German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily (14 page)

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Authors: Ph.d. Arnold Leitner

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BOOK: German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily

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DIE FAMILIE (
FĂ
-MEE
-LYE
) THE FAMILY

der Vater	father
der Sohn	son
der Bruder	brother
der Onkel	uncle
der Großvater	grandfather
die Mutter	mother
die Tochter	daughter
die Schwester	sister
die Tante	aunt
die Eltern	parents
der Mann	man, husband
die Frau	woman, wife
die Kinder	children
die Großmutter	grandmother

WICHTIGE REDEMITTEL
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS FROM DAILY LIFE

Guten Tag ( g -ten tāk ) Good day	Ich heiße Engel . My name is Engel.
Guten Morgen ( g -ten môr -gen ) Good morning	Ich heiße Thomas . My name is Tom.
Guten Abend ( g -ten ah -bent ) Good evening	Wie heißt er? What is his name?
Gute Nacht Good night	Er heißt Müller . His name is Müller.
Wie heißen Sie? What is your name?	Auf Wiedersehen! Good-bye.

Grammar Notes and Practical Exercises

1. GENDER OF NOUNS

Most (not all) nouns denoting male beings are masculine in gender and take the definite article
der
. Thus,
der Mann
the man,
der Vater
the father,
der Sohn
the son.

Most (not all) nouns denoting female beings are feminine and take the definite article
die
. Thus,
die Mutter
the mother,
die Schwester
the sister,
die Tante
the aunt.

Not all nouns denoting objects are neuter. Some are masculine, some are feminine. Neuter nouns take the definite article
das
. Thus:

masculine	feminine	neuter
der Ball the ball	die Schule the school	das Glas the glass

Learn each noun with the definite article, as if the article and noun were one word. Start by memorizing the following nouns with their articles.

2. DEFINITE ARTICLE AND NOUN IN THE NOMINATIVE CASE

The nominative case is the case of the subject of the sentence.

In the nominative case the definite article is
der
with masculine nouns,
die
with feminine nouns, and
das
with neuter nouns.

masculine	feminine	neuter
Der Vater ist gross.	Die Mutter ist jung.	Das Kind ist gut.
The father is tall.	The mother is young.	The child is good.
Der Ball ist rot.	Die Schule ist alt.	Das Glas ist voll.
The ball is red.	The school is old.	The glass is full.
Dies ist der Ball .	Das ist die Schule .	Das ist das Glas .
This is the ball.	That is the school.	That is the glass.

Note that
dies
, meaning
this
, and
das
, meaning
that
, may point out nouns of any gender.

3. AGREEMENT OF THIRD-PERSON PRONOUNS

Third-person pronouns agree in gender and number with the nouns for which they stand.

a. Ist der Vater groß? Ja, er ist groß.	Is the father tall? Yes, he is tall.
b. Ist der Ball rot? Ja, er ist rot.	Is the ball red? Yes, it ¹is red.
c. Ist die Mutter jung? Ja, sie ist jung.	Is the mother young? Yes, she is young.
d. Ist die Schule alt? Ja, sie ist alt.	Is the school old? Yes, it ¹is old.
e. Ist das Kind gut? Ja, es ist gut.	Is the child good? Yes, it is good.
f. Ist das Glas voll? Ja, es ist voll.	Is the glass full? Yes, it is full.

NOTE: 1
. When
er
stands for a masculine thing and
sie
for a feminine thing, both are translated by
it
and not by
he
and
she
, since in English things cannot be masculine or feminine.