Lesson 12-1 - Lektion 12-1
Second-person pronouns in German
Lesson 12: Recreation. Sport. Activity 1
From this activity you will know how to:
- ask about the plans at the weekend
- ask if the interlocutor can suggest something
- ask about city’s surroundings
- arrange an excursion
Learn the words and expressions for the dialogue
trip, excursion
Tomorrow we are taking an excursion.
once (at some point, doesn’t matter when exactly; it adds a casual and relaxed tone, can soften the tone, doesn’t have a literal translation in English)
May I ask you something?
weekend
What are you doing at the weekend?
to follow (= to do what others do)
I(’ll) fit in with you. / I(’ll) do what you do.
actually, really, strictly speaking, in fact
You are actually right.
to occur, to think of smth., to come up with smth.
I can’t think of his name.
to suggest, to propose
I suggest calling him.
nature
The nature is very beautiful there.
to go to the country, in the countryside
At the weekend we are going to the country.
surrounding area, surroundings
Are the Berlin’s surroundings beautiful?
lake
We are going to the lake.
wood(s), forest
The lake is in the forest.
go for a walk
We often go for a walk.
to bathe, to swim
Where can we bathe here?
boat
My friend likes to go boating.
Ok, that’s settled; agreed; it’s a deal, done
See you tomorrow then! – It’s a deal!
Pay attention to the form and the usage of the words
The verb vorschlagen, as other strong verbs, changes its root vowel а to ä in 2nd and 3rd person singular:
Werner schlägt einen Ausflug vor
Werner proposes an excursion.
The expression ins Grüne fahren «to go to the country» (lit.: in the nature, from the word grün «green») answers the question wohin? «where to?». With the question wo? «where?» the form im Grünen is used:
Morgen fahren wir ins Grüne.
Tomorrow we are going to the country.
Gestern waren wir im Grünen.
Yesterday we were in the countryside.
The verb spazieren gehen «go for a walk» is separable, in this case, the separable element here is the verb spazieren:
Gehen Sie oft spazieren?
Do you often go for a walk?
Paul ist spazierengegangen.
Paul has gone for a walk.
The intransitive verb fahren«to go (by transport)» makes a number of expressions where it is used as a direct object: einen Wagen fahren «to drive a car», Boot fahren «go boating», Rad fahren «ride a bicycle» etc.:
Er fährt den Wagen sehr gut.
He drives the car very well.
Wollen Sie Boot fahren?
Do you want to go boating?
Remember the following ways of word-formation (1 and 2)
die Woche + n + das Ende конец = das Wochenende weekend
die Natur + -lieh = natürlich naturally
Practise in reading the words
Ein Ausflug
Grammar points
Second-person pronouns
Second-person pronouns in German do exist, we have not forgotten about them. They are — du in sungular and — ihr in plural. The pronoun du is used to address friends, people that you know well, children, colleagues (after you have know them well enough or a colleague invites you to use it). It is the equivalent of the old English «thou» (and «thee»):
Wie heißt du denn?
What’s your name?
(lit.: How are you called then?)The plural form ihr is used in the same way as its singular form only to address several people.
Wohin geht ihr jetzt? Where are you going now?
As other personal pronouns, the pronouns du and ihr are declined:
Singular Plural N du ihr A dich euch D dir euch Wie geht es dir (euch)? — Es geht mir (uns) gut.
How are you doing? — (I am or We are doing) Fine.Verbs in 2nd person singular get the ending -st, and in plural — the ending -t. At the same time, strong verbs change the root vowel е in singular number to i, and the root vowel а — to ä:
Du sprichst gut Deutsch.
You speak German well. (sing.)
Ihr sprecht gut Deutsch.
You speak German well. (pl.)
Fährst du morgen nach München?
Are you going to Munich tomorrow? (sing.)
Fahrt ihr morgen nach München?
Are you going to Munich tomorrow? (pl.)
The auxiliary verbs sein, haben and werden have the following forms: du bist, hast, wirst; ihr seid, habt, werdet.
Declension of personal pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| N | ich | du | er, es, sie | wir | ihr | sie, Sie |
| A | mich | dich | ihn, es, sie | uns | euch | sie, Sie |
| D | mir | dir | ihm, ihm, ihr | uns | euch | ihnen, Ihnen |
1. You are offered to spend time in a particular way. Answer. What question would you ask if you were the interlocutor?
B. Wie du willst. Ich mache Ausflüge gern.
Continue:
Boot fahren, spazieren gehen, im See baden, ins Grüne fahren, die Ausstellung besuchen, in die Umgebung fahren.
2. You want to know if you can spend time in a particular way. Ask a question. How would you answer if you were the interlocutor?
B. Aber sicher! Wir richten uns ganz nach euch.
Continue:
baden, Boot fahren, ins Grüne fahren, am See liegen, in den Wald gehen, in der Umgebung spazieren gehen
3. You are asked if you know the name of a person. Give a negative answer. How would you ask if you were the interlocutor?
B. Mir fällt sein Name nicht ein.
Continue:
der Ingenieur, die Krankenschwester, der Lehrer, der Arbeiter, der Journalist, die Studentin, der Bauer.
4. You are asked how you are going to spend time. Answer. What question would you ask if you were the interlocutor?
B. Eigentlich möchte ich lieber den Kollegen besuchen.
Continue:
ins Grüne fahren, im See baden, in die Ausstellung gehen, Boot fahren, im Wald spazieren gehen, ein Buch lesen.
5. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the dialogue.
1. Was haben wir fürs vor? 2. fällt mir nichts ein. 3. Ist die der Stadt schön? 4. Wir können und baden. 5. Ich mich ganz nach dir. 6. Ich hole dich ab, — ! Bis morgen!
6. Reconstruct the dialogue by filling in the gaps with the appropriate words.
Kannst du etwas vorschlagen?
,
.
.
.
?
.
7. Try to reproduce the dialogue “Ein Ausflug” by memory.
Check yourself!
What expressions will you use if you want to:
ask about the plans at the weekend
ask if the interlocutor can suggest something
ask about city’s surroundings
arrange an excursion
