This week's lesson is dedicated to something simple and essential: vocabulary related to shoes. 

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First of all, some essential verbs: 

Ich ziehe mir die Schuhe an.

I'm putting my shoes on.

Caption 64, Deutsch mit Eylin: Reflexive Verben und Pronomen

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Peppa, willst du die Schuhe nicht doch lieber ausziehen?

Peppa, wouldn't you rather take off your shoes?

Caption 39, Peppa Wutz: Einkaufen und mehr

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Anfangs wurde der Schuh von sämtlichen Prinzessinnen des Landes anprobiert.

First, the slipper was tried on by all the princesses in the land.

Caption 28, Märchenstunde: Das Aschenputtel

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Here are a number of different types of shoes, and some distinguishing characteristics: 

Straßenschuhe, Tanzschuhe, Reitstiefel oder Pantoletten für einen Besuch bei der Königin ...

Street shoes, dance shoes, riding boots or slippers for a visit with the queen...

Caption 46, Märchen: Sagenhaft Die Wichtelmänner

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Und fast immer hatte sie Stiefel mit hohen Absätzen an.

And almost always, she wore boots with high heels.

Caption 19, Deutsch mit Eylin: Menschen beschreiben

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Note: a low boot or ankle boot might be referred to as die Stiefelette. 

... mit ihrem eleganten Stolzierschritt, als ob sie Stöckelschuhe anhätte.

...with her elegant strut, as if she were wearing stiletto heels.

Caption 9, Die letzten Paradiese: Die Schönheit der Alpen 2

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Ich geh noch schnell nach Haus und hol meine Turnschuhe.

I'll go home real quick and get my sneakers.

Caption 27, Janoschs Traumstunde: Der Wettlauf zwischen Hase und Igel

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Du hast Schuhgröße sechsunddreißig, aber bei Sandalen eher siebenunddreißig.

You wear shoe size thirty-six, but with sandals, more like thirty-seven.

Captions 27-28, extra 3: Dr. Likeys Social-Media-Land

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Further Learning
Here are a few more words to learn: die Schnürsenkel (the shoelaces), die Halbschuhe (the low shoe), die Badelatschen (the flip flops), die Wanderschuhe (the hiking shoes), die Lederschuhe (the leather shoes), and die Laufschuhe (the running shoes). You can see the words above used in context on Yabla German.

One topic that tends to intimidate students learning German is the use of these four words: Wessen, dessen, deren, and denen. They are indeed tricky, but they make it possible to construct elegant sentences and are therefore very good to get acquainted with!

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Wessen, dessen, and deren can all be translated as "whose." However, unlike "whose" they are each only correct in certain situations. Wessen is related to wer, wen, and wem, i.e. it is asking "who?," but it is possessive. It is used when the "who" of the sentence is not known and could therefore be any gender:

Sach ma [Sag mal], wessen Freundin bist du eigentlich?

Tell me, whose friend are you actually?

Caption 45, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche

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Es dachte auch nicht darüber nach, wessen Haferbrei das war.

She also didn't think about whose oat porridge it was.

Caption 19, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Goldlöckchen und die drei Bären

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Dessen is used when the person or noun in question has already been named or referred to, and is masculine or neuter:

Acht Minuten später schickt der Paulianer geschickt Julian Schieber,

Eight minutes later the "Paulianer" skillfully sends Julian Schieber

dessen Schuss aber knapp vorbeigeht.

whose shot, however, just misses.

Captions 10-11, Fußball - U21-Nationalmannschaft

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Deren is used when the person or noun in question has already been named or referred to, and is feminine or plural:

Seine königliche Hoheit, der Prinz,

His Royal Highness the Prince

wird die Frau heiraten, deren Fuß in diesen Glasschuh passt.“

will marry the woman whose foot fits in this glass slipper."

Captions 25-26, Märchenstunde - Das Aschenputtel

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Wessen, dessen, and deren are all genitive relative pronouns. The relative pronoun denen, however, is used for relative clauses involving a plural noun in the dative case, with prepositions such as mit, auf, nach, or bei.

Es macht einfach Spaß, mit denen Zeit zu verbringen.

It is simply fun to spend time with them.

Caption 36, Curly Horses - Pferdeglück auch für Allergiker

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Und hier sehen wir zwei alte Kutschen,

And here we see two old coaches,

auf denen man im Sommer Kutschfahrten machen kann mit der Familie zusammen.

upon which you can take coach rides together with you family in the summer.

Captions 37-38, Berlin - Domäne Dahlem

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Further Learning
Searching for any of these words on Yabla German will bring up a lot of examples that can help you solidify your understanding of the topic. You can additionally watch our videos featuring German teacher Barbara and her students working on relative clauses, starting with this one. 

Perhaps you are interested in German because you fell in love, or maybe there is that "special someone" in German class you have a bit of a crush on. We all know the basic Ich liebe dich — the Beatles even did a version of “She Loves You” in German ("Sie liebt dich") — but how about some other ways to express your attraction for somebody?

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It might not be a great idea to say you love somebody too soon, so to play it safe, let’s just say you like him or her, in which case the verb mögen is perfect:

Oh nein, niemand mag mich!

Oh no, no one likes me!

Caption 43, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Das hässliche Entlein

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Another way of expressing that you like someone is to say you “have them gladly” (gern haben) or care for them (lieb haben):

Wenn man jemanden richtig gern und lieb hat...

If you really are really fond of someone and love them...

Caption 42, Valentinstag - in Karlsruhe

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Another possibility is du gefällst mir, or if you want to make it even stronger, du gefällst mir sehr. Then the next step is falling in love, sich verlieben:

Der Prinz hatte sich verliebt.

The prince had fallen in love.

Caption 9, Märchenstunde - Das Aschenputtel

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When you are ready to make the leap, however, there is always the classic standby:

John, ich liebe dich. -Adrianne, ich liebe dich!

John, I love you. -Adrianne, I love you!

Captions 13-14, Alexander Hauff - Showreel

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Followed ideally by the grand finale:

Ich möchte dich heiraten.

I want to marry you.

Caption 86, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der Froschkönig

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Further Learning:

How do I love thee? Rather than getting into counting the ways and all the mathematics involved, why not try getting a taste of German love poems from the 16th to the 20th centuries, including an exclusive set from German women poets? Make a vocabulary list of words you are unfamiliar with, and then search on Yabla to find the ways the words are used in other contexts.