Find the dative equivalent of these words
a) die Leute
b) ein Schiff
c) das Heft
d) Tische
e) der Lehrer
Translate these sentences into German:
a) Can you open the door for us?
b) I live with my parents
c) I didn’t answer him
d) Did the children like the cake?
e) She didn’t like the play at all
Filll in the blanks using the dative:
a) Ich möchte mit ___ sprechen (die Schüler)
b) Er gibt ___ den Ball (der Hund)
c) Niemand kann ___ helfen (ich)
d) Was hast du ___ geschickt (dein Bruder)
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The dative case is used to indentify indirect objects. Indirect objects ask ‘for whom’ or ‘to whom’.
Example: Alexander gibt seinem Freund 200 Euro. Alexander gives his friend 200 Euros.
In this case ’seinem Freund’ is the dative
Here is the dative of the definite article.
Dative masculine: dem
Dative feminine: der
Dative neuter: dem
Dative plural: den
Now let’s look at the dative indefinite
dative masculine: einem
dative feminine: einer
dative neuter: einem
dative plural: -
These verbs are commonly used in the dative:
danken: to thank
dienen: to serve
gefallen: to please, to like
glauben: to believe
helfen: to help
raten: to advise
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For those of you who are shy about speaking German in public, you can still practice conversing in German using this simple task. Take a family photo album and point to the various people in the photo. Then ask yourself, “Wer ist das?” (Who is that?) Then answer the question. I’ll give you the vocabulary to answer this question. Obviously the best way to practice is to speak with another person, but if for some reason this is impossible, it’s better than no practice at all. For every answer, you’ll need to respond by saying, “Das ist..”
Das ist die Mutter (That is the mother)
der Vater (father)
der Bruder (brother)
die Schwester (sister)
der Großvater (grandfather)
die Großmutter (grandmother)
der Sohn (son)
die Tochter (daughter)
der Onkel (uncle)
die Tante (aunt)
der Kusine (female cousin)
der Kusin (male cousin)
der Mann (husband/man)
die Frau (wife/woman)
I’ve always been fascinated by German vornamen, or first names. Today we’ll look at some of the meanings and origins of German first names. If you don’t have a German name, hopefully this will inspire you to choose a German name that best represents yourself.
Anna/Anne : is a populär girl’s name. It means “grace”.
Arnold : is an altmodisch name for boys. It means “he who rules like an eagle”.
Conrad/Konrad : boy’s name meaning “bold advisor”.
Friedrich (can be shortened to Fritz) : “ruling in peace”
Heinrich : strong ruler
Ada : “nobility”
Lena : “sophisticated”
Karin : “pure”
Johannes/Yohan : “god is merciful”
Julia : has Latin origins meaning “youthful”
Maximilian : from Latin meaning “greatest”
Marie/Maria : “beloved”
Felix : “happy”, “lucky”
Charlotte : “little”, “womanly”
Some of these German names have been adopted from other cultures while others are traditionell German names.
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Richard Wagner war ein deutscher Komponist. He believed in Gesamtkunstwerk, which was the synthesis of art, music and drama. Richard Wagner wurde am 22. Mai 1813 in Leipzig. Sechs Monate nach seiner Geburt, am 23. November 1813, starb der Vater an Typhus. Wagner’s stepfather introduced Wagner to musical theater. He was inspired by artists such as Beethovan.
Am 24. November heiratete er Minna Planer, die dort als Schauspielerin engagiert war. Minna ran off with an army officer and came back to Wagner when the officer abandoned her. This would continue to be a volitile marriage for the next three decades. In the 1840s, the couple went to Paris to get away from their debtors. Nachdem es ihm in Paris nicht gelungen war, künstlerische Pläne voranzubringen und dort Erfolg zu haben, verließ er im April 1842 Paris und siedelte sich in Dresden an. In 1842 Wagner’s opera Rienzi received critical acclaim in Dresden. He had finally made it!
During this time, he became involved in politics and had to live in exile in Zurich. 1858 spitzte sich Wagners Affäre mit Mathilde Wesendonck zu. His affair inspired the work Tristan and Isolde. Here is a sample of this song:
[youtube]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKN1CHeOKS4[/youtube]
