German word: Hoffen
English translation: to hope
German example:
Ich hoffe, dass es dir gut geht.
English example:
I hope you are feeling well.
Sonntag, 24. Juli 2016
Samstag, 23. Juli 2016
Verb Sein und Verb Haben
متى نستخدم الفعل Sein ; و الفعل Haben في اللغة الألمانية
درس ملخص يشرح باللغة العربية متى نستخدم الفعل Sein ومتى نستخدم الفعل haben
في اللغة الألمانية مع أمثلة توضيحية
لتحميل الدرس اضغط هنا
درس ملخص يشرح باللغة العربية متى نستخدم الفعل Sein ومتى نستخدم الفعل haben
في اللغة الألمانية مع أمثلة توضيحية
لتحميل الدرس اضغط هنا
Mittwoch, 20. Juli 2016
unbestimmte Artikel:Indefinite Article
Indefinite Article in german: in this lesson you will learn the forms of the indefinite article in german. lesson in english. Ein, Eine
Indefinite articles Even though the German nouns can be masculine, feminine or neuter, there are only two forms of indefinite articles:
– Ein is the indefinite article for masculine and neuter nouns
ex: der Baum – ein Baum (a tree); der Garten – ein Garten (a garden); der Onkel – ein Onkel (an uncle)
das Haus – ein Haus (a house); das Boot – ein Boot (a boat); das Kind – ein Kind (a child)– Eine is the indefinite article for feminine nouns
ex: die Blume – eine Blume (a flower); die Suppe – eine Suppe (a soup); die Tante – eine Tante(an aunt) The plural indefinite article doesn’t exist in German:
ex: der Baum (s) – Bäume (trees)
die Blume (s) – Blumen (flowers)
das Kind (s) – Kinder (children
| ) |
Der bestimmte Artikel : the definite articles
articles: in this lesson you will learn The definite articles in german. In german there are three different genders for the article: masculine, feminine and neutral. lesson in english.
In English the only definite article is the, which is used for all nouns, singular and plural. On the contrary, in German nouns can be preceded by 4 different definite articles, according to gender – masculine, feminine or neuter – and number – singular or plural.
– The definite article for masculine singular nouns is der
– The definite article for feminine singular nouns is die
– The definite article for neuter singular nouns is das
– The only definite article for all plural nouns is die.
Ex: die Blume / die Blumen (the flowers); der Baum / die Bäume (the trees); das Kind / die Kinder (the children)
Generally speaking, a specific rule which allows to recognize the gender of a noun doesn’t exist. All you can do is memorize every new noun with its definite article. Nevertheless, there are some useful tips that help to guess nouns gender.
1) For example, it’s easy to assign the correct definite article to people’s common nouns.
Feminine Masculine
Die Mutter – The mother Der Vater – the father
Die Tochter – The daughter Der Sohn – the son
Die Oma – the grandmother Der Opa – the grandfather
Die Frau – the woman Der Mann – the man
*An exception is: das Mädchen – the girl, because in German the suffix -chen is generally used to form diminutives which are always neuter.
Compare:
Der Mann – the man and das Männchen – the little man
2) The names of seasons, months and days are masculine
3) The points of the compass are masculine too:
Der Norden – the North
Der Süden – the South
Der Osten – the East
Der Westen – the West
4) Car brands are also masculine.
Ex: Der Mercedes, der Volkswagen
5) Numbers and plant names are instead feminine.
6) Letters, notes and units are neuter
N.B. In German not only proper nouns, but also common nouns start with a capital letter.
bestimmter Artikel pdf
Dienstag, 19. Juli 2016
Verb Sein : Verb to be, personal pronouns
Verb to be, personal pronouns, simple present of verb to be in german: in this lesson you will learn the verb to be in german, verb sein, in a formal and informal context. lesson in english.
Personal pronouns
German language is characterised by many personal pronouns because, unlike English grammar, it has four different cases. This lesson is about the personal pronouns of the first case, which are the simplest and the most important.
The pronouns are:
Ich – I
Wir – we
Du – you
Ihr – you
Er, Sie, Es – he/she/it
Sie – they
The plural pronoun Sie is used both as the equivalent of the English they and the formal way to address a stranger or an authority.
Simple present of to be
After memorizing personal pronouns, you can now have a look at the conjugation of the simple present of sein – to be
Ich bin – I am
Wir sind – we are
Du bist – you are
Ihr seid – you are
Er/Sie/Es ist – he/she/it is
Sie sind – they are
As the English to be, sein is an irregular verb. It is used in several fixed expressions, so here is a list of some of them:
– Ich bin Eva – I’m Eva
– Wer bist du? – Who are you?
– Sie ist groß – She is tall
– Wir sind here – We are here
– Ihr seid stark – You are strong
– Sie sind laut – They are noisy
Das alphabet
Alphabet: in this lesson you will learn how to write, spell and pronounce alphabet in german. lesson in english. Das alphabet
The German alphabet is composed of 26 letters. There are 4 additional letters used when writing in
German but they are not included in our alphabet. These letters are:
Ä which is pronounced like “head”. An example of a German word with this letter is Gäste – guests
Ö which is pronounced like “blur”. An example: Hören – hear
Ü – its sound doesn’t exist in English. An example: Tür – door
ß it sounds like a sharp s as in “list”. An example: groß – big
The letters of our alphabet are the same as in English, only the pronunciation changes. I will first say the letter and afterwards give an example of a word starting with it. Let’s go!
DAS ALPHABET
A – Affe
B – Bär
C – Chamäleon
D – Dose
E – Engel
F – Fuß
G – Glocke
H – Hund
I – Insel
J – Jäger
K – Kind
L – Loewe
M – Maus
N – Nuss
O – Osterhase
P – pinsel
Q – Qualle
R – Rose
S – Sonne
T – Topf
U – Uhr
V – Vase
W – Waage
X – Xylophon
Y – Yoga
Z – Zebra
Montag, 18. Juli 2016
What’s your name? Where are you from?
What's your name? where are you from? in this lesson you will learn how to ask some question to peole in german in a formal and informal context, lesson in english. ich komme aus, mein name is
Introducing yourself
After asking someone how he/she is, you generally want to know something more about him/her, for example where he/she comes from.
How are you? is translated by Wie geht es dir? when talking to a friend or peer, and by Wie geht es Ihnen? if your interlocutor is a stranger or an authority. (see lesson 1)
The same distinction is made when you ask Where are you from?
Woher kommst du? or Wo kommst du her? are used in informal contexts
Woher kommen Sie? or Wo kommen Sie her? are used in formal contexts
A possible answer to this question would be:
Ich komme aus München – I come from Munich.
You could also answer:
Ich wohne in München or Ich lebe in München – I live in Munich.
?QUESTION? !ANSWER!
Woher kommst du? / Wo kommst du her? Ich komme aus…
Woher kommen Sie? / Wo kommen Sie her? Ich wohne / lebe in…
It’s interesting to know where somebody is from, but it’s even more important to ask for his/her name and to introduce yourself.
To ask for someone’s name in German you say: Wie heißt du? This is the informal expression, while the formal one is Wie heißen Sie?The answer to both questions is the same:
Ich heiße … – My name is …
You could also say
Ich bin … – I am …
As an alternative, you can ask:
Wie ist dein Name? (informal) or Wie ist Ihr Name? (formal)
These are the literal translations of What’s your name? to which you will answer:
Mein Name ist ... – My name is …
To sum up:
Informal question
Formal question
Answer
Where are you from?
Woher kommst du?Wo kommst du her?
Woher kommen Sie?Wo kommen Sie her?
Ich komme aus…Ich wohne in…Ich lebe in…
I come from…I live in…
What’s your name?
Wie heißt du?
Wie heißen Sie?
Ich heiße…Ich bin…
My name is…I am…
Wie ist dein Name?
Wie ist Ihr Name?
Mein Name ist…
The whole conversation could be like this:
A: Guten Tag, wie geht es dir? – Good morning, how are you?
B: Es geht so, und dir? – So-so and you?
A: Mir geht es gut. – I’m fine
B: Wie heißt du? – What’s your name?
A: Ich heiße Sandra, und du? – I’m Sandra and you?
B: Mein Name ist Frauke – My name is Frauke
A: Woher kommst du? – Where are you from?
B: Ich komme aus Frankfurt und du? – I come from Frankfurt and you?
A: Ich komme aus Berlin – I come from Berlin
B: Tschüss – Bye
A: Tschüss – Bye
This is obviously an example of an informal conversation with a person you have just met in an informal context. It could be a dialogue between children, teens or young adults. From a certain age on you won’t use the informal register with people you have just met.
Dienstag, 12. Juli 2016
Greetings in German / Grüße in Deutsch
Greetings: in this lesson you will learn how to greet people in german in a formal and informal context, How to start a conversation with someone. lesson in english.
How to greet people in German? Among the greetings the word you will often hear to say Hi or Hello to someone is Hallo. It is clearly similar to the English greeting, and just like hello it is always used to greet peers, such as classmates, or people you know very well, like relatives and friends. In other words, this is an informal greeting. Formal greetings are instead more indicated when you are saying hello to a person you meet for the first time, as well as older people or someone in authority, for example a doctor, a teacher, a police officer.
So, you say:
– Guten Morgen until about noon; then, until 5 pm, the correct form is Guten Tag (both expressions correspond to Good morning).
– In the evening you use Guten Abend for Good evening.
– At night you finally say Gute Nacht. In general, if you want to say goodbye to someone, you can use Tschüss, which is more informal, or Auf Wiedersehen, which is its formal equivalent. Auf Wiedersehen literally means “see you again”.
To sum up, here is a short recap of how to greet people in German.
YOU ARE GREETING…
A FRIEND: Hallo (Hi, Hello) – Tschüss (Bye) – Gute Nacht (Good night)
A STRANGER: Guten Morgen (until 12 am) – Guten Tag (until 5 pm) – Guten Abend (Good evening) – Auf Wiedersehen (See you) – Gute Nacht (Good night)
TALKING ON THE PHONE
When you answer the phone, you can greet people using the expressions above. While, if you want to end a conversation on the phone, you say Auf Wiederhören, which literally means “hear you again”. Some other useful expressions to say goodbye to your interlocutor are: – Bis dann! or Bis später! or Bis nachher! – See you later! – Bis bald! – See you soon! – Bis morgen! – See you tomorrow! German language, like many other languages, has different forms for addressing people you are close to and people with whom you don’t have an informal relationship, or whom you get to know in a more formal context, like at work. Therefore, when asking How are you? in German, it’s essential to consider who is your interlocutor. – Wie geht es dir?, which is usually shortened in Wie geht’s? is used with friends, relatives and peers – Wie geht es Ihnen? is used with strangers, older people, authorities. On the contrary, if you are asked Wie geht es dir? or Wie geht es Ihnen? the answer can be:
In German means…
Mir geht es gut I am fine. You can obviously say just Gut.
Mir geht es ganz gut I feel quite good
Mir geht es sehr gut I feel very good
Mir geht es schlecht orMir geht es sehr schlecht I’m not very wellI feel bad
Es geht so So-so, if you’re feeling neither good nor bad
Here are two short dialogues to resume the previous expressions.
A: Hallo, wie geht es dir? – Hello, how are you?
B: Mir geht es gut, und dir? – I’m fine and you?
A: Mir geht es auch gut, danke! – I‘m fine too, thank you! This is the informal version.
The formal one would be:
A: Guten Tag, wie geht es Ihnen? – Good morning, how are you?
B: Mir geht es gut, und Ihnen? – I am fine and you?
A: Danke, mir geht es auch gut! – I am fine too, thanks.
Montag, 11. Juli 2016
Predicate adjectives
Predicate adjectives, i.e. adjectives that don't precede a noun, are not inflected.
Der Mann ist groß.
Die Männer sind groß.
Die Frau ist groß.
Die Frauen sind groß.
Das Haus ist groß.
Die Häuser sind groß.
As you can see, the adjective remains in the base form, regardless of number and gender..
Samstag, 2. Juli 2016
Mittwoch, 29. Juni 2016
"طريقي إلى ألمانيا" "Mein Weg nach Deutschland"
مشروع لمعهد غوته يتوفر على قائمة رئيسة تحتوي على :
الحياة بألمانيا - تعلم الألمانية - ممارسة الألمانية ...و أمور اخرى موقع بأكثر من لغة منها اللغة العربية
ويتجاوب معهد جوته مع هذه الحاجة الملحة من خلال البوابة الإلكترونية "طريقي إلى ألمانيا" "Mein Weg nach Deutschland"، الفكرة الرئيسية للمشروع "مواءمة الانتقال من مرحلة الدعم اللغوي قبل الاندماج حتى الالتحاق بدورة الاندماج" (بتمويل مشترك من خلال وسائل صندوق الاندماج الأوروبي، EIF).
يتمثل هدف المشروع في تحسين مرحلة الانتقال ما بين الإمكانيات المقدمة قبل الاندماج بخصوص تعلم اللغة والمعلومات والاستشارات في الخارج وبين الإمكانيات المقدمة لأول دعم لغوي وكذلك بقية إجراءات الاندماج للجهات الاتحادية في ألمانيا. وتبعا لذلك تعمل البوابة الإلكترونية على تحسين وترسيخ المعارف المتعلقة باللغة والحضارة والتي تم اكتسابها في إطار مرحلة ما قبل الاندماج. علاوة على ذلك تكتسب هذه المجموعة الخاصة من المتعلمين من خلال استخدام الإمكانيات المقدمة من قبل البوابة معارف متنوعة وضرورية للعيش في ألمانيا، على سبيل المثال التعامل مع الوسائط المختلفة أو اكتساب المعرفة الاسترشادية اللازمة لأوقاتها الأولى في ألمانيا.
ومن هذا الموقع أتوجه بخالص الشكر إلى كل من شارك في هذا العمل من مؤلفين ومطورين وصانعي أفلام ومصممي جرافيك ومحررين وخبراء، حيث ساهموا جميعاً في أن تبزغ البوابة بهذه الإمكانيات المتنوعة الآن في فضاء الإنترنت! ويتم في المعتاد تسمية هؤلاء الأفراد مباشرةً مع الإمكانيات المقدمة في قسم "ممارسة الألمانية" "Deutsch üben". علاوة على ذلك نود أن نعرب عن خالص شكرنا وامتناننا للمؤلفين والمحررين شتيفان مونشوف، فريا كونيسا، يوحنا شليبنيكوف، كسابا جلونير، جانا ديجينر، إلين باخمان، ماريون هوليرونج، وذلك لقيامهم بإعداد أو تحرير النصوص والتمرينات الرئيسية لهذه البوابة.
وبخصوص الدعم المالي للمشروع نتوجه بالشكر للاتحاد الأوروبي، والذي دون دعمه ما كان لهذا المشروع أن يخرج إلى النور
الحياة بألمانيا - تعلم الألمانية - ممارسة الألمانية ...و أمور اخرى موقع بأكثر من لغة منها اللغة العربية
حول المشروع :
أظهرت دراسة الانتقال من مرحلة الدعم اللغوي قبل الاندماج حتى الالتحاق بدورة الاندماج (2011) أن المهاجرين الجدد الذين اجتازوا بالفعل في بلدهم اختبار A1 للتأشيرة ينتظرون (يضطروا للانتظار) لمدة طويلة نسبيا حتى يلتحقوا مجددا بالدراسة المكثفة للغة والثقافة الألمانية في إطار دورة الاندماج في ألمانيا. علاوة على ذلك أظهرت الدراسة أيضا عدة أمور، ومنها افتقاد الوسيلة التعليمية والتدريبية والمعلوماتية، التي يمكن مواءمتها مع هذه المجموعة المستهدفة واحتياجاتها والتي يمكن بواسطتها مواصلة التعلم بشكل مستقل أثناء مدة الانتقال. وبسبب هذا الافتقاد ينخفض مستوى الإلمام باللغة غالبا حتى الالتحاق بدورة الاندماج. إلا أن الحافز الكبير لمواصلة التعلم يظل قائما وفقا للمهاجرين.ويتجاوب معهد جوته مع هذه الحاجة الملحة من خلال البوابة الإلكترونية "طريقي إلى ألمانيا" "Mein Weg nach Deutschland"، الفكرة الرئيسية للمشروع "مواءمة الانتقال من مرحلة الدعم اللغوي قبل الاندماج حتى الالتحاق بدورة الاندماج" (بتمويل مشترك من خلال وسائل صندوق الاندماج الأوروبي، EIF).
يتمثل هدف المشروع في تحسين مرحلة الانتقال ما بين الإمكانيات المقدمة قبل الاندماج بخصوص تعلم اللغة والمعلومات والاستشارات في الخارج وبين الإمكانيات المقدمة لأول دعم لغوي وكذلك بقية إجراءات الاندماج للجهات الاتحادية في ألمانيا. وتبعا لذلك تعمل البوابة الإلكترونية على تحسين وترسيخ المعارف المتعلقة باللغة والحضارة والتي تم اكتسابها في إطار مرحلة ما قبل الاندماج. علاوة على ذلك تكتسب هذه المجموعة الخاصة من المتعلمين من خلال استخدام الإمكانيات المقدمة من قبل البوابة معارف متنوعة وضرورية للعيش في ألمانيا، على سبيل المثال التعامل مع الوسائط المختلفة أو اكتساب المعرفة الاسترشادية اللازمة لأوقاتها الأولى في ألمانيا.
ومن هذا الموقع أتوجه بخالص الشكر إلى كل من شارك في هذا العمل من مؤلفين ومطورين وصانعي أفلام ومصممي جرافيك ومحررين وخبراء، حيث ساهموا جميعاً في أن تبزغ البوابة بهذه الإمكانيات المتنوعة الآن في فضاء الإنترنت! ويتم في المعتاد تسمية هؤلاء الأفراد مباشرةً مع الإمكانيات المقدمة في قسم "ممارسة الألمانية" "Deutsch üben". علاوة على ذلك نود أن نعرب عن خالص شكرنا وامتناننا للمؤلفين والمحررين شتيفان مونشوف، فريا كونيسا، يوحنا شليبنيكوف، كسابا جلونير، جانا ديجينر، إلين باخمان، ماريون هوليرونج، وذلك لقيامهم بإعداد أو تحرير النصوص والتمرينات الرئيسية لهذه البوابة.
وبخصوص الدعم المالي للمشروع نتوجه بالشكر للاتحاد الأوروبي، والذي دون دعمه ما كان لهذا المشروع أن يخرج إلى النور
Dienstag, 28. Juni 2016
Montag, 27. Juni 2016
Freitag, 24. Juni 2016
Donnerstag, 23. Juni 2016
DEUTSCH ONLINE
اتفقت مراكز غوتة الالمانية في فرنسا على احداث تكوين خاص بينها في اللغة الالمانية عبر النت، وهناك دورتان في السنة، حيث تدرس من بيتك ، حيث أنت، في فوج من ثمانية اشخاص ومعلمتهم الالمانية . ولمدة حوالي ثلاثة اشهر و بمبلغ 750 يورو..
لمزيد من المعلومات وللتسجيل: هنا
Sonntag, 5. Juni 2016
Tips and notes
Capitalizing nouns
In German, all nouns are capitalized. For example, "my name" is "mein Name," and "the apple" is "der Apfel." This helps you identify which are the nouns in a sentence.
Three grammatical genders, three types of nouns
Nouns in German are either feminine, masculine or neuter. For example, "Frau" (woman) is feminine, "Mann" (man) is masculine, and "Kind" (child) is neuter. The grammatical gender may not match the biological gender: "Mädchen" (girl) is a neuter noun.
It is very important to learn every noun along with its gender because parts of German sentences change depending on the gender of their nouns.
Generally speaking, the definite article "die" (the) and the indefinite article "eine" (a/an) are used for feminine nouns, "der" and "ein" for masculine nouns, and "das" and "ein" for neuter nouns. For example, it is "die Frau," "der Mann," and "das Kind." However, later you will see that this changes depending on something called the "case of the noun."
It is very important to learn every noun along with its gender because parts of German sentences change depending on the gender of their nouns.
Generally speaking, the definite article "die" (the) and the indefinite article "eine" (a/an) are used for feminine nouns, "der" and "ein" for masculine nouns, and "das" and "ein" for neuter nouns. For example, it is "die Frau," "der Mann," and "das Kind." However, later you will see that this changes depending on something called the "case of the noun."
masculine
|
neuter
|
feminine
| |
|---|---|---|---|
indefinite (a/an)
|
ein Mann
|
ein Mädchen
|
eine Frau
|
definite (the)
|
der Mann
|
das Mädchen
|
die Frau
|
Conjugations of the verb sein (to be)
A few verbs like "sein" (to be) are completely irregular, and their conjugations simply need to be memorized:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| ich bin | I am |
| du bist | you (singular informal) are |
| er/sie/es ist | he/she/it is |
| wir sind | we are |
| ihr seid | you (plural informal) are |
| sie sind | they are |
| Sie sind | you (formal) are |
Conjugating regular verbs
Verb conjugation in German is more challenging than in English. To conjugate a regular verb in the present tense, identify the invariant stem of the verb and add the ending corresponding to any of the grammatical persons, which you can simply memorize:
trinken (to drink)
trinken (to drink)
English person
|
ending
|
German example
|
|---|---|---|
I
|
-e
|
ich trinke
|
you (singular informal)
|
-st
|
du trinkst
|
he/she/it
|
-t
|
er/sie/es trinkt
|
we
|
-en
|
wir trinken
|
you (plural informal)
|
-t
|
ihr trinkt
|
you (formal)
|
-en
|
Sie trinken
|
they
|
-en
|
sie trinken
|
Notice that the 1st and the 3rd person plural have the same ending as "you (formal)."
Umlauts
Umlauts are letters (more specifically vowels) that have two dots above them and appear in some German words like "Mädchen." Literally, "Umlaut" means "around the sound," because its function is to change how the vowel sounds.
An umlaut can sometimes indicate the plural of a word. For example, the plural of "Mutter" (mother) is "Mütter." It might even change the meaning of a word entirely. That's why it's very important not to ignore those little dots.
No continuous aspect
In German, there's no continuous aspect, i.e. there are no separate forms for "I drink" and "I am drinking". There's only one form: Ich trinke.
There's no such thing as Ich bin trinke or Ich bin trinken!
When translating into English, how can I tell whether to use the simple (I drink) or the continuous form (I am drinking)?
Unless the context suggests otherwise, either form should be accepted.
There's no such thing as Ich bin trinke or Ich bin trinken!
When translating into English, how can I tell whether to use the simple (I drink) or the continuous form (I am drinking)?
Unless the context suggests otherwise, either form should be accepted.
Samstag, 4. Juni 2016
German Cases
German Cases
In English, the words "he" and "I" can be used as subjects (the ones doing the action in a sentence),
and they change to "him" and "me" when they are objects (the ones the action is applied to). For example, we say "He likes me" and "I like him." This is exactly the notion of a "grammatical case:" the same word changes its form depending on its relationship to the verb. In English, only pronouns have cases, but in German most words other than verbs have cases: nouns, pronouns, determiners, adjectives, etc.
Understanding the four German cases is one of the biggest hurdles in learning the language. The good news is that most words change very predictably so you only have to memorize a small set of rules. We'll see more about cases later, but for now you just need to understand the difference between the two simplest cases: nominative and accusative.
The subject of a sentence (the one doing the action) is in the nominative case.
So when we say "Die Frau spielt" (the woman plays), "Frau" is in the nominative.
The accusative object is the thing or person that is directly receiving the action.
For example, in "Der Lehrer sieht den Ball" (the teacher sees the ball),
"Lehrer" is the nominative subject
and
"Ball" is the accusative object. Notice that the articles for accusative objects are not the same as the articles in the nominative case:
"the" is "der" in the nominative case and "den" in the accusative.
The following table shows how the articles change based on these two cases:
and they change to "him" and "me" when they are objects (the ones the action is applied to). For example, we say "He likes me" and "I like him." This is exactly the notion of a "grammatical case:" the same word changes its form depending on its relationship to the verb. In English, only pronouns have cases, but in German most words other than verbs have cases: nouns, pronouns, determiners, adjectives, etc.
Understanding the four German cases is one of the biggest hurdles in learning the language. The good news is that most words change very predictably so you only have to memorize a small set of rules. We'll see more about cases later, but for now you just need to understand the difference between the two simplest cases: nominative and accusative.
The subject of a sentence (the one doing the action) is in the nominative case.
So when we say "Die Frau spielt" (the woman plays), "Frau" is in the nominative.
The accusative object is the thing or person that is directly receiving the action.
For example, in "Der Lehrer sieht den Ball" (the teacher sees the ball),
"Lehrer" is the nominative subject
and
"Ball" is the accusative object. Notice that the articles for accusative objects are not the same as the articles in the nominative case:
"the" is "der" in the nominative case and "den" in the accusative.
The following table shows how the articles change based on these two cases:
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein | eine | ein |
| Accusative | einen | eine | ein |
The fact that most words in German are affected by the case explains why the sentence order is more flexible than in English. For example, you can say "Das Mädchen hat den Apfel" (the girl has the apple) or "Den Apfel hat das Mädchen." In both cases, "den Apfel" (the apple) is the accusative object, and "das Mädchen" is the nominative subject.
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Conjugations of the verb sein (to be)
The verb "sein" (to be) is irregular, and its conjugations simply need to be memorized:
| German | English |
|---|---|
ich bin
|
I am
|
du bist
|
you (singular informal) are
|
er/sie/es ist
|
he/she/it is
|
wir sind
|
we are
|
ihr seid
|
you (plural informal) are
|
sie sind
|
they are
|
Sie sind
|
you (formal) are
|
Conjugations of the verb essen (to eat)
The verb "essen" (to eat) is slightly irregular in that the stem vowel changes from e to i in the second (du isst) and third person singular (er/sie/es isst) forms.
| English person | ending | German example |
|---|---|---|
I
|
-e
|
ich esse
|
you (singular informal)
|
-st
|
du isst
|
he/she/it
|
-t
|
er/sie/es isst
|
we
|
-en
|
wir essen
|
you (plural informal)
|
-t
|
ihr esst
|
you (formal)
|
-en
|
Sie essen
|
they
|
-en
|
sie essen
|
How can you hear the difference between isst and ist?
You can't. "isst" and "ist" sound exactly the same. In colloquial (rapid) speech, some speakers drop the "t" in "ist".
So "Es ist ein Apfel" and "Es isst ein Apfel" sound the same?
Yes, but you can tell it's "Es ist ein Apfel" because "Es isst ein Apfel" is ungrammatical. The accusative of "ein Apfel" is "einen Apfel". Hence, "It is eating an apple" translates as "Es isst einen Apfel."
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The verb haben (to have)
In English, you can say "I'm having bread" when you really mean that you're eating or about to eat bread. This does not work in German. The verb haben refers to possession only. Hence, the sentence Ich habe Brot only translates to I have bread, not I'm having bread. Of course, the same applies to drinks. Ich habe Wasser only translates to I have water, not I'm having water.
So "Es ist ein Apfel" and "Es isst ein Apfel" sound the same?
Yes, but you can tell it's "Es ist ein Apfel" because "Es isst ein Apfel" is ungrammatical. The accusative of "ein Apfel" is "einen Apfel". Hence, "It is eating an apple" translates as "Es isst einen Apfel."
-----------------
The verb haben (to have)
In English, you can say "I'm having bread" when you really mean that you're eating or about to eat bread. This does not work in German. The verb haben refers to possession only. Hence, the sentence Ich habe Brot only translates to I have bread, not I'm having bread. Of course, the same applies to drinks. Ich habe Wasser only translates to I have water, not I'm having water.
| English person | ending | German example |
|---|---|---|
| I | -e |
ich habe
|
you (singular informal)
|
-st
|
du hast
|
he/she/it
|
-t
|
er/sie/es hat
|
we
|
-en
|
wir haben
|
you (plural informal)
|
-t
|
ihr habt
|
you (formal)
|
-en
|
Sie haben
|
they
|
-en
|
sie haben
|
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