GRASP THE BASICS OF Deutsch im Schnellgang! Edward Swick LEARN ~erman ~· Uea.~ GRASP THE BASICS OF Deutsch lm Schnell gang! Edward Swick 4adamamedia Avon, Massachusetts Copyright© '1JXJl by F+W Publications, Ioc. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereat may not be reproduced in any focm without permission from tlle publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Published by Adarm Media, an F+W Publications Con:pmy 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.SA. www.adtJrnsrnedia. com ISBN 10: 1-59869-549-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-549-6 Printed in canada. JIHGFEDCBA Library of Cmgres& Cataloglng-ln-Publlcatlm Data available from publisher. Thispublicationisdesigned to provide accurate and autlloritative infocmation witll regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold witll the understanding that tlle publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting. or otller professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required,tlle services of a clllqlclent professional person should be sought. -From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of tlle American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their product are claimed as trademarks. Where tllose designations appear in tllis book and Adarm Media was aware of a trademark claim, tlle designa tions have been printed witll initial capital letters. Contains materials adopted and abridged from The !Werything* Learning Ge17111111 Book by Edward Swick, Copyright© 2003 by F+W Publications, Ioc. This book is available at quantity diacounls for bulk purchm!tlll. For iliformalion, please caU l-lXJ0-289.u.J63. Contents Introduction ............................................. v 01/ Beginning German ................................... 1 Learn Your ABCs and How to Pronounce Them ................1 Sounds: Vowels, Consonants, and Combinations ..............2 Numbers and Counting ...................................9 German in English, English in German ......................1 3 Speak! Speak! Speak! ....................................1 5 02/ Building YourVocabulary 17 Names and Titles ........................................1 7 Greetings and Goodbye's .................................1 9 Countries and Nationalities ...............................2 1 Days and Dates .........................................2 2 Telling Time ............................................2 6 Family Members ........................................2 9 Basic Food and Eating Terms ............................. .31 03/Grammar .......................................... 35 lntro to Grammar ...................................... .35 Understanding Gender. ................................. .35 Person, Place, or Thing? ................................. .36 Articles Are Important .................................. .43 Making Nouns Plural ................................... .45 Pronouns ............................................. .49 Adjectives and Where They Stand ..........................5 2 Verbs: Infinitives, Auxiliaries, and Conjugations ..............5 4 [iii) Going Somewhere? Verbs of Motion .......................5 6 Present Tense ...........................................5 9 Verbs That End in -ieren .................................6 0 Negation ..............................................6 2 Irregular Verbs ..........................................6 3 Past Tense ..............................................6 8 Future Tense ........................................... .76 Prefixes ............................................... .79 Direct Objects ..........................................8 2 Indirect Objects .........................................8 6 041 Putting It All Together ............................... 93 Questions ..............................................9 3 Commands ............................................9 8 Express Yourself with Feeling Verbs .......................1 00 Idiomatic Expressions ...................................1 02 What's Yours? Possessives ...............................1 03 Describing Things and People ............................1 08 Conjunctions: lfs, Ands, and Buts .........................1 17 051 Getting Around .................................... 121 Securing aR oom .......................................1 21 Around the House ......................................1 23 Kaffee und Kuchen .....................................1 24 Modern Times and Technology in Germany .................1 25 Games and Sports .....................................1 27 AL ove for Animals .....................................1 28 Paying with the Euro ...................................1 29 Appendix AI German to English Dictionary ................ 131 Appendix BI English to German Dictionary ................ 159 Index ................................................ 184 Introduction We live in a world where a lot of things go on at a very fast pace. Even language acquisition is often approached in a hurry. Well, if you're one of those people who need to learn some German quickly, this is the book for you. It doesn't matter if your goal for your new language is travel or business or just a personal interest in German. What's important is that you have the desire to learn, because that kind of attitude breeds success. You'll find that the concepts contained in this book are presented in simple and clear language. Grammatical and linguistic terms are kept to a minimum and are fully explained when needed You'll be briefed on the German alphabet and the sounds that are identical to English and the ones that are different. You'll be made aware of basic spelling rules, which in German are not complicated, because the language is-for the most part-written as it is pronounced. Since German and English are brother and sister lan guages, you'll find many similarities between them, which is a distinct advantage when learning a new language. You [ v] [vi] Learn German in aH urry probably don't even need the English translation to know what the following words mean. • jinden (find) • Auto (auto) • braun (brown) • mein (mine) • singen (sing) • Winter (winter) This doesn't mean that you'll breeze through every thing though. It's just that the similarity between German and English make the learning process a little smoother and far less frustrating. If you apply yourself and take the book seriously, you'll end up with the basics for spoken and written communication. The vocabulary you'll encounter are the essentials you need for travel, dining, shopping, and getting by in an urban setting in Germany. You'll have enough skill with the tenses to make sense when you talk about things that happened yesterday or things that will go on today and tomorrow. In general, you'll know enough German to form the basis that will allow you to communicate as an educated foreigner and that will be the first building block for further German study. Viel Spa.B! Have fun! 01/ Beginning German Learn Your ABCs and How to Pronounce Them The German alphabet (das Alphabet) is made up of the same letters that make up our English alphabet, with one exception. German has one letter that we do not have in English. It is called an "ess-tset" and is often mistaken for a capital "B." It looks like this (B) and is pronounced like a double "s" (ESS). It takes the place of ss after long vowels or diphthongs. Note these examples: heifJen, groft, drauften. The following table shows the pronunciation of the German alphabet. The new orthography has changed the rules for using B. ~ Das Alphabet Letter Pronunciation Aa ah Aa ah Umlaut Bb bay Cc tsay Dd day Ee ay [1] [2] Learn German in aH urry Ff eff Gg gay Hh ha li ee Jj yawt Kk kah Ll ell Mm em Nn en Oo oh do oh Umlaut Pp pay Qq koo Rr air Ss ess Tt tay Uu 00 Ou oo Umlaut Vv fow Ww vay Xx ix Yy ypsilon Zz tset Sounds: Vowels, Consonants, and Combinations The descriptions that follow can serve as your guide as you practice forming German sounds. The English pho netics will be shown with the stressed syllable in capital letters, for example, Vater (FAH-tuh), and enclosed in parentheses. 01/Beginning Gennan [ 3] Vowels Hearing the sounds pronounced by a native will be helpful. Also you should be aware that when English pho netics are provided, there is no precise way to indicate the pronunciation of 6 IJ and () fl. The phonetics will show their sounds as er (in bold letters) and ue (in bold letters) respectively. An Umlaut is the two dots that sometimes appear over the letters "a," "o," and ''u." They occur with no other let ters. As you'll see in the next table, the Umlaut changes the pronunciation of the vowel sound slightly. Pronoundng the Vowel Sounds ~ Letter Sound Example PronundoUon Tmn9oUon Aa ah as in "father" Vater VAH-tuh father Aa ay as in •say" spat SHPATE late Ee ay as in •say" Weg VAYK path li ee as in •tree" ich EECH I Oo oa s in"go" Foto FOE-toe photo Oo eas in•he(' schOn SHERN beautiful Uu oo in"moon" tut TOOT does Pucker lips to say Ou Tar TUER door "oo" but say "ee:' Pucker lips to say guem-NAH- high Yy Gymnasium "oo" but say "ee:' zee-oom school Long and Short Vowels Just as in English, there is a slight difference between long and short vowels in German. The words "long" and "short" are an accurate description of the difference between the sounds in German. Long vowels are drawn out more when pronounced. They tend to precede a single