Archive for May, 2009
Neuter Nouns in German Posted by Transparent Language on May 18, 2009
Finally, we get to the neuter nouns. Look out for these endings, they just might be neuter: -chen : das Märchen (fairy tale) -um : das Zentrum (center) -lein : das Fräulein (Miss) -o : das Auto (car) -ment : das Instrument (instrument) -nis : das Versäumnis (neglect) -il : das Ventil (valve) -ma…
German Feminine Nouns Continued Posted by Transparent Language on May 15, 2009
This is part 2 of the feminine noun post. Sometimes, loan words that come from English are used in German. Take a look at some of these foreign word endings: -isse : die Hornisse (hornet) -ive : die Initiative (initiative) -ette : die Serviette (napkin) -ade : die Parade (parade) Now here are some groupings…
German Feminine Nouns Posted by Transparent Language on May 12, 2009
Of course the best way is to memorize the “die” as a part of the word. However, there may be cases where you just might not be sure. Here are some noun endings that may indicate that the noun is feminine. I just want to clarify that this isn’t 100% true in all cases, but…
German Masculine Nouns Posted by Transparent Language on May 9, 2009
Every German noun is either masculine, feminine, or neuter. It’s easy to figure out a German noun just by looking at it, because all German nouns are capitalized. Sometimes, it’s obvious as to whether a noun is feminine, masculine or neuter. Take for example, (der Vater) father. Other times there are no logical connections between…
Der 1. Mai Posted by Transparent Language on May 6, 2009
Eine Tradition die in vielen Teilen Deutschlands ist der Maibaum (A tradition that is wide spread in many parts of Germany is the May tree). Sometimes the May trees have streamers attached to the branches. Im Rheinland stellen junge Männer einen Maibaum unter das Fenster ihrer Angebeteten (In the Rhineland young men erect a May tree under…
May 1st Posted by Transparent Language on May 3, 2009
I have a reading passage for you. I’d say it’s in the intermediate to upper intermediate range. The English translation is supplied right after the German. Try and see if you can figure out what the German sentences mean without peeking at the English. If you had a little trouble understanding this level of German…