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Excuses is the forty-eighth skill in the German language tree. It has five lessons and provides the past tense of some common verbs while teaching how to explain where you were (or weren't)!

Grammar Notes[]

Blast from the past[]

The simple past tense (Präteritum) is commonly used in books, but for the verbs sein, haben and können(among others), it's preferred in regular conversation too. All three of them are irregular in the past tense though so you'll need to memorize them:

Pronoun sein haben können
ich war hatte konnte
du warst hattest konntest
er/sie/es war hatte konnte
wir waren hatten konnten
ihr wart hattet konntet
Sie waren hatten konnten
sie waren hatten konnten

Lessons[]

Lesson 1[]

  • die Stimmung = atmosphere
  • ich war = I was
  • er/sie/es war = he/she/it was
  • du hattest = you had
  • ich hatte = I had
  • spitze = excellent

Lesson 2[]

  • bei = at (someone)'s
  • in Ordnung = alright, OK
  • du warst = you were
  • ihr hattet = you had
  • wir hatten = we had
  • oder was? = or something?
  • sorry = sorry

Lesson 3[]

  • die Erkältung = cold (as in the sickness)
  • du konntest = you could/were able to
  • ich konnte= I could/was able to
  • am vierten (April) = on the fourth (of April)
  • am elften = on the eleventh
  • am zwölften = on the twelfth
  • am Montag = on Monday
  • letzten Mittwoch = last Wednesday
  • letzten Sonntag = last Sunday

Lesson 4[]

  • die Ausrede = excuse
  • wir konnten = we could/were able to
  • ihr konntet = you could/were able to
  • wir waren = we were
  • letztes Wochenende = last weekend
  • herrlich = lovely
  • viel Besuch = a lot of visitors

Lesson 5[]

  • das Treffen = meeting
  • vorbei = over, done
  • letzte Woche = last week
  • Sag Bescheid = let me know
  • hoffentlich = hopefully
  • Glück haben = to be lucky/to have good luck

References[]

Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Excuses

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