Learn The Top 25 Must-know German Verbs

Tutorial Transcript

Hi this is Alisa. Welcome to top 25 German verbs. Let’s get started. [sein] - “be”, “to be” It is little complicated because [Ich bIin] is a version of [sein] but because it’s [Ich bin] it changes. So it’s kind of like “to be” but then in English, it would be the same, “I am Alisa” - [Ich bin Alisa.] [Ich bin ab morgen im Urlaub.] “I am going to be on vacation tomorrow.” Hawaii... I wish! [haben] - “have” [Ich habe mir heute sehr viel vorgenommen.] “I have planned a lot for today.” [tun] - “do” [tun] means “to do” [tun] is used in a very casual way. [Tust du mir den Gefallen und machst heute die Küche sauber?] “Can you do me the favor and clean the kitchen.” [sagen] - “to say” [Ich sage sehr oft “okay”.] “I say “okay” a lot.” [Meine Kollegen sagen, dass ich sehr gut arbeite.] “My colleagues say that I work very good.” [bekommen] - “get” [Ich habe heute mein Gehalt bekommen.] “I got my paycheck today.” [machen] - “make”. For example.. [Meine Mutter macht heute einen Kuchen.] “My mother is making a cake.” And if you never tried German cake, it’s really good. I am going to put it in the oven…. and that’s done and then this is going to go with cream. [gehen] - “go” [Gehen] literally means “to go” or “walk”. [Ich gehe gerne mit meinem Hund spazieren.] “I like to go and walk with my dog.” [Gehst du heute zum Volleyball?] “Are you going to volleyball today?” [wissen] - “to know” [Wer, Weiß, Was] - the three Ws. - “Who knows..." In English, it’s not the W but in German - “who knows what”. WWW Oh, and it’s like W. For example, [ - Weißt du wieviel Uhr es ist? - Ja, ich weiß es.] “ - Do you know what time is it? - Yes I know.” [nehmen] - “take” [Ich nehme einen Regenschirm mit.] “I take the umbrella with me.” [Ich nehme an du hast heute viel zu tun.] In this case, [Ich nehme an] means.. “I assume you have a lot to do today”. So it means something totally different because of the whole sentence but that’s really the magic. [sehen] - “to see” Literally “to see with your eyes”. [Ich sehe mir heute einen Film an.] “I am going to see a movie today.” So in this case, it means “to see a movie”. [Ich sehe das es dir heute viel besser geht.] “I see that you are doing much better today.” [kommen] - “come” [Heute Abend kommt meine Freundin zu Besuch. ] “Tonight, my friend is coming to visit”. [Ich komme gleich.] is actually very casual thing to say. It means, oh “I am going to be there in a second” or “I am coming now” or you can write it as a message or when you are on your way to somewhere. [denken] - “think” [Ich denke das dieses Video sehr hilfreich ist.] “I think this video is very helpful.” [gucken] - “look” [gucken] means “to look” and it’s kind of used between friends and more young people and it’s not very formal. It’s more casual. [Ich gucke mir gerne den Himmel an.] “I like to look at the sky.” [möchten] - “want” [Ich möchte im Sommer an den Strand.] “I want to go to the beach in summer.” [Die Blumen möchten Wasser und brauchen Sonne.] “The flowers want water and need sunlight.” [geben] - “give” [Meine Freundin gibt mir heute ihre CD's.] “My friend is giving me CDs today.” [Ich gebe jetzt auf.] “I am going to give up.” [können] - “be able to” It means “be able to” or “can”. [Ich kann mehrere Sprachen sprechen.] “I am able to speak different languages.” It really means that you are capable or you can do something. [Ich kann Kleidung designen.] “I am able to design clothes.” [finden] - “find” [Ich finde] means when you are expressing your feelings or when you are expressing something you want to say to someone or [finden] means really “find something”. So as you guys know, but Easter is really big in Germany and... [Die Kinder finden Ostereier im Garten.] “The kids find Easter eggs in the garden.” [erzählen] - “tell” [Immer wenn ich aus dem Urlaub zurück komme, erzähle ich die aufregendsten Geschichten.] “When I come back from vacation, I always have the most amazing stories." [Als Kind hat meine Mutter mir Märchen erzählt.] “As a kid, my mom used to tell me fairy tales. The most famous fairy tales [Märchen] are from the Grimm Brothers and they are actually German and I really used to love [Rotkäppchen] It’s “Red Riding Hood”. [fragen] - “ask” When you are asking your teacher for example.. [Hallo Herr Müller ich habe eine Frage.] "Hello Mr. Müller, I have a question... or... can I ask a question?” [arbeiten] - “work” [Gerade arbeite ich an einem Video für euch.] “Right now, I am working on a video for you guys.” [Die Bauarbeiter arbeiten an der Straße.] “The construction workers are working on the street.” [scheinen] - “seem” [scheinen] has actually two different meanings. So one is “seem” but one is actually “to shine”. You are in a good mood…! [Wenn ich gut drauf bin, dann scheine ich von innen.] “When I am in a good mood and I shine from the inside.” [scheinen] - “seem” [Es scheint mir so, als wäre Katrin gut drauf.] “It seems like Katrin is in a good mood.” [fühlen] - “feel” [Ich fühle mich heute sehr gut.] “Today I feel really good.” If you are buying a carpet and you say.. [Ich fühle den Teppich und er fühlt sich sehr weich an.] “I feel the carpet and it feels really soft” And also... [Ich fühle die Musik.] - “I feel the music." Yeah lately I actually have been listening to a lot of music and so I have been in a good mood. I think music makes you feel really good. [versuchen] - “try” This one is interesting because in [versuchen] there is also the verb [suchen] which means “to search”. [Ich versuche jedes Jahr etwas neues zu lernen.] “I try to learn something new every year.” ...either if it’s an instrument or reading something new and something that I’ve never read before. I think it’s important to challenge yourself. [essen] - “eat” Yeah.. [Gleich gehe ich zum Mittagessen.] “Soon I am going to go eat lunch.” So "eat" is really “eating”. [glauben] - “believe” [Ich glaube Karl hat heute eine gute Arbeit geleistet.] “I believe that Carl did a good job today.” Thank you for watching the top 25 German verbs. Don’t forget to subscribe and I hope to see you soon. Bye.