GRAMMAR 1
1)
PRESENT TENSE OF
SEIN -- SUBJECT PRONOUNS -- PRINCIPAL PARTS
a)
Present tense of sein (be)
(Principal parts: sein - war -
gewesen)
|
|
singular |
plural |
|
first person |
ich bin (I am) |
wir sind (we are) |
|
second person - familiar |
du bist (you are) |
ihr seid (you are) |
|
third person |
er, sie, es ist (he, she, it is) |
sie sind (they are) |
|
|
|
|
|
second person - formal |
Sie sind (you are) |
Sie sind (you are) |
The subject pronoun Sie (capitalized)
is the polite form of ‘you’, and is otherwise identical to the ‘they’ form in
the third person. For that reason it
will not generally appear listed as it is here, an additional line in the
conjugation.
b) Subject pronouns, general comments.
i)
Note that ich is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence.
ii)
Du, ihr and Sie all mean ‘you’. Du and ihr are familiar forms
used with relatives, close friends, children under 14, pets, God, and when
talking to oneself. The ‘Sie’
form is formal and is used whether addressing one or more persons.
Harry, wo bist du? Harry, where are you?
Vater, wo bist du? Father, where are you?
Kinder, wo seid ihr? Children,
where are you?
Herr Dursley, wo sind Sie? Mr.
Dursley, where are you?
iii)
Note that capitalized Sie (‘you’, singular or plural)
and uncapitalized sie, when it means ‘they’, take the plural form of the
verb, while uncapitalized sie, when it means ‘she’, takes a singular
form.
Wo sind Sie? Where are you?
Wo sind sie? Where are they?
Wo ist sie? Where is she?
c) Principal parts of a verb.
i) Infinitive
ii) First person singular of simple past tense
iii)
Past participle
It is important to be able to
recall the principal parts of any verb.
For strong and irregular verbs, this means they should be
memorized. Here is your first set of
principle parts: sein - war - gewesen.
VOCABULARY 1
|
wo where |
und and |
|
warum why |
nicht not |
|
groß big; (of persons) tall |
hier here |
|
klein small |
da there |
|
schön beautiful |
sehr very |
|
gut good |
zu Hause - (at) home |
|
ja yes |
Wolfgang |
|
nein no |
Gritli |
|
auch also, too |
Friedrich |
|
aber but; however |
Herr Moser - Mr. Moser |
sein
(war, gewesen) - be (was, been)
PRACTICE 1
Translate into German:
1. Gritli is very small, but she is beautiful. 2. We are here. 3. Gritli and Wolfgang are good. 4. Why aren’t they at home? 5. Why aren’t you at home, Mr. Moser? 6. Mr. Moser is very good. 7. Is he tall? 8. Yes, he is very tall. 9. Gritli and Wolfgang and I are here. 10. Why are you here, Gritli and Wolfgang? 11. Is Friedrich here? 12. No, he is at home.
Help with pronunciation. This section may be of some use to you. It runs through the words which have been introduced in this lesson. It is also advisable to try to hear the German directly, such as from a CD, rather than to rely exclusively on approximations. At the end of the next lesson, we will go through all of the vowel sounds, one-by one, and list the words from the two lessons which use them. Lesson Three will conclude with a supplement about consonants. Unlike English and French, which have historical spellings, German has phonetic spellings, so its pronunciation is very predictable. You will find both English names (Harry, Dudley, Mr. or Herr Dursley), and German names (Wolfgang, Friedrich, Herr Moser) in the text. Pronounce them as you might hear them in their country of origin.
sein -- Say “Auld Lang Syne”, that is, as if it began with the sound for English ‘z’.
ich -- There is no equivalent sound in English, but the ‘ch’ comes close to the sound ot ‘h’ in ‘huge’. Avoid saying ‘ish’, which is a frontal sound. The ‘ch’ of ich is made by friction of air, with the mid-tongue held near the roof of the mouth.
du -- Say ‘I do’.
er -- The German ‘e’ is long, sounding like the English ‘a’ in say’. The ‘r’ is weak, French, and scarcely heard. Say something like this approximation, ‘AY-uh’.
sie -- Say ‘zee’.
es -- Say the alphabet letter ‘S’.
wir -- Say ‘veer to the left’.
ihr -- Start with ‘ear’. Use a slight French ‘r’. Improve to ‘EEuh’.
bin -- Say ‘tool bin’.
bist -- Rhymes with ‘mist’.
ist -- Also rhymes with ‘mist’.
sind -- Say ‘zint’ so that it rhymes with ‘hint’.
seid -- Say ‘zight’ so that it rhymes with ‘sight’.
wo -- Say ‘voter’.
warum -- Say ‘vah’, plus French ‘r’, plus a short, stressed ‘OOM’
groß -- Say ‘gross’ with a French ‘r’.
klein -- Say ‘incline’.
schön -- Rhymes with ‘burn’, if you drop the ‘r’. The sound is sometimes explained as matching the ‘eu’ in the French word feu (fire), though it is longer here. German ‘sch’ is always spelled with the same three letters, and pronounced like English ‘sh’.
gut -- Make a long ‘oo’ sound. Rhymes with ‘boot’.
ja -- Say ‘yah’.
nein -- Say ‘nine’.
auch -- Say ‘ow’ plus the ‘h’ in ‘huge’. Try to hear this one in German.
aber -- Something like arbor day, but drop the first ‘r’ and reduce the final one. Say ‘AB-uh’.
und -- Like ‘oont’, but the oo-sound is brief, like the ‘oo’ in ‘look’.
nicht -- If you’ve mastered the German ‘ich’, just lead it with ‘n’ and follow it with ‘t’.
hier -- Like ‘here’, but with French ‘r’.
da -- Say ‘ah’, now say ‘dah’. This is a long vowel.
sehr -- Say ‘zay’ plus ‘r’. Another long-duration vowel.
zu Hause - Say ‘tsoo HOW-zeh’.
About the German ‘r’ sound.
There are two German possibilities. First, the French ‘r’ is common in the cities. Second, and more rural, is the ‘trilled r’, like Spanish or Russian. The trilled ‘r’ is also valid for on-stage pronunciation, so both types are genuinely German.
Thirdly, there is the English ‘r’, and in using it you will be understood, but it is not German.
If you find the German ‘r’ difficult, you can just skip it, or return to it later -- in my opinion, mastering it is desirable, but nonessential.
If you absolutely must have it, here is my approach: First say the German ‘ich’ Now try to say the German ‘ihr’. ‘Ihr’ and ‘ich’ have certain similarities, but ‘ich’ is a voiceless, frictional sound, and ‘ihr’ requires your vocal cords to run a bit.
8/20/2009