Lesson 3-1 - Lektion 3-1
Ordinal numbers
Lesson 3: Family. Profession. Activity 1
From this activity you will know how to:
- ask about a stranger
- ask your interlocutor about his/her age
- tell about your age
- perform arithmetic operations
Learn the words and expressions for the dialogue
who
Who is that (this/it)? — That is Monika.
How old are you?
How old is Martin?
год
I live one year in Berlin. (I have been living in Berlin for one year)
I am ... years old.
Rolf is 18 years old.
one
two
One plus one is two.
three
Three minus one is two .
four
Two times two is four.
five
Two plus three is five.
six
Three times two is six.
seven
Seven minus three is four.
eight
Eight divided by two is four.
nine
Three times three is nine.
ten
Ten divided by two is five.
eleven
Seven plus four is eleven.
twelve
Twelve minus four is eight.
Pay attention to the form and the usage of the words
1. Wer is a question word for the subject. It is used when we ask about the name (surname) of a person we do not know:
Wer ist das? – Das ist Herr Vogel (Frau Meier) usw. *
* usw. – und so weiter = etc. – and so on
2. The question "How old are you (is he/she etc.)?" and the reply on it "I am (he/she is etc. ) 20 (25 etc.) years old" are translated to German with a set expression, namely:
Wie alt sind Sie? – Ich bin 20 Jahre alt.
Wie alt ist er (sie)? – Er (sie) ist 25 Jahre alt.
3. The numeral eins is used only when counting or when the number stands alone: eins und sechs ist sieben, but:
einunddreißig (31), einundvierzig (41) usw.
4. In order to form a question to the numeral, the question phrase wie viel "how much" (for uncountable objects), wie viele "how many" (for countable objects) is used (the old spelling wieviel was for the both options, you may find it somewhere):
wie viele Kollegen sind das? – Das sind fünf Kollegen.
wie viel ist zwei plus sieben? – Zwei plus sieben ist neun.
Remember the following ways of word-formation (1 and 2)
sechs
but:
sechzehn, sechzig (without s)
sieben
but:
siebzehn, siebzig (without en)
drei
but:
dreißig (ß instead of z)
Practise in reading the words
Wer ist das?
Juri Smirnow — Thomas Hansen.
Grammar points
Remember German numerals and their formation:
0 null
1 eins
2 zwei
3 drei
4 vier
5 fünf
6 sechs
7 sieben
8 acht
9 neun10 zehn
11 elf
12 zwölf
13 dreizehn
14 vierzehn
15 fünfzehn
16 sechzehn
17 siebzehn
18 achtzehn
19 neunzehn20 zwanzig
21 einundzwanzig
22 zweiundzwanzig
30 dreißig
40 vierzig
50 fünfzig
60 sechzig
70 siebzig
80 achtzig
90 neunzig
100 hundert
1000 tausendNumerals from 13 to 19 are formed with suffix -zehn:
13 — dreizehn, 15 — fünfzehn, 17 — siebzehn usw.
The tens are formed by adding the suffix -zig:
50 — fünfzig, 80 — achtzig, 90 — neunzig usw.
As you already noticed, the units part comes before the tens part in German:
57 — siebenundfünfzig; 68 — achtundsechzig usw.
When writing numerals while listening to them it is recommended to write the units first, and then the tens. If a numeral is denoted by letters, it is written in one word: 957 — neunhundertsiebenundfünfzig.
Arithmetic operations
Decimal fractions
9 + 4 = 13
9 plus/und 4 ist (gleich) 13
9 - 4 = 5
9 minus 4 ist (gleich) 5
9 x 2 = 18
9 mal 2 ist (gleich) 18
9 : 3 = 3
9 durch 3 ist (gleich) 3
0,2 = null Komma zwei
1,3 = eins Komma drei
5,21 = fünf Komma einundzwanzig
13,05 = dreizehn Komma null fünf
1. You didn’t catch what your interlocutor told you. Ask him or her to repeat.
B. Wie bitte? Wer ist das?
Continue:
Herr Stuck, Monika, Manfred, Frau Weber, Herr Scherer, Horst, Herr Lohmann, Frau Hoffmann, Herr Rotenburger.
2. The age of your new friend interests you. Ask him or her a question. Answer if you are asked the same question.
B. Herr Schuhmacher ist 30 Jahre alt.
Continue:
Rolf (21), Herr Weber (54), Martin (31), Karin (20), Frau Böhme (48), Helga (25), Sie (?)
3. Your interlocutor has some doubts about the age of your friend. Give the correct answer. What question would you ask in the same situation?
B. Nein, er ist 35 Jahre alt.
Continue:
Thomas (27-25), Klaus (10-12), Ursula (31-32), Martin (18-20), Karin (15-17), Dieter (21-22), Siegfried (29-33).
4. Read the following numerals.
a.
12
16
21
39
47
68
103
116
336
407
586
633
1118
1795
1805
1880
1924
2015
b.
12 : 2 = 6
12 x 3 = 36
12 + 12 = 24
24 : 3 = 8
24 - 5 = 19
24 х 2 = 48
c.
0,7
1,15
2,1
3,04
10,5
62,72
5. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate words from the dialogue.
1. ist das? Das ist Paul Dörr. 2. alt sind Sie? 3. Ich bin 25 alt. 4. Wer aus Moskau? 5. wohnt in Berlin? 6. Zwei drei ist sechs. 7. Zweiundsiebzig zwölf ist sechs.
6. Reconstruct the dialogue by filling in the gaps with the appropriate words.
.
7. Try to reproduce the dialogue “Wer ist das?” by memory.
Check yourself!
What expressions will you use if you want to:
ask about a stranger
ask your interlocutor about his/her age
tell about your age
perform arithmetic operations
