Seite 2

Simple Past Tense of sein

The verb sein (to be) forms the simple past tense ("was" in English) as follows:
Ich war... (I was...)Wir waren... (We were...)
Du warst... (You were...)Ihr wart (You were... / plural)
Sie war... (she was...)
Er war... (He was...)
Es war... (It was...)
Sie waren... (They were...)
Sie waren... (You were... / formal)


Übung 2-2a Wo waren sie am Freitag? Fill in the blanks with the correct past tense form of sein. Complete the exercise on BOLT.

  1. Grüß dich Kai! ____________ du am Freitag in der Deutschklasse?
  2. Ich ___________ krank und ich brauche (need) deine Notizen.
  3. Tut mir leid! Meine Schwester und ich __________________ in Hamburg. Frag (ask) Astrid und Ilse!
  4. Hallo, Astrid und Ilse! Ich __________ am Freitag nicht in der Deutschklasse.
  5. ________________ ihr da (there)? Kai ____________ auch nicht da.
  6. Ja, wir ____________________ da. Es ___________ viel Arbeit!
  7. Alle Studenten _____________ sehr beschäftigt (busy) und wir haben viele Hausaufgaben (homework).


Übung 2-2b: Städte und Entfernungen Teil A (Teil B ist auf Seite 11) In the last section on weather, a number of cities in Germany were identified. This exercise reviews numbers and introduces a number of other German cities and their locations. Use the distance table (Entfernungstabelle) to ask the distances between the cities. Draw a line or arrow between the cities and label the distance, as in the example (see map). Fill in the table with the distances.

Beispiel:

Augsburg → Köln

Km   
Hamburg → Berlin
Km   
Bremen → Cottbus

Km   
Garmisch-Partenkirchen → Frankfurt am Main
Km   
Freiburg → Osnabrück

Km   
Schwerin → Hannover
Km   
Hamburg → Frankfurt am Main

Km   
Nürnberg → Dresden
Km   
München → Leipzig

Km   
Mannheim → Magdeburg
Km   
Ulm → Mannheim

Km   
Koblenz → Erfurt
Km   


 

 

Plurals of Nouns

When we think of the plurals of nouns in English, the first thing that comes to mind is the addition of "s": books, tables, lamps. Yet there are many common nouns that have other forms: foot/feet, child/children, deer/deer, mouse/mice, woman / women, and so on. These other forms are related to German plurals. In German, only words borrowed from English and some other languages form the plural with an "s". Otherwise, all plurals in German are formed with a variety of endings and vowel changes. Like gender, plurals of German nouns must be memorized.

The definite article for all plurals is die.

German plurals are grouped in categories. The plural elements are used often in dictionary entries and in other lists of German nouns.
CategoryPlural ElementsSingularPlural
1a - (no change)das Fensterdie Fenster
1b ¨ (add umlaut to main vowel)die Mutterdie Mütter
2a - (add "e")der Tischdie Tische
2b¨e (add umlaut to main vowel and "e")der Bartdie Bärte
3a-er (add "er") das Bilddie Bilder
3b¨er (add umlaut to main vowel and "er")das Buchdie Bücher
4a-en (add "en")das Hemddie Hemden
4b-n (add "n")die Pflanzedie Pflanzen
4c-nen (add "nen", always on feminine nouns ending in "-in")die Lehrerindie Lehrerinnen
5-s (add "s", always foreign words, mostly from English)das Autodie Autos
6from other languages, such as Latindas Datumdie Daten

Tip!

This website give a great explanation of German plurals and has a lookup tool for plurals:

online German dictionary of plurals


Übung 2-2c Wie viele waren in meiner Wohnung? Use the website linked above or another reference source to find the plural forms for the German nouns. The items below are in your apartment. Based on the images, say that there were a given number of things in your apartment. Write the sentences in the lines below the images and in the exercise in BOLT.
Beispiel:

das Bild -er

You write: Zwei Bilder waren in meiner Wohnung


das Bett -en

das Fenster -

das Buch -¨er

die Pflanze -n

die Studentin -nen

das Handy -s

der Tisch -e

der Stuhl -¨e

der Rucksack -¨e

  1. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  2. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  3. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  4. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  5. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  6. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  7. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  8. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  9. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Übung 2-2d Wetter und Städte in Europa. Listen to the recording and select the correct answers based on the weather report for European cities. Prepare answers below and then complete the exercise in BOLT. (Questions and answers in BOLT are randomized.)

Wetterbericht für Europa
  1. Wo ist es sonnig?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  2. Wie ist die Temperatur in Zürich?
    1. 20-25 Grad
    2. 18 Grad
    3. 20 Grad
    4. 29 Grad
    5. 10 Grad
  3. Wo ist es gewitterig?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  4. Wie ist die Temperatur in London?
    1. 20-25 Grad
    2. 18 Grad
    3. 20 Grad
    4. 29 Grad
    5. 10 Grad
  5. Wo ist das Wetter schön und heiß?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  1. Wo regnet es?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  2. Wo ist es nebelig?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  3. Wo ist es bewölkt bis heiter?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  4. Wo ist es leicht (lightly) windig?
    1. Zürich
    2. Wien
    3. Berlin
    4. Paris
    5. London
  5. Wie ist die Temperatur in Berlin?
    1. 20-25 Grad
    2. 18 Grad
    3. 20 Grad
    4. 29 Grad
    5. 10 Grad