Taschengeld
Klein-Erna abends zu ihrer Mutter: "Kennst du den Unterschied zwischen Radio, Fernsehen und Taschengelderhöhung?"
"Nein!"
"Das Radio hört man, das Fernsehen sieht man, aber von einer Taschengelderhöhung hört und sieht man leider überhaupt nichts!"
Klein-Erna abends zu ihrer Mutter: "Kennst du den Unterschied zwischen Radio, Fernsehen und Taschengelderhöhung?"
"Nein!"
"Das Radio hört man, das Fernsehen sieht man, aber von einer Taschengelderhöhung hört und sieht man leider überhaupt nichts!"
Hai
Treffen sich zwei Fische im Meer, sagt der eine Hai, der andere fragt: Wo?
Treffen sich zwei Fische im Meer, sagt der eine Hai, der andere fragt: Wo?
Ratschläge
"Ich hätte ja wirklich mehr Vertrauen zu Deinen Ratschlägen, Mutti",
sagt die flügge gewordene Tochter zur Mutter, "wenn Du Papa nicht geheiratet hättest!"
"Ich hätte ja wirklich mehr Vertrauen zu Deinen Ratschlägen, Mutti",
sagt die flügge gewordene Tochter zur Mutter, "wenn Du Papa nicht geheiratet hättest!"
WHEN IS THE PERFEKT USED?
The Perfekt is used to describe past events. In spoken German, the Perfekt is preferred over the Präteritum. Using the Präteritum in normal conversation may sound unnatural or pretentious.
There are a few exceptions to this rule of thumb. sein (to be), haben (to have), wissen (to know), and the modal auxiliaries dürfen (to be allowed to), können (to be able to), müssen (to have to), sollen (to be supposed to), wollen (to want to) are used in the Präteritum in informal contexts as well.
In contrast to the English present perfect, the German Perfekt is not used to describe events that started in the past and are still ongoing. In such cases, German speakers use the present tense, e.g. I have been living here for three years translates to Ich lebe seit drei Jahren hier.
HOW IS THE PERFEKT FORMED?
The Perfekt is formed by combining a conjugated form of haben (to have) or sein (to be) in the present tense with the past participle of the main verb.
The vast majority of verbs take haben. Verbs that take sein have to be intransitive, i.e. they can't take an object, and they have to indicate a change of position or condition. sein (to be), bleiben (to stay), and passieren (to happen) take sein even though they don't indicate a change of position or condition.
In order to form the past participle of a weak verb, add the prefix ge- and the suffix -t or -et to the stem, e.g. machen (to do/to make) becomes ge-mach-t.
machen (to do/to make)
Präsens Perfekt
ich mache (I do/make) ich habe gemacht (I have done/made)
du machst (you do/make) du hast gemacht (you have done/made)
er/sie/es macht (he/she/it does/makes) er/sie/es hat gemacht (he/she/it has done/made)
wir machen (we do/make) wir haben gemacht (we have done/made)
ihr macht (you do/make) ihr habt gemacht (you have done/made)
sie/Sie machen (they/you do/make) sie/Sie haben gemacht (they/you have done/made)
laufen (to run/to walk)
Präsens Perfekt
ich laufe (I run) ich bin gelaufen (I ran/have run)
du läufst (you run) du bist gelaufen (you ran/have run)
er/sie/es läuft (he/she/it runs) er/sie/es ist gelaufen (he/she/it ran/has run)
wir laufen (we run) wir sind gelaufen (we ran/have run)
ihr lauft (you run) ihr seid gelaufen (you ran/have run)
sie/Sie laufen (they/you run) sie/Sie sind gelaufen (they/you ran/have run)
Strong verbs add the prefix ge-, change the stem vowel or the entire stem, and add the suffix -t, -et or -en, e.g. nennen (to call) becomes ge-nann-t, sein becomes ge-wes-en, sprechen (to speak/to talk) becomes ge-sproch-en. These forms are not quite predictable. You need to memorize them.
A separable prefix will precede the ge- prefix, e.g. aufmachen (to open) becomes auf-ge-mach-t.
An inseparable prefix will replace the ge- prefix, e.g. veröffentlichen (to publish) becomes ver-öffentlich-t.
Verbs that end in -ieren will not be prefixed, e.g. informieren becomes informier-t.
The Perfekt is used to describe past events. In spoken German, the Perfekt is preferred over the Präteritum. Using the Präteritum in normal conversation may sound unnatural or pretentious.
There are a few exceptions to this rule of thumb. sein (to be), haben (to have), wissen (to know), and the modal auxiliaries dürfen (to be allowed to), können (to be able to), müssen (to have to), sollen (to be supposed to), wollen (to want to) are used in the Präteritum in informal contexts as well.
In contrast to the English present perfect, the German Perfekt is not used to describe events that started in the past and are still ongoing. In such cases, German speakers use the present tense, e.g. I have been living here for three years translates to Ich lebe seit drei Jahren hier.
HOW IS THE PERFEKT FORMED?
The Perfekt is formed by combining a conjugated form of haben (to have) or sein (to be) in the present tense with the past participle of the main verb.
The vast majority of verbs take haben. Verbs that take sein have to be intransitive, i.e. they can't take an object, and they have to indicate a change of position or condition. sein (to be), bleiben (to stay), and passieren (to happen) take sein even though they don't indicate a change of position or condition.
In order to form the past participle of a weak verb, add the prefix ge- and the suffix -t or -et to the stem, e.g. machen (to do/to make) becomes ge-mach-t.
machen (to do/to make)
Präsens Perfekt
ich mache (I do/make) ich habe gemacht (I have done/made)
du machst (you do/make) du hast gemacht (you have done/made)
er/sie/es macht (he/she/it does/makes) er/sie/es hat gemacht (he/she/it has done/made)
wir machen (we do/make) wir haben gemacht (we have done/made)
ihr macht (you do/make) ihr habt gemacht (you have done/made)
sie/Sie machen (they/you do/make) sie/Sie haben gemacht (they/you have done/made)
laufen (to run/to walk)
Präsens Perfekt
ich laufe (I run) ich bin gelaufen (I ran/have run)
du läufst (you run) du bist gelaufen (you ran/have run)
er/sie/es läuft (he/she/it runs) er/sie/es ist gelaufen (he/she/it ran/has run)
wir laufen (we run) wir sind gelaufen (we ran/have run)
ihr lauft (you run) ihr seid gelaufen (you ran/have run)
sie/Sie laufen (they/you run) sie/Sie sind gelaufen (they/you ran/have run)
Strong verbs add the prefix ge-, change the stem vowel or the entire stem, and add the suffix -t, -et or -en, e.g. nennen (to call) becomes ge-nann-t, sein becomes ge-wes-en, sprechen (to speak/to talk) becomes ge-sproch-en. These forms are not quite predictable. You need to memorize them.
A separable prefix will precede the ge- prefix, e.g. aufmachen (to open) becomes auf-ge-mach-t.
An inseparable prefix will replace the ge- prefix, e.g. veröffentlichen (to publish) becomes ver-öffentlich-t.
Verbs that end in -ieren will not be prefixed, e.g. informieren becomes informier-t.
Student or Schüler?
A Student is a university student and a Schüler is a pupil/student at a primary, secondary or high school. Students attending other types of schools such as language or dancing schools may also be called Schüler.
A Student is a university student and a Schüler is a pupil/student at a primary, secondary or high school. Students attending other types of schools such as language or dancing schools may also be called Schüler.
Dropping articles
When talking about your or someone else's profession in sentences such as I'm a teacher or She's a judge, German speakers usually drop the indefinite article (ein/eine). It sounds more natural to say Ich bin Lehrer and Sie ist Richterin than Ich bin ein Lehrer and Sie ist eine Richterin. This rule also applies to students.
If you add an adjective, you can't drop the article. Er ist ein schlechter Arzt (He's a bad doctor) is correct, but Er ist schlechter Arzt is not.
Also note that you can't drop the definite article (der/die/das).
When talking about your or someone else's profession in sentences such as I'm a teacher or She's a judge, German speakers usually drop the indefinite article (ein/eine). It sounds more natural to say Ich bin Lehrer and Sie ist Richterin than Ich bin ein Lehrer and Sie ist eine Richterin. This rule also applies to students.
If you add an adjective, you can't drop the article. Er ist ein schlechter Arzt (He's a bad doctor) is correct, but Er ist schlechter Arzt is not.
Also note that you can't drop the definite article (der/die/das).
Male and female variants
The grammatical gender usually matches the biological sex of the person you're referring to, i.e. the word that refers to a male baker is grammatically masculine, and the word that refers to a female baker is grammatically feminine. In the vast majority of cases, the female variant is formed by simply adding the suffix -in to the male variant, e.g. der Bäcker becomes die Bäckerin and der Schüler (the pupil) becomes die Schülerin.
The plural of the female variant is formed by adding the suffing -innen to the singular of the male variant, e.g. "die Bäckerinnen" and "die Schülerinnen".
Keep in mind that, in some cases, the plural comes with an umlauted stem vowel. This applies to the female variant as well, e.g. "der Koch" becomes "die Köche" and "die Köchin" becomes "die Köchinnen".
The grammatical gender usually matches the biological sex of the person you're referring to, i.e. the word that refers to a male baker is grammatically masculine, and the word that refers to a female baker is grammatically feminine. In the vast majority of cases, the female variant is formed by simply adding the suffix -in to the male variant, e.g. der Bäcker becomes die Bäckerin and der Schüler (the pupil) becomes die Schülerin.
The plural of the female variant is formed by adding the suffing -innen to the singular of the male variant, e.g. "die Bäckerinnen" and "die Schülerinnen".
Keep in mind that, in some cases, the plural comes with an umlauted stem vowel. This applies to the female variant as well, e.g. "der Koch" becomes "die Köche" and "die Köchin" becomes "die Köchinnen".