Word of the Day: heiraten

heiraten - to marry

ich heirate                               I marry

du heiratest                             you marry

er/sie/es heiratet                   he/she/it marries

wir heiraten                            we marry

ihr heiratet                              you (pl) marry

sie heiraten                             they marry

Beispiel: Prinz William heiratet heute Kate Middleton.

Example: Prince William marries Kate Middleton today.

Imperfect: heiratete

Past Participle: geheiratet

The Pluperfect Tense

The Pluperfect Tense is used to report events that happened before another event in the past. In English it is used in the same way, e.g. Before I went to school I had eaten my breakfast.

You need two parts to form the Pluperfect Tense:

The imperfect form of haben or sein          +          past participle

Imperfect forms of
haben	sein
ich hatte	ich war
du hattest	du warst
er/sie/es hatte	er/sie/es war
wir hatten	wir waren
ihr hattet	ihr wart
sie hatten	sie waren

Beispiel                                     Example

ich hatte gekauft                     I had bought

er hatte gegessen                   he had eaten

wir hatten gesehen                 we had seen

ich war gefahren                     I had gone

wir waren geflogen                we had flown

Task

Translate into German:

1. I had played

2. she had danced

3. we had gone

4. they had baked

5. you (Sg) had texted

Answer Key

1. ich hatte gespielt

2. sie hatte getanzt

3. wir waren gegangen

4. sie hatten gebacken

5. du hattest gesimst

Word of the Day: simsen

simsen - to text/ to send SMS

ich simse                                  I text

du simst                                   you text

er/sie/es simst                       he/she/it texts

wir simsen                              we text

ihr simst                                  you (pl) text

sie simsen                               they text

Beispiel: Meine Oma simst jeden Tag mindestens zehn Mal.

Example: My nana texts at least ten times every day.

Imperfect: simste

Past Participle: gesimst

Word of the Day: backen

backen - to bake

ich backe                                 I bake

du bäckst                                 you bake

er/sie/es bäckt                       he/she/it bakes

wir backen                              we bake

ihr backt                                  you (pl) bake

sie backen                               they bake

Beispiel: Sollen wir am Wochenende einen Kuchen backen?

Example: Should we make a cake at the weekend?

Imperfect: backte/ buk (old form)

Past Participle: gebacken

Word of the Day: schneiden

schneiden - to cut

ich schneide                             I cut

du schneidest                          you cut

er/sie/es schneidet                he/she/it cuts

wir schneiden                          we cut

ihr schneidet                            you (pl) cut

sie schneiden                           they cut

Beispiel: Meine Schwester schneidet einen Zeitungsartikel aus.

Example: My sister is cutting out a newspaper article.

Imperfect: schnitt

Past Participle: geschnitten

Easter in Germany

Ostern - Easter

Easter is a very important holiday in Germany, not only for Christians. You can see Easter decorations everywhere - from trees and wells decorated with hand-painted eggs to bunnies and chickens in people’s homes and gardens. School children as well as grown-ups are spending hours painting and decorating Easter eggs, which often have very delicate and amazing patterns.

Besides the traditional egg hunt on Easter Sunday, there is also the tradition of lighting bonfires the night before Easter Sunday.

Here is an Easter word list:

Ostern                          Easter

der Osterhase             Easter bunny

das Osterei                  Easter egg

das Osterlamm           Easter lamb

das Osterfeuer            Easter fire

die Osterkerze            Easter candle

die Karwoche              Holy week

der Karfreitag             Good Friday

der Ostersonntag       Easter Sunday

die Osterglocke           Daffodil

das Osterwasser         Easter water

die Osterkarte             Easter card

der Osterbrunnen       Easter well

die Kreuzigung            Crucifixion

die Auferstehung        Resurrection

Jesus Christus               Jesus Christ

Der Herr                       The Lord

schmücken                   to decorate

dekorieren                   to decorate

bemalen                       to paint/to distemper eggs

anzünden                     to light (a candle)

Click here for some examples of hand-decorated Easter eggs

Click here for some examples of decorated Easter wells in Germany

Click here for some pictures of Easter bonfires


Frohe Ostern!

Word of the Day: mischen

mischen - to mix

ich mische                               I mix

du mischst                               you mix

er/sie/es mischt                     he/she/it mixes

wir mischen                            we mix

ihr mischt                                you (pl) mix

sie mischen                             they mix

Beispiel: Der Teig muss ordentlich gemischt werden.

Example: The dough has to be mixed properly.

Imperfect: mischte

Past Participle: gemischt