Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Finja asks,
"Is this your family?"
Ist das Ihre Familie?
Let's start with the word, Familie, "family." Familie. Familie.
In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Familie is feminine and singular — a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence.
Before this is Ihre, meaning "your,” in this formal context. Ihre.
Note, Ihre fundamentally means "hers," or "theirs," depending on the context, but it’s also a formal way to say “your,” when speaking to someone directly using formal German. Ihre. Ihre.
Now, you might be more familiar with deine, an informal word for "your," as in deine Familie, “your family (informal).” As this is a conversation between two adults that don’t know each other very well, the formal form, Ihre, is more appropriate.
Ihre is feminine and singular to agree with Familie.
Together, it's Ihre Familie, "your family." Ihre Familie.
Moving to the start of the sentence, Ist, "is," as in "this is.." Ist. Ist.
Ist is from the verb sein, meaning "to be." Sein.
Next is das, "this" in this context. Das. Das.
All together, it’s Ist das Ihre Familie? "Is this your family?" Ist das Ihre Familie?
Note the rising intonation of the sentence to indicate that it’s a question.
Ist das Ihre Familie?
Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later.
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Karen says,
"Yes. This is my family. My husband, my son, my daughter, and me."
Ja. Das ist meine Familie. Mein Mann, mein Sohn, meine Tochter, und ich.
This starts with ja, meaning, "yes." Ja. Ja.
It answers Finja’s yes-or-no question, "Is this your family?"
Ist das Ihre Familie?
After this, Karen points to the picture and says, Das ist meine Familie. "This is my family."
Let’s start with the word, Familie, "family." Familie.
Do you remember the gender and number of Familie?
Feminine and singular.
Before this is meine, meaning "my." Meine. Meine.
Meine is feminine and singular to agree with Familie.
Together, meine Familie translates as "my family." Meine Familie.
Moving to the start of the sentence, Das, "this,” in this context. Das. Das.
Next is ist, "is." Ist.
Ist is from the verb sein, "to be." Sein.
All together, it’s Das ist meine Familie. "This is my family." Das ist meine Familie.
After this is mein Mann. "My husband." Mein Mann.
Let's start with mann, "husband." Mann. Mann.
Mann is masculine and singular.
Before this is mein. "My." Mein.
Mein is masculine and singular to agree with Mann.
Mein Mann.
Next, mein Sohn. "My son." Mein Sohn.
Let's start with Sohn, "son." Sohn. Sohn.
Sohn is masculine and singular.
Before this is mein, "my." Mein.
Mein is masculine and singular to agree with Sohn.
Mein Sohn.
After this is meine Tochter, "my daughter." meine Tochter.
Let's start with Tochter, "daughter." Tochter. Tochter.
Tochter is feminine and singular.
Before this is meine, "my." Meine.
Meine is feminine and singular to agree with Tochter.
Meine Tochter.
Next is und, "and." Und. Und.
And last is ich, which translates as "me" in this context. Ich. Ich.
All together, Ja. Das ist meine Familie. Mein Mann, mein Sohn, meine Tochter und ich. "Yes. This is my family. My husband, my son, my daughter, and me."
Ja. Das ist meine Familie. Mein Mann, mein Sohn, meine Tochter und ich.
The pattern is:
Das ist meine Familie. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER und ich.
This is my family. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER and me.
To use this pattern, simply replace the {FAMILY MEMBER} placeholders with the members of your family.
Note: this pattern requires a noun preceded by the corresponding possessive adjective.
Imagine your family members are your wife, your son, your daughter, and you.
Frau is "wife." Frau. Frau. This is a feminine noun. Therefore "my wife" is meine Frau. Meine Frau.
Say
"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughter, and me."
Ready?
Das ist meine Familie. Meine Frau, mein Sohn, meine Tochter und ich.
"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughter, and me."
Das ist meine Familie. Meine Frau, mein Sohn, meine Tochter und ich.
In German, the words for "wife," Frau, and "husband," Mann, literally mean "woman" and "man," respectively.
There are more accurate words for this translation:
Ehefrau, "wife." Ehefrau. Ehefrau.
Ehemann, "husband." Ehemann. Ehemann
However, those words are mainly used in very formal situations, such as when written on an official document. In Germany, people usually refer to their spouses as meine Frau, literally "my woman," and mein Mann, literally "my man."

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