18811967 Complete German the Basics by Living Language Excerpt

C O M P L E T E

G E R M A N

T H E B A S I C S

Copyright © 2008 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

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Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

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Editor: Suzanne McQuade Production Editor: Carolyn Roth Production Manager: Tom Marshall Interior Design: Sophie Chin

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-4000-2411-7

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iv Complete German: The Basics

C O U R S E O U T L I N E

How to use this course . . . xi

Language learning tips . . . xv

German spelling and pronunciation . . . xxvi

UNIT 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions . . . .

Lesson 1 (words)

Gender . . . 2

The definite article . . . 3

Lesson 2 (phrases)

Personal pronouns in the singular . . . 6

The verb sein (to be) in the singular . . . 8

Lesson 3 (sentences)

Numbers 0–10 . . . 10

Numbers 11–20 . . . 12

Lesson 4 (conversations)

Personal pronouns in the plural . . . 15

The verb sein (to be) in the plural . . . 17

Course outline v

UNIT 2: Talking about family . . . .

Lesson 5 (words)

The verb haben (to have) . . . 22

Regular verbs . . . 25

Lesson 6 (phrases)

Indefinite articles . . . 28

Possessive adjectives . . . 29

Lesson 7 (sentences)

Negation with nicht (not) . . . 33

Negation with kein (no) . . . 34

Lesson 8 (conversations)

Asking questions . . . 37

Numbers 20–100 . . . .41

UNIT 3: Everyday life . . . .

Lesson 9 (words)

Telling time . . . 48

Numbers above 100 . . . 51

Lesson 10 (phrases)

The months and seasons . . . 53

Expressing likes and dislikes with gern + verb . . . 55

vi Complete German: The Basics

Lesson 11 (sentences)

The plural of nouns 1 . . . 57

The plural of nouns 2 . . . 59

Lesson 12 (conversations)

Descriptive words 1 . . . 62

Descriptive words 2 . . . 66

UNIT 4: Health and the human body . . . .

Lesson 13 (words)

The present tense of regular verbs . . . 72

The present tense of stem-changing verbs . . . 74

Lesson 14 (phrases)

Separable verbs . . . 77

Reflexive verbs . . . 79

Lesson 15 (sentences)

The accusative case of nouns 1 . . . 82

The accusative case of nouns 2 . . . 85

Lesson 16 (conversations)

The accusative of kein . . . 88

The accusative of possessive pronouns . . . 91

Course outline vii

UNIT 5: Using the telephone and making appointments . . . .

Lesson 17 (words)

The accusative case of personal pronouns . . . 98

N-nouns . . . 100

Lesson 18 (phrases)

The accusative case of adjectives 1 . . . . 103

The accusative case of adjectives 2 . . . . 105

Lesson 19 (sentences)

Modal verbs . . . 108

Talking about the future using the present tense . . . 111

Lesson 20 (conversations)

The future tense . . . 115

The future tense with modal verbs . . . . 118

UNIT 6: Getting around town . . . .

Lesson 21 (words)

The dative case of nouns . . . 123

The dative case of ein-words . . . 127

Lesson 22 (phrases)

The dative case of adjectives 1 . . . 130

The dative case of adjectives 2 . . . 133

viii Complete German: The Basics

Lesson 23 (sentences)

The dative case of personal pronouns . . 136

German word order in sentences with two objects . . . 138

Lesson 24 (conversations)

Prepositions with the dative case . . . 141

Prepositions with the accusative case . . 145

UNIT 7: Shopping . . . .

Lesson 25 (words)

Two-way prepositions . . . 150

Expressing more likes and dislikes . . . 155

Lesson 26 (phrases)

The present perfect with haben . . . 159

The present perfect with sein . . . 162

Lesson 27 (sentences)

The present perfect of separable verbs . . 165

The present perfect of modal verbs . . . . 167

Lesson 28 (conversations)

The comparative of adjectives . . . 171

The superlative . . . 176

Course outline ix

UNIT 8: Let’s eat! . . . .

Lesson 29 (words)

Simple past of sein, haben, and werden . . . 184

Time expressions for the past . . . 186

Lesson 30 (phrases)

The simple past of regular (weak) verbs . . . 188

The simple past of irregular (strong) verbs . . . 190

Lesson 31 (sentences)

The simple past of modal verbs . . . 194

The simple past of mixed verbs . . . 196

Lesson 32 (conversations)

Expressing possession: The genitive . . . 202

Prepositions with the genitive . . . 206

UNIT 9: School and work . . . .

Lesson 33 (words)

The passive voice 1 . . . 210

The passive voice 2 . . . 212

Lesson 34 (phrases)

Alternatives to the passive voice . . . 216

Compound nouns . . . 218

x Complete German: The Basics

Lesson 35 (sentences)

Lesson 36 (conversations)

Dass-sentences and ob-sentences . . . 231

UNIT 10: Sports and hobbies . . . .

Lesson 37 (words)

Lesson 38 (phrases)

Lesson 39 (sentences)

Subordinate clauses with question pronouns . . . 244

Polite speech: The würde-form and the subjunctive of haben and sein . . . . 246

Lesson 40 (conversations)

The subjunctive of modal verbs . . . 251

Apologies . . . 255

German in action . . . 261

Supplemental vocabulary . . . .271

Summary of German grammar . . . 297

Internet resources . . . 395 Schi_9781400024117_6p_fm_r1.s.qxp 4/4/08 2:47 PM Page x

Lesson 1 1

Unit 1

Talking about yourself and making introductions

Guten Tag! (Good day!) In Unit 1, you’ll learn how to introduce

yourself and others, how to say Hallo! (Hello!), how to explain

where you’re from and what you do, and how to ask other

peo-ple for basic information about themselves. Naturally, you’ll

learn greetings and other essential courtesy expressions,

along with important rules on how to put German sentences

together. But don’t worry; German grammar is not that tough.

We’ll lead you through it step-by-step, and before you know it,

you’ll be able to have simple conversations in German.

Lesson 1 (words)

Guten Tag! (fml.) Good day!

Hallo! (infml.) Hello!

Auf Wiedersehen! (fml.) Good-bye!

Tschüss! (infml.) Bye!

Herr Schneider Mr. Schneider

Frau Schneider Ms./Mrs. Schneider

der Lehrer teacher (male)

die Lehrerin teacher (female)

der Student student (male)

die Studentin student (female)

der Rechtsanwalt lawyer (male)

die Rechtsanwältin lawyer (female)

Note

The following abbreviations will be used in this course: (m.) = masculine, (f.) = feminine, (sg.) = singular, (pl.) = plural, (fml.) = formal/polite, and (infml.) = informal.

2 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Gender

As you begin to acquire a vocabulary in German, you’ll notice that all German words have gender. This applies to general vocabulary words, as well as to words describing people. Let’s start by looking at some words that describe people. You may have noticed in the word list above that there is a male and a female version of the Ger-man word for lawyer: der Rechtsanwalt and die Rechtsanwältin. Most professions have two words, one for a man and one for a woman, and it is quite important to use the gender-appropriate form. Let’s take a look at a few more professions showing gender.

der Chef boss (male)

die Chefin boss (female)

der Schauspieler actor

die Schauspielerin actress

The word that comes before each profession, der for a male and

die for a female, is called an article. We’ll learn about articles next.

The female version of the profession often takes the ending -in. There are a few words that have additional changes. The female version may change a vowel to an umlaut—i.e., a becomes ä.

der Rechtsanwalt lawyer (male)

die Rechtsanwältin lawyer (female)

der Arzt doctor (male)

die Ärztin doctor (female)

PRACTICE 1

Decide which vocabulary word best describes the person below. 1. Frau Schneider, lawyer 4. Marilyn Monroe, actress 2. Peter, student 5. Frau Schmidt, doctor 3. Herr Berger, teacher

WORD LIST 2

der Mann man

die Frau woman

das Kind child

das Haus house

das Büro office

der Bus bus

die Welt world

der Amerikaner American (male)

die Amerikanerin American (female)

und and heißen to be called arbeiten to work bei at aus from in in

NUTS & BOLTS 2

The definite article

As we said above, in German every noun has a gender—either masculine, feminine, or neuter—and this gender can be seen in many ways, including the form that the takes: der for masculine,

die for feminine, and das for neuter words. For nouns with

nat-ural gender, this is easy—der Mann (man) and der Lehrer (male

Lesson 1 3

4 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

teacher) are all masculine, while die Frau (woman) and die

Lehrerin (female teacher) are feminine, and das Büro (office) and das Haus (house) are neuter.

Masculine Feminine Neuter

der Mann die Frau das Kind

man woman child

der Lehrer die Lehrerin das Haus

teacher (male) teacher ( female) house

der Bus die Haltestelle das Auto

bus stop car

der Beruf die Uhr das Büro

profession watch, clock office

der Zufall die Welt das Jahr

coincidence world year

But not all nouns have a natural gender. Just look at die Welt

(world) or der Bus (bus) or das Kind (child). There is no natural

reason for the world to be considered feminine, the bus to be considered masculine, or the child to be considered neuter. So the best thing to do is simply to learn the definite article—der,

die, or das (the equivalent of the English the)—along with the

word. The vocabulary lists will always list the article der, die, or

das as well. Let’s look at the genders of some of the nouns you’ve

learned so far, along with some new nouns.

You will also often see the article das used to mean that in Ger-man.

Lesson 1 5

PRACTICE 2

Insert the correct definite article—der, die, or das. 1. _____ Welt 4. _____ Büro 2. _____ Haus 5. _____ Zufall 3. _____ Rechtsanwalt 6. _____ Chefin

Tip!

There are quite a few different ways to memorize new vocabulary, so it’s a good idea to try a few out to see what works for you. Sim-ply reading a word in a list isn’t going to make you remember it. Write down your new vocabulary in a notebook, and then try to write it or say it out loud a few times so it’ll sink in. You can use the recordings that go with this course for that, too. Make flash cards, with the German on one side and the English on the other. Start out translating from German into English, and once you’ve mas-tered that, go from English into German. Label things in your home or office with pieces of paper or sticky notes, so you’ll see the Ger-man word every time you come into contact with an object. Exper-iment and explore, but whatever you do, pace yourself. Ideally you’ll spend a little bit of time on your German every day— sometimes twenty minutes a day over the course of a week will go much further than a two-hour sitting in one day. If you can’t find the time to practice some German every day, don’t despair. Just work regularly, and grab a free moment here or there to remind yourself of what you’ve learned.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1:1. die Rechtsanwältin; 2. der Student; 3. der

Lehrer; 4. die Schauspielerin; 5. die Ärztin

PRACTICE 2:1. die; 2. das; 3. der; 4. das; 5. der; 6. die

6 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

Lesson 2 (phrases)

Wie geht’s? (How are you?) Are you ready to build on the words

you’ve learned so far?

PHRASE LIST 1

Wie geht’s? (infml.) How are you?

Wie geht es Ihnen? (fml.) How are you?

Gut, danke. Good, thanks.

Ich bin Amerikaner. I’m American. (male)

Ich bin Amerikanerin. I’m American. (female)

Ich bin Deutscher. I’m German. (male)

Ich bin Deutsche. I’m German. (female)

aus Dresden from Dresden

aus Chicago from Chicago

in München in Munich

in Deutschland in Germany

Ich bin Rechtsanwalt. I’m a lawyer. (male)

Ich bin Rechtsanwältin. I’m a lawyer. (female)

. . . , nicht wahr? . . . , right?

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Personal pronouns in the singular

The first words you’ll need to become familiar with in German are the pronouns. Pronouns are used to talk about yourself and other people without using their names: I, you, he, she, etc. In German, the singular pronouns (pronouns referring to one person) are:

ich I

du (infml.) you

Sie (fml.) you

Lesson 2 7

er he

sie she

es it

Notice that there are two different words for you. When speaking German, you have to distinguish between talking to strangers, business associates, people older than you, and anyone you want to show respect to (formal), and talking to family, friends, chil-dren, and people you know better and are very familiar with

(in-formal). German has different forms of the pronoun you to show

this distinction: the formal form Sie, and the informal form du.

PRACTICE 1

Which German pronoun would you use in the following situa-tions?

1. talking to your best friend Andreas

2. asking directions from an older gentleman you see on the street 3. talking about your brother

4. talking about yourself

5. talking about your boss, Frau Berger

PHRASE LIST 2

Guten Morgen. Good morning.

Guten Abend. Good evening.

Gute Nacht. Good night.

Bis bald. See you soon.

Bis morgen. See you tomorrow.

beruflich hier here on business

von Beruf by profession

8 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions Arzt von Beruf doctor by profession

Lehrer von Beruf teacher by profession

Wie peinlich! How embarrassing!

Ganz und gar nicht. Not at all.

pünktlich punctual, on time

NUTS & BOLTS 2

The verb sein(TO BE)in the singular

Now let’s look at one of the most important verbs in German,

sein (to be). The form sein is called the infinitive, and it

corre-sponds to the basic to-form in English, to be. When you change the forms of a verb to match different subjects, as in the English

I speak but she speaks, it’s called conjugation. Here’s the singular

conjugation of sein (to be):

ich bin I am

du bist (infml.) you are

Sie sind (fml.) you are

er/sie/es ist he/she/it is

Ich bin Amerikaner.

I’m American.

Er ist aus Dresden.

He is from Dresden.

Martina, du bist Rechtsanwältin, nicht wahr?

Martina, you are a lawyer, right?

Sind Sie aus Chicago?

Are you from Chicago?

Note in the last example that the first two words in the sen-tence are inverted to form a question, just as you would do in

English. We’ll discuss question formation a bit more in a later unit.

PRACTICE 2

Follow the instructions below. 1. Tell us that Klaus is from Munich. 2. Tell us that Susanne is from Dresden.

3. Talk to your best friend Horst and ask if he is a lawyer. 4. Ask your boss, Frau Schneider, if she is from Chicago. 5. Tell us which city you are from.

Language link

Who’d have thought that you can surf the web and learn German at the same time? It’s important to keep in contact with the cul-ture of the language you’re learning, so why not check out a few websites? For the official and independent portal to all things German, visit www.deutschland.de. For information on Switzer-land, visit www.schweiz.ch. You can learn more about Austria at www.oesterreich.at, and www.dw-world.de offers news and gen-eral information on all three countries in English.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1:1. du; 2. Sie; 3. er; 4. ich; 5. sie

PRACTICE 2:1. Klaus ist aus München. 2. Susanne ist aus

Dresden. 3. Horst, du bist Rechtsanwalt, nicht wahr? 4. Frau Schneider, Sie sind aus Chicago, nicht wahr? 5. Ich bin aus . . .

Lesson 3 (sentences)

You already began to learn a few sentences in German in the last lesson; let’s expand on those phrases you learned in Lesson 2 with sentences such as Wie heißen Sie? (What’s your name?)

Lesson 3 9

10 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

SENTENCE LIST 1

Wie heißen Sie? (fml.) What’s your name?

Wie heißt du? (infml.) What’s your name?

Ich heiße . . . My name is . . .

Wie war Ihr Name? (fml.) What was your name again?

Wie war dein Name? (infml.) What was your name again?

Mein Name ist . . . My name is . . .

Woher kommen Sie? (fml.) Where are you from?

Woher kommst du? (infml.) Where are you from?

Ich bin aus Los Angeles. I’m from Los Angeles.

Ich bin aus Chicago. I am from Chicago.

Ich bin Amerikaner. I’m American. (male)

Ich bin Amerikanerin. I’m American. (female)

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Numbers 0–10

Let’s look at the numbers 0 through 10 in German.

null zero eins one zwei two drei three vier four fünf five sechs six sieben seven acht eight Schi_9781400024117_6p_01_r1.s.qxp 4/4/08 2:50 PM Page 10

Lesson 3 11

neun nine

zehn ten

Eins und eins ist zwei.

One and one is two.

Fünf und drei ist acht.

Five and three is eight.

Sechs und vier ist zehn.

Six and four is ten.

PRACTICE 1

Complete the sentences.

1. Zwei und zwei ist . . . ? 4. Drei und sieben ist . . . ? 2. Zwei und fünf ist . . . ? 5. Neun und eins ist . . . ? 3. Fünf und vier ist . . . ?

SENTENCE LIST 2

Wie spät ist es? What time is it?

Es ist sieben Uhr. It’s seven A.M.

Wir sind pünktlich um We are here at ten A.M. sharp.

zehn Uhr hier.

Ich bin um neun Uhr I’ll be in the office at nine A.M.

im Büro.

Wie lange sind Sie schon How long have you been with InterCorp?

bei InterCorp?

Seit fünf Jahren. For five years.

Das ist mein Bus. That’s my bus.

Das ist meine Haltestelle. That’s my stop.

Das ist unglaublich. That’s unbelievable.

Das ist ja geradezu That’s truly uncanny.

unheimlich.

12 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

NUTS & BOLTS 2

Numbers 11–20

Now let’s look at the numbers 11 through 20 in German.

elf eleven zwölf twelve dreizehn thirteen vierzehn fourteen fünfzehn fifteen sechzehn sixteen siebzehn seventeen achtzehn eighteen neunzehn nineteen zwanzig twenty

Note that sechs loses the -s and sieben looses the -en when com-bined with zehn.

PRACTICE 2

Answer in German.

1. How many months are in a year? 2. How much is a baker’s dozen?

3. At what age are you allowed to vote in the USA? 4. How many fingers are there on your hands? 5. Now add up all your fingers and toes.

Lesson 4 13

Discovery activity

Learning the numbers in German can be a lot of fun. Memorize your telephone number in German. Go through your dresser and count all your socks in German—not the pairs, but the individual socks. Go through your kitchen drawers and count all your spoons, knives, and forks. How many chairs do you have in your house? And what about windows? How many people are in your immedi-ate family, including spouses and children? How many in your fam-ily of origin, including parents and siblings? How many in your extended family, including grandparents, aunts, and uncles? How many years did you go to school, including college? The things you could count are endless—trees on your street, tables in your fa-vorite restaurant, cups of coffee you drink every day. Make a point to find at least drei things to count per day for the next sieben days. Enjoy!

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1:1. vier; 2. sieben; 3. neun; 4. zehn; 5. zehn

PRACTICE 2:1. zwölf; 2. dreizehn; 3. achtzehn; 4. zehn; 5. zwanzig

Lesson 4 (conversations)

Words, phrases, and sentences put together make up a conversa-tion. Let’s listen in.

CONVERSATION 1

Sabine Schmidt and Klaus Huber are waiting for the bus. Klaus is bored, so he decides to speak to the woman sitting next to him.

Klaus: Guten Abend. Ich heiße Klaus Huber. Sabine: Guten Abend.

Sabine is reluctant to continue the conversation. After all, it is late at night, and Klaus is a stranger.

Klaus: Ich bin aus Dresden. Ich bin beruflich in München. Ich arbeite bei InterCorp. Sabine: Na so was! Ich auch.

Klaus: Sie sind auch aus Dresden?

Sabine: Nein, ich arbeite auch bei InterCorp. Klaus: Das ist ja ein Zufall.

Sabine: Ja, ich bin dort Rechtsanwältin. Ich heiße Sabine Schmidt.

Now Klaus is a bit reluctant to continue the conversation.

Sabine: Wie war noch Ihr Name? Klaus . . . ? Klaus: . . . Huber. Ich bin auch . . .

Suddenly Sabine remembers.

Sabine: Moment mal . . . Sie sind auch Rechtsanwalt, nicht wahr?

Klaus: Ja.

Sabine: Dann bin ich ja . . . Klaus: . . . meine Chefin. Ja.

Klaus: Good evening. My name is Klaus Huber. Sabine: Good evening.

Klaus: I am from Dresden. I am in Munich on business. I work for InterCorp.

Sabine: Really? Me, too.

Klaus: You are from Dresden as well? Sabine: No, I also work for InterCorp.

Klaus: What a coincidence.

Sabine: Yes, I am a lawyer there. My name is Sabine Schmidt. Sabine: What was your name again? Klaus . . . ?

Klaus: . . . Huber. I am . . .

Sabine: Wait a minute . . . You are also a lawyer, right? Klaus: Yes.

Sabine: Well, that means I am . . . Klaus: . . . my boss. Yes.

14 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

Lesson 4 15 Notes

Note that Klaus and Sabine are using the formal form Sie when addressing each other. From this we can gather that they are prob-ably over twenty years old and don’t know each other, at least not very well. Also note that they introduce themselves with their first and last names. Generally, adults won’t be on a first-name basis until they’ve known each other for a little while.

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Personal pronouns in the plural

Now let’s look at the personal pronouns that refer to more than one person.

wir we

ihr (infml.) you, you all

Sie (fml.) you, you all

sie they

Even in the plural, German distinguishes between the informal

ihr and the formal Sie. Please note that formal forms are always

capitalized.

PRACTICE 1

In this exercise, replace each of the following nouns with the cor-rect pronoun.

1. Heinz und Isabella (they) 2. die Chefin und ihr Mann (you) 3. ich, Peter, und Michael

4. der Chef

5. Susanne und Claudia (you)

16 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

CONVERSATION 2

Remember Sabine and Klaus? In the brief conversation they had while waiting for the bus, we discovered that Sabine is Klaus’s boss. Let’s see what happens next.

Klaus: Wie peinlich!

Sabine: Ganz und gar nicht. Die Welt ist klein. Wie lange sind Sie schon bei InterCorp?

Klaus: Seit vier Jahren. Und Sie? Sabine: Auch seit vier Jahren.

Klaus: Was für ein Zufall.

Sabine: Ah, da ist der Bus. Die Nummer 13. Klaus: Noch ein Zufall. Das ist auch mein Bus. Sabine: Das ist meine Haltestelle.

Klaus: Das ist unglaublich. Schon wieder ein Zufall. Das ist auch meine Haltestelle.

Sabine: Ja, das ist ja geradezu unheimlich. Dann bis morgen, Herr Huber. Ich bin um acht Uhr im Büro.

Klaus: Ja, bis morgen, Frau Schmidt. Pünktlich um acht Uhr. Auf Wiedersehen.

Sabine: Auf Wiedersehen.

Klaus: How embarrassing.

Sabine: Not at all. It’s a small world. (lit., The world is small.) How long have you been with InterCorp?

Klaus: Four years. And you? Sabine: Four years as well.

Klaus: What a coincidence.

Sabine: Ah, there’s the bus. Number 13.

Klaus: Yet another coincidence. That is my bus, too. Sabine: That is my stop.

Klaus: This is unbelievable. Another coincidence. This is my stop, too.

Sabine: Yes, this is uncanny. See you tomorrow, Herr Huber. I’ll be in the office at eight A.M.

Lesson 4 17

Klaus: Yes, see you tomorrow, Frau Schmidt. At eight A.M.

sharp. Good-bye. Sabine: Good-bye.

Notes

In most countries in Europe, parking is difficult in the city, so people tend to take public transportation rather than a personal car to get around town. And because people depend on public transportation that much, buses, trains, and streetcars adhere to their schedules and run on time. So make sure you are pünktlich

(punctual)!

NUTS & BOLTS 2

The verb sein(TO BE)in the plural

Now let’s look at the plural conjugation of sein (to be).

wir sind we are

ihr seid (infml.) you (all) are

Sie sind (fml.) you (all) are

sie sind they are

Wir sind aus Chicago.

We’re from Chicago.

Sie sind Lehrer von Beruf.

They are teachers by profession.

Herr und Frau Schneider, Sie sind beruflich hier, nicht wahr?

Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, you are here on business, right? Schi_9781400024117_6p_01_r1.s.qxp 4/4/08 2:50 PM Page 17

18 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

PRACTICE 2

Answer the questions based on the cue in parentheses. 1. Where are you and your friend from? (New York)

2. What is Horst by profession? (doctor)

3. Who is here on business? (Herr und Frau Rosen) 4. Which greeting would you use in the evening?

5. What is your profession? (Please answer truthfully. Check your

German–English dictionary to find the German word for your profession.)

Language link

Train travel is one of the most preferred forms of public transporta-tion, particularly in Europe. Who wouldn’t want to take a trip on the fast ICE (Inter City Express), connecting major cities in Germany and the rest of continental Europe, or the convenient Regional-express (regional Regional-express train), allowing passengers to travel be-tween smaller cities around a particular metropolitan area? Check out www.bahn.de to get timetables for the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Railway), purchase tickets, and make travel arrangements including hotel reservations and car rentals. www.oebb.at offers the same service for the Austrian railway, and www.rail.ch for the Swiss railroad.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1:1. sie; 2. Sie; 3. wir; 4. er; 5. ihr

PRACTICE 2:1. Wir sind aus New York. 2. Er ist Arzt von

Beruf. 3. Herr und Frau Rosen sind beruflich hier. 4. Guten Abend. 5. Ich bin . . . von Beruf.

Lesson 4 19

UNIT 1 ESSENTIALS

The following phrases have been introduced in Unit 1. This isn’t a list of every sentence you learned in the first unit, but it covers the most essential phrases. Be sure to practice these phrases as much as possible until they become natural to you.

Guten Tag! (fml.) Good day!

Guten Morgen. Good morning.

Guten Abend. Good evening.

Gute Nacht. Good night.

Hallo! (infml.) Hello!

Wie geht’s? (infml.) How are you?

Wie geht es Ihnen? (fml.) How are you?

Gut, danke. Good, thanks.

Auf Wiedersehen! (fml.) Good-bye!

Tschüss! (infml.) Bye!

Bis bald. See you soon.

Bis morgen. See you tomorrow.

Wie heißen Sie? (fml.) What’s your name?

Wie heißt du? (infml.) What’s your name?

Ich heiße . . . My name is . . .

Wie war Ihr Name? (fml.) What was your name again?

Wie war dein Name? (infml.) What was your name again?

20 Unit 1: Talking about yourself and making introductions

Mein Name ist . . . My name is . . .

Woher kommen Sie? (fml.) Where are you from?

Woher kommst du? (infml.) Where are you from?

Ich bin aus . . . I’m from . . .

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Starting Out in German 

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