The phrase Angst haben refers to being scared.
„Ich habe Angst, Frederick“, rief er.
"I am scared, Frederick," he called.
Caption 14, Piggeldy und Frederick: Das Kahnfahren
Play Caption
What's interesting is that there are two prepositions that are commonly used with this phrase. When we use vor with Angst haben, it's a matter of being afraid of something or someone.
Angst muss man vor ihnen keine haben.
You don't have to be scared of them.
Caption 3, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
Play Caption
Sie hat Angst vor der Prüfung, weil ihre Muttersprache nicht Deutsch ist.
She is afraid of the exam because her native language isn't German.
Caption 24, Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Einbürgerungstest
Play Caption
But it's also possible to use um with Angst haben, and this has different nuances. It can actually be used to describe being afraid on someone's behalf, or being afraid "for" something rather than "of" something.
Der Weltmeister bekam wohl langsam aber sicher Angst um mich.
The world champion was slowly but surely getting scared for me.
Caption 39, Rheinmain im Blick: Sportreporter als Judoka
Play Caption
Auf dem Nachhauseweg verirrte er sich in einem furchtbaren Schneesturm und hatte Angst um sein Leben.
On the way home, he lost his way in a terrible snowstorm and feared for his life.
Captions 19-20, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Further Learning
Try to create your own sentences with Angst haben and both prepositions. Many examples can be found on Yabla German.
To conclude our series of lessons on jobs and professional fields, today we'll look at three additional job categories: education, business/sales, and crafts/trades.
While der Erzieher / die Erzieherin refers to educators working with any age level, it is der Lehrer / die Lehrerin that you will find in compound nouns like die Klavierlehrerin, der Yogalehrer, etc. The English word "trainer" is borrowed in German, and means both coach and trainer.
Hört auf das, was eure Lehrerinnen und Lehrer zum Coronavirus sagen.
Listen to what your teachers say about the coronavirus.
Caption 26, Bundesamt für Gesundheit: Coronavirus und Schulen
Play Caption
Es gibt begleitende Aktionen rund um das Theaterstück sowie Unterrichtsmaterial und Workshops für Lehrer und Erzieher.
There are accompanying activities having to do with the play, as well as educational materials and workshops for teachers and educators.
Captions 28-29, Theaterstück über gesunde Ernährung: Henrietta in Fructonia
Play Caption
Mit spezieller Ausrüstung, einer Begleitperson und einem ausgebildeten Trainer können sich die Rollifahrer à la Tarzan von Baum zu Baum schwingen.
With special equipment, a companion, and a skilled trainer, the wheelchair users can swing from tree to tree à la Tarzan.
Captions 4-5, Tarzan im Rollstuhl: Waldseilpark für Menschen mit Handicap
Play Caption
In business and sales, there are many different jobs and titles, from employee (der Mitarbeiter / die Mitarbeiterin) to CEO (der Geschäftsführer / die Geschäftsführerin), consultant (der Unternehmensberater / die Unternehmensberaterin) to accountant (der Buchhalter / die Buchhalterin).
Und das ist der Makler.
And this is the real estate agent.
Caption 33, Mein Weg nach Deutschland: Auf Wohnungssuche
Play Caption
Der Kaufmann hatte kein Glück in der Stadt
The Merchant had no luck in town
Caption 17, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Ich sehe, Sie haben in Izmir als Verkäuferin gearbeitet.
I see you worked in Izmir as a saleswoman.
Caption 39, Mein Weg nach Deutschland Auf Arbeitssuche
Play Caption
Ein Mann im Rollstuhl hat sich auf eine Stelle als Buchhalter beworben.
A man in a wheelchair has applied for a job as an accountant.
Caption 43, Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Einbürgerungstest
Play Caption
An important remaining category is people who work in various crafts and trades.
Der dritte Bruder war ein geschickter Tischler.
The third brother was a skilled carpenter.
Caption 17, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Die drei Brüder
Play Caption
Lackierer, Maurer, Klempner, Berufskraftfahrer.
Painters, bricklayers, plumbers, professional drivers.
Caption 19, Nicos Weg: Jobs und Gender
Play Caption
Further Learning
In the video quoted above, Lisa and Sebastian talk about what jobs are more often done by men or women. Do you agree? Watch it on Yabla German.
In these lessons, we've looked at the climate crisis as well as vocabulary for different types of wind and rain in German. This week, let's look at words and phrases for talking about extreme weather.
While many places in the world deal with hurricanes, a bad storm with high winds and terrible rain that occurs in Europe is generally called der Orkan and not der Hurrikan in German:
Im März dieses Jahres
In March of this year,
ist der Orkan Niklas über Deutschland hinweggezogen.
Hurricane Niklas passed over Germany.
Captions 5-6, Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft - Naturgefahrenreport
Play Caption
In the winter, of course, it would be a snowstorm or hailstorm:
Auf dem Nachhauseweg verirrte er sich in einem
On the way home, he lost his way in a
furchtbaren Schneesturm.
terrible snowstorm.
Caption 19, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Sturm, Hagel und Starkregen.
Storms, hail, and torrential rain.
Caption 1, Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft - Naturgefahrenreport
Play Caption
Though Germany rarely has natural disasters such as earthquakes or tornados, the weather has become increasingly unstable. In particular, flooding has been a problem in recent years:
Überschwemmungen wie in der Region Ahr und Erft im Juli 2021 ...
Floods, such as in the Ahr and Erft region in July 2021...
Caption 23, Klimaschutz - Es geht um das Überleben der Menschheit
Play Caption
Im März wurde Japan von einem gewaltigen Erdbeben,
In March Japan was ravaged by a powerful earthquake,
einer furchtbaren Flutwelle und, in der Folge,
a horrendous flood and, subsequently,
einer verheerenden Reaktorkatastrophe heimgesucht.
a devastating nuclear reactor catastrophe.
Captions 5-6, Angela Merkel - Neujahrsansprache
Play Caption
Hier zum Beispiel ihre Performance bei der
Here, for example, her performance at the
Hamburger Sturmflut 1962.
Hamburg storm flood 1962.
Caption 14, heute-show - Die männliche Merkel hat Erinnerungslücken
Play Caption
Around the world and in Germany, a lack of rain and high temperatures in certain months has dire circumstances as well:
Wo Dürre ist, herrscht auch geistige Dürre.
Where there is drought, there is also intellectual drought.
Caption 45, heute-show Wasserknappheit - Verkauft eure Aktien und investiert in Wasser!
Play Caption
Kleines Beispiel: Stell dir einen großen Waldbrand vor.
Small example: Imagine a big forest fire.
Caption 63, heute-show - Wer ist schuld an der Klimakrise?
Play Caption
Further Learning
In addition to reading the lessons linked above, you can look at the linked videos on Yabla German to learn more about extreme weather and the environment.
In German, there are a number of prepositions that can be translated as "to" to express movement from one place to another: nach, zu, in, an, and auf. Often it is difficult to know which one to use in what context and with what type of place, and you simply have to memorize certain patterns. This week, let's begin with the preposition nach.
We use nach when the destination is a city, and also for most countries. However, there are some exceptions to this in which in is used with countries, for example, with die Türkei, die Schweiz, and die Vereinigten Staaten (As you may remember, some countries have genders in German). And keep in mind that the preposition in is used when the destination is die Stadt ("the city" or "the town") or das Dorf ("the village").
Ihre Nachkommen wanderten auch nach Italien und Österreich aus.
Their offspring also migrated to Italy and Austria.
Caption 26, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten
Play Caption
Er will in die Schweiz reisen. Schön, was noch?
He wants to travel to Switzerland. Nice, what else?
Caption 37, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Über jemanden sprechen
Play Caption
Hi, ich bin Marie. Ich bin gerade mit Julia nach Berlin gezogen.
Hi, I'm Marie. I just moved to Berlin with Julia.
Caption 3, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Besuch
Play Caption
Eines Tages machte sich der Kaufmann auf den Weg in die Stadt, um Geld zu verdienen.
One day, the Merchant set out for town in order to earn some money.
Caption 9, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Nach is also used for cardinal directions and with "left," "right," "up," and "down."
Es drehte sich nach links... -Und du? -und dann nach rechts.
He turned to the left... -And you? -and then to the right.
Caption 18, Meine Freundin Conni - Conni schläft im Kindergarten
Play Caption
Der Russe dreht mit starken Kräften westlich der Düna nach Norden ein.
The Russians are turning west of the Daugava River towards the north with strong forces.
Caption 25, Die Stunde der Offiziere - Dokudrama über den 20. Juli 1944
Play Caption
Another rule: while we say "go/drive/come home" in English, the equivalent phrase in German has a preposition: nach Hause + verb.
Und als der Bär nach Hause kam, machten sie sich einen gemütlichen Abend.
And when the bear came home, they had a cozy evening.
Captions 37-38, Janoschs Traumstunde - Post für den Tiger
Play Caption
Further Learning
We will cover the other prepositions used to express movement from one place to another in coming newsletters. Pay attention to how "to" is translated with various places and directions on Yabla German and stay tuned!
Today we'll look at a topic that is neither particularly difficult nor completely easy. This is because either you memorize it immediately or you constantly forget the necessary order.
To create the "either... or..." construction in German, the words entweder and oder are employed, always in that particular order:
Daniel Müller ist entweder nicht im Büro oder nicht erreichbar.
Daniel Müller is either not in the office or not available.
Caption 20, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern - Part 1
Play Caption
Das kann man entweder persönlich tun in einer Filiale oder online.
You can do that either in person at a branch or online.
Caption 14, Eva erklärt - Bankkonten
Play Caption
Used to reject more than one possibility or eliminate two different parties, weder... noch... is the German equivalent of "neither... nor...":
Es war weder Mensch noch Tier.
It was neither man nor animal.
Caption 33, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Keiner rechnet damit, dass ein Radfahrer auf dem Gehweg fährt, weder Fußgänger noch Autofahrer.
No one takes into account that a cyclist will be riding on the sidewalk, neither pedestrians nor auto drivers.
Captions 12-13, Einsatz für Christophorus - Gehwegradler
Play Caption
Another construction which you might have seen and is worth mentioning here is sowohl als auch. This is a fancy way of saying "both... and..." or "as well as...", therefore serving the opposite function.
Sowohl Malerei als auch Bildhauerei.
Both paintings as well as sculptures.
Caption 15, Lokalhelden - Art House - Part 1
Play Caption
Sowohl in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als auch in der DDR wehen schwarz-rot-goldene Fahnen.
Black, red, and gold flags wave in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as in the GDR.
Caption 61, Terra X - Woher kommen die Farben Schwarz-Rot-Gold?
Play Caption
Further Learning
Look for more examples of the entweder... oder... and weder... noch... constructions on Yabla German to solidify your understanding. Also take a look at the different ways in which sowohl als auch can be translated.
The classic rock band the Beatles played a lot in Hamburg at the start of their career and thus felt it was important to release some of their first recordings in German too. The song "She Loves You" was also released in 1964 as "Sie liebt dich," and you can listen to it here. The expression is also the climax of a classic fairy tale:
Oh, Biest! Ich liebe dich. Es ist mir egal, wie du aussiehst.
Oh, Beast! I love you. It doesn't matter to me how you look.
Caption 84, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
And another classic German expression for being in love:
Ich glaube, ich habe mich in dich verliebt.
I think I've fallen in love with you.
Caption 31, Filmtrailer - Keinohrhasen
Play Caption
The phrase in sich verlieben is one of the times when the German preposition in has the noun following it in the accusative case. In the Berlin dialect, it is often in the dative case (ich liebe dir, ich bin in dir verliebt), but this is not good High German. Let's stick with ich liebe dich and ich bin in dich verliebt!
Gut' Nacht, mein Schatz. -Ich hab' dich vermisst.
Good night, my precious. -I've missed you.
Caption 3, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 4: Die Trennung
Play Caption
Der Schatz is a classic German term of endearment, but it also means "treasure." When I lived in Germany as a teenager, I often heard male American soldiers using the dialect version of the word, Schatzi, to accost unfortunate female passers-by. The word "schatzi" is even included in a number of American dictionaries as an acceptable English word, evidence of a relatively recent addition of a German word into English. And of course, if you love someone, you miss them (vermissen) when they are gone.
Further Learning
Look for further examples of lieben and verlieben on Yabla German and see how they are used in a real world context. P.S. The Beatles also released a German version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as "Komm, gib mir deine Hand"...
It's sometimes not a bad idea to make sure some of that "old knowledge" is still accurate, so let's get back to basics: adjective declensions with definite articles. To make it as easy as possible, remember the following three rules for adjective endings:
1. All adjectives in the singular nominative case end in -e, regardless of noun gender. Here is an example with the singular masculine nominative:
Der alte Minister ging in den Saal.
The old minister went into the hall.
Caption 37, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Des Kaisers neue Kleider
Play Caption
2. All adjectives in the dative or genitive cases, as well as all adjectives in plural form, end in -en regardless of the noun's gender. Here is an example with the plural genitive:
Der Kaufmann ließ es sich schmecken
The Merchant enjoyed the meal
und verbrachte die Nacht in einem der schönen Schlafräume.
and spent the night in one of the beautiful bedrooms.
Captions 25-26, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
3. This is the hard one: Adjectives for masculine nouns in the singular accusative case end in -en, but adjectives for feminine and neuter nouns in the singular accusative case end in -e. Here is an example with the single masculine accusative:
So gibt es hier die elektrische Gitarre für den abgebrühten [Umgangssprache] Rockstar.
Thus there is the electric guitar here for the jaded rock star.
Caption 2, Rheinmain im Blick - Musikmesse in Frankfurt
Play Caption
If the noun above had been feminine (or neuter), it would have dropped the -n: ...für die abgebrühte Musikerin.
Further Learning
There is a system for remembering adjective endings that many people find easy to remember called the Oklahoma — see if it works for you. (A special tip of the hat to Yabla subscriber Mike S. for that!) You can also search for some of your favorite adjectives on Yabla German and review the ways the adjectives end in the different cases with different noun genders.
Although the German words was für may translate directly as "what for" as separate words, when you put them together they have a different meaning. If somebody asks you to do something in German and you want to know "What for?", you would properly respond with "Warum?" ("why") or "Wofür?", which is another way of saying "why."
In English, the word combination was für usually means "what" or "what kind":
Was für ein Geschenk soll ich dir mitbringen?
What kind of present should I bring [back] with me for you?
Caption 14, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Hach Gott, was für ein Tag!
Oh god, what a day!
Caption 8, Kein Kredit - im Land der Klone
Play Caption
The phrase was für in other contexts can also mean "something for":
Also, wär' der Modeljob definitiv was für dich?
So, would the modelling job definitely be something for you?
Caption 10, RNZ Top Model - Casting 2010
Play Caption
In the example above, the word was is functioning as a shortened version of etwas, which means "something."
Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and put in the search words "what kind" to see the different ways that was für is used in different contexts.
The Swiss have it easy: they completely eliminated the ß (eszett or "sharp s") some years ago, but since we are teaching Standard German at Yabla, we should learn a few general rules about which words use s, ss, and ß.
1. Single s
There are no words in German that begin with ss or ß, so that rule is easy. A single s will usually come after the letters l, m, n and r when a vowel follows the s, with words such as: der Balsam (the balm), die Bremse (the brake), and sparsam (economical):
Das ist sehr sparsam!
This is very economical!
Caption 38, Der Trabi - Das Kultauto aus dem Osten
Play Caption
A single s will usually come before the letter p, with words such as raspeln (to grate), lispeln (to lisp), and die Knospe (the bud):
Knospen, Blätter oder, Früchte von Platanen zum Beispiel...
Buds, leaves or, fruit from the plane trees, for example...
Caption 26, Freilebende Papageien - Überwintern in Wiesbaden
Play Caption
In most cases, only a single s will come before the letter t, with words such as die Liste (the list), pusten (slang: to blow), and prusten (to puff):
Dann will ich husten und will prusten
Then I'll huff and I'll puff
und euer Haus zusammenpusten!
and I'll blow your house down!
Caption 50, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die drei kleinen Schweinchen
Play Caption
2. Double s
The double s is usually written only after a short vowel, with words such as das Schloss (the castle), ein bisschen (a little bit), and passend (fitting):
Eigentlich hätte es gar keine passendere Rolle für sie geben können.
Actually, there couldn't at all have been a more fitting role for her.
Caption 16, Christina Aguilera und Cher - in Deutschland
Play Caption
3. Eszett: ß
The ß is usually used after a long vowel or double-vowel combination (dipthong), in words such as die Straße (the street), der Meißel (the chisel), and stoßen (to bump, to repel):
Gut, und die stoßen sich ab.
Good and they repel one another.
Caption 35, Das 1. Newtonsche Gesetz - erklärt am Beispiel des Dodomobils
Play Caption
4. Verbs that vary between ss and ß
Just to make it more complicated, there are some verbs that are written with ß in the infinitive, but switch to ss when conjugated — and vice versa too! For instance the verb vergessen (to forget) uses the letter ss in the infinitive and present tenses (ich vergesse, I forget), but switches to the ß in the past (preterite) tense:
Belle gewann das Biest so lieb,
Belle became so fond of the Beast
dass sie seine äußere Erscheinung darüber völlig vergaß.
that she fully forgot about his outward appearance.
Captions 61-62, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
Play Caption
Further Learning:
Do a search on Yabla German and see if you can find some more examples of verbs that vary between ß and ss in their infinitives and their conjugations.
Spanish
French
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Español
Français
Italiano
Português
Deutsch
