Learn how to talk about your nationality
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| Welcome to Can-Do German by GermanPod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your nationality in German. |
| For example, "I'm American." is |
| Ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Two passengers, Aylin Ahrens and Marvin Maas , are seated next to each other as passengers on a plane to Germany. |
| Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components. |
| Amerikanerin |
| "American" |
| Amerikanerin |
| Amerikanerin |
| Listen to the conversation. |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| "Are you American?" |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| "Yes, I'm American." |
| Let's break down the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Marvin asks, |
| "Are you American?" |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| First is bist du, "are you." Bist du. |
| Bist, "are." Bist. Bist. |
| Note, bist is from the verb sein, "to be." Sein. |
| Next is du, "you" in informal German. Du. Du. |
| Now, you might be more familiar with sind Sie, a formal way to ask "are you," as in Sind Sie Amerikanerin?, “Are you American?” |
| Together, bist du, “are you.” |
| After this is Amerikanerin, "American," as in the nationality. Amerikanerin. Amerikanerin. |
| Note: Amerikanerin is feminine, as the speaker is addressing Aylin Ahrens. |
| All together, Bist du Amerikanerin?, "Are you American?" |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| Note, if Marvin was referring to a male, he would use the masculine noun, Amerikaner, to refer to him. Using the example from the conversation, Bist du Amerikaner? "Are you American?" Bist du Amerikaner? |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Aylin says, |
| "Yes, I'm American." |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| This starts with the expression, ja meaning "yes." Ja. Ja. |
| It answers Marvin’ yes-or-no question, "Are you American?" |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| Next is ich. "I." Ich. Ich. |
| After this is bin, "am." Bin. Bin. |
| Bin is from the verb sein, meaning "to be." Sein. |
| Last is Amerikanerin, "American." Amerikanerin. |
| All together, Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin.. "Yes, I'm American." |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| The pattern is |
| Ich bin NATIONALITY. |
| "I'm NATIONALITY." |
| Ich bin NATIONALITY. |
| Simply replace the {NATIONALITY} placeholder with your nationality. |
| Note: This pattern requires a noun, and its gender will depend on the gender of the speaker. |
| Imagine you’re Marvin Maas, and you're German. The word for "German" when referring to a male is Deutscher. Deutscher. Deutscher. |
| Say |
| "I'm German." |
| Ready? |
| Ich bin Deutscher. |
| "I'm German." |
| Ich bin Deutscher. |
| In the conversation, the response to the yes-no question was "yes." |
| In case the answer was "no," the corresponding German response would be nein, meaning "no." Nein. Nein. |
| For example, if Aylin Ahrens was asked |
| Bist du Deutsche? |
| "Are you German?" |
| She could have answered |
| Nein, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| "No, I'm American." |
| Remember this pattern. You’ll need it for the practice section. |
| Again, the key pattern is |
| Ich bin NATIONALITY. |
| "I'm NATIONALITY." |
| Ich bin NATIONALITY. |
| Let's look at some examples. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
| Ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| "I'm American." |
| Ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Ich bin Deutscher. |
| "I'm German." |
| Ich bin Deutscher. |
| Ich bin Australierin. |
| "I'm Australian." |
| Ich bin Australierin. |
| Ich bin Engländer. |
| "I'm British." |
| Ich bin Engländer. |
| Ich bin keine Japanerin. Ich bin Chinesin. |
| "I'm not Japanese, I'm Chinese." |
| Ich bin keine Japanerin. Ich bin Chinesin. |
| Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern? |
| Ich bin keine Japanerin. Ich bin Chinesin. |
| "I'm not Japanese. I'm Chinese." |
| Let's start with Japanerin. "Japanese." Japanerin. Japanerin. |
| Note: Japanerin ends in -in, so it can refer only to a female. |
| In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Japanerin is feminine and singular. |
| Moving to the beginning of the sentence, ich, "I." Ich. |
| Next is bin, "am." Bin. |
| Next is keine, "not." Keine. Keine. |
| Keine is a negation word for feminine nouns. |
| Here keine is feminine to agree with Japanerin. |
| All together, Ich bin keine Japanerin. "I'm not Japanese." Ich bin keine Japanerin. |
| Note, for masculine and neuter nouns, kein is the negation word. |
| Jing Liu then states her actual nationality. Ich bin Chinesin. "I'm Chinese." Ich bin Chinesin. |
| First, ich, "I." Ich |
| Next is bin, "am." Bin. |
| Next is Chinesin, "Chinese." Chinesin. Chinesin. |
| Note: Chinesin ends in -in, so it can only refer to a female. |
| Together, Ich bin Chinesin. "I'm Chinese." Ich bin Chinesin. |
| All together, Ich bin keine Japanerin, ich bin Chinesin. "I'm not Japanese. I'm Chinese." |
| Ich bin keine Japanerin, ich bin Chinesin. |
| The pattern is: |
| Ich bin kein/keine NATIONALITY, ich bin ACTUAL NATIONALITY. |
| "I'm not NATIONALITY. I'm ACTUAL NATIONALITY." |
| This can be shortened to |
| Nein, ich bin Chinesin. "No, I'm Chinese." Nein, ich bin Chinesin. |
| The pattern is: |
| Nein, ich bin ACTUAL NATIONALITY. |
| "No, I'm ACTUAL NATIONALITY." |
| Remember this shortened pattern. You’ll need it for the practice section. |
| Let’s review the key vocabulary. |
| In German, nouns of nationality change based on gender. We will provide the masculine word for the nationality followed by the feminine one. |
| "German." |
| Deutscher. Deutscher. |
| Deutsche. Deutsche. |
| "American." |
| Amerikaner. Amerikaner. |
| Amerikanerin. Amerikanerin. |
| "Australian." |
| Australier. Australier. |
| Australierin. Australierin. |
| "British." |
| Engländer. Engländer. |
| Engländerin. Engländerin. |
| Note, in German this word in a strict sense means "English," but it's widely used to mean "British." |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say "yes?" |
| ja |
| ja |
| And the word for "American" woman? |
| Amerikanerin. |
| Amerikanerin. |
| Do you remember how Aylin Ahrens says, |
| "Yes, I'm American." |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Do you remember how Marvin Maas asks, |
| "Are you American?" |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| Do you remember the word for a "British" man? |
| Engländer. |
| Engländer. |
| And the word for an "Australian" woman? |
| Australierin. |
| Australierin. |
| And how to say "no?" |
| nein |
| nein |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Anouk Ahrens , and you’re American, or Amerikanerin In German. |
| Respond to the question. |
| Ready? |
| Bist du Amerikanerin? |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Ja, ich bin Amerikanerin. |
| Let's try another. |
| Imagine you're Mia Martin , a student from Australia. “Australian” is Australierin in German. |
| Pay attention to the nationality in the question. |
| Ready? |
| Sind Sie Engländerin? |
| Nein, ich bin Australierin. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Nein, ich bin Australierin. |
| Nein, ich bin Australierin. |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you're Jack Jones , a student from England. “British” is Engländer in German. |
| Ready? |
| Bist du Engländer? |
| Ja, ich bin Engländer. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Ja, ich bin Engländer. |
| Ja, ich bin Engländer. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your nationality in German. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review. |
| Do you remember how Aylin Ahrens says, |
| "My name is Aylin." |
| Ich heiße Aylin. |
| Ich heiße Aylin. |
| And do you remember how to say "where from?" |
| Woher. |
| Woher. |
| Do you remember how Aylin says, |
| "I'm from Florida." |
| Ich komme aus Florida. |
| Ich komme aus Florida. |
| Do you remember how to say "you?" |
| du. |
| du. |
| And do you remember how Marvin Maas asks, |
| "Where are you from?" |
| Woher kommst du? |
| Woher kommst du? |
| Imagine you're Jack Jones , from London, and you're British. |
| Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in German? |
| Jack Jones |
| Jack Jones |
| Respond to Marvin Maas 's self-introduction and follow-up question… |
| Ready? |
| Ich bin Marvin. Und du? |
| Ich heiße Jack. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Ich heiße Jack. |
| Ich heiße Jack. |
| Do you remember how to say "London" in German? |
| London |
| London |
| Now respond that you’re from London. |
| Woher kommst du? |
| Ich komme aus London. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Ich komme aus London. |
| Ich komme aus London. |
| And do you remember how to say "British" in German? |
| Engländer |
| Engländer |
| Now respond that you’re British. |
| Bist du Engländer? |
| Ja, ich bin Engländer. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Ja, ich bin Engländer. |
| Ja, ich bin Engländer. |
| Well done! This is the end of the lesson. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your nationality, an essential skill for introducing yourself. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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