German/Level III/Gespräche Unter Geschäftsmännern

Lektion Zwei für Fortgeschrittene

Gespräch 2-3 ~ Katrin geht einkaufen

 * Katrin geht einkaufen. Sie braucht Wurst und Käse, aber sie findet viele leckere Lebensmittel in dem Delikatessengeschäft.
 * Katrin:     Hallo. Ich brauche Käse.
 * Verkäufer: Ich habe einen leckeren Schmelzkäse. Er heißt 'Brimsen'.
 * Katrin:     Nein. Ich suche Hartkäse. Haben Sie einen 'Jarlsberg'?
 * Verkäufer: Nein. Aber ich habe einen guten Schweizer Käse. Er schmeckt ähnlich.
 * Katrin:     OK. Verkaufen Sie den stückweise?
 * Verkäufer: Ja. Ein Stück?
 * Katrin:     Bitte. Und haben Sie Wurst?
 * Verkäufer: Ja gewiss. Wir haben viele Wurstsorten.
 * Katrin:     Ich suche Würstchen.
 * Verkäufer: Ich habe 'Nürnberger Schweinswürste'.
 * Katrin:     Das ist gut.

Vokabeln 2-3
das Delikatessengeschäft           Deli, Delicatessen       (das Geschäft = business) der Hartkäse                       hard cheese das Lebensmittel, die Lebensmittel food, foods der Schmelzkäse                    soft cheese die Schweinswurst                  pork sausage der Schweizerkäse                  Emmenthaler cheese, Swiss cheese das Stück                          piece der Verkäufer                      sales clerk das Würstchen                      small sausage die Wurstsorten                    types of sausage

Bitte                              If you please Nürnberger Schweinswürste          a type of small, pork sausage (pl.)

finden                             find heißen                             call, name schmecken                          taste suchen                             seek, look for verkaufen                          sell                     (compare with einkaufen & der Verkäufer)

ähnlich                            similar ein                                a, an, any, one lecker                             tasty, delicious nicht                              not stückweise                         piecemeal, by the piece  (compare with das Stück)
 * Pronunciation Guide >>

Grammatik 2-5 ~ Word Formation
As in any language, many words in German are constructed from other smaller words that provide similar meaning, although the connections can sometimes be obscured by the passage of time. Construction of new words from word combinations is especially prevalent with German nouns, and understanding word roots can therefore be helpful in learning new words. As an example, consider the phrase Auf Wiedersehen &mdash; the standard translation into English being 'Good bye', although it means literally 'upon reunion' (in essence, "until we meet again"). The noun, das Wiedersehen, consists of wieder, 'once again' (or 're-' as a prefix), and sehen or 'see'.

The noun die Geschäftsleute provides a direct example of a compounded noun: the first part of each deriving from das Geschäft ('business') and the second part from die Leute ('people'). The gender of a compound noun follows the base or last noun.

There are other examples in the this lesson, but these may not be immediately obvious unless you already have a good command of German words. However, you should train yourself to view new words in terms of the meanings of their component parts. Consider all of the various words used in this lesson to describe types of cheeses: der Hartkäse, der Schmelzkäse, der Schweizerkäse; or nouns and verbs related to buying and selling (Kaufen und Verkaufen).

Grammatik 2-6 ~ Personal Pronouns: nominative case
Here are the personal pronouns in the nominative case:


 * Polite form.

The nominative case is that of the subject of a verb. The pronoun subject of these sentences is underlined in the German and the English: This last sentence is an example from Gespräch 2-3 using the polite form of 'you'. Whether singular or plural must be established by context. This next sentence translates with sie as 'they': as evidenced by the form taken by the verb 'can' (können). Other uses of the nominative case in German will be explored in future lessons. Tables of the pronouns in all cases are summarized in the grammar appendix: Pronoun Tables.

NOTE: An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object in English or German. A pronoun following an intransitive verb such as 'to be' is called a predicate pronoun and should be in the nominative case. In English 'It is I' is correct; 'It is me' is incorrect.

Grammatik 2-7 ~ More on verb forms
Just as English sometimes adds the verb "to be", forming the progressive, note also in Grammatik 2-2 (in both question sentence examples) that English also may insert the verb 'to do' (called the emphatic form), especially useful when forming a question. This is not done in German: Again, in the present tense, the English sentences:
 * 'I write a letter.'
 * 'I do write a letter.'

are all, in German: Ich schreibe einen Brief.
 * 'I am writing a letter.'

means: Ich schreibe gerade einen Brief.

Vokabeln 2-4
der Brief                 letter das Einkaufen             shopping der Finger, die Finger    finger, fingers das Kaufen                buying                (use of the verb form is preferred) das Schwein               pig                   (compare with die Schweinswurst) das Verkaufen             selling

können                    can schreiben                 write

jede                      any zehn                      ten

Andere Wörter 2A
Using these additional vocabulary words, you should be able to restate Gespräch 2-2 above, altering the meaning (or time of day) of the conversation.

der Abend               evening

Guten Abend! Good Evening (greeting) morgen früh             tomorrow morning zu wenig                too little

abend                   evening abends                  evenings falsch                  false, wrong morgen                  tomorrow morgens                 in the morning schlecht                bad
 * Pronunciation Guide >>

Übersetzung 2-2
Write these sentences in German. Pay attention to the additional words presented in Andere Wörter 2A:
 * 1) Good evening Catherine.Where are you going?
 * 2) I'm looking for a good Swiss cheese.
 * 3) That is wrong! Too little is too little.


 * Antworten >