Read German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily Online
Authors: Ph.d. Arnold Leitner
Tags: #German Language
German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily (5 page)
The Consonants sp and st
| sp | is pronounced shp only at the beginning of a syllable. Sport ( shpŏrt ); spielen ( shpee-len ) to play |
| st | is pronounced sht only at the beginning of a syllable. Stŏck ( shtŏck ) stick; stehen ( shtayen ) to stand |
The Consonants s, sch, ss, v, z
| s | before a vowel, is like z in zone . See ( zay ) sea; seh-en ( zay -en ) to see |
| s | at the end of a syllable, is like s in house . Glăs ( glahs ); ĕs; dăs; was ( văs ) |
| sch | is like sh in shoot . Schwĕster ( shvĕst-er ) sister; wăschen ( vă-shen ) to wash |
| ss | is like ss in class . Klăsse ( klăs -se ); Wăsser ( văs -ser ) water |
| v | is like f in fat . Some German words are spelled with v instead of f. Vater ( fah -ter ) father |
| z | is like ts in its . zehn ( tsayn ) ten; Dezĕmber ( de -tsĕm -ber ) December |
Exercise 1
Read the following sentences aloud and guess their meaning. The answers to all exercises are given in the “Answer Section” in the Appendix. Check all your answers!
1. Hier īst dăs Glās. Es īst vŏll Wăsser. Dăs Wăsser īst frīsch ŭnd klār. Hier īst dăs Kind. Dăs Kīnd trīnkt Wăsser
.
2. Dăs Kīnd spielt Băll. Dēr Băll īst rōt. Dēr Băll rŏllt ŭnter dăs Bĕtt
.
3. Hier īst dēr T
. Dŏrt īst dēr Kăffée
.
1
Dĕr Tīst wărm. Dēr Kăffée īst kălt. Dēr Vāter trīnkt Kăffée. Die Mŭtter trīnkt T.
4. Dēr Mōnăt Jūnī
2
īst wărm. Dēr Wīnter īst kălt īn Kănădă. Dēr Sŏmmer īst wărm hier
.
5. Ist dēr Kăffée kălt? Ist dēr Twărm? Ist dăs Bier kalt? Ist die Sŭppe wărm? Wēr trīnkt T? Wēr trīnkt Kăffée?
6. Kărl
3
īst vier Jahre ălt. Mărie
4
īst sieben Jahre ălt. Wie
5
ălt īst Hăns?
6
Wie ălt īst dĕr Vāter? Wie ălt īst die Mŭtter? Wie ălt īst dăs Kīnd?
NOTES: 1.
Kăffée
(
kăf-
fay
) coffee.
2.
Jūni
(
yoō
-nee
) June.
3.
Karl
Charles.
4.
Mărie
(ma
-ree
) Mary.
5.
wie
(
vee
) how
6.
Hans
Jack.
2. THE VOWEL COMBINATIONS
au, ei, eu
. THE MODIFIED VOWELS
ä, ö, ä
. THE
ch
SOUND. FINAL
g
Practice each sound aloud, first in the words on the left, then in the sentences on the right.
The Vowel Combinations au, ei, eu
au
, like
ow
in
how
. Key
ow
| Auto | Haus | Frau | blau | braun | kauft |
| ow -toh | hows | frow | blow | brown | kowft |
| car | house | woman | blue | brown | buys |
Das Auto ist blau.
Der Mann kauft das Auto.
Die Frau kauft Kaffée und Tee.
Das Haus ist sehr
(very)
alt.
ei
, like
ei
in
height
. Key
ei
| Eisen | ein | eine | heiß 1 | nein | weiß 1 |
| ei-zen | ein | ei-ne | heiss | nein | veiss |
| iron | a (an) | a (an) | hot | no | white |
Ist der Hut braun? Nein, er ist weiß.
Ein Mann kauft ein Auto. Es ist rot.
Eine Frau kauft Kaffée und Tee.
Das Eisen ist heiß.
eu
, like
oi
in
oil
. Key
oi
| Freund | Deutsch | heute | neu | neun |
| froint | doitsh | hoi-te | noi | noin |
| friend | German | today | new | nine |