Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let’s take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Marvin Maas asks,
"Where are you from?"
Woher kommst du?
First is woher, meaning "where from." Woher. Woher.
Next is kommst. "Come," as in "you come from." Kommst. Kommst.
Kommst is from the verb kommen, meaning "to come,” as in “to come from” in this context. Kommen.
Last is du. "You." Du. Du.
Note, in German du is used when addressing someone in a casual conversation.
All together, Woher kommst du? literally, "Where from come you?" but it translates as "Where are you from?"
Woher kommst du?
Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later in this lesson.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Mark Lee says,
"I am from New York."
Ich komme aus New York.
First is ich, "I." Ich. Ich.
Next is komme, "come," as in "I come from..." Komme. Komme.
Komme is from the verb, kommen, "to come.” Kommen.
Next is aus, meaning "from" in this context. Aus. Aus.
Last is the city, New York. "New York." New York. New York.
All together, Ich komme aus New York. This literally means, "I come from New York," but it translates as "I'm from New York."
Ich komme aus New York.
The pattern is
Ich komme aus LOCATION.
"I am from LOCATION LOCATION."
Ich komme aus LOCATIONLOCATION.
To use this pattern, you can simply replace the LOCATION placeholder with the name of your hometown.
Note: This pattern requires a proper noun, and works with the names of cities, villages, towns or countries.
Imagine you’re from Sydney. In German, Sydney. Sydney. Sydney.
Say
"I am from Sydney."
Ready?
Ich komme aus Sydney.
"I am from Sydney."
Ich komme aus Sydney.
Note on German language formality:
Mark and Marvin are using informal language in this conversation. So Marvin asks,
“Woher kommst du?” Where are you from?
To make the question formal replace kommst du with the kommen Sie.
Therefore in a formal setting,
Woher kommen Sie? Where are you from? Woher kommen Sie?
Please be aware of this, as you will see it again later in the lesson.

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