LESSON NOTES

Basic Bootcamp #2Basic German: Nationality / 'to be' / Basic Sentence Structure

CONTENTS

2 German2 English2 Vocabulary2 Grammar5 Cultural Insight

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GERMANPOD101.COM BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE 2

GERMAN

1. A: Hallo, ich heie Widar. Ich bin Deutscher.

2. B: Hallo, ich heie Rebecca. Ich bin Amerikanerin.

ENGLISH

1. A: Hello, I'm Widar. I'm German.

2. B: Hello, I'm Rebecca. I'm American.

VOCABULARY

German English Class

Hallo, ich heie Widar. Ich bin Deutscher.

Hello, I'm Widar. I'm German. sentence

Hallo, ich heie Rebecca. Ich bin Amerikanerin.

Hello, I'm Rebecca. I'm American. sentence

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Bootcamp Lesson Is to Teach You How to Talk about Your Ethnici ty. Hal lo , i ch bin Widar. Ich bin Deutscher. "Hel lo , Im Widar. I'm German."

To talk about your ethnicity, you add suffixes according to gender (male, female) to the name of a country. In many cases, you have to make some more changes (adding -n + suffix, or replacing the last letter of the country + suffix). Let's take a look at some examples.

GERMANPOD101.COM BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE 3

Countries and Ethnici ties

I. country + suffix -er (male)/-erin (female) Examples for a Male and Female:

Gender

"Country" ("Engl ish")

Country (German)

"Ethnici ty" ("Engl ish")

Ethnici ty (German)

Male "Italy" Italien "Italian" Italien-er

Male "Austria" sterreich "Austrian" sterreich-er

Female "Italy" Italien "Italian" Italien-erin

Female "Austria" sterreich "Austrian" sterreich-erin

II. country + -n + suffix -er (male)/-erin (female)

Examples for a Male and Female:

Gender

"Country" ("Engl ish")

Country (German)

"Ethnici ty" ("Engl ish")

Ethnici ty (German)

Male "America" Amerika "American" Amerika-n-er

Male "Cuba" Kuba "Cuban" Kuba-n-er

Female "America" Amerika "American" Amerika-n-erin

Female "Cuba" Kuba "Cuban" Kuba-n-erin

III. country - last le tter + suffix -er (male)/-erin (female)

Examples for a Male and Female:

Gender

"Country" ("Engl ish")

Country (German)

"Ethnici ty" ("Engl ish")

Ethnici ty (German)

Male "Canada" Kanada "Canadian" Kanad-ier

GERMANPOD101.COM BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE 4

Female "Canada" Kanada "Canadian" Kanad-ierin

IV. country + -land /-re ich + suffix

Examples for a Male and Female:

Gender

"Country" ("Engl ish")

Country (German)

"Ethnici ty" ("Engl ish")

Ethnici ty (German)

Male "Germany" Deutschland "German" Deutsch-er

Male "France" Frankreich "Frenchman" Fran-z-ose

Female "Germany" Deutschland "German" Deutsche

Female "France" Frankreich"Frenchwoman" Fran-z-sin

Expressing Ethnici ties (American and German)

To express your ethnicity, you need to use the copula verb sein ("to be"). The conjugation of sein appears in the table below.

German Engl ish

Ich bin Amerikaner. "I'm American."

Ich bin Deutscher/Deutsche. "I'm German."

Du bist Amerikaner. "You're American." (singular)

Du bist Deutscher/Deutsche. "You're German." (singular)

Er/Sie ist Amerikaner/-in. "He/She is American."

Er/Sie ist Deutscher/Deutsche. "He/She is German."

Wir sind Amerikaner. "We're American."

GERMANPOD101.COM BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE 5

Wir sind Deutsche. "We're German."

Ihr seid Amerikaner. "You're American." (plural)

Ihr seid Deutsche. "You're German." (plural)

Sie sind Amerikaner. "They're American."

Sie sind Deutsche. "They're German."

Word Order in S imple German Sentences

The above sentences demonstrate the basic word order of a German sentence: subject + verb + object. English has the same basic word order for independent clauses.

For Example:

1. Ich heie Widar. Literally, "I'm called Widar." "I'm Widar."/"My name is Widar."

2. Er spricht Deutsch. Literally, "He speaks German." "He speaks German."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Citizenship

Ever wanted to truly become a German? Until the year 2000 you were pretty much out of luck if you were not born of at least one German parent, but fret not! Now there are some options for someone who wants to become a naturalized citizen of Germany which were introduced to make it somewhat easier for foreigners. Chances are that if you have lived in Germany for 8 years, are pretty fluent in German and can support yourself without needing welfare, the German passport might be yours sooner than expected! Additionally, spouses of German citizens can be naturalized after only 3 years of residence and 2 years of marriage, so go out and there and find yourself a cute German guy or girl!