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Talking about occupations Posted by Sandra Rösner on Nov 17, 2010
People are often identified by what they do for a living. When you want to ask in German what someone’s occupation is, you have different options to ask that question: Formal language Informal language Was machen Sie beruflich? Was sind Sie von Beruf? Was ist Ihr Beruf? Was machst Du beruflich? Was bist Du von…
Around the clock – Talking about time in German Posted by Sandra Rösner on Nov 11, 2010
Germans are said to be always on time. That is not entirely true. Of course, we Germans are also late from time to time. But it is true that we might handle things differently when it comes to talking about the time and being punctual. But before I talk about that, let’s have a look…
Toast Hawaii Posted by Sandra Rösner on Nov 5, 2010
Kochsendungen (cookery shows) are very beliebt (popular) in Germany. Nowadays, there are a lot of them im Fernsehen (on TV). Germany’s first television cookery show was called “Bitte in zehn Minuten zu Tisch” (here: Dinner will be served in ten minutes) and ging auf Sendung (went on the air) in 1953. The show was presented…
Partizip I Posted by Sandra Rösner on Nov 1, 2010
The Partizip I is a form of word that is derived from verbs. It can have different functions in a sentence. For example, the Partizip I can be used as an adjunction, an adverb or a noun. Let’s have a closer look to how the Partizip I can affect our sentences. In German we can…
“Westpakete” Posted by Sandra Rösner on Oct 25, 2010
I was born in the ehemaligen (former) German Democratic Republic. And although I was still very young at the time als die Berliner Mauer fiel (when the Berlin Wall came down) and Germany was reunited, I can still recall the Mangelversorgung (scanty supply) that occurred damals (in those days). For instance, I can remember that…
Herbstwetter – Fall weather Posted by Sandra Rösner on Oct 20, 2010
In this post I would like to give you the opportunity to read some German. I wrote a letter to an imaginary friend. The reason for my letter is the current fall weather in Germany. I also provide an English translation of my letter so that everybody has the opportunity to check their reading/understanding skills…
“I have no …” – Negations with “kein/keine/keinen/etc.” Posted by Sandra Rösner on Oct 18, 2010
When someone is asking you in German for a particular noun, for example, when you are asked if you have or posses something, e.g. time, a brother, a sister, children, a pen, etc., you have to use a declined form of the word kein in order to negate your statement. For example, when I ask…