by Paul Noble
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?
trinken (trink-urn)
drink / to drink
tanzen (tants-urn)
dance / to dance
ich möchte (ikh murkh-ter)
I would like
sie möchte (zee murkh-ter)
she would like
es (es)
it
tun (toon)
do / to do
jetzt (yetst)
now
ich bin (ikh bin)
I am
betrunken (be-troon-kurn)
drunk
sehr (zair)
very
romantisch (roe-marn-tish)
romantic
beschäftigt (be-shef-tigt)
busy
weil (vile)
because
Kann ich hier trinken? (kan ikh hear trink-urn)
Can I drink here?
Ich möchte hier tanzen. (ikh murkh-ter hear tants-urn)
I would like to dance here.
Ich möchte es nicht. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht)
I wouldn’t like it.
Ich möchte es nicht bringen. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht bring-urn)
I wouldn’t like to bring it.
Ich möchte es nicht heute tun. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht hoy-ter toon)
I wouldn’t like to do it today.
Sie möchte es nicht jetzt bringen. (zee murkh-ter es nikht yetst bring-urn)
She wouldn’t like to bring it now.
Ich bin sehr betrunken. (ikh bin zair be-troon-kurn)
I am very drunk.
Ich bin nicht sehr romantisch. (ikh bin nikht zair roe-marn-tish)
I am not very romantic.
Ich bin sehr beschäftigt. (ikh bin zair be-shef-tigt)
I am very busy.
weil ich sehr beschäftigt bin (vile ikh zair be-shef-tigt bin)
because I am very busy
Ich möchte es nicht jetzt tun, weil ich sehr beschäftigt bin. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht yetst toon vile ikh zair be-shef-tigt bin)
I wouldn’t like to do it now because I am very busy.
Ich möchte es jetzt bekommen. (ikh murkh-ter es yetzt be-kom-urn)
I would like to get it now.
Sie möchte es später kaufen. (zee murkh-ter es shpay-ter kowf-urn)
She would like to buy it later.
Er möchte es morgen verkaufen. (air murkh-ter es mor-gurn fair-kowf-urn)
He would like to sell it tomorrow.
Now, once more, do the same thing again below, except that this time you’ll be reading through the list of English words and trying to recall the German. All you need to do is to be able to do one full read-through of them without making more than 3 mistakes in total and you’re done!
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)
drink / to drink
trinken (trink-urn)
dance / to dance
tanzen (tants-urn)
I would like
ich möchte (ikh murkh-ter)
she would like
sie möchte (zee murkh-ter)
it
es (es)
do / to do
tun (toon)
now
jetzt (yetst)
I am
ich bin (ikh bin)
drunk
betrunken (be-troon-kurn)
very
sehr (zair)
romantic
romantisch (roe-marn-tish)
busy
beschäftigt (be-shef-tigt)
because
weil (vile)
Can I drink here?
Kann ich hier trinken? (kan ikh hear trink-urn)
I would like to dance here.
Ich möchte hier tanzen. (ikh murkh-ter hear tants-urn)
I wouldn’t like it.
Ich möchte es nicht. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht)
I wouldn’t like to bring it.
Ich möchte es nicht bringen. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht bring-urn)
I wouldn’t like to do it today.
Ich möchte es nicht heute tun. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht hoy-ter toon)
She wouldn’t like to bring it now.
Sie möchte es nicht jetzt bringen. (zee murkh-ter es nikht yetst bring-urn)
I am very drunk.
Ich bin sehr betrunken. (ikh bin zair be-troon-kurn)
I am not very romantic.
Ich bin nicht sehr romantisch. (ikh bin nikht zair roe-marn-tis
h)
I am very busy.
Ich bin sehr beschäftigt. (ikh bin zair be-shef-tigt)
because I am very busy
weil ich sehr beschäftigt bin (vile ikh zair be-shef-tigt bin)
I wouldn’t like to do it now because I am very busy.
Ich möchte es nicht jetzt tun, weil ich sehr beschäftigt bin. (ikh murkh-ter es nikht yetst toon vile ikh zair be-shef-tigt bin)
I would like to get it now.
Ich möchte es jetzt bekommen. (ikh murkh-ter es yetzt be-kom-urn)
She would like to buy it later.
Sie möchte es später kaufen. (zee murkh-ter es shpay-ter kowf-urn)
He would like to sell it tomorrow.
Er möchte es morgen verkaufen. (air murkh-ter es mor-gurn fair-kowf-urn)
Well, that’s it, you’re done with Chapter 2! Remember, don’t try to hold on to or remember anything you’ve learnt here. Everything you learn in earlier chapters will be brought back up and reinforced in later chapters. You don’t need to do anything or make any effort to memorise anything. The book has been organised in such a way that it will do that for you. So, off you go now and have a rest please!
Between Chapters Tip!
Stop while you’re still enjoying it!
Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that the key to his body building success was that he stopped his workout each day just before it started to get boring. On the few occasions that he went past that point, he found it incredibly hard to return to the gym again the next day – and he loved working out.
So, as you will almost certainly recall, Tip 1 suggested that you should study every day – which you definitely should do if you can. But that doesn’t mean that you should overdo it. So, if you’re not really in the mood, just do five minutes. If you are in the mood though, don’t push yourself too hard. Stop before you get to the point where it doesn’t feel fun any longer. Best to leave yourself feeling hungry for more rather than bloated and fed up!
CHAPTER 3
I bought the ticket but I didn’t see the film.
“I bought the ticket but I didn’t see the film.”
It’s the sort of sentence that you might say in a conversation in English without even thinking about it, but how do we put it together in German? And what lessons will we learn along the way?
Let’s find out!
Once again, how would you say “I would like to drink it”?
Ich möchte es trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter es trink-urn)
“The milk” in German is:
die Milch
(dee milkh)
So how would you say “I would like to drink the milk”?
Ich möchte die Milch trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter dee milkh trink-urn)
“The beer” in German is:
das Bier
(das bee-er)
So how would you say “I would like to drink the beer”?
Ich möchte das Bier trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter das bee-er trink-urn)
“Is” in German is:
ist
(ist)
So, how would you say “the beer is…”?
Das Bier ist…
(das bee-er ist)
“Good” in German is:
gut
(goot)
So how would you say “the beer is good”?
Das Bier ist gut.
(das bee-er ist goot)
And how would you say “the milk is good”?
Die Milch ist gut.
(dee milkh ist goot)
Notice how there is more than one word for “the” in German. “The milk” is die Milch whereas “the beer” is das Bier.
“The wine” in German is:
der Wein
(dair vine)
So how would you say “the wine is good”?
Der Wein ist gut.
(dair vine ist goot)
So, here we have our third word for “the” in German: “der”.
Three words for “the”?
How strange! Three words for “the”? Seriously?Why on earth would anyone want that?
Well, yes, it does seem odd to us as English speakers that a language would have more than one word for “the”. I mean, what’s the point?
Well, to tell you the truth, there really isn’t one; it’s just a simple reality that we must learn to deal with.
In German, things are classed as either “masculine”, “feminine” or “neuter” and the words used for “the” vary according to which of these categories a word belongs to – “der” is used with masculine words, “die” is used with feminine words, and “das” is used with neuter / neutral words.
You could say, of course, that in English we also give things genders – after all, we refer to men and boys as “he”, women and girls as “she”, and things without any particular gender as “it”.
The difference with German though is that it gives genders to everything (not just people as in English) and then it uses a different word for “the” to let you know which gender that word is.
So, in German, a man is masculine, yes – but then so is wine. And a woman is feminine, yes – but then so is milk. And of course, beer, as we saw above, is considered (for goodness knows what reason) to be neuter / neutral.
Strange, eh?
Anyway, the secret to dealing with this whole gender business is simply not to waste your time thinking about it! Instead, you will rapidly find that the more you use the language, the more you will know what gender any given word is essentially by instinct. Simply put, using the correct gender will just begin to “sound right”. So, as with everything else in this book, all you need to do is to relax and go with the flow – and don’t try to memorise anything! Instead, work your way through each chapter and trust in the fact that the content has been organised in such a way that you will pick up the genders of words naturally, along with everything else!
Now there is actually a very specific reason why I’m bothering to teach you about milk and beer and wine, as well as about the fact that there are genders in German and also about how there’s more than one word for “the” in German. Yes, there is a reason, I promise! Indeed, there is actually something very important that you need to learn in German that this precise set of drinks (beer, wine and milk) is going to teach you – right now in fact!
First, let’s begin with the feminine word “milk”. Remind me again, how would you say “the milk is good”?
Die Milch ist gut.
(dee milkh ist goot)
And how would you say “I would like to drink the milk”?
Ich möchte die Milch trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter dee milkh trink-urn)
Well, that was simple, wasn’t it? Now let’s try a similar sentence but using the neuter word “beer” instead.
So, how would you say “the beer is good”?
Das Bier ist gut.
(das bee-er ist goot)
And how would you say “I would like to drink the beer”?
Ich möchte das Bier trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter das bee-er trink-urn)
So, again, that was simple, wasn’t it?
But let’s now try the masculine word “wine”. Again, how would you say “the wine is good”?
Der Wein ist gut.
(dair vine ist goot)
And so how would you say “I would like to drink the wine”?
Ich möchte den Wein trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter dain vine trink-urn)
Oh dear, what on earth has happened here?Why has “der” become “den”?
Well, this is the important something that I wanted to teach you. As we have already learnt, the masculine word for “the” in German is “der”. So, “the wine is good”, for instance, is “der Wein ist gut” – simple, yes?
However, in German, the masculine word for “the” (der) can change.
In fact, this happens whenever the “der” word (“der Wein” in this particular instance)
is having something done to it – perhaps it is being drunk, eaten, bought, sold, set on fire (it really doesn’t matter). When something is done to that “der” word, when it is on the receiving end of some action, the “der” will change to “den”. Strange, eh?
Let’s try to understand this better by looking at those examples again.
So, once more, how would you say “the wine”?
der Wein
(dair vine)
And how would you say “the wine is good”?
Der Wein ist gut.
(dair vine ist goot)
Notice that “der” does not change here because we’re not doing anything with wine – we’re not drinking it or pouring it or throwing it away. All we’ve done is say it is good, we’ve only described how it is but we haven’t done anything to it.
Let’s see what happens though when we actually do something to it. Again, try to say “I would like to drink the wine”.
Ich möchte den Wein trinken.
(ikh murkh-ter dain vine trink-urn)
So, the moment we talk about what we’re going to do to the wine, the “der” changes to “den”.
Let’s try doing something else to it.