Smalltalk! Talking about yourself in German
How to introduce yourself and talk about your hobbies. (And our friend jens tries speed-dating)
Hold onto your Bratwürste, you're about to learn...
- How to say where you’re from
- Useful verbs for talking about your interests
- How to say you like to do something
Poor Jens. It’s half-way through the summer and he still can’t seem to find a girlfriend. So his friend suggests he try a local speed-dating event.
He just has to show up, talk to each woman for two minutes, and decide if any of them seem like a good match.
He decides it’s worth a try, but he’s going to need some help planning what to say.
Important verbs for describing yourself
To help Jens prepare for the speed-dating event, you’ll need to remember that essential verb for “to be.” We've seen it a couple of times already, but here’s a refresher:
Verb: sein (to be)
It will also be important to know how to tell people your name using the verb heißen. Watch out! That's one of those weird ß characters we talked about in an earlier lesson.
Verb: heißen (to be called)
You’ll also need to learn this essential verb for describing where you are from.
Verb: aus kommen (to come from)
Did you see that both heißen and aus kommen use those "normal" verb endings that we talked about in our introduction to verbs? So those endings should be looking pretty familiar by now.
Talking about what you like to do
Jens figures an essential part of speed dating should be talking about what he likes to do for fun.
In German, you say you like to do something by using the word “gern.” (Gern literally means with pleasure. So you say you do things with pleasure. Isn't that charming?)
When you use the word gern, the sentence is structured like this:
subject + verb (with the correct verb ending) + gern
Here are some examples:
Jens picks his most impressive attributes
Jens has two minutes to impress his speed-dates. Which of these lovely factoids should Jens tell the ladies?
Read each one and then say “Ja!” “Nein!” or “Vielleicht...” (“Yes”, “No” or “Maybe...”) to help Jens figure out which of these things he should and should not say. (Bonus round: There are some new words here — see if you can guess what they mean before you look at the answer!)
Great! Now that Jens has figured out his spiel, he just has to show up and try not to make a fool out of himself. (Come on Jens, we’re cheering for you!)
Time to meet the ladies!
It's time to hear what Jens's speed-dates have to say about themselves! Listen to each one and help Jens decide if any of them seem like a good match.
So what do you think? Should Jens go for the rich cat lady, the friendly chess player, or the sports fanatic? Or none of the above? (You’ll have to read the next lesson to see who Jens chooses.)
