by Paul Noble
Denkst du?
(denkst doo)
Now again what was “…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)
And what was “do you think?” / “think’st thou?”
Denkst du?
(denkst doo)
So how would you say “do you think that I’m oblivious to what’s going on?”
Denkst du, dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe?
(denkst doo das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber)
Now again, what was “well…” / “erm, well…”
Na ja…
(nar yar)
If you want to say “gotcha!” in German, you will literally say “caught!” which is:
Erwischt!
(air-visht)
Now you can just say this on its own or you can include it as part of a sentence. For example, what is “you have”?
du hast
(doo hast)
So how would you say “you have caught”?
du hast erwischt
(doo hast air-visht)
“me” in German is:
mich
(mikh)
So how would you say “you’ve got me!” / “you’ve caught me!” (literally “you have me caught!”)?
Du hast mich erwischt!
(doo hast mikh air-visht)
If you want to make this sound more natural you can add the German word for “there” into the sentence to make it into “you’ve got me there”.
“There” in German is:
da
(dar)
So, say now, “you’ve got me there!”, bearing in mind that Germans will literally say “there have you me caught!”
Da hast du mich erwischt!
(dar hast doo mikh air-visht)
Again, what is “well…” / “erm, well…”
Na ja…
(nar yar)
So how would you say “Well, you’ve got me there!”?
Na ja, da hast du mich erwischt!
(nar yar dar hast doo mikh air-visht)
You’ll find that words such as “na ja” (erm, well…”), “he” (hey) or even “da” (there) can really give much more feeling to a German sentence and make it sound far more natural and like everyday language. Getting used to the examples you’re learning here will help you begin to develop a feel for when and where to insert them into your German sentences.
Another word frequently used to do this is “yes”.What is “yes” in German?
ja
(yar)
If you add “ja” (yes) into a sentence it can also help add some feeling or nuance of meaning. I’ll show you what I mean.
“A tomcat” in German is:
ein Kater
(ine9 kar-ter)
What is “you have”?
du hast
(doo hast)
Now, I want you, in a moment, to say “you have a tomcat” but I also want you to be aware that a tomcat is masculine and so, as it is the thing on the receiving end of the sentence (it is the thing being had) “ein” will change to “einen”, just as “der” turned to “den” in earlier chapters when something was being done to that masculine thing.
So, bearing in mind that “ein” will become “einen”, how would you say “you have a tomcat”?
Du hast einen Kater.
(doo hast ine-urn kar-ter)
Now, saying that someone has a tomcat is actually the way that you say they have a hangover in German. Perhaps Germans feel having a hangover is like having a tomcat running around inside their heads.Who knows!
Anyway, give me that sentence again, how would you say in German “you have a hangover”?
Du hast einen Kater.
(doo hast ine-urn kar-ter)
Now, that’s fine as a sentence, but if you want to add a bit of feeling into it to more or less express the feeling “Oh yeah, I know what you’ve been up to, you have a hangover!” you can simply stick “ja” (yes) into the middle of it and this will help add that sort of flavour and feeling to it. So, do that now, say “You have yes a hangover!”
Du hast ja einen Kater!
(doo hast yar ine-urn kar-ter)
Good.You’ll slowly get used to doing this as your German becomes more sophisticated and as you are exposed to more of the language.
Now, let’s start to get ready for that dialogue again.
So again, what is “we are 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 “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)
And what is “I feel like…”?
Ich habe Lust…
(ikh hah-ber loost)
And so how would you say “I feel like going to the restaurant”?
Ich habe Lust, ins Restaurant zu gehen.
(ikh hah-ber loost ins rest-oh-ron tsoo gay-urn)
And “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)
And “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)
What is “you feel like…”?
Du hast Lust…
(doo hast loost)
So how would you say “you feel like going to the park”?
Du hast Lust, in den Park zu gehen.
(doo hast loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
And what about “you don’t feel like going to the park”?
Du hast keine Lust, in den Park zu gehen.
(doo hast kine-er loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
And how would you say “don’t you feel like going to the park?” (literally “have you no lust in the park to go?”)
Hast du keine Lust, in den Park zu gehen?
(hast doo kine-er loost in dain park tsoo gay-urn)
And how about simply “don’t you feel like going?” (literally “have you no lust to go?”)
Hast du keine Lust zu gehen?
(hast doo kine-er loost tsoo gay-urn)
What is “really”?
wirklich
(verk-likh)
And what is “why?”
Warum?
(va-room)
And what is “at the moment”?
im Moment
(im moe-ment)
And how would you say “I don’t have time”?
Ich habe keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber kine-er tsite)
And “I don’t have time at the moment”?
Ich habe im Moment keine Zeit.
(ikh hah-ber im moe-ment kine-er tsite)
What is “well…” / “erm, well…”?
Na ja…
(nar yar)
And 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)
What is “busy”?
beschäftigt
(be-shef-tigt)
So how would you say “very, very busy”?
sehr, sehr beschäftigt
(zair zair be-shef-tigt)
And how would you say “I am busy.Very, very busy”?
Ich bin beschäftigt. Sehr, sehr beschäftigt.
(ikh bin be-shef-tigt zair zair be-shef-tigt)
What is “hey”?
he
(hey)
And what was “wait a second…” (more or less literally “wait once quickly”)?
Wart’ mal schnel
l…
(hey vart mal shnel)
So how would you say “hey, wait a second…”?
He, wart’ mal schnell…
(hey vart mal shnel)
What was “do you think?”?
denkst du?
(denkst doo)
And 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)
How about “…that I have tomatoes on the eyes”?
…dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe
(das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber)
And so how would you say “do you think that I’m oblivious to what’s going on?” (literally “do you think that I tomatoes on the eyes have?”)
Denkst du, dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe?
(denkst doo das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber)
Now, put these together and say “Hey, wait a second. Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on?”
He, wart’ mal schnell… Denkst du, dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe?
(hey vart mal shnel denkst doo das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber)
And again, what was the word for “hangover” (literally “tomcat”)?
Kater
(kar-ter)
So how would you say “you’ve got a hangover!” (literally “you have yes a tomcat!”)?
Du hast ja einen Kater!
(doo hast yar ine-urn kar-ter)
Now let’s add all of this together and say “Hey, wait a second… Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on?You’ve got a hangover!”
He, wart’ mal schnell… Denkst du, dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe? Du hast ja einen Kater!
(hey vart mal shnel denkst doo das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber doo hast yar ine-urn kar-ter)
What is the word for “caught”?
erwischt
(air-visht)
And do you remember what “me” was?
mich
(mikh)
And so how would you say “you’ve caught me” / “you’ve got me” (literally “you have me caught”)?
Du hast mich erwischt!
(doo hast mikh air-visht)
What is the word for “there”?
da
(dar)
So, how would you say “you’ve got me there!” / “there have you me caught!”?
Da hast du mich erwischt!
(dar hast doo mikh air-visht)
And, putting this all together to make it even more colloquial, how would you say “Well, you’ve got me there!” (literally “Well, there have you me caught!”)?
Na ja, da hast du mich erwischt!
(nar yar dar hast doo mikh air-visht)
Alright. I think it’s time for you to have a go at the long dialogue from the beginning of the chapter for which I’ve been preparing you.
Try going through it, slowly the first couple of times and then, once you feel confident enough, see if you can get to the point where you can construct the entire dialogue without needing to pause. It will take a fair amount of practice but, every time you go through it, it will greatly benefit your German.
Are you ready then? Take your time and off you go with the final dialogue:
We’re lucky that the weather’s so good.
Wir haben Glück, dass das Wetter so gut ist.
(veer harb-urn glook das das vet-er zo goot ist)
Why?
Warum?
(va-room)
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)
Really?
Wirklich?
(verk-likh)
Yes.Why? Don’t you feel like going?
Ja. Warum? Hast du keine Lust zu gehen?
(yar varoom hast doo kine-er loost tsoo gay-urn)
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)
Really?
Wirklich?
(verk-likh)
Yes, I’m busy.Very, very busy…
Ja, ich bin beschäftigt. Sehr, sehr beschäftigt…
(yar ikh bin be-shef-tigt zair zair be-shef-tigt)
Hey, wait a second… Do you think I’m oblivious to what’s going on?You’ve got a hangover!
He, wart’ mal schnell… Denkst du, dass ich Tomaten auf den Augen habe? Du hast ja einen Kater!
(hey vart mal shnel denkst doo das ikh tom-art-urn owf dain ow-gurn hah-ber doo hast yar ine-urn kar-ter)
Well, you’ve got me there!
Na ja, da hast du mich erwischt!
(nar yar dar hast doo mikh air-visht)
Checklist 7
Well, that’s it!You’ve just finished your final chapter, which makes this your final checklist. Unlike the ones that came before it, however, you are not finished with this checklist until you can go the whole way through it without making a single mistake.
This doesn’t mean that making mistakes when you go through it is a bad thing. It’s just that I want you to return to it multiple times until going through the list becomes so easy that you can do it without making a single error.
When you can, it means you have really learnt what I wanted to teach you in these pages.
Now, get to it!
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-urn)
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 afterno
on?
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)