Unlocking German With Paul Noble

by Paul Noble

  Sie kann heute campen.

  (zee kan hoy-ter camp-urn)

  So, once again, notice the word order: “she can today camp”.

  What is “I can” in German?

  ich kann

  (ikh kan)

  And “I can camp”?

  Ich kann campen.

  (ikh kan camp-urn)

  And so how would you say “I can camp today”?

  Ich kann heute campen.

  (ikh kan hoy-ter camp-urn)

  And how about “I can come today”?

  Ich kann heute kommen.

  (ikh kan hoy-ter kom-urn)

  So the word order is a little different than it is in English. In German, the thing that you can do – whether it’s to camp, to come, or whatever – likes to go at the end.

  Let’s try some more examples to make this even clearer.

  “Here” in German is:

  hier

  (hear)

  Now again, how would you say “I can camp”?

  Ich kann campen.

  (ikh kan camp-urn)

  So, how do you think you would say “I can camp here”?

  Ich kann hier campen.

  (ikh kan hear camp-urn)

  So, literally, this is “I can here camp”. Therefore once again the thing you’re going to be doing (camping in this case) goes at the end.

  Now, what is “park” / “to park” in German?

  parken

  (park-urn)

  So how would you say “I can park”?

  Ich kann parken.

  (ikh kan park-urn)

  What about “I can park here”?

  Ich kann hier parken.

  (ikh kan hear park-urn)

  “You can” in German is:

  du kannst2

  (doo kanst)

  So how would you say “you can park here”?

  Du kannst hier parken.

  (doo kanst hear park-urn)

  How about “you can camp here”?

  Du kannst hier campen.

  (doo kanst hear kamp-urn)

  And what about “you can camp today”?

  Du kannst heute campen.

  (doo kanst hoy-ter kamp-urn)

  “Tonight” in German is literally “today night”, which is:

  heute Nacht

  (hoy-ter nahkht)

  So how would you say “you can camp tonight”?

  Du kannst heute Nacht campen.

  (doo kanst hoy-ter nahkht kamp-urn)

  So we now know that “you can” is “du kannst”. If we want to turn this into a question, we simply reverse the word order just like we do in English, turning “you can” into “can you”. Do that now and say “can you?”

  Kannst du?

  (kanst doo)

  So how would you say “can you camp?”

  Kannst du campen?

  (kanst doo kamp-urn)

  How about “can you camp tonight?”

  Kannst du heute Nacht campen?

  (kanst doo hoy-ter nahkht kamp-urn)

  What is “come”?

  kommen

  (kom-urn)

  So, how would you say “can you come tonight?”

  Kannst du heute Nacht kommen?

  (kanst doo hoy-ter nahkht kom-urn)

  “To come over” in German is, more or less, “to come by” (or more literally “to by come”), which is:

  vorbeikommen

  (for-by-kom-urn)

  So, how would you say “can you come over?” / “can you come by?”

  Kannst du vorbeikommen?

  (kanst doo for-by-kom-urn)

  How about “can you come over today?“

  Kannst du heute vorbeikommen?

  (kanst doo hoy-ter for-by-kom-urn)

  Finally, how would you say “can you come over tonight?”

  Kannst du heute Nacht vorbeikommen?

  (kanst doo hoy-ter nahkht for-by-kom-urn)

  So, you can now construct the sentence that we started the chapter with – and, as you will soon discover, this is only the very beginning of your journey into German!

  Building Blocks

  You have just learnt how to say (amongst other things) “can you come over tonight?” Having done this, we are now going to move on to expand what you can say through the use of additional “building blocks”.

  The new building blocks you are going to learn will allow you to begin instantly expanding your range of expression in the German language.

  So far, some of the building blocks you have already learnt include:

  And you already know how to use these building blocks to construct a sentence. So, once again, how would you say “can you come over tonight?”

  So, you already know how to build the four building blocks above into a sentence. Take a look now at the six new building blocks below. Just have a glance over them and then I’ll show you how we’re going to add these into the mix of what we’ve learnt so far.

  So, here we have six new building blocks to play with.

  Now, first things first: please don’t to try to memorise them. No, no, no! Instead, I simply want you to play with your building blocks. After all, that’s what building blocks are for, isn’t it?

  And the way you’re going to play with them is like this: on the next page they have been put into three piles and all I want you to do is to make sentences with them. You’ll do this by each time using one building block from the first pile, one from the second, and one from the third.

  You will find that you can say a lot of different things using them in this way and it’s up to you what sentences you make. The only thing I want you to make sure you do is to use every building block at least once and, also, please don’t bother writing down the sentences you make. Instead, say them out loud, or, if you’re not in a place where you can do this, say them in your head. Now, off you go; make as many sentences as you can!

  The Checklist

  You have now reached the final part of Chapter 1. Once you have finished this short section you will not only have completed your first chapter but you will also understand how this book works as the other chapters follow the same pattern, with your German getting ever more sophisticated as you complete each chapter.

  The section you are now on will be the final part of each chapter and is what I call “The Checklist”. It involves nothing more than a read-through of a selection of some of the words or expressions you have so far encountered.

  You will actually see The Checklist twice. The first time you will see that the German words are written in black (on the left-hand side) and that the English words are written in red (on the right-hand side) – and you know what red means… cover up!

  So, what I want you to do here is to cover up the English words (which are written in red on the right-hand side) while you read through the list of German words on the left. Read through them all, from the top of the list to the bottom, and see if you can recall what they mean in English (uncover one red word at a time to check if you’ve remembered the meaning correctly). If you can go through the entire list, giving the correct English meaning for each of the German words / expressions without making more than three mistakes in total, then you’re done. If not, then go through the list again. Keep doing this, either working from the top of the list to the bottom or from the bottom to the top (it doesn’t matter which) until you can do it without making more than three mistakes.

  Got it? Then let’s go!

  Ich kann (ikh kan)

  I can

  nicht (nikht)

  not

  beginnen (baig-in-urn)

  begin / to begin

  Ich kann nicht beginnen. (ikh kan nikht baig-in-urn)

  I cannot begin.

  parken (park-urn)

  park / to park

  bringen (bring-urn)

  bring / to bring

  campen (camp-urn)

  camp / to camp

  sie kann (zee kan)

  she can

  kommen (kom-ur
n)

  come / to come

  Sie kann kommen. (zee kan kom-urn)

  She can come.

  Sie kann nicht kommen. (zee kan nikht kom-urn)

  She cannot come.

  aber (ah-ber)

  but

  Sie kann campen aber ich kann nicht kommen. (zee kan camp-urn ah-ber ikh kan nikht kom-urn)

  She can camp but I can’t come.

  heute (hoy-ter)

  today

  Sie kann heute kommen. (zee kan hoy-ter kom-urn)

  She can come today.

  hier (hear)

  here

  Ich kann hier campen. (ikh kan hear camp-urn)

  I can camp here.

  du kannst (doo kanst)

  you can

  Du kannst hier parken. (doo kanst hear park-urn)

  You can park here.

  Kannst du? (kanst doo)

  Can you?

  heute Nacht (hoy-ter nahkht)

  tonight

  vorbeikommen (for-by-kom-urn)

  come over / to come over / to come by

  Kannst du heute Nacht vorbeikommen? (kanst doo hoy-ter nahkht for-by-kom-urn)

  Can you come over tonight?

  Kann ich? (kan ikh)

  Can I?

  heute Morgen (hoy-ter mor-gurn)

  this morning

  Kann ich heute Morgen vorbeikommen? (kan ikh hoy-ter mor-gurn for-by-kom-urn)

  Can I come over this morning?

  Können wir? (kurn-urn veer)

  Can we?

  heute Nachmittag (hoy-ter nahkh-mit-arg)

  this afternoon

  gehen (gay-urn)

  go / to go

  Können wir heute Nachmittag gehen? (kurn-urn veer hoy-ter nahkh-mit-arg gay-urn)

  Can we go this afternoon?

  arbeiten (ar-bite-urn)

  work / to work

  Können wir heute Nachmittag arbeiten? (kurn-urn veer hoy-ter nahkh-mit-arg ar-bite-urn)

  Can we work this afternoon?

  Finished working through that checklist and made less than three mistakes? Yes? Wonderful!

  As that’s the case, what I now want you to do now is to repeat exactly the same process again below, except that this time you’ll be reading through the English and trying to recall the German. So, it will be the other way around. So, just relax and work your way up and down the list until you can give the correct German translation for each of the English words / expressions again without making more than three mistakes in total. It’s not a competition – and I’m not asking you to memorise them. No! Just look at the English words (on the left-hand side) while you cover up the red German words on the right-hand side and see if you can remember how to say them in German.You’ll be surprised by how much you get right, even on the first try!

  Okay, off you go!

  I can

  Ich kann (ikh kan)

  not

  nicht (nikht)

  begin / to begin

  beginnen (baig-in-urn)

  I cannot begin.

  Ich kann nicht beginnen. (ikh kan nikht baig-in-urn)

  park / to park

  parken (park-urn)

  bring / to bring

  bringen (bring-urn)

  camp / to camp

  campen (camp-urn)

  she can

  sie kann (zee kan)

  come / to come

  kommen (kom-urn)

  She can come.

  Sie kann kommen. (zee kan kom-urn)

  She cannot come.

  Sie kann nicht kommen. (zee kan nikht kom-urn)

  but

  aber (ah-ber)

  She can camp but I can’t come.

  Sie kann campen aber ich kann nicht kommen. (zee kan camp-urn ah-ber ikh kan nikht kom-urn)

  today

  heute (hoy-ter)

  She can come today.

  Sie kann heute kommen. (zee kan hoy-ter kom-urn)

  here

  hier (hear)

  I can camp here.

  Ich kann hier campen. (ikh kan hear camp-urn)

  you can

  du kannst (doo kanst)

  You can park here.

  Du kannst hier parken. (doo kanst hear park-urn)

  Can you?

  Kannst du? (kanst doo)

  tonight

  heute Nacht (hoy-ter nahkht)

  come over / to come over / to come by

  vorbeikommen (for-by-kom-urn)

  Can you come over tonight?

  Kannst du heute Nacht vorbeikommen? (kanst doo hoy-ter nahkht for-by-kom-urn)

  Can I?

  Kann ich? (kan ikh)

  this morning

  heute Morgen (hoy-ter mor-gurn)

  Can I come over this morning?

  Kann ich heute Morgen vorbeikommen? (kan ikh hoy-ter mor-gurn for-by-kom-urn)

  Can we?

  Können wir? (kurn-urn veer)

  this afternoon

  heute Nachmittag (hoy-ter nahkh-mit-arg)

  go / to go

  gehen (gay-urn)

  Can we go this afternoon?

  Können wir heute Nachmittag gehen? (kurn-urn veer hoy-ter nahkh-mit-arg gay-urn)

  work / to work

  arbeiten (ar-bite-urn)

  Can we work this afternoon?

  Können wir heute Nachmittag arbeiten? (kurn-urn veer hoy-ter nahkh-mit-arg ar-bite-urn)

  Well, that’s it, you’re done with Chapter 1! Now, don’t try to hold on to or remember anything you’ve learnt here. Everything you learn in earlier chapters will be brought up again and reinforced in later chapters. You don’t need to do anything extra or make any effort to memorise anything. The book has been organised so that it does that for you. Now, off you go and have a rest. You’ve earned it!

  Between Chapters Tip!

  Between chapters, I’m going to be giving you various tips on language learning. These will range from useful tips about the German language itself to advice on how to fit learning a language in with your daily routine. Ready for the first one? Here it is!

  Tip Number One – study (at least a little) every day.

  Learning a language is like building a fire – if you don’t tend to it, it will go out. So, once you have decided to learn a foreign language, you really should study it every day.

  It doesn’t have to be for a long time though. Just five or ten minutes each day will be enough, so long as you keep it up. Doing these five or ten minutes will stop you forgetting what you’ve already learnt and, over time, will let you put more meat on the bones of what you’re learning.

  As for what counts towards those five or ten minutes, well, that’s up to you. Whilst you’re working with this book, I would recommend that your five or ten minutes should be spent here, learning with me. Once you’re done here, however, your five or ten minutes could be spent reading a German newspaper, watching a German film, or chatting with a German-speaking acquaintance. You could even attend a class if you want to learn in a more formal setting. The important thing though is to make sure that you do a little every day!

  CHAPTER 2

  I wouldn’t like to do it now because I’m very busy.

  I wouldn’t like to do it now because I’m very busy.

  The first chapter has shown you that you can learn how to create full sentences in German with relative ease, even though the word order can be different than in English. It also began to show you how you can change English words into German words, for instance by adding “en” onto the ends of words such as “bring” and “begin”.

  This is a great way to acquire new vocabulary which, in effect, costs you nothing.

  I’m now going to show you an additional way to change English words into German ones in our first letter swap…

  Time to swap some letters!

  Letter Swap Number 1

  Around half of the words in modern English have come into our language via Germanic languages. Using a few simple tricks, you can begin to use these words in German, which will provide you with a lar
ge, instant, usable vocabulary. And after all, why bother learning German vocabulary when you can simply invent it!

  The first trick we are going to use to start inventing words is to swap the letter “d” in English words for a “t” in German.

  So, for instance, if we swap the “d” in the English word “hard” for a “t” we will get the German word for “hard” – which is “hart”. If we try this again with the English word “under” we will get the equivalent word in German – “unter”. And if we want to say that we “drank” something in German, we can simply say that we “trank” it!

  So, swap “d” for “t” to find the German equivalent. Simple!

  Now, let’s see how we can use these new words to begin expanding our range of expression in German!

  In Chapter 1, we created words, like “park”, “camp”, “begin”, and so on, simply by taking English words and adding “en” onto the end of them – and there are, in fact, many more English words that we can also do this with.

  For some of them, you simply add an “en” onto the end, as we’ve already been doing. For others, however, we will also need to make some additional changes – for instance, we might need to use the letter swap above and start changing Ds into Ts!

  I’ll show you what I mean.

  We’ll do this the first time with “drink”.