Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute German Season 1, Lesson 12 - What are you doing? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask what someone is doing in German.
Body
Eric: Here's the informal way to ask 'What are you doing?' in German.
Albert: [Normal] Was machst du?
Eric: First is a word meaning 'what'
Albert: [Normal] was [Slow] was
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to do'
Albert: [Normal] machst [Slow] machst
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'you’ (informal)
Albert: [Normal] du [Slow] du
Eric: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning 'What are you doing?'
Albert: [Slow] Was machst du? [Normal] Was machst du?
Eric: Now, imagine you're speaking to a stranger. Here's the formal way to ask, 'What are you doing?'
Albert: [Normal] Was machen Sie?
Eric: First is a word meaning 'what'
Albert: [Normal] was [Slow] was
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to do'
Albert: [Normal] machen [Slow] machen
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'you’ (formal)
Albert: [Normal] Sie [Slow] Sie
Eric: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'What are you doing?'
Albert: [Slow] Was machen Sie? [Normal] Was machen Sie?
Eric: Here's a response meaning 'I'm doing homework'
Albert: [Normal] Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben
Eric: First is a word meaning 'I'
Albert: [Normal] Ich [Slow] Ich
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to do'
Albert: [Normal] mache [Slow] mache
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'my'
Albert: [Normal] meine [Slow] meine
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'homework'
Albert: [Normal] Hausaufgaben [Slow] Hausaufgaben
Eric: Listen again to the response, 'I'm doing homework'
Albert: [Slow] Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben [Normal] Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben
Eric: Here's a response meaning, 'I'm cooking now.'
Albert: [Normal] Ich koche gerade!
Eric: First is a word meaning 'I'
Albert: [Normal] Ich [Slow] Ich
Eric: Next is the word meaning 'to cook'
Albert: [Normal] koche [Slow] koche
Eric: Last is the word meaning 'straight,’ ‘just,’ ‘just now,’ or ‘right now'
Albert: [Normal] gerade [Slow] gerade
Eric: Listen again to the response meaning 'I'm cooking now.'
Albert: [Slow] Ich koche gerade! [Normal] Ich koche gerade!
Cultural Insight
Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Albert: In some situations, the question Was machst du? can also mean more generally "What do you do?" or "What is your job?"
This is a really common question you can ask, or that you might be asked the first time you meet someone.

Outro

Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson!

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