Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [706]
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GRAMMAR
German grammar can be a nightmare for speakers of other languages. Nouns come in three genders: masculine, feminine and neutral. The corresponding forms of the definite article (‘the’ in English) are der, die and das, with the universal plural form, die. Nouns and articles will alter according to complex grammatical rules relating to the noun’s function within a phrase – known as ‘case’. In German there are four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. We haven’t allowed for all possible permutations of case in this language guide – it really is language-course material and simply too complex to cover here. However, bad German is a whole lot better than no German at all, so even if you muddle your cases, you’ll find that you’ll still be understood – and your efforts will be warmly appreciated.
If you’ve noticed that written German seems to be full of capital letters, the reason is that all German nouns begin with a capital letter (not just proper nouns, as in English).
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PRONUNCIATION
It’s not difficult to pronounce German because almost all sounds can be found in English. Follow the pronunciation guide and you should have no trouble getting your message across.
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Vowels
German Example Pronunciation Guide
hat a (eg the ‘u’ in ‘run’)
habe aa (eg ‘father’)
mein ai (eg ‘aisle’)
Bär air (eg ‘hair’, with no ‘r’ sound)
Boot aw (eg ‘saw’)
leben ay (eg ‘say’)
Bett/Männer/kaufen e (eg ‘bed’)
fliegen ee (eg ‘thief’)
schön eu (eg ‘her’, with no ‘r’ sound)
zurück ew (‘ee’ said with rounded lips)
mit i (eg ‘bit’)
Koffer o (eg ‘pot’)
Leute/Häuser oy (eg ‘toy’)
Schuhe oo (eg ‘moon’)
Haus ow (eg ‘how’)
unter u (eg ‘put’)
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Consonants
The only two tricky consonant sounds in German are ch and r. All other consonants are pronounced much the same as their English counterparts (except sch, which is always as the ‘sh’ in ‘shoe’).
The ch sound is generally like the ‘ch’ in Bach or Scottish loch – like a hiss from the back of the throat. When ch occurs after the vowels e and i it’s more like a ‘sh’ sound, produced with the tongue more forward in the mouth. In this book we’ve simplified things by using the one symbol kh for both sounds.
The r sound is different from English, and it isn’t rolled like in Italian or Spanish. It’s pronounced at the back of the throat, almost like saying a ‘g’ sound, but with some friction – it’s a bit like gargling.
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Word Stress
As a general rule, word stress in German mostly falls on the first syllable. To remove any doubt, the stressed syllable is shown in italics in the pronunciation guides for the following words and phrases.
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ACCOMMODATION
What’s the address?
Wie ist die Adresse? vee ist dee a·dre·se
I’d like to book a room, please.
Ich möchte bitte ein ikh meukh·te bi·te ain
Zimmer reservieren. tsi·mer re·zer·vee·ren
For (three) nights/weeks.
Für (drei) Nächte/ fewr (drai) nekh·te/
Wochen. vo·khen
May I see it?
Kann ich es sehen? kan ikh es zay·en
Can I get another room?
Kann ich ein anderes kan ikh ain an·de·res
Zimmer bekommen? tsi·mer be·ko·men
It’s fine. I’ll take it.
Es ist gut. Ich nehme es. es ist goot ikh nay·me es
I’m leaving now.
Ich reise jetzt ab. ikh rai·ze yetst ap
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CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
You should be aware that German uses polite and informal forms for ‘you’ (Sie and du respectively). When addressing people you don’t know well you should always use the polite form (though younger people will be less inclined to expect it). In this language guide we use the polite form unless indicated by ‘inf’ (for ‘informal’) in brackets.
If you need to ask