Some of the most practical German words that you can use immediately upon arrival in a German-speaking country (don't forget that German is spoken in Austria and Switzerland too!) are related to ordering food. When you first enter a restaurant, the waitstaff may invite you to take a seat:
Nehmen Sie bitte Platz.
Please have a seat.
Caption 35, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung
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You may then be offered a menu:
Die Speisekarte, bitte schön. -Danke schön.
Here's the menu. -Thank you.
Caption 7, Abendessen - mit Marko
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Note that another word for menu is das Menü, and sometimes Speisekarte is shortened simply to die Karte. When you are ready to order, you may inform the waitstaff:
Wir würden gerne bestellen, bitte.
We would like to order, please.
Caption 47, Melanie und Thomas - im Restaurant
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Those of you with dietary restrictions may wish to discuss some menu items:
Kichererbsenbuletten sind das, ist auch vegetarisch, rein vegan ist das... ohne tierische Produkte.
Those are chick pea burgers, it's also vegetarian, it's purely vegan... without animal products.
Captions 26-28, Jonathan Johnson - Nahöstliches Essen in Berlin
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Then there are several ways you can express your order to the waitstaff:
Ich hätte gerne eine Berliner Kartoffelsuppe.
I would like a Berlin potato soup.
Caption 21, Abendessen - mit Marko
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Dann nehmen wir doch die Apfelküchle mit Vanilleeis.
Then we'll take the apple pies with vanilla ice cream after all.
Caption 43, Melanie und Thomas - im Restaurant
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Before you begin eating:
Zu Beginn der Mahlzeit sagen wir „guten Appetit“.
At the beginning of the meal we say "Enjoy your meal."
Caption 19, Tisch decken - mit Eva
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And when you are ready to pay, you can simply say bezahlen, bitte or die Rechnung, bitte. If you wish to pay with a credit card, you may ask:
Kann ich auch mit Kreditkarte bezahlen?
Can I also pay with a credit card?
Caption 7, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
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If you need a receipt for tax or expense account purposes, after you pay you can ask for eine Quittung, bitte. As for tipping in Germany, you may want to read this Yabla lesson!
Further Learning
There are a lot of Yabla German videos related to food. Here are a few for you to start with!
Apfelpfannkuchen: mit Alina und Sabine
Grillzeit: Grill anzünden und los geht's
Jonathan Johnson: Nahöstliches Essen in Berlin
Kochhaus Berlin: Rucola-Salat-Rezept
A couple of months ago, we took a look at the temporal adverbs damals and früher and how they are used when talking about the distant past. You can follow this link to read or review that lesson. This week, we will focus on talking about events that have occurred in the recent past or "just now."
First, there are many ways to say "recently" in German, including vor kurzem, kürzlich, letztens, in letzter Zeit, and neulich.
Vor kurzem haben wir das Atelier des Juweliers Jonathan Johnson besucht.
Recently, we visited the atelier of jeweler Jonathan Johnson.
Caption 1, Jonathan Johnson - Atelier-Tour
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Mit dem Architekturpreis Green Building wurden in Frankfurt kürzlich acht Gebäude ausgezeichnet.
Eight buildings in Frankfurt were recently awarded the Green Building architecture prize.
Caption 1, Umweltbewusstes Wohnen - Architekturpreis Green Building
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Ich habe letztens noch im Regen gegrillt.
I recently grilled in the rain.
Caption 4, Tim Bendzko - Grillen auch im Regen
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War Ihr Mann in letzter Zeit anders als sonst? Bedrückt, müde?
Was your husband recently different than usual? Depressed, tired?
Caption 4, Großstadtrevier - Von Monstern und Mördern
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Ja, haben wir. -Ach, deswegen diese Fragen neulich.
Yes, we did. -Oh, that's the reason for these questions recently.
Caption 10, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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When we talk about something that "just happened," we tend to use other adverbs. Most common is likely gerade eben, but sometimes gerade is used with the past tense to also refer to the recent past rather than what is currently happening. Vorhin can mean "earlier," but also "a short while ago."
Was gerade eben noch unvermeidbar schien...
What had just seemed unavoidable...
Caption 21, Jan Wittmer - Bereit mich zu verlieren
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Die Besitzerin hat mir gerade gesagt, dass sogar alle Seifen aus Stutenmilch sind.
The owner just said to me that all of the soaps are actually made out of mare's milk.
Caption 22, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
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Vorhin haben wir gelernt, dass es drei Artikel gibt in der Einzahl:
Earlier we learned that there are three singular articles:
"der", "die" und "das".
"the" [der] , "the" [die] and "the" [das].
Caption 2, Grammatik - Der Artikel in der Mehrzahl
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Further Learning
When you look at these sentences and other examples from Yabla German, you may notice that the position of the verb remains unchanged despite the adverb. You can read more about this here and take a look at the different kinds of adverbs as well.
Although Christmas decorations started appearing in the shops at the end of October, the holiday season in Germany really begins with the first Sunday of Advent. A clear sign of this is the opening of a Christmas market in most towns and cities. This is referred to as either der Weihnachtsmarkt, der Adventsmarkt, or der Christkindlesmarkt.
Hallo, ich bin auf dem Karlsruher Weihnachtsmarkt.
Hello, I am at the Karlsruhe Christmas Market.
Caption 1, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
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Der Advent, das ist die Zeit vor Weihnachten.
Advent, that is the time before Christmas.
Caption 3, Weihnachtsmärkte - mit Eva
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In the evenings, people gather on the town square or in an enclosed market hall to do Christmas shopping, listen to music, and eat and drink a number of winter specialties. These include savory dishes, but also many types of sweets, such as almonds roasted with sugar, which are served in a small paper bag.
... eine Tüte gebrannte Mandeln.
... a bag of almonds roasted with sugar.
Caption 48, Rhein-Main-TV - Eva Padberg beim Weihnachtseinkauf
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Selber gebackene Plätzchen. -Oh, lecker.
Home baked cookies. -Oh, delicious.
Caption 16, Unterwegs mit Cettina - auf dem Bruchsaler Weihnachtsmarkt
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A typical Weihnachtsmarkt has small wooden cabins or tables with heaters, stands selling assorted gifts and sweets, and rides for children. And of course, we should not forget the centerpiece: a large Christmas tree, known as der Tannenbaum or der Weihnachtsbaum.
Hier kann man schöne Weihnachtsgeschenke kaufen.
You can buy beautiful Christmas presents here.
Caption 14, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
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Einen Tannenbaum im Wasser zu schmücken...
To decorate a Christmas tree in the water...
Caption 7, Weihnachten geht baden - Tannenbaum unter Wasser
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Further Learning
Watch the Yabla German videos that have featured a Weihnachtsmarkt and take note of vocabulary related to things to eat and do there. This article on Wikipedia has an interesting overview of the history of the traditional Christmas market in Germany, as well as the tradition as it exists in other countries.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, let's take a look at a few German words that can be formed using Weihnachts- (Christmas-) as a root. Many of today's standard Christmas traditions originated in Germany, but as you can see from the Krampuslauf video, Germany still has a few Christmas traditions that remain very unique!
If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, you only have a couple of days left! Better head down to the Weihnachtsmarkt, which, although traditionally Southern German, can also be found in other parts of Germany:
Hier am Berliner Gendarmenmarkt
but here at the Berlin Gendarmenmarkt [a square in Berlin-Mitte],
gibt es auch einen kleinen tollen Weihnachtsmarkt.
there is also a great little Christmas market.
Caption 7, Weihnachtsmärkte - mit Eva
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And while you are there, you'd better pick up something delicious at the Weihnachtsbäckerei, because:
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei gibt es manche Leckerei.
In the Christmas bakery there is many a treat.
Caption 23, Der Sternschnuppenmarkt - in Wiesbaden
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Of course, your main purpose there is not to snack on pastries, but to pick up some Weihnachtsgeschenke:
Hier kann man schöne Weihnachtsgeschenke kaufen.
You can buy beautiful Christmas presents here.
Caption 14, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
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When you get home, it may be time to decorate the Weihnachtsbaum!
Also der Weihnachtsbaum
Well, the Christmas tree
wird bei uns am Vierundzwanzigsten aufgestellt.
will be set up at our place on the twenty-fourth.
Caption 27, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
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Learning suggestions:
Can you figure out what some of these other words based on Weihnachts- (Christmas-) mean?
Weihnachtssachen, Weihnachtsbaumständer, Weihnachtsspenden, Weihnachtstrubel, Weihnachtsferien, Weihnachtsmann, Weihnachtsessen
Search for videos on Yabla that use these words to better understand their meaning and context!
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