learngermanwithmanny

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Top 10 Inspirational Quotes In German

  Top 10 inspirierende Aussagen  Auf Deutsch

Es ist nicht wichtig wie langsam du gehst, solange du nicht aufhörst. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. 

Es gibt keine Abkürzungen zu einem Ort, der sich lohnt. There are no short cuts to any place worth going.

Sei die Veränderung, die du in der Welt sehen willst. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Denke immer daran, dass Deine eigene Entschlossenheit erfolgreich zu sein, wichtiger ist als alles andere. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

Du verpasst 100% aller Chancen, die du gar nicht erst nutzt. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Die größte Gefahr für die meisten von uns ist nicht, dass wir hohe Ziele anstreben und sie verfehlen, sondern dass wir uns zu niedrige setzen und sie erreichen. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that is it too low and we reach it.

Die beste Zeit einen Baum zu pflanzen war vor 20 Jahren, die zweitbeste Zeit ist jetzt. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Du wirst nie den Ozean überqueren können bis du den Mut hast, das Ufer aus den Augen zu verlieren. You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Glücklich sein ist nichts Vorgefertigtes. Es kommt von deinen eigenen Handlungen. Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

Was auch immer man sich vorstellen und verstehen kann, es kann erreicht werden. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

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Tangled auf Deutsch - Endlich sehe ich das Licht

Jeden Tag sah ich aus dem Fenster Every day I looked out the window

Jedes Jahr nur das gleiche Bild Every year just the same picture

All die Zeit wusste ich es nicht wie blind ich immer war All the time I didn’t know how blind I always was

Jetzt und hier funkeln all die Sterne Now and here all the stars are sparkling

Jetzt und hier fang ich an zu sehen Now and here I’m beginning to see

Es ist wahr, nun wird mir klar It’s true, now it’s becoming clear to me

Hier fühl’ ich mich zu Haus’ Here I feel at home

Endlich sehe ich das Licht Finally I see the light

Und die Schatten ziehen vorüber And the shadows draw away

Endlich sehe ich das Licht Finally I see the light

Und die Dunkelheit vergeht And the darkness fades away

Es ist warm und traumhaft schön It’s warm and fantastically beautiful

Und die Welt hat sich verändert And the world has changed

Tief in mir, kenn’ ich die Bedeutung Deep inside myself, I understand what’s important

Was ich seh’, bist du… What I see is you…

Jeden Tag war ich nur für mich da Every day I was only there for myself

Jedes Jahr lief ich nur im Kreis Every year my life was just a cycle

All die Zeit war die Welt ein Spielplatz für das Kind in mir All the time the world was a playground for the child in me

Sie ist hier, strahlend wie die Sterne She is here, radiant as the stars

Sie ist hier, und die Zeit bleibt stehen She is here, and time stands still

Es ist wahr, nun wird mir klar It’s true, now it’s becoming clear to me

Hier fühl’ ich mich zu Haus’ Here I feel at home

Endlich sehe ich das Licht Finally I see the light

Und die Schatten ziehen vorüber And the shadows draw away

Endlich sehe ich das Licht Finally I see the light

Und die Dunkelheit vergeht And the darkness fades away

Es ist warm und traumhaft schön It’s warm and fantastically beautiful

Und die Welt hat sich verändert And the world has changed

Tief in mir, kenn’ ich die Bedeutung Deep inside myself, I understand what’s important

Was ich seh’, bist du… What I see is you…

Was ich seh’, bist du… What I see is you…

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Using modal verbs in the perfect tense in German

To start with, the modal verbs in German are: dürfen - to be allowed to können - to be able to mögen - to like müssen - to have to sollen - to ought to wollen - to want to

If you are only using one verb in the sentence, you can conjugate these verbs like you would any others in German.

Ich habe gedurft - I was allowed Ich habe gekonnt - I was able to/could Ich habe gemocht - I liked Ich habe gemusst - I had to Ich habe gesollt - I should have Ich habe gewollt - I wanted to

However, most of the time you will want to use another verb in the sentence to express what you were allowed to do or liked or whatever. This means that you have to use the double infinitive construction.

Ich habe meine eigene Kleidung tragen dürfen - I was allowed to wear my own clothes

Er hat schwimmen können - He was able to swim

Wir haben Fußball spielen mögen - We liked to play football

Du hast zuhause bleiben müssen - You had to stay at home

Sie hat gehen sollen - She should have gone

Ich habe bleiben wollen - I wanted to stay

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Sag mir, bist du jetzt glücklich?

Bushido - Vergiss mich (via kurzschlusshandlung)

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Du bist besser als du glaubst.

Prinz Pi - Du Bist (via deutsch-rap-poesie)

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PET NAMES das Äffchen - little monkey das Baby - baby das Bienchen - little bee der Bär - bear der Diamant - diamond der Engel - angel das Engelchen - little angel das Entchen - duckling das Erdbeerchen - little strawberry das Fröschlein - little frog das Goldstück - piece of gold/treasure das Gummibärchen - gummy bear das Häschen - bunny das Hasi - bunny das Herzblatt - new leaf die Hübsche - beautiful [female] der Hübsche - handsome [male] das Igelchen - little hedgehog der Krümel - crumb der Kuschelbär - cuddle bear die Kuschelmaus - cuddle mouse der Kuscheltiger - cuddle tiger das Kätzchen - kitten das Küken - chick der Liebling - darling das Maiglöckchen - lily of the valley die Maus - mouse der Mausebär - mouse bear das Mäuschen - little mouse das Mausi - little mouse die Perle - pearl der Prinz - prince die Prinzessin - princess die Pusteblume - dandelion clock das Putzi - baby/sweetie das Püppchen - doll die Rose - rose das Röschen - little rose der Schatz - treasure das Schätzchen - little treasure das Schatzi - little treasure die Schnecke - snail das Schnuckelchen - sweetie das Schnucki - sweetie der Schokomuffin - chocolate muffing das Seepferdchen - little seahorse die Sonne - sun die Sonnenblume - sunflower die Sternschnuppe - shooting star die Süße - cutie/sweetie [female] der Süße - cutie/sweetie [male] das Teufelchen - little devil das Zimtfischchen - cinnamon fishy der Zuckerbär - sugar bear das Zuckerschneckchen - little sugar snail ADJECTIVES goldig - sweet/handsome knuffig - cute/cosy lieb - nice/handsome schön - beautiful/kind/loveable/nice süß - cute/sweet hübsch - beautiful/sweet liebevoll - loving VERBS jemandem mit der Hand durch die Haare fahren - to run one’s hand through someone’s hair jemandem über das Haar streichen - to stroke someone’s hair küssen - to kiss lieben - to love (more intense than liebhaben) liebhaben/lieb haben - to love/to be fond of mit jemandem knuddeln - to cuddle with someone mit jemandem kuscheln - to cuddle with someone mit jemandem schmusen - to kiss and cuddle someone sich (+akk) an jemanden kuscheln - to cuddle up to someone umarmen - to hug

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Why it is important to pronounce CH correctly in German

Nacht: night

nackt: naked

Nascht: (he/she/ it) nibbles

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German Vocab: Crime and Punishment

I decided to make a German-English vocab list of crime and punishment vocabulary whilst I was doing some revision myself! This is by far not a complete list as I’ve just gone through and picked out the most important stuff from my notes. 

das Verbrechen - crime der Verbrecher - criminal der Dieb - thief stehlen - to steal der Raub - robbery der Räuber - robber morden - to murder der Mord - murder der Mörder - murderer (er)schießen - to shoot (to death) die Schießerei - shooting der Vorfall - incident die Schlägerei - fight/punch-up/brawl das Opfer - victim beschädigen - to damage angreifen - to attack der Einbrecher - burglar der Gangster - gangster das Gericht - court die Geschworenen - jury/jurors der Rechtsanwalt - lawyer/attorney die Anklage - charge (i.e. what someone is being charged with) das Urteil - sentence verurteilen - to sentence bestrafen - to punish die Strafe - punishment die Geldstrafe - fine (i.e. a punishment which involves paying money to the victim or to the state) die lebenslange Haft - life imprisonment die Todesstrafe - death penalty hinrichten - to execute die Hinrichtung - execution das Gefängnis - prison

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‘Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute,’ sagen alle faulen Leute.

‘Tomorrow, tomorrow, just not today,’ that’s what all lazy people say.

German saying

(via thatswhywelovegermany)

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Language tip:

Watch videos in your target language on YouTube and change the speed to 0.5 in the settings so you can hear individual words more clearly and the words can fully register in your brain. It’s a language lifesaver! 

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Waking up with a nice cup of tea. Hello Friday!

der Teebeutel - teabag

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Disney Movies in German

Beauty and the Beast

Monsters University

Finding Nemo

The Lady and the Tramp

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Brother Bear

The Lion King

The Princess and the Frog

101 Dalmatians

Peter Pan

Toy Story

The Little Mermaid

Lilo & Stitch

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plural: Lawinen

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You only need ~300 words to talk about everyday things

This is part of my guide on how to start learning a language quickly and efficiently. You can find the whole guide here. (Note: an earlier version of this list had 200 words. I added some more in order to cover a wider range of situations.)

If you learn just 300 well-chosen words in your target language, then you can talk about most everyday things. (By “words”, I really mean lemmas, i.e. I’m counting “run” and “runs” as one word.) When trying to talk about a topic, there will probably be a few key words that you don’t know, but you can ask for or look up those words and then use them for the rest of the time that you’re talking about the topic. You can see an example of how using the 300 words works.

* Note 1: Being able to speak doesn’t mean that you’ll immediately be able to listen to and understand the language. See note #2 on the guide. However, you can have conversations if the other person slows down and speaks simply, and you can also practice writing.

Here’s the list of 300. I hope it’s a useful guideline and starting point for you. I may revise it, so please refer to the original post for the most up-to-date version. In addition to these general words, there will probably be some others that will be among the most useful for you (e.g. “class” if you’re a student). When you find yourself using them again and again, learn them too.

* Note 2: You should really think of this as a list of concepts. Your goal isn’t to translate each word to a word in your target language, but to figure out how to express that concept in your target language. In some cases, a concept may translate to multiple words (for example, I listed “you” as a concept, but in some languages there are different words for “formal you” and “informal you”). Some concepts may translate to no word at all, but rather a certain grammatical structure (for example, Russian doesn’t use the verb “have”; to say “I have a cat” in Russian, you say “at me there is a cat”).

Use a dictionary to find out how to express these concepts in your target language (for some subtleties, you’ll need to google or ask in a forum). After that, I suggest memorizing the words by making yourself a Memrise course with the words and going through the course. Learn to be able to go from the concept to the word in your target language, not the other way around; you want to be able to produce the word, not just recognize it. You should also learn how to pronounce your target language. To hear native speakers pronounce words in your target language, check out Forvo.

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This list has been translated into: Cantonese, Finnish, French, Spanish.

Version 1 of this list, which had 200 words, was translated into: Afrikaans, Czech, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Swedish, Thai.

If you’d like to translate this list into another language, please feel free! :) Just include a link back to this post, and let me know when you’re done so that I can link to your list here.

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First Verbs

be

there is

have

do

go

want

can

need

think

know

say

like

speak

learn

understand

Conjunctions

that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”)

and

or

but

because

though

so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”)

if

Prepositions

of

to

from

in

at (a place)

at (a time)

with

about

like (meaning “similar to”)

for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of)

before (also as a conjunction)

after (also as a conjunction)

during

Question Words

who

what

where

when

why

how

how much

which

Adverbs

a lot

a little

well

badly

only

also

very

too (as in “too tall”)

too much

so (as in “so tall”)

so much

more (know how to say “more … than …”)

less (know how to say “less … than …”)

as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”)

most

least

better

best

worse

worst

now

then

here

there

maybe

always

usually

often

sometimes

never

today

yesterday

tomorrow

soon

almost

already

still

even

enough

Adjectives

the, a (technically articles)

this

that

good

bad

all

some

no

any

many

few

most

other

same

different

enough

one

two

a few

first

next

last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”)

last (meaning “final”)

easy

hard

early

late

important

interesting

fun

boring

beautiful

big

small

happy

sad

busy

excited

tired

ready

favorite

new

right (meaning “correct”)

wrong

true

Pronouns

Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.

I

you

she

he

it

we

you (plural)

they

Nouns

If your language has grammatical gender, then learn each noun as “the [noun]” with “the” in the correct gender. (e.g. in Spanish, instead of learning language = “idioma”, learn language = “el idioma”.) This will help you remember the gender.

everything

something

nothing

everyone

someone

no one

(name of the language you’re studying)

English

thing

person

place

time (as in “a long time”)

time (as in “I did it 3 times”)

friend

woman

man

money

country

(name of your home country)

city

language

word

food

house

store

office

company

manager

coworker

job

work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”)

problem

question

idea

life

world

day

year

week

month

hour

mother, father, parent

daughter, son, child

wife, husband

girlfriend, boyfriend

More Verbs

work (as in a person working)

work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”)

see

use

should

believe

practice

seem

come

leave

return

give

take

bring

look for

find

get (meaning “obtain”)

receive

buy

try

start

stop (doing something)

finish

continue

wake up

get up

eat

eat breakfast (in several languages, this is a verb)

eat lunch

eat dinner

happen

feel

create (aka “make”)

cause (aka “make”)

meet (meeting someone for the first time)

meet (meaning “to bump into”)

meet (an arranged meeting)

ask (a question)

ask for (aka “request”)

wonder

reply

mean

read

write

listen

hear

remember

forget

choose

decide

be born

die

kill

live

stay

change

help

send

study

improve

hope

care

Phrases

hello

goodbye

thank you

you’re welcome

excuse me (to get someone’s attention)

sorry

it’s fine (response to an apology)

please

yes

no

okay

My name is

What’s your name?

Nice to meet you.

How are you?

I’m doing well, how about you?

Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something)

How do you say ______?

What does ______ mean?

I don’t understand.

Could you repeat that?

Could you speak more slowly, please?

Well (as in “well, I think…”)

Really?

I guess that

It’s hot. (talking about the weather)

It’s cold. (talking about the weather)

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Now that you’ve learned the 300 basic words, how do you learn more? I suggest practicing writing.

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Example

Here’s a demonstration of how you can use the 300 basic words to talk about most things. I took a paragraph from a website, and then I rephrased it using only the 300 basic words + a few others.

Here’s the paragraph:

I have had a good run, producing more films than virtually anyone else. And I believe better films (okay, maybe I am biased, but..), and ones with more consistent returns, but damn! It is harder now to justify investment or commitment than ever before — even when the tools have improved and the talent pool grown like never before.  Film, like all the culture economies, has been turned on it’s head, but unlike the others, since the work at the top still delivers a return, our leaders and corporations act like business is as it’s always been.

Here’s the rephrased version. It doesn’t sound as nice as the original, but it’s still completely understandable. I bolded the words that aren’t in the basic word list the first time that they appear. When writing or talking, you can ask for or look up those words and then keep using them.

I have done well and made more films than almost all other people. And I think that my films were better (okay, it is me saying that…) and they almost always made money. But! It is more hard now than at any time before to say why you’re making films – though the things we use are better and better people want to work for us. Films, like other things that make money from culture, are not like they were before. But what’s different for films is: because the films that make the most still make a lot of money, the companies that make films work like nothing is different.

If you’re wondering how you can express something using just (or mainly) the basic words, please don’t hesitate to ask me. I’ve had a lot of practice. :)

Click here to return to the basic word list or here to return to the guide homepage.