Learn Some Basic German

[Chee]

German is very similar to English. You don't have to be a professinal at German to tell a couple of words. Like ist is is, ich is I, meine or mein is my, alt is old, etc.

Numbers
0 - null
1 - eins
2 - zwei
3 - drei
4 - vier
5 - funf
6 - sechs
7 - sieben
8 - acht
9 - neun
10 - zehn
11 - elf
12 - zwolf
After the basics, the link together like legos. For teen numbers just add zehn to the end of the basic number. (except 11, 12, and 17) 17 = siebzehn (sorry, I accidently put z instead of s. Heheh, my bad.).

20s,40s,50s,60s and so on: add zig onto the end. (30s has a ssig ending.)

Unlike English, 20s, 40s, and number like that goes backwards. Example:
58 would be achtundfunfzig...not the other way around! Yes, weird, but thats how it is.
85 would be funfundachtzig. Simple?

If you found this helpful in anyway please tell me, and I may continue lessons! :) Just post. Yup.

[Policeman]

It's nice. I am German, so I can say that what you said until now is correct.

[avraell]

I am not German, but I know german, and 17 is not spelled "ziebzehn." Either way, I would use a book or an online tutorial instead of some kid who just learned some german and is excited about it, so wants to share.

[Miso]

Hmm.... nice idea.

@avraell: don't bash him... he's trying to be a good guy and tell some ppl about basic stuff.
If one wants to learn a language seriously he won't rely on some forum solely. That's common knowledge, isn't it?

Anyways... I won't agree that German is very similar to English.
There are many differences in syntax, grammar and such. I.e. German has much more irregular verbs than English, the position of the verb in a main clause differs from the one in a subordinate clause and so on.
German also has definite articles: while English has only the, German differs between der, die and das. That's because subjects are divided into three genders (lingistically speaking). In this way it's more similar to french which knows two genders: male and female. German uses male, female and indefinite.
That are only some points.
As far as I know German is quite difficult to learn for English native speakers - at least if you want to speak it fluently.

However...you don't need to know all this if you only want to know some basic sentences like: my name is, I'm xxx years old, how are you and such....

[snydfd83]

German is very similar to english because both are considered germanic languages and the way germanic languages are classified as being similar is different from other languages.

here's a nice history lesson

English originated from the Old Saxon language and related dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest Germany. The original Old English language was subsequently influenced by two successive waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of languages in the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second wave was of the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke a variety of French.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, around the year 449, Vortigern, King of the British Isles, invited the Angles to help him against the Picts. In return, the Angles were granted lands in the south-east. Further aid was sought, and in response came Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. The Chronicle talks of a subsequent influx of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms. Modern scholarship considers most of this story to be legendary and politically motivated.

These Germanic invaders dominated the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants, whose languages survived largely in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. The dialects spoken by the invaders formed what would be called Old English, which resembled some coastal dialects in what are now north-west Germany and the Netherlands. Later, it was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings who settled mainly in the north-east (see Jorvik).

For the 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and the high nobility spoke only a variety of French. A large number of Norman words were assimilated into Old English. The Norman influence reinforced the continual evolution of the language over the following centuries, resulting in what is now referred to as Middle English.

During the 15th century, Middle English was transformed by the Great Vowel Shift, the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and administration, and the standardising effect of printing. Modern English can be traced back to around the time of William Shakespeare.

and some links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language

[Chee]

I am not German, but I know german, and 17 is not spelled "ziebzehn." Either way, I would use a book or an online tutorial instead of some kid who just learned some german and is excited about it, so wants to share.

Sorry, I fixed it. I accidently put a z instead of an s. :P My bad.

[LOVEscream ♥]

German is very similar to english

Hell no X'D I would say that Dutch is very similar to German, but no... English... Nope.. Really not:huh It's like comparing French and German X'D

[lee rocks]

Hey, who cares whether German is very similar to English or not?

I've taken a few classes back in college but I need to refresh my memory. Give us more lessons please! Acidhusky, anyone?...

[sxlext]

hmmm... I'm german (half german to be correct). my english isn't very good but the better is my german. so if anybody needs help or has questions, just ask. i will try to find answers and help you.

sry, but i can't tell you something about basic german freely, because i'm not very good in teaching something^^

[Gurke]

Here are some useful words :

I : ich
you :du
he : er
she : sie
it : es
we : wir
you : sie
they : ihr



in present tense you use verbs like this :

I swim : ich schwimm-e
you swim : du schwimm-st
he,she,it swims : er,se,es schwimm-t
we swim : wir schwimm-en
you swim : sie schwimm-en
they swim : ihr schwimm-t

"to swim" means "schwimmen" so you just have to change the "-en"

[Medea]

Hell no X'D I would say that Dutch is very similar to German, but no... English... Nope.. Really not:huh It's like comparing French and German X'D

Not really.

German, Dutch, and English are all Germanic languages. English is more like a distant cousin than a brother language to German, but it's definitely closer, in many ways, to German than French, as a Romance language, is.

@ acidhusky, I'm going to be taking German next fall, so I'm all for getting a head start. :amuse

[White Fox]

I count in german now thx and I liked ouw you compared it to lego...

[danthegenin]

German IS similar to English. On a language tree my teacher has, German and English are very close.