Archive for August, 2009

Dative Practice

Posted on August 21st, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Find the dative equivalent of these words

a) die Leute

b) ein Schiff

c) das Heft

d) Tische

e) der Lehrer

Translate these sentences into German:

a) Can you open the door for us?

b) I live with my parents

c) I didn’t answer him

d) Did the children like the cake?

e) She didn’t like the play at all

Filll in the blanks using the dative:

a) Ich möchte mit ___ sprechen (die Schüler)

b) Er gibt ___ den Ball (der Hund)

c) Niemand kann ___ helfen (ich)

d) Was hast du ___ geschickt (dein Bruder)

 

Post from: German Blog

 

Dative Case

Posted on August 19th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The dative case is used to indentify indirect objects. Indirect objects ask ‘for whom’ or ‘to whom’.

Example: Alexander gibt seinem Freund 200 Euro. Alexander gives his friend 200 Euros.

In this case ’seinem Freund’ is the dative

Here is the dative of the definite article.

Dative masculine: dem

Dative feminine: der

Dative neuter: dem

Dative plural: den

Now let’s look at the dative indefinite

dative masculine: einem

dative feminine: einer

dative neuter: einem

dative plural: keinen

These verbs are commonly used in the dative:

danken: to thank

dienen: to serve

gefallen: to please, to like

glauben: to believe

helfen: to help

raten: to advise

Post from: German Blog

 

Basic Conversational German

Posted on August 16th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

For those of you who are shy about speaking German in public, you can still practice conversing in German using this simple task. Take a family photo album and point to the various people in the photo. Then ask yourself, “Wer ist das?” (Who is that?) Then answer the question. I’ll give you the vocabulary to answer this question. Obviously the best way to practice is to speak with another person, but if for some reason this is impossible, it’s better than no practice at all. For every answer, you’ll need to respond by saying, “Das ist..”

Das ist die Mutter (That is the mother)

der Vater (father)

der Bruder (brother)

die Schwester (sister)

der Großvater (grandfather)

die Großmutter (grandmother)

der Sohn (son)

die Tochter (daughter)

der Onkel (uncle)

die Tante (aunt)

der Kusine (female cousin)

der Kusin (male cousin)

der Mann (husband/man)

die Frau (wife/woman)

Post from: German Blog

 

£2 a minute call using 3 network

Posted on August 14th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

How 3, a UK mobile operator, can justify charging its customers £2 a minute when they are overseas is beyond me. Even many years ago, it used to only cost us the price of a local call when we make a call using our mobile phones while in Malaysia. After many years of lobbying and [...]

Vornamen

Posted on August 12th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I’ve always been fascinated by German vornamen, or first names. Today we’ll look at some of the meanings and origins of German first names. If you don’t have a German name, hopefully this will inspire you to choose a German name that best represents yourself.

Anna/Anne : is a populär girl’s name. It means “grace”.

Arnold : is an altmodisch name for boys. It means “he who rules like an eagle”.

Conrad/Konrad : boy’s name meaning “bold advisor”.

Friedrich (can be shortened to Fritz) : “ruling in peace”

Heinrich : strong ruler

Ada : “nobility”

Lena : “sophisticated”

Karin : “pure”

Yohan : “god is merciful”

Julia : has Latin origins meaning “youthful”

Maximilian : from Latin meaning “greatest”

Marie/Maria : “beloved”

Felix : “happy”, “lucky”

Charlotte : “little”, “womanly”

Some of these German names have been adopted from other cultures while others are traditionell German names.

Post from: German Blog

 

Richard Wagner

Posted on August 10th, 2009 in 358 | No Comments »

Richard Wagner war ein deutscher Komponist. He believed in Gesamtkunstwerk, which was the synthesis of art, music and drama. Richard Wagner wurde am 22. Mai 1813 in Leipzig. Sechs Monate nach seiner Geburt, am 23. November 1813, starb der Vater an Typhus. Wagner’s stepfather introduced Wagner to musical theater. He was inspired by artists such as Beethovan.

Am 24. November heiratete er Minna Planer, die dort als Schauspielerin engagiert war. Minna ran off with an army officer and came back to Wagner when the officer abandoned her. This would continue to be a volitile marriage for the next three decades. In the 1840s, the couple went to Paris to get away from their debtors. Nachdem es ihm in Paris nicht gelungen war, künstlerische Pläne voranzubringen und dort Erfolg zu haben, verließ er im April 1842 Paris und siedelte sich in Dresden an. In 1842 Wagner’s opera Rienzi received critical acclaim in Dresden. He had finally made it!

During this time, he became involved in politics and had to live in exile in Zurich. 1858 spitzte sich Wagners Affäre mit Mathilde Wesendonck zu. His affair inspired the work Tristan and Isolde. Here is a sample of this song:

[youtube]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKN1CHeOKS4[/youtube]

Post from: German Blog

 

Answers to the Word of the Day Exercise

Posted on August 7th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

1) to love (lieben) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-01-2009

2) today (heute) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-02-2009

3) true (wahr) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-03-2009

4) current (aktuell) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-04-2009

5) best wishes (Alles Gute) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-07-2009

6) woman (die Frau) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-08-2009

7) same (gleich) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-09-2009

8) ticket (die Fahrkarte) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-11-2009

9) to shave (rasieren) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-12-2009

10) room (das Zimmer) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-13-2009

11) juice (der Saft) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-14-2009

12) dessert (die Nachspeise) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-15-2009

13) curious (neugierig) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-16-2009

14) world (die Welt) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-19-2009

15) environment (die Umwelt) http://www.transparent.com/wotd/today/german.htm?date=06-20-2009

Post from: German Blog

 

Word of the Day Exercise

Posted on August 4th, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

All these words are in the Word of the Day. Find the German equivalent of these words.

1) to love

2) today

3) true

4) current

5) best wishes

6) woman

7) same

8) ticket

9) to shave

10) room

11) juice

12) dessert

13) curious

14) world

15) environment

Post from: German Blog