Basics 2
Pets
In English, there’s a saying that a dog is a man’s best friend. But in Germany, cats are by far more popular than dogs!
Seeing spots?
Don’t worry, it’s not you! German vowels sometimes have two dots above them, called umlauts. They change the vowel’s pronunciation.
ä
Bär (as in “rare”)
ö
schön
say “ee”, but with “o” shaped lips
say “ee”, but with “o” shaped lips
A bit more gender
Remember how you say mein Vater but meine Mutter? Well, mein isn’t the only word that changes form!
die Frau, der Mann
the woman, the man
The word der also changes depending on the gender of the word it’s paired with. If it’s masculine, it’s der. If it’s feminine, it’s die.
Hello, Ms. Cat!
It’s not just words for people that have gender—all words do! For example, words like Bär and Hund are masculine, while Eule and Katze are feminine.
der Hund und die Katze
the dog and the cat
So how do you know if a word is feminine or masculine? Unfortunately, it’s not always logical— it’s just something you’ll have to learn!
So when you’re learning German words, don’t just memorize Bär or Katze. Instead, memorize the whole phrase, der Bär or die Katze.
So when you’re learning German words, don’t just memorize Bär or Katze. Instead, memorize the whole phrase, der Bär or die Katze.