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Vocabulary Sample Sentences
Ich bin Mark. I am Mark.
Was heißt das? What does this mean?
Ich heiße Mark. I am called Mark. / My name is Mark.
Ich komme aus Australien. I come from Australia.
Deutschland ist in Europa. Germany is in Europe.
Ich trinke immer Kaffee, wenn ich arbeite. I always drink coffee when I work.
Bis wann arbeitest du heute? Till when are you working today?
Ich arbeite als Lehrer. I work as a teacher.
Sie sind hier. You are here./ They are here.
Ich wohne nicht in Berlin. I don't live in Berlin.
Grammar Points
In order to introduce yourself, you need to know one thing about verbs (words describing actions). In
German, they typically end in –en when you find them in a dictionary or also in the vocabulary list.
That form is called infinitive. In English, the infinitive of a verb is something like “to be”, not “am” or
“are”. When you add the word “I” however, you no longer say “I be”, you say “I am”. This is no
longer the infinitive. In German, whenever you want to go from the infinitive to the form used with
“ich” (I), just take away the final –n. For example:
kommen (to come) -> ich komme (I come)
wohnen (to live) -> ich wohne (I live)
arbeiten (to work) -> ich arbeite (I work)
Easy, isn’t it? And here’s some more good news: in German, there is no difference between “I work”
and “I am working”, it’s “ich arbeite” in any case – and despite the stereotype, people don’t actuallywork that much over here. Law guarantees a minimum of 24 paid vacation days for employees, inaddition to sick time and national or regional holidays, and typically your contract will give you more.
Chuck said that he doesn’t come from Germany. In English, making a negative statement can givestudents quite a headache, but in German it’s as easy as adding “nicht” to the phrase. Some examples
just for practice:
Ich komme aus Deutschland. - Ich komme nicht aus Deutschland.
Ich arbeite hier. – Ich arbeite nicht hier.
Ich heiße Judith. – Ich heiße nicht Judith.
Cultural Insight
There is a somewhat different etiquette on conversation topics in Germany.
For one thing, questions about health (“Wie geht es Ihnen?”) are typically sincere, unless they are usedto bridge a lack of topic. So it is not absolutely required to ask people this when you meet them, muchless is it required to also inquire about their family, but when you do, you should not be disappointed ifyou get a detailed answer – particularly from old people, that like to complain about their variousillnesses. Germans like to complain about things anyway; it’s a kind of national sport thatunfortunately sometimes masks to foreigners how great things are in truth.
Another thing is that you may easily ask people about their name (but not explicitly ask for their firstname), origin, hobbies and job, but not their income. Even though you can probably guess somebody’swealth by their appearance and style of language, talk about money is taboo for most, just like talkabout religion or age. Talk about politics is fine though, and you will find that even the uneducatedhave firm opinions on political issues or what the German government ought to be doing. Respectfuldisagreement can foster a relationship just as much as agreement can; partisanship is low. Whateverybody can agree on though is that politicians are no good. Their reputation is comparable to that oflawyers in the USA.
