Today, we'll look at vocabulary that you need to talk about learning the German language.

banner3 PLACEHOLDER

If you're currently taking a German class, some of these words may already be familiar to you. For example, besides das Wort, here are some additional terms used to talk about words and vocabulary:

Was bedeutet der Begriff „europäische Integration“?

What does the term "European integration" mean?

Caption 31, Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Einbürgerungstest

 Play Caption

Und damit du ein besseres Vokabular fürs „Tratschen“ bekommst, erzähle ich dir jetzt mal etwas über Menschen aus meinem früheren und heutigen Bekanntenkreis.

And to give you better vocabulary for "gossiping," I will now tell you something about people from my previous and current circle of acquaintances.

Captions 13-15, Deutsch mit Eylin: Charakter und Eigenschaften beschreiben

 Play Caption

Worauf ich hinaus will, ist, dass es nach dem Erlernen der Grundlagen einer Sprache wirklich nützlich ist, den Wortschatz zu erweitern.

What I'm getting at is that after learning the basics of a language, it is really useful to expand your vocabulary.

Captions 14-16, Deutsch mit Eylin: Nomen-Verb-Verbindungen

 Play Caption

The phrase Was bedeutet [...]? in the first example may be familiar to you. The noun die Bedeutung means both "the meaning" and "the significance."

Natürlich ist in diesem Fall die Bedeutung der beiden Sätze etwas unterschiedlich.

Of course, the meaning of the two sentences in this case is slightly different.

Caption 24, Deutsch mit Eylin: Der Imperativ

 Play Caption

Of course, learning a language isn't just about vocabulary; it's also a matter of grammar and pronunciation:

So ähnlich ist es mit Grammatik, wenn man eine Sprache lernt.

It's similar with grammar when you're learning a language.

Caption 10, Deutsch mit Eylin: Auf natürliche Weise Sprachen lernen mit Yabla

 Play Caption

So, Satzbau hat zu tun mit den verschiedenen Elementen in einem Hauptsatz.

So, sentence structure has to do with the various elements in a main clause.

Captions 27-28, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Satzbau

 Play Caption

Heute geht es mal wieder um das Thema Aussprache.

Today we will be discussing the topic of pronunciation again.

Caption 4, Deutsch mit Eylin: Doppellaute

 Play Caption

Sie sind kurz aber sie verändern alles. Vor allem durch Betonung und Intonation.

They are short, but they change everything— especially through emphasis and intonation.

Captions 6-7, Deutsch mit Giada: Kurze Wörter, große Wirkung

 Play Caption

Further Learning

You'll find this vocabulary in many videos on Yabla German, as well as vocabulary related to die Konjugation (conjugation) and die Deklination (declination). If these words aren't familiar to you, go ahead and do a quick search!

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.