This unit guides learners towards talking about their families and pets. The words for family members are introduced, along with adjectives for describing their characteristics. There is a free booklet for students to download, along with quizzes and activities, including an interactive online crossword and a Kahoot about family and pets.
You can read the text in the quiz below the audio and fill in the missing words.
Note: This text is quite challenging for beginners. It was recorded for this blog by two lovely young teachers from Germany, Diana Bösel and Cheryl Blessing. So you may need to pause the audio between the slides of the quiz.
This text was both written and recorded by Diana Bösel and Cheryl Blessing.
Imagine that, when you eventually go to a German-speaking land, you meet someone you really like. You want to say, “Hey, you’re really cool. Would you like to go to a movie with me? I like you.”
But when you open your mouth to speak, you turn into a gaping, lovestruck fool. Your mouth opens and shuts as though you were an exotic fish at the aquarium.
In the end, you say in desperation: “Du trägst eine Jeans und ein Hemd.”
Then you melt quietly into the floor.
Don’t worry, this is never going to happen to you, because in this post you can learn some vocabulary for saying sweet, affirming things to other people and understanding them when they say something similar in return.
To say “I like you“, “Do you love me?” or “He likesher, don’t you reckon?”, you will need to master the direct object pronouns.
The verb lieben(to love) is utterly and reassuringly regular. That’s why you can use it not just to express your true feelings but also to revise the regular verb endings:
VerbConjugation
lieben – to love
Status: BLESSEDLY REGULAR
1st person
ich liebe
wir lieben
2nd person
du liebst
ihr liebt
3rd person
er/sie/es liebt
sie lieben
Formal Address:
Sie lieben
The verb mögen (to like) also has a role as a modal verb, so it is important enough to be irregular. The first, second and third person singular are all unpredictable, with a rogue vowel that is different from the infinitive stem. There is alsono t ending on the third person singular, which is a pattern common to all modal verbs, including müssen (must, to have to) and können (can, to be able to).
VerbConjugation
mögen – to like
Status: AS IRREGULARAS LOVE ITSELF
1st person
ich mag
wir mögen
2nd person
du magst
ihr mögt
3rd person
er/sie/es mag
sie mögen
Formal Address:
Sie mögen
Putting the Building Blocks Together
Armed with the subject pronouns, object pronouns and verbs as building blocks, you can now make up sentences at will.
Ich liebedich. Liebst dumich? → I love you. Do you love me?
Liebst duihn? Nein, noch nicht, aber ich mag ihnschon sehr. → Do you love him? No, not yet, but I already like him very much.
Ich magsienicht. → I don’t like her.
Warum magst duihnnicht? → Why don’t you like him?
The verb lieben is normally reserved exclusively for romantic liaisons rather than friendly relationships. This distinction is possibly less strong now than it once was. There is a set of idiomatic phrases, however, that are more commonly used in family relationships and friendships:
Ich habe dich gern.→ A friendly, affectionate phrase meaning “I like you”.
Ich habe dich lieb. → An affectionate phrase meaning “I love you”; you can also write hdl (hab dich lieb) in a text message.
You can strengthen the last phrase with additional emphasis words: Ich habe dich wirklich total lieb. → I really love you, I adore you.
B: You look good. G: Do you really think so? B: Sure! G: Honestly? B: Of course!
Warning: This post is summarised in the handout with an extra dollop of pink, sugary sentiment. There are several exercises and some extra sentences about how to express missing someone you love.
This unit guides learners towards introducing themselves and describing their origins in German. It covers regular verb conjugation in a simple way and provides practice with verbs such as wohnen (to live) and kommen (to come). There are also exercises related to the irregular verbhaben (to have).
For a more challenging version of this unit, intended for fast learners, an alternative booklet as well as additional but related activities are available on this page.
These are question and answer flashcards. The first side has a greeting or question and the second side has an appropriate answer. The flashcards will “speak” if you click on the tiny microphone above the cards. A printout of this conversation is also provided below.
This audio was kindly recorded by Linda Manteuffel.
Read the text while you listen:
Hallo! Mein Name ist Phoebe und ich komme aus Neuseeland. Meine Eltern kommen aus England. Natürlich spreche ich Englisch, genau wie die Kinder in Australien. Meine beste Freundin heißt Sophie. Sie kommt aus China. Woher kommst du?
Ich wohne auf dem Land. Das finde ich super, denn ich liebe Tiere. Ich habe mein eigenes Pferd!
English Translation: Hello! My name is Phoebe and I come from New Zealand. My parents come from England. Of course I speak English, just like the children in Australia. My best friend is called Sophie. She comes from China. Where do you come from?
I live in the country. I think that’s wonderful, because I love animals. I have my own horse!
This is a unit of work for beginner learners who are starting high school German. I wrote it in 2017 and updated it in 2022, improving the downloadable unit booklet and adding two quizzes and a Kahoot. The audio files were kindly recorded by Anthony Jäckisch, a gifted and charismatic young teacher with a melodious voice.
↑A tribute to Jacinda Ardern, a woman of integrity, honour and kindness:It has been a pure pleasure to live in a nearby countrywhile Jacinda Ardern was the Prime Minister of New Zealand. I always hoped that her empathy, decency and humanity would rub off on our politicians in Australia. I wish her the very best for the next phase of her life.
This quiz can be played with your class or in a small group of friends. It includes introductory questions about noun genders, German numbers and simple introductory sentences.
This quiz provides practice with essential nouns, the concept of gender, subject pronouns and the conjugation of sein – to be. The last question includes a simple audio text with a fill-the-blank exercise.
The prepositions in the middle of this diagram are the trickiest ones in German, since they are followed by either the accusative case or the dativecase, depending on the context of the situation.
Examples with Possessive Pronouns: MASCULINE: Accusative: Sie hat ihre Gartengeräte in meinenGarten gebracht. Dative: Ihre Gartengeräte sind in meinemGarten. FEMININE: Accusative: Er hat sein Fahrrad inmeine Garagegestellt. Dative: Sein Fahrrad ist inmeiner Garage. NEUTER: Accusative: Er geht in sein Zimmer, um sich zu entspannen. Dative: Er entspannt sich in seinem Zimmer.
When the context refers to movementinto a particular area, the preposition is followed by the accusativecase.
When the context refers to remaining, existing or beingwithinan area, however, the preposition must be followed by the dative case.
These rules also apply to the endings on possessive pronouns.
