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Comprehensible Input (Advanceds translate for Beginners): Something that happened yesterday. Vocabulary help: der Seehund = seal.
My narration was systematic, so I used verbs in the one-word past tense (ging >gehen, sah>sehen), not just the "everyday" past tense that is used to report casually "What's been happening?" (bin gegangen > gehen, habe gesehen >sehen). You'll encounter a lot of the "systematic" one-word past tense in classical music that narrates at length (recitative, Lieder texts like "Der Lindenbaum"). But the two tenses can appear mixed around each other as the speaker shifts from systematic or background narration to remarks that are more directed at the present.
BUT: Even if you're not so proficient, you can narrate. Just set the scene with the most common past-tense verb of all, war- (was/were), and then narrate in an energetic present tense. We do this in English: "I was in the bus and this guy getS on and sitS down…").
Review of yesterday: words for "me", "you", "him", "her", "us"
Wer wohnt mit wem (with whom) in welchem Motel?
Wer singt heute mit wem in welcher Probe / Singstunde, und wann?
welche = which (don't use "was" in imitation of English "what", if the sense is "which")
(Advanceds: Can you tell who you sang (gesungen) / ate (gegessen) / drank (getrunken) / talked (gesprochen) with yesterday?)
Spatial words (prepositions) "hinter" = behind; "neben" = next to; "vor" = in front of; "zwischen" = between
Stand in ranks as though on stage in chorus rehearsal. Who is where relative to whom?
blocking rehearsal = die Stellprobe; blocking (concept or the procedure) = die Positionierung (der Darsteller durch die Regie)
Assume various acting positions as though in staged performance of outrageous opera and repeat the above ("stehen" = stand; "sitzen" = sit; "liegen" = lie)
Grammar point #4: German has four grammatical "cases": nominative, accusative, dative, genitive
See below - didn't want to interrupt the flow of the class.
Body Parts for Singers - and How to Describe What Hurts
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der Kopf
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das Auge (Augen)
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das Ohr (Ohren)
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die Nase
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die Lippe, -n
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die Zunge
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der Hals
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head
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eye
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ear
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nose
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lip
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tongue
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neck*
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der Rücken
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das Kreuz
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der Brustkorb
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die Lunge**
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der Magen***
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der Arm
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das Handgelenk
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back
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small of back
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chest (thorax)
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lung(s)
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stomach, gut
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arm
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wrist
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die Hand (Hände)
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der Finger, -
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das Bein, -e
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das Knie, -n
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das Fußgelenk
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der Fuß, Füsse
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die Zehe, -n
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hand
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finger
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leg OR bone****
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knee
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ankle
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foot
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toe
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*Technically, Hals is the outer neck, Kehle the inner part (throat). But Hals commonly serves for both.
**Lunge is singular, where English "lungs" is plural. Example: Die Lunge IST geschwollen.
***Magen is the inner belly, the digestive organ. (Actually, by "stomach" we often mean intestine, when we're having digestion problems. Der Darm = intestine. Der Blinddarm = appendix. Der Bauch is the external belly, the part with the muscles.
Bein is added to various other words: Fingerbein, Schienbein (=shin), Schlüsselbein (=collarbone), etc.
Two ways to express pain: The [body part] hurts [tut weh]. OR [Person] has [body part]pains [-Schmerzen].
Der Kopf tut mir weh. / Ich habe Kopfschmerzen. // Die Augen tun mir weh. / Ich habe Augenschmerzen.
Standard "correct" German: Der/Die/Das [body part] tut [mir, ihm, ihr, etc.) weh.
Increasingly common, especially in speech: Mein / Dein / Sein Kopf tut weh.
Adjust "tut" / "tun" for singular / plural. Das rechte Auge tut mir weh. / Die Augen tun mir weh.
Activity: Hold / point to body part. Partner 1: Die Nase tut mir weh. / Partner 2: Oh, die Nase tut dir weh."
Advanceds: Can you give a reason for the pain? Example: Du trinkst zu viel.
Challenge: Can you give some helpful advice? Example: Du sollst mehr schlafen.
Schubert: Lindenbaum (2. Hälfte)
Grammar point #4: German has four grammatical "cases": nominative, accusative, dative, genitive
"Cases" are categories of language function and form. In English we find "case" forms only with pronouns, and there are only three cases: I/me/my; you/you/your; he/him/his; her/her/her; we/us/our; they/them/their; thou/thee/thy. In German cases appear in the pronouns: ich/mich/mir/mein (and so on - see a grammar book for the complete system). They also appear as endings on other words, like adjectives, but these details (see examples further below) are NOT AT ALL AS IMPORTANT as managing the cases of pronouns.
Nominative case has one and only one function, and it is an extremely important one: it identifies the "DO-ER" of whatever main ACTION is expressed:
Winterreise #2: Der WIND SPIELT mit der Wetterfahne. / The WIND PLAYS with the weathervane.
Joshua studiert Musik und ER singt Bass. Chelsea ist Amerikanerin und SIE singt Sopran.
Accusative case has several functions, but the most important one is that is signals that some action DIRECTLY affects a target:
Joshua hat jetzt seine Singstunde, aber ich sehe IHN nicht. / Joshua has his voice lesson today, but I don't see HIM.
Ich liebe DICH, aber liebst do MICH? / I love YOU, but do you love ME?
Dative case has several functions, but the most important one is that it identifies a person or thing that is INDIRECTLY involved in an action that directly affects something or someone else:
Ich kaufe ein Handy. / I'm buying a cellphone. (Ich is nominative; ein Handy is accusative; there is no dative).
Ich kaufe MIR / DIR / IHM / IHR / UNS / IHNEN ein Handy. / I'm buying MYSELF / YOU (informal) / IHM / HER / UNS / YOU (formal) a cell phone.
Genitive case has several functions, but the most important one is expressing possession. With the pronouns, it's largely a matter of getting the right basic word, so as not to confuse "his" with "her", etc.
Erik ist nicht hier, aber das ist SEIN Laptop. /Erik's not here, but that's HIS laptop.
Erika ist nicht hier, aber das ist IHR Laptop. / Erika's not here, but that's HER laptop.
With other words (der, ein, kein, etc.) genitive case involves some tricky endings, but don't worry. It is declining in use in modern German, especially spoken German (replaced by "von" and other expressions).
Oldstyle German (with genitive case): Das Haus meineR Eltern.
Modern German (with "von": Das Haus von meineN Eltern. (Both mean "my parents' house")
When you become a high-level speaker and writer of German you will have to handle adjective endings with these various cases. The system is indeed systematic (reasonably logical and regular), but the system is indeed complex. As students of classical music you will also encounter much more gentive case than is used in modern German. Below are some examples from the classical repertoire, with grammatical info about gender, number (singular / plural), and case. But this is NOT the stage to worry about those details in ordinary use of German. Say the adjective (schön, blau) and get to the following noun (Donau, etc.), so that people can at least figure out what you're saying! Mistakes in endings ALMOST NEVER distort meaning in any major way.
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