When it comes to learning the basic shapes in German, Eva's got you covered with a video about exactly that:

Als Erstes haben wir hier einen Kreis.

First, we have a circle here.

Caption 13, Eva zeigt uns: Formen

 Play Caption

However, we often talk about shapes with a bit more nuance. For example, we might talk about spots and dots, or ovals rather than circles:

Alle Möbel mit roten Punkten gehören deiner Mama und die mit grünen gehören mir.

All of the pieces of furniture with red dots belong to your mother and those with green belong to me.

Caption 21, Mama arbeitet wieder Kapitel 4: Die Trennung

 Play Caption

Die Trainerschüler müssen die Hühner zum Beispiel dazu bringen, im Oval um zwei Kegel zu laufen.

The training students, for example, must get [their] chickens to walk around two cones in an oval.

Captions 24-25, Tierakademie Scheuerhof: Tiertrainer im Hühner-Seminar

 Play Caption

banner PLACEHOLDER

When we look at three-dimensional forms, there's a whole other set of vocabulary to learn. The word for a cube is actually der Kubus, but people describing objects will often use der Würfel, which is also the word you use for dice. 

Eine Masse von eineinhalb Sonnen, gepresst in eine Kugel mit gerade mal zehn Meilen Durchmesser.

A mass of one and a half suns pressed into a sphere with only a ten-mile diameter.

Captions 20-21, Unser Universum Sternengeburt: Das Leben nach dem stellaren Tod

 Play Caption

Wir haben hier fünfhundert Gramm Mehl, einen ganzen Würfel Hefe.

We have here five hundred grams of flour here, a whole cube of yeast.

Captions 8-9, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Bayern

 Play Caption

Even though most patterns are repetitions of certain shapes, most of the words don't relate to the original forms. This makes sense, because even if a stripe is technically a long, thin rectangle, we don't perceive it as such. 

Oh, das Muster und... und diese Farben! Es ist wirklich überwältigend, wirklich!

Oh, the pattern and... and these colors! It is really overwhelming, really!

Caption 41, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Des Kaisers neue Kleider

 Play Caption

Die Flagge hat oben und unten einen roten Streifen.

The flag has a red stripe on the top and bottom.

Caption 48, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Bundesland Berlin

 Play Caption

Ein gestreiftes Hemd und eine warme Hose und ganz schicke Schuhe.

A striped shirt and warm trousers and very stylish shoes.

Caption 17, Nicos Weg: Schick!

 Play Caption

In case you are like Nico and also like wearing patterned clothing, you might like to know that the word for "polka-dotted" is gepunktet, and kariert means "plaid," "checked," or "checkered." 

Further Learning
After you watch Eva's video on Yabla German in its entirety, look up the German words for some 3-D forms such as the pyramid, cone, cylinder, and prism. 

Whether we are referring to our stuff on a nearby chair or a serious matter that needs to be discussed, there are several words in German that can be helpful. Most of them can be used in a number of contexts, but there are a few things to be aware of.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Sachen is a very versatile word, and can be used to refer to physical items but also matters and topics. Of course, das Thema is a more common word for "the topic."

Und ja, ich räume meine Sachen nicht immer sofort weg.

And yes, I don't always clean up my stuff away right away.

Caption 29, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Probleme

 Play Caption

Hier gibt es viele verschiedene Sachen für die Familie und für die Kinder zu sehen.

Here there are many different things for the family and for the children to see.

Caption 8, Berlin - Domäne Dahlem

 Play Caption

Fazit: In Sachen Hamburger hat die Hauptstadt auf jeden Fall mehr zu bieten.

Conclusion: When it comes to hamburgers, the capital city definitely has more to offer.

Caption 25, Berlin - Die beste Auswahl an Hamburgern

 Play Caption

Der Gegenstand is used to refer to a physical object or item, but also a topic of conversation or debate. And, of course, there is also the word das Objekt. In shopping, der Artikel ("the item") and die Ware are more likely to be used.

Auch hier handelt es sich um einen runden Gegenstand.

Also here it is about a round object.

Caption 34, Eva zeigt uns - Formen

 Play Caption

Slang terms for "stuff" or "odds and ends" are der Kram and das Zeug.

So viele Spinnweben und so viel Kram

So many cobwebs and so much stuff

Caption 11, Silbermond - Leichtes Gepäck

 Play Caption

Diese Box wird für Bücher, dieser Karton wird für das Zeug aus der Küche sein.

This box will be for books, this carton will be for stuff from the kitchen.

Caption 14, Drei Leute - beim Kofferpacken

 Play Caption

The word das Ding is, of course, also commonly used, and not just for objects.

Wir testen die Dinger jetzt schon seit Monaten.

We've been testing the things for months already.

Caption 30, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944

 Play Caption

Ich habe entschieden, die Dinge selbst in die Hände [sic, Hand] zu nehmen.

I have decided to take matters into my own hands.

Caption 6, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

 Play Caption

The plural forms die Dinger and die Dinge are both used. Generally, die Dinger refers to multiple things of the same kind, whereas die Dinge refers to multiple things of different kinds. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Das Thema, die Sache, das Objekt, der Artikel, die Ware, der Gegenstand, der Kram, das Zeug, and das Ding: Yabla German has many examples of all of these words, as they are commonly used. Go through them and make sure you know which are only used for non-physical ideas, topics, and matters, which are exclusively for physical objects, and which are applicable in both contexts. Making a venn diagram may be a good strategy!

There are several words in German that convey the essential meaning of "however," even if they are not always translated as such. The primary words to look out for are allerdings, jedoch, and hingegen.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Dirk Nowitzki weiß allerdings, wo seine Wurzeln liegen.

Dirk Nowitzki knows, however, where his roots lie.

Caption 24, Basketball-Superstar - Dirk Nowitzki im Kino

 Play Caption

Allerdings scheiterte sein Fluchtversuch. 

However, his attempt to flee failed. 

Caption 7, 25 Jahre Mauerfall - Radtour durch die Geschichte

 Play Caption

Das Wahrzeichen ist jedoch das mit feuervergoldeten Kupferschindeln gedeckte Goldene Dachl.

The landmark, however, is the Goldenes Dachl [Golden Roof] covered with fire-gilded copper tiles.

Caption 31, 48 h in Innsbruck - Sehenswürdigkeiten & Tipps

 Play Caption

Der Eintrittspreis ist jedoch der alte geblieben.

The entry fee, however, stayed the same.

Caption 17, Autokino - Gravenbruch

 Play Caption

An anderen Orten und in anderen Ländern wird hingegen das Vieh geehrt.

In other places and countries, however, the cattle are honored.

Caption 21, Cettina erklärt - Pfingsten

 Play Caption

Der Bilderrahmen hingegen ist quadratisch, weil alle vier Seiten gleich lang sind.

The picture frame, however, is square, because all four sides are equally long.

Captions 40-41, Eva zeigt uns - Formen

 Play Caption

You may also see any of the words above translated as "at the same time," "on the other hand," or simply as "but." Similarly, aber and doch are occasionally translated as "however." Dennoch (translated as "nonetheless," "nevertheless," "however") and wiederum ("in turn," "on the other hand," "however") are two more words that have a similar function.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Pay attention to the various ways in which these words are translated on Yabla German and especially to the position of the word in the English sentence in comparison with the original German, as it may not be the same.