Stress Free German Ep: 06 The German Case System is Meant To Be Helpful

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Welcome to Lesson #6 of Stress Free German. These lessons are cumulative, so here in lesson 6 it’s assumed you’ve mastered everything in the first five lessons. Okay, so, let’s get to today’s new image. We again have a bench, which is our sign that we are looking at feminine nouns. On the bench this time is an old woman wearing glasses. Near her is a flower. And in the background is a school. So that’s four new elements: Woman, glasses, flower, school. Let’s listen to the first two: woman and glasses

Frau, Brille

Again…

Frau, Brille

The word Frau I’m sure you’ve encountered. It’s obviously one of the first words you hear in German. That “Fr” combination is tricky, though. Let’s build into it: Fra….Frau

Again: Fra….Frau

Good. And actually, that “B-r” combination is also tough. Let’s play with that a bit, too:

Brot, Brat, Brief, Brille

So we had the old woman with the glasses, sitting on the bench. What were the other two elements? Can you see them? the flower and the school

Blume

Schule

Though are certainly easier. Again?

Blume

Schule

Again, these are feminine, so let’s make quick phrases using the article “the”.

Where is the woman?

Wo ist die Frau?

Where is the glasses? Yes, “Where is…” because in German, Brille is singular.

Wo ist die Brille?

Where is the flower?

Wo ist die Blume?

Where is the school?

Wo ist die Schule?

How do you think this next phrase translates. Listen?

Wo ist meine Frau?

There’s no context here, but he almost certainly means, Where is my wife?

True, there’s a more formal word for wife, but conversationally it seems most Germans use Frau.

Ask a friend: Do you have my glasses?

Hast du meine Brille?

Do you see the flower?

Siehst du die Blume?

This is my school.

Das ist meine Schule.

And let’s segue into a quick review of recent vocab. Speaking informally, how would you ask:

Do you see the bench?

Siehst du die Bank?

Do you have my watch?

Hast du meine Uhr?

Do you need the cheese?

Brauchst du den Käse?

Did you get that article “den”? After all, cheese is masculine in German, and needing it counts as doing something to it. Der changes to den.

Ask: Do you see the church?

Siehst du die Kirche?

Do you have my bag?

Hast du meine Tasche?

No. I have your newspaper.

Nein. Ich habe deine Zeitung.

Excellent as always!

(music)

Ok, so…on to today’s main topic. Adjectives! Finally we’ll be able to start describing things. And the main thing we want to pay attention to here is whether we’re putting the descriptive word like big or beautiful, after the noun (which is easy) or before it (which is tougher). For now just listen.

The park is big.

Der Park ist groß.

Here is a big park.

Hier ist ein großer Park.

Listen again.

The refrigerator is big.

Der Kühlschrank ist groß.

Here is a big refrigerator.

Hier ist ein großer Kühlschrank.

So we’re seeing a pattern. The adjective groß came after the noun, and after the verb ist. But when it came directly in front of the noun, we had to change it to großer, with that “e-r” ending.

You want to know why German does this? It’s not trying to make your life miserable. It’s not trying to be complicated. No. It’s trying