The present tense of German verbs (1^st and 3^rd person)

Lesson 2: Acquaintance. Activity 3

From this activity you will know how to:

• introduce one person to another
• reply if someone was introduced to you
• ask to repeat if you didn’t catch something
• ask your interlocutor’s name and surname

Learn the words and expressions for the dialogue

Pay attention to the form and the usage of the words

1. The modal verb dürfen means “to be allowed to”, “may”. When used with pronoun “ich”, it is better translated with “may I...”:

    

   Darf ich kommen?

   May I come?
    

   Darf ich vorstellen?

   May I introduce (you to someone)?
2. ist – 3^rd person singular of the verb sein (“to be”).
3. mein – a possessive pronoun, 1^st person singular.
4. Ihr – a possessive pronoun, 3^rd person plural, polite form (it is always written with a capital letter).

5. Remember the usage of the possessive pronouns mein and Ihr in questions and answers, namely:

    

   in the question—Ihr

   in the answer—mein
    

   Wie ist Ihr Name?

   Mein Name ist Schneider.

6. The expression sehr angenehm! is often used as a reply when somebody introduces you someone:

   Darf ich vorstellen? Klaus Bock.—Sehr angenehm!
   May I introduce you to... Klaus Bock.— Very pleased to meet you!
   (literally: May I introduce? Klaus Bock.— Very pleasantly!)

Remember the following way of word-formation (2)

vor + stellen = vorstellen (to introduce smb to smb)

Practise in reading the words

Darf ich vorstellen?

Grammar points

1. Note the personal pronouns and their usage:

   Singular

   Plural

   1^st person
   3^rd person

   ich I
   er he
   sie she
   es it

   1^st person
   3^rd person

   wir we
   sie they
   Sie you (polite form)

Reminder: 2^nd person will be examined in the second part of the lessons, that is not soon. As for now, learn to be polite :)

2. The pronoun sie means both “she” and “they” (and is different from “Sie”). The meaning depends on the ending of the verb: if the verb ends in -t (singular), then sie is translated as “she”; if the verb ends in –еn (plural), then sie is translated as “they”:

   Sie wohnt in Berlin.
   Sie wohnen in Berlin.

   She lives in Berlin.
   They live in Berlin.

3. If the pronouns еr “he”, sie “she”, es “it” or sie “they” are used in a question, the same pronouns will be in the answer:

   Wohnt er (sie) in Leipzig? – Ja, er (sie) wohnt in Leipzig.
   Does he (she) live in Leipzig? – Yes, he (she) lives in Leipzig.
   Kommen sie aus Brest? – Ja, sie kommen aus Brest.
   Do they come from Brest? – Yes, they come from Brest.

4. Unlike English, nouns in German have three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The article indicates that its noun is one of three genders:

    

   der

   for masculine nouns

    

   die

   for feminine nouns

    

   das

   for neuter nouns

    

   die

   for all three genders in plural

The verb conjugation in the present tense

1. Introduce Mr. Meier (Mrs. Fischer and others). Reply if someone was introduced to you.

2. You didn’t catch your interlocutor’s name. Ask him to repeat. What would the interlocutor say if he/she were you?

3. You are telling a certain fact about yourself. Ask your partner if it is true about somebody else too.

4. What question should you ask if you didn’t catch the highlighted word?

5. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the dialogue.

1. ich vorstellen? Peter Zahn. 2. Das ist Frau Lenz. Sehr ! 3. Wie ist Name? Mein Name ist Frank. 4. Kommt er aus Leipzig? Ja, kommt aus Leipzig! 5. Darf ich kommen? !

6. Reconstruct the dialogue by filling in the gaps with the appropriate words.

7. Try to reproduce the dialogue “Darf ich vorstellen” by memory.

Check yourself!

What expressions will you use if you want to:

introduce one person to another
reply if someone was introduced to you
ask to repeat if you didn’t catch something
ask your interlocutor’s name and surname