Summer is the time to go swimming. Let's talk today about words related to swimming and swimming safety.

Man kann hier natürlich noch andere Sachen tun als nur schwimmen.

You can, of course, do other things here besides just swimming.

Caption 6, Berlin: Wannsee

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OK, und dann halt lieber hier in der freien Natur baden.

OK, and then just better to swim here in open nature.

Caption 77, Unterwegs mit Cettina: Sommer am Baggersee

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The verbs schwimmen and baden both mean "to swim," but baden can also mean "to play in the water" or even "to take a bath." I've often had Europeans ask if we should "go bathing" (or even "have a bath"), by which they mean "go swimming," of course!

Kommt Kinder, wir gehen zur Abkühlung erst mal eine Runde schwimmen!

Come on kids, let's go for a swim to cool off first!

Caption 72, Umwelt und Natur: Wo sind all die Bienen hin?

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Aber es ist perfekt, um ans Meer zu fahren und baden zu gehen.

But it's perfect for going to the sea and going for a swim.

Caption 39, Deutsch mit Eylin: Das Wetter

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To say "to go swimming," you combine the verbs gehen and schwimmen, or gehen and baden. Note that the phrases consist of two verbs and are not single separable verbs!

Den größten Teil meiner Freizeit verbringe ich in Tel Aviv und am Strand.

I spend the largest portion of my free time in Tel Aviv and at the beach.

Caption 11, Grete: eine Freiwillige in Israel

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Also, in Tübingen gibt's ein Schwimmbad.

Well, in Tübingen there is a swimming pool.

Caption 21, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Über jemanden sprechen

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Two obvious places to go swimming are the beach (der Strand) or a swimming pool (das Schwimmbad), and you'll hopefully be able to find those someplace closer to home than Tel Aviv or Tübingen!

Mein Handtuch brauche ich nicht.

I don't need my towel.

Caption 19, Peppa Wutz: Sport

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Actually, unless you're going to a gym that supplies a towel, you will probably want to have one when you go swimming. Das Handtuch is the general word for "towel," but you may want to bring a bigger one to lie down on, such as a a beach towel (das Strandtuch).
 

Vorsicht: Die Sonne ist auch sehr heiß. Deswegen brauchen wir einen Hut, eine Sonnenbrille, und ganz wichtig... Sonnencreme.

Beware: The sun is also very hot. Therefore we need a hat, sunglasses, and very important... sun lotion.

Captions 18-21, Jahreszeiten: Der Sommer

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Safety first! In addition to a hat (der Hut), sunglasses (die Sonnenbrille), and sun lotion (die Sonnencreme), it's important to bring lots of liquids to drink!

Further Learning
Watch the videos above on Yabla German and learn some other terms about summer fun. And then take a break and go swimming somewhere to cool off! And remember to be safe about swimming when you're out in the hot sun.

Have you come across the phrase “strong verbs” or “weak verbs” in your studies and wondered what exactly is meant? 


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Strong verbs have a stem-vowel change in one or more tenses, for example in the simple past or present tense. In other words, they are irregular. The sign of a strong verb is that its participle will end with -en.

For example, with genießen ("to enjoy") the present tense conjugations do not have a vowel change, but the past tense does (genoss). The participle accordingly ends with
-en:

Genießt euren Kaffee, wie auch immer ihr den zubereitet.

Enjoy your coffee, regardless of how you make it.

Caption 39, Eva zeigt uns - wie man Kaffee kocht

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Und ich habe an einer sehr renommierten Universität ein sehr umfangreiches Marketingstudium genossen.

And I enjoyed a very comprehensive marketing program at a very renowned university.

Captions 26-27, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch - Part 2

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In the case of the verb empfehlen (“to recommend”), the present and simple past tenses both have a different stem vowel change. Once again, the participle ends with -en:

Neben dem Stadtrad empfiehlt sich vor allem die Innsbruck Card für die Erkundung.

In addition to the city bike, above all, the Innsbruck card can be recommended for the exploration.

Captions 26-27, 48 h in Innsbruck - Sehenswürdigkeiten & Tipps

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Schafft das keine Linderung, wird empfohlen, die Höhe des Computerbildschirms zu überprüfen.

[If] that doesn't bring relief, it's recommended [that you] check the height of the computer screen.

Captions 19-20, Nackenverspannungen - Entspannungstipps für den Büroalltag

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Weak verbs are more “regular” in the sense that all tenses resemble the infinitive. The participle ends with -t. Let’s look at the verb reisen: 

Wenn man gemeinsam reist, ist es immer besser.

It's always better if you travel together.

Caption 20, Traumberuf - Windsurfer

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Dafür reiste das Filmteam bis nach Korsika.

For this the film team traveled as far away as Corsica.

Caption 35, Hell - Science-Fiction-Kinotipp

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Für zwei Wochen bin ich durchs Land gereist.

For two weeks, I traveled across the country.

Caption 20, Grete - eine Freiwillige in Israel

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Now, of course, because German is never easy, there are exceptions in the form of irregular weak verbs. These have a participle with -t rather than -en, but also have a stem vowel change. Many common verbs, such as bringen and wissen, fall into this category. 

Ein Benefiz-Fußballspiel brachte sie jedoch alle zusammen auf den Rasen.

A benefit football match nevertheless brought them all together on the turf.

Caption 2, Fußball - Prominente beim Benefizspiel

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Aschenputtel wurde in den Palast gebracht.

Cinderella was brought to the palace.

Caption 105, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Aschenputtel

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Further Learning
When you learn a new verb on Yabla German, always find out immediately whether it's strong or weak and memorize this as well as its definition. Here is an extensive list of strong and irregular verbs. Look up the participles of niesen versus genießen and of the verbs winken and stinken, which are particularly tricky. 

The German present perfect tense is mostly used in cases where we would use the simple past tense in English, although sometimes it has the same meaning in both languages. You likely know that it is most often formed with the auxiliary verb haben and the past participle of the main verb:

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Und wir haben über die Themen Iran und, äh, auch den Nahen Osten gesprochen.

And we spoke about the topic of Iran and, uh, also the Middle East.

Caption 58, Angela Merkel - Gemeinsame Pressekonferenz mit Barack Obama

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However, with many verbs that either express movement or a change of state, a conjugation of sein is used as the auxiliary verb rather than haben. 

Für zwei Wochen bin ich durchs Land gereist.

For two weeks, I traveled across the country.

Caption 20, Grete - eine Freiwillige in Israel

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Ich bin nach Berlin gekommen, um ein Praktikum zu machen am Theater.

I came to Berlin to do an internship at the theater.

Caption 21, Fine - sucht eine Wohnung

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Hier ist auch alles gut, aber da ist etwas Komisches passiert.

Everything is also good here, but something strange has happened.

Caption 44, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung

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Um dreizehn Uhr dreißig:

At one-thirty p.m.,

Die Beatles sind aufgewacht, etwas früher als zu Hause.

the Beatles woke up, somewhat earlier than at home.

Caption 11, Die Beatles - in Deutschland

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What is quite tricky is that some verbs can be used with either sein or haben depending on the context, and may take on different meanings. The second sentence below implies that the person didn't just fly in a plane as a passenger, but was at the controls themselves.

Wir sind zum Mond geflogen

We flew to the moon

Caption 2, Christina Stürmer - Seite an Seite

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Hat vieles selber gebaut, was er geflogen hat.

He built a lot of that which he flew himself.

Caption 54, Lokalhelden - Mini-Airplane

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Further Learning

Learn the definitions and past participles of the following verbs, which also take sein rather than haben in the present perfect: gehen, laufen, einschlafen, rennen, joggen, wandern, klettern, fallen, steigen, fahren, reiten, umziehen, fliehen, gleiten, springen, kriechen, aufstehen, sinken, schleichen, eintreten, schwimmen, rutschen. Once you learn the past participles, search for them on Yabla German to see them used with the auxiliary verb sein in context.