This week, we'll look at professional fields and how they are described in German. Of course, there are too many jobs to cover all of them, but we can look at some common ones and resources on Yabla and elsewhere.
One important field is healthcare and social services, which in German is die Gesundheitsfürsorge, or der Sozialdienst. This includes so many jobs, such as der Arzt / die Ärztin (the doctor), der Chirurg / die Chirurgin (the surgeon), der Anästhesiologe / die Anästhesiologin (the anesthesiologist), der Sozialarbeiter / die Sozialarbeiterin (the social worker), and der Pfleger / die Pflegerin (the caregiver).
Wenn ich weniger Schokolade essen würde, wäre mein Zahnarzt bestimmt zufriedener mit mir.
If I ate less chocolate, my dentist would certainly be happier with me.
Captions 30-31, Konjugation: Das Verb „essen“
Play Caption
Die gelernte Krankenschwester Anita Ackermann hat das Kitz in den ersten Tagen mit der Milchflasche gepäppelt.
The trained nurse Anita Ackermann pampered the fawn with the milk bottle during the first days.
Captions 12-13, Ein etwas anderes Haustier: Reh Mia hält sich für einen Hund
Play Caption
Jetzt bin ich Psychotherapeutin.
Now I'm a psychotherapist.
Caption 42, TUDYKA: Interview mit Uschi
Play Caption
Let's look at a few more professional fields. Another area is what we call STEM in English (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and MINT in German (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik). This would involve jobs like lab technician (der Laborant / die Laborantin) or electrician (der Elektriker / die Elektrikerin) and mechanic (der Mechaniker / die Mechanikerin), of which there are many types.
Die Programmierer haben sich ihre Ziele für die Zukunft hoch gesteckt.
The programmers have set their goals for the future very high.
Caption 45, Roboter: Fußball-Robocup
Play Caption
Mein Vater ist Anwalt und meine Mutter Ingenieurin.
My father is a lawyer and my mother is an engineer.
Caption 14, Nicos Weg: Meine Eltern
Play Caption
As a final category for today, let's look at jobs in the fields of law (das Recht), administration (die Verwaltung), and public safety. In the example above, Nico mentions that his mother is a lawyer, and though law firms or accounting firms are often private, many of the jobs in this category are government jobs. In this case, the person is a public official (der Beamte / die Beamterin). Der Sachbearbeiter / die Sachbearbeiterin and der / die Fachangestellte are two titles that are most often paired with a job description. Essentially, the person is a clerk or administrator in a specific area.
Ich wollte eigentlich ja auch nur fragen, ob du schon einen neuen Steuerberater hast.
I actually just wanted to ask if you had a new accountant yet.
Captions 8-9, Weihnachtsmann gesucht: Ich weiß genau, wie Sie sich fühlen
Play Caption
Der Polizist zeigt der Frau den Weg.
The policeman shows the woman the way.
Caption 54, Deutsch mit Eylin: Pronomen
Play Caption
Further Learning
We'll look at more categories of professions soon, but for now, you can look at this website, which has an exhaustive list of jobs, and watch this video on Yabla German, in which Nico and his friends discuss different professions.
Both English and German refer to past events using the simple past tense and the present perfect tense. The perfect past tense is called Perfekt in German, but it is important to understand that although the German Perfekt is considered the closest equivalent of present perfect in English in terms of its structure, in fact there are some notable differences in the ways each language uses this tense.
Both English present perfect and German Perfekt have in common that they are compound tenses, formed with an auxiliary or helping verb together with the past participle. This auxiliary verb is usually "to have" (haben) and sometimes, in German, "to be" (sein):
Meine Schwester und ich,
My sister and I,
wir haben zusammen sieben Tafeln Schokolade gegessen.
together we have eaten seven bars of chocolate.
Caption 15, Konjugation - Das Verb „essen“
Play Caption
Wir sind zusammen in die Stadt gegangen.
We have gone to the city together.
Caption 12, Konjugation - Das Verb „gehen“
Play Caption
The main difference, however, is that the English present perfect refers to an action or state that begins in the past and continues into the present, whereas the German Perfekt is usually used to speak about completed states and actions, and is therefore rather the direct equivalent of the simple past tense. In fact, Perfekt is often called the "conversational past" because it is the primary spoken form of the past tense. In many cases where spoken English would use the simple past tense ("We already ate."), German would almost always use the Perfekt tense (Wir haben schon gegessen).
Alternately, the German Präsenz (present tense) can sometimes be best translated into the English present perfect:
Und Gitarre spielt die Vierunddreißigjährige schon seit ihrem sechsten Lebensjahr.
And the thirty-four year old has played guitar since her sixth year of age.
Caption 12, Ann Doka & Band - New Country aus dem Rhein-Main-Gebiet
Play Caption
Further Learning
Read this article about simple past vs. Perfekt and check out this item about the German Perfekt tense, then find some examples of the tense used in real conversations on Yabla German.
Has anyone ever had the audacity to doubt you, despite your obvious inborn genius and natural talents? The best response to such outrageous treatment is, of course, to put the disbelievers firmly in their place, and this is best accomplished through modifiers that express certainty, ways of emphasizing that there can simply be no doubt: you are the greatest, and they are just going to have to live with the fact.
Former German president Christian Wulff may have been forced to resign in a 2012 scandal, but nobody ever doubted his support for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup:
Die Unterstützung des Schirmherrn aus dem Schloss Bellevue
The support of the patron from Bellevue Castle
ist also gewiss.
is certain.
Captions 13-14, Frauenfußball-WM - Der Bundespräsident am Ball
Play Caption
As to life after the resignation, Wulff may be facing difficulties similar to those of an animal shelter in Nied:
Die Zeiten werden rauer, so viel steht fest.
The times are getting rougher, that is for sure.
Caption 48, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied
Play Caption
Though Wulff's smile is still looking good, there's always room for improvement, as suggested by Diane and Franca:
Wenn ich weniger Schokolade essen würde,
If I ate less chocolate,
wäre mein Zahnarzt bestimmt zufriedener mit mir.
my dentist would certainly be happier with me.
Captions 30-31, Konjugation - Das Verb „essen“
Play Caption
And were Wulff to be accused of smuggling a polar bear into the Frankfurt Zoo, he would surely respond:
Doch wie Sie sicherlich wissen,
But as you surely know,
gibt's im Frankfurter Zoo keine Eisbären.
there aren't any polar bears in the Frankfurt Zoo.
Caption 11, Umfragen - Zootiere im Winter
Play Caption
Further Learning:
Gewiss, feststehen, bestimmt, and sicherlich are just a few examples of the many ways of expressing certainty in German. Go the the aforementioned interview with former German president Christian Wulff on Yabla and see if you can find other examples of Mr. Wulff expressing certainty. As the old saying goes, Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall.
Spanish
French
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Español
Français
Italiano
Português
Deutsch
