Episode 6 – Stress Free German

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Welcome to Lesson #6 of Stress Free German. These lessons are cumulative, so here in lesson 6 it’s assumed you’ve mastered everything in the first five lessons. Okay, so, let’s get to today’s new image. We again have a bench, which is our sign that we are looking at feminine nouns. On the bench this time is an old woman wearing glasses. Near her is a flower. And in the background is a school. So that’s four new elements: Woman, glasses, flower, school. Let’s listen to the first two: woman and glasses

Frau, Brille

Again…

Frau, Brille

The word Frau I’m sure you’ve encountered. It’s obviously one of the first words you hear in German. That “Fr” combination is tricky, though. Let’s build into it: Fra….Frau

Again: Fra….Frau

Good. And actually, that “B-r” combination is also tough. Let’s play with that a bit, too:

Brot, Brat, Brief, Brille

So we had the old woman with the glasses, sitting on the bench. What were the other two elements? Can you see them? the flower and the school

Blume

Schule

Though are certainly easier. Again?

Blume

Schule

Again, these are feminine, so let’s make quick phrases using the article “the”.

Where is the woman?

Wo ist die Frau?

Where is the glasses? Yes, “Where is…” because in German, Brille is singular.

Wo ist die Brille?

Where is the flower?

Wo ist die Blume?

Where is the school?

Wo ist die Schule?

How do you think this next phrase translates. Listen?

Wo ist meine Frau?

There’s no context here, but he almost certainly means, Where is my wife?

True, there’s a more formal word for wife, but conversationally it seems most Germans use Frau.

Ask a friend: Do you have my glasses?

Hast du meine Brille?

Do you see the flower?

Siehst du die Blume?

This is my school.

Das ist meine Schule.

And let’s segue into a quick review of recent vocab. Speaking informally, how would you ask:

Do you see the bench?

Siehst du die Bank?

Do you have my watch?

Hast du meine Uhr?

Do you need the cheese?

Brauchst du den Käse?

Did you get that article “den”? After all, cheese is masculine in German, and needing it counts as doing something to it. Der changes to den.

Ask: Do you see the church?

Siehst du die Kirche?

Do you have my bag?

Hast du meine Tasche?

No. I have your newspaper.

Nein. Ich habe deine Zeitung.

Excellent as always!

(music)

Ok, so…on to today’s main topic. Adjectives! Finally we’ll be able to start describing things. And the main thing we want to pay attention to here is whether we’re putting the descriptive word like big or beautiful, after the noun (which is easy) or before it (which is tougher). For now just listen.

The park is big.

Der Park ist groß.

Here is a big park.

Hier ist ein großer Park.

Listen again.

The refrigerator is big.

Der Kühlschrank ist groß.

Here is a big refrigerator.

Hier ist ein großer Kühlschrank.

So we’re seeing a pattern. The adjective groß came after the noun, and after the verb ist. But when it came directly in front of the noun, we had to change it to großer, with that “e-r” ending.

You want to know why German does this? It’s not trying to make your life miserable. It’s not trying to be complicated. No. It’s trying to help you. To help the listener. Because by adding that “er” at the end, it’s reminding us that Kühlschrank is a masculine noun. It’s basically rhyming with the article Der. Think of it as a combination of groß und Der… großer

So one more time:

The park is big.

Der Park ist groß.

Here is a big park.

Hier ist ein großer Park.

Let’s try that with the adjective pretty or beautiful.

Der Park ist schön. Hier ist ein schöner Park.

Again we notice that the easy form schön came after the noun and after the verb ist. But when it came directly in front of the noun, we had to change it to schöner, with that “e-r” ending.

A combination of schön und Der… schöner

Remember, by doing that you are helping your listener. You are reminding them that the word Park is masculine.

Let’s have you try one. How would you say…

The table is beautiful.

Der Tisch ist schön.

Now let’s put the adjective right in front of the noun. Say…

Here is a beautiful table.

Hier ist ein schöner Tisch.

Let that pattern sink in and we’ll come back to it in a minute.

TIP OF THE DAY

Today’s tip is short and simple. So, a great way to practice your German is to simply go outside, walk around, and talk about the things you see. The simplest would be to point and say:

A park. A house. A school.

Ein Park. Ein Haus. Eine Schule.

Or: A tree. A field. A flower.

Ein Baum. Ein Feld. Eine Blume.

Seems simple, but make sure to use the correct articles…ein or eine.

(SFX church bells)

Das ist eine Kirche.

And try to raise the complexity. (dog barks)

I see a dog.

Ich sehe einen Hund. Or even…Siehst du meinen Hund?

The bottom line is, in this course I’m constantly prompting you to create new phrases in German, and that’s great. But you also want to cut out the middleman. Let the world around you prompt you to speak in German.

(music)

Back to our topic of using adjectives. Try to say…

The apple is big.

Der Apfel ist groß.

That is a big apple.

Das ist ein großer Apfel.

We have a decent feel for that pattern. But I wonder what happens when we do something to a masculine noun in a phrase like that. What if we said…

I have a big apple.

Ich habe einen großen Apfel.

Did you hear how the words ein großer changed to einen großen… ending with “en”?

ein großer … einen großen

Remember, when we do something to a masculine noun these kinds of supporting words all change.

Can we try that one more time?

That is a big table.

Das ist ein großer Tisch.

I have a big table.

Ich habe einen großen Tisch.

Let’s see how those same three phrases work if we use a neuter noun. So…

The house is big.

Das Haus ist groß.

The adjective came at the end. That’s easy. But listen to this one:

That is a big house.

Das ist ein großes Haus.

Hmm…what’s going on here? By ending with this “es” sound the adjective is reminding us that we are dealing with a neuter noun. Listen for the rhyme:

Das… großes…as…es

And since the supporting words for neuter nouns do NOT change when we do something to the noun, how should we say: I have a big house.

Ich habe ein großes Haus.

I suppose you’re tired of me saying this, you’re going to do extremely well in German. And if this is still confusing, don’t worry. We’ll work with it a lot more. So let’s try another neuter noun.

How about…

The gift is beautiful.

Das Geschenk ist schön.

The adjective came at the end. That’s easy. When it comes before the noun, it needs to remind us of the gender.

That is a beautiful gift.

Das ist ein schönes Geschenk.

So next, let’s do something to the noun. Try to say: I see a beautiful gift.

Ich sehe ein schönes Geschenk.

Nothing happened because, when we do something to a neuter noun the supporting words don’t change. And of course, now let’s see the pattern for feminine nouns. So…

The school is big.

Die Schule ist groß.

No surprises. The adjective came at the end. That’s easy. When it comes before the noun, it needs to remind us of the gender.

That is a big school.

Das ist eine große Schule.

That letter “e” at the end of große is reminding us that the word is feminine. It’s basically rhyming with the article die. And if we do something to it?

I see a big school.

Ich sehe eine große Schule.

As expected. No changes.

Let’s confirm the pattern by using a different feminine noun. Try to say…

The church is beautiful.

Die Kirche ist schön.

That is a beautiful church.

Das ist eine schöne Kirche.

I see a beautiful church.

Ich sehe eine schöne Kirche.

(music)

Last topic of the day: Let’s try adding the “he” conjugation to some verbs. For example:

He is my Papa.

Er ist mein Papa.

He is my brother.
Er ist mein Bruder.

He is my friend.

Er ist mein Freund.

I know that Bruder and Freund are probably new for you. But don’t worry. We’ll get lots more work with them in upcoming lessons. For now, though, let’s change the verb.Let’s try the verb…”to need.”

Say: I need.

Ich brauche.

You need

Du brauchst

He needs

Er braucht

One more time, all three of those: Ich brauche. Du brauchst Er braucht

So try to say:

My brother needs a watch.

Mein Bruder braucht eine Uhr.

My friend needs a beer.

Mein Freund braucht ein Bier.

My Papa needs a table.

Mein Papa braucht einen Tisch.

Any guess on what the “he” version would be of “to see”? For example, we have:

I see a lovely park.
Ich sehe einen schönen Park.

Do you see my house?

Siehst du mein Haus?

He sees.

Er sieht.

He sees a woman.

Er sieht eine Frau.

He sees your brother.

Er sieht deinen Bruder.

Ok…this has definitely been a challenging lesson. Let’s end with just three more phrases. Ready?

I see a big school.

Ich sehe eine große Schule.

Do you see a big field?

Siehst du ein großes Feld?

He sees a big, beautiful park.

Er sieht einen großen, schönen Park.

By the way, if you’re enjoying this course please let us know by reviewing it here, or on a site like Trustpilot. See you next lesson!

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