From buying new hard drives to cleaning out garages, humans are often preoccupied with storing information as well as objects and materials. 

The verb etwas lagern essentially means "to store something." We use it to talk about putting physical objects in an external location for a longer period of time. 

Aber keine Sorge, so lang haben die Kisten ja nicht gelagert.

But don't worry, the boxes haven't been stored here that long.

Caption 48, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

 Play Caption

Können sie jetzt Spreewaldgurken drin lagern.

Now they can store Spreewald pickles in there.

Caption 47, heute-show 30 Jahre Mauerfall: So feiern die Deutschen ihre Einheit

 Play Caption

We always use the verb speichern when we talk about saving files, websites, emails, and other digital items: 

Verwendet also das Lesezeichen-Menü, wenn ihr ein Video zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt sehen möchtet oder einfach euren ganzen Lieblingscontent speichern wollt.

So use the bookmark menu if you'd like to watch a video at a later time or just want to save all your favorite content.

Captions 31-33, Yabla-Anleitung: Lieblingsvideos markieren

 Play Caption

Mailbox... speichern.

Mailbox... save.

Caption 4, Nicos Weg: Reklamation

 Play Caption

At the same time, speichern is often used to describe the storage of substances within a particular body, like CO₂ and water in plants:

In den tropischen Regenwäldern am Amazonas ist zum Beispiel so viel CO-zwei gespeichert, wie wir weltweit innerhalb von fünfzehn Jahren freisetzen.

In the tropical rainforests along the Amazon River, for example, as much CO-two is stored as we release worldwide within fifteen years.

Captions 16-17, OroVerde: Regenwald schützen CO₂, Regenwald und Klimaschutz

 Play Caption

Das Vierzigfache ihres Eigengewichts können sie aufnehmen und speichern.

They can absorb and store forty times their own weight.

Caption 16, Wunderkräfte aus der Windel: Wasserspeicher für Blumenerde

 Play Caption

 

Two related nouns to know are der Vorrat and der Speicher:

Der fertige Honig dient der aktuellen Ernährung des Bienenvolkes, der Aufzucht der Brut und als Vorrat für den Winter.

The finished honey is used as day-to-day nutrition for the bee colony, for raising the brood, and as a supply for the winter.

Captions 31-32, Für Tierfreunde Aktion Tier: Die Honigbiene

 Play Caption

Die Alpenseen sind nicht die einzigen großen Wasserspeicher in den Bergen.

The alpine lakes are not the only large water reservoirs in the mountains.

Caption 29, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

Another important verb is verstauen which means to stow something or put it away. If you fly to or within Germany, you will most certainly hear this, as it is often used when referring to carry-on luggage.

Further Learning
Search for speichern and lagern on Yabla German to see more examples of these verbs in use.

Several years ago, Yabla published a two-part lesson about the climate crisis (die Klimakrise). The situation since then has gotten even worse, so let's revisit the topic today.

The term "climate change" (der Klimawandel) is generally used to describe how mankind's activities are affecting our climate today in ways that have a serious impact on our environment, our economy, and our lives.

Und da sieht man ganz klar: Der Klimawandel ist „real“.

And you can see very clearly that climate change is real.

Caption 13, WWF Deutschland Klimawandel hautnah: Was sind die Auswirkungen?

 Play Caption

Beim Strom haben wir den Vorteil zu anderen erneuerbaren Energieträgern.

With electricity we have the advantage over other renewable energy carriers.

Caption 27, Agrarmesse: Grüne Woche in Berlin

 Play Caption

Other sources of electricity, such as dams and wind turbines, may have a negative effect on the landscape, but they are relatively green compared to energy sources such as fossil fuels (fossile Energieträger). Wikipedia describes a fossil fuel as a substance "such as coal, oil, and natural gas, formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals, that is extracted and burned as a fuel."

Die globale Klimaerwärmung hinterlässt Spuren.

Global warming is leaving its mark.

Caption 24, Die letzten Paradiese: Schätze der Natur: Südtirol

 Play Caption

The air pollution caused by fossil fuels causes global warming (die globale Erwärmung). Global warming is the largely human-caused increase of our planet's temperatures over the last decades.

Seit 1850 hat sich die Gletscherfläche bereits halbiert.

Since 1850, the glacial area has already been halved.

Caption 32, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

As the glaciers (der Gletscher, plural die Gletscher) and the icebergs (der Eisberg, plural die Eisberge) melt due to fossil fuels causing global warming, rivers are overfilled with water, and the sea rises.

Das Eis am Nord- und Südpol schmilzt, der Meeresspiegel steigt, es kommt zu schlimmen Überschwemmungen und woanders zu schlimmen Dürren.

The ice at the North and South Pole is melting, the sea level is rising, terrible floods are occurring and elsewhere terrible droughts.

Captions 31-32, OroVerde - Regenwald schützen: CO₂, Regenwald und Klimaschutz

 Play Caption

A drought (die Dürre) is the opposite of a flood (die Überschwemmung): instead of too much water, there isn't enough. Without enough water, farmers are unable to grow the kinds of food that they used to in the past. Property, crops, and even human lives are lost as a direct result of storms, floods, and droughts caused by global warming.

Hilf also mit, die Wälder zu schützen, rette den Regenwald!

So help protect the forests, save the rainforest!

Caption 46, OroVerde - Regenwald schützen: CO₂, Regenwald und Klimaschutz

 Play Caption

By protecting the rainforest (der Regenwald), global warming is reduced, because trees absorb the heat from sunlight and turn carbon dioxide into oxygen—which we also need to breathe! King Charles of Great Britain has a rainforests project, and has stated that stopping the destruction of rainforests would help slow climate change. However, it's only going to change if wealthy people like King Charles and large profit-driven corporations are made to take financial and moral responsibility for the destruction they are causing.

Die Gewinne sind ja auch dementsprechend hoch.

The profits are accordingly high.

Caption 8, Ball des Weines: Tombola

 Play Caption

As long as the burning of fossil fuels continues to create windfall profits for the ultra wealthy and corporations, there is little chance of slowing global warming and climate change. A carbon tax (die CO2-Steuer or die Kohlenstoffsteuer), which would tax products that damage the environment according to the costs of repairing the damages they cause, could help solve the problem by forcing manufacturers to seek greener energy sources. But in many western democratic countries, this is seen as a danger to profits, and stands very little chance with politicians, whose campaigns are often heavily financed by some of the world's worst polluters.

As individuals, the best that most of us can manage (including voting!) is to continue to do our small part in reducing our consumption of products that directly lead to global warming!

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and watch some of the videos above that deal with this topic. You can also search for some of the highlighted words to find more German videos related to climate change.

In a previous Yabla German lesson, we discussed heterographs. Today, we'll be taking a look at homographs. These are homophonic words, which means they are words that sound the same and are spelled the same, but have different meanings. Homographs can be quite confusing in spoken language, because the only way to know the meanings of the words—since they sound the same—is by the context in which they are used. In German, the gender of the word can play a significant role. The word "homograph" comes from Ancient Greek and literally means "written the same."

Note too that in German, regional differences in pronunciation can sometimes make a set of words homophones in one region, but not in another. Keep in mind that because of the capitalization of nouns in German, in order for two words to be true homographs, they must both be the the same case, with the first letters either lower or upper case. So while the adjective arm ("poor") may be the same letters and sound the same as the noun der Arm ("arm"), they are homophones but not strictly homographs because of the difference in cases. Since all nouns are capitalized in German, this means that a noun can never be a homograph of a verb, adjective, or adverb in German. This makes for very few homographs in German compared to English and other languages! Here are a few examples.

Zu seiner Überraschung fielen alle sieben Fliegen auf den Tisch.

To his surprise, all seven flies fell onto the table.

Caption 12, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Das tapfere Schneiderlein

 Play Caption

Angst vor dem Fliegen hat sie jedenfalls nicht.

Fear of flying, in any case, she does not have.

Caption 4, Im Höhenflug - Ariadne (die Ex von Lothar Matthäus)

 Play Caption

The plural of the insect "fly" (die Fliege) is die Fliegen, and the noun das Fliegen comes from the verb fliegen ("to fly"). We can invent some funny sentences with these word combinations: Haben Fliegen Angst vor fliegen? ("Are flies afraid of flying?") What a silly question!

Im Sommer verschmäht er auch Insekten und Spinnen nicht.

In summer, it does not reject insects and spiders, either.

Caption 15, Die letzten Paradiese - Schätze der Natur: Südtirol

 Play Caption

Dieses Konzept ermöglicht das Spinnen von zwei verschiedenen Garnfeinheiten gleichzeitig.
This concept enables the spinning of two different yarn counts simultaneously.

The plural of the arachnid "spider" (die Spinne) is die Spinnen, and the noun das Spinnen is yet again a noun derived from the verb spinnen ("to spin"). Sind die Spinnen an all das Spinnen gewöhnt? ("Are the spiders used to all the spinning?") It's logical that the German words for "spinning" and for "spiders" are nearly the same. Spinning webs is what spiders do best, right?

Mit dem ersten Band kündigt die junge Autorin ihre literarischen
Ambitionen an.
With the first volume, the young author is announcing her literary ambitions.

Die Band ist eingespielt; die Models wissen, wie sie laufen müssen.

The band has warmed up; the models know how they must walk.

Caption 29, Mode - Backstage auf der Modenschau

 Play Caption

Daher umsäumt ein helles Band den Weißensee und gibt ihm seinen Namen.

From that, a bright band surrounds the Weissensee and gives it its name.

Caption 14, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

In the three examples above, we see der Band, die Band and das Band, three words that are spelled and pronounced the same, but have different genders and meanings. Der Band means a volume in a set of books; die Band comes from the English word "band" as in a musical group; das Band has the most meanings, and can mean a band such as a silk band, or a belt, ribbon, strap, tie, tape or even the belt in a conveyor belt, depending upon the context. Note too that the three words have different plurals: Der Band = die Bände; die Band = die Bands; das Band = die Bänder (alternately: die Bande). The easiest one here to remember is that since die Band comes from English, its plural is from the English too with -s.

Let's go for all three in one sentence, shall we?

Welcher Band der Diskografie der Band wurde auf Band aufgenommen?

We can decrypt the above by gender: Welcher Band in the nominative case makes for der Band, thus "volume"; der Band is in the genitive case, thus in the nominative case is die Band, or "band" as in musical group; the last Band has no pronoun, but the verb aufgenommen (recorded) tells us it must be referring to magnetic recording tape, thus das Band.

Which volume of the band's discography was recorded on tape?

Or in plural:

Welche Bände der Diskografien der Bands wurden auf Bänder aufgenommen?
Which volumes of the bands' discographies were recorded on tapes?

Luckily, this is about as complicated as German gets! In most cases, people would use das Tonband (die Tonbänder) for "recording tape" too. Let's just take a deep breath now and know that even some native German speakers might have some problems with this one.

Further Learning
Take a look at these examples of German homophones on Wikipedia and find some examples of the words used in a real-world context on Yabla German. Then see if you can create some German sentences using both homophones in the same sentence. You are allowed to make up silly sentences if you want to, of course!

In English, we have the words "simple," "easy," "difficult," and "hard." German similarly has its own adjectives with nuanced meanings. You have likely seen einfach used both as an adjective most often meaning either "simple," "basic," or "easy," and also as an adverb meaning "simply," "basically," or "just." 

Im Grunde ist es also ganz einfach.

So basically it's quite simple.

Caption 34, Deutsch mit Eylin: Doppellaute

 Play Caption

Natürlich kann man auch einfach nur spazieren gehen.

Of course, one can also simply just go for a walk.

Caption 10, Berlin: Eva im Viktoriapark

 Play Caption

banner PLACEHOLDER

The adjective schwierig can also mean "tricky" more than truly hard or difficult. 

Und es ist schwierig, diese Dinge anzusprechen.

And it is difficult to talk about things.

Caption 37, Die Wohngemeinschaft: Probleme

 Play Caption

You may have noticed that the same adjectives used to describe weight apply to ease and difficulty. The adjective leicht  also means "light" (again, this is in terms of weight, not in terms of color, which would be hell). The adjective schwer has a whole host of meanings, including "heavy," "difficult," "severe," "grave," and "arduous." 

Sie bleiben gerne in der Deckung umgestürzter Bäume, wo sie der Hecht nicht so leicht erwischt.

They like to stay under the cover of fallen trees, where the pike can't catch them so easily.

Captions 17-18, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

„Nichts leichter als das“, antwortete Frederick.

"Nothing easier than that!" answered Frederick.

Caption 4, Piggeldy und Frederick: Aufräumen

 Play Caption

Die können sich noch an andere schwere Zeiten erinnern.

They can still remember other difficult times.

Caption 11, Angela Merkel: Solidarität der Generationen in Coronakrise

 Play Caption

Clueso lässt sich immer noch schwer einordnen.

Clueso still remains difficult to categorize.

Caption 41, Clueso: ist endlich erwachsen

 Play Caption

Sie sehen als Erste die Kranken und wie schwer manche Verläufe der Infektion sind.

You are the first to see the sick and how severe some courses of the infection are.

Captions 6-7, Coronavirus: Fernsehansprache von Angela Merkel

 Play Caption

There's one more word that should be mentioned, which is the adjective simpel. Be careful: this word does mean "simple," but is also used negatively to express that something is simplistic or limited. 

Es ist eigentlich ganz simpel.

It is actually very simple.

Caption 34, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Verben der 2. Kategorie

 Play Caption

Further Learning
When you see one of these adjectives in a sentence on Yabla German, ask yourself whether one of the others could be swapped in. Sometimes something will be either leicht, einfach, or simpel, but not all three, and the same goes for schwierig and schwer. 

In a previous newsletter, we looked at the German words for various bodies of water. This week, we'll take a look at different landscapes and landforms found in Germany and around the world. Germany itself has a surprising number of these diverse landscapes, with forests, rolling hills, valleys and mountain ranges, rocky and sandy coasts, and even wetlands. 

banner PLACEHOLDER

Yabla has many videos about the incredible ecosystems of das Gebirge, the mountain range. You may also hear die Berge ("the mountains").

Nur wenige Menschen nehmen das beschwerliche Leben im Hochgebirge auf sich.

Only a few people take on the arduous life in the high mountains.

Caption 27, Die letzten Paradiese Schätze der Natur: Südtirol 

 Play Caption

Im kalten Stellisee verläuft ihre Entwicklung langsamer als im Tal.

In the cold Stellisee [a lake], their development proceeds more slowly than in the valley.

Caption 4, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

Denn wenn das Eis der Gletscher schmilzt, fließt das Wasser von den Berghöhen durch Spalten tief ins Gebirge hinein.

Because if the ice of the glaciers melts, the water will flow from the mountain heights through fissures deep into the mountains.

Captions 35-36, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

Fast die Hälfte der Landesfläche ist von Wald bedeckt.

Almost half of the state's area is covered by forest.

Caption 51, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Rheinland-Pfalz

 Play Caption

People may indeed think of forested mountains when they think of Germany, but there are also landscapes that we might associate more with other countries:

Einfach durch den Sumpf reiten konnten wir natürlich nicht.

We couldn't just ride through the swamp, of course.

Caption 10, Jan von München: Als ich mich einmal selbst aus dem Sumpf befreite

 Play Caption

In den Hügeln der grünen Insel Irland lebte einmal ein armer Kerl namens Niall O'Leary.

In the hills of the green isle of Ireland there once lived a poor fellow named Niall O'Leary.

Caption 5, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Ein Topf voll Gold

 Play Caption

Es sah hinaus auf die Wiese, die etwas weiter reichte, als es sehen konnte.

It looked out onto the meadow that extended somewhat farther than it could see.

Caption 45, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Das hässliche Entlein

 Play Caption

Near the North Sea or Baltic Sea, you will find completely different landforms (including islands!) and ecosystems:

Natali und Florian zieht es zunächst an die Küste Cornwalls.

Natali and Florian proceed first to the coast of Cornwall.

Caption 28, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen

 Play Caption

Die Hauptattraktion ist hier natürlich der Strand.

The main attraction here is, of course, the beach.

Caption 8, Berlin: Wannsee

 Play Caption

Of course, there are some landscapes that you simply won't find in Germany:

Sindbad kroch durch den Dschungel.

Sinbad crept through the jungle.

Caption 27, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Sindbad, der Seefahrer

 Play Caption

Die Wüste war heiß, die Berge waren hoch.

The desert was hot, the mountains were high.

Caption 5, Clueso Weil ich dich liebe

 Play Caption

Further Learning

There are many nature videos on Yabla German, and most of them include detailed descriptions of the landscape like in this series about the Alps. How would you describe the landscape of the country or region you are from? Try to talk about it with a tandem partner, or write down a few sentences. 

In both English and German, there are tenses and there are moods. We use the indicative mood to state facts, the imperative mood to give commands, and the subjunctive mood to reflect wishes or actions in unreal situations ("I wish I were taller" or "I would travel around the world."). Take a look at this past newsletter for information on the formation of the subjunctive (Konjunktiv) in German. The subjunctive is a key part of conditional sentences that describe levels of possibility, from events that are very likely to missed opportunities in the past. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Type 1 conditional sentences refer to cause-and-effect links, and events that are quite certain under particular circumstances. Because German sentences often use the present tense to imply the future, the basic structure is wenn or falls (see this newsletter) followed by the present tense, like in English, but then it can be followed by either the present tense or future constructed with werden. 

Wenn es so weitergeht, werden bis 2050 drei Viertel aller Alpengletscher verschwunden sein... mit gewaltigen Folgen.

If it continues this way, by 2050, three quarters of all the alpine glaciers will have disappeared ... with enormous consequences.

Captions 33-34, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten - Part 7

 Play Caption

Type 2 conditional sentences refer to events that are less possible or likely, often hypothetical. Its structure in German is Wenn + Konjunktiv II + Konjunktiv II. 

Wenn immer Sommer wäre, würde ich jeden Tag grillen.

If it were always summer, I would grill every day.

Caption 29, Konjugation - Das Verb „grillen“

 Play Caption

Wenn ich viel Geld hätte, würde ich nie wieder arbeiten gehen.

If I had a lot of money, I would never go to work again.

Caption 23, Konjugation - Das Verb „gehen“

 Play Caption

Ich denke, wenn ich weniger arbeiten würde, könnte ich mich mehr konzentrieren.

I think that if I worked less I could concentrate better.

Captions 34-35, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

 Play Caption

Type 3 conditional sentences are used to talk about possibilities or events that never came to be. Here is where the structure gets a bit complicated. In its full form, the construction is Wenn + participle + Konjunktiv II + Konjunktiv II + participle.

Wenn wir eine Chance gehabt hätten, dann wären wir vorher gegangen, ja.

If we had had a chance, then we would've left before, yes.

Caption 34, Die Klasse - Berlin '61

 Play Caption

Ja, wenn Jannik fit gewesen wäre, dann wäre er nie runtergekracht.

Yes, if Jannik had been healthy, then he wouldn't have ever gone crashing down.

Caption 59, Großstadtrevier - Von Monstern und Mördern

 Play Caption

It is worth mentioning that you may often see "mixed types" of the conditional, in which a missed opportunity in the past (expressed using the participle) is portrayed as still affecting the present. Take a look at the following sentence: 

Also, wenn wir den Vertrag letzte Woche unterzeichnet hätten, wären wir in der Lage, mit unserer ursprünglichen Vereinbarung fortzufahren? 

So, if we had signed the contract last week, we would be in a position to proceed with our original agreement?

Captions 36-37, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
For more information on the different types of conditional sentences, take a look at this helpful website. Whenever you see key words like hätte, wäre, or würde on Yabla German, note the subjunctive mood and try to identify which type of conditional sentence it might be related to.

For this week, Yabla has released a video reporting on recent extreme winter weather conditions in Germany. You may have noticed that, like English, German has several words that describe different types of wind. 

The easiest to remember is “der Wind," although the German word for "the breeze" is quite similar as well: 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Der Wind muss nur ein wenig drehen,

The wind has to just turn a little [change directions],

dann steigt die Luft an den Bergen auf.

then the air rises up the mountains.

Caption 9, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten

 Play Caption

Die leichte, die frische und die steife Brise...

The light, the fresh and the stiff breeze...

Caption 12, Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Wind

 Play Caption

Die Böen, the plural of die Bö, refers to stronger wind, and can be translated as "squalls" or "gusts." 

Also lokal sind auch orkanartige Böen mit dabei.

Thus, in parts, hurricane-like gusts will also be present.

Caption 24, Wettervorhersage - Winterwetter

 Play Caption

The words Orkan and Hurrikan are both used to describe storms caused by traveling low pressure areas. Generally, Hurrikan will refer to tropical storms, while Orkan is a general term for a fierce storm. 

Im März diesen [sic, dieses] Jahres [Unwetter-Experte beim GDV]

In March of this year [Storm expert at GDV]

ist der Orkan Niklas über Deutschland hinweggezogen.

Hurricane Niklas passed over Germany.

Captions 5-6, Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft - Naturgefahrenreport

 Play Caption

However, extreme winds in Germany are relatively rare. If you ever live or study in Germany, you’re much more likely to hear this sentence:

Mach aber die Tür richtig zu, es zieht immer so! -Hm.

But close the door well, it's always so drafty! -Hm.

Caption 23, Monopoly - Geheime Tipps und Tricks

 Play Caption

The use of the verb ziehen ("to move") is related in this case to the word der Luftzug, or “draft of air.”

Further Learning
Watch the classic German cartoon Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Wind in its entirety, as it features many types of wind and some nice adjectives to describe them.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

You can also go onto Yabla German and look up examples with any of the following verbs, which are used to describe how wind blows: peitschen, blasen, wehen, pusten, rauschen.