German 25 - Die Geschichte des kleinen Mannes - Teil 4: Das Abenteuer

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the adventure
das Abenteuer
the stress
der Stress
Since our latest Spelling Reform, Stress cannot be spelled with ß
full
voll
full of
voller
full of stress
voller Stress
was past of to be
war
The day was full of stress.
Der Tag war voller Stress.
The work was full of stress.
Die Arbeit war voller Stress.
now
jetzt
the break
die Pause
the noon break; the lunch break
die Mittagspause
words that end in -tag take an s if they are in first position of a combo.

However the word Tag itself changes into Tages.

die Mittagspause (the lunch break)

das Sonntagsessen (the Sunday meal)

die Tageszeit (the time of day)

But now he has a break.
Aber jetzt hat er eine Pause.
the time
die Zeit
the noon time
die Mittagszeit
lunch
das Mittagessen
Here we hit an exception. For some obscure reason this word doesn't take an additional s.

Maybe this combo has been used so much, that it really melted into one word. Who knows....

Now the little man has lunch break.
Jetzt hat der kleine Mann Mittagspause.
to drink
trinken
He goes to drink a coffee.
Er geht einen Kaffee trinken.
the coffee shop
das Café
a coffee shop
ein Café
He goes into a coffee shop.
Er geht in ein Café.
in order to
um zu
+ infinitive
in order to drink
um zu trinken
He goes into a coffee shop in order to drink a coffee.
Er geht in ein Café, um einen Kaffee zu trinken.
a small coffee shop
ein kleines Café
the indefinite neutral adjective takes an s

das kleine Café
ein kleines Café

das große Kind
ein großes Kind

It is a small coffee shop.
Es ist ein kleines Café.
a cup
eine Tasse
a small cup
eine kleine Tasse
for feminine there is no change in the indefinite adjective.

die kleine Tasse
eine kleine Tasse

die kleine Frau
eine kleine Frau

a table
ein Tisch
a small table
ein kleiner Tisch
the masculine undetermined adjective takes an r

der kleine Tisch
ein kleiner Tisch

der kleine Mann
ein kleiner Mann

oneself
sich
to set; to put
setzen
to sit down
sich setzen
important: this is a movement towards a direction (down) you are standing and moving into a sitting position.
on; to; at
an
He sits down at a little table.
Er setzt sich an einen kleinen Tisch.
an (at) is a preposition that can work with both dative and accusative case.

Accusative is the case of movement towards a direction.

an einen kleinen Tisch

is accusative

He is moving into a sitting position at the table.

Don't worry at this stage too much about the forms. We will tackle that later, but try to grasp the idea of when to use the accusative.

to be sitting/ to sit
sitzen
This is a verb indicating a position. (not a movement).

It can be followed by a preposition and a dative

He sits at a little table.
Er sitzt an einem kleinen Tisch.
Now he finished the process of sitting down, he is situated at the table. We are no longer talking about the direction of a movement but about the location, where the man is at.

an einem kleinen Tisch

is Dative

When we want to describe a location, we use prepositions followed by a dative.

in einem Café

an einem Tisch

the corner
die Ecke
in the corner location > dative
in der Ecke
He sits down at a little table in the corner.
Er setzt sich an einen kleinen Tisch in der Ecke.
He is sitting down. (direction >accusative) The table is standing in the corner (location>dative)

It would be a different case if we said:

He sits down in the corner.

In this case we would have a movement into the corner. >Accusative

Er setzt sich in die Ecke.

the neighbour
der Nachbar
the neighbour table
der Nachbartisch
at the masculine

_ _ + _ _ _ = _ _

an + dem = am
at the masculine, neuter
am
at the neighbour table
am Nachbartisch
A beautiful woman is sitting at the neighbour table.
Am Nachbartisch sitzt eine schöne Frau.
to order food etc.
bestellen
He orders a coffee.
Er bestellt einen Kaffee.
accusative (direct object)
to see /look
sehen
times; once
mal
Have a look!
Sieh mal!
My my!/Look at that!/Didn't see that coming./Hear hear!
Sieh mal an!
here
hier
about; over; via
über
towards here
herüber
her means towards here

über means over

The combination of both words describes a movement towards the speaker.

The opposite of her is hin meaning towards there

hinüber describes a movement away from the speaker.

A way to remember this is the movement of the swing. It goes forth (away) and back, forth and back = hin und her, hin und her...

The woman looks at him. lit. The woman looks towards here
Die Frau sieht herüber.
Dative form of er
ihm
at him
zu ihm
zu + Dative form of er
The woman looks at him.
Die Frau sieht zu ihm herüber.
to smile
lächeln
she smiles
sie lächelt
She smiles at him.
Sie lächelt zu ihm herüber.
We are watching the story from the eyes of the little man. So the smile comes towards us: herüber
back
zurück
He smiles back.
Er lächelt zurück.
We could have used our new word hinüber. here:

Er lächelt zu ihr hinüber.

to come
kommen
The coffee arrives.
Der Kaffee kommt.
to say
sagen
The woman says:
Die Frau sagt:
Sit down! (formal)
Setzen Sie sich!
why don't you
doch
Why don't you sit down with me!?!
Setzen Sie sich doch zu mir!
The little man is happy.
Der kleine Mann ist glücklich.
He sits down with the woman.
Er setzt sich zu der Frau.
we don't use 'with' (mit) here in German. It would mean that they both sit down together. Since the woman sits already, the man is sitting down 'to' the woman: zu.
a bit, a little
ein bisschen
no ß!
shy, timid
schüchtern
He is a little shy.
Er ist ein bisschen schüchtern.
to like; to want
mögen
Accusative form of er
ihn
The woman likes him.
Die Frau mag ihn.
nevertheless, nonetheless
trotzdem
The woman likes him nonetheless.
Die Frau mag ihn trotzdem.
To be continued.
Fortsetzung folgt.

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