LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S2 #5
You're Not in Kansas Anymore, This
is Germany

CONTENTS
2 German
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
5 Grammar
5 Cultural Insight

# 5
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 GERMAN

1. Frau 2: Sind Sie Englnder?

2. Paul: Nein, ich bin Amerikaner.

3. Frau 2: Aus welcher Stadt sind Sie?

4. Paul: Denver. Das ist in Colorado. Kennen Sie Colorado?

5. Frau 2: Colorado... Das ist links neben Kansas, oder?

6. Paul: Haha, ja, wir sind links neben Kansas, und rechts von Utah.

ENGLISH

1. Woman 2: Are you English?

2. Paul: No, I'm an American.

3. Woman 2: Which city are you from?

4. Paul: Denver. That's in Colorado. Are you familiar with Colorado?

5. Woman 2: Colorado... That's next to Kansas on the left, isn't it?

6. Paul: Haha, yes, we're to the left of Kansas and to the right of Utah.

VOCABULARY

Ge r man English C lass Ge nde r

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 ich bin, du bist, er ist,
sein to be verb wir sind, ihr seid, sie
sind

conjunction; used as
isnt it?-type used as isnt it?-
oder or question at the end type question at the
of a sentence. end of a sentence.

neben next to local preposition

prepositions are
rarely the same
across languages,
in in preposition so this can be used
in situations where
English would not
use "in"

feminine; plural:
Stadt town; city noun, feminine, die Stdte

welcher which question word

aus from preposition

plural is the same;

Amerikaner American noun; masculine, der feminine:
Amerikanerin

Englnder Englishman noun; masculine, der plural is the same

von + Dative also

replaces the
von of, from preposition Genitive more and
more

SAMPLE SENTENCES

D a s ka n n d o ch n i ch t w a h r se i n ! Ich bi n S tu d e n t.

That can't be true! I am a student.

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Ich m u ss d o ch n i ch t a l l e s a u f R e i ch t e i n e J a cke o d e r bra u ch e i ch
e i n m a l be za h l e n , o d e r? e i n e n Ma n te l ?

But I don't have to pay everything at once, Is a jacket enough or will I need a coat?
do I?

S i e be fi n d e n si ch d i re kt Ist Bi e r te u e r i n D e u tsch l a n d ?
n e be n e i n a n d e r.
Is beer expensive in Germany?
They are directly next to each other.

D e r S ch l sse l i st i n m e i n e r D i e se S ta d t i st w i rkl i ch g ro .
H o se n ta sch e .
This city is really big.
The key is in my pants pocket.

We l ch e s G e ri ch t k n n e n S i e m i r We l ch e S pra ch e n spre ch e n S i e
e m pfe h l e n ? fl i e e n d ?

Which dish can you recommend to me? In which languages are you a fluent
speaker?

We l ch e n Fl u g n i m m st d u ? Ko m m st d u a u s Be rl i n o d e r vo n
a u e rh a l b?
Which flight will you take?
Do you come from Berlin or from
elsewhere?

Ich bi n a u s D e u tsch l a n d . Ich bi n Afro -Am e ri ka n e r.

I am from Germany. I'm an African American.

Al s a l l e i n e rzi e h e n d e Mu tte r vo n Ich kri e g e vo n m e i n e n El te rn

d re i Ki n d e rn h a t si e e s se h r sch w e r. g e sa g t, w a s i ch tu n u n d l a sse n
ka n n .
As a single mum of three kids she has a
very hard time. I get told by my parents what I can and
can't do.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

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1. Note that in saying Ich bin Amerikaner, you're using the word for the person, not the
adjective. The adjective would be amerikanisch. By the same token Englnder is the word
for a person
from England and englisch is the adjective.
2. If you're female, then you usually have to indicate that in German when you're mentioning
your nationality or profession. Fortunately, it's enough to add the ending -in in the vast
majority of cases. Like here you'd just say Amerikanerin or Englnderin.

GRAMMAR

Th e fo cu s o f th i s l e sso n i s C o n j u g a ti o n o f se i n , pa rt 1.
Ich bi n Am e ri ka n e r
"I'm a n Am e ri ca n "

In this lesson, we've seen a few forms of the verb 'to be', which is irregular in German like in
most languages. The infinitive is sein, so sein is the equivalent of to be. Then we have
ich bin I am
er ist he is or Paul ist, Denver ist, die Stadt ist...
wir sind we are
Sie sind they are / you (formal) are
We'll learn the rest a little later; each of these podcasts is very short and we don't want to
overwhelm you.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

When registering for a German course, for a visa or similar, you are bound to fill out many
forms, and those don't contain just easy German. Since being able to fill out a form is so
essential though, the German government has declared that all beginners have to be made
aware of them, even though the words are not typical beginner words. Here are the most
common words you'll need to be able to recognize on forms.

Titel / Anrede (title / address)

Name / Vorname / Nachname (name / given name / family name)

Geschlecht (gender) - here you'd put m for man or w for woman, the German words
are mnnlich (male) and weiblich (female)

Alter (age)

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Nationalitt / Staatsangehrigkeit (nationality / citizenship)

Stadt (city); Land (country)

Beruf (profession)

Unterschrift (signature)

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