Learn how to use the present continuous
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| Sydney: Hi everyone, I'm Sydney. | |
| Albert: And I'm Albert. | |
| Sydney: And welcome to Must-Know German Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 2. Using the Present Continuous. | |
| Sydney: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for letting others know what someone is doing. | |
| PATTERN | |
| Sydney: For example, | |
| Sydney: "I am playing in the living room." | |
| Albert: Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Albert: [slow] Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Sydney: The pattern for letting others know what someone is doing has three elements. First, the pronoun, in this case "I." | |
| Albert: Ich. | |
| Sydney: Second, the verb "playing" conjugated in the present progressive form and using gerade for that. | |
| Albert: spiele gerade. | |
| Sydney: Third, the location, in this case "living room." The preposition for "in the" needs to be added accordingly. | |
| Albert: im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Sydney: Altogether, we have... "I am playing in the living room." | |
| Albert: Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. [slow] Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. [normal] Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Sydney: Right after the pronoun in the beginning, you use the conjugated verb in the present progressive directly followed by a preposition and the location, to express that you are doing an activity at a specific location. Compared to English, you need to conjugate the verb according to the pronoun that is used. | |
| Albert: Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Sydney: So remember, to express that you or someone else is doing some activity at a location, first use a pronoun for the targeted person, then add the conjugated verb in present indicative, and conclude with a preposition and the location. | |
| Sydney: Here is another example meaning, "I am swimming in the swimming pool." First, the pronoun, in this case "I." | |
| Albert: Ich. | |
| Sydney: Second, the verb "swimming" conjugated in the present progressive form and using gerade for that. | |
| Albert: schwimme gerade. | |
| Sydney: Third, the location, in this case "swimming pool." The preposition for "in the" needs to be added accordingly. | |
| Albert: im Schwimmbad. | |
| Sydney: Altogether we have... | |
| Albert: Ich schwimme gerade im Schwimmbad. [slow] Ich schwimme gerade im Schwimmbad. [normal] Ich schwimme gerade im Schwimmbad. | |
| Sydney: "I am swimming in the swimming pool." | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich schwimme gerade im Schwimmbad. | |
| Sydney: How do you say - "I am traveling in Berlin." To give you a hint, "traveling" is... | |
| Albert: reise gerade. [slow] reise gerade. [normal] reise gerade. | |
| Sydney: "I am traveling in Berlin." | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich reise gerade in Berlin. [slow] Ich reise gerade in Berlin. [normal] Ich reise gerade in Berlin. | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich reise gerade in Berlin. | |
| REVIEW | |
| Sydney: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I will give you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in German. Here we go. | |
| Sydney: "I am playing in the living room." | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Sydney: "I am swimming in the swimming pool." | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich schwimme gerade im Schwimmbad. | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich schwimme gerade im Schwimmbad. | |
| Sydney: "I am traveling in Berlin." | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich reise gerade in Berlin. | |
| [pause] | |
| Albert: Ich reise gerade in Berlin. | |
Outro |
|
|---|---|
| Sydney: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for letting others know what someone is doing, as in... | |
| Albert: Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer. | |
| Sydney: meaning "I am playing in the living room." | |
| Sydney: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on GermanPod101.com. Thanks everyone, see you next time! | |
| Albert: Bis zum nächsten Mal!. |
7 Comments
HideWhat is your pet doing now?
Hallo robert groulx,
Danke schön for posting. We are very happy to have you here. Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Levente
Team GermanPod101.com
thank you for the lesson transcript
favorite phrase is Ich spiele gerade im Wohnzimmer.
robert
Hi Jeff,
You are correct. The point is present progressive.
The meaning of "gerade" however is "now", which makes sense in a way because
by using present progressive we usually want to express the fact that something
is happening now.
Thank you.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Hello Mark,
"Ich koche." is not wrong but it is a bit short. A native speaker would,
as you pointed out yourself, say something like "Ich koche gerade." or
"Ich bin gerade am Kochen."
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Hallo,
Wenn z. B. ein Freund ruft mich an und fragt „Was machst du?” oder so was in dieser Richtung, sage ich besser „Ich koche...” oder „Ich koche gerade...”
From a beginner: The point seems to be present progressive. So far this is achieved by adding "greade" to present (and other?) tense. Maybe meaning of 'gerade" should be sooner.