German Essentials For Dummies

Wendy Foster, Paulina Christensen, Anne Fox

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781118240380
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: German Language
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The core concepts you need to write and speak German

Learning a new language is a fun and challenging feat for students at every level. Perfect for those just starting out or returning to German after some time away, German Essentials For Dummies focuses on core concepts taught (and tested on!) in a typical introductory German course. From adjectives and adverbs to understanding tenses and asking questions, you'll skip the suffering and score high marks at exam time with the help of German Essentials For Dummies.

Designed for students (and parents) who want the key concepts and a few examples—without the review, ramp-up, and anecdotal content— German Essentials For Dummies is a perfect solution for exam-cramming, homework help, and reference.

• Focuses on everything from grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciations to verb forms and tenses
• Perfect for a refresher or a quick reference
• Aids you in writing assignments, tests, and conversational German

If you have some knowledge of German and want to polish your skills, German Essentials For Dummies focuses on just the core concepts you need to communicate effectively.

Chapter 1

Laying the Foundations of German

In This Chapter

Counting with cardinal and ordinal numbers

Stating dates and times

Pointing out the parts of speech

Familiarizing yourself with how to use numbers, time, and dates is basic to your German skills. Understanding parts of speech will get you ahead in using spoken and written German.

Crunching the Numbers

You encounter the two types of numbers, cardinals and ordinals, in myriads of situations. Cardinal numbers are vital for counting, prices, phone numbers, or for communicating time and dates. You use ordinal numbers, such as first, second, and third, to express a floor number or which street you take when following directions (like when someone tells you to take the third street on your left). The following sections go into detail about using both types of numbers.

1-2-3: Counting off with cardinal numbers

Table 1-1 shows numbers 1 through 29. Notice a couple of points about numbers 21 and up:

They’re written as one word: einundzwanzig (21), zweiundzwanzig (22).

They follow the cart-before-the-horse rule — that is, you say the ones digit before the tens digit, linking the words with und: for example, vierundzwanzig (24; literally: four and twenty).

Table 1-1 Cardinal Numbers 1–29

Numbers 0–9	Numbers 10–19	Numbers 20–29
0 null	10 zehn	20 zwanzig
1 eins	11 elf	21 einundzwanzig
2 zwei	12 zwölf	22 zweiundzwanzig
3 drei	13 dreizehn	23 dreiundzwanzig
4 vier	14 vierzehn	24 vierundzwanzig
5 fünf	15 fünfzehn	25 fünfundzwanzig
6 sechs	16 sechzehn	26 sechsundzwanzig
7 sieben	17 siebzehn	27 siebenundzwanzig
8 acht	18 achtzehn	28 achtundzwanzig
9 neun	19 neunzehn	29 neunundzwanzig

In spoken German, people commonly use zwo instead of zwei, which avoids the confusion — acoustically speaking — with drei. To double-check that you heard zwei and not drei in credit card numbers, prices, telephone numbers, room numbers, and so on, either ask or repeat the number(s), using zwo. Say, for example, Ich wiederhole vier-zwo-acht (I’ll repeat four-two-eight). If you’re still not sure of the numbers even after repeating them back to the speaker, try the failsafe route — ask for them via e-mail: E-mailen S...