Lesson 1: to be and the pronouns
Grammar:
This is the conjugation of the verb to be (sein) in German:
- ich bin (I am)
- du bist (you are)
- er/sie/es ist (he/she/it is)
- wir sind (we are)
- ihr seid (you are)
- sie/Sie sind (they/you are)
The use is the same as in English. A few remarks though:
- You are has three forms: in the single if you’re talking about one person (du bist), in the plural for more than one person (sie sind), and in the polite way (Sie sind). Mind the capital in the last form. Also, sie is used for she and for they.
- We’ll see the polite way in another lesson, but it’s used whenever you’re speaking formally. Informally (du bist) is used only for friends, family and children.
Words:
Notes:
- German has different articles. We’ll see them in another lesson. Der is male, die is female and das is asexual.
- Nouns are always with a capital.
- The plural is between ( ). It’s not always the same, we’ll see it in detail in another lesson. If there’s a ¨ added, for example Mann, it becomes Männer. It changes the pronunciation (see the next lesson).
- English and German are very similar. Mann is man, Problem is problem.
Exercises:
- Translate the following:
Mrs. Kumpel is the problem.
He is Mr Felder.
You are the child.
They are men.
You are Mr Müller.
Write the conjugation of to be.
____________________________________
Solutions:
Frau Kumpel ist das Problem.
Er ist Herr Felder.
Du bist das Kind.
Sie sind Männer.
Sie sind Herr Müller.
Conjugation: see above.