eBook - ePub

50 Ways to Improve your German: Teach Yourself

Name: 50 Ways to Improve your German: Teach Yourself
ISBN: 9781444132281

Sieglinde Klovekorn-Ward,

160 pages
English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

50 Ways to Improve your German: Teach Yourself

Sieglinde Klovekorn-Ward,

About this book

Is this the right course for me?
Do you have a working knowledge of German, but want to improve? Allow this book to come to your rescue and eliminate basic errors and slips of the pen. Each one of 50 top tips for improving your spoken and written German is presented and analysed across a whole double page, with explanations as to where and why people sometimes go wrong. The tips are grouped into grammar, spelling, false friends, pronunciation and cultural faux pas sections. There's even free downloadable audio content available to help you with your pronunciation. Polish your German with this brand new series from Teach Yourself - the No. 1 brand in language learning. 50 ways to improve your German touches all essential bases and is divided into easily digestible.
Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features: Only got a minute?
A 60-second introduction to German to get you started.Only got five minutes?
Get to grips with German and its common pitfalls even if you're short of time.Only got ten minutes?
Use your free time wisely to learn something about the German language. Insights
Instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on Sieglinde Klövekorn-Ward's many years of experience.Test yourself
Tests online to keep track of your progress. Articles
Extra information to keep you motivated.Summaries
Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts.Grammar
Easy-to-follow building blocks to give you a clear understanding.Pronunciation
Don't sound like a tourist - polish your pronunciation before you go.Audio
Downloadable audio support online to help with key areas - iPod/MP3 compatible.
For your free audio download please visit: www.hodder.co.uk/TYLfreedownloads

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Yes, you can access 50 Ways to Improve your German: Teach Yourself by Sieglinde Klovekorn-Ward in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & German Language. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Teach Yourself

Year

2010

eBook ISBN

9781444132281

Topic

Languages & Linguistics

Subtopic

German Language

Index

Languages & Linguistics

Getting the structure right

3 A very important date

Spot the mistake:

Heute ist der neunzehn August.

Of course, you knew immediately that the mistake was in the missing ending, didn’t you? And that the correct statement should be:

Heute ist der neunzehnte August.

Today is the 19th of August.

Learners generally find the whole issue of dates confusing. They are constantly faced with an array of choices: ‘–te’ or ‘–ste’? ‘–ten’ or ‘–sten’? Well, here’s a thread that will see you safely through this maze.

1 Remember that the date always has an ending, it’s not just a simple number.

2 The normal ending for numbers up to 19 is ‘–te’

Heute ist der zweite April.	Today is the second of April.
Morgen ist der neunzehnte Juli.	Tomorrow is the 19th of July.

As in English, the numbers one and three have irregular forms for first and third:

Heute ist der erste Mai.	Today is the first of May.
Übermorgen ist der dritte Mai.	The day after tomorrow is the third of May.

The number sieben loses its ‘–en’ in the middle:

die sieb te Reihe

the seventh row (not siebente)

3 From the number 20 upwards (ad infinitum), all numbers have the ending ‘–ste’

Der zwanzigste Januar ist ein Sonntag.	The 20th of January is a Sunday.
der tausendfünfhundertneunund– vierzigste Lotteriegewinner	the 1549th lottery winner

4 When referring to an event on a specific date, you need the preposition am, plus the endings ‘–ten’ or ‘–sten’:

Am fünfzehnten Mai ist Muttertag.	On the 15th of May it’s Mother’s Day.
Ich habe am fünfundzwanzigsten März Geburtstag.	My birthday is on the 25th of March.
Am dritten Oktober ist der Tag der Deutschen Einheit.	The third of October is the Day of German Unification.

Insight

To help you remember the correct preposition when talking about a date in German, think of it as AA: Am/dAte.

Congratulations, you’ve come out of the maze! You now know how to say the date correctly, but how do you write it? When writing figures, a full stop is the equivalent of the English ‘–st’, ‘–nd’ or ‘–th’: 10. Januar – 10th January.

To give a date in full, you can write, for example, 24.8.09, but in a letter or an official document, you would put: den 24.8.09.

Look at this example from a letter by Goethe to Charlotte von Stein, his aristocratic friend and confidante:

Weimar, den 19. May 1776. Zum erstenmal im Garten geschlafen…

Weimar, 19th May, 1776. Slept in the garden for the first time …(May is the old German spelling for Mai.)