Irregular Verbs: ‘haben’ and ‘sein’

Today we are looking at two very important verbs: haben (to have) and sein (to be). Both are irregular and need to be memorized. You need these two verbs to form lots of simple sentences but also to talk about the past.

haben – to have

ich habe                      I have

du hast                        you have

er/sie/es/man hat      he/she/it/one has

wir haben                    we have

ihr habt                       you have (pl)

sie haben                     they have

sein – to be

ich bin                         I am

du bist                         you are

er/sie/es/man ist       he/she/it/one is

wir sind                       we are

ihr seid                        you are (pl)

sie sind                        they are

As mentioned before, you need ‘haben’ and ‘sein’ to form the Perfect Tense - the most common way to report about past events in spoken German. We will look at the Perfect Tense in the next blog.

Tasks

for beginners: Memorize the ich, du, er/sie/es forms of both verbs.

for advanced learners: Memorize all forms of haben and sein.

Word of the Day: singen

singen – to sing

ich singe                                  I sing

du singst                                  you sing

er/sie/es/man singt               he/she/it/one sings

wir singen                               we sing

ihr singt                                   you (pl) sing

sie singen                                they sing

Beispiel: Ich singe im Chor.

Example: I sing in the choir.

Imperfect: sang

Past Participle: gesungen

Word of the Day: fahren

fahren - to go (by means of transport)

ich fahre                                  I drive

du fährst                                  you drive

er/sie/es/man fährt                he/she/it/one drives

wir fahren                               we drive

ihr fahrt                                   you (pl) drive

sie fahren                                they drive

Beispiel: Wir fahren mit dem Auto nach Deutschland.

Example: We go to Germany by car.

Imperfect: fuhr

Past Participle: gefahren (sein)

Possessive Adjectives

mein [mine]     my

dein [dine]       your

sein [sine]       his/its

ihr [ear]           her/its

unser [oonser] our

euer [oi-er]      your (pl)

ihr [ear]           their

The possessive adjectives can have different endings, depending on the gender of the following noun. In German we have three noun genders. You can easily identify them by the article that you find with them: masculine (der), feminine (die) and neuter (das).

neuter - das Auto (the car)

mein  Auto [mine awtoh] (dein/ sein/ ihr/ unser/ euer/ ihr) 

Beispiel: Mein Auto ist neu.

Example: My car is new.

masculine - der Fernseher (the TV)
mein Fernseher [mine house](dein/sein/ ihr/ unser/ euer/ ihr)
Beispiel: Mein Fernseher ist neu.

Example: My TV is new.

feminine - die Jacke

meine Jacke [mineh yahke] (deine/seine/ihre/unsere/eure/ihre)

Beispiel: Wo ist meine Jacke?

Example: Where is my jacket?

(There are more endings than the ones shown above, but we will look closer at these in a later lesson when we deal with the case system.)

Tasks:
for beginners:
Practice saying the possessive adjectives and the examples out loud several times.

for more advanced learners:

Form similar sentences to the examples above, using all possessive adjectives. 
(mein(e)dein(e)/sein(e)/ihr(e)/unser(e)/euer(e)/ihr(e)?

My cat is cute. (Katze - feminine) (niedlich)
Your jacket is new. (Jacke - feminine) (neu)

His car is old. (Auto - masculine) (alt)

Our house is big. (Haus - neuter)(groβ)

Her book is good. (Buch - neuter) (gut)

Their party is tomorrow. (Feier - feminine) (morgen)

Here is the answer key:

Meine Katze ist niedlich.
Deine Jacke ist neu.
Sein Auto ist alt.
Unser Haus ist groβ.
Ihr Buch ist gut.
Ihre Feier ist morgen.

Word of the Day: genieβen

genieβen – to enjoy

ich genieβe                             - I enjoy

du genieβt                               - you enjoy

er/sie/es/man genieβt           - he/she/it/one enjoys

wir genieβen                           - we enjoy

ihr genieβt                              - you enjoy (pl)

sie genieβen                           - they enjoy

Beispiel: Er genieβt das gute Essen./ Ich genieβe die Ruhe./ Wir genieβen den Urlaub.

Example: He enjoys the good food./ I enjoy the quiet./ We enjoy the holiday.

Imperfect: genoβ

Past Participle: genossen

Interrogatives - Question words

Today we are looking at the most commonly used interrogatives, or question words. As many of them start with the letter ‘W’, we are also going to practice the pronunciation of this letter.

In German we pronounce the letter W like a V in English.

Say the following words out loud, remembering to sound the first letter like an English V:

Was? [vahs]                  What?

Wer? [ver]                     Who?

Wann? [vahn]               When?

Wo? [voh]                      Where?

Warum? [vahroom]      Why?

Wie? [vee]                     How?/ What?

Wieviel? [veefeel]        How much?/ How many?

Welche? [velshe]         Which?

Let’s ask some questions:

Was ist das? [vahs eest dahs]                          What is that?

Wer bist du? [ver beest doo]                            Who are you?

Wo wohnen Sie? [voh vohnen see]                   Where do you live?

Wie heissen Sie? [vee hi-sen see]                    What’s your name?

Wann fährt der Zug? [vahn fare-t der tsoog]   When does the train leave?

Word of the Day: essen

essen – to eat

ich esse                       I eat

du iβt                           you eat

er/sie/es/man iβt       he/she/it/one eats

wir essen                     we eat

ihr esst                         you (pl) eat

sie essen                      they eat

Beispiel: Was isst du zu Abend? Ich esse Steak mit Kartoffeln und Brokkoli.

Example: What do you eat for dinner? I eat steak with potatoes and broccoli.

Imperfect: aβ

Past Participle: gegessen

Subject Pronouns

Hi everyone,

Today we are going to look at German subject pronouns. At first you will find a list of the subject pronouns for you to revise and learn. Further down there will be a match-up activity so that you can test yourself.

Subject Pronouns

ich                           I
du                           you
er                            he
sie                           she
es                            it
man                         'one' (impersonal)
wir                           we
ihr                           you (plural)
sie                           they

The best way to learn is to read the words out loud a few times, then cover up the English words and see if you remember what each German word means. Finally, cover up the German words and try to say them out loud as you go down your English side of the list. You can check your answers by releasing each word one by one.



Match-up Activity

1. ich                      a. he

2. du                      b. you (pl)

3. er                       c. it

4. sie                      d. you

5. es                       e. they

6. man                  f. she

7. wir                     g. I

8. ihr                      h. we

9. sie                      i. ’one‘

Word of the Day: sehen

sehen – to watch

ich sehe                                   I watch

du siehst                                  you watch

er/sie/es/man sieht               he/she/it/one

wir sehen                                we watch

ihr seht                                    you (pl) watch

sie sehen                                 they watch

Beispiel: Was siehst du im Fernsehen? Ich sehe einen Film. Er heiβt Avatar.

Example: What do you watch on TV? I’m watching a movie. It’s called Avatar.

Imperfect: sah

Past Participle: gesehen

Word of the Day: faulenzen

faulenzen  - to laze about

ich faulenze                              I laze about

du faulenzt                               you laze about

er/sie/es/man faulenzt              he/she/it/one lazes about

wir faulenzen                            we laze about

ihr faulenzt                               you (pl) laze about

sie faulenzen                           they laze about

Beispiel: Was machst du heute? Ich faulenze den ganzen Tag.
Example: What are you doing today? I am lazing about all day long.

Imperfect - regular

faulenzte

Past Participle - regular

gefaulenzt