Learn to read German
A short, active path into reading German: decode nine real words from a ten-rule sound table, learn where the verb goes and why der becomes den, then read a fable whose pronunciation and English begin hidden.
Word lists: colours, people, numbers, and more describing words
- Open this when a book uses a word the main path did not give you; the next step needs none of it.
- The three little words are grammar, not biology: das Mädchendass MAYT-chen“the girl” takes the same one as the house.
- Plurals are made about six different ways: recognise them, do not learn them.
- Every plural takes diedee — doing or done to — whatever the singular took.
You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Neither reading uses a colour, a number, a family word or a plural. Open it when a book hands you a word the main path did not, and then go back to reading.
Eight colours
| rotroht“red” · blaublow“blue” · grüngrewn“green” · gelbgelp“yellow” |
| schwarzshvarts“black” · weißvice“white” · braunbrown“brown” · graugrow“grey” |
“blow” and “grow” rhyme with “cow”, not with “low”. The final b of gelbgelp hardens to p.
What colour is the horse?
Welche Farbe hat das Pferd?
VEL-chuh FAR-buh hat dass pfairt
Word for word: which colour has the horse. German asks what colour a thing has. Say Pferdpfairt“horse” by starting the p and the f together, in one push of air.
Ten people
| die Mutterdee MOO-tuh“the mother” · der Vaterdair FAH-tuh“the father” |
| der Jungedair YOONG-uh“the boy” · das Mädchendass MAYT-chen“the girl” |
| der Manndair man“the man” · die Fraudee frow“the woman” · das Kinddass kint“the child” |
| der Freunddair froynt“the friend” · der Bruderdair BROO-duh“the brother” · die Schwesterdee SHVES-tuh“the sister” |
One to ten
| einsines“one” · zweitsvy“two” · dreidry“three” · vierfeer“four” · fünffewnf“five” |
| sechszeks“six” · siebenZEE-ben“seven” · achtahkht“eight” · neunnoyn“nine” · zehntsayn“ten” |
“ines” rhymes with “lines”. In front of a thing, one drops the s and becomes the “a” word: ein Hundine hoont“one dog; a dog”. Two vague amounts come with them: vieleFEE-luh“many” and wenigeVAY-ni-guh“few”.
Eleven to a hundred
| elfelf“eleven” · zwölftsvurlf“twelve” · dreizehnDRY-tsayn“thirteen” · vierzehnFEER-tsayn“fourteen” · fünfzehnFEWNF-tsayn“fifteen” |
| sechzehnZECH-tsayn“sixteen” · siebzehnZEEP-tsayn“seventeen” · achtzehnAHKHT-tsayn“eighteen” · neunzehnNOYN-tsayn“nineteen” · zwanzigTSVAN-tsich“twenty” |
| dreißigDRY-sich“thirty” · vierzigFEER-tsich“forty” · fünfzigFEWNF-tsich“fifty” · sechzigZECH-tsich“sixty” |
| siebzigZEEP-tsich“seventy” · achtzigAHKHT-tsich“eighty” · neunzigNOYN-tsich“ninety” · hundertHOON-dert“a hundred” |
Thirteen to nineteen are three-ten, four-ten: the small number first, then -zehn. The tens swap -zehn for -zig. In between, German says the ones first — einundzwanzigINE-oont-TSVAN-tsich“one-and-twenty” — the way old English counted four-and-twenty blackbirds.
The week, and the clock
| MontagMOHN-tahk“Monday” · DienstagDEENS-tahk“Tuesday” · MittwochMIT-vokh“Wednesday” · DonnerstagDON-ners-tahk“Thursday” |
| FreitagFRY-tahk“Friday” · SamstagZAMS-tahk“Saturday” · SonntagZON-tahk“Sunday” |
| Wie spät ist es?vee shpayt ist ess“what time is it?” — Es ist drei Uhr.ess ist dry oor“It is three o’clock.” |
Every day ends in -tagtahk“day” except the middle of the week, which is simply “mid-week”. The clock question asks “how late is it?”; the answer is a number plus Uhroor“o’clock”.
When, and the rest of the family
| heuteHOY-tuh“today” · morgenMOR-gen“tomorrow” · gesternGES-tern“yesterday” |
| die Wochedee VOKH-uh“the week” · der Monatdair MOH-naht“the month” · das Jahrdass yahr“the year” |
| die Omadee OH-ma“the grandma” · der Opadair OH-pa“the grandpa” · der Onkeldair ON-kel“the uncle” · die Tantedee TAN-tuh“the aunt” |
Small morgenMOR-gen is tomorrow; capital MorgenMOR-gen“morning” is the morning from the greeting. Only the capital tells them apart on the page.
The plural patterns, all of them, once
Four more describing words
| jungyoong“young” · schlechtshlecht“bad” · schönshurn“beautiful” · langlang“long” |
They behave exactly like the six in the main path: an ending in front of a noun, bare after istist.
The rest of the greetings
| German | When |
|---|---|
| Halloha-LOH“hello” | any hour, with anyone you are not being formal with |
| Guten TagGOO-ten tahk“good day” | the workhorse — mid-morning until evening |
| Gute NachtGOO-tuh nahkht“good night” | only to someone going to bed |
| Tschüstshewss“bye” | casual, and everywhere |
| bitteBIT-uh“please” · dankeDAN-kuh“thank you” | and bitte is also the reply to danke |
| Entschuldigungent-SHOOL-di-goong“sorry” | sorry — and also: excuse me |
Notice GuteGOO-tuh loses its n in front of Nachtnahkht — bookkeeping again. Auf Wiedersehenowf VEE-duh-zay-en is long because it is formal: “until we see each other again”.