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Dictionary http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ Vocabulary http://www.csulb.edu/~ger manol/neu/vocabularyind ex/vocabularyindexG-E.ht m |
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| Fill in the direct objects. 1. Erika hat ______________________________ (the newspaper). 2. Sie braucht _____________________________ (a friend, fem.). 3. Hoffentlich habe ich _____________________ (the letter) zu Hause. 4. Schreibt Günther jetzt __________________ (a letter)? 5. Wer hat _______________________________ (the guitar)? 6. Warum fragen sie _______________________ (the girl)? 7. Jetzt brauchen wir _________________ (the rain) nicht. 8. Habt ihr _______________________________ (a dog)? 9. Wir fragen _____________________________ (the boy). 10. Kennst du ___________________ (Germany) schon gut? |
| .1. I know the friend (m.) of Elke. Ich kenne den Freund von Elke. 2. The friend (f.) needs a house. Die Freundin braucht ein Haus. 3. The boy is staying at home. Der Junge bleibt zu Hause. 4. Are you (sing.) writing German? Schreibst du Deutsch? 5. Do you (pl.) have a brother? Habt ihr einen Bruder? 6. Her name is Anna. Sie heißt Anna. 7. Where is the son? Wo ist der Sohn? 8. Do they have a daughter? Haben sie eine Tochter? 9. We need the newspaper now. Wir brauchen jetzt die Zeitung. 10. Do you (s.) know the boy? Is he nice? Kennst du den Jungen? Ist er nett? |
Find an English cognate by changing the
stressed vowel of the German word. (You
may notice some patterns here.) The
consonants are the same.
stressed vowel of the German word. (You
may notice some patterns here.) The
consonants are the same.
- lang bersten Brust
an frisch Hut
Nase irren Wunde
mager Onkel wundern
Nadel Sommer Kuß
Stahl Sohn für
Gast kommen Küste
Stamm stottern Faust
wann lose Stein
Feld Stroh Geist
nett roh Heim
See wohl meist
sehen Ohr allein
stehlen hören fein
Tee Öl steif
gehen rund Feuer
mehr Grund neu
Werk Bluse Freund
| Personal pronouns: You already know the nominative forms of the personal pronouns. The chart below shows the accusative and dative forms next to their respective nominative forms. |
ich mich mir du dich dir er ihn ihm sie sie ihr es es ihm wir uns uns ihr euch euch sie sie ihnen Sie Sie Ihnen |
German, like any other language, has particular words and expressions that can be used
in more than one way. These include the short but tricky Wörter known as “particles” or
“fillers.” I call them “small words that can cause big problems.”
German words such as aber, auch, denn, doch, halt, mal, nur, schon and even ja look
deceptively simple, but are often a source of errors and misunderstanding for even
intermediate learners of German. The main source of problems is the fact that each one of
these words can have multiple meanings and functions in different contexts or situations.
Take the word aber. Most often it is encountered as a coordinating conjunction, as in: Wir
wollten heute fahren, aber unser Auto ist kaputt. (“We wanted to go/drive today, but our
car is broken down.”) In that context, aber functions like any of the coordinating
conjunctions (aber, denn, oder, und). But aber can also be used as a particle: Das ist aber
nicht mein Auto. (“That is, however, not my car.”) Or: Das war aber sehr hektisch. (“That
was really very hectic.”)
Another characteristic that such particle-word examples make clear is that it is often
difficult to translate the German word into an English word. German aber, contrary to what
your first-year German teacher told you, does not always equal “but”! In fact, the
Collins/PONS German-English dictionary uses one-third of a column for all of the uses of
aber. Depending on how it is being used, the word aber can mean: but, and, at all,
however, really, just, isn't it?, haven't you?, come on now or why. The word can even be a
noun: Die Sache hat ein Aber. (“There's just one snag.” - das Aber) or Kein Aber! (“No ifs,
ands or buts!”) . In fact, a German dictionary rarely offers much help in dealing with
particles. They are so idiomatic that it is often impossible to translate them, even if you
understand German pretty well. But throwing them into your German (as long as you
know what you're doing!) can make you sound more natural and native-like.
To illustrate, let's use another example, the often over-used mal. How would you translate
Sag mal, wann fliegst du? or Mal sehen.? In neither case would a good English translation
actually bother to translate mal (or some of the other words) at all. With such idiomatic
usage, the first translation would be “Say (Tell me), when does your flight leave?” The
second phrase would be “We'll see” in English.
The word mal is actually two words. As an adverb, it has a mathematical function: fünf mal
fünf (5×5). But it is as a particle and a shortened form of einmal (once), that mal is most
often used in day-to-day conversation, as in Hör mal zu! (Listen!) or Kommt mal her! (Come
over here!). If you listen carefully to German-speakers, you'll discover that they can hardly
say anything without throwing in a mal here and there. (But it's not nearly as irritating as
the use of “Ya know” in English!) So if you do the same (at the right time and in the right
place!), you'll sound just like a German!
in more than one way. These include the short but tricky Wörter known as “particles” or
“fillers.” I call them “small words that can cause big problems.”
German words such as aber, auch, denn, doch, halt, mal, nur, schon and even ja look
deceptively simple, but are often a source of errors and misunderstanding for even
intermediate learners of German. The main source of problems is the fact that each one of
these words can have multiple meanings and functions in different contexts or situations.
Take the word aber. Most often it is encountered as a coordinating conjunction, as in: Wir
wollten heute fahren, aber unser Auto ist kaputt. (“We wanted to go/drive today, but our
car is broken down.”) In that context, aber functions like any of the coordinating
conjunctions (aber, denn, oder, und). But aber can also be used as a particle: Das ist aber
nicht mein Auto. (“That is, however, not my car.”) Or: Das war aber sehr hektisch. (“That
was really very hectic.”)
Another characteristic that such particle-word examples make clear is that it is often
difficult to translate the German word into an English word. German aber, contrary to what
your first-year German teacher told you, does not always equal “but”! In fact, the
Collins/PONS German-English dictionary uses one-third of a column for all of the uses of
aber. Depending on how it is being used, the word aber can mean: but, and, at all,
however, really, just, isn't it?, haven't you?, come on now or why. The word can even be a
noun: Die Sache hat ein Aber. (“There's just one snag.” - das Aber) or Kein Aber! (“No ifs,
ands or buts!”) . In fact, a German dictionary rarely offers much help in dealing with
particles. They are so idiomatic that it is often impossible to translate them, even if you
understand German pretty well. But throwing them into your German (as long as you
know what you're doing!) can make you sound more natural and native-like.
To illustrate, let's use another example, the often over-used mal. How would you translate
Sag mal, wann fliegst du? or Mal sehen.? In neither case would a good English translation
actually bother to translate mal (or some of the other words) at all. With such idiomatic
usage, the first translation would be “Say (Tell me), when does your flight leave?” The
second phrase would be “We'll see” in English.
The word mal is actually two words. As an adverb, it has a mathematical function: fünf mal
fünf (5×5). But it is as a particle and a shortened form of einmal (once), that mal is most
often used in day-to-day conversation, as in Hör mal zu! (Listen!) or Kommt mal her! (Come
over here!). If you listen carefully to German-speakers, you'll discover that they can hardly
say anything without throwing in a mal here and there. (But it's not nearly as irritating as
the use of “Ya know” in English!) So if you do the same (at the right time and in the right
place!), you'll sound just like a German!
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