German Classroom: Reflexive Pronouns

Classroom - German / By Vaikundamoni

Reflexive Pronouns, Verbs (Reflexivpronomen, reflexive Verben) If the subject and direct or indirect object are the same person or thing, English uses a special set of pronouns:The Reflexive in English:

myself	ourselves
yourself	yourselves
himself
herself	themselves
itself

Thus:

I could kick myself.

Did he really kill himself?

Suit yourself.

We bought ourselves a new car.

She found herself a new friend.

Some verbs are reflexive by convention, even though the meaning is not logically reflexive:

Behave yourselves.

He conducted himself with dignity.

She seems to be enjoying herself.

Note that not all words ending in -self are reflexive. They can be an adverb meaning “without others,” as in “I’d rather do it myself” (For this function, German uses “selbst” [or “selber”]: “Ich mache es lieber selbst”). The Reflexive in German: The reflexive pronouns are different only in the third person and in the formal “Sie” (which is historically derived from the third person plural)

Nom.	Acc.	Dat.	Nom.	Acc.	Dat.
ich	mich	mir	wir	uns	uns
du	dich	dir	ihr	euch	euch
			Sie	sich	sich
er	sich	sich
sie	sich	sich	sie	sich	sich
es	sich	sich

Most transitive verbs can be used reflexively when the meaning calls for it. Note the differences:

Er sieht mich im Spiegel. He sees me in the mirror.

Er sieht sich im Spiegel. He sees himself in the mirror.

Sie wäscht das Kind gründlich. She washes the child thoroughly.

Sie wäscht sich gründlich. She washes herself thoroughly.

Ich liebe nur dich. I love only you.

Ich liebe nur mich. I love only myself.

Setzen Sie es auf den Stuhl. Set it down on the chair.

Setzen Sie sich auf den Stuhl. Sit down on the chair.

Sie verzeiht mir. She forgives me.

Ich kann mir nicht verzeihen. I can’t forgive myself.

Sie widerspricht ihrem Chef. She contradicts her boss.

Du widersprichst dir. You’re contradicting yourself.

Ich gönne dir ein zweites Stück Kuchen. I’ll allow (grant) you a second piece of cake.

Ich gönne mir einen Ruhetag. I’ll allow myself (treat myself to) a day off.

In the plural, the reflexive form can also mean “each other” (“one another”):



	We’ve come to an agreement. Our contribution to unemployment: cutting governmental positions.

Wir lieben uns. We love each other.

Sie küssen sich. They kiss each other.

Wir hassen uns. We hate each other.

Ihr vertragt euch gut. Y’all get along well with each other.

Wir treffen uns jeden Tag. We meet every day.

Sie streiten sich um die Erbschaft. They are fighting with each other over the inheritance.

Not all German reflexives have a corresponding construction in English:

Sie ziehen sich schnell an. They get dressed quickly.

Er kämmt sich. He combs his hair.

Ich rasiere mich morgens. I shave in the morning.

Sie schminkt sich nur am Wochenende. She puts on make-up only on the weekend.

The dative reflexive can be used to indicate that the action takes place for the subject’s benefit:

Kaufen Sie sich einen neuen Wagen? Are you buying yourself a new car?

Ich will mir etwas Schönes finden. I want to find something nice for myself.

Sie setzt sich die Kontaktlinsen ein. She puts in her contacts.

Mach dir keine Sorge darüber. Don’t worry yourself about it.

Du sollst dir eine wärmere Jacke anziehen. You should put on a warmer jacket.

To indicate parts of one’s own body, one shows possession with the dative reflexive:1

Ich habe mir den Finger verletzt. I injured my finger.

Er rasiert sich den Kopf. He shaves his head.

Er kämmt sich die Haare. He combs his hair.

Sie färbt sich die Haare. She dyes her hair.

Du sollst dir die Zähne putzen. You ought to brush your teeth.

Ich wasche mir die Hände in Unschuld. I will wash my hands in innocency (Psalms 26: 6)

Some verbs take on a different meaning in the reflexive (dative or accusative). Note the following contrasts:

Ich erinnere ihn an seinen Onkel. I remind him of his uncle.

Ich erinnere mich an seinen Onkel. I remember his uncle.

Ich habe ihm meine Frau vorgestellt. I introduced my wife to him.

Kannst du dir so etwas vorstellen? Can you imagine such a thing?

Dein Besuch hat uns gefreut. We were delighted by your visit.

Wir freuen uns über deinen Besuch. We are happy about your visit.

Wir freuen uns auf deinen Besuch. We are looking forward to your visit.

Ich fühle den Wind. I feel the wind.

Ich fühle mich nicht wohl. I don’t feel well.

Sie trifft ihn in der Stadt. She meets (or: encounters) him in town.

Sie trifft sich mit ihm. She meets him (by arrangement).

Was ärgert dich jetzt? What’s annoying you now?

Ärgern Sie sich immernoch darüber? Are you still mad about that?

Du langweilst mich. You’re boring me.

Langweilst du dich? Are you bored?

Deine Probleme interessieren mich nicht. Your problems don’t interest me.

Ich interessiere mich für Geschichte. I’m interested in history.

Sein Fall beschäftigt uns sehr. His case is very much on our minds.

Ich beschäftige mich mit meinen Briefmarken. I occupy myself with my stamps.

Seine Antwort wundert mich. His answer surprises me.

Sie wundert sich über seine Antwort. She is surprised by his answer.

Seine Probleme kümmern mich nicht. His problems don’t concern me.

Sie kümmert sich um ihr Kind. She attends to her child.

Er unterhält uns mit seinen Geschichten. He entertains us with his stories.

Ich unterhalte mich gern mit ihr. I like to talk (have a discussion) with her.

Er hat seine Familie verlassen. He left his family.

Ich verlasse mich auf dich. I put my trust in you.

Sie amüsieren uns mit ihren Skizzen. They amuse us with their sketches.

Wir haben uns auf der Party gut amüsiert. We enjoyed ourselves at the party a lot.



	Relax. You’re on the island for every season. Cyprus

And then there are a number of verbs that are (almost) always reflexive. Here are some that take the accusative:

Ruhen Sie sich zuerst aus. Rest up first.

Ich bedanke mich bei ihm. I thank him.

Ich muss mich beeilen. I have to hurry.

Sie bewerben sich um eine Stelle. They’re applying for a position.

Das Kind benimmt sich erstaunlich gut. The child behaves itself surprisingly well.

Du sollst dich bei ihr entschuldigen. You should apologize to her.

Ich brauche eine Woche, mich zu erholen. I need a week to recover.

Wie hast du dich erkältet? How did you catch cold?

Fürchtest du dich vor dem Hund? Are you afraid of the dog?

Ich gewöhne mich langsam an seine Stimme. I’m slowly getting used to his voice.

Wo kann ich mich hinlegen? Where can I lie down?

Ich kenne mich hier gut aus. I know my way around here well.

Die Reise hat sich nicht gelohnt. The trip wasn’t worth it.

Er räuspert sich. He clears his throat.

Sie sollen sich schämen! You should be ashamed!

Ich will mich nur umsehen (umschauen). I just want to look around.

Der Zug hat sich verspätet. The train was late.

Hast du dich nicht mit ihm zum Tennis verabredet? Didn’t you make a date with him to play tennis?

Ich habe mich in meine Kusine verliebt. I’ve fallen in love with my cousin.

And some that take the dative:

Ich will es mir ansehen. I want to take a look at it.

Er bildet sich ein, ein großer Intellektueller zu sein. He (falsely) imagines that he is a great intellectual.

Ich muss mir das überlegen. I’ll have to think that over.

Sie hat es sich anders überlegt. She changed her mind.

Ich kann mir keine teueren Bücher leisten. I can’t afford any expensive books.



	Either we change ourselves, or the climate will change even faster

Some verbs always require an object, even when no actual object is implied. Then the verb becomes reflexive. This structure is less common in English than in German, but you do get things like: “The answer suggested itself very quickly.” Note the following contrasts:

Sie öffnete die Tür. She opened the door.

Die Tür öffnete sich plötzlich. The door opened suddenly.

Er bewegt das Bein. He moves his leg.

Etwas hat sich bewegt. Something moved.

Wir ändern unsre Pläne. We’re changing our plans.

Alles hat sich geändert. Everything has changed.

Sie dreht den Spiegel gegen die Wand. She turns the mirror to the wall.

Die Erde dreht sich um ihre Achse. The earth turns on its axis.

Sie verkaufen viele Bücher. They sell a lot of books.

Diese Bücher verkaufen sich wie warme Semmeln. These books sell like hotcakes.



	The new pension legislation: For younger people, much will improve. For most pensioners, everything will stay as it was.

The reflexive construction “sich lassen” can be used as a substitute for the passive when saying that something can or cannot be done:

Eine Lösung lässt sich finden. A solution can be found.

Das lässt sich leicht machen. That can be done easily.

Die Tür lässt sich nicht aufmachen. The door can’t be opened.

Der Wagen lässt sich schnell reparieren. The car can be fixed quickly.

Ein Skandal lässt sich nicht vermeiden. A scandal can’t be avoided.



	The Jeep Cherokee in a new design. One more reason to be seen more often in civilization.

The prefix “ver-“, combined with the reflexive, can often mean that the action is performed wrongly:

Ich habe mich verlaufen. I got lost (on foot).

Ich habe mich verfahren. I got lost (while driving).

Sie hat sich verschluckt. She swallowed the wrong way.

Du hast dich vertippt. You made a typing error.

Haben Sie sich nicht verzählt? Didn’t you count wrong?

Er hat sich versprochen. He misspoke.

Wir haben uns verrechnet. We miscalculated.

The prefix “hin-“, combined with the accusative reflexive phrase “vor sich”, can mean that the action is without thought or purpose, often rendered in English as “to oneself,” “away,” or “along”:

Er pfeift vor sich hin. He whistles to himself.

Die alte Frau brummt vor sich hin. The old lady grumbles to herself.

Du murmelst vor dich him. You’re mumbling to yourself.

Sie quatschen vor sich hin. They blather away.

Er duselt (döst) vor sich hin. He’s dozing (nodding) away (is half asleep).

Der Jobmarkt kriecht vor sich hin. The job-market crawls along.



	Which of our four seasons are you most looking forward to?

The dative is also used to show possession, especially of body parts, even when the action is not reflexive:

Er hat ihr die Nase gebrochen. He broke her nose.

Ich wasche ihm den Kopf. “I’ll wash his head” (= I’m going to give him a piece of my mind).

Sie putzt ihm die Zähne. She brushes his teeth.

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German Classroom: Present Perfect Tense

Classroom - German / By Vaikundamoni

The Perfect Tense

The Perfect tense is a very important tense in German grammar. We use it almost always, when speaking about the past. On this page, I shall explain to you how to construct the Perfect tense and when to use it. I shall show you the whole thing first using the example sentence „Ich lerne Deutsch“ (I learn German).

The rule for creating the Perfect tense is as follows:

Auxiliary verb (conjugated) + Past Participle (at the end of the sentence) „Auxiliary verb“ („Hilfsverb“) here means that at position 2 in the main clause (where the conjugated verb is ALWAYS found) there is a verb that helps us to construct the perfect tense in German grammar. The auxiliary verb does not have any meaning by itself, it has only a grammatical function. Because of this, there are fundamentally only two possible verbs that one can use as the auxiliary verb for constructing the Perfect Tense, namely the verb „haben“ and the verb „sein“. Let me explain to you when to use „haben“ and when to use „sein“.

Firstly, an example:

Present tense: I learn German/ I am learning German. When we want to put this easy sentence into the Perfect tense, the following happens:

learn German grammar - perfect tense haben

What happens?

The verb „lernen“ becomes the past participle and moves from position 2 to the END of the sentence. To Position 2 now comes the auxiliary verb „haben“ in conjugated form, so „Ich habE“, with an „e“. This structure always remains the same: auxiliary verb in Position 2, past participle at the end of the sentence, as with much longer sentences:

For you, it is important to note that the actual meaning of the sentence is not shown by the conjugated verb in Position 2 anymore but by the past participle at the end of the sentence. Only the auxiliary verb is ever found in Position 2; mostly we use the auxiliary verb „haben“, and with regular / weak verbs we only EVER use the auxiliary verb „haben“.

When do we use the auxiliary verb „sein“?

The answer to this question is, at first glance, quite simple:

Rule:

Verbs about Movement and Change of state use the verb „sein“. And how can we best remember this? Very simple! Be creative and write the verb „sein“ in such a way that you could associate with movement! I am sure, that there are many creative people out there who can do that pretty well. I myself have always thought of this picture here:

And what does this mean exactly?

Here are some examples of Verbs of Movement: to go „gehen“, to travel „fahren“, to run „rennen“, to fly „fliegen“ and so on. If we construct the Perfect tense with these verbs, thus we have to use the auxiliary verb „sein“ in conjugated form in Position 2 and, again, the corresponding Past Participle at the END of the sentence:

What are Verbs of Change of State?

Verbs of Change of State express when a subject’s state changes from ‚State A‘ to ‚State B‘! Here are a few examples (all sentences in the table are in the present tense):

The verbs „sterben“, „einschlafen“, „verwelken“ and obviously many more are thus so-called Verbs of Change of State and form the Perfect Tense with the auxiliary verb „sein“.

And here once more an overview in the form of a table

So far so good. In my experience, however, German students now find it difficult to tell whether they are dealing with verbs of Movement or of Change of State. Furthermore, there are some verbs that you really can’t say whether they are Verbs of Movement or not, for example with the verb „spielen“. Most people associate that verb with movement, and inspite of this, when constructing the Perfect tense with this verb you use „haben“. In addition, there are often regional differences. In Austria, some verbs take a different Auxiliary Verb when constructing the Perfect Tense to Germany. So there is always lots for German Students to be confused by!

When do you use the Perfect Tense?

Firstly you must remember, that the Perfect tense conveys the meaning of the past in exactly the same way as the Imperfect tense (Präteritum). There is no difference! It does not matter; both of the following sentences mean exactly the same thing: 65 million years ago, the Dinosaurs died out… Vor 65 Millionen Jahren sind die Dino Saurier ausgestorben. (Perfekt) Vor 65 Millionen Jahren starben die Dino Saurier aus. (Präteritum) The statements made with both grammatical times/tenses mean exactly the same. The difference is only in the communicative context of the sentence. We have to distinguish between a formal, public, literary context and a more easy informal context. Generally the rule is that you use the Imperfect tense in a formal context, for example in literature written in a serious tone such as Newspapers, scientific work or in a serious public speech. If it is meant to be received in a more casual manner, we use the Perfect tense. When we email our friends, for example, or in normal everyday speech and so on. Now you also understand why the Perfect tense is so important in German grammar. If we are talking „ganz normal“ in everyday life and we speak about the past, we use the Perfect tense. So it is very important that you can use it properly.

Exceptions

For the verbs „sein“, „haben“ and the Modal verbs (wollen, müssen, können usw.), as a general rule, the Germans do not use the Perfect Tense. You can speculate about why this is – I guess it simply sounds a little awkward or old-fashioned. Because of this, more often we use the Imperfect tense (das Präteritum); with these verbs it is simply easier. Here are a few examples to clarify the difference:

sein

Silvester 2001 bin ich in Rom gewesen. (perfect tense) Silvester 2001 war ich in Rom. (past tense)

werden

Vor einigen Jahren bin ich Deutschlehrer geworden. (perfect tense) Vor einigen Jahren wurde ich Deutschlehrer. (past tense)

bleiben

Gestern bin ich noch ein bisschen länger auf der Party geblieben. (perfect tense) Gerstern blieb ich noch ein bisschen länger auf der Party. (past tense)

haben

Noch vor einem Jahr hat Paul einen guten Job gehabt. (perfect tense) Noch vor einem Jahr hatte Paul einen guten Job. (past tense)

Modal verbs

Als Kind habe ich Pilot werden wollen. (perfect tense) Als Kind wollte ich Pilot werden. (past tense

With the present perfect, we show that an action in the past has been completed. We mostly use the present perfect when we want to focus on the result of the action. In colloquial language, we often use the present perfect instead of the simple past.

Gestern hat Michael sein Büro aufgeräumt. Er hat sich vorgenommen, jetzt immer so ordentlich zu sein. Aber bis nächste Woche hat er das bestimmt wieder vergessen.

Usage

completed action in the past (usually focusing on the result of the action)

Example:

Gestern hat Michael sein Büro aufgeräumt.

(Result: the office is clean now)

Er hat sich vorgenommen, jetzt immer so ordentlich zu sein.

(Result: he doesn’t want to be so disorganised anymore)
action that will be completed by a certain point in the future (The point in the future must be specifically designated, otherwise we use the future perfect.)

Example:

Bis nächste Woche hat er das bestimmt wieder vergessen.

Construction

We need the present tense form of sein/haben and the past participle (Partizip II).

Person	sein		haben
1^st person singular (ich)	ich bin	gegangen	ich habe	gelesen
2^nd person singular (du)	du bist		du hast
3^rd person singular (er/sie/es/man)	er ist		er hat
1^st person plural (wir)	wir sind		wir haben
2^nd person plural (ihr)	ihr seid		ihr habt
3^rd person plural/polite form (sie/Sie)	sie sind		sie haben

Past Participle

weak/mixed verbs	strong verbs
ge…t	ge…en
gelernt	gesehen

Exceptions in the Construction

Many strong and mixed verbs change their stem in the past participle.

gehen – gegangen, bringen – gebracht
If the word stem ends in d/t, we add an et to weak/mixed verbs.

Example:

warten – gewartet
Verbs that end in ieren form their past participle without ge.

Example:

studieren – studiert
Inseparable verbs form their past participle without ge.

Example:

verstehen – verstanden
For separable verbs, the ge comes after the prefix.

Example:

ankommen – angekommen

Using the Present Perfect Tense In German, as in English, the present perfect differs from the simple past, in that it describes past events that have present implications. German speakers are not always careful in making this distinction, however. Indeed, they sometimes even mix the two tenses indiscriminately. Even more important: in colloquial conversation, Germans use the present perfect almost exclusively. Indeed, many dialects do not even have a simple past, which is thus mostly reserved for written narrations. Colloquial accounts are in the present perfect: “Ich bin nach Hause gegangen und habe meinem Mann gesagt….” There are a few exceptions, such as the verb “sein” and the modal auxiliaries. It is quite common to use the less complex “ich war da” instead or “ich bin da gewesen” or “sie konnte ihn sehen” rather than “sie hat ihn sehen können.” Even in ordinary speech it is more usual to say “ich musste einen Arzt rufen lassen” than “ich habe einen Arzt rufen lassen müssen.” “Er hatte einen Hund” is also possible in place of “Er hat einen Hunde gehabt.” Forming the Present Perfect Tense in German: Weak verbs typically form the past participle by adding the prefix “ge-“ and a suffix of “-t” or “-et” to the stem:

Ich habe das gesagt.	I said that.
Sie hat gut gespielt.	She played well.
Wir haben schwer gearbeitet.	We worked hard.
Ich habe nichts gehört.	I didn’t hear anything.

If the verb has a separable prefix, the “ge” becomes an infix; it is placed between the prefix and the stem:

Wir haben die Tür zugemacht.	We closed the door.
Ich habe eingekauft.	I went shopping.

If the verb ends in -ieren, there is no ge- added:

Das hat gut funktioniert.	That worked well.
Sie hat Physik studiert.	She studied physics.
Hast du auch die Küche renoviert?	Did you renovate the kitchen, too?

If the verb has an inseparable prefix, that replaces the “ge”:

Was hast du ihnen erzählt?	What did you tell them?
Habt ihr viel Geld dafür bezahlt?	Did y’all pay a lot of money for that?
Der Wagen hat mir gehört.	The car belonged to me.

Strong verbs: The “irregular strong verbs,” including the modal auxiliaries when they are not associated with another verb in the infinitive, add the suffix “-t” or “-et” to a (usually) changed stem:

Ich habe das nicht gewollt.	I didn’t want that.
Als Kind habe ich gut Chinesisch gekonnt.	As a child I could speak Chinese well.
Sie hat das nicht gewusst.	She didn’t know that.
Was hast du mir gebracht?	What did you bring me?

The remaining strong verbs add “-en” to a stem that may or may not be changed.

Ich habe meinen Hut gefunden.	I found my hat.
Du hast zu schnell gesprochen.	You spoke too fast.
Haben Sie gut geschlafen?	Did you sleep well?
Sie hat mein Buch nicht gelesen.	She didn’t read my book.

These strong verbs fall into distinct categories. Here is a list of the most common strong verbs, arranged in those groups. The rules about the prefix “ge-“ remain the same:

Was hast du mitgebracht?	What did you bring along?
Das Konzert hat schon begonnen.	The concert has already begun.
Sie hat schon alles aufgegessen.	She has already eaten up everything.
Die Kinder haben den ganzen Tag ferngesehen.	The children watched TV all day.
Wir haben etwas anderes vorgehabt.	We planned to do something else.

The Auxiliary Verb: Most verbs, as in the examples above, take “haben,” but some require “sein”:

Wann bist du nach Hause gekommen?	When did you come home?
Wir sind ins Kino gegangen.	We went to the movies.
Seid ihr geflogen oder gefahren?	Did y’all fly or drive?
Er ist alt geworden.	He’s gotten old.
Sie sind in der Stadt geblieben.	They stayed in the city.
Die Musik ist sehr laut gewesen.	The music was very loud.

The verbs that take “sein” are mostly predictable on the basis of their meaning. They must satisfy two conditions: 1) they must be intransitive; 2) they must indicate a change of position or of condition. In the example “Wir sind nach Hause gegangen,” the verb “gehen” 1) takes no direct object and 2) describes motion from one place to another. The same is true with:

Sie ist spät aufgestanden.	She got up late.
Er ist gestern angekommen.	He arrived yesterday.
Ich bin langsam gelaufen.	I ran (or walked) slowly.

Examples of a change of condition:

Ihr Ring ist schon grün geworden.	Her ring has already turned green.
Er ist gestern gestorben.	He died yesterday.
Die Pflanze ist schnell gewachsen.	The plant grew fast.
Ich bin sofort eingeschlafen.	I fell asleep immediately.

Some Other Wrinkles:

1) There are two obvious exceptions to these rules: “bleiben” and “sein”. While they are intransitive (or, from another point of view, take the nominative case), they clearly do not show a change of position or condition. In fact, they specifically mean not to make such a change. Nevertheless, they take “sein.” “Folgen” might also be a surprise, unless we consider its use of the dative.

Er ist zu Hause geblieben.	He stayed home.
Er ist ein Junge geblieben.	He remained a boy.
Es ist immer so gewesen.	It was always that way.
Der Mann ist mir nach Hause gefolgt.	The man followed me home.

2) With some verbs, the context determines whether or not they take “sein.” “Fahren,” for example has two meanings: a) to drive in the sense of riding in a vehicle (“Wir sind nach Berlin gefahren”) and b) to operate a vehicle (“Ich habe deinen Wagen gefahren”). In the second case, “haben” is called for because “fahren” is transitive. Other examples:

Wir sind nach Madrid geflogen.	We flew to Madrid.
Der Pilot hat das Flugzeug allein geflogen.	The pilot flew the plane alone.
Wir sind um zwei gelandet.	We landed at two.
Der Pilot hat das Flugzeug um zwei gelandet.	The pilot landed the plane at two.

3) With a verb like “fahren,” those two meanings are sufficiently distinct. In some other instances, a certain amount of good will is called for. “Gehen,” for example, can actually, though rarely, take an object, but one still says, “Er ist seinen eigenen Weg gegangen” (“He went his own way”). And one normally says, “Ich bin einen Marathon gelaufen” – although some Germans would differ and insist on “haben.”

4) The movement implied in “tanzen” is not sufficient for “sein.” Hence: “Ich habe nur mit ihm getanzt.” – Although: “Ich bin mit ihm ins nächste Zimmer getanzt” (“I danced with him into the next room” [think tango]). “Schwimmen,” in contrast, most often takes “sein,” even if it’s just doing laps: “Ich bin heute nur kurz geschwommen” (“I swam today just for a short time”).

5) “Stehen” and “sitzen” obviously do not meet the criterion of motion, but Southern Germans, to the horror of Northerners, typically say “Ich bin gestanden” or “Ich bin gesessen.” Foreigners who use this construction get their knuckles rapped.

Double Infinitives:

The modal auxiliaries behave differently when paired with an infinitive. The present perfect form of “Ich kann Deutsch” is “Ich habe Deutsch gekonnt.” But “Ich kann Deutsch sprechen” becomes “Ich habe Deutsch sprechen können.” Other examples:

Ich habe das nicht wissen können.	I couldn’t know that.
Sie hat das nicht machen müssen.	She didn’t have to do that.
Wir haben ihm nicht schreiben dürfen.	We weren’t allowed to write to him.

The same is true of verbs of perception that take an infinitive without “zu.” “Sie hört ihn singen” becomes “Sie hat ihn singen hören.” Other examples:

Ich habe sie schwimmen sehen.	I saw her swimming.
also possible: Ich habe sie schwimmen gesehen.
Hast du ihn kommen hören?	Did you hear him coming?
also possible: Hast du ihn kommen gehört?

Two other verbs, lassen and helfen, also form double infinitives

Wir haben ein Haus bauen lassen.	We had a house built.
Ich habe ihr kochen helfen.	I helped her cook
also possible: Ich habe ihr kochen geholfen.

In these cases, the double infinitive remains in the final position in dependent clauses, and the “haben” slips into the second-the-last place:

Bist du sicher, dass sie das Buch hat lesen können?

Are you sure that she was able to read the book?

Wir sind nach Hause gegangen, weil wir keine Karten haben kaufen können.

We went home because we couldn’t buy any tickets.

Es ist schade, dass du ihn nie hast singen hören.

It’s too bad that you’ve never heard him sing.

In the above examples, the modal was put into a perfect tense. As in English, the modal can have a different meaning when combined with another verb that is in the past. Note the following distinctions .

Sie hat das sagen dürfen.	She was allowed to say that.
Sie darf das gesagt haben.	She may have said that.
Er hat mir einen Brief schreiben können.	He was able to write me a letter.
Er kann mir einen Brief geschrieben haben.	He may have written me a letter.
Sie haben mich nach Hause tragen müssen.	They had to carry me home.
Sie müssen mich nach Hause getragen haben.	They must have carried me home.
Ihr habt mir helfen sollen.	You were supposed to help me.
Ihr sollt mir geholfen haben.	You are supposed to have helped me.
Er hat es finden wollen.	He wanted to find it.
Er will es gefunden haben.	He claims to have found it.

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Spanish Classroom: Basic Spanish

Classroom - Spanish, Learn Spanish / By Vaikundamoni

Learn Spanish at the best Spanish Language centre in Coimbatore. Starting from the basics the Spanish language course takes the students to the higher leves of leaning.

Basic Spanish Phrases

¡Buenos días! bway-nohs dee-ahs Hello! / Good morning!	¡Buenas tardes! bway-nahs tard-ays Good afternoon!	¡Buenas noches! bway-nahs noh-chays Good evening! / Good night!
¡Hola! / ¡Chao! oh-lah / chow Hi! / Bye!	Adiós. ah-dee-ohs Good bye.	Por favor. por fah-bor Please.
Hasta la vista / Hasta luego. ah-stah lah vees-tah / ah-stah loo-ay-go See you / See you later.	Hasta pronto. ah-stah prohn-toh See you soon.	Hasta mañana. ah-stah mahn-yahn-ah See you tomorrow.
(Muchas) Gracias. (moo-chahs) grah-see-ahs Thank you (very much).	De nada. day nah-dah You’re welcome.	Bienvenidos byen-veh-nee-dohs Welcome
Lo siento loh see-ehn-toh I’m sorry	Con permiso / Perdón / Disculpe kohn pehr-mee-soh / pehr-dohn / dees-kool-peh Excuse me / Pardon me	¡Vamos! bah-mohs Let’s go!
¿Cómo está usted? koh-moh ay-stah oo-sted How are you? (formal)	¿Cómo estás? koh-moh ay-stahs How are you? (informal)	¿Qué tal? kay tahl How’s it going?
Bien / Muy bien bee-ehn / moy bee-ehn Good / Very good	Mal / Muy mal / Más o menos mahl / moy mahl / mahs oh may-nohs Bad / Very bad / OK	Sí / No see / noh Yes / No
¿Cómo se llama usted? koh-moh say yah-mah oo-sted What is your name? (formal)	¿Cómo te llamas? koh-moh tay yah-mahs What is your name? (informal)	Me llamo… / Mi nombre es… may yah-moh / mee nohm-breh ess My name is…
Mucho gusto. / Encantado. moo-choh goo-stoh / en-cahn-tah-doh Nice to meet you.	Igualmente. ee-guahl-mehn-tay Same here. / Same to you.	Señor / Señora / Señorita sayn-yor / sayn-yor-ah / sayn-yor-ee-tah Mister / Mrs. / Miss
¿De dónde es usted? day dohn-day ehs oo-sted Where are you from? (formal)	¿De dónde eres? day dohn-day eh-rehs Where are you from? (informal)	Yo soy de… yoh soy day I’m from…
¿Cuántos años tiene usted? quahn-tohs ahn-yohs tee-ay-nay oo-sted How old are you? (formal)	¿Cuántos años tienes? quahn-tohs ahn-yohs tee-ayn-ays How old are you? (informal)	Yo tengo _____ años. yoh tayn-goh _____ ahn-yohs I am _____ years old.
¿Habla usted español? ah-blah oo-sted eh-spahn-yol Do you speak Spanish? (formal)	¿Hablas inglés? ah-blahs een-glehs Do you speak English? (informal)	(No) Hablo… noh ah-bloh I (don’t) speak…
¿Entiende usted? / ¿Entiendes? ehn-tyen-deh oo-sted / ehn-tyen-dehs Do you understand? (formal / informal)	(No) Entiendo. noh ehn-tyen-doh I (don’t) understand.	Yo (no lo) sé. yoh noh loh seh I (don’t) know.
¿Puede ayudarme? pweh-deh ah-yoo-dar-meh Can you help me? (formal)	Claro / Claro que sí klah-roh / klah-roh keh see Sure / Of course	¿Cómo? koh-moh What? Pardon me?
¿Dónde está / Dónde están… ? dohn-deh eh-stah / dohn-deh eh-stahn Where is … / Where are … ?	Aquí / Ahí ah-kee / ah-ee Here / There	Hay / Había… eye / ah-bee-ah There is / are… / There was / were…
¿Cómo se dice ____ en español? koh-moh seh dee-seh ___ en eh-spahn-yol How do you say ____ in Spanish?	¿Qué es esto? keh ehs ehs-toh What is that?	¿Qué te pasa? keh teh pah-sah What’s the matter (with you)?
No importa. noh eem-por-tah It doesn’t matter.	¿Qué pasa? keh pah-sah What’s happening?	Sin novedad. seen noh-veh-dahd Nothing much.
No tengo ninguna idea. noh tehn-goh neen-goo-nah ee-deh-ah I have no idea.	¡Buena idea! bweh-nah ee-deh-ah Good idea!	¡Pase! pah-seh Go ahead!
Estoy cansado / enfermo. eh-stoy kahn-sah-doh / ehn-fehr-moh I’m tired / sick.	Tengo hambre / sed. tehn-goh ahm-breh / sed I’m hungry / thirsty.	Tengo calor / frío. tehn-goh kah-lohr / free-oh I’m hot / cold.
Estoy aburrido. eh-stoy ah-boo-ree-doh I’m bored.	No me importa. noh meh eem-por-tah I don’t care.	No se preocupe. noh seh preh-oh-koo-peh Don’t worry
Está bien. ehs-tah bee-ehn That’s alright. / It’s ok.	Me olvidé. meh ohl-vee-deh I forgot.	Tengo que ir ahora. tehn-goh keh eer ah-oh-rah I must go now.
¿Listo? lees-toh Ready?	Quizás / Depende. kee-sahs / deh-pehn-deh Maybe / It depends.	Todavía no. toh-dah-vee-ah noh Not yet.
¡Qué chistoso! keh chees-toh-soh How funny!	¡Que le vaya bien! keh leh vah-yah bee-ehn Have a nice day!	¡Nos vemos! nohs veh-mos We’ll see you!
¡Salud! sah-lood Bless you!	¡Felicitaciones! feh-lee-see-tah-see-oh-nehs Congratulations!	¡Buena suerte! bweh-nah swehr-teh Good luck!
Te toca a ti. teh toh-kah ah tee It’s your turn. (informal)	¡Callate! kah-yah-teh Shut up!	Te amo. tay ah-moh I love you. (informal and singular)

Notice that Spanish has informal and formal ways of speaking. This is because there is more than one meaning to “you” in Spanish (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.)
Encantado, cansado, enfermo, and aburrido are the masculine forms of the words. If the words refer to a woman or are spoken by a woman, then the final o changes to a: encantada, cansada, enferma, and aburrida
In Spain, as well as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, the Spanish language is called castellano instead of español.
Por favor is often shortened to just porfa. Porfis can also be used (at least in Mexico) to mean pretty please.
Please keep in mind that because Spanish is spoken in many countries, there are several regional dialects and accents so pronunciation rules may not apply to all countries. This tutorial is mostly concerned with the standardized varieties that are spoken in Mexico and northern/central Spain, but will also include common variants from other countries and/or regions. (The southern region of Spain, Andalucía, and the Canary Islands, exhibit features that are closer to Latin American Spanish.)

Spanish Subject Pronouns

singular				plural
first person	yo	yoh	I	nosotros nosotras	noh-soh-trohs noh-soh-trahs	we
second person	tú vos	too bohs	you (informal)	vosotros vosotras	boh-soh-trohs boh-soh-trahs	you (informal)
third person	él ella usted	ail ay-yah oo-sted	he / it she / it you (formal)	ellos ellas ustedes	ay-yohs ay-yahs oo-sted-ays	they (masculine) they (feminine) you (informal / formal)

The various pronouns meaning you can be tricky to use correctly in Spanish. The informal forms are used to show familiarity with other people, while the formal forms indicate social distance. There are many factors that determine the familiarity or formality, such as gender, age, location, social class, etc. In general, informal you is used with family members, friends, children, animals, etc. while formal you is reserved for those to whom you wish to show respect. These rules are not steadfast though, and there is a lot of variation throughout the Spanish-speaking world. For example, usted is used among family members in Colombia, whereas most other Spanish speakers would use tú or vos. It is best simply to listen to which pronoun is used in the variety of Spanish that you are most interested in learning to figure out when to use each one.
The use of vos as a second person singular pronoun, either in addition to tú or in place of tú, is called voseo. Old Spanish used this pronoun in addition to tú, but it became somewhat stigmatized when the standardized language of Spain stopped using it. Various regions of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela use both tú and vos, while Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay (known together as the Río de la Plata region) and most of Central America use vos in place of tú. Although voseo rarely appears in Spanish textbooks, it is used in some form by a majority (about two-thirds) of the Spanish-speaking population.
Because every noun in Spanish has a gender, there are two ways to express it. If the noun is masculine, use él, which also means he. If the noun is feminine, use ella, which also means she.

Vosotros is the plural form of tú in northern and central Spain only, for informal you. Ustedes is the plural form of usted for formal you. Since vosotros is not used in the rest of the Spanish-speaking countries, Ustedes is both informal and formal plural you in these countries.
Usted can be abbreviated to Ud. or Vd. (from the phrase vuestra merced). Ustedes can also be abbreviated to Uds. or Vds.
Nosotras and vosotras refer to a group of all females, as does ellas. If there is a group of people that is mixed (both male and female), use the masculine forms: nosotros, vosotros and ellos.
Subject pronouns are often only used for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity when the verb conjugation is the same for different people (such as él and usted.)

Spanish Nouns, Articles, Demonstratives

	Masc. Singular	Fem. Singular		Masc. Plural	Fem. Plural
the	el	la	the	los	las
a, an	un	una	some	unos	unas
this	este	esta	these	estos	estas
that	ese	esa	those	esos	esas
that	aquel	aquella	those	aquellos	aquellas

El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first syllable. Words that end in -o and -or are generally masculine, with a few exceptions: la mano (hand), la foto (photo). Words that end in -a are generally feminine, with a few exceptions: el mapa(map), el problema (problem). Other feminine words end in -ción, -tad, -dad, or -tud. Use the ese forms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you are addressing. Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both you and the person you are addressing. Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that. They can be used in general and abstract ways. Demonstrative adjectives (listed above) are used before a noun; if you want to use the demonstrative pronouns, which are used before a verb, add an accent on all of the first e’s: éste, ésta, éstos, éstas, ése, ésa, ésos, ésas, aquél, aquélla, aquéllos, aquéllas.

Formation of Plural Nouns

If a singular noun ends in a vowel, just add -s to make it plural: la casa → las casas
If a singular noun ends in a consonant, a vowel with an accent, or y, add -es to make it plural: el papel → los papeles
Singular nouns that end in -z change the z to c and add -es to form the plural: la luz → las luces
A few nouns that have an accent in the singular will lose it in the plural and vice versa: la canción → las canciones, el examen → los exámenes (but notice that there is no change for el lápiz → los lápices)

Spanish Verbs Be and Have

ser – to be
	present		preterite	imperfect		future
(yo)	soy	I am	fui	era	I was	seré	I will be
(tú / vos)	eres / sos	you are	fuiste	eras	you were	serás	you will be
(él / ella) (usted)	es es	he / she / it is you are	fue fue	era era	he / she / it was you were	será será	he / she / it will be you will be
(nosotros / -as)	somos	we are	fuimos	éramos	we were	seremos	we will be
(vosotros / -as)	sois	you are	fuisteis	erais	you were	seréis	you will be
(ellos / ellas) (ustedes)	son son	they are you are	fueron fueron	eran eran	they were you were	serán serán	they will be you will be

estar – to be
	present		preterite	imperfect		future
(yo)	estoy	I am	estuve	estaba	I was	estaré	I will be
(tú / vos)	estás	you are	estuviste	estabas	you were	estarás	you will be
(él / ella) (usted)	está está	he / she / it is you are	estuvo estuvo	estaba estaba	he / she / it was you were	estará estará	he / she / it will be you will be
(nosotros / -as)	estamos	we are	estuvimos	estábamos	we were	estaremos	we will be
(vosotros / -as)	estáis	you are	estuvisteis	estabais	you were	estaréis	you will be
(ellos / ellas) (ustedes)	están están	they are you are	estuvieron estuvieron	estaban estaban	they were you were	estarán estarán	they will be you will be

tener – to have
	present		preterite	imperfect		future
(yo)	tengo	I have	tuve	tenía	I had	tendré	I will have
(tú / vos)	tienes / tenés	you have	tuviste	tenías	you had	tendrás	you will have
(él / ella) (usted)	tiene tiene	he / she / it has you have	tuvo tuvo	tenía tenía	he / she / it had you had	tendrá tendrá	he / she / it will have you will have
(nosotros / -as)	tenemos	we have	tuvimos	teníamos	we had	tendremos	we will have
(vosotros / -as)	tenéis	you have	tuvisteis	teníais	you had	tendréis	you will have
(ellos / ellas) (ustedes)	tienen tienen	they have you have	tuvieron tuvieron	tenían tenían	they had you had	tendrán tendrán	they will have you will have

Highlighted forms are only used in northern/central Spain. You do not need to use the subject pronouns unless you want to emphasize the person, or to avoid ambiguity.

The conjugation for vos is usually only different from the tú conjugation in the present tense and the imperative (commands), though there can be differences in the preterite and subjunctive as well. Sometimes the present tense conjugation is identical to the tú conjugation (in which case, there will only be one form given in the conjugation charts). For the present tense conjugation of ser, in some regions of Chile, Colombia, and Cuba the vos conjugation is soi, whereas in some parts of Panama and Venezuela it is sois. A final -s may or may not be used for the vos conjugation in the preterite tense. There is a lot of variation in the vos conjugations, in addition to the use of the pronoun tú with a vos conjugation or the pronoun vos with a tú conjugation. Voseo is usually associated with Argentina but there are many more places in Latin America that use vos in some form so it is important to be aware of it. The difference between the preterite and imperfect tenses will be explained in Spanish II. In general, the preterite expresses a completed action in the past while the imperfect expresses a repeated or continuing action in the past. For now, just learn the forms for recognition purposes. Ser is used to identify or describe. It tells what something is, its basic characteristics, or its origin. Estar is used to tell the location of something or how someone feels.

Uses of Ser

Identify person/object Inherent characteristics or qualities Nationality/Occupation Telling time Express ownership Impersonal expressions Passive voice	El edificio es un templo. La casa es grande. Carlos es pobre. Es carpintero. Son las tres. Los libros son de Juan. Es necesario. El teléfono fue inventado por Bell.	The building is a temple. The house is large. Charles is poor. He is a carpenter. It’s three o’clock. The books are John’s. It is necessary. The telephone was invented by Bell.

Uses of Estar

Location/position Temporary condition/state State of health Form progressive tense	El libro está en la mesa. La ventana está abierta. Juan está enfermo. Miguel está estudiando.	The book is on the table. The window is open. John is sick. Michael is studying.

Sometimes changing the verb can completely change the meaning: ser aburrido means to be boring, while estar aburrido means to be bored. Others include: ser bueno – to be nice, estar bueno – to be in good health; ser callado – to be discrete, estar callado – to be silent; ser moreno – to have brown hair, estar moreno – to be tan.

Many common expressions using the verb “be” in English use the verb “tener” in Spanish (but not all):

to be afraid	tener miedo	to be in a hurry	tener prisa, estar de prisa
to be against	estar en contra	to be jealous	tener celos
to be at fault	tener la culpa	to be lucky	tener suerte
to be careful	tener cuidado	to be patient	tener paciencia
to be cold	tener frío	to be sleepy	tener sueño
to be curious	ser curioso/a	to be successful	tener éxito
to be fed up	estar harto/a	to be thirsty	tener sed
to be happy	estar contento/a	to be tired	estar cansado/a
to be hot	tener calor	to be ___ years old	tener ___ años
to be hungry	tener hambre

Tener is also used with the following expressions that use “have” in English: No tengo ni idea. I have no idea. ¿Tienes un resfriado? Do you have a cold? Tengo que irme. I have to go.

Spanish Question Words

what	qué	which	cuál(es)
who	quién(es)	how much	cuánto (-a)
how	cómo	how many	cuántos (-as)
when	cuándo	whom	a quién(es)
where	dónde	whose	de quién(es)
why	por qué

Spanish Days

Monday	lunes	loo-nays
Tuesday	martes	mar-tays
Wednesday	miércoles	mee-air-coh-lays
Thursday	jueves	hway-bays
Friday	viernes	bee-air-nays
Saturday	sábado	sah-bah-doh
Sunday	domingo	doh-ming-oh
day	el día	dee-ah
week	la semana	say-mahn-ah
weekend	el fin de semana	feen day say-mahn-ah
today	hoy	oy
tonight	esta noche	es-tah noh-chay
last night	anoche	ah-noh-chay
yesterday	ayer	eye-yair
tomorrow	mañana	mahn-yahn-ah
my birthday	mi cumpleaños	mee coom-play-ahn-yohs
next	próximo / próxima	prok-see-moh / mah
last	pasado / pasada	pah-sah-doh / dah
day before yesterday	anteayer	ahn-teh-eye-yair
day after tomorrow	pasado mañana	pah-sah-doh mahn-yahn-ah
the following day	el día siguiente	dee-ah see-gwee-ehn-teh
the day before	la víspera	vees-peh-rah

Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing. The definite article is not used after the verb ser, but at all other times it is required and there is slight change in meaning if it is singular or plural: el lunes = on Monday but los lunes = on Mondays

Spanish Months of the Year

January	enero	ay-nair-oh
February	febrero	fay-bray-roh
March	marzo	mar-soh
April	abril	ah-breel
May	mayo	mi-oh
June	junio	hoo-nee-oh
July	julio	hoo-lee-oh
August	agosto	ah-gohs-toh
September	septiembre	sayp-tee-aim-bray
October	octubre	ohk-too-bray
November	noviembre	noh-bee-aim-bray
December	diciembre	dee-see-aim-bray
month	el mes	mais
first of [a month]	el primero de [month]	pree-mair-oh day _____
year	el año	ahn-yoh
decade	la década	deh-kah-dah
century	el siglo	see-gloh
millennium	el milenio	mee-leh-nee-oh

The preposition en is used with months: en abril = in April. Also notice that primero is used for the first of the month, but the rest of the days are referred to using the regular cardinal numbers: el primero de junio but el dos de julio. Months of the year are also all masculine and not capitalized in writing. ¿Cual es la fecha de hoy? What is today’s date? Hoy es el primero de agosto. Today is August 1st.

Spanish Seasons

spring	la primavera	in spring	en primavera
summer	el verano	in summer	en verano
winter	el invierno	in winter	en invierno
autumn	el otoño	in autumn	en otoño

Spanish Directions

to the right	a la derecha
to the left	a la izquierda
straight ahead	todo derecho

north	el norte	northeast	el noreste
south	el sur	northwest	el noroeste
east	el este	southeast	el sureste
west	el oeste	southwest	el suroeste

Spanish Colors and Shapes

red	rojo / roja	circle	el círculo
pink	rosado / rosada	square	el cuadrado
orange	anaranjado / anaranjada	rectangle	el rectángulo
yellow	amarillo / amarilla	triangle	el triángulo
green	verde	oval	el óvalo
blue	azul	cube	el cubo
light blue	celeste	sphere	la esfera
purple	morado / morada	cylinder	el cilindro
violet	violeta	cone	el cono
brown	marrón	octagon	el octágono
black	negro / negra	box	la caja
gray	gris	pyramid	la pirámide
white	blanco / blanca
golden	dorado / dorada	dark	oscuro / oscura
silver	plateado / plateada	light	claro / clara

All adjectives in Spanish are placed after the noun that they describe and they agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun. Notice that some colors do not change for gender (marrón) or number (gris). To change an adjective to the feminine form, you usually just change the final -o to -a. To make an adjective plural, simply add an -s.

a red house = una casa roja

Spanish Time

¿Qué hora es?	What time is it?
Es la una.	It’s one.
Son las dos/tres/cuatro…	It’s two/three/four…
Es mediodía.	It’s noon.
Es medianoche.	It’s midnight.
Son las cinco y cinco.	It’s 5:05
Son las ocho y cuarto.	It’s 8:15
Son las diez menos cuarto.	It’s 9:45
Son cuarto para las diez.	It’s 9:45 (common in Mexico)
Son las nueve menos diez.	It’s 8:50
Son diez para las nueve.	It’s 8:50 (common in Mexico)
Son las tres y media / treinta.	It’s 3:30
de la mañana	in the morning / AM
de la tarde	in the afternoon / PM
de la noche	in the evening / PM
en punto	exactly / sharp
¿A qué hora?	At what time?

Spanish Weather

¿Qué tiempo hace?	What’s the weather like?
Hace buen tiempo.	The weather’s nice.
Hace mal tiempo.	The weather’s bad.
Hace frío.	It’s cold.
Hace calor.	It’s hot.
Hace sol.	It’s sunny.
Hace viento.	It’s windy.
Hace fresco.	It’s chilly.
Está nublado.	It’s cloudy.
Hay niebla.	It’s foggy.
Hay neblina.	It’s misty.
Hay humedad.	It’s humid.
Hay granizo.	It’s hailing.
Llueve.	It’s raining.
Nieva.	It’s snowing.
Truena.	It’s thundering.
Llovizna.	It’s sprinkling.

Spanish Family

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German Classroom:Essential Vocabulary

Classroom - English, Classroom - German / By Vaikundamoni

German Essential Vocabulary

Question Words

who	wer	vehr	whom (acc.)	wen	vain
what	was	vahs	whom (dat.)	wem	vaim
why	warum	vah-room	how come	wieso	vee-zo
when	wann	vahn	where from	woher	vo-hair
where	wo	voh	where to	wohin	vo-hin
how	wie	vee	which	welche/-r/-s	velsh-uh/er/es

Some Useful Words in German

and	und	oont
but	aber	ah-ber
very	sehr	zair
or	oder	oh-der
here	hier	here
also	auch	owkh
both	beide	by-duh
some	etwas	eht-vahss
only	nur	noor
again	wieder	vee-der
hopefully	hoffentlich	hoh-fent-likh
between	zwischen	zvish-en
therefore	deshalb	des-halp
a lot, many	viel(e)	feel(uh)
really	wirklich	veerk-lish
together	zusammen	tsoo-zah-men
all	alle	ahl-luh
now	jetzt	yetst
so	also	al-zoh
another	noch ein	nohkh ine
already	schon	shone
isn’t it?	nicht wahr?	nikht vahr
too bad	schade	shah-duh
gladly	gern	gehrn
immediately	sofort	zoh-fort
sure(ly)	sicher(lich)	zikh-er-likh
but, rather	sondern	zohn-dehrn
finally	schließlich	shleess-likh
right!	stimmt	shtimt
anyway	überhaupt	oo-ber-howpt
enough	genug	guh-nook
exact(ly)	genau	guh-now
sometimes	manchmal	mahnch-mal
always	immer	im-er
never	nie	nee
often	oft	ohft
of course	klar	klahr
perhaps	vielleicht	fee-likht
a little	ein bisschen	ine biss-khen
a little	ein wenig	ine vay-nikh
not at all	gar nicht	gar nikht
not a bit	kein bisschen	kine biss-khen

Es gibt is commonly used to mean there is/are and it is always followed by the accusative case.

Asking Questions in German

1. Simply add a question mark to the end of the statement for yes/no questions

2. Invert the verb and subject for yes/no questions

3. Add nicht wahr? or oder? to the end of the statement for yes/no questions

4. Use a question word + verb + subject for information questions

German Days of the Week / Die Tage

Monday	Montag	mohn-tahk
Tuesday	Dienstag	deens-tahk
Wednesday	Mittwoch	mit-vock
Thursday	Donnerstag	don-ers-tahk
Friday	Freitag	fry-tahk
Saturday (N & E Germany)	Samstag Sonnabend	zahms-tahk zon-nah-bent
Sunday	Sonntag	zon-tahk
day	der Tag (-e)	dehr tahk
morning	der Morgen (-)	mawr-gun
afternoon	der Nachmittag (-e)	nakh-mih-tahk
evening	der Abend (-e)	ah-bunt
night	die Nacht (ä, -e)	nahkt
today	heute	hoy-tuh
tomorrow	morgen	mawr-gun
tonight	heute Abend	hoy-tuh ah-bunt
yesterday	gestern	geh-stairn
last night	gestern Abend	geh-stairn ah-bunt
week	die Woche (-n)	voh-kuh
weekend	das Wochenende (-n)	voh-ken-en-duh
daily	täglich	teh-glikh
weekly	wöchentlich	wer-khent-likh

To say on a certain day or the weekend, use am. Add an -s to the day to express “on Mondays, Tuesdays, etc.” All days, months and seasons are masculine so they all use the same form of these words: jeden – every, nächsten – next, letzten – last (as in the last of a series), vorigen – previous. In der Woche is the expression for “during the week” in Northern and Eastern Germany, while unter der Woche is used in Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

German Months of the Year / Die Monate

January	Januar	yah-noo-ahr
(Austria)	*Jänner*	yeh-ner
February	Februar	fay-broo-ahr
March	März	mehrts
April	April	ah-pril
May	Mai	my
June	Juni	yoo-nee
July	Juli	yoo-lee
August	August	ow-goost
September	September	zehp-tehm-ber
October	Oktober	ok-toh-ber
November	November	no-vehm-ber
December	Dezember	deh-tsem-ber
month	der Monat (-e)	moh-naht
year	das Jahr (-e)	yaar
monthly	monatlich	moh-naht-likh
yearly	jährlich	jehr-likh

To say in a certain month, use im. Wann hast du Geburtstag? When is your birthday?

Mein Geburtstag ist im Mai. My birthday is in May.

German Seasons / Die Jahreszeiten

winter	der Winter	dehr vin-ter
spring	der Frühling	dehr frew-ling
summer	der Sommer	dehr zom-mer
autumn	der Herbst	dehr hehrpst

Directions / Die Richtungen

right	rechts
left	links
straight	geradeaus
north	der Norden
south	der Süden
east	der Osten
west	der Westen

im Norden = in the North nach Osten = to the East aus Westen = from the West

German Colors & Shapes / Die Farben & Die Forme

orange	orange	square	das Viereck
pink	rosa	circle	der Kreis
purple	violett / lila	triangle	das Dreieck
blue	blau	rectangle	das Rechteck
yellow	gelb	oval	das Oval
red	rot	octagon	das Achteck
black	schwarz	cube	der Würfel
brown	braun	sphere	die Kugel
gray	grau	cone	der Kegel
white	weiß	cylinder	der Zylinder
green	grün
turquoise	türkis
beige	beige
silver	silber
gold	gold

Because colors are adjectives, they must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe if they are placed before the noun. However, not all adjectives agree, such as colors ending in -a or -e; nor do they agree when they are used as predicate adjectives. To say that a color islight, put hell- before it, and to say that a color is dark, put dunkel- before it.

Das Viereck ist braun. The square is brown. Das Rechteck ist hellblau. The rectange is light blue.

German Time / Die Zeit

What time is it?	Wie spät ist es?	vee shpayt isst ess
(It is) 2 AM	Es ist zwei Uhr nachts	ess ist tsvy oor nahkts
2 PM	Es ist zwei Uhr nachmittags	tsvy oor nahk-mih-tahks
6:20	Es ist sechs Uhr zwanzig	zex oor tsvahn-tsikh
half past 3	Es ist halb vier	hahlp feer
quarter past 4	Es ist Viertel nach vier	feer-tel nahk feer
quarter to 5	Es ist Viertel vor fünf	feer-tel for fewnf
10 past 11	Es ist zehn nach elf	tsyan nahk elf
20 to 7	Es ist zwanzig vor sieben	tsvahn-tsikh for zee-bun
noon	Es ist nachmittag	nakh-mih-tahk
midnight	Es ist mitternacht	mih-ter-nahk
in the morning	morgens / früh	mawr-guns / frew
in the evening	abends	aah-bunts
It’s exactly…	Es ist genau…	ess ist guh-now
At 8.	Um 8 Uhr.	oom akht oor
early(ier)	früh(er)	frew(er)
late(r)	spät(er)	shpayt(er)

Official time, such as for bus and train schedules, always uses the 24 hour clock. Notice that halb + number means half to, not half past, so you have to use the hour that comes next.

German Weather / Das Wetter

How’s the weather today?	Wie ist das Wetter heute?	vie ist dahs vet-ter hoy-tuh
It’s hot	Es ist heiß	ess isst hise
It’s cold	Es ist kalt	ess isst kahlt
It’s beautiful	Es ist schön	ess isst shern
It’s bad	Es ist schlecht	ess isst shlehkt
It’s clear	Es ist klar	ess isst klahr
It’s icy	Es ist eisig	ess isst ise-ikh
It’s warm	Es ist warm	ess isst varm
It’s sunny	Es ist sonnig	ess isst zohn-ikh
It’s windy	Es ist windig	ess isst vin-dikh
It’s cloudy	Es ist bewölkt	ess isst beh-verlkt
It’s hazy	Es ist dunstig	ess isst doons-tikh
It’s muggy	Es ist schwül	ess isst schvool
It’s humid	Es ist feucht	ess isst foikht
It’s foggy	Es ist nebelig	ess isst neh-beh-likh
It’s snowing	Es schneit	ess schnite
It’s raining	Es regnet	ess rayg-net
It’s freezing	Es friert	ess freert
It looks like rain.	Es sieht nach Regen aus.	es seet nahkh ray-gen ows
The weather is clearing	Das Wetter klärt sich auf.	dahs vett-er klairt sikh owf

German Family / Die Familie

Parents	die Eltern	Relative	der Verwandte (-n)
Mother	die Mutter (ü)	Man	der Mann (ä, -er)
Father	der Vater (ä)	Sir / Mister	der Herr (-en)
Son	der Sohn (ö, -e)	Woman / Ma’am / Mrs. / Ms.	die Frau (-en)
Daughter	die Tochter (ö)	Husband	der Ehemann (ä, -er)
Brother	der Bruder (ü)	Wife	die Ehefrau (-en)
Sister	die Schwester (-n)	Boy	der Junge (-n)
Grandparents	die Großeltern	Girl	das Mädchen (-)
Grandfather	der Großvater (ä)	Grandpa	der Opa (-s)
Grandmother	die Großmutter (ü)	Grandma	die Oma (-s)
Grandchildren	die Enkelkinder	Dad	der Vati
Grandson	der Enkel (-)	Mom	die Mutti
Granddaughter	die Enkelin (-nen)	Friend (m)	der Freund (-e)
Niece	die Nichte (-n)	Friend (f)	die Freundin (-nen)
Nephew	der Neffe (-n)	Partner / Significant Other (m)	der Partner (-)
Cousin (m)	der Vetter (-n)	Partner / Significant Other (f)	die Partnerin (-nen)
Cousin (f)	die Kusine (-n)	Marital Status	der Familienstand
Uncle	der Onkel (-)	Single	ledig
Aunt	die Tante (-n)	Married	verheiratet
Siblings	die Geschwister	Divorced	geschieden
Baby	das Baby (-s)	Male	männlich
Godfather	der Pate (-n)	Female	weiblich
Godmother	die Patin (-nen)	Child	das Kind (-er)
Step-	der/die Stief-	Toddler	das Kleinkind (-er)
-in-law	der/die Schwieger-	Teenager	der Teenager (-)
Brother-in-law	der Schwager (ä)	Adult	der Erwachsene (-n)
Sister-in-law	die Schwägerin (-nen)	Twin	der Zwilling (-e)

The letters in parentheses indicate the plural form of the noun. Notice that sometimes an umlaut is placed over the main vowel of the word in the plural. For example, der Mann is singular (the man) and die Männer is plural (the men). For step- and -in-law relations, just add Stief- orSchwieger- before the main person, except in the case of brother-in-law and sister-in-law noted above. The plurals follow the pattern for the main person, i.e. die Schwiegermutter (singular) and die Schwiegermütter (plural)

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IELTS Exam Preparation

Classroom - IELTS, Learn IELTS & TOEFL / By Vaikundamoni

The Best IELTS Centre in Coimbatore for IELTS Exam Preparation, Training and Developing English Communication Skills.

Best IELTS Preparation and Training in Coimbatore. Lingua World offers the best IELTS Training in Coimbatore.

Plus Points of the IELTS Training:

Individualized and personalized training
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
A structured method of teaching
Developing Communication Skills
Structured Materials

IELTS TEST FORMAT:

There are two test options in the IELTS Exams:Academic and General

The Academic Exams measure the English language proficiency needed for an academic, higher learning environment.

IELTS General Exams measure the English language proficiency in a practical, everyday context. The candidates are to take the option depending upon the requirements of the organisation they are applying to. The IELTS test consists of four components: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. You will take the Listening, Reading and Writing tests all on the same day, one after the other, with no breaks in between. Depending on your test centre, your Speaking test may be on the same day as the other three tests, or up to seven days before or after that. The total test time is under three hours.

Best IELTS Preparation and Training in Coimbatore

Both versions of IELTS (Academic and General Training) cover all four language skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Here is an outline of each of the papers.

Listening

(Duration: 30 minutes) You will listen to four recorded texts – monologues and conversations by a range of native speakers – and write the answers to a series of questions. These include, among other things, questions that test your ability to understand main ideas and detailed factual information It includes obviously, ability to understand the opinions and attitudes of speakers, ability to understand the purpose of what is said and ability to follow the development of ideas. You will hear a variety of voices and native-speaker accents. Moreover, you will hear each section only once. IELTS Reading, Writing, Listening , Speaking

Please note: The Listening component is the same for both Academic and General Training versions. Section 1 In the first section there will be a conversation between two people set in an everyday social context, e.g. a conversation in a travel agency. Section 2 On the other hand, the second section deals with a monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities. Section 3 The third section may be in the form of a conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment. Section 4 A monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture will be the focus in the fourth section. For improving the pronunciation of the participants special audio-video sessions are conducted on a regular basis. Such sessions particularly help improve the accent and pronunciation of the candidates. In the process, the overall communication skills of the IELTS candidates are enhanced.

Reading

(Duration: 60 minutes) The Reading component consists of 40 questions. A variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognising writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose. Reading – Academic version

The Academic version includes three long texts, which range from the descriptive and factual to the discursive and analytical. The texts are essentially authentic and are taken from books, journals, magazines and newspapers. These are normally selected for a non-specialist audience but are recognisably appropriate for anyone who enters undergraduate or postgraduate courses or seeks professional registration.

Reading – General Training

The General Training version requires one to read extracts from books, magazines, newspapers, notices, advertisements, company handbooks and guidelines. These are materials you are likely to encounter on a daily basis in an English-speaking environment. Reading is one of the hardest areas in IELTS Preparation. As performance in Reading Paper decides the overall performance of the candidate special care has to be taken and more focus must be attached to this training part. We have,therefore, framed the IELTS Reading module in such a way as to enable the candidates to perform very well in the Reading paper.

Writing

( Duration: 60 minutes)

Writing – Academic

The Writing component of the Academic version includes two tasks. Topics are of general interest to, and suitable for, anyone entering undergraduate or postgraduate studies or seeking professional registration. Task 1 You will be presented with a graph, table, chart or diagram and are asked to describe, summarise or explain the information in your own words. You may be asked to describe and explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or describe an object or event. Task 2 You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. Responses to both tasks must be written in a formal style.

Writing – General Training version

The Writing component of the General Training version includes two tasks, which are based on topics of general interest. Task 1 You will be presented with a situation and asked to write a letter requesting information or explaining the situation. The letter may be personal, semi-formal or formal in style.

Task 2 You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. The essay can be slightly more personal in style than the Academic Writing Task 2 essay. Writing is a well-refined art requiring a great deal of preparation. The Task 1 in the Academic Stream requires the skill of interpreting the graphs and charts. Hence, we are making available to the candidates hundreds of worked-out samples and models making the task of interpreting the data a breeze.

Speaking

(Duration: 11 to 14 minutes) The Speaking component assesses your use of spoken English and takes between 11 and 14 minutes to complete. Every test is recorded. Please note: The Speaking component is the same for both Academic and General Training versions. Part 1 You will be asked to answer general questions about yourself and a range of familiar topics, such as your home, family, work, studies and interests. This part lasts between four and five minutes. Best IELTS Preparation and Training in Coimbatore

Part 2 You will be given a card that asks you to talk about a particular topic. You will have one minute to prepare before speaking for up to two minutes. The examiner then asks you one or two questions on the same topic to finish this part of the test. Part 3 You will be asked further questions connected to the topic in Part 2. These questions give you an opportunity to discuss more abstract issues and ideas. This part lasts between four and five minutes. As the speaking part of the IELTS test assesses the speaking skills of the candidate special care is taken to ensure that the candidate is able to do all the three parts of the speaking test effectively and quite successfully. Test for fine tuning the skills of communication is normally conducted on a regular basis. As a result, our candidates are heads and shoulders above others in all the four areas.

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English Classroom: Simple Past Tense

Classroom - English, Learn English / By Vaikundamoni

English Simple Past Tense

DEFINITION OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action duration is not important.

EXAMPLES

John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
My father died last year.
He lived in Fiji in 1976.
We crossed the Channel yesterday.

You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions

frequency: often, sometimes, always I sometimes walked home at lunchtime. I often brought my lunch to school.
a definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago We saw a good film last week. Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva. She finished her work atseven o’clock I went to the theatre last night
an indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago People lived in caves a long time ago.
She played the piano when she was a child.

Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.

Be Careful: The simple past in English may look like a tense in your own language, but the meaning may be different.

The simple past expresses an action in the past taking place once, never, several times. It can also be used for actions taking place one after another or in the middle of another action.

Form of Simple Past

	Positive	Negative	Question
no differences	I spoke.	I did not speak.	Did I speak?

For irregular verbs, use the past form For regular verbs, just add “ed”.

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’

Exceptions in spelling when adding ed	Example
after a final e only add d	love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled	admit – admitted travel – travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i	hurry – hurried

Use of Simple Past

action in the past taking place once, never or several times
Example: He visited his parents every weekend.
actions in the past taking place one after the other
Example: He came in, took off his coat and sat down.
action in the past taking place in the middle of another action
Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly rang.
if sentences type II (If I talked, …)
Example: If I had a lot of money, I would share it with you.

Past Continuous

The Past Continuous tense is an important tense in English. We use it to say what we were in the middle of doing at a particular moment in the past. In this lesson we look at the structure and the use of the Past Continuous tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding.

Note that continuous tenses are also called progressive tenses. So the Past Continuous tense is sometimes called the Past Progressive tense.

How do we make the Past Continuous tense?

The structure of the past continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary be	+	main verb
		conjugated in Past Simple
		was, were		present participle

The auxiliary verb (be) is conjugated in the Past Simple: was, were The main verb is invariable in present participle form: -ing For negative sentences we insert not between the auxiliary verb and the main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the Past Continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	was		watching	TV.
+	You	were		working	hard.
–	He, she, it	was	not	helping	Mary.
–	We	were	not	joking.
?	Were	you		being	silly?
?	Were	they		playing	football?

How do we use the Past Continuous tense?

The Past Continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the past. The action started before that moment but has not finished at that moment. For example, yesterday I watched a film on TV. The film started at 7pm and finished at 9pm.

At 8pm yesterday, I was watching TV.

past

present

future

8pm

At 8pm, I was in the middle of watching TV.

When we use the Past Continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples:

I was working at 10pm last night.
They were not playing football at 9am this morning.
What were you doing at 10pm last night?
What were you doing when he arrived?
She was cooking when I telephoned her.
We were having dinner when it started to rain.
Ram went home early because it was snowing.

Note that some verbs cannot be used in continuous/progressive tenses.

We often use the Past Continuous tense to “set the scene” in stories. We use it to describe the background situation at the moment when the action begins. Often, the story starts with the Past Continuous tense and then moves into the Past Simple tense. Here is an example:

“James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a telephone box…”

Past Continuous + Past Simple

We often use the Past Continuous tense with the Past Simple tense. We use the Past Continuous to express a long action. And we use the Past Simple to express a short action that happens in the middle of the long action. We can join the two ideas with when or while. In the following example, we have two actions:

long action (watching TV), expressed with Past Continuous
short action (telephoned), expressed with Past Simple

past

present

future

long action: I was watching TV from 7pm to 9pm.

	8pm

short action: You phoned at 8pm.

We can join these two actions with when:

I was watching TV when you telephoned.

Notice that “when you telephoned” is also a way of defining the time (8pm). We use:

when + short action (Past Simple)
while + long action (Past Continuous)

There are four basic combinations:

	I was walking past the car	when	it exploded.
When	the car exploded		I was walking past it.
	The car exploded	while	I was walking past it.
While	I was walking past the car		it exploded.

Notice that the long action and short action are relative.

“Watching TV” took two hours. “Telephoned” took a few seconds.
“Walking past the car” took a few seconds. “Exploded” took milliseconds.

Signal Words of Simple Past

yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday

The simple past tense is used to talk about finished actions that happened at a specific time in the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb. You form the simple past of a verb by adding -ed onto the end of a regular verb but, irregular verb forms have to be learnt. There are several examples of irregular verbs in our Picture It section.

Simple Past Timeline

When you mention a time in the past:- For example: “Last year I took my exams.” “I got married in 1992.” It can be used to describe events that happened over a period of time in the past but not now. For example: “I lived in South Africa for two years.” The simple past tense is also used to talk about habitual or repeated actions that took place in the past. For example: “When I was a child we always went to the seaside on bank holidays.” It can sometimes be confusing. For example: “She had a baby last year.” (She hasn’t lost the baby, but here you are talking about the actual process of giving birth.)

FORMING THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

PATTERNS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE FOR REGULAR VERBS

Affirmative
Subject	+ verb + ed
I	skipped.
Negative
Subject	+ did not	+ infinitive without to
They	didn’t	go.
Interrogative
Did	+ subject	+ infinitive without to
Did	she	arrive?
Interrogative negative
Did not	+ subject	+ infinitive without to
Didn’t	you	play?

TO WALK

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I walked	I didn’t walk	Did I walk?
You walked	You didn’t walk	Did you walk?
He walked	He didn’t walk	Did he walk?
We walked	We didn’t walk	Did we walk?
They walked	They didn’t walk	Did they walk?

SIMPLE PAST TENSE OF TO BE, TO HAVE, TO DO

Subject	Verb
	Be	Have	Do
I	was	had	did
You	were	had	did
He/She/It	was	had	did
We	were	had	did
You	were	had	did
They	were	had	did

NOTES ON AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE, & INTERROGATIVE FORMS

AFFIRMATIVE

The affirmative of the simple past tense is simple.

I was in Japan last year
She had a headache yesterday.
We did our homework last night.

NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of “do” as an ordinary verb, use the auxiliary “do”, e.g. We didn’t do our homework last night. The negative of “have” in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary “do”, but sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction “n’t”. The interrogative form of “have” in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary “do”.

EXAMPLES

They weren’t in Rio last summer.
We didn’t have any money.
We didn’t have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.
We didn’t do our exercises this morning.
Were they in Iceland last January?
Did you have a bicycle when you were young?
Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Note: For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the auxiliary ‘did”.

SIMPLE PAST, IRREGULAR VERBS

Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. Here are the most common ones.

TO GO

He went to a club last night.
Did he go to the cinema last night?
He didn’t go to bed early last night.

TO GIVE

We gave her a doll for her birthday.
They didn’t give John their new address.
Did Barry give you my passport?

TO COME

My parents came to visit me last July.
We didn’t come because it was raining.
Did he come to your party last week?

Affirmative	Negative		Interrogative
	Long Form	Contracted Form

I played	I did not play	I didn’t play	Did I play?
You played	You did not play	You didn’t play	Did you play?
He/she/it played	He/she/it did not play	He/she/it didn’t play	Did he/she/it play?
We played	We did not play	We didn’t play	Did we play?
You played	You did not play	You didn’t play	Did you play?
They played	They did not play	They didn’t play	Did they play?

The past simple tense is used to talk about finished actions in a finished period of time, for example :

Yesterday evening I played tennis with a friend.
Last year I started taking tennis lessons.
When I was at school I hated history.
Five minutes ago I finished the report for my boss.
Last week I attended a meeting in Tokyo.

FORM

[VERB+ed] or irregular verbs

Examples:

You called Debbie.
Did you call Debbie?
You did not call Debbie.

USE 1 Completed Action in the Past

Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one specific time in mind.

Examples:

I saw a movie yesterday.
I didn’t see a play yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn’t travel to Korea.
Did you have dinner last night?
She washed her car.
He didn’t wash his car.

USE 2 A Series of Completed Actions

We use the Simple Past to list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.

Examples:

I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim.
He arrived from the airport at 8:00, checked into the hotel at 9:00, and met the others at 10:00.
Did you add flour, pour in the milk, and then add the eggs?

USE 3 Duration in Past

The Simple Past can be used with a duration which starts and stops in the past. A duration is a longer action often indicated by expressions such as: for two years, for five minutes, all day, all year, etc.

Examples:

I lived in Brazil for two years.
Shauna studied Japanese for five years.
They sat at the beach all day.
They did not stay at the party the entire time.
We talked on the phone for thirty minutes.
A: How long did you wait for them? B: We waited for one hour.

USE 4 Habits in the Past

The Simple Past can also be used to describe a habit which stopped in the past. It can have the same meaning as “used to.” To make it clear that we are talking about a habit, we often add expressions such as: always, often, usually, never, when I was a child, when I was younger, etc.

Examples:

I studied French when I was a child.
He played the violin.
He didn’t play the piano.
Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
She worked at the movie theater after school.
They never went to school, they always skipped class.

USE 5 Past Facts or Generalizations

The Simple Past can also be used to describe past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. As in USE 4 above, this use of the Simple Past is quite similar to the expression “used to.”

Examples:

She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
He didn’t like tomatoes before.
Did you live in Texas when you were a kid?
People paid much more to make cell phone calls in the past.

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Spanish Classroom:Spanish Conversation

Classroom - Spanish / By Vaikundamoni

Conversations – Introduction

¡Hola! It’s time to practice your comprehension skills with some basic Spanish conversations! In each of the following four dialogues, listen for who is speaking, what time of day it is, how each person is feeling, where each person is from, and whether the conversation uses formal or informal grammar. After each conversation, I will ask a series of questions. Feel free to go back in the video to review the conversations for the answers. ¡Vamos!

Conversation 1 – Una Noche Muy Mala

Sara: ‘Buenas noches. Me llamo Sara. ?Cómo te llamas?’ Carolina: ‘Hola Sara. Me llamo Carolina. ?Cómo estás?’ Sara: ‘¡Muy bien! ?Cómo estás tú?’ Carolina: ‘Muy mal. Sara, yo soy de México. ?De dónde eres tú?’ Sara: ‘Soy de Colombia.’ Did you understand the conversation? Let’s take a look! Can you name the two people who were speaking? Good! Sara and Carolina. Were you able to tell where each woman was from? Sara is from Colombia and Carolina is from Mexico. Could you tell how each woman was feeling? Right! Carolina is sad, and Sara is happy. Now, what time of day is it? It’s the nighttime! You can tell because Sara says Buenas noches. Finally, were the speakers using formal grammar or informal grammar? It was informal! The word tú was used, and the verbs were in the informal form! Well done, here comes another dialogue!

Conversation 2 – Soy de California

Sr. Linares: ‘Buenos días, señor. ?Cómo se llama ud.?’ Sr. Martín: ‘Buenos días. Mi nombre es Sr. Martín. ?Y ud.?’ Sr. Linares: ‘Soy Sr. Linares. ?De dónde es?’ Sr. Martín: ‘Soy de California. Los Angeles. ?Y ud.?’ Sr. Linares: ‘¡Ah! ¡Soy de San Francisco! Sr. Martín, ?cómo está ud.?’ Sr. Martín: ‘Muy bien, señor. ?Y ud.? ?Cómo está?’ Sr. Linares: ‘Muy bien.’ Time to see if you understood the conversation! Who are the two men speaking? Señor Linares and Señor Martín. Where are the men from? Did you catch that both men are from California? Sr. Linares is from San Francisco and Sr. Martín is from Los Angeles. What time of day did this conversation occur? That’s right: it’s morning! The men say ‘buenos días.’ How are the men feeling today? Both men are doing well. Finally, was this conversation formal or informal? It was formal! Did you notice the word ‘usted’ being used? Ready for another dialogue?

Dialogue 1

Dos estudiantes nuevos en la clase de español en una escuela en Australia… Luis: Psst, psst… ¡hola! Psst, psst… Hi! Alicia: Ah! ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Oh! Hi! How ya doing? Luis: ¿Cómo te llamas? (Tú) How do you call yourself? (What is your name?) Alicia: Me llamo Alicia. Y tú, ¿cómo te llamas? I call myself Alicia. And you, how do you call yourself? (My name is Alicia. And you, what is your name?) Luis: Me llamo Luis. ¿De dónde eres? My name is Luis. Of where are you? (Where are you from?) Alicia: Soy de aquí, de Sidney, Australia. I am from here, Sidney, Australia. Luis: Yo soy de Nueva Zelanda. ¡Mucho gusto de conocerte! I am from New Zealand. Great to meet you! Alicia: ¡El gusto es mío! The pleasure is mine!

Dialogue 2 Muchacho: Muy buenos días, señorita. Very good morning, Miss. Señorita: Buenos días. Good morning. Muchacho: ¿Puedo saber cómo te llamas? Am I able to know how you are called? (Would you tell me your name?) Señorita: Mmm..Me llamo Silvia. Mmm..My name is Silvia, Muchacho: ¡Pero qué lindo nombre! But what a beautiful name! Señorita: Muchas gracias. Many thanks. (Thank you very much.) Muchacho: ¿De dónde eres? Pareces norteamericana. Where are you from? You look North-American. Señorita: No, soy de Moscú, Rusia. ¡Y no hablo con extraños! No, I am from Moscow, Russia. And I don’t speak with strangers! Muchacho: Oh ¡perdón! ¡Fue un placer conocerte! Oh, pardon (me)! It was a pleasure to meet you! Dialogue 3 Julia: ¿Qué tal, Carlos? ¿Cómo estás? What’s up, Carlos? How are you? Carlos: Bien gracias, Julia. ¿Cómo te va a ti? Fine thank you, Julia. How about you? Julia: No muy bien. Not very well. Carlos: ¿Qué pasa? What’s the matter? Julia: Tengo dolor de cabeza. I have a headache. Carlos: Lo siento mucho; espero que te mejores pronto. I’m so sorry, I hope you get better soon. Julia: Gracias. Nos vemos mañana. Thank you, I will see you tomorrow. Communication in Spanish Destinos]]>

French Classroom:French Basics

Classroom - French / By Vaikundamoni

Subject Pronouns / Les pronoms sujets

je	/ʒə/	I	nous	/nu/	We
tu	/ty/	You (informal)	vous	/vu/	You (formal and plural)
il elle on	/il/ /ɛl/ /ɔ̃/	He She One	ils elles	/il/ /ɛl/	They (masc.) They (fem.)

French Wikibook Il and elle can also mean it when they replace a noun (il replaces masculine nouns, and elle replaces feminine nouns) instead of a person’s name. Ils and elles can replace plural nouns as well in the same way. Notice there are two ways to say you. Tu is used when speaking to children, animals, or close friends and relatives. Vous is used when speaking to more than one person, or to someone you don’t know or who is older. On can be translated into English as one, the people, they, you, in the indefinite sense, and it is often used instead of nous to mean we. Je is reduced to j’ before a word beginning with a vowel sound in both formal and informal language. Tu is reduced to t’ before a vowel sound in informal language only. Tutoyer and vouvoyer are two verbs that have no direct translation into English. Tutoyer means to use tu or be informal with someone, while vouvoyer means to use vous or be formal with someone.

French Verb Conjugations: To Be & To Have / Être & Avoir

**Present tense of être /ɛtʀ/ – to be**
I am	je suis	/ʒə sɥi/	We are	nous sommes	/nu sɔm/
You are	tu es	/ty ɛ/	You are	vous êtes	/vu zɛt/
He is She is One is	il est elle est on est	/il ɛ/ /ɛl ɛ/ /ɔ̃ nɛ/	They are They are	ils sont elles sont	/il sɔ̃/ /ɛl sɔ̃/

**Past tense of être – to be**
I was	j’étais	/ʒetɛ/	We were	nous étions	/nu zetjɔ̃/
You were	tu étais	/tu etɛ/	You were	vous étiez	/vu zetje/
He was She was One was	il était elle était on était	/il etɛ/ /ɛl etɛ/ /ɔ̃ netɛ/	They were They were	ils étaient elles étaient	/il zetɛ/ /ɛl zetɛ/

Je and any verb form that starts with a vowel (or silent h) combine together for ease of pronunciation.

**Future Tense of être – to be**
I will be	je serai	/ʒə səʀe/	We will be	nous serons	/nu səʀɔ̃/
You will be	tu seras	/ty səʀa/	You will be	vous serez	/vu səʀe/
He will be She will be One will be	il sera elle sera on sera	/il səʀa/ /ɛl səʀa/ /ɔ̃ səʀa/	They will be They will be	ils seront elles seront	/il səʀɔ̃/ /ɛl səʀɔ̃/

**Present tense of avoir /avwaʀ/ – to have**
I have	j’ai	/ʒe/	We have	nous avons	/nu zavɔ̃/
You have	tu as	/ty ɑ/	You have	vous avez	/vu zave/
He has She has One has	il a elle a on a	/il ɑ/ /ɛl ɑ/ /ɔ̃ nɑ/	They have They have	ils ont elles ont	/il zɔ̃/ /ɛl zɔ̃/

**Past tense of avoir – to have**
I had	j’avais	/ʒavɛ/	We had	nous avions	/nu zavjɔ̃/
You had	tu avais	/ty avɛ/	You had	vous aviez	/vu zavje/
He had She had One had	il avait elle avait on avait	/il avɛ/ /ɛl avɛ/ /ɔ̃ navɛ/	They had	ils avaient elles avaient	/il zavɛ/ /ɛl zavɛ/

**Future tense of avoir – to have**
I will have	j’aurai	/ʒoʀe/	We will have	nous aurons	/nu zoʀɔ̃/
You will have	tu auras	/ty oʀɑ/	You will have	vous aurez	/vu zoʀe/
He will have She will have One will have	il aura elle aura on aura	/il oʀa/ /ɛl oʀa/ /ɔ̃ noʀa/	They will have They will have	ils auront elles auront	/il zoʀɔ̃/ /ɛl zoʀɔ̃/

In informal French, the tu forms of verbs that begin with a vowel contract with the pronoun: tu es = t’es /tɛ/, tu as = t’as /tɑ/, etc. In addition, it is very common to use on (plus 3rd person singular conjugation) to mean we instead of nous.

Common Expressions with avoir and Etre Avoir and être are used in many common and idiomatic expressions that should be memorized:

avoir chaud	/avwaʀ ʃo/	to be hot	être de retour	/ɛtʀ də ʀətuʀ/	to be back
avoir froid	/avwaʀ fʀwa/	to be cold	être en retard	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ ʀətaʀ/	to be late
avoir peur	/avwaʀ pœʀ/	to be afraid	être en avance	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ navɑ̃s/	to be early
avoir raison	/avwaʀ ʀɛzɔ̃/	to be right	être d’accord	/ɛtʀ dakɔʀ/	to be in agreement
avoir tort	/avwaʀ tɔʀ/	to be wrong	être sur le point de	/ɛtʀ syʀ lə pwɛ̃ də/	to be about to
avoir faim	/avwaʀ fɛ̃/	to be hungry	être en train de	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ tʀɛ̃ də/	to be in the act of
avoir soif	/avwaʀ swaf/	to be thirsty	être enrhumée	/ɛtʀ ɑ̃ʀyme/	to have a cold
avoir sommeil	/avwaʀ sɔmɛj/	to be sleepy	nous + être (un jour)	/ɛtʀ œ̃̃̃ ʒuʀ/	to be (a day)
avoir honte	/avwaʀ ʽɔ̃t/	to be ashamed
avoir besoin de	/avwaʀ bəzwɛ̃ də/	to need
avoir l’air de	/avwaʀ ɛʀ də/	to look like, seem
avoir l’intention de	/avwaʀ ɛ̃tɑ̃sjɔ̃/	to intend to
avoir envie de	/avwaʀ ɑ̃vi də/	to feel like
avoir de la chance	/avwaʀ də la ʃɑ̃s/	to be lucky

J’ai froid. I’m cold. Tu avais raison. You were right. Il aura sommeil ce soir. He will be tired tonight. Elle a de la chance ! She’s lucky! Nous aurons faim plus tard. We will be hungry later. Vous aviez tort. You were wrong. Ils ont chaud. They are hot. Elles avaient peur hier. They were afraid yesterday.	Je suis en retard! I’m late! Tu étais en avance. You were early. Elle sera d’accord. She will agree. Nous sommes lundi. It is Monday. Vous étiez enrhumé. You had a cold. Ils seront en train d’étudier. They will be (in the act of) studying. Elles étaient sur le point de partir. They were about to leave. On est de retour. We/you/they/the people are back.

French Question Words / Les interrogatifs

Who	Qui	/ki/
What	Quoi	/kwa/
Why	Pourquoi	/puʀkwa/
When	Quand	/kɑ̃/
Where	Où	/u/
How	Comment	/kɔmɑ̃/
How much / many	Combien	/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/
Which / what	Quel(le)	/kɛl/

French Numbers / Les nombres cardinaux

Zero	Zéro	/zeʀo/
One	Un	/œ̃̃̃/
Two	Deux	/dø/
Three	Trois	/tʀwɑ/
Four	Quatre	/katʀ/
Five	Cinq	/sɛ̃k/
Six	Six	/sis/
Seven	Sept	/sɛt/
Eight	Huit	/ʽɥit/
Nine	Neuf	/nœf/
Ten	Dix	/dis/
Eleven	Onze	/ɔ̃z/
Twelve	Douze	/duz/
Thirteen	Treize	/tʀɛz/
Fourteen	Quatorze	/katɔʀz/
Fifteen	Quinze	/kɛ̃z/
Sixteen	Seize	/sɛz/
Seventeen	Dix-sept	/disɛt/
Eighteen	Dix-huit	/dizɥit/
Nineteen	Dix-neuf	/diznœf/
Twenty	Vingt	/vɛ̃/
Twenty-one	Vingt et un	/vɛ̃t e œ̃̃̃/
Twenty-two	Vingt-deux	/vɛ̃ dø/
Twenty-three	Vingt-trois	/vɛ̃ tʀwɑ/
Thirty	Trente	/tʀɑ̃t/
Thirty-one	Trente et un	/tʀɑ̃t e œ̃̃̃/̃/
Thirty-two	Trente-deux	/tʀɑ̃t dø/
Forty	Quarante	/kaʀɑ̃t/
Fifty	Cinquante	/sɛ̃kɑ̃t/
Sixty	Soixante	/swasɑ̃t/
Seventy	Soixante-dix	/swasɑ̃tdis/
(Belgium & Switzerland)	Septante	/sɛptɑ̃t/
Seventy-one	Soixante et onze	/swasɑ̃t e ɔ̃z/
Seventy-two	Soixante-douze	/swasɑ̃t duz/
Eighty	Quatre-vingts	/katʀəvɛ̃/
(Belgium & Switzerland)	Octante	/ɔktɑ̃t/
Eighty-one	Quatre-vingt-un	/katʀəvɛ̃ tœ̃̃̃/
Eighty-two	Quatre-vingt-deux	/katʀəvɛ̃ dø/
Ninety	Quatre-vingt-dix	/katʀəvɛ̃ dis/
(Belgium & Switzerland)	Nonante	/nɔnɑ̃t/
Ninety-one	Quatre-vingt-onze	/katʀəvɛ̃ ɔ̃z/
Ninety-two	Quatre-vingt-douze	/katʀəvɛ̃ duz/
One Hundred	Cent	/sɑ̃/
One Hundred One	Cent un	/sɑ̃ tœ̃̃̃/
Two Hundred	Deux cents	/dø sɑ̃/
Two Hundred One	Deux cent un	/dø sɑ̃ tœ̃̃̃/
Thousand	Mille	/mil/
Two Thousand	Deux mille	/dø mil/
Million	Un million	/õ miljɔ̃/
Billion	Un milliard	/õ miljaʀ/

French switches the use of commas and periods. 1,00 would be 1.00 in English. Belgian and Swiss French use septante and nonante in place of the standard French words for 70 and 90 (though some parts of Switzerland use huitante for 80 and octante is barely used anymore). Also, when the numbers 5, 6, 8, and 10 are used before a word beginning with a consonant, their final consonants are not pronounced. Phone numbers in France are ten digits, beginning with 01, 02, 03, 04, or 05 depending on the geographical region, or 06 and 07 for cell phones. They are written two digits at a time, and pronounced thus: 01 36 55 89 28 = zéro un, trente-six, cinquante-cinq, quatre-vingt-neuf, vingt-huit.

Ordinal Numbers / Les nombres ordinaux

first	premier / première
second	deuxième / second
third	troisième
fourth	quatrième
fifth	cinquième
sixth	sixième
seventh	septième
eighth	huitième
ninth	neuvième
tenth	dixième
eleventh	onzième
twelfth	douzième
twentieth	vingtième
twenty-first	vingt et unième
thirtieth	trentième

The majority of numbers become ordinals by adding -ième. But if a number ends in an e, you must drop it before adding the -ième. After a q, you must add a u before the -ième. And an f becomes a v before the -ième.

French Days of the Week / Les jours de la semaine

Monday	lundi	/lœ̃di/
Tuesday	mardi	/maʀdi/
Wednesday	mercredi	/mɛʀkʀədi/
Thursday	jeudi	/ʒødi/
Friday	vendredi	/vɑ̃dʀədi/
Saturday	samedi	/samdi/
Sunday	dimanche	/dimɑ̃ʃ/
day	le jour	/lə ʒuʀ/
week	la semaine	/la s(ə)mɛn/
today	aujourd’hui	/oʒuʀdɥi/
yesterday	hier	/jɛʀ/
tomorrow	demain	/dəmɛ̃/
next	prochain / prochaine	/pʀɔʃɛ̃/ /pʀɔʃɛn/
last	dernier / dernière	/dɛʀnje/ /dɛʀnjɛʀ/
day before yesterday	avant-hier	/avɑ̃tjɛʀ/
day after tomorrow	après-demain	/apʀɛdmɛ̃/
the following day	le lendemain	/lə lɑ̃dəmɛ̃/
the day before	la veille	/la vɛj/

Articles are not used before days, except to express something that happens habitually on a certain day, such as le lundi = on Mondays. Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing.

French Months of the Year / Les mois de l’année

January	janvier	/ʒɑ̃vje/
February	février	/fevʀije/
March	mars	/maʀs/
April	avril	/avʀil/
May	mai	/mɛ/
June	juin	/ʒɥɛ̃/
July	juillet	/ʒɥijɛ/
August	août	/u(t)/
September	septembre	/sɛptɑ̃bʀ/
October	octobre	/ɔktɔbʀ/
November	novembre	/nɔvɑ̃bʀ/
December	décembre	/desɑ̃bʀ/
month	le mois	/lə mwa/
year	l’an / l’année	/lɑ̃/ /lane/
decade	la décennie	/deseni/
century	le siècle	/lə sjɛkl/
millennium	le millénaire	/milenɛʀ/

To express in a certain month, such as in May, use en before the month as in “en mai.” With dates, the ordinal numbers are not used, except for the first of the month: le premier mai but le deux juin. Also note that months are all masculine and not capitalized in French (same as days of the week).

French Seasons / Les saisons

Summer	l’été	/lete/	in the summer	en été	/ɑ̃ nete/
Fall	l’automne	/lotɔn/	in the fall	en automne	/ɑ̃ notɔn/
Winter	l’hiver	/livɛʀ/	in the winter	en hiver	/ɑ̃ nivɛʀ/
Spring	le printemps	/lə pʀɛ̃tɑ̃/	in the spring	au printemps	/o prɛ̃tɑ̃/

French Directions / Les directions

on the left	à gauche	/a goʃ/
on the right	à droite	/a dʀwɑt/
straight ahead	tout droit	/tu dʀwɑ/

North	le nord	/lə nɔʀ/	Northeast	le nord-est	/lə nɔʀ(d)ɛst/
South	le sud	/lə syd/	Northwest	le nord-ouest	/lə nɔʀ(d)wɛst/
East	l’est	/lɛst/	Southeast	le sud-est	/sydɛst/
West	l’ouest	/lwɛst/	Southwest	le sud-ouest	/sydwɛst/

French Colors and Shapes / Les couleurs et les formes

Red	rouge	/ʀuʒ/	square	le carré	/kaʀe/
Orange	orange	/ɔʀɑ̃ʒ/	circle	le cercle	/sɛʀkl/
Yellow	jaune	/ʒon/	triangle	le triangle	/tʀijɑ̃gl/
Green	vert / verte	/vɛʀ/ /vɛʀt/	rectangle	le rectangle	/ʀɛktɑ̃gl/
Blue	bleu / bleue	/blø/	oval	l’ovale	/ɔval/
Purple	violet / violette	/vjɔlɛ/ /vjɔlɛt/	cube	le cube	/kyb/
White	blanc / blanche	/blɑ̃/ /blɑ̃ʃ/	sphere	la sphère	/sfɛʀ/
Brown	brun / brune marron	/bʀõ/ /bʀyn/ /maʀɔ̃/	cylinder	le cylindre	/silɛ̃dʀ/
Black	noir / noire	/nwaʀ/	cone	le cône	/kon/
Pink	rose	/ʀoz/	octagon	l’octogone	/ɔktogɔn/
Gold	doré / dorée	/dɔʀe/	box	la boîte	/bwat/
Silver	argenté / argentée	/aʀʒɑ̃te/	light	clair / claire	/klɛʀ/
Gray	gris / grise	/gʀi/ /gʀiz/	dark	foncé / foncée	/fɔ̃se/

Some adjectives of color do not change to agree with gender or number, such as adjectives that also exist as nouns: orange, marron, rose; and compound adjectives: bleu clair, noir foncé remain masculine even if they describe a feminine noun. Remember to place the color adjective after the noun.

French Weather Expressions / Le temps qu’il fait

What’s the weather like?	Quel temps fait-il ?	/kɛl tɑ̃ fɛ til/
It’s nice	Il fait bon	/il fɛ bɔ̃/
bad	Il fait mauvais	/il fɛ mɔve/
cool	Il fait frais	/il fɛ fʀɛ/
cold	Il fait froid	/il fɛ fʀwɑ/
warm, hot	Il fait chaud	/il fɛ ʃo/
cloudy	Il fait nuageux	/il fɛ nyaʒ/
beautiful	Il fait beau	/il fɛ bo/
mild	Il fait doux	/il fɛ du/
stormy	Il fait orageux	/il fɛ ɔʀaʒ/
sunny	Il fait soleil	/il fɛ sɔlɛj/
humid	Il fait humide	/il fɛ ymid/
muggy	Il fait lourd	/il fɛ luʀ/
windy	Il fait du vent	/il fɛ dy vɑ̃/
foggy	Il fait du brouillard	/il fɛ dy bʀujaʀ/
snowing	Il neige	/il nɛʒ/
raining	Il pleut	/il plø/
freezing	Il gèle	/il ʒɛl/
hailing	Il grêle	/il gʀɛl/
It is ____ degrees.	Il fait ____ degrés.	/il fɛ __ dəgʀe/

Il pleut des cordes /il plø de koʀd/ is a common expression meaning it’s pouring. Il caille /il kaj/ or ça caille /sa kaj/ is slang for it’s freezing. French-speaking countries use Celcius for degrees.

French Time Expressions / Le temps qui passe

What time is it?	Quelle heure est-il ?	/kɛl œʀ ɛ til/
It is…	Il est…	/il ɛ/
one o’clock	une heure	/yn œʀ/
two o’clock	deux heures	/dø zœʀ/
noon	midi	/midi/
midnight	minuit	/minɥi/
a quarter after three	trois heures et quart	/tʀwɑ zœʀ e kaʀ/
one o’clock sharp	une heure précise	/yn œʀ pʀesiz/
four o’clock sharp	quatre heures précises	/katʀœʀ pʀesiz/
twelve thirty	midi (minuit) et demi	/midi (minɥi) e dəmi/
six thirty	six heures et demie	/si zœʀ e dəmi/
a quarter to seven	sept heures moins le quart	/sɛt œʀ mwɛ̃ lə kaʀ/
five twenty	cinq heures vingt	/sɛ̃k œʀ vɛ̃/
ten fifty	onze heures moins dix	/ɔ̃z œʀ mwɛ̃ dis/
in the morning/AM	du matin	/dy matɛ̃/
in the afternoon/PM	de l’après-midi	/də lapʀɛmidi/
in the evening/PM	du soir	/dy swaʀ/

Official French time is expressed as military time (24 hour clock.) You can only use regular numbers, and not demi, quart, etc. when reporting time with the 24 hour system. For example, if it is 18h30, you must say dix-huit heures trente. The word pile /pil/ is also a more informal way of saying précise (exactly, sharp).

French Family and Animals / La famille et les animaux


Family	la famille	/famij/
Relatives	des parents	/paʀɑ̃/
Parents	les parents	/paʀɑ̃/
Grandparents	les grands-parents	/gʀɑ̃paʀɑ̃/
Mom	la mère / maman	/mɛʀ/ /mɑmɑ̃/
Stepmother/Mother-in-Law	la belle-mère	/bɛlmɛʀ/
Dad	le père / papa	/pɛʀ/ /papa/
Stepfather/Father-in-Law	le beau-père	/bopɛʀ/
Daughter	la fille	/fij/
Son	le fils	/fis/
Sister	la sœur	/sœʀ/
Half/Step Sister	la demi-sœur	/dəmi sœʀ/
Sister-in-Law	la belle-sœur	/bɛlsœʀ/
Stepdaughter/Daughter-in-Law	la belle-fille	/bɛl fij/
Brother	le frère	/fʀɛʀ/
Half/Step Brother	le demi-frère	/dəmi fʀɛʀ/
Brother-in-Law	le beau-frère	/bo fʀɛʀ/
Stepson/Son-in-Law	le beau-fils	/bo fis/
Twins (m)	les jumeaux	/ʒymo/
Twins (f)	les jumelles	/ʒymɛl/
Uncle	l’oncle	/ɔ̃kl/
Aunt	la tante	/tɑ̃t/
Grandmother	la grand-mère	/gʀɑ̃mɛʀ/
Grandfather	le grand-père	/gʀɑ̃pɛʀ/
Cousin (f)	la cousine	/kuzin/
Cousin (m)	le cousin	/kuzɛ̃/
Wife	la femme	/fam/
Husband	le mari	/maʀi/
Woman	la femme	/fam/
Man	l’homme	/ɔm/
Child (m) / (f)	un enfant / une enfant	/ɑ̃fɑ̃/
Girl	la fille	/fij/
Boy	le garçon	/gaʀsɔ̃/
Niece	la nièce	/njɛs/
Nephew	le neveu	/n(ə)vœ/
Grandchildren	les petits-enfants	/p(ə)tizɑ̃fɑ̃/
Granddaughter	la petite-fille	/p(ə)tit fij/
Grandson	le petit-fils	/p(ə)tifis/
Godfather	le parrain	/paʀɛ̃/
Godmother	la marraine	/maʀɛn/
Godson	le filleul	/fijœl/
Goddaughter	la filleule	/fijœl/
Distant Relatives	des parents éloignés	/paʀɑ̃ elwaɲe/
Single	célibataire	/selibatɛʀ/
Married	marié(e)	/maʀje/
Separated	séparé(e)	/sepaʀe/
Divorced	divorcé(e)	/divɔʀse/
Widower	veuf	/vœf/
Widow	veuve	/vœv/

Dog	le chien / la chienne (m) / (f)	/ʃjɛ̃/ /ʃjɛn/
Cat	le chat / la chatte (m) / (f)	/ʃa/ /ʃat/
Puppy	le chiot	/ʃjo/
Kitten	le chaton	/ʃatɔ̃/
Pig	le cochon	/kɔʃɔ̃/
Rooster	le coq	/kɔk/
Rabbit	le lapin	/lapɛ̃/
Cow	la vache	/vaʃ/
Horse	le cheval	/ʃ(ə)val/
Duck	le canard	/kanaʀ/
Goat	la chèvre	/ʃɛvʀ/
Goose	l’oie	/wa/
Sheep	le mouton	/mutɔ̃/
Lamb	l’agneau	/aɲo/
Donkey	l’âne	/ɑn/
Mouse	la souris	/suʀi/

Le gendre /ʒɑ̃dʀ/ is another word for son-in-law.

Slang words for people and pets:

The entire family	toute la smala	/tut la smala/	Sister	la frangine	/fʀɑ̃ʒin/
Grandma	mémé / mamie	/meme/ /mami/	Brother	le frangin	/fʀɑ̃ʒɛ̃/
Grandpa	pépé / papi	/pepe/ /papi/	Son	le fiston	/fistɔ̃/
Children	des gosses	/gɔs/	Aunt	tata / tatie	/tata/ /tati/
Kid	un gamin / une gamine	/gamɛ̃/ /gamin/	Uncle	tonton	/tɔ̃tɔ̃/
Woman	une nana	/nana/	Dog	le cabot / clébard	/kabo/ /klebaʀ/
Man	un mec / type / gars	/mɛk/ /tip/ /gaʀ/	Cat	le minou	/minu/

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French Classroom:Vocabulary

Classroom - French / By Vaikundamoni

Days of the Week in French

First, let’s take a look at the days of the week:

English	French
Monday	lundi (pronounced: lun-dee)
Tuesday	mardi (pronounced like: Mardi Gras)
Wednesday	mercredi (pronounced: mer-cra-dee)
Thursday	jeudi (pronounced: ju-dee)
Friday	vendredi (pronounced: von-dra-dee)
Saturday	samedi (pronounced: sa-mey-dee)
Sunday	dimanche (pronounced: dee-man-sh)

Notice that they are not automatically capitalized like they are in English. That is a very important rule, so make sure you keep it in mind!

French Months of the Year

This lesson will teach you how to say the months of the year in French. The names of the months are considered to be international words. They are fairly similar in French and English languages and should be easy for you to learn. Note that in French, the months are not capitalized unless they occur in the beginning of a sentence. Besides that, all months in French are masculine.

French word	English translation	Pronunciation
janvier	January	zhah(n)-vyay
février	February	fay-vree-yay
mars	March	mahrs
avril	April	ah-vreel
mai	May	meh
juin	June	zhwa(n)
juillet	July	zhwee-eh
août	August	oo or oot
septembre	September	sehp-tah(n)br
octobre	October	ohk-tohbr
novembre	November	noh-vah(n)br
décembre	December	day-sah(n)br

French Prepositions Used with Months

In order to say that something is going to happen “in” a certain month, French speakers use the preposition “en”, which is pronounced as [ah(n)]. If you’d like to say that something has been happening “since” a certain month, the preposition “depuis” should be used. The table below gives a few examples:

depuis décembre	since December	duh-pwee day-sah(n)br
un mois	a month	uh(n) mwah
une année	a year	ewn ah-nay
un an	one year	uhN nahN

Phrases and examples

Il y a douze mois dans l’année There are twelve months in a year Je suis né le 10 décembre I was born on the 10th of December

Comments Unlike English, the names of the months do not begin with a capital letter.

As you can read and listen to the sounds of the words for the months in French, you will notice that they are very similar to English and should not give you any problems in learning by heart. Listen and repeat as often as possible.

Most Essential Everyday Expressions

It’s / That’s	c’est	/sɛ/	There is/are	il y a	/il i a/
There is/are	voilà	/vwala/	Here is/are	voici	/vwasi/
and	et	/e/	always	toujours	/tuʒuʀ/
but	mais	/mɛ/	often	souvent	/suvɑ̃/
now	maintenant	/mɛ̃tnɑ̃/	sometimes	quelquefois	/kɛlkəfwa/
especially	surtout	/syʀtu/	usually	d’habitude	/dabityd/
except	sauf	/sof/	also, too	aussi	/osi/
of course	bien sûr	/bjɛ̃ syʀ/	again	encore	/ɑ̃kɔʀ/
so so	comme ci, comme ça	/kɔm si, kɔm sa/	late	en retard	/ɑ̃ʀətaʀ/
not bad	pas mal	/pa mal/	almost	presque	/pʀɛsk/
book	le livre	/lə livʀ/	friend (fem)	une amie	/y nami/
pencil	le crayon	/lə kʀɛjɔ̃/	friend (masc)	un ami	/œ̃ nami/
pen	le stylo	/lə stilo/	woman	une femme	/yn fam/
paper	le papier	/lə papje/	man	un homme	/œ̃ nɔm/
dog	le chien	/lə ʃjɛ̃/	girl	une fille	/yn fij/
cat	le chat	/lə ʃa/	boy	un garçon	/œ̃̃ gaʀsɔ̃/
money	l’argent (m)	/laʀʒɑ̃/	job / work	le travail	/lə tʀavaj/

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August 2016

The Perfect Tense

The rule for creating the Perfect tense is as follows:

Firstly, an example:

What happens?

When do we use the auxiliary verb „sein“?

Rule:

And what does this mean exactly?

What are Verbs of Change of State?

And here once more an overview in the form of a table

When do you use the Perfect Tense?

Exceptions

sein

werden

bleiben

haben

Modal verbs

Usage

Construction

Past Participle

Exceptions in the Construction

Learn Spanish at the best Spanish Language centre in Coimbatore. Starting from the basics the Spanish language course takes the students to the higher leves of leaning.

Basic Spanish Phrases

Spanish Subject Pronouns

Spanish Nouns, Articles, Demonstratives

Formation of Plural Nouns

Spanish Verbs Be and Have

Spanish Question Words

Spanish Days

Spanish Months of the Year

Spanish Seasons

Spanish Directions

Spanish Colors and Shapes

Spanish Time

Spanish Weather

Spanish Family

German Essential Vocabulary

Question Words

Some Useful Words in German

Asking Questions in German

German Days of the Week / Die Tage

German Months of the Year / Die Monate

German Seasons / Die Jahreszeiten

Directions / Die Richtungen

German Colors & Shapes / Die Farben & Die Forme

German Time / Die Zeit

German Weather / Das Wetter

German Family / Die Familie

The Best IELTS Centre in Coimbatore for IELTS Exam Preparation, Training and Developing English Communication Skills.

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There are two test options in the IELTS Exams:Academic and General

The Academic Exams measure the English language proficiency needed for an academic, higher learning environment.

Listening

Reading

Reading – General Training

Writing

Writing – Academic

Writing – General Training version

Speaking

English Simple Past Tense

DEFINITION OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

EXAMPLES

Form of Simple Past

Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’

Use of Simple Past

Past Continuous

How do we make the Past Continuous tense?

How do we use the Past Continuous tense?

Past Continuous + Past Simple

Signal Words of Simple Past

Simple Past Timeline

FORMING THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

PATTERNS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE FOR REGULAR VERBS

TO WALK

SIMPLE PAST TENSE OF TO BE, TO HAVE, TO DO

NOTES ON AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE, & INTERROGATIVE FORMS

AFFIRMATIVE

NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE

EXAMPLES

SIMPLE PAST, IRREGULAR VERBS