Olena Shypilova

English edition by Yuriy Bereza

German
for beginners
in 7 lessons
Study course

2012
 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

German for beginners in 7 Lessons

Thank you for choosing and joining our on-line German course.
The course consists of 7 lessons. Due to these 7 lessons you will understand that German can be
a very simple language to learn if the study is organized the right way. You havent to invest years into
studying German in language courses or at universities. You can do it here quickly and efficiently. You
should know that the efficiency of any study depends generally on the teacher skills to 80% and on the
willingness of the student only to 20%. Our site is dedicated to introduction of teaching methodology we have
developed. You wouldnt believe its possible to learn any language in such a short period of time? Try out
and get surprised!
The course is composed to explain 70% of German grammar, using words, phrases and idioms you
will need for your everydays communication.
One condition: to avoid the failure that your study becomes one another light-minded attempt to
learn something new, you should use both audio-lessons and your workbook as well as do all exercises
given after each lesson. Taking a new lesson, you should download the audio-lesson first and only
afterwards you can start learning with your workbook. Otherwise, you risk learning pronunciation of sounds,
words and phrases incorrectly, and thus, you wont be able to speak and to be understood by your
communication partner. In audio-lessons some aspects are considered which might not be considered in the
text-version of the course. One lesson will take you about 30 minutes of your time. The total course
duration amounts to 3.5 hours.
We guarantee you that after this course you will have the most important knowledge of German
enough for basic communication. Youll be able to chat with your German friends in Skype, read German
books (certainly, consulting a dictionary), understand YouTube-clips in German and use German web-sites.
Furthermore, youll be one who knows a foreign language more.
If you are not ready to spend 3.5 hours or 3 weeks of your life for this course, dont ever
intend to start it!

Olena Shypilova and

eustudy.ru team

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 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

Contents
Lesson 1. Pronounces and verbs. Numerals........................................................................................ 4
Exercise 1.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Exercise 2.......................................................................................................................................... 6
Exercise 3. Verb sein (to be)............................................................................................................. 7
Lesson 2. Questions. ............................................................................................................................ 9
Exercise 1. Ask questions. .............................................................................................................. 10
Exercise 2........................................................................................................................................ 10
Exercise 3........................................................................................................................................ 10
Exercise 4........................................................................................................................................ 12
Exercise 5. Ask questions to marked words. .................................................................................. 13
Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 14
Lesson 3. Modal verbs........................................................................................................................ 15
Exercise 1. Put verbs into correct form. .......................................................................................... 18
Exercise 2........................................................................................................................................ 19
Exercise 3. Put appropriate modal verbs into blank spaces. .......................................................... 20
Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 21
Lesson 4. Subordinate clause. ........................................................................................................... 22
Exercise 1. Weil or Damit?.............................................................................................................. 24
Exercise 2. Weil or Damit?.............................................................................................................. 24
Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 26
Lesson 5. Akkusativ. ........................................................................................................................... 27
Exercise 1. Verb haben (to have).................................................................................................... 29
Exercise 2. Put articles to marked words (Nominativ or Akkusativ)................................................ 30
Exercise 3. Put into correct form. .................................................................................................... 30
Additional materials on the topic ..................................................................................................... 31
Lesson 6. Dativ. .................................................................................................................................. 32
Exercise 1. Put words in brackets into correct case (Nominativ, Akkusativ or Dativ)..................... 33
Exercise 2. Position or direction? Wo or Wohin?............................................................................ 34
Lesson 7. Past Tense. ........................................................................................................................ 35
Exercise 1. Write sentences using the Past Tense Perfekt. ........................................................ 36
Exercise 2. Write sentences using the Past Tense Perfekt. ........................................................ 37
Additional information...................................................................................................................... 38

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 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

Lesson 1. Pronounces and verbs. Numerals.

Before you start, download audio lesson with extended explanation:
http://german.eustudy.ru/en/audiofiles/eng_germ/Unterricht1_voll.mp3
After this lesson youll be able:
1. to tell what is your name, what you do (study, work or are retired), where you
live, how old you are;
2. to use the most common phrases the Germans use everyday.
There are following pronouns in German:

Pronouns
ichI
duyou (to your friend, relative or fellow)
er
he
sieshe
esIt
wirwe
ihr
you (to your friends, relatives or fellows,
e.g. Hey, you two!)
Sie you (to your boss(es), unacquainted or
much elder person(s); polite speech);
sie they

Iron rule of German: All German verbs always consist of stem plus ending -en or just -n:

wohnen (to live, esp. to have a residence somewhere)

denken (to think)
heien (to have name, to be named, to be called)
lernen (to learn)
studieren (to study)
verdienen (to earn, to deserve)
arbeiten (to work)
kommen (to come)
sprechen (to speak)
speichern (to save: information, files, goods etc.)

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 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

To put a verb into correct form, e.g. the verb to live wohnen, and to say correctly: he
lives, and not just: he live, you should take away the -en-ending and add the correct
ending to the stem, depending on the pronoun you want to combine the verb with:
Ich wohn+e I live
Du wohn+st You live (ONE person: friend, relative or fellow)
Er, sie, es wohn+t He, she, it lives
Wir wohn+en We live
Ihr wohn+t You live (MULTIPLE persons: friends, relatives or fellows)
Sie, sie wohn+en You live (polite speech to ONE/MULTIPLE person(s): boss(es),
unacquainted or much elder person(s)), they live
Wohnen
Ich wohn+e
Du wohn+st
Er, sie, es wohn+t
Wir wohn+en
Ihr wohn+t
Sie, sie wohn+en
Lets consider the often used verb to think denken:
Ich denk+e I think
Du denk+st You think
Er, sie, es denk+t He, she, it thinks
Wir denk+en We think
Ihr denk+t You think
Sie, sie denk+en You, they think
Verb heien to have name, to be named, to be called (the letter is read like
s). Without this verb youll be able neither to introduce yourself nor to ask somebody
about his name or the name of any object or action (How is it called if I make signs with a
pen in my notebook? Its called to write. Wie heit es, wenn ich in meinem Helf
Zeichen mit einem Kugelschreiber mache? Das (Es) heit schreiben.) So, as you see,
its a rather important verb.
This verb is conjugated NOT according to the general rule, but for now, it would be
enough if you just keep in your mind its conjugation.
Ich heie My name is
Du heit Your name is
Er,sie,es heit His, her, its name is
Wir heien Our names are

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 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

Ihr heit Your names are

Sie,sie heien Your name(s) is (are), their names are
Iron rule of German: VERB is always on the second place in the sentence!

Exercise 1

1. Ich hei Peter. (heien to have name, to be named, to be called)

2. Ich lern Deutsch. (lernen to learn)
3. Ich wohn in Moskau. (wohnen to live; in Moskau in Moscow)
4. Ich studier nicht. (studieren to study, nicht not)
5. Ich verdien gut. (verdienen to earn, gut good, well)
6. Aber ich arbeit viel. (aber but; arbeiten to work; viel a lot, much)
7. Mein Freund komm aus Deutschland. (mein Freund my friend; kommen
to come; aus Deutschland from Germany)
8. Er hei Richard.
9. Er arbeit hier auch. (auch also, too)
10. Er wohn in Moskau.
Check up! http://german.eustudy.ru/en/Unterricht1Aufgabe1_antwort.php

Exercise 2

1. Ihr lern Deutsch.

2. Wir studier viel.
3. Du wohn in Moskau.
4. Ihr studier zusammen. (zusammen together)
5. Sie (she) lern hier.
6. Er arbeit dort. (dort there)
7. Die Gruppe arbeit zusammen. (die Gruppe the group)
Check up! http://german.eustudy.ru/en/Unterricht1Aufgabe2_antwort.php

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 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

You have certainly noticed that some words start whit a capital-letter.
Iron rule of German: all nouns start with capital-letters.
Now, lets try to tell about your age. Well focus upon the most used numerals.

From 0 to 9 From 10 to 19 From 20 to 29 Decades

0 null 10 zehn 20 zwanzig 10 zehn
1 eins 11 elf 21 einundzwanzig (1 and 20) 20 zwanzig
2 zwei 12 zwlf 22 zweiundzwanzig (2 and 20) 30 dreiig
3 drei 13 dreizehn (3,10) 23 dreiundzwanzig (3 and 20) 40 vierzig
4 vier 14 vierzehn (4,10) 24 vierundzwanzig 50 fnfzig
5 fnf 15 fnfzehn (5,10) 25 fnfundzwanzig 60 sechzig
6 sechs 16 sechzehn 26 sechsundzwanzig 70 siebzig
7 sieben 17 siebzehn 27 siebenundzwanzig 80 achtzig
8 acht 18 achtzehn 28 achtundzwanzig 90 neunzig
9 neun 19 neunzehn 29 neunundzwanzig 100 hundert

Now, well combine numerals with the very important German verb sein to be.
This verb is conjugated in spite of the general declination rule (as the English verb
to be is), so you just have to keep it in mind:

sein
Ich bin
Du bist
Er, sie, es ist
Wir sind
Ihr seid
Sie, sie sind

Using the verb sein, you can tell about your age:
Ich bin sechsundzwanzig (26) Jahre alt I am twenty six years old.
Er ist vierzig (40) Jahre alt. He is forty years old.
Du bist zwanzig (20) Jahre alt. You are twenty years old.

Exercise 3. Verb sein (to be).

1. Ich Student. (student)

2. Ich faul. (lazy)
3. Ich nicht verheiratet. (verheiratet sein to be married; nicht not)
4. Sie ledig. (ledig single)

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 Olena Shypilova German for beginners in 7 Lessons
English edition by Yuriy Bereza

5. Der Text schwer. (der Text text, schwer difficult)

6. Der Platz hier frei. (der Platz place; hier here; frei free)
7. Wir aus Moskau. (aus Moskau from Moscow)
8. Das ein Zimmer. (das Zimmer room)
9. Das die Leute. (die Leute people)
10. Mein Name Alexander. (mein Name my name)
11. Du mein Freund. (mein Freund my friend)
12. Du toll. (toll great)
13. Ich der Rentner. (der Rentner pensioner)
Check up! http://german.eustudy.ru/en/Unterricht1Aufgabe3_antwort.php

Lets summarize our pleasing results!

Now, you can tell your name, where you live, where you work, where you come
from, whether you earn well, that you study or work, how old you are.
The most used phrases with the verb sein:
Das ist toll! This is great!
Das ist wunderbar! This is wonderful!
Das ist kstlich. Its delicious.
Ich bin mde. Im tired.
Ich bin zufrieden. Im glad/Im satisfied.
Ich bin unzufrieden. Im dissatisfied.
Ich bin satt. Im full (opposite to Im hungry).
Ich bin fertig. Im ready.
One more piece of advice: If you dont want to be ignored or took like a fool, dont
ever use quasi typical German idioms like Das ist phantastisch! (which is supposed to
be the most used phrase in German adult videos) or Nicht schieen!, or Hitler kaputt!
(which are thought to be the most popular German idioms of World War II). Anyway,
they arent proud of their history of the 20th century.

For us its rather important to know what difficulties you face when having our course. So, we
thankfully accept every comment or critics via Skype (eustudy.ru) or e-mail (contact@eustudy.ru).

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