*Achtung*
For quick reference, here are all the attention sections again:
All activities in this e-textbook require ä, ö, ü, and ß where necessary and you should learn how to spell words the way we present them. You also need to use ä, ö, ü, and ß when you write tasks and quizzes. If you do not know how to make an umlaut or Eszett (ß), please refer to this short article. Also please note that we try to always provide the special characters for you so that you can copy and paste them from the instructions. In the German-speaking countries, people usually only use the ae, oe, ue as mentioned in the video when they do a crossword puzzle. Otherwise, they use the umlaut.
1.6
You will often use colours as adjectives to describe things:
Der Frosch ist grün.
Der Apfel ist rot.
However, there may be times when you use a colour as a noun. Remember all nouns are always capitalized.
Was ist deine Lieblingsfarbe? Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist Blau.
If you want to more specific in your colour description you can also use adjectives such as: dunkel (dark) / hell (light)
Das Auto ist dunkelblau.
Die Socken sind hellblau.
2.2
In German, when stating someone’s nationality, place of residence or occupation no indefinite article is used.
Fatih Akin ist Deutscher. Fatih Akin is a German.
Maren ist Studentin. Maren is a student.
Ich bin Berliner. I am a Berliner.
[Remember when J.F. Kennedy visited Berlin in 1963, he said: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Had he learned German with us, he would have known not to use the indefinite article. Literally, he said “I’m a jelly donut”. However, the historical significance of his statement, though not entirely correct, was not lost on the people of Berlin.]
– All days of the week are masculine (der Montag).
– When you make a sentence with a day of the week you will need to use the preposition “am“.
Ich habe am Montag Deutsch.
Ich arbeite am Sonntag.
As you have seen in this presentation as well as earlier in this unit, German verbs are sometimes a combination of a noun + verb or verb + verb:
Fußball spielen – Luca spielt gern Fußball.
Musik hören – Karolina hört gern Musik.
Fotos machen – Houssem macht gern Fotos.
ins Konzert gehen – Houssem geht heute Abend ins Konzert.
Sport machen – Sasha macht gern Sport.
essen gehen – Houssem geht mit Freunden essen.Please note that you conjugate the verb in the second position and put the other verb or noun at the end of your sentence. It is the complement that gives you more information about the verb.
In Einheit 3.5 you heard these sentences in the listening: Ja, ich suche eine neue Hose.
Diese Jeans kostet nur 39 Euro.
Please note that “die Hose”, “die Jeans” and “die Brille” are singular. There are plural forms as well.Die Hosen sind teuer.
Die Jeans kosten mehr als die Jogginghosen.
3.12
Throughout the e-textbook you will encounter this expression:
es gibt … = “there is” and “there are”
Bei MediaMarkt gibt es einen sehr billigen Computer. (singular)
Es gibt viele Personen in meiner Familie. (plural)
Have you ever struggled to decide which word to use to say “to”? Going to a dictionary isn’t really helpful when there are so many options. Here is a quick review:
Nach is used if you are going to a city or a country.
Katelyn fährt mit dem Schiff nach St. Goarshausen.
Im August fliegt sie wieder nach Kanada.
Nach is also used when you say you are going home: Ich gehe nach Hause. (I’m going home.)
Zu is used if you are going to a building, a place of business, or someone’s residence.
Katelyn ist mit dem Bus zum Hafen gefahren.
Heute fahren wir zu Schäfers.
Zu is also used in the idiomatic expression: Ich bin zu Hause. (I am at home.)
In is used instead of nach to express that you are going to a country if the name of the country has an article (z.B. der Libanon, die Schweiz, die USA). The article is in the accusative case.
Nächstes Jahr fahre ich in den Libanon.
Am Wochenende fahre ich in die Schweiz zum Ski fahren.
Morgen fliegen wir in die USA.
Here is a good list of countries with articles.
Here are some helpful sentences to help you express your food allergies and intolerances. This is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it helps you learn some of the common structures.
Ich bin allergisch gegen Eier /Erdnüsse / Milch / Soja … – I am allergic to eggs / peanuts / milk / soy …
Ich esse glutenfrei, weil ich Zöliakie habe. – I eat gluten free, because I have celiac disease.
Ich bin Veganer, Vegetarierin, usw. – I am vegan, vegetarian, etc.
Ich kann Laktose nicht vertragen. – I’m intolerant to lactose.
Ich kann keine Meeresfrüchte essen. – I can’t eat seafood.
Ich esse kein Fleisch. – I don’t eat meat.
Kann ich dieses Gericht ohne Erdnüsse haben? – Can I have this dish without the peanuts?
Enthält das Weizen? – Does this contain wheat?
10.8
Throughout the first few chapters of this book, we have seen interesting usages of the words: ja, aber, doch, denn, etc. These little words are called modal particles. These words add “flavour” or change the tone of a sentence, question, etc. Sometimes they can soften the harshness of a comment or even add a persuasive or suggestive element to a request. Here are some examples from the book so far:
Mach doch eine kleine Pause.
Wer bist du denn?
Im Internet sehen Sie aber ein bisschen älter aus.
Wir haben ja vor einigen Tagen telefoniert.
