Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Mark asks,
"Are you a student?"
Bist du Student?
First is bist, "are" when using informal German. Bist. Bist.
Bist is from the verb sein, meaning "to be." Sein.
Next is the informal personal pronoun du. "You." Du. Du.
Next is Student, "student." Student. Student.
In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Student is masculine singular.
All together, Bist du Student? "Are you a student?" Bist du Student?
Note: Bist du Student is the informal form of "Are you a student?"
Note, to make the question formal, replace bist du with sind Sie, which is the formal way of asking "are you?"
Therefore in a formal setting:
Sind Sie Student? Are you a student? Sind Sie Student?
You should be aware of this, but you won’t need it for this lesson.
Now, let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Marvin says,
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
Nein, ich bin kein Student. Ich bin Investor.
First is the expression, nein, meaning, "no." Nein. Nein.
It answers Mark's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" Bist du Student?
After this, Marvin specifies that he’s not a student. Ich bin kein Student. "I'm not a student." Ich bin kein Student.
Let's start with the word, Student, "student." Student. Student.
In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Student is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
Before Student is kein, a phrase meaning "not a," in this case. Kein. Kein.
Kein is masculine and singular to agree with Student.
Together, it's kein Student, literally "not a student." Kein Student.
Let’s move to the start of the sentence, ich, "I." Ich. Ich.
Next is bin. "am." Bin. Bin.
Bin is from the verb sein, meaning "to be." Sein.
All together, Ich bin kein Student. "I'm not a student." Ich bin kein Student.
Marvin then tells Mark his actual occupation. Ich bin Investor. "I'm an investor." Ich bin Investor.
First, Ich "I." Ich.
Next is bin, "am." Bin.
Next is Investor. "Investor." Investor. Investor.
Investor is a masculine singular noun.
Together, Ich bin Investor, literally "I am investor," but it translates as "I'm an investor." Ich bin Investor.
All together, Nein, ich bin kein Student. Ich bin Investor.
"No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor."
Nein, ich bin kein Student. Ich bin Investor.
The pattern is
Nein, ich bin kein OCCUPATION. Ich bin ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
"No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION."
Nein, ich bin kein OCCUPATION. Ich bin ACTUAL OCCUPATION.
To use this pattern, simply replace the OCCUPATION and ACTUAL OCCUPATION placeholders with the occupations that are appropriate to the conversation.
Note: This pattern requires nouns. Their gender will depend on the gender of the speaker.
Imagine you’re Emma Eckert a student. The word for a female student is Studentin. Studentin. Studentin.
Marvin Maas asks you if you’re a teacher, Lehrerin. Lehrerin. Lehrerin.
Lehrerin is feminine singular; therefore, keine is feminine singular to agree with Lehrerin.
Together, keine Lehrerin, “not a teacher.” Keine Lehrerin.
Say
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
Ready?
Nein, ich bin keine Lehrerin. Ich bin Studentin.
"No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student."
Nein, ich bin keine Lehrerin. Ich bin Studentin.
In German, a general rule of thumb is occupation words that end -in are feminine, while those that do not are masculine.
Lehrer,
Lehrerin.
If the masculine form contains the word Mann meaning "man," it’s usually replaced by the word Frau meaning "woman."
Bürokaufmann. "Office clerk" (male)
Bürokauffrau. "Office clerk" (female)
However, some occupations may have two different words for one occupation depending on gender.
Krankenpfleger. "Nurse." (male)
Krankenschwester. "Nurse." (female)

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