ZING DEUTSCH German Lesson 3
KAPITEL 3
DIE FAMILIE
DIE FAMILIE WORTSCHATZ
THE FAMILY VOCABULARY
der Vater die Mutter die Eltern erste
father mother parents rst
der Sohn die Tochter der Freund zweite
son daughter friend second
der Bruder die Schwester der Rentner dritte
brother sister pensioner third
der Onkel die Tante vierte
uncle aunt fourth
der Großvater die Großmutter heißt
grandfather grandmother is called
der Mann die Frau dies
man, husband woman, wife this
das Kind die Kinder
child children
das Baby der Hund
baby dog
der Herr die Dame
mister / sir lady / madam
der Junge das Mädchen
young boy young girl
In Austria, der Junge is called as der Bub.
WICHTIGE REDEMITTEL
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS FROM DAILY LIFE
Wie heißen Sie? Ich heiße Thomas. Er heißt Müller.
What is your name? My name is Tom. His name is Müller.
Ich heiße Engel. Wie heißt er? Auf Wiedersehen!
My name is Engel. Good-bye.
What is his name?
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ZING DEUTSCH German Lesson 3
ORDINAL NUMBERS
Ordinal numbers are used to indicate the position of something in a sequence, like " rst," "second,"
"third," and so on. In German, ordinals are typically formed by adding certain endings to the cardinal
numbers ("one," "two," "three," etc.).
Basic Rule
For most numbers, forming an ordinal number involves adding "-te" to the end of the cardinal
number (for numbers up to 19) or "-ste" (for numbers 20 and above).
Numbers 1 through 19 Numbers 20 and above:
1 erste 11 elfte 20 zwanzigste
2 zweite 12 zwölfte 21 einundzwanzigste
3 dritte 13 dreizehnte 22 zweiundzwanzigste
4 vierte 14 vierzehnte 23 dreiundzwanzigste
5 fünfte 15 fünfzehnte 30 dreißigste
6 sechste 16 sechzehnte 40 vierzigste
7 siebte 17 siebzehnte 50 fünfzigste
8 achte 18 achtzehnte 100 hundertste
9 neunte 19 neunzehnte 101 hunderterste
10 zehnte
Special Cases: Abbreviations
In German, ordinal numbers are abbreviated di erently than in English. You add a period after the
number
• 1st → "1." (for erste)
• 2nd → "2." (for zweite)
• 10th → "10." (for zehnte)
• 20th → "20." (for zwanzigste)
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ZING DEUTSCH German Lesson 3
NOUNS
Nouns describe people, animals, things, concepts and ideas. Just as in English, German nouns can
be common or proper, count or mass, singular or plural.
German nouns, however, have two additional characteristics: they are always capitalized and they
can be masculine, feminine or neuter:
Common vs. proper nouns
• Common nouns refer to a general person, animal, object or concept.
• Proper nouns represent speci c individuals or places.
Noun gender
German nouns also all have a grammatical gender that sometimes overlaps with the biological
gender (masculine or feminine), as in the following examples:
• der Jäger (masculine) - the hunter
• die Großmutter (feminine) - the grandmother
But most often the grammatical gender is independent of biological gender, and the only thing to do
with them is to learn them when you learn your vocabulary.
• der Wald (masculine) - the forest
• die Tür (feminine) - the door
• das Waldhaus (neuter) - the house in the forest
Although you do have to memorize noun genders, there are some other hints that can help you
remember if a noun is der, die or das.
If the noun ends in -er, -en, -ig, -ling, -us, -mus, -or, chances are it's masculine.
If the noun ends in -in, -ion, -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ei, -ur, -ik, -tüt, -anz, -enz, -ie, it’s
feminine.
If the noun ends in -tum, -chen, -lein, -ment, -um (-erl, -le, -el, -li = dialect variants), it's neuter.
Grammar Book Exercises
Page #36 - B16: Der Film - Genus: maskulin, neutral, feminin
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ZING DEUTSCH German Lesson 3
NOUN PLURALS
All nouns in German and English are marked for number: singular (one) or plural (more than one).
Typically, in English there is some kind of ending that marks the plural, for example an -s:
• stone => stones
• tree => trees
There can be other kinds of plural markers, such as a di erent word form as in
• child => children
In German the situation is the same, there is typically some kind of ending that indicates whether we
are talking about one item or more:
• der Stein => die Steine (the stone, the stones)
• der Baum => die Bäume (the tree, the trees)
In German, a noun is either singular or plural. It is usually introduced by a determiner that helps
identify whether the noun is singular or plural.
Singular nouns [when they are the subjects of a sentence] are preceded by der (masc), die (fem)
or das (neuter). Plural nouns are preceded by die.
There are many ways that German can form plurals, and there is no really easy way to guess which
noun has which plural ending, so it's best just to memorize the plural forms along with the gender of
each noun.
The two key things that happen to nouns when they are made into plurals is that they may receive
an ending (e, n, en, er, s) and they may receive an Umlaut on their stem vowel (main vowel of the
noun).
Grammar Book Exercises
Page #38 - B17: Äpfel und Birnen - Singular und Plural
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ZING DEUTSCH German Lesson 3
DETERMINERS: BESTIMMTE UND UNBESTIMMTE ARTIKEL
Determiners: De nite and inde nite articles
Usage
Nouns are most often preceded by either a de nite article (der, die, das: the) or an inde nite article
(ein, eine: a/an). Whether to use a de nite or an inde nite article in German is very similar to how
you would use them in English:
• Ein Frosch ist ein Tier.
• A frog is an animal.
As in English, there is no inde nite article in German in front of plural nouns because there is no
plural form of the inde nite article (i.e., just like in English you couldn't say "a kings" or "a dwarves,"
you can't say "ein Könige" or "ein Zwerge" in German). Thus, you just let the noun stand on its own:
• Könige haben Königreiche.
• Kings have kingdoms.
de nite articles inde nite articles
maskulin der Prinz the prince ein Prinz a prince
feminin die Prinzessin the princess eine Prinzessin a princess
neutral das Märchen the fairy tale ein Märchen a fairy tale
Plural die Zwerge the dwarves --- Zwerge dwarves
Grammar Book Exercises
Page #40 - B18: Die Küche kostet nicht viel. - Nominativ
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ZING DEUTSCH German Lesson 3
Die Familie Schmidt
The Schmidt Family
• Ich heiße Anna Schmidt. Ich bin achtzehn Jahre alt und
bin Studentin.
• Der Vater heißt Michael Schmidt. Michael Schmidt ist
sechzig Jahre alt und ist Lehrer.
• Die Mutter heißt Sabine Schmidt. Sabine Schmidt ist
fünfundfünfzig Jahre alt und ist Ärztin.
• Das erste Kind heiße ich, Anna Schmidt. Ich bin
achtzehn Jahre alt und bin Studentin.
• Das zweite Kind heißt Lukas Schmidt. Lukas Schmidt
ist sechzehn Jahre alt und ist Student.
• Das dritte Kind heißt Lena Schmidt. Lena Schmidt ist
vierzehn Jahre alt und ist Schülerin.
• Der Großvater heißt Hans Schmidt. Hans Schmidt ist
achtzig Jahre alt und ist Rentner.
• Die Großmutter heißt Erika Schmidt. Erika Schmidt ist
siebenundsiebzig Jahre alt und ist Rentnerin.
• Der Hund heißt Bella. Bella ist fünf Jahre alt und ist ein
lieber Hund.
• Das ist die Familie Schmidt.
Dialogue
✴ Guten Tag!
✦ Wie heißen Sie?
✴ Ich heiße Karl.
✦ Wie heißen Sie?
✴ Ich heiße Angelika Müller.
✦ Auf Wiedersehen!
✴ Auf Wiedersehen!
Assignment
Draw a family tree and describe your family.
DEUTSCH A1 6
