by Paul Noble
my mother’s car (VM)
das Auto von meiner Mutter (das ow-toe fon mine-air moo-ter)
my father’s beer (CMFM)
das Bier meines Vaters (das bee-er mine-es far-ters)
my baby’s milk (CMFM)
die Milch meines Babys (dee milkh mine-es bay-bees)
my mother’s car (CMFM)
das Auto meiner Mutter (das ow-toe mine-air moo-ter)
My father’s car is old and shabby. (VM)
Das Auto von meinem Vater ist alt und schäbig. (das ow-toe fon mine-erm far-ter ist alt oont shay-big)
My father’s car is old and shabby. (CMFM)
Das Auto meines Vaters ist alt und schäbig. (das ow-toe mine-es far-ters ist alt oont shay-big)
My brother’s house is brand new. (CMFM)
Das Haus meines Bruders ist brandneu. (das house mine-es broo-ders ist brant-noy)
My sister’s flat is dirty. (CMFM)
Die Wohnung meiner Schwester ist schmutzig. (dee voe-nung mine-air shves-ter ist shmootzig)
the weather
das Wetter (das vet-er)
so
so (zo)
The weather is not so good.
Das Wetter ist nicht so gut. (das vet-er ist nikht zo goot)
luck
Glück (glook)
We’re lucky.
Wir haben Glück. (veer harb-urn glook)
We’re lucky because the weather is so good.
Wir haben Glück, weil das Wetter so gut ist. (veer harb-urn glook vile das vet-er zo goot ist)
that
dass (das)
We’re lucky that the weather is so good.
Wir haben Glück, dass das Wetter so gut ist. (veer harb-urn glook das das vet-er zo goot ist)
I feel like…
Ich habe Lust… (ikh hah-ber loost)
because I feel like…
weil ich Lust habe… (vile ikh loost hah-ber)
because I feel like going to the park
weil ich Lust habe, in den Park zu gehen (vile ikh loost hah-ber in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
because I feel like going to the hotel
weil ich Lust habe, ins Hotel zu gehen (vile ikh loost hah-ber ins hotel tsoo gay-urn)
because I feel like going to the restaurant
weil ich Lust habe, ins Restaurant zu gehen (vile ikh loost hah-ber ins rest-oh-ron tsoo gay-urn)
Why?
Warum? (va-room)
He feels like going to the theatre.
Er hat Lust, ins Theater zu gehen. (air hat loost ins tay-art-er tsoo gay-urn)
She feels like going to the museum.
Sie hat Lust, ins Museum zu gehen. (zee hat loost ins moo-zay-um tsoo gay-urn)
They feel like going to the cinema.
Sie haben Lust, ins Kino zu gehen. (zee harb-urn loost ins kee-no tsoo gay-urn)
Wow, Chapter 6 all finished! With each chapter completed, the knowledge you have already gained becomes more secure and your horizons are gradually widened. Have a good break before the next one!
Between Chapters Tip!
Learn the most common words first
Did you know that the 100 most common words in a language make up roughly 50% of everything you say in any given day, week, month or year?
Or that the 500 most common words make up roughly 90% of everything you say?
Since these extremely common words are so useful, I recommend that, in addition to swapping letters wherever you can, you should also focus as much as possible on those words that are used most often, as these will form the backbone of everything you say.
Of course, you may be wondering, how do I know which words are most common? Well, one way to find this out is to look at word frequency lists that you can find on the internet – boring!
Another way you can use though, is to note down unfamiliar words whenever you see them. Don’t bother looking them up right away though. Instead, put a tick next to them every time that you come across them.
Then, at the end of every month, take a look and see which words have the most ticks against them – these are the most common. Feel free now to look these up and write the translation next to all the ticks you’ve made.
Having written down the translation, don’t try to remember it – instead, whenever you encounter those same words again, flick back to your notes and check the meaning.
Doing this each time will guarantee that your focus will always be on the most common words and that you will gradually begin to pick them up!
CHAPTER 7 (1)
Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?
Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?
Person 1: We’re lucky that the weather’s so good.
Person 2: Why?
Person 1: Because I feel like going to the park.
Person 2: Really?
Person 1: Yes.Why? Don’t you feel like going?
Person 2: Erm, well… I don’t have time at the moment.
Person 1: Really?
Person 2: Yes, I’m very busy.Very, very busy...
Person 1: Hey, wait a second… Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?You have a hangover!
Person 2: Well, you’ve got me there!
As you can see, I have massively extended the dialogue from the previous chapter.
You are now going to learn how to complete this conversation, building on what you’ve learnt already, expanding your range of German expressions as you go.
Now remind me, what is “we’re lucky”?
Wir haben Glück.
(veer harb-urn glook)
And how would you say “the weather is so good”?
Das Wetter ist so gut.
(das vet-er ist zo goot)
And so how would you say “we’re lucky that the weather is so good”?
Wir haben Glück, dass das Wetter so gut ist.
(veer harb-urn glook das das vet-er zo goot ist)
What is “why”?
Warum?
(va-room)
And what is “I feel like…”?
Ich habe Lust…
(ikh hah-ber loost)
And “because I feel like…”?
weil ich Lust habe…
(vile ikh loost hah-ber)
So how would you say “because I feel like going to the restaurant”?
weil ich Lust habe, ins Restaurant zu gehen
(vile ikh loost hah-ber ins rest-oh-ron tsoo gay-urn)
How about “because I feel like going to the hotel”?
weil ich Lust habe, ins Hotel zu gehen
(vile ikh loost hah-ber ins hotel tsoo gay-urn)
And “because I feel like going to the park”?
weil ich Lust habe, in den Park zu gehen
(vile ikh loost hah-ber in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
So, we’re now very familiar with how to say “I feel like…” in German: “Ich habe Lust…” ( literally, “I have lust…”).
Now, to say “I don’t feel like…” in German, you will literally say “I have no lust…”.
“No lust” in German is:
keine Lust
(kine-er loost)
So how would you say “I don’t feel like…” (literally “I have no lust…”)?
Ich habe keine Lust…
(ikh hah-ber kine-er loost)
And so how would you say “I don’t feel like going to the hotel”?
Ich habe keine Lust, ins Hotel zu gehen.
(ikh hah-ber kine-er loost ins hotel tsoo gay-urn)
And “I don’t feel like going to the restaurant”?
Ich habe keine Lust, ins Restaurant zu gehen.
(ikh hah-ber kine-er loost ins rest-oh-ron tsoo gay-urn)
Finally, “I don’t feel like going to the park”?
Ich habe keine Lust, in den Park zu gehen.
(ikh hah-ber kine-er loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
If you’ve ever read Shakespeare, you’ll know that En
glish speakers used to say “thou hast” to mean “you have”6. The modern German for “you have” is really quite similar to “thou hast”. It is:
du hast
(doo hast)
So, now that you know how to say “you have”, how would you say “you feel like…” (literally “you have lust…”)?
Du hast Lust…
(doo hast loost)
Turn this into a question now and ask “do you feel like?” (literally “have you lust?”)
Hast du Lust…?
(hast doo loost)
Now try “do you feel like going to the park?” (literally “have you lust in the park to go?”)
Hast du Lust, in den Park zu gehen?
(hast doo loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
And how about “do you feel like going to the restaurant?”
Hast du Lust, ins Restaurant zu gehen?
(hast doo loost ins rest-oh-ron tsoo gay-urn)
And “do you feel like going to the Hotel?”
Hast du Lust, ins Hotel zu gehen?
(hast doo loost ins hotel tsoo gay-urn)
Now again, what is “I feel like…”?
Ich habe Lust…
(ikh hah-ber loost)
And what is “I don’t feel like…”?
Ich habe keine Lust…
(ikh hah-ber kine-er loost)
So how do you think you would you say “you don’t feel like…” (literally “you have no lust…”)?
Du hast keine Lust…
(doo hast kine-er loost)
Turn this into a question now and ask “don’t you feel like…?” (literally “have you no lust…?”)
Hast du keine Lust…?
(hast doo kine-er loost)
If you stick “zu gehen” on the end of that sentence, you can ask “don’t you feel like going?” Do that now:
Hast du keine Lust zu gehen?
(hast doo kine-er loost tsoo gay-urn)
What is “to camp”?
campen
(camp-urn)
So can you work out how you’d say “don’t you feel like camping?”
Hast du keine Lust zu campen?
(hast doo kine-er loost tsoo camp-urn)
What is “to drink”?
trinken
(trink-urn)
So how would you say “don’t you feel like drinking?”
Hast du keine Lust zu trinken?
(hast doo kine-er loost tsoo trink-urn)
And how would you say “do you feel like drinking?”
Hast du Lust zu trinken?
(hast doo loost tsoo trink-urn)7
“Yes” in German is:
ja
(yar)
So how would you say “Yes, I feel like drinking”?
Ja, ich habe Lust zu trinken.
(yar ikh hah-ber loost tsoo trink-urn)
How about “yes, I feel like going to the park”?
Ja, ich habe Lust, in den Park zu gehen.
(yar ikh hah-ber loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
And “yes, I feel like going to the restaurant”?
Ja, ich habe Lust, ins Restaurant zu gehen.
(yar ikh hah-ber loost ins rest-oh-ron tsoo gay-urn)
Now, just on its own once more, what is “I have”?
ich habe
(ikh hah-ber)
“Time” in German is:
Zeit
(tsite)
So how would you say “I have time”?
Ich habe Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber tsite)
What was “no lust” in German?
keine Lust
(kine-er loost)
So, what would “no time” be?
keine Zeit
(kine-er tsite)
And how would you say “I have no time”?
Ich habe keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber kine-er tsite)
And this can be translated as “I have no time” or “I don’t have time”.
“At the moment” in German is:
im Moment
(im moe-ment)
If you want to say “I don’t have time at the moment” in German, you will literally say “I have at the moment no time”. How would you say that?
Ich habe im Moment keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber im moe-ment kine-er tsite)
“Really” in German is:
wirklich
(verk-likh)
If someone tells you something, such as they don’t have time, you can check this, just as you might in English, by simply saying in a questioning tone “really?”
Do that now:
Wirklich?
(verk-likh)
Now again, what was “I have time”?
Ich habe Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber tsite)
And “I don’t have time”?
Ich habe keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber kine-er tsite)
And what was “at the moment”?
im Moment
(im moe-ment)
And so how would you say “I don’t have time at the moment”?
Ich habe im Moment keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber im moe-ment kine-er tsite)
Respond to this, saying “really?”
Wirklich?
(verk-likh)
Now again, how would someone say “I feel like going to the park”?
Ich habe Lust, in den Park zu gehen.
(ikh hah-ber loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
Again, respond to this by saying “really?”
Wirklich?
(verk-likh)
And how would the person you were talking to respond back to you, saying “Yes.Why?”
Ja. Warum?
(yar va-room)
Let’s try extending this response. This time say, “Yes, why? Don’t you feel like going?” (literally “Yes.Why? Have you no lust to go?”)
Ja. Warum? Hast du keine Lust zu gehen?
(yar varoom hast doo kine-er loost tsoo gay-urn)
And again, how would you say “I have no time at the moment”?
Ich habe im Moment keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber im moe-ment kine-er tsite)
One way to say “Well… or “Erm, well…” in German is:
Na ja…
(nar yar)
So how would you say “Erm, well… I don’t have time at the moment”?
Na ja… ich habe im Moment keine Zeit.
(nar yar ikh hah-ber im moe-ment kine-er tsite)
Alright. Feel free to take a break at this point if you need to. Otherwise, you can continue straight on to Part 2. It’s up to you, of course, but just make sure not to overdo it in any one session!
CHAPTER 7 (2)
Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?
Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?
On we go with our dialogue then, which, as you will see, is going to teach ever more idiomatic and colloquial language that will help make your German sound more fun, spontaneous, and natural.
What is “I am”?
ich bin
(ikh bin)
And how would you say “I am busy” in German?
Ich bin beschäftigt.
(ikh bin be-shef-tigt)
How about “I am very busy”?
Ich bin sehr beschäftigt.
(ikh bin zair be-shef-tigt)
“Hey…” in German is:
he
(hey)
So how would you say “hey, I’m very busy!”?
He, ich bin sehr beschäftigt!
(hey ikh bin zair be-shef-tigt)
How about “Hey, I’m very hungry!”?
He, ich bin sehr hungrig!
(hey ikh bin zair hoong-grig)
A colloquial way to say “wait a second…” in German is to say something that has a meaning along the lines of “wait once quickly”, which is:
Wart’ mal schnell…
(vart mal shnel)
Now, remind me,
what is “hey” in German?
he
(hey)
So how would you say “Hey, wait a second…”?
He, wart’ mal schnell…
(hey vart mal shnel)
This is a good way to show someone you know well that you’re somewhat doubtful about what they’re saying.
Another way of suggesting that you don’t fully believe something you are being told is to say “do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?” The Germans have quite an amusing way of expressing this.
Again, what is “I have”?
ich habe
(ikh hah-ber)
“Tomatoes” in German are:
Tomaten
(tom-art-urn)
So how would you say “I have tomatoes”?
Ich habe Tomaten.
(ikh hah-ber tom-art-urn)
“On the eyes” in German is:
auf den Augen
(owf dain ow-gurn)
So, how would you say “I have tomatoes on the eyes”?
Ich habe Tomaten auf den Augen.
(ikh hah-ber tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn)
In German, this would mean that you were oblivious to what was going to around you.
So, how would you say “because I’m oblivious to what’s going on” (literally “because I tomatoes on the eyes have”)?
weil ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe
(vile ich tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber)
You’ll notice, of course, that the catapult word “weil” (because) has as usual thrown the verb, on this occasion “habe” (have), to the end of the sentence.
Let’s do exactly the same thing again with the catapult word “dass” (that).
So how would you say “…that I’m oblivious to what’s going on” (literally “that I tomatoes on the eyes have”)?
…dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe
(das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber)
“Do you think?” in German is more or less “think’st thou?” (again, it’s all there in Shakespeare8) which in German is: