Welcome to Crystal Hunters!

We are the world’s first epic manga created for the express
purpose of learning German from zero. Our goal is to
translate this manga into as many languages as we can
(including the sci-fi and fantasy ones!) so that anyone can
learn to read this awesome manga in any language they
want in a very short amount of Bme.

According to the Foreign Service InsBtute, German is a

moderately easy language for naBve English speakers to
learn since they’re both “Germanic” languages. Even if you are
learning from zero, we believe you can read the first 100+
pages of Crystal Hunters in a weekend if you study at a brisk
pace, or maybe in an aRernoon if you blitz it. So clear your
schedule for the day and join us for a fantasBcal adventure that
will give you a sense of accomplishment for life.

Reading in German

Let’s jump in! German is a much more phoneBcally consistent language

than English, which means that words are generally pronounced exactly
as they’re spelled, so you’ll be able to pronounce most words without any
problem.
 The Alphabet

The German alphabet is very similar to the English alphabet. There are
only four extra leVers: Ä, Ö, Ü, ß.

How to Pronounce Le?ers in German

Each leVer usually only has one sound, although a select few have two or
three sounds. Let’s go through the alphabet real quick.

a - like the ‘a’ in father

b - same as in English
c - same as in English, usually sounds like a ‘k’
d - same as in English
e - like the ‘e’ in set; when at the end of a word, it will oRen be
pronounced more like “eh” or the ‘e’ in “hey”
f - same as in English
g - same as in English
h - same as in English
i - usually pronounced like the “ee” in “peek;”
- someBmes pronounced like the ‘i’ in “chill”
j - pronounced like the ‘y’ in “yes”
- for some English origin words it is pronounced the same as in English
k - same as in English
l - same as in English but a liVle harder
m - same as in English
n - same as in English
o - pronounced like “oh”
p - same as in English
q - pronounced like a ‘k’
r - we don’t have this sound in English. Explained below.
s - usually pronounced like a ‘z’ when followed by a vowel or at the
end of a word
- usually pronounced like a “sh” when followed by a consonant
- pronounced like the “ss” in “hiss” when followed by an ‘s’
t - same as in English
u - pronounced like the “oo” in pool
v - pronounced like the ‘f’ in fan
w- pronounced like the ‘v’ in van
x - pronounced like “ks”
y - pronounced like the “oo” in pool
z - pronounced like “ts”
ä - pronounced like the ‘e’ in “set”
ö - we don’t have this sound in English. Explained below.
ü - we don’t have this sound in English. Explained below.
ß - this symbol simply stands for two of the leVer “s” and should be
pronounced like the “ss” in “hiss”

Le?er Combina@ons and Sounds We Don’t Have in English

Vowels
ai - pronounced like “eye”
au - pronounced like “ow”
ei - pronounced like “eye”
ie - pronounced like the “ee” in “feet”
*Tip: when pronouncing “ei” or “ie” you say the name of the leVer
that comes last
eu - pronounced like “oy”
äu - pronounced like “oy”
ö - pronounced making an “ay” sound in the your front of the mouth
(instead of the back where we normally say it). Also touch your
tongue to the back of your boVom teeth and make your lips into an
‘O’ or whistle shape. The resulBng sound should sound fairly
different from “ay”, but is relaBvely similar to how ‘ü’ sounds,
although ‘ü’ has a slightly higher sound.
- in an unstressed syllable, ‘ö’ gets reduced to a much shorter sound.
We do similar reducBons in English.
*For example: the 2nd ‘o’ in choc(o)late, or the ‘i’ in b(i)rd.
ü - pronounced by making an “ee” sound in the front of your mouth
with your tongue touching your teeth, and making your lips into an
‘O’ or whistle shape. It ends up sounding a bit like “oo” in English,
but higher.
Consonants
ch - pronounced like the ‘h’ in “huge,” kind of like a cat hissing sound
dt - pronounced like ‘t’
kn - pronounced like “kn,” there’s no silent “k”
pf - pronounced like “pf,” there is no silent “p”
r - someBmes ‘r’ is pronounced like a rolling ‘r’ in the back of your
throat. Almost like gargling. You want your uvula – the liVle thing
in the back of your throat - to vibrate.
- But ‘r’ can also be much soRer when it comes aRer a vowel. This
usually happens to ‘r’ when ‘er’ is at the end of a word, but can also
happen aRer any vowel if the vowel+‘r’ pair is not followed by a
vowel or another ‘r’ (though there are excepBons). When ‘r’ changes
like this, it sounds more like the BriBsh “r” pronunciaBon, which is
similar to “ah”, “eh”, “oh”, or “uh” depending on the vowel before it.
*For example: the ‘r’s in ”monster” and “horn” are soR, but both ‘r’s in
“traurig” (sad) are hard.
sch - pronounced like “sh”
th - pronounced like “t”, but in some compound words you pronounce
both the ‘t’ and the ‘h’ as individual leVers.
*For example: “dorthin” is pronounced like “dort-hin”
tsch - pronounced like how we say “ch” in English
qw - pronounced like “kv”

German Stress

Like English, German also stresses certain syllables in their words. Luckily,
stress in German is preVy easy and the stress is almost always placed on
the first syllable of the word. The only excepBons to this are:
1. Words of foreign origin are normally pronounced and stressed in the
same way as their naBve language.
2. Words beginning with certain prefixes, such as “be-” are stressed on
the root of the word. Example: Benutzen
3. Words containing “hin” are stressed on the first syllable of the
second element. Example: dorthin
 Vocabulary List

Note: unless otherwise specified, the first word of each line is the root
word. Words following the root word in italics are conjuga9ons or other
forms of the root word, and words following in parentheses are plural
forms of nouns and pronouns.
Chapter 1
German Word Gender Meaning in English
aber but
AHHH! AHHH!
auch also
Bansom Bansom [character]
Baum (Bäume) masculine tree(s)
benutzen / benutzt to use
bin / bist [conjugations of sein] to be
here you go / please /
bitte
you’re welcome
da there*
danke thank you
das this / that*
dein your*
denken / denkt to think
der / das / dem the*
dich you [direct object of the sentence]
dieser / diese / dieses this / that / these / those*
dorthin there / to there*
du you [subject of the sentence]
dürfen / darf / darfst to be allowed / may
ein / eine / einem / einen a / an*
fallen / fällt to fall
froh happy
gehen / geht to go
Geld neutral money [usually singular]
haben / habe / hast / hat to have
hallo hello
halten / hält to stop
heißen / heiße to be called / to be named
hier here
ich I
in in
ist [conjugation of sein] to be
ja yes
 Chapter 1
German Word Gender Meaning in English
jetzt now
Jäger (Jäger) masculine hunter(s)
Kal Kal [character]
Kapitel (Kapitel) neutral chapter(s)
kein / keine none / not any / no*
kennenzulernen to get to know
können / kann / kannst to be able / can
Kristall (Kristalle) masculine crystal(s)
laufen / läuft to run
Leute people [only plural]
LKW (LKW)
masculine truck(s)
- pronounced like “el-kah-vay”
Mann (Männer) masculine man (men)
Maschine (Maschinen) feminine machine(s)
mein / meine / meinem / meinen my
Monster (Monster)
-pronounced the same as in English, neutral monster(s)
but with a softer “r”
mögen / mag to like
nein no
nicht no / not*
OK
OK
-pronounced the same as in English
Schlag (Schläge) masculine punch(es)
schlagen / schlag to hit / to punch
Schwert (Schwerte) neutral sword(s)
schön nice / fine
sehen / sehe / siehst / sieht to see
sein / sind / bin / bist / ist to be
sein / seine his
sie she / her / they / them
Team (Teams)
neutral team(s)
-pronounced the same as in English
traurig sad
und  and
warum why
was what
wer who
wissen / weiß to know
wir we
wo where
wollen / will / willst to want
zu to
 Chapter 2

German Word Gender Meaning in English

benutze [conjugation of benutzen] to use
deine [form of dein] your
die / den [forms of der] the
Frau (Frauen) feminine woman (women)
geh [conjugation of gehen] to go
halt [conjugation of halten] to stop

ihr / ihre her / their [possessive pronoun]

Kraft/ (Kräfte) feminine power

Kristallen [form of Kristalle] crystals

lauf [conjugation of laufen] to run
neu / neue new
Pfeil (Pfeile) masculine arrow(s)
seinem [form of sein] his
Subasa Subasa [character]
tschüss bye

Chapter 3

German Word Gender Meaning in English

Devan Devan [character]
Haus (Häuser) neutral house(s)
heißt [conjugation of heißen] to be called / to be named
Horn (Hörner) neutral horn(s)
ihren [form of ihr] her / their [possessive pronoun]
Knites
-pronounced like in English with a silent “k”,
Knites (character)
long “i” and silent “e”.

mich me
Schwanz (Schwänze) masculine tail(s)
Stadt (Städte) feminine city (cities)
Qualia Qualia [city]
wie how

*means there will be further clarifica9on in the sec9ons below.

Grammar
Changelings Part 1 – Verb Conjuga@ons
German words like to change! Different situaBons require different forms
for them.

That said, verbs are not the most complicated of the German changers
and are preVy easy to get a handle on. We only have a total of 5 kinds of
verb conjugaBons in Crystal Hunters (plus one super irregular verb), so
learning them won’t be hard at all.

Present Tense
And what beVer way to start going over the 5 types of verb conjugaBons
in Crystal Hunters, than to master the first 4 of those in the present
tense.

In German, almost all verbs end in “en”, although there are a few
excepBons. We only have one excepBon in Crystal Hunters (the super
irregular one), and we’ll get to that in a bit. For now though, just know
that there are both regular verbs which follow the rules, and irregular
verbs which desire to make our lives more difficult and do their own
thing.

Regular Verbs
Regular verbs all follow the exact same rules, so while we need to learn
the rules, you can apply these across all regular verbs (and to some extent
most irregular verbs too), which is preVy nice.

ConjugaBng is based on who the subject of the sentence is. So, depending
on who the sentence is about, the present tense conjugaBon of the
sentence changes. The six different categories of subject are:
 First person singular (“I”) First person plural (“We”)
“ich” “wir”
Second person singular (“You”) Second person plural (“You all”)*
“du”
Third person singular (“She”)* Third person plural (“They”)*
“sie” “sie”

*Note: We only added German pronouns which appear in Crystal Hunters.

There are other pronouns which fit in these categories.
Also, yes, “she” and “they” are the same word in German (“sie”).

Although there are six categories of subject, we’re only going to deal with
4! For both the “We” and the “They” categories you don’t have to
conjugate the verb! They stay exactly the same as the dicBonary form.
Not only that, but two of the conjugaBons are the same, so we’re actually
only dealing with 3 conjugaBons for regular verbs. Even easier!

To make these three types of conjugaBons, chop off the -en ending of the
dicBonary form of the verb, and then add the appropriate ending based
on the subject.

Using our chart from before, it looks like this:

+ “e” XXXX
+ “st” + “t”
(or only + ”t” if preceded by “s”, “z”, (or + “et” if preceded by “d” or
or “ß”) “t”)
+ “t” XXXX
(or + “et” if preceded by “d” or “t”)
We use a total of 4 regular verbs in Crystal Hunters, and here are the
completed charts for each of them.

“benutzen” (to use)

benutze benutzen
benutzt benutzt
benutzt benutzen

“denken” (to think)

denke denken
denkst denkt
denkt denken

“gehen” (to go)

gehe gehen
gehst geht
geht gehen

“heißen” (to be called / to be named)

heiße heißen
heißt heißt
heißt heißen

The Half Irregulars

The vast majority of German verbs are regular, but the more common the
word, the more likely it is to be irregular. Since Crystal Hunters primarily
uses very common words, the large majority of our verbs (11 of 16) are
half irregulars.

But as the name implies, a conjugaBon half irregular isn’t totally irregular,
so not everything will need to be learned from scratch. In fact, all of the
half irregulars’ plural conjugaBons (“we”, “you all”, “they”) are all regular.
It’s only their singular conjugaBons that might be irregular. Not only that,
but there are a lot of conjugaBons for these verbs that Crystal Hunters just
doesn’t use, so don’t worry about immediately cramming all of these into
your memory.

Here are the charts for all 11 of our half irregular verbs, and we’ve
highlighted the conjugaBons which are irregular. The white boxes are all
rule-following conjugaBons.

“dürfen” (to be allowed / may)

darf dürfen
darfst dürR
darf dürfen

“fallen” (to fall)

falle fallen
fällst fallt
fällt fallen

“haben” (to have)

habe haben
hast habt
hat haben

“halten” (to stop)

halte halten
hältst haltet
hält halten
 “können” (to be able / can)
kann können
kannst könnt
kann können

“laufen” (to run)

laufe laufen
läufst lauR
läuR laufen

“mögen” (to like)

mag mögen
magst mögt
mag mögen

“schlagen” (to punch)

schlage schlagen
schlägst schlagt
schlägt schlagen

“sehen” (to see)

sehe sehen
siehst seht
sieht sehen

“wissen” (to know)

weiß wissen
weißt wisst
weiß wissen
 “wollen” (to want)
will wollen
willst wollt
will wollen

The Super Irregular

“sein” (to be)
bin sind
bist seid
ist sind

“sein” is the last of our verbs in Crystal Hunters. As you can see, “sein”
preVy much does what it wants, and present tense is not the only place
where it basically does its own thing. It also does its own thing for some
command forms, and even acts weird with some grammar forms too, so
watch out for it!

Grammar in Ac@on!
Although we haven’t finished going over all the different German
conjugaBons in Crystal Hunters, this is a good Bme to take a break from
those and to start learning how to use everything we’ve learned so far.

In general, German follows the same basic word order as English:

Subject -> Verb -> Object

For example:
“Kal will sein Schwert.” = “Kal wants his sword.”
(All German nouns are capitalized, not just proper nouns like in English.)

There are some differences from English though, and one of those
differences is that the verb usually comes second in a German sentence.
One example of this is with place and Bme. In English, we might put the
verb at the end of the sentence for place and Bme, but in German it stays
in slot 2!

For example:
“Hier sind sie!” = “Here they are!”

By the way, when we say the verb comes second, we mean in terms of
categories like subject/verb/object. If, for example, there is an arBcle
aVached to the subject, the verb will be the third word, but sBll the
second category.

Example:
“Der Kristall ist hier!” = “The crystal is here!”

The verb oRen comes second in German quesBons too, just like they do in
English.

For example:
“Wo ist mein Geld?” = “Where is my money?”

However, yes/no quesBons are a bit different. German doesn’t have a

word like “do” which starts their yes/no quesBons like English does.
German quesBons are sBll easy though. All you have to do is move a
conjugated verb to the front.

For example:
“Siehst du das?” = “Do you see that?”
A Li?le Bit of This, A Li?le Bit of That
Before we get into the next main secBon, let’s take a quick detour.

As you may have noBced, there are two words in the vocab list which can
mean “this/that”, and these words are “dieser” and “das.”

The basic difference between these two is that “dieser” is used when you
want to say “this/that <thing>”, and “das” is used when you want to say
“this/that” only.

Examples:
“Dieser Jäger ist froh.” = “This/that hunter is happy.”
“Das ist Geld.” = “This/that is money.”

A few more things to note about “dieser” and “das:

1. “Dieser” can change forms and can also be plural (“these/those”).
(More detail on this in the next secBon.)
2. “Das” does not change forms and cannot be plural.
3. “Das” (“this/that”) is not the same word as “das” (“the”). (More
detail on the “the” version of “das” in the next secBon.)

Noun Alliances & Their Influence

Now that we’ve got a handle on basic grammar, let’s start ge{ng to know
German nouns.

One thing you need to know about German nouns, is that they are really
proud of their uniqueness. Not only are they all capitalized (as seen
above), but they come in 4 different categories.

1. Masculine
2. Feminine
3. Neutral
4. Plural

Noun categories are important because they have influence over arBcles
(a / the), and possessive pronouns (my / your/ his / her). These noun
categories wield their power to force the arBcles and possessive pronouns
to change their forms. The arBcles and possessive pronouns all start in
their dicBonary form, but once they aVach to a noun, the noun exercises
its power and changes them!

Luckily though, these noun categories make alliances with each other, and
knowing these alliances means we don’t have to memorize as much.

The “e” alliance

The primary alliance for nouns is between Feminine and Plural. They
made a simple alliance and just decided that in all basic sentences these
two categories will just add “e” to the dicBonary form of their arBcle or
possessive pronoun. This alliance is easy and consistent.

For example:
“Eine Frau will ihre Pfeile.” = “A woman wants her arrows.”
“Bansom benutzt seine Maschine.” = “Bansom uses his machine.”

(Since “sein” = “his”, it seems like "sein” should always be masculine, but
it is not. The noun following it controls its gender, which makes it “seine”
here.)

While the “e” alliance is very consistent in almost every instance, there is
one irregularity to it, and that irregularity has to do with “der” (“the”) &
“dieser” (“this/that”). “Der” and “Dieser” are partners in crime and they
kinda do what they want, so instead of adding an “e” to either of these,
we use “die” and “diese”. (But at least they sBll both end in “e”!)

Example:
“Die Leute wollen die KraR.” = “The people want the power.”
“Ich mag diese LKW.” = “I like these/those trucks.”
The Tenta9ve Dic9onary Alliance
The other alliance is between Masculine and Neutral, and the best part of
this alliance is that they allow arBcles and possessive pronouns to stay in
their dicBonary form. Easy for the arBcles and possessive pronouns, and
easy for us!

Example:
“Ein Mann sieht sein Haus” = “A man sees his house.”

Again, “der” & “dieser” do their own thing here, but luckily their
masculine form doesn’t change. Only their neutral forms change, and they
change to “das” & “dieses”. (They like “s” in their neutral forms.)

Example:
“Der Mann benutzt das Schwert.” = “The man uses the
sword.”
“Dieser Jäger schlägt dieses Monster.” = “This/that hunter
punches this/that monster.”

The Men’s Club

Unfortunately, while the neutral nouns follow their alliance for everything
but “der” & “dieser”, the masculine nouns make a huge break in their
alliance for objects.

Yes, that’s right, although they have a 0% change rate from dicBonary
form for subjects, they have a 100% change rate for objects.

Luckily though, it’s super easy to remember. Masculine object nouns want
their arBcles and possessive pronouns to look more like verbs, so they add
“-en” to everything.

Examples:
“Subasa will einen LKW” = “Subasa wants a truck.”
“Hat Bansom seinen Kristall?” = “Does Bansom have his crystal.”
And of course, “der” & “dieser” do their own thing again, but they keep
with the “-en” theme, so they change to “den” & “diesen”.

Example:
“Das Monster sieht den Mann.” = “The monster sees the man.”

The Super Irregular – Part 2!

Now, you may be looking at the example sentences at the beginning of
the “Grammar in AcBon!” secBon, and be thinking “Hey! There is a
masculine object noun (“LKV”) in those sentences! Why doesn’t it
change!?”

Well, the answer to that is that while the “objects” aRer “sein” act like
objects in terms of word placement. They act like subjects in terms of
noun alliances. The reasoning for this is that “sein” acts like an equals
sign, so the thing a subject is equal to should also be a subject, and not an
object. (officially, these types of “sein” object words are called
“complements”).

Examples:
“Das ist ihr Pfeil.” = That is her arrow. (“sein” object)
“Subasa benutzt ihren Pfeil.” = Subasa uses her arrow. (regular object)

Unfortunately, there is further craziness due to “sein” acBng all selfish and
doing its own thing with object nouns. However, we will cover that later in
“The Super Irregular – Part 4!” secBon.

Alliances Review
Just to make sure that it’s easy to come back and look up all the noun
alliances, here they are in review form.

Feminine & Plural -> +“e”

Neutral -> no change
Masculine (subjects + “sein” objects) -> no change
Masculine (objects) -> +“en”
And here are the many irregulariBes of “der” in chart form
(form changes highlighted)

Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural

Subject der die das die
Object den die das die

Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural

Subject dieser diese dieses diese
Object diesen diese dieses diese

(For a full chart with all the arBcle and possessive pronoun forms listed,
look at the end of the guide in the appendix.)

Intro to Adjec@ves
AdjecBves are preVy crazy in German. But don’t worry, we’re going to
take the easiest possible first steps on this journey to learn all about how
adjecBves work.

Luckily, the first step is the easiest. SomeBmes when we use adjecBves
they aren’t aVached to a noun. Instead we use them aRer “sein” as “sein”
objects (AKA “complements”). When this happens, they just stay in their
dicBonary form. The noun can’t influence them because there isn’t one!
Hurray for no changes!

For example:
“Ich bin froh” = “I am happy.”
“Das ist neu.” = “This is new.”
Singular Adjec9ves Want the “Dieser”
Singular AdjecBves in German love to be with “dieser” or “der” or one of
their forms. They love these two so much, that when they are not near
them they wrap themselves in their memory so that they can remember
what it was like when they used to be together.

Remember the “dieser” chart above? Well, singular adjecBves without a

“dieser” or “der” pair make addiBons to the end of their dicBonary form
idenBcally to the “dieser” chart.

Masculine Feminine Neutral

Subject + “er” + “e” + “es”
Object + “en” + “e” + “es”

Here are some examples of “dieser/der” hungry adjecBves. And take note,
the nouns here are influencing both the adjecBves and the arBcles/
possessive pronouns:

Examples:
“Siehst du sein trauriges Monster?” = “Do you see his sad monster?”
“Mein neuer LKW hat eine neue Maschine.” = “My new truck has a new
machine.”

That’s enough about adjecBves for now. Let’s keep it simple! We’ll learn
more about adjecBves in German in later guides as the language for
Crystal Hunters gets more complicated.
With Our Powers Combined!
Let’s move on to the best part of German grammar, its famous compound
nouns! Making compound nouns is really easy, just take any number of
nouns and sBck them together to make one word!

The only things you need to keep in mind when you do this are:

1. The gender of the final noun decides the gender of the compound
noun.

2. Nouns that are not the final noun should end in a consonant. As a
result, someBmes the plural forms of words are used because those
are the ones that end in consonants.

For example:
die Maschine(n) + der Mann = der Maschinenmann = the machine man.

You can see that the plural form for “Maschine” (“Maschinen”) is used
here because it ends in a consonant. Also, “Maschine” is feminine but
“Maschinenmann” is masculine.

C-c-c-combo!
The number of nouns that can be added on is basically infinite, just
remember the two rules above and combine away!

We only have one instance of a compound word longer than 2 words in

chapters 1-3. But don’t worry, we will definitely get more adventurous
with our use of compound nouns as the Crystal Hunters story progresses
and we up the difficulty level. For now though, here is the 3-word
compound noun in chapters 1-3:

der Kristall + der Jäger + das Team = das Kristalljägerteam = the crystal
hunter team
Do as I Say! Command Form Trio!
Almost done with basic grammar! Let’s do commands and finish it up!

Commands in German are almost idenBcal to the forms we’ve already

learned, and we only need to learn 1 new conjugaBon even though there
are 3 types of commands.

You do You
The first command form is what we consider “normal” for a command in
English. Say a verb - with an implied singular “you” as the subject - to get
meaning across as quickly and as forcefully as possible.

This is the last of our conjugaBons, and it’s preVy easy. All you have to do
is take the “en” off the dicBonary form of the verb, and that’s it!

For example:
“Lauf!” = “Run!” (talking to one person)

Direc9ng the Masses

Now if we want to start ordering around a bunch of people at once, we
need to use a different verb conjugaBon. But luckily, it’s one we already
know. Just plug in the second person plural (“you all”) conjugaBon, and off
you go!

For example:
“Haltet!” = “Stop!” (talking to mulBple people)
This is a Command?
So, we’ve covered commands for both singular and plural, what other
commands could there be? Well, in German “Let’s” is considered a
command form too. And honestly, it’s not a command - in English or in
German - but in German it behaves like one grammaBcally. Just roll with
it, it’ll be OK.

Anyway, all you have to do for the “let’s” command is take the dicBonary
form and then add “wir” aRer it. Super easy!

For Example:
“Gehen wir.” = “Let’s go.”

The Super Irregular – Part 3!

Just when everything is seeming all easy and manageable, “sein” goes and
does it’s own thing again. Now, we don’t use "sein” this way in chapters
1-3 of Crystal Hunters, so you don’t need to memorize these or anything,
but we’ll just list them real quick so they’re there if you want to know.

The command conjugaBons of “sein” are: “sei”, “seid”, and “seien”.

Examples:
“Sei froh!” = “Be happy!” (talking to one person)
“Seid froh!” = “Be happy!” (talking to mulBple people)
“Seien wir froh!” = “Let’s be happy!”

And with that covered, all the basic grammar is done! All of our verb
conjugaBons are done too! Just a bit more and you’ll be through this
guide and on to the manga!
But, before we move on, we’ll just leave all the command conjugaBons
here if you want a quick reference for them:
(Irregular conjugaBons are highlighted)

DicBonary form “you” form “you all” form “let’s” form

benutzen benutz benutzt benutzen
denken denk denkt denken
fallen fall fallt fallen
gehen geh geht gehen
haben hab habt haben
halten halt haltet halten
heißen heiß heißt heißen
laufen lauf lauR laufen
schlagen schlag schlagt schlagen
sehen sieh seht sehen
sein sei seid seien
wissen wisse wisst wissen

Note: dürfen, mögen, können, and wollen can’t be used as commands.

 THE MAGIC LINE

We’ve definitely been on a German learning adventure so far in this

guide, but it’s about to get magical!

There is a point in German sentences that, when crossed, changes

everything. This line is located directly aRer the object of a sentence, or if
there isn’t one, aRer the verb.

Half Nega@ve on One Side, Half Nega@ve on the Other

The easiest way to ease into understanding the magic line is with
negaBves, and this is because some negaBves come before the magic line,
and some negaBves come aRer.

The first negaBve is “kein”, and this is the negaBve that comes before the
magic line. “Kein” looks a lot like “ein”, and there is a good reason for this.
“Ein” means “a/an” and has numerical value of “one”. “Kein” also has a
numerical value, and that number is “zero”.

“Kein” also goes in the same place that arBcles and possessive pronouns
go, and nouns add endings to it in the same way too.

Example:
“Ich sehe keine Kristalle” = “I see no crystals.” = “I don’t see any crystals.”
“Kal hat keinen LKW.” = “Kal has no truck.” = “Kal doesn’t have a truck.”

As you can see in the examples above, we can say equivalent sentences in
two different ways in English. However, making negaBve sentences in two
ways like this is not a thing in German. When you are making a sentence
where the value of an object is zero, you use “kein” or one of its forms.

It seems counterintuiBve, but this also holds true for negaBve commands
when the object has a value of zero. As English speakers, it really feels like
we should be negaBng the verb, but in German we negate the object for
these situaBons.
For example:
“Schlag keine Leute!” = “Punch no people!” = “Don’t punch people!”

However! If there is already an arBcle or possessive pronoun before the

noun (that is not “ein” or one of its forms), then we can’t use “kein”.
It gets too crowded and the “kein” can’t get in.

So, let’s see how we negate these other kinds of sentences with…

The Nega9ve that Crosses the Line

For all situaBons where we can’t use “kein”, we use “nicht”. “Nicht” comes
directly aRer the magic line, and unlike it’s pre-magic line counterpart, it
does not change forms.

Examples:
“Ich weiß nicht.” = “I know not.” = “I don’t know.”
“Bansom hat seinen Kristall nicht.” = “Bansom does not have his crystal.”

The Super Irregular – Part 4!

It’s “sein” again! And it has come to make things harder!

As we said before, “sein” objects are not objects (they’re

“complements”!), and in German, they’re considered subjects in every
way but word placement. Because of this, the magic line aRer a “sein”
verb comes directly aRer the verb, not the “object”.

Example:
“Ich bin nicht OK.” = “I am not OK.”

This use of “nicht” actually mirrors English word order beVer than regular
verbs do, so although it’s an irregularity that we need to remember, at
least it’s one we’re familiar with.
Crossing the Magic Line & Entering Preposi@on Wonderland
This is where the real magic begins. PreposiBons are magicians.
PreposiBons use the power of the magic line to cast a spell over all
arBcles & possessive pronouns, and even some other words. Not only
that, but they break one alliance and strengthen another.

Luckily, while preposiBon magic is strong, its power to create is limited.

Even though all of the arBcles and possessive pronouns change, we only
need to learn one new form (and it’s our last new form in this guide!) Not
only that, but even the “der” forms follow the new rules for the most
part! So let’s do a quick run through preposiBonal wizardry, and then
we’re almost done with the tutorial and off to the manga!

A Broken Alliance & Male “Der” Envy

When the Feminine-Plural alliance crosses the magic line, preposiBonal
wizardry casts their powerful magic and breaks their alliance! Both
feminines and plurals are damaged heavily by this aVack, and in aVempt
to bolster their defenses they each try to scavenge a new form from the
strong masculine "der”.

The feminines secure the “der” base, so on this side of the magic line, all
feminine arBcles and possessive pronouns end in “er”. The feminine “die”
& “diese” forms return to their dicBonary forms of “der” & “dieser”, and
everything else adds “er” to the end of their base form.

Examples:
“Bansom benutzt seine Machine in dieser Stadt.” = “Bansom uses his
machine in this/that city.”
“Das Monster läuR zu einer Frau.” = “The monster runs to a woman.”

As for the plurals, they enjoy being in numbers so they secure the men’s
club. They all move into the club and take on an “en” ending. Plural “die”
& “diese” become “den” & “diesen”, and everything else adds “en” to the
end of their base form.
But that’s not all! The plural nouns are really jealous of all the fun that
their arBcles and preposiBons are having in the men’s club. So they half
join too! In preposiBon wonderland, plural nouns add “n” to the end of
their plural form.

Example:
“Bist du in den Bäumen?” = “Are you in the trees?”
“Subasa geht zu ihren Pfeilen.” = “Subasa goes to her arrows.”

A Strengthened Alliance & A New Form

Since both of the masculine form’s territories have been taken by the
feminines and the plurals, the masculines fully commit to their alliance
with the neutrals.

Now that they are together, they use the wizardry of the preposiBons to
the best of their ability and they create a new form, the “em” form. The
“em” form is a point of solidarity for masculines and neutrals, so “der”
and “dieser” change to “dem” & “diesem”, and all their other arBcles and
possessive pronouns add “em” to the end of their base form.

Examples:
“Kal läuR zu dem Mann.” = “Kal runs to the man.”
“Bansom ist nicht in seinem LKW.” = “Bansom isn’t in his truck.”

You have now learned all of your arBcle and possessive pronoun forms for
this guide! CongratulaBons! You’re almost to the end!

(By the way, if you want to quick check all the arBcle and possessive
pronoun forms, look at the end of this guide in the appendix.)
Magic Line Immunity
In some situaBons, there are preposiBons that choose not to cast their
magic. And the reason for this is that some German preposiBons are
pulling double shiRs.

In English, we can be “in” a truck, or we can go “into” a truck. However, in

German there is only “in” for both of these situaBons, there is no “into”.
So, in order to disBnguish these two meanings of the German “in”,
German uses magic line magic with the “in” meaning, but not with the
“into” meaning.

Since the “into” use of “in” doesn’t cast any magic, the arBcles and
possessive pronouns act like they do with objects.

Examples:
“Ich gehe in diesen LKW.” = “I go into this/that truck.”
“Ich bin in diesem LKW.” = “I am in this/that truck.”

The Word That Changes

As you have just seen, adding the meaning of “to” to “in” caused a
disturbance in the magic. Unfortunately, “in” is not the only vicBm of “to”.
“There” can also be one of its vicBms.

When we add the meaning of “to” to “there”, magic happens and we get
the word “dorthin”.

Examples:
“Da sind die Kristalle.” = “There are the crystals.”
“Gehen wir dorthin.” = “Let’s go to there.” = “Let’s go there.”
 German Language Quirks
Last secBon!! Just skim this quick and go read the manga!!

It’s not “Can I”, it’s “May I”

Aside from when we talk to people who are sBcklers for grammar, we can
use “can” to mean “may” in English. For example: “Can I have that?”

However, in German “können” only means “to be able to”. In order to get
the “may” meaning, we have to use “dürfen”.

Also, when we use either “können” or “dürfen” in German, we conjugate

them and then use the dicBonary form of the following
verb.

Examples:
“Du darfst gehen.” = “You may (are allowed to) go.”
“Ich kann laufen.” = “I can (am able to) run.”

There’s also one more thing that happens with “können”

and “dürfen” in German that doesn’t happen in English
(this happens with other German helping verbs too!)
What happens is that the verb which comes aRer the helping verb always
comes at the very end of the sentence in German (instead of immediately
aRer the helping verb like in English).

Examples:
“Subasa darf in sein Haus gehen.” = “Subasa may go into his house.”
“Wir können Maschinen in dem LKW benutzen.” = “We can use machines
in the truck.”

I Want to, too!

In German, “wollen” (“to want”) can also be used as a helping verb like
“können” and “dürfen”.

Example:
“Willst du ein Team sein?” = “Do you want to be a team?”
The “B” that’s There to Please
“BiVe” is a mulBpurpose wonderful word that we can use in a lot of
situaBons. It can mean “Please”, “You’re welcome”, “Here you are”, “May I
help you?”, and if you didn’t quite catch what someone said, “Pardon?”.

We only use it as “Here you are” in chapters 1-3 of Crystal Hunters, but we
love our “biVe”, so it’ll get more opportuniBes to shine in the chapters to
come.

No Apostrophes for Thee!

Last quirk! And it’s easy! Possession is marked by “ ‘s “ in English, but only
as “ s ” in German.

Example:
“Daphnes Maschinen” = “Daphne’s machines.”

TUTORIAL COMPLETE!!
You are now ready to read Crystal Hunters! Have fun being bilingual
enough to be able to read an over 100-page manga in German! This is an
accomplishment, be proud of yourself!
Easy German Version: (ebook)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WR5X4LT



Easy German Version: (free)
https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/88026410


And, if you want a natural version:

Natural German Version: (ebook)


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WRC3H75



Natural German Version: (free)
https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/88026570

Book 2 of Crystal Hunters is available now!

Book 2 Guide (free) Easy German (ebook)
https://crystalhuntersmanga. https://www.amazon.com/dp/
files.wordpress.com/2021/08/ B09BW181PP
german-guide-4-5-v1.pdf
Natural German (ebook)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/
B09BVZ75TW
 Appendix

Here are the form charts of all the arBcles and possessive pronouns in
Crystal Hunters for easy reference:

“der”
Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural

Subject der die das die

Object den die das die

PreposiBon dem der dem den

“dieser”
Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural
Subject dieser diese dieses diese
Object diesen diese dieses diese
PreposiBon diesem dieser diesem diesen

“ein”
Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural
Subject ein eine ein XXX
Object einen eine ein XXX
PreposiBon einem einer einem XXX

“mein”/“dein”/“sein”/“kein”
Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural
Subject -ein -eine -ein -eine
Object -einen -eine -ein -eine
PreposiBon -einem -einer -einem -einen
 “ihr”
(same ending addiBons as the previous chart)
Masculine Feminine Neutral Plural
Subject ihr ihre ihr ihre
Object ihren ihre ihr ihre
PreposiBon ihrem ihrer ihrem ihren