Chapter 5 of 17 · Explore the German path

How sentences work · Chapter 5 of 17

Say who somebody is, and say no

Say who somebody is with six short standing-in words and four forms of “to be”. Then learn the two words for “not”, three greetings, and how to ask a name and give your own.

≈ 5 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Six short words stand in for a name, and German nearly always writes them out.
siezee means both “she” and “they”; the doing word beside it decides.
Four forms of “to be” cover almost everything.
nichtnicht“not” sits late in the sentence; keinkine“not a” stands where “a” would.

A standing-in word takes the place of a name: “she sees the dog”. German nearly always writes them out — if a printed statement is about somebody, the word for that somebody is on the line. The common exception is a direct order, which drops the doer exactly as English does.

Words for I, you and other people

These six do the job that I, you, he, she, it and they do in English. German nearly always prints them.

English	German
I	ichich“I”
you — one person you know	dudoo“you”
he	erair“he”
she	siezee“she”
it	esess“it”
they	siezee“they”

siezee appears twice: the doing word decides — sie istzee ist“she is” is one person, sie sindzee zint“they are” several. Capital Siezee mid-sentence is the polite “you”. The words for “we” and “you all” are in the verb lookup.

Change am, are and is to match the person

English swaps am for are and is. German swaps its word too. These four forms cover nearly every sentence you will meet.

English	German
I am	ich binich bin“I am”
you are	du bistdoo bist“you are”
he / she / it is	er istair ist“he is”
we / they are	wir sindveer zint“we are”

One word, two jobs: istist says what something is and also where it is.

Say whose it is

These three say who something belongs to. They stand in front of the naming word, where English puts my and your.

English	German
my	meinmine“my”
your	deindine“your”
his / its	seinzine“his”

In front of some nouns they grow an -e — meine KatzeMY-nuh KAT-suh“my cat”. Bookkeeping; the word underneath is the same word.

Three greetings that open and close a scene

A scene often opens with a greeting. German picks the greeting by the time of day, so the clock decides which one you see.

Guten MorgenGOO-ten MOR-gen“good morning” — until mid-morning

Guten AbendGOO-ten AH-bent“good evening” — from early evening

Auf Wiedersehenowf VEE-duh-zay-en“goodbye” — the full, polite goodbye

German greets by the clock. The rest of the clock, and the casual hello and bye, are in the word lists.

Ask a name, and give your own

A first conversation is two questions and two answers. These are the ones you are most likely to be asked.

English	German
What is your name?	Wie heißt du?vee hyst doo“what are you called?”
My name is Mina.	Ich heiße Mina.ich HY-suh MEE-na“I am called Mina.”
Where are you from?	Woher kommst du?vo-HAIR komst doo“from where come you?”
I am from Berlin.	Ich komme aus Berlin.ich KOM-uh owss bair-LEEN“I come from Berlin.”

Word for word, German asks how you are called and where you come from. Swap the name and the town; nothing else moves.

Read the sentence before revealing it

Ich bin Mina.
I · am · a name.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Ich bin Mina.ich bin MEE-na“I am Mina.”
Das ist nicht mein Haus.
No “a” in it, so the denying word is the late one.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Das ist nicht mein Haus.dass ist nicht mine howss“That is not my house.”
der Fuchs
From two steps ago.
Show answer +Hide answer −
der Fuchsdair fooks“the fox”

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All German chapters ↗