Learn German Quickly - Formal and Informal German
You can learn German quickly if you know when to use Sie as a formal way of addressing people:
* in formal situations
* when addressing elder people
* when addressing people you do not know well
* When addressing strangers such as salesclerks, bank tellers, etc.
You can learn German quickly if you know when to use du as an informal way of addressing people:
*at informal situations
*when addressing children, friends and family members
The following examples show you two different ways of saying in German "Have you booked the flight?" .
In a travel agency you will ask the person behind the counter:
In English: Have you booked the flight?
In German: Haben Sie den Flug gebucht?
But you would ask a friend like this:
In English: Have you booked the flight?
In German: Hast du den Flug gebucht?
Remember: When in doubt always use the Formal way so as not to offend anyone due to the fact that this distinction is of great importance to German-speaking people.
Learn German Quickly
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Learn German Quickly
Learn German Quickly - The German Noun
Another way to learn German quickly is to start with mastering the German nouns. As you may recall, to indicate a specific person, place, animal, event, thing or idea you MUST use a definite article (the) with the Noun. There are 3 German genders. The masculine (the) is der, feminine (the) is die, and the neutral or neuter (the) is das.
Do not try to associate the gender to a particular concept or meaning. For example, the German word for ocean or sea exists in 3 different genders: die Sie, der Ozean, das Meer. Instead you should try to learn each noun with its article. That is to treat the noun and its article as "one" word and learn German nouns as der Wagen (car) and not Wagen.
By treating German nouns as an integral part of the word, you will avoid mistakes such as confusing "das Tor" (the gate) with "der Tor" (the fool).
The good news is that most of the German nouns are masculine, so if you need to take an educated guess...go for "der".
Learn German Quickly.
Another way to learn German quickly is to start with mastering the German nouns. As you may recall, to indicate a specific person, place, animal, event, thing or idea you MUST use a definite article (the) with the Noun. There are 3 German genders. The masculine (the) is der, feminine (the) is die, and the neutral or neuter (the) is das.
Do not try to associate the gender to a particular concept or meaning. For example, the German word for ocean or sea exists in 3 different genders: die Sie, der Ozean, das Meer. Instead you should try to learn each noun with its article. That is to treat the noun and its article as "one" word and learn German nouns as der Wagen (car) and not Wagen.
By treating German nouns as an integral part of the word, you will avoid mistakes such as confusing "das Tor" (the gate) with "der Tor" (the fool).
The good news is that most of the German nouns are masculine, so if you need to take an educated guess...go for "der".
Learn German Quickly.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Learn German Quickly
Learn German Quickly - Numbers
What would life be without numbers? Love them or hate them, we need numbers to function in our daily lives. The same is true when you want to learn German quickly. One way to learn German quickly is to practice using German numbers as you go about your daily tasks such as grocery shopping for instance.
German numbers from 1 - 12 are very straight forward and easy to pronounce and put to memory. However, there are a few patterns with the numbers that follow:
Pattern of the Teens:
The numbers 13 to 19 all start with the same number used for 1 - 9 and end in the number for 10 "zehn". Example 13 = dreizehn, 14 = vierzehn,...19 = neunzehn.
Pattern of TEN:
The numbers 20, 40 - 90 start with the pratically the same words used for 1 - 9 and end with "zig" with 20 zwanzig and 30 dreißig being the only exceptions. For example, 40 vierzig, 50 fünfzig, 60 sechzig, 70 siebzig, 80 achtzig, and 90 neunzig.
Pattern of the "one-and-twenty","two-and-twenty...etc"
The numbers 21 - 29;31 - 39;41 - 49;51 - 59;61 - 69;71 - 79;81 - 89 and 91 - 99 all have the one-and-twenty, two-and-twenty pattern. For example, 31 = einunddreißig; 44 = vierundvierzig; 55 = fünfundfünfzig; 67 = siebenundsechzig; 78 = achtundsiebzig; 82 = zweiundachtzig and 99 = neunundneunzig.
Isn't German cool? As long as you master 1 - 12, the rest will come naturally as you learn German quickly.
Learn German Quickly
What would life be without numbers? Love them or hate them, we need numbers to function in our daily lives. The same is true when you want to learn German quickly. One way to learn German quickly is to practice using German numbers as you go about your daily tasks such as grocery shopping for instance.
German numbers from 1 - 12 are very straight forward and easy to pronounce and put to memory. However, there are a few patterns with the numbers that follow:
Pattern of the Teens:
The numbers 13 to 19 all start with the same number used for 1 - 9 and end in the number for 10 "zehn". Example 13 = dreizehn, 14 = vierzehn,...19 = neunzehn.
Pattern of TEN:
The numbers 20, 40 - 90 start with the pratically the same words used for 1 - 9 and end with "zig" with 20 zwanzig and 30 dreißig being the only exceptions. For example, 40 vierzig, 50 fünfzig, 60 sechzig, 70 siebzig, 80 achtzig, and 90 neunzig.
Pattern of the "one-and-twenty","two-and-twenty...etc"
The numbers 21 - 29;31 - 39;41 - 49;51 - 59;61 - 69;71 - 79;81 - 89 and 91 - 99 all have the one-and-twenty, two-and-twenty pattern. For example, 31 = einunddreißig; 44 = vierundvierzig; 55 = fünfundfünfzig; 67 = siebenundsechzig; 78 = achtundsiebzig; 82 = zweiundachtzig and 99 = neunundneunzig.
Isn't German cool? As long as you master 1 - 12, the rest will come naturally as you learn German quickly.
Learn German Quickly
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