Here's a conversation between Thomas and Maria. Both are students in Köln (Cologne), but Maria is originally from Spain.
Thomas: "Hallo Maria!"
Maria: "Hallo Thomas! Gehst du in die Mensa?"
Thomas: "Nein. Das Essen ist billig, aber schlecht. Ich gehe in die Stadt.
Kommst du mit?"
Maria: "Ja, ich komme mit."
Thomas: "Wie findest du Köln?"
Maria: "Die Stadt ist sehr groß und interessant, aber das Wetter
ist schlecht."
| German | English | Comment(s) |
| gehen | to go | |
| du | you (informal) | informal address, like French/Italian/Spanish "tu", Dutch "jij", Greek "Esi", Chinese "Ní" (forgive the Romanization) |
| die | the | "the" for feminine words |
| Mensa (f) | student cafeteria |
the "(f)" shall indicate that the word gender is feminine. |
| das | the | "the" for neuter words |
| Essen (n) | food | |
| billig | cheap | |
| schlecht | bad | |
| Stadt (f) | city, town | also refers to downtown |
| mit | along; with | when used in combination with a verb, it has the sense "along". When used with a noun or name, e. g. "mit Maria", it has the sense "with". |
| finden | find; like | |
| sehr | very | |
| groß | big, huge | |
| interessant | interesting | |
| Wetter (n) | weather |
1. When you want a verb to fit to "du"(the informal address), the correct ending is -st. Normally, you take away all of the infinitive -en and then add the -st, but if that makes the pronunciation impossible, you have to leave the e, taking away just the -n before the -st. Examples: du wohnst (pronounceable, so no e), du arbeitest (with e because it would not be pronounceable otherwise), du heißt (the ß already means two s, so another s would be weird). The irregular verb "sein"(to be) uses the form "bist" for the informal "you are".
2. "der", "die" and "das" are all translations of "the", but you can't arbitrarily choose one. The article of a German noun has to fit the noun's gender, so use "der" for masculine words, "die" for feminine words and "das" for neuter words. There are more possibilities once you learn about cases, but don't worry about that yet.
3. German adjectives don't adapt themselves to the noun(s) they refer to if they are not preceding the noun. E. g. groß would have to add an e if you said "die große Stadt" (and same for der/das words), but not if you say "die Stadt ist groß".
4. Note that the German preposition "in" can be used not just for locations (e. g. "in Deutschland"), but also directions (e. g. "in die Mensa"). In the case of directions, the English translation of "in" is "to" or "into".
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 exercises I created for this lesson: there's a crossword as javascript game or for printout and a translation exercise below:
Translate this conversation. Peter and Lisa are young people, so they use "du"
rather than "Sie".
Peter is going to the student cafeteria.
Lisa: "Are you going to the city, Peter?"
Peter: "No, I am going to the student cafeteria."
Lisa: "How do you like the food?"
Peter: "I find the food is not bad and very cheap. Are you coming along?".
Lisa: "No, I'm going to work (don't translate the "to")."
Peter: "What is your profession? (literally: as what do you work?)".
Lisa: "I work as a tourist guide."
Peter: "Ah, that (das) is very interesting. Do you live here in
Washington?"
Lisa: "Yes, I live here, but I am German."
Peter: "How do you like Washington?"
Lisa: "The city is very big and interesting, but the food is not cheap."
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: "Bist du wahnsinnig???", "Das ist richtig.
/ Das ist falsch."
New words: wahnsinnig (crazy / mad / out of your mind), das (that), richtig
(right), falsch (wrong)
Word lists (not complete) for use with this lesson's expressions:
|
Adjectives
|
|
|
German
|
English
|
| alt | old |
| neu | new |
| jung | young |
| schlecht | bad |
| gut | good |
| hübsch | pretty, beautiful (referring to people) |
| schön | pretty, beautiful (people or things) |
| hässlich | ugly |
| groß | big, tall, huge |
| interessant | interesting |
| langweilig | boring |
| billig | cheap |
| teuer | expensive |
| sauber | clean |
| schmutzig | dirty |
| klar | clear, apparent |
| unklar | unclear |
| kalt | cold |
| warm | warm |
| heiß | hot |
| kaputt | defective, broken |
| zufrieden | content, satisfied |
| unzufrieden | unsatisfied |
| dumm | stupid |
| klug | smart |
| einfach / leicht | easy |
| leicht | light (not much weight) |
| schwierig / schwer | difficult |
| schwer | heavy |
|
More places
|
|
|
German
|
English
|
| Geschäft (n) | shop |
| Bank (f) | bank; bench |
| Apotheke (f) | pharmacy |
| Büro (n) | bureau, office |
| Polizeistation (f) | police station |
| Feuerwehr (f) |
fire brigade |
| Krankenhaus (n) | hospital |
| Sehenswürdigkeit (f) | sight |
| Bushaltestelle (f) | bus stop |
| Post (f) | post office |
| Schwimmbad (n) | swimming-pool |
| Kirche (f) | church |
| Bäckerei (f) | bakery |
| Metzgerei (f) | butcher's shop |
| Rathaus (n) | city administration |
| Theater (n) | theatre |
| Konzerthalle (f) | concert hall |
Peter geht in die Mensa.
Lisa: "Gehst du in die Stadt, Peter?"
Peter: "Nein, ich gehe in die Mensa."
Lisa: "Wie findest du das Essen?"
Peter: "Ich finde das Essen ist nicht schlecht und sehr billig. Kommst
du mit?".
Lisa: "Nein, ich gehe arbeiten."
Peter: "Als was arbeitest du?".
Lisa: "Ich arbeite als Fremdenführerin."
Peter: "Ah, das ist sehr interessant. Wohnst du hier in Washington?"
Lisa: "Ja, ich wohne hier, aber ich bin Deutsche."
Peter: "Wie findest du Washington?"
Lisa: "Die Stadt ist sehr groß und interessant, aber das Essen ist
nicht billig."