The German Language
I have pretty much spoke one language all my life, I stopped taking french after grade 11, it was a waste of time. After coming to university I started listening to Rammstein. After a while I felt that maybe I should try to understand what I'm listening to :p So i took German 100 and loved the course... I learned more about german grammer in that one course than I did about french grammer in 7 years of public school. This section may be boring to most... don't say i didn't warn you.
I am going to put up some sayings just for anyone who happens to stumble upon them.
Good day = Guten Tag
Good evening = Guten Abend
Good night = Gute Nacht
Wie geht's? = How's it going (non-formal)
wie geht es Ihnen? =How's it going (formal)
Danke, gut = fine thanks
Happy Birthday! = Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
wtf? = was in der Fick?
yes = Ja
no = nein
German is a lot like english in the sense that both languages are germanic strains, and they share some pretty similar words: mother = Mutter, father = Vater, house = Haus, ball = Ball and son = Sohn. But there are "false freinds" as well. poison = gift in german! So if you see something labeled "Gift" in Germany, odds are you should avoid it.
There are also some things that people mess up in German as well. Such as the song "Du Hast" by Rammstein. People tend to think that the band is singing "you hate me"... not true, they sing this in the english version because the band felt that it would make more sense to the english audience than the literal translation of the german lyrics, which means "you have"
Du hast = you have
Another misconception is when Hitler would say "Sieg heil!". Most people think that this is some evil Nazi thing, and people often say it to someone who is trying or seems to be oppressive. (i.e. parents and bosses) Not that I'm a Hitler fan... but "Sieg heil" only means "healthy victory". Hitler was wishing his troops luck in battle... much like a certain Winston Churchill had his "V for victory" :p
How To Speak Basic German
DISCLAIMER: I really dumbed a lot of this down... not everything works this smootly in real life. And I have only taken an introductry course with the expectations of taking an intermediate one... so I am only a begginer wanting pass my passion for the language onto others.
Basic German Grammar
-German nouns are always capitalized
-German nouns have three Genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
-The gender takes the place of the english word: "the"
-We take for granted that we say only "the", whereas in german there are three different forms
Masculine=der
Feminine=die
Neuter=das
For example:
The dog = der Hund (Hund is a masculine noun)
The cat = die Katze (Katze is a feminine noun)
The car = das Auto (Auto is a neuter noun)
Plural takes on the same gender as the feminine
-In english we say "a" or "an" in german they say "ein or "eine"
Masculine=ein
Feminine=eine
Neuter=ein
For Example
a dog = ein Hund
a cat = eine Katze
a car = ein Auto
there is no plural form!
Personal Pronouns!
These are the pronouns that one places at the start of a sentence. There are three versions of "you"... non-formal is for people on a first name basis, whereas formal is for people not on a first name basis.
I = ich
you = du (non-formal)
he = er
she = sie
it = es
we = wir
you guys = ihr (non-formal/a group of people)
they = sie
you = Sie (formal)
Verbs
German like all languages have some irregular verbs... but for the most parts verbs are mostly conjugated the same. I will show how to conjugate the two most important verbs, both irregualar, and then show how to do generic verbs. When in doubt go to www.verbix.comThis site can conjugate any verb for you.
for example
To conjugate the english verb "have" we say:
I have
You have
he/she/it has
we have
you have
they have
So here are the german verbs haben (to have), and sein (to be)
Haben
ich habe = I have
du hast = you have
er/sie/es hat = he/she/it has
wir haben = we have
ihr habt = you have
sie/Sie Haben = they/you have
Sein
ich bin = I am
du bist = you are
er/sie/es ist = he/she/it is
wir sind = we are
ihr seid = you are
sie/Sie = they/you are
Verbs in general
-All German verbs end in "n" or "en"
-To conjugate a verb drop the "en" or "n" off the end of the verb we have what is called the "verb stem". We attach the following endings to most verbs.
ich = e
du = st
er/sie/es = t
wir = stays the same
ihr = t
sie/Sie = stays the same
If the verb stem ends in "t", "d", or "e" we change the endings to those as shown:
du = est
er/sie/es = et
ihr = et
Should the verb stem end in "z","s" or that funky looking "B", the endings should be changed as follows:
du = t
Rememer to visit verbix.com to be sure you did it right.
On to a sentence!
Every proper sentance in english and german has a subect, verb and object.
For example:
I wash the car = Ich wasche das Auto
I/ich = subject
wash/wasche = conjugated verb
the car/das Auto = object
It is important to keep this order when making a statement... subject, verb, then object. Most importantly in any german sentance the verb is ALWAYS the second place. The subject is usually a personal pronoun, but not always.
NOTE: In english if we are doing something we say: "I am washing...". In german saying the equilvalent: "Ich bin waschen..." is not necessary. In german we only need say: "Ich wasche...". When you conjugate the verb in German we just need to conjugate the verb itself.
Examples
I live in Halifax = Ich wohne in Halifax
I am living in Halifax = Ich wohne in Halifax
The Object
If the object of the sentence is a masculine noun we must replace "der" with "den", and "ein" with "einen". all other genders stay the same
for example:
I wash the dog = Ich wasche den Hund... NOT: Ich wasche der Hund
This is because the verb is talking about the object, which changes the masculine object.
Replacing people and nouns with pronouns
In English we replace female names with "she", males names with "he", and things with "it". In German male names are replaced with "er", and female names with "sie", just as you would expect. The difference is with things. If the thing is maculine we replace it with "er", if the thing is feminine we replace it with "sie", and is the thing is neutar we replace it with "es".
Example
Der Apfel ist gut = Er ist gut
The apple is good = It ist good
The masculin noun is replaced with "er"
Die lampe ist hell = Sie ist hell
The lamp is bright = it is bright
The feminine noun is replaced with "sie"
Das auto ist schnell = Es ist schnell
The car is fast = It is fast
The Neuter noun is replaced with "es"
DISCLAIMER: I really dumbed a lot of this down... not everything works this smootly in real life. Please keep that in mind and remember that this is very basic german. You can now make simple sentences, but if you try anything larger you won't make sense to a native german. And remeber to check your verbs with www.verbix.com! So take german 100 if you're still reading this... or awake :P
Lists
Numbers
0 = Null
1 = eins
2 = Zwei
3 = Drei
4 = Vier
5 = F�nf
6 = Sechs
7 = Sieben
8 = Acht
9 = Neun
10 = Zehn
11 = elf
12 = zw�lf
verbs
kommen = to come
fragen = to ask
arbeiten = to work
reisen = to travel
laufen = to run or walk
rennen = to run
brennen = to burn
fahren = to go (by car, bicycle, etc)
h�ren = to hear
machen = to make
speilen = to play
wohen = to live
warten = to wait
studieren = to study
Some Irregular verbs
lesen = to read
ich lese
du liest
er/sie/es liest
wir lesen
ihr lest
sie/Sie lesen
sprechen = to speak
ich spreche
du sprichst
er/sie/es sprichst
wir sprechen
ihr sprecht
sie/Sie sprechen
werden = to become
ich werde
du wird
er/sie/es wird
wir werden
ihr werdt
sie/Sie werden
Common Nouns
note: german doesn't use "s" to plularize its words... German uses six or more endings! And there is no way to know which ending to use except to memorize it for each word. So don't try to pluralize these words ;)
der Mann = the man
die Frau = the lady
der Vater = the father
die Mutter = the mother
der Sohn = the son
die Tochter = the daughter
der Apfel = the apple
das Haus = the house
das auto = the car
das Fahrrad = the bicycle
der Hund = the dog
die Katze = the cat
der L�we = the lion
der Silberl�we = the cougar
das Foto = the photo
das Telefon = the telephone
das Krankenhaus = the hospital
der Arzt = the doctor (male)
die Sonne = the sun
die Sonnebrille = sunglasses (plural)
das Buch = the book
der ball = the ball
das Gift = the poison
der Freund = the friend (male)
die Freundin = the friend (female)
die Tisch = the Table
das Zimmer = the room
die Lampe = the lamp
die Uhr = the clock
der Stuhl = the chair
die Stadt = the town