Coffee Break German. Lesson 13. Study Notes. Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 1 of 15

Transcription

1 Coffee Break German Lesson 13 Study Notes Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 1 of 15

2 LESSON NOTES DAS MACHT ZUSAMMEN 14 In this lesson you ll improve your language skills further for buying drinks and snacks in German cafés, restaurants and street stalls. You ll also learn more about using adjectives in German, and you ll pick up some useful hints for paying the bill and tipping in restaurants in German-speaking areas. INTRODUCTION Thomas uses a new expression in the introduction to this lesson: Thomas: Hallo, zusammen! zusammen together hallo, zusammen hello everyone GRAMMAR GURU We start this lesson with a presentation from our Grammar Guru about the use of adjectives following the indefinite article, as in the phrase ich nehme einen kleinen Salat. Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 2 of 15

3 I m honoured today, because it s my turn to start off the lesson. To make the most of this lesson you ll need to know a little bit more about adjective endings. These were introduced last time, but they ll be explained in more detail today. Thomas has already given you a couple of adjectives to use when you re ordering food and drink: groß and klein and Mark has already noticed that these adjectives change their endings when they re used to describe the object of a sentence, for example: ich nehme einen kleinen Salat I ll have a small salad Today we re going to look at the adjective endings which follow the indefinite articles (ein, eine and ein), first in the nominative case, then in the accusative. The endings for adjectives after an indefinite article in the nominative case (remember, that s the one we use for the subject of the sentence) are as follows: MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER NOMINATIVE -er -e -es This gives us the following examples: ein kleiner Kaffee a small coffee eine kleine heiße Schokolade a small hot chocolate ein kleines Wasser a small water Maybe you ve started to notice a pattern here: the endings are similar to the endings of the words der, die and das. Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 3 of 15

4 The accusative endings are similar, but just like with the articles, it s only the masculine which changes: MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER ACCUSATIVE -en -e -es So, after a verb like nehmen which causes the noun to become the object of the sentence, we say: ich nehme einen kleinen Kaffee I ll have a small coffee ich nehme einen großen Kaffee I ll have a large coffee But note that the feminine and neuter examples stay the same in the accusative case: ich nehme eine kleine heiße Schokolade I ll have a small hot chocolate ich nehme ein kleines Wasser I ll have a small water So there you have the nominative and accusative endings for adjectives following an indefinite article. It probably seems like a lot to take in, but don t worry if you can t remember them all immediately. You ll be able to recognise these patterns as we come across more adjectives throughout the course, and remember, practice makes perfect! REVIEW Before we present new content in this lesson, Thomas tests Mark on his understanding of the material covered in lesson 12 using the Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 4 of 15

5 following sentences: ich möchte ein Stück Pizza und einen Apfelsaft I would like a piece of pizza and an apple juice Note the use of the accusative einen Apfelsaft because Apfelsaft is masculine. This can also be seen in the next example. ich nehme ein Sandwich mit Käse und Schinken und einen Kaffee mit Sahne I ll have a cheese and ham sandwich and a coffee with cream Thomas introduced an alternative to ich möchte and ich nehme: ich hätte gern I would like Literally this expression means something like I would happily have... but it is commonly used to ask politely for a drink or food in a restaurant or café context. Like ich möchte... and ich nehme... this phrase is also followed by the accusative. ich hätte gern einen kleinen Salat und einen großen Orangensaft I would like a small salad and a large orange juice Thomas also tests Mark on translations of some common German phrases used in food and drink situations: kommt sofort straight away, right away. Used in the context of a waiter or waitress going to fetch food or drinks for customers. Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 5 of 15

6 zum Trinken? to drink? alles in Ordnung? is everything ok? stimmt so that s fine. This expression is used when giving a tip, so if the bill came to 8.50, you could give 9.00 and use this expression to indicate that you are not expecting change. One further word discussed in this section is geizig meaning stingy or avaricious, and Mark is keen to give Thomas the impression that die Schotten sind nicht geizig: Scottish people are not stingy, despite the stereotypes! ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY In the last lesson we learned that ich habe Hunger means I m hungry, or more literally, I have hunger. Mark and Thomas discussed the ways in which the verb haben (to have) changes for different subjects: haben Sie Hunger? are you hungry? (formal) hast du Hunger? are you hungry? (informal) The third person singular of the verb haben is er hat, so to say my son is hungry you use the following expression: Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 6 of 15

7 mein Sohn hat Hunger my son is hungry er hat Hunger he is hungry Note that the feminine pronoun (the word for she in English) uses the same form of the verb: sie hat Hunger she is hungry It is important to notice the difference between sie meaning she and Sie meaning you (formal): sie hat Hunger she is hungry Sie haben Hunger you are hungry (formal) To be thirsty is Durst haben. This follows the same construction as Hunger haben, so when you say I am thirsty in German, you are really saying I have thirst. ich habe Durst I am thirsty du hast Durst you are thirsty (informal) er / sie hat Durst he / she is thirsty Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 7 of 15

8 Sie haben Durst you are thirsty (formal) GERMAN QUESTION FORMS Consider the following statements: Sie haben Hunger you are hungry (formal) Sie sprechen Deutsch you speak German (formal) Now consider the question forms: haben Sie Hunger? are you hungry? (formal) sprechen Sie Deutsch? do you speak German? (formal) When changing a statement into a question, the verb and the subject change position. GENAU Thomas introduces the word genau in this lesson which means right, that s it, or in some cases, of course. Note also: Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 8 of 15

9 stimmt that s right richtig right, that s right USEFUL MEAL PHRASES In the final section of this lesson, Thomas introduces a number of phrases used around mealtimes in German-speaking areas. guten Appetit have a good meal This is a shortened form of ich wünsche dir einen guten Appetit, meaning I wish you a good appetite Mahlzeit enjoy your food. This is an informal expression which you can use if you walk past friends who are eating. It literally means meal time. prost cheers zum Wohl cheers Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 9 of 15

10 A CONVERSATION In this dialogue, Mark is playing the role of a customer buying food and drink at the food stall where Thomas works. Thomas: Guten Tag. Was möchten Sie? Mark: Guten Tag. Ich nehme eine Bratwurst mit Pommes und einen großen Salat mit Schinken. Thomas: Zum Trinken? Mark: Ich hätte gern einen Apfelsaft und eine Limonade, bitte. Thomas: Sonnst noch etwas? Mark: Ja, ein Stück Apfelstrudel und ein Eis. Thomas: Also wir haben Vanille, Erdbeere und Schokolade. Mark: Ich nehme Schokolade, bitte. Thomas: Gut. Das macht zusammen 14 Euro. Mark: Bitte schön. Thomas: Danke. Guten Appetit. Mark: Danke schön. Schönen Tag noch. sonnst noch etwas anything else? wir haben Vanille, Erdbeere und Schokolade we have vanilla, strawberry and chocolate das macht zusammen 14 that s 14 in total CULTURAL CORRESPONDENT Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 10 of 15

11 In this lesson s Cultural Correspondent feature, Julia provides some useful tips for eating out in a German-speaking country. Hi Mark, hi Thomas, und guten Tag an alle unsere Coffee Break German Zuhörer. It s so nice of you to join me today, in this nice little restaurant in Berlin. You know there s something that I think you should all know about eating a meal in a restaurant with your friends. My experience in the UK is that you go with a meal with, let s say, three of your friends, the bill comes, and you split it four ways. Everyone pays the same, no matter what they ve eaten or drunk. Aber hier in Deutschland ist es nicht so! We have a slightly different way of looking at things. I guess the reason is that it s not really fair if I had a sandwich and a glass of water and my friend had caviar and champagne, then quite frankly why should I pay for his meal? That s why when we ask for die Rechnung, bitte, the waiter or waitress will ask: Zusammen, oder getrennt? Together or separately? If you choose getrennt then the waiter will sit down with you and patiently count out what each person has eaten and drunk and then arrange for separate bills for everyone. And this is completely normal! Neither the waiter nor your fellow diners will think you re being stingy. Now one thing we often get asked by our Coffee Break German listeners is about giving tips in a restaurant. It s difficult to identify a firm rule for tipping, and there s not really a fixed amount like, say, 10%. Here it depends more on what you ve eaten, how much it costs, how you ve been treated and, to be honest, what you have available. Very often we would round things up, so if your coffee was 2.80 then you could give 3.00, or if your Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 11 of 15

12 meal came to then giving would be reasonable. However, there s no set rule, so the best advice I can give you is play it by ear! I hope this has been useful for you and you feel better equipped to visit a café or restaurant, alone or with friends, zusammen oder getrennt! Noch einmal, guten Appetit und bis zum nächsten Mal....aber hier in Deutschland ist es nicht so...but here in Germany it s not like that die Rechnung, bitte the bill/check, please zusammen together getrennt separate(ly) - from the verb trennen meaning to separate, or to break down DAS REICHT FÜR HEUTE Ready for more? Turn the page to continue with the bonus materials for this lesson. Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 12 of 15

13 CORE VOCABULARY ich hätte gern... I would like Hunger haben to be hungry ( to have hunger ) ich habe Hunger I m hungry ( I have hunger ) sie hat Hunger she is hungry ( she has hunger ) Durst haben to be thirsty ( to have thirst ) ich habe Durst I am thirsty ( I have thirst ) guten Appetit enjoy your meal prost cheers zum Wohl cheers die Vanille vanilla Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 13 of 15

14 die Erdbeere strawberry die Schokolade chocolate BONUS VOCABULARY ich lade dich auf... ein I m inviting you for a... ich lade dich auf ein Bier ein I m inviting you for a beer ich lade dich auf eine Pizza ein I m inviting you for a pizza was bestellst du? what are you having? (literally what are you ordering? ) was nimmst du? what are you having? (literally what are you taking? ) noch... bitte another... noch eine Cola, bitte another cola, please darf ich dich auf einen Drink einladen? may I buy/offer you a drink? Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 14 of 15

15 ist der Platz hier noch frei? is this seat taken? (literally is the place here still free? darf ich mich zu Ihnen setzen? do you mind if I sit next to you? (formal) darf ich mich zu dir setzen? do you mind if I sit next to you? (informal) darf ich...? may I...? ich zahle eine Runde I m paying a round / it s my round ich zahle die nächste Runde I m paying the next round Coffee Break German: Lesson 13 - Notes page 15 of 15