Coffee Break German

Lesson 18
Study Notes

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 1 of 14

LESSON NOTES

KÖNNEN SIE MIR BITTE SAGEN...?

In this lesson you’ll learn a very useful phrase which you can use to
ask almost any question. You’ll also learn to ask about train arrival
and departure times.

REVIEW
To begin this lesson Thomas challenges Mark with a translation
exercise in the review. He begins by using the following phrase:

wie üblich, ein bisschen Wiederholung

as usual, a little review

Note the word Wiederholung. As Thomas explained, this comes

from the combination of the words wieder, meaning “again”, and
holen, literally meaning “to fetch”. So, “to fetch something again”
means “to repeat”, or in this case, “to review”.

The following sentences are used as review:

Um wie viel Uhr schließt die Kirche?

At what time does the church close?

Um wie viel Uhr öffnet der Supermarkt?

At what time does the supermarket open?

Das Museum ist geöffnet von 12 Uhr bis 4 Uhr.

The museum is open from 12 until 4.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 2 of 14

More commonly you may hear Das Museum ist von 12 Uhr bis 4
Uhr geöffnet.

Haben Sie einen Stadtplan?

Do you have a map of the town?

Remember that Stadtplan is masculine and therefore after Haben

Sie... we need the accusative case, so we need einen, not ein.

Der Dom ist geöffnet zwischen 9 und 3 Uhr am

Samstag.
The cathedral is open between 9 and 3 on Saturdays.

Note that am Samstag can mean “on Saturday”, meaning “this

Saturday”, but also “on Saturdays”, habitually.

Unter der Woche ist das Schwimmbad von 9 bis 9

geöffnet.
During the week the swimming pool is open from 9am until 9pm.

Können Sie mir eine Broschüre geben?

Can you give me a brochure?

This phrase may sound a little direct without a bitte at the end of the
sentence. However, it is a good example of a construction which we
can use in many situations, and one which we will go on to use in
other ways in this lesson.

The word geben means “to give”. We have come across this word
previously in the expression es gibt or gibt es when it means “there
is” or “is there”. Thomas provides some additional examples of
geben:

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 3 of 14

Können Sie mir eine Karte geben?
Can you give me a card?

Können Sie mir einen Apfel geben?

Can you give me an apple?

This concludes our Wiederholung - our review.

GRAMMAR GURU

OK, grammar fans, the time has come to talk

about the verb sein. It means “to be”, and it
is one of the most commonly used verbs of the
German language. Now, as far as irregular
verbs go, this one is a tricky customer, but
don’t worry: you’ve been using some of the
verb forms already, and the very fact that it’s
used so often means that you’ll get many
opportunities to practise it.
There’s not really a pattern to this verb at all, so I’ll just take you
through the forms one by one, starting, as usual, with the singular
forms.
The first person singular form is ich bin - see what I mean? How
did we go from sein to ich bin? Just another of the many
mysteries of the German language!
The second person singular is a little bit better, with the -st
ending: du bist, and the third person singular form is er/sie/es
ist.
Then we’ve got the plural endings. The first person plural form is
wir sind. Then the second person plural again is different: ihr
seid. The third person plural is just like the wir form: sie sind.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 4 of 14

 Finally we’ve got the formal form, and it’s the same as the third
person plural: Sie sind. Of course, we need to remember that the
formal Sie is written with a capital letter in Sie sind (“you
are” (formal)), whereas the third person plural “they” form is
written in lower case: sie sind (“they are”).
Let’s just run through those forms all together:

SEIN SINGULAR PLURAL

1ST ich bin wir sind

2ND du bist ihr seid

3RD er/sie/es ist sie sind

So, there you have it: the conjugation of the verb sein.

A USEFUL PHRASE FOR ANY QUESTION

Thomas introduces a very useful expression which can be used with
any question:

können Sie mir bitte sagen ...

can you please tell me ...

A number of examples of this expression used in context are given.

Note carefully the word order in these sentences, which follows the
same word order as in English.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 5 of 14

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann die Kirche öffnet?
Can you please tell me when the church opens?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wo der Bahnhof ist?

Can you please tell me where the station is?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr die Post
öffnet?
Can you please tell me when the post office opens?

TALKING ABOUT PUBLIC TRANSPORT

This expression can be used when asking questions about train
departure and arrival times. The verbs we need for this are
ankommen, meaning “to arrive”, and abfahren, meaning “to
depart” or “to leave”.

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Zug

ankommt?
Can you please tell me when the train arrives?

Note that wann (“when”) and um wie viel Uhr (“at what time”) are
interchangeable in this context.

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr der Zug
abfährt?
Can you please tell me at what time the train leaves?

You may also want to specify which train you’re talking about, for
example, “at what time does the train for/to Munich leave?” The
word for “for” or “to” in this context is nach.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 6 of 14

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr der Zug
nach München abfährt?
Can you please tell me at what time the train for Munich leaves?

Likewise, we can talk about “the train from Cologne”: der Zug von
Köln:

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr der Zug
von Köln ankommt?
Can you please tell me at what time the train from Cologne arrives?

FURTHER PRACTICE
Thomas gives Mark some phrases to translate to practise this
construction.

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Zug von Köln
ankommt.
Can you please tell me when the train from Cologne arrives?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Zug nach

Marburg abfährt?
Can you please tell me when the train to Marburg departs?

The word for “the bus” is der Bus:

der Bus
the bus

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 7 of 14

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Bus von Wien
ankommt?
Can you please tell me when the bus from Vienna arrives?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Bus nach Graz
abfährt?
Can you please tell me when the bus to Graz leaves?

ANSWERING THE QUESTION

In the next lesson we will cover in detail the possible answers for
these questions, but as an introduction to what’s coming in lesson 19,
Thomas gives Mark a sample answer:

Der Bus kommt um zwei Uhr an.

The bus arrives at two o’clock.

Note that the verb ankommen separates into kommt ... an. All will
be explained in the next lesson!

CULTURAL CORRESPONDENT
Julia tells us about two aspects of German
culture which you’ll experience if you’re
wandering around the streets of Berlin.

Hallo Mark, Servus Thomas, und hallo

an alle unsere Coffee Break German
Zuhörer. Ich bin’s wieder, Julia, eure
Kulturreporterin. In this episode, Thomas
taught you some handy phrases to get around

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 8 of 14

 the town and to understand directions and I’m now going to tell
you about a couple of things which you may come across when
walking through a German town. I’m talking about traffic lights
for pedestrians.

Of course, at every corner there is a little green or red man

showing you whether to walk or stop, but they will look different
when you are in East Berlin or when you are in the western part
of town. That holds true for former East and West Germany as
well. Whereas the western Ampelmann, meaning “traffic light
man”, looks rather neutral and standard, his Eastern cousin is a
bit more individual. He wears a hat and shirt, and looks quite
cute. Lately this Eastern Ampelmann has become a kind of cult
object and many clothes and bags as well as kitchenware are
produced featuring the design.

And while we’re talking about Ampelmännchen, there is one

subject we cannot leave out. It’s something which foreigners find a
little strange about Germans, and indeed Austrian and Swiss
people too. It’s the fact that when the red Ampelmann is showing
we are very obedient: we wait. We wait even if there is nothing
coming, and we wait patiently, along with all the other people
standing at the crossing, until the green Ampelmann appears.
Then, and only then, do we cross the road. It may seem a bit
strange, but it’s just the way it is. Of course, it’s really to make
sure we are giving a good impression to any children who may be
waiting to cross with their parents. Just be aware of this little
rule!

OK, it’s time for me to hand you back to Thomas and Mark. Bis
zum nächsten Mal, Freunde!

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 9 of 14

DAS REICHT FÜR HEUTE

Ready for more? Turn the page to continue with the

bonus materials for this lesson.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 10 of 14

CORE VOCABULARY
wie üblich
as usual

holen
to fetch

wiederholen
to repeat, review

die Wiederholung (f)

repetition, review

geben
to give

die Karte (f)

card

der Apfel (m)

apple

können Sie mir bitte sagen ...

can you please tell me ...

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann die Kirche öffnet?

Can you please tell me when the church opens?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wo der Bahnhof ist?

Can you please tell me where the station is?

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 11 of 14

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr die Post
öffnet?
Can you please tell me when the post office opens?

ankommen
to arrive

abfahren
to depart, leave

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Zug

ankommt?
Can you please tell me when the train arrives?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr der Zug
abfährt?
Can you please tell me at what time the train leaves?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr der Zug
nach München abfährt?
Can you please tell me at what time the train for Munich leaves?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen um wie viel Uhr der Zug
von Köln ankommt?
Can you please tell me at what time the train from Cologne arrives?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Zug von Köln
ankommt.
Can you please tell me when the train from Cologne arrives?

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 12 of 14

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Zug nach
Marburg abfährt?
Can you please tell me when the train to Marburg departs?

der Bus
the bus

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Bus von Wien
ankommt?
Can you please tell me when the bus from Vienna arrives?

Können Sie mir bitte sagen wann der Bus nach Graz
abfährt?
Can you please tell me when the bus to Graz leaves?

Der Bus kommt um zwei Uhr an.

The bus arrives at two o’clock.

der Ampelmann
traffic light man

BONUS VOCABULARY
The bonus vocabulary for this lesson provides further words and
phrases which you may find useful in a tourist situation.

der Busbahnhof
bus station

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 13 of 14

der Abfahrtstafel / der Abfahrtsplan
departures board

das Abteil
compartment

der Schaffner
conductor

der Bahnsteig
platform

Wann kommen wir in Berlin an?

When do we arrive in Berlin?

der Anschlußzug
connecting train

die Verspätung
delay

Coffee Break German: Lesson 18 - Notes page 14 of 14