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Basic Bootcamp #2
Basic German: Nationality / 'to be' /
Basic Sentence Structure
CONTENTS
2
2
2
2
5
German
English
Vocabulary
Grammar
Cultural Insight
#
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GERMAN
1.
A:
2.
B:
ENGLISH
1.
A:
2.
B:
VOCABULARY
Ge r man
English
C lass
sentence
sentence
GRAMMAR
Th e Fo cu s o f Th i s Bo o tca m p Le sso n Is to Te a ch Yo u H o w to Ta l k a bo u t Yo u r
Eth n i ci ty.
H a l l o , i ch bi n Wi d a r. Ich bi n D e u tsch e r.
"H e l l o , I m Wi d a r. I'm G e rm a n ."
To talk about your ethnicity, you add suffixes according to gender (male, female) to the name
of a country. In many cases, you have to make some more changes (adding -n + suffix, or
replacing the last letter of the country + suffix). Let's take a look at some examples.
GERMANPOD101.COM
BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE
C o u n tri e s a n d Eth n i ci ti e s
Gender
"C o u n try"
("En g l i sh ")
C o u n try
(G e rm a n )
"Eth n i ci ty"
("En g l i sh ")
Eth n i ci ty
(G e rm a n )
Male
"Italy"
Italien
"Italian"
Italien-er
Male
"Austria"
sterreich
"Austrian"
sterreich-er
Female
"Italy"
Italien
"Italian"
Italien-erin
Female
"Austria"
sterreich
"Austrian"
sterreich-erin
Gender
"C o u n try"
("En g l i sh ")
C o u n try
(G e rm a n )
"Eth n i ci ty"
("En g l i sh ")
Eth n i ci ty
(G e rm a n )
Male
"America"
Amerika
"American"
Amerika-n-er
Male
"Cuba"
Kuba
"Cuban"
Kuba-n-er
Female
"America"
Amerika
"American"
Amerika-n-erin
Female
"Cuba"
Kuba
"Cuban"
Kuba-n-erin
Gender
"C o u n try"
("En g l i sh ")
C o u n try
(G e rm a n )
"Eth n i ci ty"
("En g l i sh ")
Eth n i ci ty
(G e rm a n )
Male
"Canada"
Kanada
"Canadian"
Kanad-ier
GERMANPOD101.COM
BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Female
Kanada
"Canada"
"Canadian"
Kanad-ierin
Gender
"C o u n try"
("En g l i sh ")
C o u n try
(G e rm a n )
"Eth n i ci ty"
("En g l i sh ")
Eth n i ci ty
(G e rm a n )
Male
"Germany"
Deutschland
"German"
Deutsch-er
Male
"France"
Frankreich
"Frenchman"
Fran-z-ose
Female
"Germany"
Deutschland
"German"
Deutsche
Frankreich
"Frenchwoman
"
Fran-z-sin
Female
"France"
To express your ethnicity, you need to use the copula verb sein ("to be"). The conjugation of
sein appears in the table below.
G e rm a n
En g l i sh
"I'm American."
"I'm German."
Du bist Amerikaner.
Du bist Deutscher/Deutsche.
"He/She is American."
"He/She is German."
"We're American."
GERMANPOD101.COM
BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE
"We're German."
"They're American."
"They're German."
Wo rd Ord e r i n S i m pl e G e rm a n S e n te n ce s
The above sentences demonstrate the basic word order of a German sentence: subject +
verb + object. English has the same basic word order for independent clauses.
Fo r Exa m pl e :
1.
2.
CULTURAL INSIGHT
C i ti ze n sh i p
Ever wanted to truly become a German? Until the year 2000 you were pretty much out of luck
if you were not born of at least one German parent, but fret not! Now there are some options
for someone who wants to become a naturalized citizen of Germany which were introduced
to make it somewhat easier for foreigners. Chances are that if you have lived in Germany for
8 years, are pretty fluent in German and can support yourself without needing welfare, the
German passport might be yours sooner than expected! Additionally, spouses of German
citizens can be naturalized after only 3 years of residence and 2 years of marriage, so go out
and there and find yourself a cute German guy or girl!
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BASIC BOOTCAMP #2 - BASIC GERMAN: NATIONALITY / 'TO BE' / BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE