Lesson 14-3 - Lektion 14-3
Relative pronouns
Lesson 14: Urban transport. At the doctor’s. Activity 3
From this activity you will know how to:
- ask when the doctor is available
- tell the doctor your symptoms
- say that you caught a cold
- ask when you need to come next time
Learn the words and expressions for the dialogue
consultation (hours)
When is Dr. Hirsch available for consultation?
to be missing/lacking
What’s wrong/the matter (with you)?
to feel
I feel quite well.
temperature, fever
I have a fever.
probable, probably, likely
He is probably already there.
at the top, upstairs, up
The magazine is at the top.
at the bottom, downstairs, (down) below
I’m going downstairs now (by lift).
body; hull
Strip to the waist!
head
He is a head taller than me.
-ache
I have headaches.
to hurt
What hurts you?
neck
Do you have a sore throat?
to catch a cold
I caught a cold.
influenza, flu
I have flu.
to prescribe
What do you prescribe?
medicine, medication, medicament
This medicine is brand new.
Pay attention to the form and the usage of the words
The adverb wohl here has the second meaning «well», and in this context «healthy»:
Ich fühle mich wohl.
I feel well (healthy).
The adverbs oben «at the top» and unten «at the bottom» may form the corresponding adjectives ober- «upper» и unter- «sub-, under-» which only become the elements of compound words: der Oberkörper «upper part of the body», der Unterarm «forearm» etc.
The main meaning of the verb fehlen is «to be missing/lacking», «to lack». Mir fehlt ein gutes Wörterbuch. I’m missing a good dictionary. However, when we talk to the doctor, the expression Was fehlt Ihnen? will mean «What’s wrong? What’s the matter?».
When talking about periods of time, the pronoun alle is used in the meaning «every»:
Der Bus fährt alle 10 Minuten.
The bus goes every 10 minutes.
The phrase «I have ...-aches» can be translated into German in two ways: weh tun and Schmerzen haben:
/ Mir tut der Kopf weh. I have headaches. \ Ich habe Kopfschmerzen.
Remember the following way of word-formation (1)
frei + machen = freimachen to take off
der Kopf + die Schmerzen = die Kopfschmerzen headaches
Practise in reading the words
In der Sprechstunde
The names of some parts of the human body
Grammar points
You already know that subordinate clauses can be parts of the main clauses as: subject, object or adverbial modifier. Let’s have a look at another type of subordinate clause — the attributive clause. As the name shows, it is an attribute to one of the parts of the main clause denoting by a noun:
Der Arzt, der heute Sprechstunde hat, wohnt in unserem Haus.
The doctor who is seeing you today lives in our house.Subordinate attributive clauses are introduced by the relative pronouns der, die, das which agree with the noun in gender and number. Unlike other conjunctions and conjunctional words, which are not parts of subordinate clauses, the relative pronouns perform a certain function in subordinate clauses and are changed by cases:
Der Freund, der mich besucht hat, arbeitet jetzt hier.
The friend who visited me works here now.
Der Film, den wir gesehen haben, ist sehr gut.
The film that we saw is very good.
Die Wettkämpfe, an denen er teilnimmt, beginnen morgen.
The competitions in which he participates begin tomorrow.Relative pronouns in singular are declined differently depending on the gender; in plural all the genders have the same form (see the table). When denoting time, instead of the relative pronoun with the preposition in, is often used the word wo:
In der Zeit, wo ich noch studierte, wohnte ich hier.
At the time when I was still studying I lived here.
Declension of relative pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | all genders | |
| N | der | das | die | die |
| A | den | das | die | die |
| D | dem | dem | der | denen |
| G | dessen | dessen | deren | deren |
1. You want to know if the film (TV programme etc.) that is on today is good. Ask a question. How would you answer?
B. Wahrscheinlich. Viele Kollegen wollen hin.
Continue:
der Spielfilm, der Krimi, die Fernsehsendung, die Sportsendung, der Wettkampf im Schwimmen, das Fußballspiel, die Reportage [repɔrˈtaːʒə].
2. You are asked how you are feeling today. Answer. What question would you ask if you were the interlocutor?
B. Nicht ganz wohl. Ich habe noch Kopfschmerzen.
Continue:
Halsschmerzen, Magenschmerzen, Zahnschmerzen, Ohrenschmerzen, Rückenschmerzen, Schmerzen in der Brust, Schmerzen im Knie.
3. You do not know the name of the person who you were with. Ask a question. What answer would you give if you were the interlocutor?
B. Sein Name fehlt in meinem Telefonbuch.
Continue:
der Journalist, die Krankenschwester, die Lehrerin, der Sportler, die Sportlerin, der Chemiker, der Ingenieur, der Direktor.
4. You caught a cold, everything hurts. Tell it to your friend. What advice can (s)he give you?
B. Du mußt zum Arzt. Er hat gerade Sprechstunde.
Continue:
der Hals, die Brust, der Rücken, die Ohren, die Beine, die Schultern, die Füße, die Knie, die Arme, die Finger.
5. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the dialogue.
1. Was Ihnen? 2. Ich fühle mich nicht . 3. Machen Sie bitte den frei! 4. Haben Sie Fieber? — . 5. Ich habe mich . 6. Ich Ihnen Medikamente. 7. Mir auch der Hals weh.
6. Reconstruct the dialogue by filling in the gaps with the appropriate words.
Haben Sie Kopfschmerzen?
?
7. Try to reproduce the dialogue “In der Sprechstunde” by memory.
Check yourself!
What expressions will you use if you want to:
ask when the doctor is available
tell the doctor your symptoms
say that you caught a cold
ask when you need to come next time
