How

to Read Basic German

Learn the descriptors of the words

In learning other languages you will often
find certain terms used. These are
generally used by people who are
linguists and can be difficult to learn as
such.

Nominative - Usually the subject of the
sentence, although there are a few
exceptions which will be discussed later.
EX: She is old. Note that She is the subject,
She is what is being discussed whereas
walks and slowly further describe what
she is doing. (may need better example
try to keep it to 3 word sentences for
simplicity)

Accusative - Direct Object. These usually,
but now always, can be identified because

they are modified by verbs. EX: She bakes

cookies where She is Nominative and
cookies is the Accusative.

Dative - Indirect Object. This is generally
found in what English calls prepositional
phrases. EX: The mother of the child is old
a much more complex sentence, however,
Which is Nominative, accusative, and
Dative? Mother is Nominative, Child is the
Dative and Old is the Accusative. Do you
see why? Mother is what we are talking
about and the rest of the sentence further
describes her in different ways. (again a
better sentence may be applicable here
please leave a comment on what you feel
would subfix or by use of prepositional
phrases. Example: I am hungry Versus I
have hunger. Now if we were to state it in
german ich habe Hunger - literally I have
hunger. For the sentence The owner of
the cadillac is here, Owner is the subject
while cadillac is the the indirect object.

Understand the basic differences

The German language is very similar to
English but has one major difference. It
uses gender to dictate whether or not a
noun is plural along with what is or is not
the subject. The gender is determined by
many different standards.

Why gender is so important

Standard of gender. Generally gender is
assigned via the "version" of the term
"the" ,Note: this is what we generally
translate it as, which are: Die, Der, Das.
Die is Feminine, Der is masculine, Das is
Neuter. For example: Der Mann = The
man, Die Frau = The woman, Das Kind =
the child. However, it can be changed
from a neuter to a feminine to indicate
plural or ownership, so learning which
words are Female, male, or neuter and
why is important. There is more than one

method(s) to determine feminine,

masculine or neither.

So what are these endings you speak
of?

Masculine - Generally masculine is going
to end in -er, Such as Der Vater (The
Father). The only other rule is that Nouns
which indicate male beings are masculine
as well which makes masculine nouns
easier to identify.

Feminine - This has more rules and will
be subdivided. Memorizing that Noun's
depicting female beings such as die
Mutter (the Mother) die Tante (the aunt)
are always feminine will help in reading
german.

Advanced rules With Feminine there
are 3 other methods for identifying
feminine noun's.

The first is ending, this may or may

not be more difficult depending on
you learning style as there are so
many endings that could be feminine.
These are as follows: -ei, -ie, -heit, -ik, -
schaft, -tt, -tion, ung. *Tip* memorize
either these or the neuter endings.
Then if its not one it has to be the
other. EX: das Kotelett it's not on the
feminine list, its not -er so it has to be
neither.
Nouns ending in -in
Nouns ending in -e. This isn't a
definitive rule but most will be
feminine

Neuter/Neither
Nouns ending in -chen or -lein

 Nouns which were verbs. EX: das

Singen - the singing, singen - to sing

Capitalization In the previous line the
example das Singen was used to show
how verbs can be turned into neuter
nouns. Before explaining any further
capitalization needs to be explained. In
english we capitalize names of people
towns countries (proper nouns), and the
first letter of every sentence. In german
you only capitalize the first letter of
nouns. So the verb singen not only gets
das attached to the front but the s is also
capitalized to form the singen. Example:
das Singen ist gut - The singing is good.

Pluralization In german words are

made plural by the 'the' term die and
one of these endings.

Pluralization will be explained in detail
later remembering these endings will
make that part much easier.

The ending -e sometimes will undergo a
vowel change like the following example
or it may not.

Examples:
Singular - der Gast (the guest); Plural -
die Gste (the guests)
Singular - das Jahr - Year; Plural - die
Jahre Years

The ending -er with umlaut providing the

vowl is a o or u:

Examples:

Singular: das Land - country , Plural:
die Lnder - countries
Singular: das Licht - light , Plural: die
Lichter

The ending -en/-n, this will depend on
what the word ends in and never
undergoes an umlaut/vowel change.

Examples:

Singular: der Student - student ,
Plural: die Stundenten - students
Singular: die Frau - woman , Plural:
die Frauen - women
Singular: die Nummer - number ,
Plural: die Nummern - numbers

 Singular: die Lampe - lamp , Plural: die

Lampen lamps

Nouns that are not german in origin are
made plural by adding -s.

Examples:

Singular: das Auto - car , Plural: die
Autos - cars
Singular: der Chef - boss , Plural: die
Chefs bosses

When a noun(s) end in anything other
than the given endings above the noun is
always singular unless it is an obvious
masculine noun(s). This is where things
can get confusing. Take this sentence for
example: der Mann

In german the term of is not readily

used in every day speaking

Take this sentence Der Freund der
Freundin ist alt - The the girlfriend is old
for example. The word girlfriend is die
Freundin, not der Freundin. It is changed
to der to indicate multiple concepts. First
that it is not the subject of the sentence
and second it shows ownership to the
subject der Freund

4 Tips

- Most verbs/nouns and or sentences will
not translate literally so don't be
surprised if there is some new concept
you have to wrap your head around.

- In some cases we use words that are
unneeded, such as just or only etc. If you
have taken any college writing classes you
already know what I am referencing. If

not here's a brief example: I just want to

discuss German VS I want to discuss
German.

- Try to restructure your sentences and
think of what you are trying to get across
or express to the person you are speaking
with. Example: I am hungry. In other
languages you might say I have hunger.
It's simply the -y changes the "genitive" or
possession to show the "subject" of the
sentence has hunger.

- Learning new languages is very difficult
for a number of reasons. It is important to
remember other people can speak more
than one language because they are
exposed to other languages from birth. A
typical school in Europe, for example,
teaches more than one language from
kindergarten up. Generally by the time
one graduates from school, they will have

learned at least one other language

fluently and possibly two others.

Read Below Examples Just For Fun.
Don't be discouraged if it seems hard,
just keep at it.

Example 1

German

1. Jeder hat das Recht auf Bildung. Die
Bildung ist unentgeltlich, zum mindesten
der Grundschulunterricht und die
grundlegende
Bildung.
Der
Grundschulunterricht ist obligatorisch.
Fach- und Berufsschulunterricht mssen
allgemein verfgbar gemacht werden,
und der

English

1. Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free, at least in the
elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary
education
shall
be
compulsory. Technical and professional
education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be
equally accessible to all on the basis of
merit.

Example 2

German

2. Die Bildung mu auf die volle
Entfaltung
der
menschlichen
Persnlichkeit und auf die Strkung der
Achtung vor den Menschenrechten und
Grundfreiheiten gerichtet sein. Sie mu
zu
Verstndnis,
Toleranz
und

Freundschaft zwischen allen Nationen

und allen rassischen oder religisen
Gruppen beitragen und der Ttigkeit der
Vereinten Nationen fr die Wahrung des
Friedens frderlich sein.

English

2. Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality
and to the strengthening of respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms.
It shall promote understanding, tolerance
and friendship among all nations, racial or
religious groups, and shall further the
activities of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace.

Example 3

German

3. Jeder hat das Recht, am kulturellen
Leben
der
Gemeinschaft
frei
teilzunehmen, sich an den Knsten zu
erfreuen und am wissenschaftlichen
Fortschritt und dessen Errungenschaften
teilzuhaben.

English

3. Everyone has the right freely to
participate in the cultural life of the
community, to enjoy the arts and to share
in scientific advancement and its benefits.

Example 4

German

4. Jeder hat das Recht auf Schutz der
geistigen und materiellen Interessen, die
ihm als Urheber von Werken der
Wissenschaft, Literatur oder Kunst
erwachsen.

English

4. Everyone has the right to the
protection of the moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific,
literary or artistic production of which he
is the author.