Learn how to explain an absenc
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 17 - Explaining an Absence from the Office. John Here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag! I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to explain the reasons for taking a day off or leaving the office early. The conversation takes place in the office. |
| Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Stefan Herzog. |
| John: The speakers are colleagues, therefore, they will speak informal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Stefan Herzog: Hallo Linda, wie geht es Ihnen? Ich habe gehört, dass es Ihnen gestern nicht so gut ging. |
| Linda Müller: Entschuldigung. Ich hatte gestern starke Kopfschmerzen und ich habe mich Zuhause ausgeruht. |
| Stefan Herzog: Sie müssen sich nicht dafür entschuldigen. Das kann jedem mal passieren! |
| Linda Müller: Ich habe ab und an Kopfschmerzen. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Stefan Herzog: Hallo Linda, wie geht es Ihnen? Ich habe gehört, dass es Ihnen gestern nicht so gut ging. |
| Linda Müller: Entschuldigung. Ich hatte gestern starke Kopfschmerzen und ich habe mich Zuhause ausgeruht. |
| Stefan Herzog: Sie müssen sich nicht dafür entschuldigen. Das kann jedem mal passieren! |
| Linda Müller: Ich habe ab und an Kopfschmerzen. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Stefan Herzog: Hello Linda, how are you? I heard that you didn't feel well yesterday. |
| Linda Müller: Apologies. I had a severe headache and I rested at home. |
| Stefan Herzog: You don't have to apologize. It can happen! |
| Linda Müller: I sometimes suffer from headaches. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: I’m glad that Linda was back at work quickly and that it wasn’t anything too serious. |
| Jennifer: Yes, me too! It seems she was back the next day. |
| John: Stefan was very nice to her too. |
| Jennifer: Well, Linda did do everything right when she was ill. |
| John: Right. She called in and told them so that they could cover for her. |
| Jennifer: I’m sure she gave them any doctor’s notes they wanted too. |
| John: What would have happened if she hadn’t have told them? |
| Jennifer: Absence without notice isn’t tolerated in Germany, like most other countries. |
| John: What could have happened? |
| Jennifer: Die Kündigung. |
| John: What does that mean? |
| Jennifer: “Termination,” in this case of employment. |
| John: I’m glad she told them! I’m sure if it was an emergency and she couldn’t call, they would make allowances for that, right? |
| Jennifer: Yes, of course. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Jennifer: hören [natural native speed] |
| John: to listen |
| Jennifer: hören[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: hören [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: gestern [natural native speed] |
| John: yesterday |
| Jennifer: gestern[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: gestern [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Kopfschmerzen [natural native speed] |
| John: headache |
| Jennifer: Kopfschmerzen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Kopfschmerzen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: Zuhause [natural native speed] |
| John: at home |
| Jennifer: Zuhause[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Zuhause [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Jennifer: passieren [natural native speed] |
| John: to happen |
| Jennifer: passieren[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: passieren [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Jennifer: ab und an [natural native speed] |
| John: sometimes |
| Jennifer: ab und an[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: ab und an [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of one of the phrases from this lesson. The phrase is... |
| Jennifer: ab und an |
| John: meaning "now and then, sometimes." What can you tell us about this expression? |
| Jennifer: You can say either Ab und an or Ab und zu. |
| John: They both mean “sometimes.” |
| Jennifer: Yes. They’re used more in informal or casual speech. |
| John: Are there other words that can be used in their place? |
| Jennifer: Yes, you can say manchmal or gelegentlich, meaning "occasionally." |
| John: Can you give us an example using our first expression? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say, Ab und an geht es mir schlecht. |
| John: ...which means "Sometimes I don't feel good." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about how to explain the reasons for taking a day off or leaving the office early. It seems that the past tense may come in handy here. |
| Jennifer: I think so! |
| John: Linda uses the past tense a couple of times in the dialogue. She says |
| Jennifer: Ich hatte |
| John: which is “I had” and |
| Jennifer: Ich habe mich ausgeruht |
| John: which means “I rested at home.” |
| Jennifer: Here is another example: Ich musste heute leider etwas früher gehen, da ich noch zum Finanzamt musste. |
| John: “I had to leave earlier today as I still needed to go to the tax office.” |
| Jennifer: Da mein Sohn krank geworden war, musste ich ihn gleich vom Kindergarten abholen. |
| John: “As my son had gotten sick, I needed to pick him up from the kindergarten quickly.” So what’s the easiest and most common sentence structure that we can use? |
| Jennifer: You can say Ich musste... |
| John: meaning “I had to” |
| Jennifer: ...followed by a verbal phrase. For example früher gehen. |
| John: meaning “to leave earlier.” And it’s better to add a reason, right? |
| Jennifer: Yes. To state the reason, you’ll probably use a linking word at the beginning, such as da or weil. |
| John: which means “because.” Can you give us an example, Jennifer? |
| Jennifer: Ich musste früher gehen, da ich mich krank fühlte. |
| John: “I needed to leave earlier as I didn’t feel well.” |
| Jennifer: Remember, you should only use Ich bin krank, meaning “I am sick,” after a doctor has officially declared you sick. |
| John: What should you say before that? |
| Jennifer: Ich fühle mich krank. |
| John: “I feel sick.” |
| Jennifer: In the dialogue Linda says Ich hatte gestern starke Kopfschmerzen und ich habe mich Zuhause ausgeruht. |
| John: Which means “I had a severe headache and I rested at home.” |
| Jennifer: Using the adjective stark, meaning “severe” or “strong,” emphasizes the seriousness of your current state of health. |
| John: So only use this if you think it's an emergency and you need to get to the hospital as fast as possible. |
| John: Now, let’s say we’re back at work after being sick. Some colleagues might ask us if we’re feeling okay, as Stefan did in the conversation. |
| Jennifer: Yes. Stefan said Wie geht es Ihnen? |
| John: “Hello Linda, how are you?” |
| Jennifer: Ich habe gehört, dass es Ihnen gestern nicht so gut ging. |
| John: “I heard that you didn't feel well yesterday.” He also tried to make Linda feel better about being sick. |
| Jennifer: Yes, he said Sie müssen sich nicht dafür entschuldigen. |
| John: “You don’t have to apologize.” |
| Jennifer: And Das kann jedem mal passieren! |
| John: “It can happen to anyone.” I think that those are all nice things to say to someone who has come back to work after being ill. |
| Jennifer: I think so too! |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jennifer: Auf Wiedersehen! |
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