Learn about speaking colloquial German and four key differences between colloquial and textbook German
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Chuck: Chuck here, intermediate series season 3 lesson 17, ordering a German pizza. Hello and welcome back to germanpod101, the fastest and easiest way to learn German. I’m joined in the studio by; |
| Judith: Hello everyone, Judith here. |
| Chuck: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to order a pizza and have it delivered to your home in German. |
| Judith: This conversation takes place on the telephone. |
| Chuck: The conversation is between Mr. Jones and a woman on the pizza delivery services phone. |
| Judith: The speakers are in a business relationship, therefore they will be speaking formal German. |
| Chuck: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Pizza: Hallo, willkommen bei Pizza Pizza. |
| Jones: Hallo, ich möchte gerne etwas bestellen. |
| Pizza: Okay, sagen Sie mir bitte Ihren Namen und Ihre Adresse. |
| Jones: Ich heiße Jones und ich wohne in der Sonnenstraße 2. |
| Pizza: Okay. Was möchten Sie bestellen? |
| Jones: Ich möchte die Pizza Nummer 12 bestellen. |
| Pizza: Ähm, das ist aber keine Pizza. Die Nummer 12 ist ein Gemüseauflauf. |
| Jones: Oh, hmm. Dann habe ich vielleicht eine alte Karte hier. Ich hätte aber gerne eine Pizza. |
| Pizza: Okay, kein Problem. Ich helfe Ihnen. Groß oder klein? Nur für Sie oder für mehrere Personen? |
| Jones: Die Pizza? |
| Pizza: Ja. |
| Jones: Hmm, ich nehme eine große Pizza, aber nur für eine Person. |
| Pizza: Okay. Und was kommt drauf? |
| Jones: Also, ich nehme auf jeden Fall Schinken, Paprika und Mais... |
| Pizza: Gut. Was ist mit Zwiebeln? |
| Jones: Nein, die nicht. Ich mag den Geschmack von Zwiebeln nicht. |
| Pizza: Okay, keine Zwiebeln. Dann vielleicht Pilze? |
| Jones: Ja, das ist eine gute Idee. Den Geschmack von Pilzen mag ich. |
| Pizza: Okay, bisher haben wir Schinken, Paprika, Mais und Pilze. Noch etwas? |
| Jones: Hmm, ja ich nehme noch Salami. |
| Pizza: Sie wollen Salami trotz des Schinkens? Eigentlich nimmt man doch nur eins von beiden! |
| Jones: Oh, stimmt. Hmm… dann nehme ich nur Salami. |
| Pizza: Okay, also eine große Pizza mit Salami, Paprika, Mais und Pilzen. |
| Jones: Ja, und natürlich Käse! |
| Pizza: Ja, natürlich! Okay, das macht dann 8,50€. Die Pizza kommt in etwa 30 Minuten. Guten Appetit! |
| Pizza: Hello, welcome to Pizza Pizza. |
| Jones: Hello, I'd like to order something. |
| Pizza: Okay, please tell me your name and address. |
| Jones: My name is Jones and I live in Sonnenstraße no. 2. |
| Pizza: Okay. What would you like to order? |
| Jones: I'd like to order pizza number 12. |
| Pizza: Ehm, but that isn't a pizza. Number 12 is a vegetable casserole. |
| Jones: Oh, hmm. Then maybe I have an old menu here. But I would like a pizza. |
| Pizza: Okay, no problem. I will help you. Big or small? Just for you or for several people? |
| Jones: The pizza? |
| Pizza: Yes. |
| Jones: Hmm, I'll take a big pizza, but just for one person. |
| Pizza: Okay, and what shall be on it? |
| Jones: Hmm, I'll definitely take ham, bell peppers and corn... |
| Pizza: Good. What about onions? |
| Jones: No, not that. I don't like the taste of onions. |
| Pizza: Okay, no onions. Then maybe mushrooms? |
| Jones: Yes, that's a good idea. I like the taste of mushrooms. |
| Pizza: Okay, so far we have ham, bell peppers, corn and mushrooms. Anything else? |
| Jones: Hmm, yes, I will take pepperoni sausage as well. |
| Pizza: You want pepperoni despite having ham? Normally people only take one of the two! |
| Jones: Oh, that's right. Hmm... then I'll just take pepperoni. |
| Pizza: Okay, so a big pizza with pepperoni sausage, bell peppers, corn and mushrooms. |
| Jones: Yes, and cheese of course! |
| Pizza: Yes, of course! Okay, that will be 8 euros 50. The pizza will come in about 30 minutes. Enjoy your meal! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: Okay how about we talk about pizza in Germany? Have you noticed any differences? |
| Chuck: After all this is called germanpod101, isn’t it? |
| Judith: No, it’s not but… |
| Chuck: You keep making me hungry with these lessons. |
| Judith: I’m sorry. |
| Chuck: Well I guess people have to eat in Germany don’t they? |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: Alright, fair enough. |
| Judith: You’ll notice that most pizzas in Germany are just for one person. |
| Chuck: that pretty much follows the Italian style doesn’t it? |
| Judith: Yes it’s Italian pizza, what do you expect? |
| Chuck: Well a German’s already eating Italian pizza there Germans that like to put really weird stuff on their pizza. |
| Judith: What weird stuff? |
| Chuck: Like you’ll find corn, I once saw a bacon and egg pizza and it’s like curry pizza and ….. |
| Judith: I suppose those would be innovations. |
| Chuck: I tell you what? I was once in a Frankfurt train station, I saw American pizza and it had corn on it! |
| Judith: Yes, that’s what people expect. Corn is an American thing hence it must be on American pizza. |
| Chuck: Never seen corn on pizza. Well that is until I came to Germany. Why do you call it American pizza then? |
| Judith: Sorry? |
| Chuck: Why is it called American pizza? |
| Judith: Because it makes people think of America. Just lie American pizza in Germany has to be a thick crust because we know that the American pizzas are large. |
| Chuck: Pretty recently too we have started to see a trend of cheese in crust pizzas being served. |
| Judith: Yes at some places you can get those. Though not everywhere though. And you generally can’t get supreme pizza or generally pizza with many toppings, it’s just not popular here. |
| Chuck: Yes actually toppings for the pizza real ones is actually an American ______ (0:02:19) where I used to live in ______ (0:02:21) and I asked about the supreme pizza and they said “we used to have it on the menu but Germans can’t imagine having to pay more money just to get more toppings on their pizza” They just don’t realize how really yummy it is having lots of toppings is on their pizza, so I have to go without my many topping pizzas. |
| Judith: Poor you, you can still order them one by one. |
| Chuck: Yes I think one in Berlin is extreme. |
| Judith: You could just specify your toppings, you can get a Margherita and you add the toppings. |
| Chuck: Yes Margherita is the German way to say Cheese pizza as funny as that sounds. There is no alcohol in a Margherita pizza. |
| Judith: No. Okay but the pizza places, just like most restaurants, they are privately owned rather than chains. |
| Chuck: And also you never find a juke box or an arcade given a pizza parlor. Actually you probably won’t find arcade games anywhere in Germany. |
| Judith: Yes. |
| Chuck: They are incredibly rare. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is; |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: [bestellen] |
| Chuck: To order or to mission. |
| Judith: [bestellen] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Gemüse] |
| Chuck: Vegetables. |
| Judith: [Gemüse, das] and it’s always singular. |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: [Auflauf] |
| Chuck: Casserole. |
| Judith: [Auflauf, der] and the plural is [Aufläufe]. |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Person] |
| Chuck: Person. |
| Judith: [Person, die] and the plural is [Personen] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Schinken] |
| Chuck: Ham. |
| Judith: [Schinken, der] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Paprika] |
| Chuck: Pepper. |
| Judith: [Paprika, die] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Mais] |
| Chuck: Corn. |
| Judith: [Mais, der] |
| Chuck: Next, |
| Judith: [Zwiebel] |
| Chuck: onion. |
| Judith: [Zwiebel, die] and the plural is [Zwiebeln] |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: [Geschmack] |
| Chuck: Taste. |
| Judith: [Geschmack, der] and the plural is [Geschmäcke] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Pilz] |
| Chuck: Mushroom or fungus. |
| Judith: [Pilz, der] and the plural is [Pilze] |
| Chuck: Next. |
| Judith: [Salami] |
| Chuck: Pepperoni sausage or salami. |
| Judith: [Salami, die] |
| Chuck: Next |
| Judith: [trotz] |
| Chuck: To spite. |
| Judith: [trotz] this is always used with the genitive. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Chuck: Let’s have a closer look for the usage of some of the words and phrases for this lesson. |
| Judith: The first phrase is [Ich möchte] as opposed to [Ich hätte gern] This is a great lesson to review both expressions because they both appear in the dialog. |
| Chuck: But how do you know when to use which one? |
| Judith: Well after [Ich hätte gern] you’ll have to immediately put an object that you have whereas after [Ich möchte] you should use a verb. Some Germans will say [Ich möchte eine Pizza] in a pizza but that will hurt other Germans ears. |
| You are better of using [Ich hätte gern] with things that you want and [Ich möchte] with actions or outcomes that you want. |
| Chuck: I know an important phrase to talk about or a word rather. |
| Judith: Okay, which one. |
| Chuck: Pepperoni. |
| Judith: Ah. Yes, pepperoni if it’s put on a pizza, we don’t mean sausage we mean this is a very spicy vegetable. |
| Chuck: So if you order a pepperoni pizza in Germany, you’ll get something incredibly spicy. |
| Judith: Yes one could say so. If you want a sausage it’s called [Salami] |
| Chuck: I’ve also heard about Germans going to America and seeing pepperoni pizza, I don’t want something that spicy. |
| Judith: Okay, now I have a final word to talk about. [trotz] |
| Chuck: Despite. |
| Judith: This is an upper level preposition which requires a subjunctive to follow. That’s why the pizza guy says [trotz des Schinkens] clearly genitive. Another example of this preposition is [trotz der vielen Besucher] |
| Chuck: Despite many visitors. |
| Judith: So be careful with this one. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Chuck: The focus of this lesson is colloquial German. Talking to people on the pizza delivery hotline is a great way to practice colloquial German. Although I have to admit, that’s a pretty expensive way to practice your colloquial German after a while. |
| Judith: Well if you are a single guy in Germany, then you’ll probably be ordering pizza anyway so you might as well be practicing your German meanwhile. |
| Chuck: Alright works for me. These people aren’t likely to be speaking textbook German, so here are some key differences that might help you understand colloquial German better. |
| Judith: Yes, one thing and this is also in English, is that few people speak in complete sentences. You might not notice it but for example, Mr. Jones can get away with saying [die nicht] instead of [Ich möchte die Schinken nicht] People will also start sentences without finishing them. If you listen to your friend’s English sometimes, you will notice the same. |
| Chuck: Words often get shortened or slurred. Most common candidates are “es” which just becomes “s” or [ein, eine] becomes [n] or [ne] respectively. |
| Judith: Yes and very important the [du] instead of [du] you just add an [u] to the previous word or [su] or even [se] like [ha´se] instead of [hast du] and so the least slurred will be [hassu] where the [hast] and [su] are combined or [has´su] with a [hast du] going away and then you have [hasu] instead of [hasse] or [hast du] okay it’s hard to explain but these contractions always appear in very colloquial fast German. |
| Chuck: You eventually get used to it. For example, a verb ending in “st”, typically only the “s” is pronounced. |
| Judith: Like you say [du has] instead of [du hast] |
| Chuck: Also the final “e” is dropped in a lot of words. Something you’ll also see in music. |
| Judith: Yes, [ich hab] instead of [ich habe]. |
| Chuck: Yes, actually [ich habe] is a common I actually thought that was the way Germans were supposed to say that. |
| Judith: The word order may also be simplified because Germans try to avoid putting verbs at the end of long sub-clauses when speaking and they also avoid long sub-clauses in general. Now I have an example for you and you can look this up in the pdf [Möchtest du eine Pizza heute Abend. Nee, ich hab keinen Hunger, weil ich heute Mittag viel gegessen hab]. |
| Chuck: So translate it to standard German |
| Judith: [Möchtest du eine Pizza heute Abend. Nein, ich habe keinen Hunger, weil ich heute Mittag viel gegessen habe]. |
Outro |
| Chuck: Well that just about does it for today, premium members, don’t forget to subscribe to the premium feed. |
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| Judith: [Bis nächste Woche]! |
Comments
HideWas mögt ihr auf eurer Lieblingspizza? Wenn ihr die deutschen Namen der Zutaten nicht wisst, solltet ihr sie unbedingt herausfinden, bevor ihr nach Deutschland reist.
What [toppings] do you like on your favorite pizza? If you don't know the German names of the ingredients, you should definitely find out before traveling to Germany.
Hallo Leute,
eine kurze Frage: „Die Pilze“ bedeutet „mushroom“, aber das richtige Wort für „mushroom“ ist „Champignons“. Warum benutzen die meisten Leute „Champignons“ statt „Pilze“?
Hi Gonzalo,
Thank you for the postive feedback! 👍
You ❤️ pizza, I can tell. 😄
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Das ist super!
Hi BKE,
Thank you for getting back to us.
That much for "Is pizza Italian or American?" 😄
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Auf meiner Lieblingspizza würden Sauerkraut und Kanadischer Speck gestellt.
Hallo robert groulx,
Danke schön for taking the time to leave us a comment. 😇
Let us know if you have any questions.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Levente
Team GermanPod101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favorite words are das ist eine gute Idee. Den Geschmack von Pilzen mag ich.
robert
Hello P Martin,
Thank you for commenting!
I searched for the mistake in the PDF but can't find any. Do you maybe refer to the transcript of the dialogue? In the dialogue the two aren't speaking very colloquial German, that's why the word order is as it should be in formal German.
Sincerely,
Anne
Team GermanPod101.com
Hi
Just to draw your attention to a small mistake.
In the section on colloquial German, you direct us to look up the phrase in the pdf, but the pdf doesn't match what you say. The pdf has the [hab] at the end of the clause for the colloquial version, just as the [habe] goes at the end of the standard version, which kind of defeats the object of the example.
Hi Ali,
Thanks for writing!
It's "der Pilz" and plural "die Pilze".
Hope that helps!
Regards,
Katrin
Team GermanPod101.com
I have confused !
Pliz : plural Plize or Plizen ?
Thanks Chuck! Surely it helps :smile:
Any suggestion and/or correction in this section (to our comments) is more than welcome!
Best regards :cool:
Thanks for your reply!
Ihr solltet auf jeden Fall zwei Pizzen bestellen.
You can't really use "sicher" in this context. Hope that helps! :)
:D LOL, great comments!
Ich mag deutsche vegetarische Pizza :)
Mit Ausname von der, bestelle ich normalerweise die Pizza mit Oliven (oder grünen Salat), Pilze, Schinken und natürlich Käse :) Mais ist auch gut drauf. Wie haben es hier, trozd ihr sagt, dass es ein amerikanisches Erfindung ist :)
Wie machen eine Pizza auch für mehrere Personen (zwei oder drei) So, ohne Zweifel bestellt ihr zwei Pizzas, wenn ihr mit Familie in Montenegro kommt.
How do I say "be sure to order two Pizzas" if I want to use "sicher" and "ihr")
all of you are giant pussies.
I once ordered an anchovy pizza at Sharky's Pizza. Man was it horrible! Like chewing on rock salt. Makes this Tuna pizza sound alright. My advice to you, is if you ever order one, make sure you have about a gallon of cold beer nearby. Absolutely disgusting!!
Tim, I've seen Tuna fish pizza here, but I've never bothered to try it... often I'm with Judith and she doesn't eat any seafood at all, so that settles that!
Vanessa, ich habe auch von einem deutschen Kollegen etwas interessantes gehört. Er war in einer Pizzeria in den USA und hatte eine ganze Pizza bestellt weil in Deutschland eine Pizza oft nur für eine Person ist. Der Preis hat ihn überrascht, aber er wollte trotzdem eine Pizza und er weiß, dass er doch in New York ist und die Preise dort teuer sind. Die Pizza würde für eine Familie reichen! Also, du machst bestimmt nicht die einzigen Fehler mit Pizza im Ausland!
LOL, vielen Dank, dass ihr diese Geschichten mit uns geteilt habt!
Ich mag Pilzen, Oliven, Zwiebeln, Tomaten, und natürlich Käse. Ich habe eine Kusine, die nicht Käse mag! Als ich in Berlin war, bestellte mein Bruder eine Pizza mit "Pepperoni". Auf Englisch ist Pepperoni wie Salami, und wir nennen die scharfen grünen Dingen "Pepperoncini". Er war mit seiner scharfen Pizza nicht zufrieden! Aber was konnte er tun?
Wir haben uns etwas wichtiges gelernt. Wenn der Kellner fragt, "sind Sie sich sicher?" sagen immer "nein"!
You guys are in Berlin! I'm really surprised that you left out perhaps the most disgusting pizza invention evar....the Thunfisch Pizza, which was also called in a lot of places (in Dresden and in Berlin) as the Amerikanisch Pizza mit Thunfisch.
When I heard about it, it did not sound even remotely appetizing. But I got suckered into buying one at a Ditsch in the Potsdam Hauptbahnhof. It looked like a genuine crumbled italian sausage pizza similar to a few places here in Arizona (namely Cici's and Peter Piper Pizza) So I excitedly looked for a label but none was there and when the girl behind the counter came over I pointed at it and said "Ich mochte ein" And when I got it, it still looked like a sausage pizza and so I took a bite and man that was an aweful surprise.
I figured it was just the surprise of expecting italian sausage and actually getting tuna was the cause of my reaction so I braced myself and tried to give it a chance. I was only able to eat a couple more bites before I became the wasteful American and quickly chucked it in the first restmul container I could find.