Learn how to express regret
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here. Beginner series, Season 2, Lesson #31. Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda—Showing Regret, German Style. Hello and welcome to the beginner series, season 2, at germanpod101.com where we study modern German in a fun, educational format. |
| Judith: So brush up on the German that you started learning long ago or start learning today. |
| Chuck: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Judith, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Judith: In this lesson, you will learn how to express regret in German. |
| Chuck: This conversation takes place in the streets of Berlin. |
| Judith: The conversation is between Caroline and Martin, two American tourists. |
| Chuck: The speakers are friends. Therefore they will be speaking informal German. So basic and premium members |
| Judith: If you have a 3G phone, |
| Chuck: You can see the lesson notes in your favorite browser on your phone. |
| Judith: Stop by germanpod101.com to find out more. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Caroline: Mann! |
| Martin: Was? |
| Caroline: Die Läden haben alle keine großen T-Shirts! Wir sind jetzt so lange unterwegs, und es gibt einfach keine! |
| Martin: Hmm. |
| Caroline: Ich denke, ich hätte doch ein T-Shirt im ersten Laden kaufen sollen. |
| Martin: Wirklich? Da gibt es doch auch keine T-Shirts in XXL. |
| Caroline: Ja, aber ich brauche auch T-Shirts für meine Brüder. |
| Martin: Ah, sollst du für sie Souvenirs aus Berlin mitbringen? |
| Caroline: Ja. Ich brauche Geschenke für meine ganze Familie. Für meinen Vater habe ich schon etwas, aber... |
| Martin: Dann lass uns hier in den nächsten Souvenirladen gehen und dort T-Shirts für deine Geschwister kaufen. |
| Caroline: Aber die T-Shirts hier sind nicht so schön. Wir hätten sie doch im ersten Laden kaufen sollen. |
| Martin: Dann lass uns zurück gehen! |
| Caroline: Es ist so weit weg jetzt! Ich möchte nicht mehr laufen! |
| Judith: Now it’s slowly. |
| Caroline: Mann! |
| Martin: Was? |
| Caroline: Die Läden haben alle keine großen T-Shirts! Wir sind jetzt so lange unterwegs, und es gibt einfach keine! |
| Martin: Hmm. |
| Caroline: Ich denke, ich hätte doch ein T-Shirt im ersten Laden kaufen sollen. |
| Martin: Wirklich? Da gibt es doch auch keine T-Shirts in XXL. |
| Caroline: Ja, aber ich brauche auch T-Shirts für meine Brüder. |
| Martin: Ah, sollst du für sie Souvenirs aus Berlin mitbringen? |
| Caroline: Ja. Ich brauche Geschenke für meine ganze Familie. Für meinen Vater habe ich schon etwas, aber... |
| Martin: Dann lass uns hier in den nächsten Souvenirladen gehen und dort T-Shirts für deine Geschwister kaufen. |
| Caroline: Aber die T-Shirts hier sind nicht so schön. Wir hätten sie doch im ersten Laden kaufen sollen. |
| Martin: Dann lass uns zurück gehen! |
| Caroline: Es ist so weit weg jetzt! Ich möchte nicht mehr laufen! |
| Judith: Now with the translation. |
| Caroline: Mann! |
| Caroline: Oh man! |
| Martin: Was? |
| Martin: What? |
| Caroline: Die Läden haben alle keine großen T-Shirts! Wir sind jetzt so lange unterwegs, und es gibt einfach keine! |
| Caroline: None of the shops have any big t-shirts! We have now been walking for so long, and there simply aren't any! |
| Martin: Hmm. |
| Martin: Hmm. |
| Caroline: Ich denke, ich hätte doch ein T-Shirt im ersten Laden kaufen sollen. |
| Caroline: I think I should have bought a t-shirt in that first shop. |
| Martin: Wirklich? Da gibt es doch auch keine T-Shirts in XXL. |
| Martin: Really? They also didn't have any t-shirts in XXL. |
| Caroline: Ja, aber ich brauche auch T-Shirts für meine Brüder. |
| Caroline: Yes, but I also need t-shirts for my brothers. |
| Martin: Ah, sollst du für sie Souvenirs aus Berlin mitbringen? |
| Martin: Ah, are you supposed to bring them souvenirs from Berlin? |
| Caroline: Ja. Ich brauche Geschenke für meine ganze Familie. Für meinen Vater habe ich schon etwas, aber... |
| Caroline: Yes. I need presents for my entire family. I already have something for my father, but… |
| Martin: Dann lass uns hier in den nächsten Souvenirladen gehen und dort T-Shirts für deine Geschwister kaufen. |
| Martin: Then let's go into the next souvenir shop around here and buy t-shirts for your siblings there. |
| Caroline: Aber die T-Shirts hier sind nicht so schön. Wir hätten sie doch im ersten Laden kaufen sollen. |
| Caroline: But here the t-shirts are not as nice. We should have bought them in the first shop. |
| Martin: Dann lass uns zurück gehen! |
| Martin: Then let's go back! |
| Caroline: Es ist so weit weg jetzt! Ich möchte nicht mehr laufen! |
| Caroline: It's so far away now! I don't want to walk any more! |
| CULTURAL SECTION |
| Judith: Okay I think this calls for a cultural point on German families. |
| Chuck: All right. |
| Judith: Typically Germans live either with a father and mother and any siblings or with their husband or wife. |
| Chuck: Grandparents don’t typically live in the same house as the rest of the family but you do visit them fairly often. |
| Judith: You don’t typically see aunts and uncles very often unless you have a close relationship to your cousins. |
| Chuck: Times when the family must get together are Christmas, Easter and the Birthdays of course. |
| Judith: Keep in mind that Germans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving or name days. |
| Chuck: But in any case, Germans are getting divorced more and more often though not as often as Americans. So non-classic families are becoming more common too. |
| Judith: Since Germans don’t have many children any more, the German population is getting older bit by bit. |
| Chuck: Without immigrants, this trend would be a lot worse and cause a much bigger strain on the social system. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: First word [Mann] |
| Chuck: Man. |
| Judith: [Mann, Mann] This word is masculine and the plural is [Männer]. Next [Lange] |
| Chuck: A long time. |
| Judith: [Lange, lange] Next [Unterwegs] |
| Chuck: On the go. |
| Judith: [Unterwegs, unterwegs] Next [Erster] |
| Chuck: First. |
| Judith: [Erster, erster] Next [Kaufen] |
| Chuck: To buy. |
| Judith: [Kaufen, kaufen] Next [Bruder] |
| Chuck: Brother. |
| Judith: [Bruder, Bruder] This is masculine and the plural is [Brüder] Next [Schwester] |
| Chuck: Sister. |
| Judith: [Schwester, Schwester] This is feminine and the plural is [Schwestern] Next [Souvenir] |
| Chuck: Souvenir. |
| Judith: [Souvenir, Souvenir, das Souvenir] and the plural is [Souvenirs]. Next [Bringen] |
| Chuck: To bring. |
| Judith: [Bringen, bringen] Next [Familie] |
| Chuck: Family. |
| Judith: [Familie, Familie, die Familie] Feminine and the plural is [Familien] Next [Vater] |
| Chuck: Father. |
| Judith: [Vater, Vater] Masculine and the plural is [Väter] Next [Geschwister] |
| Chuck: Siblings or brothers and sisters. |
| Judith: [Geschwister, Geschwister] This word is always plural and this is lot more common in German than it does in English. Next [Weit weg] |
| Chuck: Faraway. |
| Judith: [Weit weg] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first phrase we will look at is [Sie haben alle keine] |
| Chuck: All of them don’t have any or none of them have. |
| Judith: Yes it’s a very German word to have all and [] any and all of them together [Sie haben alle keine]. In English, it’s easier, none of them have. Next word [Mitbringen] |
| Chuck: Bring along. |
| Judith: The [Mit] stands for along or with as before. And finally there is [Mehr] |
| Chuck: More. |
| Judith: But in this dialogue, we saw [Nicht mehr] |
| Chuck: Not any more. |
| Judith: Or not any further as in I don’t want to go any further. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The grammar focus of this lesson is expressing regret. |
| Judith: In order to express regret, you can’t get around the structure [Hätte, sollen] |
| Chuck: Should have. This is technically a form of the conditional. So don’t get confused. |
| Judith: In German, when expressing regrets, just put [Hätte] followed by the rest of the sentence including the verb at the end and then [Sollen]. For example, [Ich hätte ein T-Shirt kaufen sollen] |
| Chuck: I should have bought a T-Shirt |
| Judith: Or [Er hätte auf mich hören sollen] |
| Chuck: He should have listened to me. |
Outro |
| Chuck: Well that just about does it for today. Premium members, use the review track to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Judith: Available in the premium section of the website. |
| Chuck: The learning center and through iTunes via the premium feed. |
| Judith: The review track gives you vocabulary and phrases followed by the short pause. So you can repeat the words aloud. |
| Chuck: The best way to get good fast. Okay see you next week. |
| Judith: [Bis nächste Woche]. |
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