dom?"
D: "Der Dom ist da." (points in the direction)
| German | English | Comment(s) |
| sein | to be | irregular verb! ich bin, Sie sind |
| der | the | "the" for masculine words |
| Dom (m) | cathedral | the "(m)" shall indicate that the word gender is
masculine. The "Dom" in Köln (Cologne) is very famous. |
| Es tut mir leid | I am sorry | literally: it does me grief |
| nicht | not | |
| von | of | |
| hier | here | to be "von hier" means you have a relation to this place, for example because you were born here or you spend a lot of time here. It insinuates that you're familiar with the area. |
| Amerikaner (m) | American (man) | this is not "American" as an adjective, such as
is used in "the American flag"; a female American would be "Amerikanerin", with the added -in you already know. |
| Deutscher (m) | German (man) | again, this describes the person, not the nationality or language. A female German is "Deutsche". |
| da | there |
1. In this text, you saw "bin", "ist" and "sind". These are forms of the irregular verb "to be", which is irregular in all of the world's languages that know any irregularity. "bin" is the form used for the 1st person singular: "ich bin"(I am). "ist" is for the 3rd person singular: "es ist"(it is) - "ist" looks very much like the English equivalent "is" and in quick colloquial speech, Germans don't even pronounce the final -t. "sind" is for the 3rd person plural: "sie sind"(they are), and by consequence also for the formal address: "Sie sind"(You are).
2. You also saw the word "nicht". This is a very easy part of German, even easier than in English. When you want to negate a sentence (say the opposite), just insert the word "nicht" after the verb. Examples: "Der Dom ist da."(The cathedral is there) --> "Der Dom ist nicht da."(The cathedral isn't there); "Ich wohne in Berlin"(I live in Berlin) --> "Ich wohne nicht in Berlin."(I don't live in Berlin)
3. German nouns come in 3 varieties called genders: masculine (for male nouns),
feminine (for female nouns) and neuter (for gender-neutral nouns). Unfortunately,
the assignment of nouns into these three groups is quite arbitrary. "Mann"(man)
is of course masculine and "Frau"(woman) is of course feminine, just
like "Amerikaner" is masculine and "Amerikanerin" is feminine
(and same for the professions you already learned), but would you have guessed
that "Dom" is masculine? Yet this is important to know, because if
"Dom" was neuter for example, the definite article would be "das"
and not "der". So when learning a German noun, always learn its gender
at the same time.
A trick that makes it easier to learn the gender is to include a man (for masculine),
a woman (for feminine) or a child or animal (for neuter) in a prominent place
in the picture you create in your mind for the word. The more vivid, striking
or unusual the picture, the better it will stick to your memory. For example,
for "Dom", imagine Osama Bin Laden praying in the cathedral, trying
to time those Muslim movements of prayer to the organ music.
4. Note that a sentence like "Ich bin Amerikaner" (just like "Ich arbeite als Fremdenführerin" in lesson 2) does not require the equivalent of the word "an" in German. If you added it, you would be referring to a kind of pastry (see image) that is called "Amerikaner". Same for "Berliner"(without "an": citizen of Berlin / else: different kind of pastry). Hence, John F. Kennedy's famous words "Ich bin ein Berliner" produced a chuckle...
Use the words you have learned in this lesson as often as you can in the next few days. If you don't know any Germans or German-learning friends on whom you could try them out, at least call them up in your memory whenever you have a few minutes to spare and imagine conversations. You could also use the Unilang VSL German forum in order to practise.
If you have some spare time left, do the following translation exercise:
Translate:
1. Is the cathedral here? - No, the cathedral isn't here, the cathedral is there.
2. Are you called Maria? - No, I am not called Maria, I am called Maike.
3. Do you live in Cologne? - No, I don't live in Cologne, but I come from Cologne.
4. Do you come from Austria? - No, I don't come from Austria, but I live in
Austria.
5. Do you work as a tourist guide? - No, I don't work as a tourist guide. I
work as a translator.
6. Is Mark in Germany? - No, Mark isn't in Germany. Mark is in Austria.
7. And you? Are you in Germany? - Yes I am in Germany.
8. Are you an American? - Yes, I am an American. / No, I am a German.
9. Where are Anna and Lisa? - They are here.
10. And Peter and Michael? - Peter and Michael aren't here, they are there.
Solution
If you'd like to learn more words that you can use without having to study another lesson, use this section in order to find them. Feel free to learn selectively, picking out words you consider useful for your situation or interesting. If you don't have the time, feel free to just skip this section. I will not require you to know any of these words in the next lessons.
Additional expressions: "Er ist Student.", "Sie ist Studentin.",
"Wer sind Sie?"
New words: er (he), Student (male student), sie (she), Studentin (female student)
Word lists (not complete) for use with this lesson's expressions:
|
People from countries
|
|
|
German
|
English
|
| Amerikaner(in) | American |
| Australier(in) | Australian |
| Deutscher / Deutsche | German man / woman |
| Engländer(in) | Englishman; also often incorrectly used to refer to people from all of Britain |
| Franzose / Französin | French man / woman |
| Irländer(in) | Irish |
| Italiener(in) | Italian |
| Kanadier(in) | Canadian |
| Mexikaner(in) | Mexican |
| Neuseeländer(in) | New Zealandian |
| Österreicher(in) | Austrian |
| Russe / Russin | Russian |
| Schweizer(in) | Swiss |
| Spanier(in) | Spanish |
| Südafrikaner(in) | South African |
|
Places
|
|
|
German
|
English
|
| hier | here |
| da / dort | there |
| dort drüben | over there |
| Platz (m) | square |
| Park (m) | park |
| Garten (m) |
garden
|
| Bahnhof (m) | train station |
| Flugplatz (m) | airport |
| Laden (m) | shop |
| Campingplatz (m) | campground |
| Springbrunnen (m) | fountain |
| See (m) | lake |
| Strand (m) | beach |
| Wald (m) | forest |
| Fluss (m) | lake |
| Berg (m) | mountain |
| Hügel (m) | hill |
1. Ist der Dom hier? - Nein, der Dom ist nicht hier,
der Dom ist da.
2. Heißen Sie Maria? - Nein, ich heiße nicht Maria, ich heiße
Maike.
3. Wohnen Sie in Köln? - Nein, ich wohne nicht in Köln, aber ich komme
aus Köln.
4. Kommen Sie aus Österreich? - Nein, ich komme nicht aus Österreich,
aber ich wohne in Österreich.
5. Arbeiten Sie als Fremdenführer? - Nein, ich arbeite nicht als Fremdenführer.
Ich arbeite als Übersetzer.
6. Ist Mark in Deutschland? - Nein, Mark ist nicht in Deutschland. Mark ist
in Österreich.
7. Und Sie? Sind Sie in Deutschland? - Ja, ich bin in Deutschland.
8. Sind Sie Amerikaner? - Ja, ich bin Amerikaner. / Nein, ich bin Deutscher.
9. Wo sind Anna und Lisa? - Sie sind hier.
10. Und Peter und Michael? - Peter und Michael sind nicht hier, sie sind da.
