Olena Shypilova English edition by Yuriy Bereza
German for beginners in 7 lessons Study course
2012
Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
German for beginners in 7 Lessons Thank you for choosing and joining our on-line German course. The course consists of 7 lessons. Due to these 7 lessons you will understand that German can be a very simple language to learn if the study is organized the right way. You haven’t to invest years into studying German in language courses or at universities. You can do it here – quickly and efficiently. You should know that the efficiency of any study depends generally on the teacher skills to 80% and on the willingness of the student only to 20%. Our site is dedicated to introduction of teaching methodology we have developed. You wouldn’t believe it’s possible to learn any language in such a short period of time? Try out and get surprised! The course is composed to explain 70% of German grammar, using words, phrases and idioms you will need for your everyday’s communication. One condition: to avoid the failure that your study becomes one another light-minded attempt to learn something new, you should use both audio-lessons and your workbook as well as do all exercises given after each lesson. Taking a new lesson, you should download the audio-lesson first and only afterwards you can start learning with your workbook. Otherwise, you risk learning pronunciation of sounds, words and phrases incorrectly, and thus, you won’t be able to speak and to be understood by your communication partner. In audio-lessons some aspects are considered which might not be considered in the text-version of the course. One lesson will take you about 30 minutes of your time. The total course duration amounts to 3.5 hours. We guarantee you that after this course you will have the most important knowledge of German enough for basic communication. You’ll be able to chat with your German friends in Skype, read German books (certainly, consulting a dictionary), understand YouTube-clips in German and use German web-sites. Furthermore, you’ll be one who knows a foreign language more. If you are not ready to spend 3.5 hours or 3 weeks of your life for this course, don’t ever intend to start it!
Olena Shypilova and eustudy.ru team
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Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
Contents Lesson 1. Pronounces and verbs. Numerals........................................................................................ 4 Exercise 1.......................................................................................................................................... 6 Exercise 2.......................................................................................................................................... 6 Exercise 3. Verb sein (to be)............................................................................................................. 7 Lesson 2. Questions. ............................................................................................................................ 9 Exercise 1. Ask questions. .............................................................................................................. 10 Exercise 2........................................................................................................................................ 10 Exercise 3........................................................................................................................................ 10 Exercise 4........................................................................................................................................ 12 Exercise 5. Ask questions to marked words. .................................................................................. 13 Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 14 Lesson 3. Modal verbs........................................................................................................................ 15 Exercise 1. Put verbs into correct form. .......................................................................................... 18 Exercise 2........................................................................................................................................ 19 Exercise 3. Put appropriate modal verbs into blank spaces. .......................................................... 20 Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 21 Lesson 4. Subordinate clause. ........................................................................................................... 22 Exercise 1. Weil or Damit?.............................................................................................................. 24 Exercise 2. Weil or Damit?.............................................................................................................. 24 Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 26 Lesson 5. Akkusativ. ........................................................................................................................... 27 Exercise 1. Verb haben (to have).................................................................................................... 29 Exercise 2. Put articles to marked words (Nominativ or Akkusativ)................................................ 30 Exercise 3. Put into correct form. .................................................................................................... 30 Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 31 Lesson 6. Dativ. .................................................................................................................................. 32 Exercise 1. Put words in brackets into correct case (Nominativ, Akkusativ or Dativ)..................... 33 Exercise 2. Position or direction? Wo or Wohin?............................................................................ 34 Lesson 7. Past Tense. ........................................................................................................................ 35 Exercise 1. Write sentences using the Past Tense – Perfekt. ........................................................ 36 Exercise 2. Write sentences using the Past Tense – Perfekt. ........................................................ 37 Additional information...................................................................................................................... 38
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Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
Lesson 1. Pronounces and verbs. Numerals. Before you start, download audio lesson with extended explanation: http://german.eustudy.ru/en/audiofiles/eng_germ/Unterricht1_voll.mp3
After this lesson you’ll be able: 1. to tell what is your name, what you do (study, work or are retired), where you live, how old you are; 2. to use the most common phrases the Germans use everyday. There are following pronouns in German:
Pronouns I you (to your friend, relative or fellow) he she It we you (to your friends, relatives or fellows, e.g. Hey, you two!) Sie you (to your boss(es), unacquainted or much elder person(s); polite speech); sie they ich du er sie es wir ihr
“Iron” rule of German: All German verbs always consist of stem plus ending -en or just -n:
wohnen (to live, esp. to have a residence somewhere) denken (to think) heißen (to have name, to be named, to be called) lernen (to learn) studieren (to study) verdienen (to earn, to deserve) arbeiten (to work) kommen (to come) sprechen (to speak) speichern (to save: information, files, goods etc.)
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Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
To put a verb into correct form, e.g. the verb «to live» – wohnen, and to say correctly: «he lives», and not just: «he live», you should take away the -en-ending and add the correct ending to the stem, depending on the pronoun you want to combine the verb with: Ich wohn+e – I live Du wohn+st – You live (ONE person: friend, relative or fellow) Er, sie, es wohn+t – He, she, it lives Wir wohn+en – We live Ihr wohn+t – You live (MULTIPLE persons: friends, relatives or fellows) Sie, sie wohn+en – You live (polite speech to ONE/MULTIPLE person(s): boss(es), unacquainted or much elder person(s)), they live Wohnen Ich wohn+e Du wohn+st Er, sie, es wohn+t Wir wohn+en Ihr wohn+t Sie, sie wohn+en Let’s consider the often used verb «to think» – denken: Ich denk+e – I think Du denk+st – You think Er, sie, es denk+t – He, she, it thinks Wir denk+en – We think Ihr denk+t – You think Sie, sie denk+en – You, they think Verb heißen – to have name, to be named, to be called (the letter ß is read like «s»). Without this verb you’ll be able neither to introduce yourself nor to ask somebody about his name or the name of any object or action (How is it called if I make signs with a pen in my notebook? It’s called «to write». – Wie heißt es, wenn ich in meinem Helf Zeichen mit einem Kugelschreiber mache? Das (Es) heißt «schreiben».) So, as you see, it’s a rather important verb. This verb is conjugated NOT according to the general rule, but for now, it would be enough if you just keep in your mind its conjugation. Ich heiße – My name is Du heißt – Your name is Er,sie,es heißt – His, her, its name is Wir heißen – Our names are http://german.eustudy.ru/en
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Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
Ihr heißt – Your names are Sie,sie heißen – Your name(s) is (are), their names are “Iron” rule of German: VERB is always on the second place in the sentence!
Exercise 1 1. Ich heiß
Peter. (heißen – to have name, to be named, to be called)
2. Ich lern
Deutsch. (lernen – to learn)
3. Ich wohn
in Moskau. (wohnen – to live; in Moskau – in Moscow)
4. Ich studier
nicht. (studieren – to study, nicht – not)
5. Ich verdien
gut. (verdienen – to earn, gut – good, well)
6. Aber ich arbeit
viel. (aber – but; arbeiten – to work; viel – a lot, much)
7. Mein Freund komm aus Deutschland. (mein Freund – my friend; kommen – to come; aus Deutschland – from Germany) 8. Er heiß
Richard.
9. Er arbeit
hier auch. (auch – also, too)
10. Er wohn
in Moskau.
Check up! → http://german.eustudy.ru/en/Unterricht1Aufgabe1_antwort.php
Exercise 2 1. Ihr lern
Deutsch.
2. Wir studier
viel.
3. Du wohn
in Moskau.
4. Ihr studier
zusammen. (zusammen – together)
5. Sie (she) lern 6. Er arbeit
hier.
dort. (dort – there)
7. Die Gruppe arbeit
zusammen. (die Gruppe – the group)
Check up! → http://german.eustudy.ru/en/Unterricht1Aufgabe2_antwort.php
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Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
You have certainly noticed that some words start whit a capital-letter. “Iron” rule of German: all nouns start with capital-letters. Now, let’s try to tell about your age. We’ll focus upon the most used numerals.
From 0 to 9 0 – null 1 – eins 2 – zwei 3 – drei 4 – vier 5 – fünf 6 – sechs 7 – sieben 8 – acht 9 – neun
From 10 to 19 10 – zehn 11 – elf 12 – zwölf 13 – dreizehn (3,10) 14 – vierzehn (4,10) 15 – fünfzehn (5,10) 16 – sechzehn 17 – siebzehn 18 – achtzehn 19 – neunzehn
From 20 to 29 20 – zwanzig 21 – einundzwanzig (1 and 20) 22 – zweiundzwanzig (2 and 20) 23 – dreiundzwanzig (3 and 20) 24 – vierundzwanzig 25 – fünfundzwanzig 26 – sechsundzwanzig 27 – siebenundzwanzig 28 – achtundzwanzig 29 – neunundzwanzig
Decades 10 – zehn 20 – zwanzig 30 – dreißig 40 – vierzig 50 – fünfzig 60 – sechzig 70 – siebzig 80 – achtzig 90 – neunzig 100 – hundert
Now, we’ll combine numerals with the very important German verb sein – «to be». This verb is conjugated in spite of the general declination rule (as the English verb “to be” is), so you just have to keep it in mind:
sein Ich bin Du bist Er, sie, es ist Wir sind Ihr seid Sie, sie sind
Using the verb sein, you can tell about your age: Ich bin sechsundzwanzig (26) Jahre alt – I am twenty six years old. Er ist vierzig (40) Jahre alt. – He is forty years old. Du bist zwanzig (20) Jahre alt. – You are twenty years old.
Exercise 3. Verb sein (to be). 1. Ich
Student. (student)
2. Ich
faul. (lazy)
3. Ich
nicht verheiratet. (verheiratet sein – to be married; nicht – not)
4. Sie
ledig. (ledig – single)
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Olena Shypilova – German for beginners in 7 Lessons English edition by Yuriy Bereza
5. Der Text
schwer. (der Text – text, schwer – difficult)
6. Der Platz hier
frei. (der Platz – place; hier – here; frei – free)
7. Wir
aus Moskau. (aus Moskau – from Moscow)
8. Das
ein Zimmer. (das Zimmer – room)
9. Das
die Leute. (die Leute – people)
10. Mein Name
Alexander. (mein Name – my name)
11. Du
mein Freund. (mein Freund – my friend)
12. Du
toll. (toll – great)
13. Ich
der Rentner. (der Rentner – pensioner)
Check up! → http://german.eustudy.ru/en/Unterricht1Aufgabe3_antwort.php
Let’s summarize our pleasing results! Now, you can tell your name, where you live, where you work, where you come from, whether you earn well, that you study or work, how old you are. The most used phrases with the verb sein: Das ist toll! – This is great! Das ist wunderbar! – This is wonderful! Das ist köstlich. – It’s delicious. Ich bin müde. – I’m tired. Ich bin zufrieden. – I’m glad/I’m satisfied. Ich bin unzufrieden. – I’m dissatisfied. Ich bin satt. – I’m full (opposite to “I’m hungry”). Ich bin fertig. – I’m ready. One more piece of advice: If you don’t want to be ignored or took like a fool, don’t ever use quasi “typical German” idioms like Das ist phantastisch! (which is supposed to be the most used phrase in German adult videos) or Nicht schießen!, or Hitler kaputt! (which are thought to be the most popular German idioms of World War II). ☺ Anyway, they aren’t proud of their history of the 20th century.
For us it’s rather important to know what difficulties you face when having our course. So, we thankfully accept every comment or critics via Skype (eustudy.ru) or e-mail (
[email protected]).
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