Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let’s take a closer look at how Ben asks for an item without knowing its name.
Do you remember how Ben Lee says,
"This, please."
Das, bitte.
This standard way of asking for something follows a simple pattern.
First is das, "this," in this context. Das. Das.
Next is bitte, "please." Bitte. Bitte.
Note: bitte has multiple meanings depending on the situation.
In this case, the word is used to make a polite request, "Please." Bitte.
All together, it's Das, bitte, "This, please."
Das, bitte.
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how the clerk says,
"Here you are."
Bitte.
Bitte, meaning "Here you are," in this situation. Bitte. Bitte.
Again, bitte has multiple meanings depending on the situation.
In this case, the word is used as an invitation to take something, as in "Here you are,” or “Go ahead."
Bitte, "Here you are," in this case.
Bitte.
The pattern is:
Das, bitte.
In modern German, "this" and "that" are both expressed with the pronoun das. Therefore, das, bitte can mean both "this, please," and “that, please.”
Imagine there is something located far from you.
Say
"That, please."
Ready?
Das, bitte.
"That, please."
Das, bitte.
There are actually words to differentiate between "this" and "that" in German.
It’s dieses, "this," for something close.
It’s jenes, "that," for something far.
However, these are rarely used in contemporary German and may sound old-fashioned to native German speakers.
In modern German, "this" and "that" are both expressed with the pronoun das, as in das, bitte, which can mean both "this, please," and “that, please.”
If you want to be precise about the location of the object, you can add the following adverbs:
hier, "here," as in das hier, literally, "this here," and
da, “there,” as in das da, literally, "this there," but translating as “that there,” or simply “that.”
Applied to this lesson:
Das hier, bitte. “This here, please.” Das hier, bitte.
Das da, bitte. “That there, please.” Das da, bitte.
Note, da can also be replaced with the dort, also meaning "there." However, in spoken language it's rarely used.

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