Learn the Top 25 Must-Know German sentences
Willkommen Welcome to the German language page Fodor, presented by language experts living language here you will find over 150 essential phrases for your trip.
For German language and cultural advice, visit the blog Living Language German.
German is spoken by about 95 million people and is the official language of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein, as well as one of four official languages of Switzerland Most Swiss speakers actually speak a variety of known German Schwyzerd tsch, so you will hear the German standard here is really a second language for them.
German is a very close relative of English, if pronunciation is not too terribly difficult Keep in mind that the vowels are sharp and clear, so that the German o is really a simple sound, not like the oh-oo -wuh English.
Some important sound vowels to remember are ei as li not, that in ea No, as in w or m, but r, as t ea but with rounded lips as get, and had or u as in b oy The combination sch consonant is pronounced like sh ow, and sp st and are pronounced as shp and SHT sometimes you will see what is pronounced bo ss Finally, z is pronounced like ts ca.
Many basic German vocabulary will be familiar das Haus home, der Hund dog dog died Strasse street, ein Mann a man machen to do, sprechen speak and so on Notice, also, that all German names are capitalized s because English is a Germanic language But English has become heavily influenced by Latin through the Norman conquest, therefore enormously the English lexicon tends to look more French than German Take, for example to compare what is comparator french, German vergleichen but somehow the German vocabulary look foreign to you than french or Spanish.
If you want to learn to speak German, you will have to face some problems that we do not have in English.
German names have three genders, masculine der, die feminine and neuter das, and it is generally the case that you simply memorize the gender of each new names plurals are unpredictable, unlike simple - es English .
German is a language with four cases nominal What it boils down to this Determinants, or words like my one and this shape change by sex, the number and role of the name in a sentence in a simple word , subjects the case registered der Mann man, objects are direct in the den Mann accusative, indirect objects are in the dative case dem Mann and possessive genitive are in the Mannes.
Adjectives agree with the nouns they modify not only in gender and number, but also in case, and there are two sets of them for reasons that go beyond our little introduction.
German verbs are similar to English Verbs You tenses similar, and both regular and irregular verbs, but there are many more forms in German, since German verbs have a richer conjugating the verbs in English, with the end -s simple enough to him it it something other form namely on German verbs is that they sometimes come at the end of sentences or clauses, again for reasons that go beyond this introduction.
To start in German, try one of these courses.
German Language Travel Phrases Traveler travel guide Fodor, German, expressions, language, Fodor.