DEUTSCH 101

PERSONAL PRONOUNS:

Have a look at some of the German personal pronouns:

 ich – I (first-person singular)

Unlike in English, "ich" is not capitalised, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.

 du – you (second-person singular)

"Du" is an informal version of "you". We use "du" when we address one person, for
example, a friend.

 Sie – you (second-person singular/plural)

"Sie" is the formal version of "you". We use "Sie" when we address one or more people.

VERB:

In statements, the subject comes first, just like in English. The verb always comes second.

Subject Position 2 Translation

Mein Name ist Walter Baumann. My name is Walter Baumann.
Ich bin Lili. I am Lili.
Ich komme aus Deutschland. I come from Germany.
Sie sprechen gut Deutsch. You speak good German.

QUESTIONS:

In German, we put question words at the beginning of questions, just like in English. In
questions with question words, the verb comes second:

Question word Position 2 Translation

Wer ist das? Who is this?
Wie heißen Sie? What is your name?
Woher kommen Sie? Where are you from?
Was sprechen Sie? What language(s) do you speak?
CONJUGATE GERMAN VERBS:

In order to form sentences in German, you need to learn to conjugate German verbs.

In German, similarly to English, we use verb conjugation to specify who is performing an action
(person) and when it is happening (tense). In this lesson, we will look at the conjugation of some
German verbs in the Präsens (present tense) in the first person singular (ich), second person
singular (du), and second person plural (Sie).

Before you conjugate a verb, you need to know its infinitive form. Infinitive is the basic verb
form that you can find in a dictionary. Every German verb has a verb stem and the infinitive
ending -en or -n.

For example, the infinitive form of the verb kommen (to come) consists of the verb
stem komm and the infinitive ending en. In order to conjugate a verb that is regular in
the Präsens, you only need to replace the infinitive ending with a personal ending for the present
tense.

The personal endings for the present tense are:

ich -e
du -st
Sie -en
Have a look at the conjugation of the verb kommen (to come) in the Präsens:

kommen
ich komme
du kommst
Sie kommen
The verbs heißen (to be called), sprechen (to speak) and sein (to be) are irregular.

heißen sprechen sein

ich heiße spreche bin
du heißt sprichst bist
Sie heißen sprechen sind

If we want to know where a person is from, we say

Woher kommen Sie? (Where are you from?) - formal
Woher kommst du? (Where are you from?) - informal
 PLACE OF ORIGIN

When answering this question, we usually give the name of our home country or city. In both
cases, we use the preposition aus (from):

Ich komme aus Deutschland. (I am from Germany.)

Ich komme aus Berlin. (I come from Berlin.)

In German, all city names are neuter nouns and used without the article (aus Berlin, aus New
York etc).

Most country names are also neuter and used without the article (aus Deutschland, aus
Österreich, aus Rumänien etc). However, some country names are masculine (der Jemen, der
Sudan), some are feminine (die Schweiz, die Türkei, die Ukraine), and some are plural (die
USA). Have a look at how the definite articles of masculine (der), feminine (die) and plural (die)
country names change, if we use the preposition aus:

Ich komme... - I come from...

aus aus dem aus der aus den

Deutschland - Germany Jemen - Yemen Schweiz - Switzerland USA - USA
Österreich - Austria Sudan - Sudan Türkei - Turkey Philippinen - Philippines
Rumänien - Romania ... Ukraine - Ukraine ...
Syrien - Syria ...
Ungarn - Hungary
Iran - Iran
Irak - Iraq
...

In order to ask a person what language(s) they speak, we say

formal: Was sprechen Sie? (What (language(s) do you speak?)
informal: Was sprichst du? (What (language(s) do you speak?)

When answering this question, we say:

Ich spreche ... (I speak ...)

Was sprechen Sie? (What (language(s) do you speak?)

Ich spreche Arabisch als Muttersprache, gut English und ein bisschen Deutsch. (I speak Arabic
as my mother tongue, good English and a little German.)

In the table below, you can find German names of some languages:

Sprachen Languages
Arabisch Arabic
Polnisch Polish
Bulgarisch Bulgarian
Rumänisch Romanian
Deutsch German
Russisch Russian
Englisch English
Spanisch Spanish
Französisch French
Türkisch Turkish
Griechisch Greek
Ungarisch Hungarian
Italienisch Italian
POSSESSIVE

Possessive determiners precede nouns and are used to show possession (to whom the noun
belongs). The endings of possessive adjectives depend on the gender and the number of the noun
to which they refer.

Singular Plural
Masculine Neuter Feminine
ich → mein- mein Bruder mein Kind meine Tochter meine Kinder
my brother my child my daughter my children
du → dein- dein Bruder dein Kind deine Tochter deine Kinder
your brother your child your daughter your children
Sie → Ihr- Ihr Bruder Ihr Kind Ihre Tochter Ihre Kinder
your brother your child your daughter your children
Have a look at some examples:

Das sind meine Geschwister. (These are my siblings.)

Ist das dein Vater? (Is this your father?) - informal
Woher kommen Ihre Eltern? (Where do your parents come from?) - formal

PERSONAL PRONOUNS:

You already know some of the German personal pronouns: ich (I), du (informal you) and Sie
(formal you).

The remaining personal pronouns are:

 er/sie – he/she (third-person singular)

 wir – we (first-person plural)

 ihr – you (second-person plural)

"Ihr" is an informal version of "you". We use "ihr" if we want to address two or more
people, to each of whom we say "du".

 sie – they (third-person plural)

Please note that unlike "Sie" (formal you) the word "sie" meaning "they" is not
capitalised, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.
 You already can conjugate some German verbs in the Präsens (present tense) in the first
person singular (ich), second person singular (du), and second person plural (Sie). In this
lesson, you will learn to conjugate them in the third-person singular (er/sie), first-person
plural (wir), second-person plural (ihr), and third-person plural (sie).
 You already know that in order to conjugate a verb that is regular in the Präsens, you only
need to replace the infinitive ending with a personal ending for the present tense.

The personal endings for the present tense are:

ich -e
du -st
er/sie -t
wir -en
ihr -t
sie/Sie -en
Have a look at the conjugation of the verb leben (to live) in the Präsens:

leben
ich lebe
du lebst
er/sie lebt
wir leben
ihr lebt
sie/Sie leben

The verbs wohnen (to live), lernen (to learn) and kommen (to come) are also regular:

wohnen lernen kommen

ich wohne lerne komme
du wohnst lernst kommst
er/sie wohnt lernt kommt
wir wohnen lernen kommen
ihr wohnt lernt kommt
sie/Sie wohnen lernen kommen

Have a look at the conjugation of the irregular verbs heißen (to be called), sprechen (to speak),
sein (to be) and haben (to have) in the Präsens:

heißen sprechen sein haben

ich heiße spreche bin habe
du heißt sprichst bist hast
er/sie heißt spricht ist hat
wir heißen sprechen sind haben
ihr heißt sprecht seid habt
sie/Sie heißen sprechen sind haben
NUMBERS:

Numbers 0 - 10

0 1 2 3 4 5
null eins zwei drei vier fünf

6 7 8 9 10
sechs sieben acht neun zehn

Numbers 11 - 20

The general logic of making numbers from 13 to 19 is simple:

3+10 → drei+zehn → dreizehn (13),
4+10 → vier+zehn → vierzehn (13) ...

There are a few exceptions that you need to learn:

11 - elf, 12 - zwölf, 16 - sechzehn, 17 - siebzehn

11 12 13 14 15
elf zwölf dreizehn vierzehn fünfzehn

16 17 18 19 20
sechzehn siebzehn achtzehn neunzehn zwanzig

In the German language, the tens are formed by using the suffix -zig. The suffix -zig is added at
the end of the multiplier digit:

40 = vierzig
50 = fünfzig
80 = achtzig
90 = neunzig

However, there are some exceptions to this rule:

20 30 60 70
zwanzig dreißig sechzig siebzig
(sechs+zig) (sieben + zig)
Double-digit numbers from 21 to 99 are read as follows: first, we say the ones digit, then the
linking word und, and lastly, we say the tens digit. These numbers are always written as one
word:

80 85 41
achtzig fünfundachtzig ! einundvierzig

! The s in "eins" is dropped here:

41 = einundvierzig
51 = einundfünfzig
61 = einundsechzig
...

The forming of hundreds is simple and follows the pattern below:

100 = (ein)hundert
200 = zweihundert
300 = dreihundert and so on.

Have a look at some more examples:

451 - vierhunderteinundfünfzig
563 - fünfhundertdreiundsechzig
ZERO ARTICLE:

You already know that languages, names of cities, and names of most countries are used the
without article (with the zero article).

Some other nouns that are used without articles include:

Unspecified uncountable Unspecified plural nouns: Nouns which are preceded by

nouns: terms of measure and weight:
Bier - beer Pfannkuchen - pancakes eine Packung Eier - a pack of
Käse - cheese Bananen - bananas eggs
Zucker - sugar Äpfel - apples eine Flasche Milch - a bottle of
Salz - salt Würstchen - sausages milk
Mehl - flour Orangen - oranges eine Tüte Chips - a bag of crisps
... ... ein Kilo Bananen - a kilogram of
bananas
ein Pfund Fleisch - a pound of
meat
...
Haben wir Zucker? (Do we Pfannkuchen sind lecker! Lili kauft eine Packung Eier. (Lili
have (any) sugar?) (Pancakes are delicious!) buys a pack of eggs.)
Wir brauchen Käse.(We need Ich esse gern Äpfel. (I like Ich hätte gern ein Kilo Fleisch.
some cheese.) eating apples.) (I'd like a kilogram of meat.)

YES/NO QUESTION:

You already know that in Wh-questions, the verb comes second (after the question word). For
example:

Question Answer Translation

Position 1 Position 2
Was brauchen Sie? Eier. What do you need? - Eggs.

In yes/no questions, the verb comes first.

For example:

Question Answer Translation

Position 1
Haben wir Zucker? Ja. Do we have sugar? - Yes.

Brauchst du Reis? Nein. Do you need rice? - No.

Please note: in order to make a yes/no question, we switch places the verb and the subject of a
sentence. Unlike in English, no auxiliary verbs are needed:

Wir haben Zucker. (We have sugar.)

Haben wir Zucker? (Do we have sugar?)
INDEFINITE AND NEGATIVE ARTICLE

In German, just like in English, we use the indefinite article when talking about an unspecified
person or object:

Das ist ein Ei. (This is an egg.)

It does not matter what kind of an egg it is, to whom it belongs, where it is, whether it is yellow or
white, big or small. This is just an egg. For that reason, we use the indefinite article ein here, and not
the definite article das.

The indefinite article depends on the gender of the noun with which it is used:

 for masculine and neuter nouns, the indefinite article is ein;

 for feminine nouns, the indefinite article is eine;
 there is no indefinite article for plural nouns. Unspecified plural nouns are used with the zero
article, just like in English.

If we want to negate a noun with an indefinite article or with the zero article, we replace the
indefinite article with the negative article:

 for masculine and neuter nouns: kein;

 for feminine nouns and plural nouns: keine.

Indefinite article Negative article

Das ist... • ein Apfel. • kein Apfel.
This is... an apple. not an apple.
• ein Ei. • kein Ei.
an egg. not an egg.
• eine Banane. • keine Banane.
a banana. not a banana.
Das sind... • - Birnen. • keine Birnen.
These are... pears. not pears.
NOUNS: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORM

In the German language, there are no clear-cut rules for forming plural forms of nouns. For this
reason, it is recommended to memorise each noun together with its plural form.

However, there are five main ways of forming plural forms of nouns:

Singular Plural
without suffix (with Umlaut) ein Apfel Äpfel
an apple apples
without suffix (without Umlaut) ein Kuchen Kuchen
a pie/a cake pies/cakes
with suffix -e (with/without Umlaut) ein Brot Brote
a bread breads
with suffix -er (with/without Umlaut) ein Ei Eier
an egg eggs
with suffix -(e)n (without Umlaut) eine Banane Bananen
a banana bananas
with suffix -s (without Umlaut) eine Kiwi Kiwis
most borrowed words a kiwi fruit kiwi fruits

VERB CONJUGATION:

We use möchten (would like) to express a desire politely:

Ich möchte Pfannkuchen backen. (I would like to make pancakes.)

Er möchte ein Kilo Fleisch. (He would like a kilogram of meat.)
Wir möchten zwei Bananen, bitte. (We would like two bananas, please.)
Möchten Sie noch etwas? - Ja, ich möchte eine Flasche Orangensaft. (Would you like anything
else? Yes, I would like a bottle of orange juice.)

Have a look at the conjugation of möchten:

ich möchte
du möchtest
er/sie möchte
wir möchten
ihr möchtet
sie/Sie möchten
DEFINITE ARTICLES:

In German, the definite article is usually used when talking about a specific object or person (the
person or object that is already known to the listener):
Tim fragt: „Wo ist denn hier das Bad?“ (Tim asks, 'Where is the bathroom here?')
Lara (the listener) understands that he is not looking for any bathroom. He is looking
for the bathroom in Laras flat.

As you already know, German nouns have grammatical genders. They are
either masculine, feminine or neuter. The definite article of a noun is defined by its gender.
Here is the table of indefinite and definite articles for masculine, feminine, neuter and plural
nouns:

Indefinite article Definite article

Singular • ein Flur • der Flur
a hall the hall
• ein Zimmer • das Zimmer
a room the room
• eine Toilette • die Toilette
a toilet the toilet
• - Flure • die Flure
Plural
halls the halls
• - Zimmer • die Zimmer
rooms the rooms
• - Toiletten • die Toiletten
toilets the toilets

Have a look at more examples:

Definite article Translation

Singular Hier ist • der Balkon. Here is the balcony.
Hier ist • das Bad. Here is the bath(room).
Hier ist • die Küche. Here is the kitchen.
Plural Hier sind • die Kinderzimmer. Here are the children's rooms.
ADVERBS OF PLACE:

Lokale Adverbien (adverbs of place) refer to the location of an object or person. We use them
when answering the question „wo?“ (where?).

Have a look at the following examples:

- Wo ist denn die Küche? (Where is the kitchen?)

- Hier. (Here.)

- Und wo ist hier das Bad? (Where is the bathroom here?)

- Dort. (There.)

Wo? Hier. •
Where? Here.
Dort. → •
There.

PREDICTIVE ADJECTIVE:

If an adjective follows the verb sein and refers back to the subject of the sentence, it is called
a predicate adjective:

Das Zimmer ist teuer. (The room is expensive.)

Das Zimmer ist sehr teuer. (The room is very expensive.)

The adjective teuer refers back to the subject. The subject and the adjective are connected with
the linking verb sein.

NEGATION:

You already know that in order to negate nouns with an indefinite article or with the zero article,
we use kein/keine:

Ist das ein Bad? (Is this a bath?)

Das ist kein Bad. (This is not a bath.)

However, in order to negate predicate adjectives, we put the word nicht (not) before them:

Das Zimmer ist teuer. (The room is expensive.)

Das Zimmer ist nicht teuer. (The room is not expensive.)

The same rule applies to adverbs:

Ist das Bad hier? (Is the bathroom here?)

Nein, das Bad ist nicht hier. (No, the bathroom is not here.)

Have a look at some more examples:

Der Stuhl ist nicht schön. (The chair is not beautiful.)

Walter wohnt nicht hier. (Walter doesn't live here (literally: Walter lives not here).
Sie haben keine Möbel. (They have no furniture.)
PERSONAL PRONOUNS:

Pronouns can be used to replace nouns which were mentioned earlier to avoid repetition. If we
need to replace a masculine noun, we use the pronoun er (he):

Der Balkon ist schön. → Er ist sсhön. (The balсony is beautiful. → It is beautiful.)

If we need to replace a feminine noun, we use the pronoun sie (she):

Die Wohnung ist teuer. → Sie ist teuer. (The flat is expensive. → It is expensive.)

If we need to replace a neuter noun, we use the pronoun es (it):

Das Bad ist klein. → Es ist klein. (The bathroom is small. → It is small.)

If we need to replace a plural noun, regardless of its grammatical gender, we use the
pronoun sie (they):

Die Zimmer sind schön. → Sie sind schön. (The rooms are beautiful. They are beautiful.)

Have a look at some more examples:

Personal pronouns
Singular Wo ist ... • der Balkon? • Er ist dort.
Where is ... the balkony? It is there.
• das Bad? • Es ist dort.
the bathroom? It is there.
• die Küche? • Sie ist dort.
the kitchen? It is there.
Plural Wo sind ... • die Kinderzimmer? • Sie sind dort.
Where are ... the children's They are there.
rooms?