LESSON NOTES

Survival Phrases S1 #17

Please Lower the Price

CONTENTS
2
2
2
3
4
4

German
English
Vocabulary
Sample Sentences
Grammar
Cultural Insight

17

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GERMAN
1.

Senken Sie bitte den Preis.

2.

Knnen Sie bitte den Preis senken?

3.

Zu teuer.

4.

Das ist teuer.

ENGLISH
1.

Lower the price please.

2.

Can you lower the price please?

3.

Too expensive.

4.

That is expensive.

VOCABULARY
Ge r man

English

C lass

Ge nde r

Preis

price, prize

noun; masculine, der

plural: Preise

bitte

please, you're
welcome

particle

Zu teuer.

Too expensive.

sentence

senken

to lower

verb

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weak verb

SURVIVAL PHRASES S1 #17 - PLEASE LOWER THE PRICE

can, to be able to, to

be allowed to

verb

Sie

you (formal)

personal pronoun

das

that

teuer

expensive

knnen

irregular; ich kann,

du kannst, er kann,
wir knnen, ihr
knnt, sie knnen

adjective

SAMPLE SENTENCES
D i e Pre i se w e rd e n i m J u n i
ve rg e be n .

D i e N e be n ko ste n si n d n o ch n i ch t i m
Pre i s e n th a l te n .

The prizes are allocated in June.

Additional fees are not yet factored into the

price.

Bi tte ra u ch e n S i e h i e r n i ch t.

Ei n G l a s Wa sse r, bi tte .

Please do not smoke here.

A glass of water, please.

Bi tte a n tw o rte n S i e so sch n e l l w i e

m g l i ch .

D a s i st vi e l zu te u e r f r m i ch .
That's much too expensive for me.

Please answer as quickly as possible.

S i e se n kt i h re n Ko pf.

Ka n n st d u d e u tsch e s Esse n e sse n ?

She lowers her head.

Can you eat German food?

Ich ka n n n i ch t g u t si n g e n .

H a be n S i e e i n e a n d e re Kre d i tka rte ?

I can't sing well.

Do you have another credit card?

S pre ch e n S i e En g l i sch ?

S i e si n d H e rr S m i th

Do you speak English?

You are Mr Smith.

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SURVIVAL PHRASES S1 #17 - PLEASE LOWER THE PRICE

D a s i st e i n w i rkl i ch se h r s e s
Ba by.

Ist Bi e r te u e r i n D e u tsch l a n d ?
Is beer expensive in Germany?

That really is a very cute baby.

D a s i st zu te u e r.
That is too expensive.

GRAMMAR
The phrase covered in this lesson is related to the phrase "How much? which in German is
"Wie viel?". We also introduced How much is this? Wie viel kostet dies? , and "How much is
that? "Wie viel kostet das?" . Now, when you come to country Germany one of the most
interesting and fun things to do is haggle at the market! So when you're at the market and
talking prices, there is another phrase that will come in very handy! That phrase is "Lower the
price please." In German "Lower the price please." is "Senken sie bitte den Preis." However, if
you really want to bargain, this is way to straight forward. In Germany people seldomly
bargain, so the more complex but also more friendly question "Knnen sie bitte den Preis
senken?" is likely to get you way further. Literally this means "Could you please the price
lower?" Yes, this sounds a lot like things Yoda would say, but you get the idea. But lets
continue with German. "Knnen sie bitte den Preis senken?". The first word "Knnen" means
"could". This is followed by "Sie", which in English is formal you. This is followed by "bitte".
Bitte is the German equivalent of "please". The last word is "Preis", or rather "der Preis". This
is the German word for "price". Because we need the accusative in this case we use "den
Preis". The last word is "senken", which means "to lower". So the whole phrase is: "Knnen
sie bitte den Preis senken?" Could you please lower the price? So if we translate in English
literally this would be "Lower formal you please the price." Another phrase that can be used in
combination with this is Too expensive. which in German is "Zu teuer". But lets make this a
whole sentence, shall we? You can say "Das ist teuer." Meaning "That is expensive". The fact
that it is too expensive for you is already implied.

CULTURAL INSIGHT
In Germany it is rather uncommon to bargain for prices, though it doesnt mean you cant try.
Just be aware that the sales persons are likely to react a little put of. Chances are that they will
grant you some discount so that they keep a good reputation. But never count on it and just
accept it if the answer is no. That isnt to say that you cant bargain in stores. If something
already has a small dent or is slightly damaged in another way, chances are you are going to

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SURVIVAL PHRASES S1 #17 - PLEASE LOWER THE PRICE

get the item a bit cheaper. Not only on markets, this also applies to department stores or retail
sales. Every now and then you might even see someone trying to bargain in a supermarket. If
a product's best before date was only a few days ago, you can try to bargain. After all, thanks
to modern technique many products are edible a long while and shrink-wrapped bacon
doesnt miraculously turn into a rotten mess from one moment to another. However, and this
also applies to the department stores and retail sales, salesmen arent obligated to grand you
discount. It is entirely up to them if they do or not. So staying calm and friendly and maybe
even smiling is going to get you a long way.

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SURVIVAL PHRASES S1 #17 - PLEASE LOWER THE PRICE