Alphabet:-

a (aahh)
b (bay)
c (say)
d (day)
e (eh)
f (f)
g (gay)
h (hah)
i (e)
j (yote)
k (kah)
l (ell)
m (m)
n (n)
o (o)
p (pay)
q (coo)
r (errrrrrrr)
s (s)
t (tay)
u (ooohh)
v (fow)
w (vay)
x (iks)
y (upsilon)
z (tset)

Pronomen Pronoun Sample Phrases

Ich I Darf ich? (May I?)

Ich bin 16 Jahre alt. (I'm 16
years old.)
The pronoun ich is not capitalized
except at the beginning of a
sentence.
du you Kommst du mit? (Are you
(fam.) coming along?)
Er He Ist er da? (Is he here?)

sie She Ist sie da? (Is she here?)

 Es It Hast du es? (Do you have it?)

Sie You Kommen Sie heute? (Are you

coming today?)
The pronoun Sie always takes a
plural conjugation, but is also used
for the formal "you" singular.
Nominative singular

Nominative plural

Pronomen Pronoun Sample Phrases

wir We Wir kommen am Dienstag.

(We're coming on Tuesday.)
Ihr you Habt ihr das Geld? (Do you guys
guys have the money?)
(fam.)
Sie They Sie kommen heute. (They're
coming today.)
The pronoun sie in this sentence
could also mean "you" Sie. Only the
context makes it clear which of the
two is meant.
Sie you Kommen Sie heute? (Are you
(plur.) [all] coming today?)
The pronoun Sie always takes a
plural conjugation, but is also used
for the formal "you" singular.

A special word about the "you" pronouns!

German, much more than English, makes a clear distinction between formal you (Sie) and
familiar you (first name, du) in social situations. (Unlike English, most European and other
languages also have both a formal and a familiar you.) In this regard, Germans tend to be more
formal than English-speakers and use first names only after a long period of getting to know each
other (sometimes years). This is a good example of how language and culture are intertwined,
and you need to be aware of this to avoid embarassing yourself and others. In the table below,
the familiar you forms (du, ihr) are marked with the abbreviation "fam." to distinguish them
from the formal you (Sie).
NOTE: German has three different forms of sie! Often the only way to tell which one is meant is
to notice the verb ending and/or the context in which the pronoun is used. Even the capitalized
Sie (you, formal) is tricky if it appears at the beginning of a sentence. Lower-case sie can mean
both "she" and "they": sie ist (she is), sie sind (they are).

When to use Sie, du or ihr

Use the formal Sie form when...

 you are talking to adults you only know casually or have just met.
 the situation would call for using "Mr." (Herr) or "Ms./Mrs." (Frau) in English. (Caution!
See below about using first names.)
 in a business situation unless specifically invited to do otherwise.
 addressing colleagues at work (unless they are close friends of yours).
 you have doubts about which form to use.

Use the du form when...

 talking to family members or relatives.

 talking with close, intimate friends.
 addressing children under the age of about 12 and pet animals.
 addressing God, as in a prayer.
 you are invited by the German-speaker to do so.

German greetings and courtesies

Deutsch English
Guten Tag! - Tag! Hello! - Hi!
Guten Morgen! - Morgen! Good morning! - Morning!
Guten Abend! Good evening!
Gute Nacht! Good night!
Wie geht es Ihnen? How are you?
 Wie geht's? How are you? (familiar, informal)
Danke, gut. Fine, thanks.
Auf Wiedersehen. Good-bye.
Tschüs! Bye! See you later. (casual)
Es geht. Okay. So-so.
Sehr gut. Great.
Danke! Thanks! - No thanks!
Note: "Danke!" in response to an offer usually
means "No thanks!" If you want to indicate a
positive response to an offer, say "Bitte!"
Bitte! - Ja, bitte! Please! - Yes, please!
Danke schön! Thank you!
Bitte schön! You're welcome! (in response to "Danke schön!")
Nein, danke!

German Nouns and Gender

German nouns (a person, place or thing, Substantive) are very easy to spot: they always begin
with a CAPITAL letter! German is the only world language that capitalizes all nouns.
Although there has been debate over the years about doing away with this rather inefficient
practice, for now ALL German nouns must begin with a capital letter. Whether we are talking
about a simple tree (ein Baum) or Deutsche Bank, any noun is capitalized in German. (MORE:
Capitalization in German, an article by your Guide.)

The other important thing for English-speakers to understand about German nouns is the matter
of gender. Just as we learned about the pronouns in the previous lesson, German nouns parallel
he, she and it (er, sie, es) by also being masculine (der - DARE), feminine (die - DEE) or neuter
(das - DAHSS). We can see the parallel very clearly by the ending letters for each
article/pronoun: der = er, die = sie, das = es.

Always learn German nouns with their genders! Although our Gender Hints page tells you
ways by which it is possible to know the gender of some German nouns, there is no better way
than to simply learn each noun and its gender together. Don't just learn Baum (tree), learn der
Baum (the tree)!
Der, die and das are the same as "the" in English - the DEFINITE ARTICLE. In German the
definite article is much more important than it is in English. For one thing, it is used more often.
In English we might say: "Nature is wonderful." In German, the article would be also be
included: "Die Natur ist wunderschön." So knowing which article to use becomes even more
important!

The INDEFINITE ARTICLE ("a" or "an" in English) is ein or eine in German. Ein basically
means "one" and like the definite article, it indicates the gender of the noun it goes with (eine or
ein). For a feminine noun, only eine can be used (in the nominative case). For masculine or
neuter nouns, only ein is correct. This is a very important concept to learn! It is also reflected in
the use of possessive adjectives such as sein(e) (his) or mein(e) (my), which are also called "ein-
words."

Gender is sometimes natural-der Mann/ein Mann (man, masc.), die Frau/eine Frau (woman,
fem.), but more often it is not: das Mädchen (girl, neuter). Nor does noun gender carry over
from one language to another. The sun is feminine in German (die Sonne) but masculine in
Spanish (el sol). A table is masculine in German (der Tisch) but feminine in French (la table).
But it is the WORD, not the thing that has gender, and it makes little sense to worry about the
whys of gender. Just concentrate on learning the genders. Memorization is key, but you can also
use little hints to help you remember a noun's gender. For example, to remind yourself that die
Natur, nature, is feminine, you might think of "Mother Nature." As you continue your studies,
always learn a new noun and its gender together-as a unit. This important step will become
increasingly important as you advance in German.

Nominative singular
Artikel Gender Sample Nouns

der Masc der Bahnhof (train station), Sohn (son),

ein Vater (father), Wagen (car), Zug (draft,
parade, train)
die Fem die Anlage (installation, park), Dame
eine (lady), Festung (fortress), Gesundheit
(health), Luft (air)
das neut. das Boot (boat), Dach (roof), Geld
ein (money), Jahr (year), Kino (cinema,
movie theater), Radio

NOMINATIVE PLURAL
Artikel Gender Sample Nouns (Plurals)
die plur. die Bücher (books), Dächer
keine (roofs), Fenster (windows), Jahre
meine (years), Radios, Söhne (sons),
Zeitungen (newspapers)
Note: All nouns, of any gender, become die in the plural. (Ein can't be plural, but other so-called ein-
words can: keine [none], meine [my], seine [his], etc.) That's the good news. The bad news is that there
are about a dozen ways to form the plural of German nouns, only one of which is to add an "s" - as in
English.

Two Important Verbs: haben and sein

To have and have not
Haben und nicht haben
The two most important German verbs are haben (to have) and sein (to be). As in most
languages, the verb "to be" is one of the oldest verbs in German, and therefore one of the most
irregular. The verb "to have" is only slightly less irregular, but no less vital to surviving in
German.

We'll start with haben. Look at the following table for the conjugation of haben (to have) in the
present tense, along with sample sentences. Notice the strong resemblance to English for many
forms of this verb, with most forms only one letter off from the English (habe/have, hat/has). In
the case of the familiar you (du), the German verb is identical to Old English: "thou hast" = "du
hast."

Haben is also used in some German expressions that are translated with "to be" in English: Ich habe
Hunger. = I'm hungry.

haben - to have
Deutsch English Sample Sentences
SINGULAR
ich habe I have Ich habe einen roten Wagen. (...a
red car.)
du hast you (fam.) Du hast mein Buch. (...my book.)
have
er hat he has Er hat ein blaues Auge. (...a black
eye.)
sie hat she has Sie hat blaue Augen. (...blue
eyes.)
es hat it has Es hat keine Fehler. (...no flaws.)
PLURAL
wir haben we have Wir haben keine Zeit. (...no
time.)
ihr habt you (guys) Habt ihr euer Geld? (...your
have money?)
sie haben they have Sie haben kein Geld. (They have
no money.)
Sie haben you have Haben Sie das Geld? (Sie, formal
"you," is both singular and
plural.)

To be or not to be...
Sein oder nicht sein...

Look at the following table for the conjugation of sein (to be) in the present tense. Notice how
similar the German and English forms are in the third person (ist/is).

sein - to be
Deutsch English Sample Sentences
 SINGULAR
ich bin I am Ich bin's. (It's me.)
du bist you (fam.) Du bist mein Schatz. (...my
are darling/treasure.)
er ist he is Er ist ein netter Kerl. (...a nice
guy.)
sie ist she is Ist sie da? (Is she here?)
es ist it is Es ist mein Buch. (...my book.)
PLURAL
wir sind we are "Wir sind das Volk!" ("We are
the people/nation!" - Slogan of
1989 East German protests in
Leipzig.)
ihr seid you (guys) Seid ihr unsere Freunde? (..our
are friends.)
sie sind they are Sie sind unsere Freunde. (..our
friends.)
Sie sind you are Sind Sie Herr Meier? (Sie, formal
"you," is both singular and
plural.)