Learn about the imperative form of German verbs to give commands or make requests
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Absolute Beginner Season 2, Lesson 10; It’s Imperative to Learn to Ride a German Bus! Hello and welcome to GermanPod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn German. |
| Judith: I’m Judith and thanks again for being here with us for this Absolute Beginner Season 2 Lesson. |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give commands in German. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place during breakfast at the Schneider Family home. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Paul and the Schneider Family. |
| Judith: The speakers don’t know each well yet. Therefore they’ll be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Judith: Guten Morgen! |
| Chuck: Üaaahh... guten Morgen! Entschuldigung, ich bin noch müde. |
| Judith: Es gibt Frühstück. Möchten Sie Kaffee? Wir haben auch Tee. |
| Chuck: Und essen Sie auch etwas! |
| Judith: Wie komme ich von hier aus zur Goethe-Schule? |
| Chuck: Das ist einfach. Nehmen Sie den Bus. |
| Judith: Wo? Welchen Bus? |
| Chuck: Ich nehme auch den Bus. Komm einfach mit mir! |
| Judith: Okay, gehen wir, Susie! |
| Chuck: Okay, let's go, Susie! |
| Judith: Now slowly. |
| Judith: Guten Morgen! |
| Chuck: Üaaahh... guten Morgen! Entschuldigung, ich bin noch müde. |
| Judith: Es gibt Frühstück. Möchten Sie Kaffee? Wir haben auch Tee. |
| Chuck: Und essen Sie auch etwas! |
| Judith: Wie komme ich von hier aus zur Goethe-Schule? |
| Chuck: Das ist einfach. Nehmen Sie den Bus. |
| Judith: Wo? Welchen Bus? |
| Chuck: Ich nehme auch den Bus. Komm einfach mit mir! |
| Judith: Okay, gehen wir, Susie! |
| Chuck: Okay, let's go, Susie! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: Guten Morgen! |
| Chuck: Good morning. |
| Judith: Guten Morgen! |
| Chuck: Good morning. |
| Judith: Entschuldigung, ich bin noch müde. |
| Chuck: Sorry, I’m still tired. |
| Judith: Es gibt Frühstück. Möchten Sie Kaffee? |
| Chuck: There’s breakfast, would you like coffee? |
| Judith: Wir haben auch Tee. |
| Chuck: We also have tea. |
| Judith: Kaffee ist gut. |
| Chuck: Coffee is good. |
| Judith: Und essen Sie auch etwas! |
| Chuck: And eat something too. |
| Judith: Wie komme ich von hier aus zur Goethe-Schule? |
| Chuck: How do I get from here to the Goethe School? |
| Judith: Das ist einfach. Nehmen Sie den Bus. |
| Chuck: That’s simple, take the bus. |
| Judith: Wo? Welchen Bus? |
| Chuck: Where? Which bus? |
| Judith: Ich nehme auch den Bus. Komm einfach mit mir! |
| Chuck: I take the bus too. Simply come with me. |
| Judith: Okay, gehen wir, Susie! |
| Chuck: Okay. Let’s go, Suzy. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: All right. I think this is a good point to talk about the bus in Germany because it’s a bit different from how you would take a bus in the States, and maybe there are even some among us who haven’t taken a bus before. |
| Chuck: So what’s different? |
| Judith: Well, first the bus stops. You can identify bus stops in Germany by tall metal posts or columns bearing a flag-like white sign. And this sign should have the letter H in green on a yellow background inside a green rimmed circle. You’ll notice it and recognize it once you’ve seen it once. Even though there are a lot of independent bus companies in Germany, they all use that sign. |
| Chuck: Does H stand for something? |
| Judith: I forgot. I’m not sure. |
| Chuck: Okay. You’ll also notice it at the bus stop, usually attached to the pole, there will be one or more timetables that show departure times. You can also see which lines run here. |
| Judith: Yeah, and which stops they make. If the bus is going in the wrong direction, look for a similar bus station pole on the other side of the street not too far away. It’s quite easy to navigate the buses in Germany because you don’t have to call anyone for information. |
| Chuck: And you’ll even notice that some often used bus stops have rain shelters, benches, and some even have electronic displays showing when the next bus will arrive. |
| Judith: Yes. Once the bus is there, get in through the front door and buy a ticket there. If you already have a ticket, leave it at the bus driver because some areas are very strict about that. You can buy single pass tickets which are available within a certain zone even if you have to change and you can also buy reduced fair tickets, multi-passed tickets or day tickets. You just hand the money directly to the bus driver and he will give you change back if necessary. But if you have some very large bills, you may not be able to and he won’t accept them. |
| Chuck: Sit down or hang on to something as soon as possible because you can’t sue the bus company if you fall in Germany. Don’t fall asleep though because you have to be alert and hit the button labeled Halt or Stop as the bus draws closer to your desired stop. |
| Judith: This can be tricky if you don’t know the area. Modern buses have an electronic display that indicates what the next stop or even the next few stops are. |
| Chuck: Otherwise you’ll have to ask a local to alert you in time or try to make out the writing on those bus poles to identify your location. |
| Judith: Yes. As the bus comes to a stop, go to the back door because some regions keep a clear policy of only allowing people to get in the one way and exit the other way. The bus driver should open the door but if that doesn’t happen, look for another button on the door or near the door which will open the door for you so you can get out. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Chuck: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Chuck: The first word we shall see is? |
| Judith: Morgen |
| Chuck: Morning. |
| Judith: Morgen and the plural is the same. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: noch |
| Chuck: Still, yet or another. |
| Judith: noch |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Frühstück |
| Chuck: Breakfast. |
| Judith: Frühstück |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Kaffee |
| Chuck: Coffee. |
| Judith: Kaffee |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Tee |
| Chuck: Tea. |
| Judith: Tee |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: kommen |
| Chuck: To come. |
| Judith: kommen |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: zu |
| Chuck: To. |
| Judith: zu |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: einfach |
| Chuck: Easy, simple, or just. |
| Judith: einfach |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: nehmen |
| Chuck: To take. |
| Judith: nehmen |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: Bus |
| Chuck: Bus. |
| Judith: Bus and the plural is Busse. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: mit |
| Chuck: With. |
| Judith: mit |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first word we’ll look at is „zur“. „zur“ is a version of „zu“ which is always used before feminine words. It’s a mesh of „zu“ and the definite article so you don’t use the article anymore. „zur Schule“ is “to the school.” We should also look at „von hier aus“. |
| Chuck: Starting here. |
| Judith: The „aus“ may look strange to you but it’s a German thing. We need it in order to indicate that the journey is starting here, „von hier aus“. |
| Chuck: „einfach“ doesn’t just mean “easy” or “simple,” it also means “simply” or “just.” In Germans, adjectives and adverbs always look the same. That’s why „gut“ can mean “good” or “well” and „müde“ can mean “tired” or “tiredly.” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is the imperative. |
| Judith: This lesson featured some verbs in the imperative form. The imperative is used to give commands or also to make polite requests if you add „bitte“. There is a formal imperative for people that you address as „Sie“ and there’s an informal imperative for family, friends, and kids. |
| Chuck: In German, the formal imperative is just the same as the formal present tense, except the verb comes first and the „Sie“ second. For example... |
| Judith: „Gehen Sie!“ |
| Chuck: Go. |
| Judith: „Kommen Sie!“ |
| Chuck: Come. |
| Judith: „Nehmen Sie den Bus!“ |
| Chuck: Take the bus. |
| Judith: If it wasn’t imperative, it would be „Sie nehmen den Bus“. |
| Chuck: You’re taking the bus. |
| Judith: The informal imperative is more interesting. This one corresponds to address the word-stem without any ending and no pronoun like „Geh!“ instead of „Komm!“, „Komm!““come.” You would also use this one with people you’re insulting because using the polite „Sie“ in those cases would be extremely weird. |
| Chuck: Finally, if you want to make a suggestion and include yourself as in English “Let’s go,” you can use another type of imperative in German for the first person plural. For this, just place „wir“ after, rather than before the first person plural form. „Gehen wir!“, “Let’s go.” |
| Judith: Or „Lernen wir Deutsch!“. |
| Chuck: Let’s learn German. |
| Judith: Instead of „Wir lernen Deutsch!“. you say, „Lernen wir Deutsch!“. |
Outro |
| Chuck: That just about does it for today. |
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| Chuck: So see you next time. |
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