I have had to think hard on this, because my initial way of teaching Deutsch, by teaching it similiar to how I learned English, just is not going to work. I really cannot start with sentence structure because Deutsch is far more complex in sentence structure in English, so I am going to introduce some simple words (a little at a time!) and use them in combination with some simple verbs to give you a feel for it before I discuss in detail what actually decides who the verbs are declined and such. And in case you did not already know, Deutsch is one of those languages that assigns genders to nouns, articles that must correspond to gender and case, and the verbs must have a certain ending depending on what quantity or character the noun indicates. So if you think that is annoying, turn back now !

 

Basic Pronouns

ich - I (May be familiar)

du - You (Not so formal)

er/sie/es - he/she/it (There is a good reason for grouping these together - you will see when I discuss present-tense verbs)

wir - We

ihr - You (pl.) ("All of you" or, the American way, "y'all" )

sie/Sie - They/You (formal) (Good reason for grouping these, too. And yes, the second "Sie" must be capitalized!)

 

When you use a present-tense verb (unless it is irregular, you might then have different things happening) after any of these pronouns, the endings to that verb generally correspond in this way:

 

ich - -e

du - -st

er/sie/es - -t (See, they all share the same ending)

wir - -en

ihr - -t

sie/Sie - -en (Same ending)

 

Let's use a weak verb as an example, because they are simple. Using lieben (lee-ben), which means "to love," you take the stem of the word (many times with weak verbs, you can get the stem by cutting off the -en, leaving "lieb") and then you add the ending you need:

 

Ich liebe - I love

Du liebst - You love

Er/she/es liebt - He/She/It loves

Wir lieben - We love

Ihr liebt - You all love

sie/Sie lieben - They/You(formal) love

 

So, if I wanted to say: "I love The Wheel of Time book series," I would say

"Ich liebe die Romanzykluz Das Rad der Zeit."

 

Here are some practice verbs that will work nicely with the given rules:

spielen (to play)

wohnen (to live in-like a house or place)

machen (to make)

kaufen (to purchase)

denken (to think)

bringen (to bring - looks familiar, yes?)

kommen (to come)

trinken (to drink)

schmecken (to taste)

fragen (to ask)

bleiben (to stay)

These will not change except in verb ending, so give it a try.

Out of curiosity, is Ich capitalized in the middle of a sentence like the English "I"?

Out of curiosity, is Ich capitalized in the middle of a sentence like the English "I"?

 

Not as a rule, though I have seen it both ways. There’s no grammatical reason for doing so, and oddly enough, the majuscule “I” appears only in English as a "rule".

You do not under any circumstances capitalize "ich" unless it is at the beginning of the sentence. Unless you are really trying to draw attention to that particular instance or you are using it as some sort of writing mechanic. The only pronoun that is supposed to get capitalized is Sie (you, formal).

I will never understand this...

I'm reading these aloud and then wondering how I pronounce each of them properly; as I'm sure I'm murdering this language by doing so.

I'm seeing som similarities between Deutsch and french- Hopefully this will make it easier.. >_>

I'm reading these aloud and then wondering how I pronounce each of them properly; as I'm sure I'm murdering this language by doing so.

 

I did have a thread about the alphabet, which should help some; as for the words present, the exact pronounciation would be:

ich - Okay, this I cannot really compare to English, because there is not really a sound. It is a little like...the ch is a little like a k, only it is more throaty. I cannot describe it! But the "i" is pronounced like long "e" - Deutsch "i"s are like that.

du - doo, roughly

er - air

sie - zee

es - aes

wir - vir, and remember the i is like long English e

ihr - ear

 

As for the verbs at the bottom, they are pronounced

spielen - sch(peel)en

wohnen - vohnen

machen - mahken (the ch is not exactly k, it must be more with the throat)

kaufen - kowfen

denken - daynken

bringen - bringen (pronounced same as English bring with -en)

kommen - kom-en (o should be like a short English o)

trinken - pronounced like drink only with a "t" instead of "d"

schmecken - schmehken

fragen - frahgen (g as in get)

bleiben - bleiben (ei = long i in English)

 

Hope this helps.

That helps a lot!

I'm seeing som similarities between Deutsch and french- Hopefully this will make it easier.. >_>

Ugh!!!! Not French! UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I'm seeing som similarities between Deutsch and french- Hopefully this will make it easier.. >_>

Ugh!!!! Not French! UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Something wrong?

 

I am learning French and have had no problems with it.