Duolingo | Learn German for free 30/03/18, 23)13

BasicsHome
1 Words Discussion Labs kabutar111 22 138 1
STRENGTHEN
Strength: 5/5

Lesson 1 of Lesson 2 of Lesson 3 of

3 3 3
Mann, Frau, du, bist, Brot, er, sie,
Junge, ich, Kind, es, ist, trinkt,
Ads help us keep
bin, ein, Mädchen, Wasser education free.
eine und

REDO REDO REDO GET DUOLINGO PLUS

DISABLE AD BLOCKER

Tips and notes

WELCOME TO GERMAN :)

Welcome to the German course! We will provide you with tips

and notes throughout the course. However, be aware that these
are optional. Only read them when you fell stuck, or when you
are interested in the details. You can use the course without
them.

Often, it's best to just dive into the practice. See how it goes!
You can always revisit the Notes section later on.

CAPITALIZING NOUNS
In German, all nouns are capitalized. For example, "my name" is
mein Name, and "the apple" is der Apfel. This helps you identify
which words are the nouns in a sentence.

GERMAN GENDERS ARE STRANGE

Nouns in German are either feminine, masculine or neuter. For

example, Frau (woman) is feminine, Mann (man) is masculine,
and Kind (child) is neuter.

While some nouns (Frau, Mann, …) have natural gender like in

English (a woman is female, a man is male), most nouns have
grammatical gender (depends on word ending, or seemingly
random).

For example, Mädchen (girl) is neuter, because all words ending

in -chen are neuter. Wasser (water) is neuter, but Cola is
feminine, and Saft (juice) is masculine.

It is important to learn every noun along with its gender

because parts of German sentences change depending on the
gender of their nouns.

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-1 Page 1 of 3
Duolingo | Learn German for free 30/03/18, 23)13

For now, just remember that the indefinite article (a/an) ein is
used for masculine and neuter nouns, and eine is used for
feminine nouns. Stay with us to find out how "cases" will later
modify these.

gender indefinite article

masculine ein Mann

neuter ein Mädchen

feminine eine Frau

VERB CONJUGATIONS

Conjugating regular verbs

Verb conjugation in German is more complex than in English. To
conjugate a regular verb in the present tense, identify the stem
of the verb and add the ending corresponding to any of the
grammatical persons, which you can simply memorize. For now,
here are the singular forms:

Example: trinken (to drink)

English person ending German example

I -e ich trinke

you (singular informal) -st du trinkst

he/she/it -t er/sie/es trinkt

Conjugations of the verb sein (to be)

Like in English, sein (to be) is completely irregular, and its
conjugations simply need to be memorized. Again, you will learn
the plural forms soon.

English German

I am ich bin

you (singular informal) are du bist

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

UMLAUTS

Umlauts are letters (more specifically vowels) that have two dots
above them and appear in some German words like Mädchen.

Literally, "Umlaut" means "around the sound," because its

function is to change how the vowel sounds.

no umlaut umlaut

a ä

o ö

u ü

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-1 Page 2 of 3
Duolingo | Learn German for free 30/03/18, 23)13

An umlaut change may change the meaning. That's why it's

important not to ignore those little dots.

NO CONTINUOUS ASPECT
In German, there's no continuous aspect. There are no separate
forms for "I drink" and "I am drinking". There's only one form: Ich
trinke.

There's no such thing as Ich bin trinke or Ich bin trinken!

When translating into English, how can I tell whether to use the
simple (I drink) or the continuous form (I am drinking)?

Unless the context suggests otherwise, either form should be

accepted.

About Schools Duolingo English Test Mobile Gear Help Guidelines Jobs
Terms Privacy

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-1 Page 3 of 3