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It's time to make some changes! In Episode 46 (Level B1), Anna and Lukas talk about their \
📝 Transcript
Click any sentence to jump to that moment in the video. Use the 🔊 button to hear the pronunciation.
Hello and welcome. Well, if you're learning German, this might sound familiar to you. Your sentences are grammatically top-notch, but they don't quite sound, well, like a native speaker's. Exactly, that's where we'll start
today, because I'll show you a very simple trick that will change that immediately. Exactly, that's it, isn't it? You put a sentence together, it's absolutely correct, but it somehow feels cumbersome.
a bit clunky. Let's take a look at a very typical example of this. Let's take this sentence here. Grammatically, there's absolutely nothing to complain about. It's 100% correct. But, and this is the crucial point: it's not necessarily the most elegant way
to say it. So where's the opportunity to do it better? Right here. The subject 'Ich' (I) appears twice. Once in the main clause, once in the subordinate clause. And for exactly such cases, i.e., when the subject is the same, the
German language has a much, much more elegant solution ready. Do you see the difference? On one side, this correct, but somewhat cumbersome, 'dass' clause, and on the other side, the alternative: 'Ich hoffe, die Prüfung zu bestehen' (I hope to pass the exam). We simply throw out the 'Ich'
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German Made Simple
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📖 Vocabulary
Key vocabulary from this episode with part of speech, meaning, and example sentences. Practice along with the video above.
inner pig-dog (procrastination, laziness)
Es ist schwer, den inneren Schweinehund zu überwinden.
| Word | Type | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| bekannt vorkommen | Verb | to seem familiar | Das Lied kommt mir bekannt vor. |
| der Muttersprachler | Nomen (m.) | native speaker | Sie spricht Deutsch wie ein Muttersprachler. |
| umständlich | Adjektiv | cumbersome, awkward | Dieser Satz ist zu lang und umständlich. |
| meckern | Verb | to complain, to grumble | Es gibt nichts zu meckern, alles ist perfekt. |
| die Chance | Nomen (f.) | chance, opportunity | Das ist eine gute Chance, Deutsch zu üben. |
| hoffen | Verb | to hope | Ich hoffe, dich bald zu sehen. |
| trennbar | Adjektiv | separable | Viele deutsche Verben sind trennbar. |
| die Vorsilbe | Nomen (f.) | prefix | Bei 'aufstehen' ist 'auf-' die Vorsilbe. |
| die Absicht | Nomen (f.) | intention, purpose | Meine Absicht ist es, nach Deutschland zu reisen. |
| der innere Schweinehund | Nomen (m.) | inner pig-dog (procrastination, laziness) | Es ist schwer, den inneren Schweinehund zu überwinden. |
✏️ Exercises
Test your understanding with fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice questions. Click "Check" to see the answer.
Ich habe keine Zeit heute ____.
Warum lernst du Deutsch? Ich lerne Deutsch, ____ in Deutschland zu arbeiten.
Er verspricht, das Zimmer ____.
Mein Deutsch klingt noch nicht wie bei einem ____.
Ich hoffe, die Prüfung ____.
Es ist wichtig, pünktlich ____.
Der Satz ist grammatikalisch korrekt, aber er klingt sehr ____.
Sie geht in die Bäckerei, ____ Brot zu kaufen.
Meine ____ ist es, fließend Deutsch zu sprechen.
Ich versuche, jeden Tag Deutsch ____.
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