While many people in Germany have just come back from their Osterferien, people in the United States and elsewhere may already be thinking about trips they might take during summer vacation (der Sommerurlaub or die Sommerferien). This month, we'll devote a few lessons to looking at essential travel vocabulary in German.
You may remember how much trouble Jenny had deciding what kind of vacation to take. In German, a trip to a city is called die Städtereise, but many people like to keep things a bit more low key:
Ah, klar, ich könnte eine Kreuzfahrt mit dem Schiff machen.
Ah, right, I could take a cruise with a ship.
Caption 32, Jenny: Reiseziele
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Strandurlaub bei Windstärke sechs...
Beach vacation with a wind velocity of six...
Caption 42, Traumberuf: Windsurfer
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Once decided, you'll have to plan your trip and make the necessary reservations:
Ich möchte gerne eine Reise zum Europapark buchen.
I would like to book a trip to Europapark.
Caption 4, Reiseplanung: Anruf bei einem Reisebüro
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In der Hauptsaison empfiehlt es sich zu reservieren.
In high season, it is recommended to make a reservation.
Caption 37, Reisebericht Luxemburg
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Part of the planning is figuring out how you are going to get to your destination.
Stattdessen mit Bus und Bahn zum Reiseziel fahren.
Instead, travel by bus and train to your destination.
Caption 44, WissensWerte: Tourismus und Nachhaltigkeit
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Also mit dem Auto würde ich heute nicht fahren.
So, I wouldn't go by car today.
Caption 45, Deutsch mit Eylin Das Wetter
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Von dort können Sie ein Auto mieten oder mit dem Bus fahren.
From there you can rent a car or travel by bus.
Caption 13, Reiseplanung: Anruf bei einem Reisebüro
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Damit höre ich manchmal Musik, wenn ich im Zug oder im Flugzeug sitze.
Sometimes I listen to music with them when I'm on the train or on a plane.
Captions 23-24, Deutsch mit Eylin: Denk schnell!
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Auf dem Schiff haben fünfhundertsechzehn Gäste Platz, richtig viel Platz.
There is room on the ship for five hundred and sixteen guests, really a lot of space.
Caption 10, Kreuzfahrtschiff: An Bord der Europa 2
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Hallo, liebe Yabla-Schüler, ich stehe heute hier auf einer Fähre.
Hello dear Yabla students, I am standing here today on a ferry.
Caption 1, Unterwegs mit Cettina: an der Rheinfähre
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Further Learning
More travel vocabulary is coming! In the meantime, we have so many fun travel videos on Yabla German. Just do a quick search and you'll quickly find yourself in Heidelberg, Innsbruck, or the Alps! You may want to also check out this video on tourism and sustainability.
In a previous Yabla lesson, we discussed verbs using sagen ("to say") as their root word, all of which had to do with speaking. Today let's take a look at a couple of other words using sagen as their root word that are not related to speaking—though at first glance, they may appear to be!
Doch wenn es etwas stürmischer wird, versagen viele Modelle ihren Dienst.
But if it gets somewhat stormier, many models fail to do their job.
Caption 5, Erfindung aus Japan: Der verkehrte Regenschirm
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Es besteht die Gefahr, dass im entscheidenden Moment Ihre Nerven versagen.
The danger exists that your nerves will fail at the deciding moment.
Caption 67, Die Stunde der Offiziere: Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944
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Es tut mir leid, dass ich versagt habe.
I am sorry that I failed.
Caption 28, Küss mich, Frosch: Für immer Frosch?
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Leider haben wir da sehr, sehr oft vorm Tor versagt.
Unfortunately, we failed many, many times before the goal line.
Caption 47, Fußball: Saisonpremiere
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Perhaps versagen originally had sagen as its root word because people "failed" to carry out something they had promised. There is also a noun form of the verb for a person who fails:
Ich bin ein Versager, weil ich mich doch nicht traue.
I'm a failure because, after all, I don't dare.
Caption 15, Cro: Bye Bye
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The next word with the root word sagen also has negative connotations:
Am liebsten würd ich ihn absagen.
I'd actually prefer to cancel it.
Caption 10, Nicos Weg: Freizeitstress
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Du kannst doch nicht einfach eine Weiterbildung absagen.
You can't just cancel a training program.
Caption 59, Großstadtrevier: Neben der Spur
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Letztes Jahr wurde ein Event abgesagt.
Last year an event was called off.
Caption 29, Traumberuf: Windsurfer
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Ich will wissen, warum du unser Treffen abgesagt hast. -Ich habe das Treffen nicht abgesagt.
I want to know why you canceled our meeting. -I didn't cancel the meeting.
Captions 15-16, Nicos Weg: Der Umzug
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There is no German noun for somebody who cancels a lot, but there is a noun derived from absagen:
...die radikale Absage an Putin, an die Gasimporte.
...the radical rejection of Putin, of the gas imports.
Caption 3, Umweltbewusstes Wohnen: Zu Besuch in einem Wiener Passivhaus
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The noun die Absage can be either a cancellation or a rejection, depending upon the context.
Further Learning
Go to German Yabla and find other examples of the verbs and nouns discussed above to get a better feel for the contexts in which they can be used.
In the last weeks, many aspects of our daily lives have been uprooted as we all do our part to keep COVID-19 from spreading. Even those who are not directly affected or immediately at risk are advised to lay low in order to keep themselves and others safe. Large gatherings such as conferences and concerts have been canceled or postponed in the interest of public safety, and smaller events and meetings should be canceled as well.
We at Yabla wish you and your loved ones all the best during these uncertain times. Exercising caution, remaining calm, and gathering knowledge are all important strategies. For those of you who might be dealing with practical aspects of the situation in German, we will use this week's lesson to go over the various words for "to cancel" and "to postpone." If you aren't getting news updates about the situation in Germany and would like to be, check out the links posted under "Further Learning" below.
There are many ways to say "to cancel" in German, but here are the most common verbs used to refer to events, appointments, and plans:
Heute ist Dienstag. Wir hatten eigentlich unseren Flug für heute zurück gebucht, aber es ist immer noch alles storniert.
Today is Tuesday. We had actually booked our flight back for today, but everything is still canceled.
Captions 6-7, Reisen: während des Vulkanausbruchs
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Letztes Jahr wurde ein Event abgesagt.
Last year an event was called off.
Caption 29, Traumberuf: Windsurfer
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Die eigentlich mittwochs stattfindende Generalaudienz fällt diesmal aus.
The general audience, which normally takes place Wednesdays, is canceled this time.
Captions 5-7, Papst Franziskus: Der neue Papst hat viel zu tun
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When it comes to events or meetings being postponed, the common verb is verschieben, which has a number of meanings related to "to shift."
Es ist eine wundervolle Sache, denn du kannst die Dinge, die du heute tun solltest, nehmen und nach morgen verschieben.
It is a wonderful thing, because you can take the things that you should do today and postpone them till tomorrow.
Captions 24-26, Lektionen: Morgen
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Wir haben die Tour verschoben, weil ich mit dem Album noch nicht fertig geworden bin [sic, fertig geworden war].
We pushed the tour back, because I still wasn't finished with the album.
Captions 58-59, Clueso: ist endlich erwachsen
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Further Learning
You can find more examples of these verbs on Yabla German. If you would like to work on your listening comprehension by means of a daily news briefing, try listening to Deutsche Welle's Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten, which is made especially for German learners. If you would like to learn about how the situation is unfolding in Germany, you may find Der Spiegel to be a good resource for articles in English as well as German.
Have you come across the phrase “strong verbs” or “weak verbs” in your studies and wondered what exactly is meant?
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.
In last week's newsletter, we looked at the various ways of expressing the adverb "even" in German. We shouldn't forget that adverbs not only describe verbs, but adjectives as well. In this case, "even" is expressed with "noch":
Und mit ein bisschen Unterstützung der Teamkollegen klappt's vielleicht noch besser.
And with a little support from the team members it might work out even better.
Caption 11, Fußball - Torwandschießen
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In English we say something is "even better" or that it is getting "better and better." The latter exists in German as well and is often constructed with the verb werden, the word immer, and a comparative adjective.
Man wird ja immer besser durch die Übung.
One does get even [always] better through practice.
Caption 26, Singer-Songwriter - Sebastian Niklaus
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As you can see, this construction can be used with most adjectives:
Sie wird im Spiegel immer kleiner
It gets smaller and smaller in the mirror
Caption 85, Wincent Weiss & Benni Freibott - Musik sein
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Und deshalb wird es auch immer wichtiger werden,
And therefore it is going to become more and more important
dieses auch in Zukunft, äh, zu verstärken.
to, uh, also emphasize this in the future.
Captions 35-36, Angela Merkel - beim Nachhaltigkeitsrat
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Sie ist, äh, durch die Erweiterung des Flughafens
It has, uh, through the expansion of the airport,
natürlich immer komplexer geworden...
become more and more complex, of course...
Captions 35-36, Berlins regierender Bürgermeister - Pläne für 2014
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However, make sure to take context of the sentence and the presence or absence of werden into account. The sentence below shows that immer can be combined with an adjective and still just mean "always."
Wenn man gemeinsam reist, ist es immer besser.
It's always better if you travel together.
Caption 20, Traumberuf - Windsurfer
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Further Learning
Based on the tips above, how would you translate the phrase immer wieder? Do a search on Yabla German!
A cognate is a word that has its origins in a word from another language, and there are many verbs in German that have their roots in the English language. Some of these German verbs have in common the fact that they end with -ieren, are usually weak verbs, and usually do not use the prefix ge- in the past participle.
Many English verbs that end in consonants can be turned into German verbs by adding the suffix -ieren, such as "to profit":
Davon profitieren wir jetzt natürlich.
We're profiting from this, of course.
Caption 2, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 3: Papa ist weg
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Sometimes you drop a "y" from an English verb and add -ieren to make it German, such as "to study":
Ab dem Wintersemester möchte ich nämlich Medizin studieren.
Namely starting in the winter semester, I would like to study medicine.
Caption 23, Konstantin - ein Freiwilliger in Israel
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Many English verbs ending in -ize can simply take the German -isieren ending, such as "to organize":
Vor jedem Event muss man alles organisieren.
Before every event one has to organize everything.
Caption 37, Traumberuf - Windsurfer
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Further Learning
Take a few English verbs such as to alarm, to dominate, to export, to exist, to modernize, to probe, to reserve, and to ventilate, and see if you can construct German verbs from them based on the ideas above, then go to German Yabla and find the words used in a real world context.
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