Family is the second skill in the German language tree. It contains four lessons teaching various terms for family members and the singular forms of the German verb sein, "to be".
Tips and Notes[]
Grammatical Gender[]
German nouns have grammatical gender, which is handled differently than in English. Many of the words in this unit are masculine because they refer to male people (Bruder, Vater) while others are feminine (Mutter, Schwester). The words ein ("a/an") and mein ("my") change slightly depending on whether the noun they're attached to is masculine or feminine:
- ein Vater = a father (masculine, stays the same)
- eine Mutter = a mother (feminine, gains an extra e which makes a schwa sound)
Grammatical gender is a little more complicated than this, as we'll see in the next skill, but for now that's all you'll need to know.
Sein[]
The verb "to be" in English is very irregular; you say you are but I am. The equivalent German verb, sein is also very irregular, so you'll need to memorize the forms:
- ich bin = I am
- du bist = you are
- er/sie/es ist = he/she/it is
We'll get to the plural forms in a later skill.
Pronunciation Tips[]
- The letter "v" in German is pronounced like an "f" (so Vogel would be said like "fohgul" rather than "vohgul").
- The two letters "ei" makes an "ay" sound in German ; the word Ei would sound like the name of the letter I, for example.
- The "ch" sound doesn't exist in English; the closest thing would be the sound of gently clearing your throat (try saying wach and ich to try and copy the audio in the lessons).
Lessons[]
Note: German has grammatical gender which is explained more in Basics 2. The vocabulary in this lesson includes the proper gendered article for later reference but is not tested in this skill. For now, der means the noun is masculine and die is for feminine nouns.
Lesson 1[]
- der Vater = father
- die Mutter = mother
- ich bin = I am
- ein = a/an (masculine)
- eine = a/an (feminine)
Lesson 2[]
- der Bruder = brother
- die Schwester = sister
- mein = my (masculine)
- meine = my (feminine)
- der Mann = husband
Lesson 3[]
- der Sohn = son
- die Tochter = daughter
- die Frau = wife
- du bist = you are
Lesson 4[]
- groß = tall, big
- klug = smart
- nett = nice
- sehr = very
- ist = is
References[]
Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Family
German | |
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German Skills | Basics 1 • Family • Basics 2 • Greetings • Restaurant • Places • Jobs • Hobbies • Directions • Questions • Market • Weather • Family 2 • Languages • Leisure • Plans • Apartment • Shopping • Travel • Dining Out • Transport • Birthday • Hobbies 2 • Health • People • Events • Habits • Housing • Hotel • Family 3 • Food • Plans 2 • Travel 2 • New Job • Habits 2 • Packing • Groceries • Birthday 2 • Roommate • On Break • Barbecue • Community • Plans 3 • Party • Free Time • Errands • Opinions • Excuses • Moving • Food 2 • Holidays • New Home • Long Day • Weekend • Wedding • Vacation • Routines • Pets • Gossip • Passport • College • Concert • Family 4 • Dreams • Shopping 2 • Health 2 • Childhood • Party 2 • Favors • Jobs 2 • Take-Out • Gossip 2 • Feelings • Dorm • Travel 3 • Habits 3 • School • Coworkers • Neighbors • Movies • Germany • Date • Bad Luck • Dinner • Wardrobe • Friends • Shopping 3 • Opinions 2 • Family 5 • Vacation 2 • Carnival • Health 3 • Travel 4 • Roommate 2 • Repairs • Farm • People 2 • Banking • University • Memories • Shopping 4 • Vienna • Cooking • Fairy Tale • Oh No! • Telephone • Worst Job • Technology • Health 4 • Asparagus • School 2 • Baltic Sea • Literature • Market 2 • Basement • Café • Berlin Zoo • Dogs • New Year • Luggage • Road Trip • Family 6 • Dining 2 • Wishes • School 3 • Trivia • Shopping 5 • News • Cheating • Opinions 3 • Government • Media • News 2 • Soccer • Jobs 3 • Homesick • Reunion • History • Vacation 3 • Trier • Nature • Help! • Puppets • Family 7 • Wolf • Wishes 2 • Immigrants • Gossip 3 • 1989 • Wolf 2 • Seminar • Excuses 2 • Economy 101 • History 2 • College 2 • Apprentice • |