Types of Predicate in German

Lesson 3: Family. Profession. Activity 2

From this activity you will know how to:

• ask about someones’s profession
• tell about your profession
• know about the marital status of your interlocutor
• ask where the interlocutor works

Learn the words and expressions for the dialogue

Pay attention to the form and the usage of the words

1. While the question word wer is used when we ask about the name or the surname of a person we do not know (see lesson 3, activity 1), the word was is used when we want to ask about the person’s profession:

   Wer ist das? Who is it? — Das ist Frau Müller.
   Was ist sie? Who is she (by profession)? / What does she do? — Sie ist Sekretärin.

2. Was sind Sie von Beruf? is a set expression, where von Beruf comes at the end of the sentence both in the question and in the answer. You may use the short form of the question (see p. 1); von Beruf in this case is omitted:

   Was sind Sie von Beruf? — Ich bin Ingenieur von Beruf.
   Was sind Sie? — Ich bin Ingenieur.

Remember the following way of word-formation (2)

der Arbeiter + in = die Arbeiterin
der Chemiker + in = die Chemikerin
der Dolmetscher + in = die Dolmetscherin

Practise in reading the words

Was sind Sie von Beruf?

Grammar points

1. Just like in English, the predicate in German sentences can be presented not only with a verb (for example: Ich wohne in Berlin. Er kommt aus Leipzig, etc.), but also with the link-verb bin, ist, sind + adjective or noun, which come at the end of the sentence:

   Herr Meier ist Ingenieur. Ich bin verheiratet.

   In this case, nouns denoting professions are used without an article. In some cases, the link-verb may not be repeated, for example:

   Ich bin 20 Jahre alt und noch ledig.

2. You already know the verb endings in 1^st and 3^rd person singular and plural (see lesson 2, activity 3). If the stem of a verb ends in -t, -d, -n, then “-е” is added in 3^rd person singular between the stem of the verb and its ending:

   er wohnt, er kommt, but: er arbeitet

3. Conjunction und ‘and’ can join both homogeneous parts of the sentence and whole sentences:

   Ich wohne und arbeite in Berlin.
   Ich bin Ingenieur und (ich) arbeite in Wolgograd.

4. The names of female professions based on their male equivalents can be formed with suffix -in and sometimes with umlaut (mutation). The stress of the word does not change:

    

   der Journalist
   der Lehrer
   der Arzt
   der Bauer

   — die Journalistin
   — die Lehrerin
   — die Ärztin
   — die Bäuerin

Types of Predicate

Simple Predicate: one verb

Compound predicate: two verbs

Nominal predicate: link-verb + noun or adjective

Predicative expression: link-verb + another part of speech

1. The profession of your new friend interests you. Ask him or her an appropriate question. Answer if you are asked the same question.

2. You are asked about your marital status (and profession). Answer the question. Ask your interlocutor the same thing.

3. Your friend and his wife have the same profession. Talk about it.

4. You didn’t catch what your interlocutor told you. Ask him or her to repeat.

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

1. sind Sie von Beruf? 2. Klaus ist 18 Jahre alt, er ist . 3. Sind Sie ledig? Nein, ich bin . 4. Ich bin Arzt und in Leipzig. 5. Fred ist Arzt. Und Sabine? Sie ist auch .

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

7. Try to reproduce the dialogue “Was sind Sie von Beruf?” by memory.

Check yourself!

What expressions will you use if you want to:

ask about someones’s profession
tell about your profession
know about the marital status of your interlocutor
ask where the interlocutor works