英文讲解初级德语-Agreeing on a time

 

 

Formal German

#2 Gehen Sie morgen mit mir ins Café Antabli?

#1 Okay.

#2 Wann haben Sie Zeit? Ist 4 Uhr gut?

#1 16 Uhr ist zu früh, dann arbeite ich noch.

#2 Wie spät möchten Sie sich treffen?

#1 18 Uhr ist besser.

English

#2 Will you go to the Cafè Antabli with me tomorrow?

#1 Okay.

#2 When do you have time? Is 4 o’clock okay?

#1 16 o’clock is too early, [because] then I will still be working.

#2 How late do you want to meet?

#1 18 o’clock is better.

Informal German

#2 Gehst du mit mir morgen ins Café Antabli?

#1 Okay.

#2 Wann hast du Zeit? Ist 4 Uhr gut?

#1 16 Uhr ist zu früh, dann arbeite ich noch.

#2 Wie spät möchtest du dich treffen?

#1 18 Uhr ist besser.

Informal English

#2 Will you go to the Cafè Antabli with me tomorrow?

#1 Okay.

#2 When do you have time? Is 4 o’clock okay?

#1 16 o’clock is too early, [because] then I will still be working.

#2 How late do you want to meet?

#1 18 o’clock is better

 

Vocabulary Sample Sentences

Ich muss mit dem Hund rausgehen. I have to go out with the dog. / I have to walk the dog.

Er spielt mit dem Hund. He plays with the dog.

Komm mit mir. Come with me.

Wann kommst du? When will you come (over)?

Die Uhr tickt. The clock is ticking

Es ist früh am Morgen. It is early in the morning.

Wie heisst du? How are you called?

Er kommt zu spät. He is coming (arriving) too late.

Das kannst du besser. You can do that better.

Grammar Points

Numbers 10 to 29:

10 zehn, 11 elf, 12 zwölf

13 dreizehn, 14 vierzehn, 15 fünfzehn, 16 sechzehn, 17 siebzehn, 18 achtzehn, 19 neunzehn 20 zwanzig

21 einundzwanzig, 22 zweiundzwanzig…

Eleven and Twelve are actually similiar to the English pronunciation. From there on it is like counting,　　1,2,3... and just adding the ending “zehn”, which corresponds to the English “-teen”. Be careful with16 and 17, because these have been shortened a bit for pronunciation reasons.

　　Times:

　　There are many ways of telling the time. Once you are fluent you will have no trouble giving it as “17Uhr 14” (5:14) for example, but until then you can just round it and still be close enough.

　　The full hour:  X Uhr = X o’clock, e. g. 3 Uhr = 3 o’clockA half hour:  Halb X+1 = half past X, e. g. halb 4 = half past 3  - Germans always see the pointer asbeing half way to the next hourA quarter:  Viertel vor/nach X = quarter to/past XFor anything else, use “vor” (here: to) and “nach” (here: past).

　　For example:  zehn nach sechs = ten past six;  fünf vor zw?lf = five to twelve

Cultural Insight

       Greetings also depend on the time of day. In the morning you generally greet with a “Guten Morgen”

　　which means “good morning”. At about ten or eleven o’clock you should start using “Guten Tag”

　　instead, which means “Good day!” or “Good Afternoon.”and is slightly more formal than a simplehello. You can use that for the rest of the day, but at about 7 or 8 in the evening, it’s recommended toswitch over to “Guten Abend.” which means “Good evening.”

　　Those changes go along with the German eating habits.

　　There recently was a survey by the magazine “Stern”, which found that the average German gets up athalf past six. With such an early start in the morning, it doesn’t surprise that the average German hasbreakfast before 8 in the morning. And this early start influences all the rest of the day. In fact theGermans structure their days with their meals.

　　Lunch at 12 pm has become an institution. Only very few Germans eat considerably later. Even inshops it’s normal that the staff rotates around lunchtime, so that most employees had their meal by 1or 2 o’clock. Therefore you’ll find less staff in a store around lunchtime, which can make shopping abit harder. But on the other hand the stores are generally a bit more empty, so it probably breaks evenin the end.

 　　The next important meal, though only a snack really, is “Kaffee”. Around 4 o’clock, German peoplecome together to enjoy some coffee and a piece of cake, or just to sit and relax.

　　Then, 6 o’clock is considered to be the perfect time for supper.