Coffee Break German

Lesson 40
Study Notes

Coffee Break German: Lesson 40 - Notes page 1! of !14

LESSON NOTES

MEIN DEUTSCH HAT SICH SEHR VERBESSERT!

In this final episode of the Season, Mark talks about his visit to
Austria to Thomas and thinks about how much his German has
improved since he started learning with Thomas. This lesson gives
further opportunities to talk about the past in German.

INTRODUCTION
The opening sequence of the lesson uses some interesting
expressions:

Mark: Hallo, und herzlich Willkommen zu Coffee Break

German.
Thomas: Hallo zurück und Willkommen zu unserer letzen
Episode von Innsbruck.

...zu unserer letzen Episode

... to our last episode

Note the use of the dative form here: zu takes the dative in this case
and this changes unser to unserer and the adjective meaning “last”
takes the form letzen.

Thomas also teaches Mark a couple of phrases to help him talk about
his time in Austria:

ich hatte eine großartige Zeit

I had a wonderful time

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es war wunderschön
it was wonderful

TALKING MORE ABOUT THE PAST

We have already seen a number of examples of the perfect tense in
our conversations and dialogues in recent lessons:

was haben Sie gegessen?

what have you eaten?

haben Sie etwas ungewöhnliches gegessen?

have you eaten something unusual?

wie haben Sie geschlafen?

how have you slept?

Following this pattern we can see that the perfect tense is formed by
combining a part of the verb haben (to have) with a form of the main
verb called the past participle. In the examples above the past
participles are gegessen and geschlafen. This is similar to the
English “you have eaten” or “you have slept”, where “eaten” and
“slept” are the past participles.

As Thomas explains in the lesson, the past participle is normally

formed by placing ge- before the infinitive:

geschlafen < schlafen

p.p. - slept < to sleep

gegessen < essen

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p.p - eaten < to eat

gelesen < lesen

p.p. - read < to read

However there are a number of verbs which have irregular past

participles:

gemacht < machen

p.p. done < to do

ich habe etwas gemacht

I have done something

gelernt < lernen

p.p. learnt < to learn

ich habe gelernt

I have learnt

The full conjugation of essen is given in the lesson.

ESSEN (perfect) Singular plural

1st ich habe gegessen wir haben gegessen

2nd du hast gegessen ihr habt gegessen

3rd er / sie hat gegessen sie haben gegessen

Note that the past participle of this verb is not completely regular in
that an extra -g- is added to give ich habe gegessen.

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With separable verbs the -ge- is added in between the two parts of
the verb which separate:

abgefahren < abfahren

p.p. departed < to depart

angekommen < ankommen

p.p. arrived < to arrive

eingeladen < einladen

p.p. invited < to invite

We have already seen this last verb in an earlier example:

ich habe dich auf dein Frühstück eingeladen

I have invited you for your breakfast

Note, however, that with some verbs involving motion the verb
haben is not used to form the perfect tense. Instead you must use
sein:

der Zug ist angekommen

the train has arrived

der Zug ist schon abgefahren

the train has already departed

ANKOKMMEN
Singular plural
(perfect)

1st ich bin angekommen wir sind angekommen

2nd du bist angekommen ihr seid angekommen

3rd er / sie ist angekommen sie sind angekommen

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LOOKING BACK ON THE TRIP
Mark and Thomas discuss Mark’s visit to Innsbruck and Thomas
offers a number of useful phrases which Mark can use to talk about
his stay.

Ich glaube, dass du sehr viel gesehen hast in

Innsbruck.
I think you have seen lots in Innsbruck

Ich habe sehr viel gesehen. Alles war wunderbar!

I have seen lots. Everything was wonderful.

Note that in these two examples the object comes between the
auxiliary verb (haben) and the past participle:

ich habe (sehr viel) gesehen

I have (many things/lots) seen

mein Deutsch hat sich sehr verbessert

my German has very much improved

The verb sich verbessern forms its past participle irregularly:

verbessert.

ich habe viele Orte besucht

I have visited many places

ich habe viele Kuchen gegessen

I have eaten lots of cakes

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sie waren alle sehr lecker
they were all (very) delicious

The verb waren is a different past tense, known as a simple past. We

have seen this already in a few examples:

alles war wunderbar

everything was wonderful

das Wetter war sehr gut

the weather was very good

die Kuchen waren alle sehr lecker

the cakes were all (very) delicious

The complete conjugation of sein (to be) in this tense is as follows:

SEIN (simple past) Singular plural

1st ich war wir waren

2nd du warst ihr wart

3rd er / sie war sie waren

As Thomas points out, all Austrian cakes are delicious:

Alle Kuchen in Österreich sind wirklich sehr lecker,

und ich glaube du hast fast alle probiert!
All cakes in Austria are really very delicious, and I think you have
tasted almost all of them!

Mark finds this complicated sentence difficult to understand and

wonders how to say “I haven’t understood” or “I didn’t understand”.

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ich habe nicht verstanden
I haven’t understood

Thomas offers some further examples using sein in the simple past
tense:

du warst in Innsbruck
you were in Innsbruck

ich war in Innsbruck

I was in Innsbruck

mein Aufenthalt / Urlaub war fantastisch

my stay / holiday was fantastic

Mark’s trip is almost over and Thomas tests him once more on some
of the things he can now say in German:

leider ist dein Trip fast vorbei

unfortunately your trip is almost over

was hast du gemacht?

what have you done?

ich habe viele Kuchen gegessen

I have eaten lots of cakes

ich habe Schwaz besucht

I have visited Schwaz

es war sehr schön

it was very pretty

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ich habe deine Freunde kennengelernt
I have got to know your friends

und sie waren sehr nett

and they were very nice

ich habe sehr viel Deutsch gesprochen

I have spoken lots of German

Note the irregular past participle gesprochen from the verb

sprechen.

Mark thinks his German has improved:

ich glaube mein Deutsch hat sich sehr verbessert

I think my German has improved

Thomas agrees:

auf jeden Fall

definitely

ich habe auch sehr viele wunderschöne Orte gesehen

I have seen many beautiful places

zum Beispiel, die Berge, das Goldenes Dachl

for example, the mountains, the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof)

und ich habe auch das Österreichische Bier

getrunken
and I have also drunk Austrian beer

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Thomas asks Mark what the weather was like:

wie war das Wetter?

what was the weather like? / how was the weather?

das Wetter war ziemlich gut

the weather was quite good

es war ein bisschen sonnig

it was quite sunny

es war sogar sehr sonnig

it was in fact very sunny

ab und zu hat es geregnet

from time to time it (has) rained

es war nicht so kalt, aber nur ein Tag war es sehr

heiß
it wasn’t so cold, but it was hot on only one day

Mark hopes that he will return to Innsbruck soon:

ich hoffe, ich komme bald wiederzurück

I hope I come back soon

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CULTURAL CORRESPONDENT
In our final Cultural Correspondent segment, Julia tests us on what
we’ve learned about German culture. Answers
in the bonus episode!

1. Which is the tallest building in Germany?

2. What special item is given to
Schulanfänger (school beginner)
a. Strandkorb
b. Zuckertüte
c. Pfand
3. In addition to German, French and
Italian, what other language is official in Switzerland?
4. Would a "Trabant" be eaten, sung or driven?
5. Where wouldn’t you find a German who wants to relax
a. Strandkorb
b. Schrebergarten
c. Reeperbahn
6. Which city do you have to visit if you want to see the Prater
a. Wien
b. Berlin
c. Köln
7. At which time of the year could you be the unlucky one to have
mustard in your “Berliner”?
8. Even without a Royal family we do have a so-called emperor.
Which famous German do we like to call “der Kaiser”?
9. What is very small, red or green, wearing a hat and having a
big impact on the Germans’ behavior?


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 10. What’s the reason for choosing the Mfg?
a. you want to eat healthil
b. you want to save money travelling
c. you want to get the best training

Das reicht für heute

Ready for more? Turn the page to continue with the
bonus materials for this lesson.

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BONUS TRANSLATION CHALLENGES
Although these translation challenges do not feature in this lesson’s
bonus episode, here are some phrases to test your translation skills.
Answers overleaf.

1. I had a wonderful time! Ich hatte eine großartige Zeit!

2. I think that you have seen lots in Munich. Ich glaube, dass su
(sehr) viel gesehen hast in München.

3. The weather was quite good. Das Wetter war ziemlich gut.

4. I’ve not understood. Ich habe nicht verstanden.

5. We have spoken lots of German. Wir haben viel Deutsch

gesprochen.

6. Have you drunk Austrian beer? Hast du das Österreichische Bier

getrunken?


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ANSWERS
1. I had a wonderful time! - Ich hatte eine großartige Zeit!

2. I think that you have seen lots in Munich. - Ich glaube, dass su
(sehr) viel gesehen hast in München.

3. The weather was quite good. - Das Wetter war ziemlich gut.

4. I’ve not understood. - Ich habe nicht verstanden.

5. We have spoken lots of German. - Wir haben viel Deutsch

gesprochen.

6. Have you drunk Austrian beer? - Hast du das Österreichische

Bier getrunken?

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