From Monday on, you need to have “access” to our course book:
Title: Spektrum Deutsch A1+, Integriertes Kurs- und Arbeitsbuch
Authors: Anne Buscha, Szilvia Szita
Publishing company: Schubert, Leipzig
Year of publication: 2017 (1. Auflage)
Vocabulary Management System (VMS)
1. Vocabulary
Verbs
Grammatical Verbs
Full/Lexical Verbs
Regular Full Verbs
Irregular Full Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
Adverbs
Question words
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Mixed bag / miscellaneous
Phrases
2. Grammar
3. Pronunciation Tips
Conjugation of the most important verb in German!!!!!
Personal- Verb Personal Verb
pronomen pronouns
Infinitiv sein Infinitive be
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 (≈ du) sind they are
1st pronunciation tip:
ei = in most cases = eye, I, like = diphthong
2nd pronunciation tip:
ch
ch sound #1 = here
ch sound #2 = Spanish Javier
3rd pronunciation tip:
r-sound only clearly pronounced when followed by a vowel
otherwise nothing or only a “touch of an r”
4th pronunciation tip:
ie = in most cases a long i as in English see = monophthong
5th pronunciation tip:
h after a vowel usually just lengthens that vowel
6th pronunciation tip:
The difference between the sounds d and t at the end of a word is usually neutralized, which
means that the word-final d (as in sind) sounds like a t. The same is true of b and p, where
word-final b sounds like p, and g and k, where word-final g sounds like k.
Vowels
Monophthong = straight vowel, that you learned in school
Diphthong = a very tight merger of two vowels
Your first adjective
reich = rich
Two positions of adjectives
1. after the noun which it modifies: This tree is big. = adjective in neutral form
2. before the noun which it modifies: This is a big tree. = adjective with case endings
Four types of sentences
1. Statements / Positive sentences
2. Negations / Negative sentences
3. Questions
(4. Imperatives / Commands)
Question formation
Question formation type #1: Reversal of subject and verb + rising intonation
Question formation type #2: Question word + reversal of subject and verb
Positive: Ich bin reich.
Question #1: Bin ich reich?
Question # 2: Warum bin ich reich?
Question words
warum = why
wann = when
wo = where
wie = how
woher = from where
was = what
wer = who
“Wer” is different from the other question words we learned previously
wer = who
It cannot be put in front of a question, but it replaces the subject of the sentence. The
corresponding verb is then in the 3rd person singular (er/sie/es), and subject and verb are not
reversed.
Example:
Paul ist in Spanien. = Paul is in Spain.
Ist Paul in Spanien? = Is Paul in Spain?
Wer ist Paul in Spanien? = Who is Paul in Spain?
Wer ist in Spanien? = Who is in Spain?
7th pronunciation tip:
A double consonant shortens the preceding vowel
8th pronunciation tip:
sch = Engl. ship, mission
9th pronunciation tip:
s in front of p or t is pronounced sch (ship, misson)
10th pronunciation tip:
eu is almost always pronounced as boy
Conjugation of your first regular full verb: kommen (= Engl. ‘to come’)
Personal- Stem- -Ending
pronomen
Infinitiv komm- -en
ich komm- -e
du komm- -st
er / sie / es komm- -t
wir komm- -en
ihr komm- -t
sie komm- -en
Practicing regularity/systematicity and flexibility/creativity AT THE SAME TIME!
Where are you coming from? = progressive / continuous
Where do you come from? = non-progressive / non-continuous
No such distinction in German!!!
German doesn’t have an equivalent of English progressive/continuous tenses!!!
Prepositions
aus + 3 = prototypically ‘from’
in + 3 = in [refers to location]
Country names
Argentinien = Argentina
England = England
Russland = Russia
Italien = Italy
Spanien = Spain
Deutschland = Germany
Dänemark = Denmark
Österreich = Austria
Chile = Chile
Thailand = Thailand
Singapur = Singapore
Mexiko = Mexico
Vietnam = Vietnam
Japan = Japan
Brasilien = Brazil
Peru = Peru
die Schweiz = Switzerland
die USA = the USA
Some country names are used with a definite article
Examples from English: the USA, the UK, the Netherlands
Examples from German: die USA, das Vereinigte Königreich, die Schweiz, der Iran, die
Türkei, der Libanon
Not usually a 1:1 relationship between German and English preposition!
Example:
I am coming from Hamburg. Ich komme aus Hamburg.
I am coming from my brother. Ich komme von meinem Bruder.
Conjugation of your first full verb with a minor irregularity, Type 1:
heißen / heissen (= Engl. ‘to be called’)
Personal- Stem- -Ending
pronomen
Infinitiv heiß- -en
ich heiß- -e
du heiß- -t
er / sie / es heiß- -t
wir heiß- -en
ihr heiß- -t
sie heiß- -en
ß = ‘sharp s’ / ‘eszet’
In Swiss German: ß > ss
More regular verbs
wohnen = to live / to reside
lernen = to learn
kochen = to cook
spielen = to play
fotografieren = to take a photograph (ie is diphthong)
hören = to hear / to listen to
schwimmen = to swim
Irregular verbs, Type 1
heißen = to be called
tanzen = to dance
Umlaut
a > ä produced with a raised tongue
o > ö produced with a raised tongue
u > ü produced with a raised tongue
Conjunctions
aber = but
und = and
Nouns
Tag = day
Name = name
Adjectives
gut = good
Adverb
gern(e) = with joy
Phrases to be learned as phrases, without further grammatical analysis AT THIS
POINT
Guten Tag! = formal way of saying “hallo” / Australian: Good day!
We don’t learn about possessive articles at this point in our course, but you should know
what they are and you should be able to recognize them in a German text
Example:
Mein Name ist Erik Sander. = My name is Erik Sander.
Three dimensions of letters
1. A letter has a name.
2. A letter represents a prototypical sound.
3. A letter represents a sound in a particular word.
11th pronunciation tip:
The term aspiration refers to the production of a sound with a puff of air coming explosively
out of your mouth. The difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds is especially
relevant within the follwing sound pairs: b-p, d-t, g-k. The first sound within each pair (b, d,
g) is unaspirated, and the second sound (p, t, k) is aspirated. Other than that, the sounds of
each pair are produced in exactly the same way.
Alphabet = letter names
a = father, car
b = Beethoven (not aspirated)
c = wants + fiancee
d = door + fiancee (not aspirated)
e = fiancee
f = definite, deaf
g = gun + fiancee
h = hotel + father
i = see, easy
j ≈ yacht
k = car + father (aspirated sound, pronounced with a puff of air coming out of your mouth)
l = elevator
m = embark, embarass
n = entrance
o = boring, open (first element of the diphthong)
p = place + fiancee (aspirated sound, pronounced with a puff of air coming out of your mouth)
q = cool
r = errand + ???
s = stress
t = time + fiancee (aspirated sound, pronounced with a puff of air coming out of your mouth)
u = two; cool
v = foul, found
w = victory + fiancee
x = fix, six
y = German: Ypsilon
z = wants + set
Additional letters:
a > ä = a Umlaut (produced with a raised tongue) = bad
o > ö = o Umlaut (produced with a raised tongue)
u > ü = u Umlaut (produced with a raised tongue)
ß = ‘sharp s’ / ‘eszet’, in Swiss German replaced with ss
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Remember:
b and p are produced in a very similar way. The significant difference between them is that p
is aspirated, i.e. it is produced with a puff of air coming out of your mouth.
The same is true of d and t.
The language of spelling
doppel t = double t
neues Wort = new word
schreiben = to write (regular)
großes T = capital T
kleines t = lower case t
das = that
so = so / in this way / like this
The impersonal pronoun man
This pronoun is used when no particular person or people are referred to. It is used to refer to
people generally, i.e. to make a general statement. Grammatically it functions like the 3rd
person singular (he / she / it). Similar to Engl. ‘one’ or ‘you’.
Example in English:
One speaks Spanish in Spain. You speak Spanish in Spain.
In Spain, one speaks Spanish. In Spain, you speak Spanish.
What does one speak in Spain? What do you speak in Spain?
Example in German:
Man spricht Spanisch in Spanien.
In Spanien spricht man Spanisch.
Was spricht man in Spanien?
In Österreich sagt man “Servus“.
Wie sagt man in Frankreich für “Guten Tag“?
Negations, Type 1
There are several different ways of negating a sentence in German. One of them has the word
nicht (Engl. ‘not’) after the verb. In questions with subject-verb reversal, the nicht is not part
of the reversal, but remains in its place.
Example:
Statement: Du schwimmst.
Negation: Du schwimmst nicht.
Question + negation: Warum schwimmst Du nicht?
Conjugation of your first fully irregular full verb, Type 2: sprechen (= Engl. ‘to speak’)
Personal- Stem- -Ending
pronomen
Infinitiv sprech- -en
ich sprech- -e
du sprich- -st
er / sie / es sprich- -t
wir sprech- -en
ihr sprech- -t
sie sprech- -en
One way of constructing interesting German sentences is combining a question with a
negation
Example:
Positive: Wir sprechen Deutsch. We speak German.
Question: Warum sprechen wir Deutsch? Why do we speak German?
Negation: Wir sprechen nicht Deutsch. We do not speak German.
Combination: Warum sprechen wir nicht Deutsch? Why do we not speak German?
Regular full verbs
glauben = to believe / to think
schreiben = to write
lernen = to learn
kochen = to cook
spielen = to play
fotografieren = to take a photograph (ie is a diphthong)
hören = to hear / to listen to
schwimmen = to swim
Irregular verbs, Type 1
tanzen = to dance
Nouns
Name (m) = name
Tennis (n) = tennis
Fußball (m) = European football / soccer
Computer (m) = computer
Spiel (sg.) / Spiele (pl.) (n) = game
Gitarre (f) = guitar
Sprache (sg.) /Sprachen (pl.) (f) = language
Musik (f) = music
Ort (m) = place / location
Adjectives
interessant = interesting
Adverbs
gern(e) = with joy
wirklich = really
Question words
was = what
Conjunctions
aber = but
Mixed bag / miscellaneous
das = that
jetzt = now
auch = also, too, as well
ja = yes
nein = no
hier = here (ie = diphthong!)
Toll! = super, excellent, good
noch = additionally / in addition / apart from that
ein bisschen = a little
Particles
Ah = sudden realization
Important grammar rule: Word order
If a sentence starts with anything other than the main clause or the subject, i.e. if something
precedes the main clause or the subject, then the subject and the verb of the main clause are
usually reversed.
Except when a sentence starts with ja or nein.
Example:
Ich lerne Deutsch. I am learning German.
Ich lerne jetzt Deutsch. I am now learning German.
Jetzt lerne ich Deutsch Now I am learning German.
An important regular verb: machen ≈ ‘to make’
Very often – but of course not always – German uses machen (‘make’) were English uses do.
Example:
Sport machen to do sports
Question word welch- = Engl. ’which + noun’ and ‘what + noun’
Is different from the other question words that we have learned so far in that it has case
endings and it is always used in front of a noun!!! German doesn’t distinguish between which
and what, so which languages and what languages would both be translated as welche
Sprachen in German.
1st case = nominative case = neutral form
welch-er maskulin Welcher Computer ist das?
welch-e feminin Welche Sprache ist das?
welch-es neutrum Welches Spiel ist das?
welch-e plural (no difference between m, f, n) Welche Spiele sind das?
These are the four forms of welch- in the 1st case (= nominative case). The 1st case is used for
the subject of a clause. In English grammar, the case is therefore called the subjective case.
Examples:
Welcher Mann wohnt in Deutschland? (m)
Welche Frau wohnt in Deutschland? (f)
Welches Kind wohnt in Deutschland? (n)
Welche Männer/Frauen/Kinder wohnen in Deutschland? (pl)
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End of Day 2
