explanations vocabulary / grammar video show /hide
| video 004: explanations::grammar::vocabulary |
Moin! = Hello
Moin is a form of greeting only used in the north of Germany, near the coast. It belongs to another language spoken in Germany, Plattdeutsch, which is similar to Dutch. But nobody has Plattdeutsch as his mother tongue, beside some very, very old people. People who spoke this language are proud of that and there are several initiatives to keep this language alive, but you can' t compare this situation with the situation of Catalan, or Quetchua, to name some examples, where there is a conflict between the official language and the language people actually speak.
Wir sind hier in Ostfriesland, da sagt man den ganzen Tag "Moin", = We are in Ostfriesland, there the people say the whole day "Moin"
sein - sind = to be - we are
Ostrfriesland = region in the Nord-East of Germany
Tag = day
sagen - sagt = to say
grammar: Man is a indefinite pronoun, in other word a pronoun which presents something unknown. There is no clear rule how to translate it into english. Sometimes the best thing to do is to transform the sentence to passive voice.
Man repariert das Auto => On repairs the car => The car is being repaired.
auch am Abend und mitten in der Nacht = even at the evening and at night
What puzzles the two girls is the fact that moin means actually Morgen, morning, but moin is used the whole day.
auch = as well
Abend = by night (mor ore less from six o' clock in the evening until 10 o' clock)
Mitte = center
mitten = in the middle
mitten in der Nacht = at midnight
Wenn man nachts nicht schläft = If one doesn' t sleep
schlafen - schläft = sleep - he sleeps
nicht = no
wenn = when
Grammar: In German there are two types of negation, with kein and with no. We use kein if there is an
indefinite article (Ich habe ein Haus <=> Ich habe kein Haus / I have a house <=> I don' t have a house) and nicht is used if there is no indefinite article. That' s the case for instance if the verb is intransitive,
then there is no object at all (Ich schwimme <=> Ich schwimme nicht / I swimm <=> I don' t swimm). For more information see keiner and nicht.
Versuchst du schon wieder witzig zu sein ? = Do you try to be funny?
versuchen - versuchst = to try - you try
schon = already (Ha llegado ya = He has already arrived)
wieder = once again
schon wieder = once again
Du bist echt ne Spaßbremse = You are a real killjoy
Spaß = joy
Bremse = brake
Spaßbremse = killjoy (literally: a brake joy)
Zu Ostfriesland gehören die ostfriesischen Inseln = To Ostfriesland belong as well the isles of Ostfriesland
Ostfriesland = Region in the Nord-Est of Germany
Insel = isle
In Niedersachsen gibt es aber nicht nur die Nordsee, sondern auch ganz viele andere Landschaften, = But in Niedersachsen there are not only the North-Sea, but other landscapes as well
geben - gibt = to give - he gives
es gibt = there is
Landschaften = landscape
sogar richtige Berge. = and real mountains
richtig = here: real
Berge = mountains
Im Harz zum Beispiel! = As the Harz for instance!
Beispiel = example
Harz = mountains in Germany
Niedersachsen hat nämlich eine riesige Fläche, = Because Niedersachsen has an enormous surface
riesig = enormous
Fläche = surface
obwohl hier nicht so viele Menschen wohnen, wie bei uns in Nordrhein-Westfalen = although there don' t live such a lot of people there as in Nordhrein-Westfalen.
Mensch - Menschen = man - men
nicht so viele = not so many
bei uns = at us
Die Hauptstadt von Niedersachsen heißt Hannover und hier kommt Lena her = The capital of Niedersachsen is called Hannover and that' s where Lena comes from.
Hauptstadt = capital
heißen - heißt = to be called - it is called
kommen - kommt = to come - comes
Lena hat in 2010 den Grand Prix gewonnen und war plötzlich total berühmt = Lena has wone the Grand Prix and suddenly she became very famous
gewinnen - gewonnen = to win - won
hat gewonnen = has won
muy = very
famoso = famous
Grammar: As we have already said the distinction between present perfect / Perfekt and simple past / Imperfekt is inexistent in German. For mor details the tenses of the past.
Und in 2011? = And in 2011?
Da möchte ich nicht darüber reden. = I prefer not to talk about it.
darüber = about it
reden = to talk
möchten = want
Möchten as well as wollen are translated with want, but there is a difference. Wollen is very claiming and in
general not polite. For more details see modal verbs.
Dann sind wir jetzt fertig, tschüß! = Then we have finished, see you later!
fertig = finished
dann = than
jetzt = now
Tschüß! = Ciao
| 3.2 Phonetic System of German Language |
The pronunciation of German seems to be not too difficult. A bit more challenging is the German grammar, but we will come to this later. The German language has about 48 different sounds (or as the linguist would say 48 phonemes). We'll just have a look at some that might seem a bit strange to somebody not having German as a mother tongue.
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