Archive for the year 2009
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…
Bundes… Words Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 29, 2009
We’re gonna take a look at some German words that begin with Bundes-. A lot of words have to do with politics and government. See if you can guess what they are in English without looking them up. You can post the answers in the comment section. der Bundeskanzler : also known as the head…
German Fairy Tales Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 27, 2009
One of the best ways to get a hold of the German language is to read fairy tales in German. You know what’s going to happen, so I’ll give you some idea of whether you’re comprehension in German is on the right track. Here are some fairy tales in German: (Rumpelstilzchen) : Rumpelstiltskin (Schneewittchen)…