Before we start our first lesson,
let's first go over a few things you should know about German.
In Germany, the country refers to itself as 
Deutschland
and German language is
Deutsch
It's not 'Germany' or 'German' as in English. Sometimes, when we try to search for country names on forms, we might not find the term Germany, but instead we'll encounter Deutschland.
What is Hochdeutsch? Why is it translated as 'High German'? đĽ´
German, like other languages around the world, has both a standard language and regional dialects. (Dialekt) Hochdeutsch refers to Standard German Standard German, or Hochdeutsch, is the form of the language that is widely understood by others. Unlike the local dialects of German, which have different vocabulary and can be difficult for outsiders to understand. Even today, regional dialects are still widely spoken in Germany.
Although it is known as 'German,' it is not only Germany where German is spoken or used as an official language. Other countries such as Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland also use German, though with different accents and dialects. This means that you don't need to learn German solely for use in Germany.
German divides words into 10 main types
das Nomen
der Hund - dog
der Mann - man
das Verb
Verbs are used to indicate what people, animals, or things are doing.
kommen - to come
fahren - to drive
das Adjektiv
Adjectives use to describe nouns, indicating attributes such as shape, appearance, and so on.
ein kleiner Hund - a small dog
ein neues Auto - a new car
das Pronomen
Pronouns use to replace nouns (people, animals, and things). For example:
ich - I
du - you
die Präposition
Prepositions use to indicate or specify time, location, and direction. For example:
am Montag - (on) Monday
im BĂźro arbeiten - to work (in) the office
In German, nouns have gender, and each gender has its own specific definite article, also known as:
Artikel
equivalents of 'the' in English. However, unlike in German, English does not have grammatical gender.
When you start learning German, you might wonder why there are so many words starting with capital letters in the middle of sentences. This is because of
Nouns in German must always start with a capital letter.
Similar to English, the rule for starting sentences, where the first letter must also be capitalized, applies in German as well.
Capital letters must be used only when writing the beginning of nouns. However, the definite articles (der, die, das) are written in lowercase, except when the noun begins a sentence. See the next page for examples.
Ich trinke einen Kaffee.
I drink coffee.
Kaffee is noun in this sentence
Ich gehe zur Schule.
I go to school.
Schule is noun in this sentence
Die Katze schläft.
The cat is sleeping.
Katze When 'Katze' (cat) starts a sentence, the definite article 'die' is also capitalized.
Many words are written similarly to English but are pronounced completely differently.
In German, words are often pronounced exactly as they are written. Additionally, In German, words are pronounced syllabically. When you encounter long words that are difficult to read, pay attention to where the letters, vowels, and syllables are, and try to break the word into syllables.
For example
die Information
When you break the word into syllables, you will get:
In - for - ma - ti - on information
die Kommunikation
When you break the word into syllables, you will get:
Kom - mu - ni - ka - ti - on communication
das Krankenhaus
When you break the word into syllables, you will get:
Kran - ken - haus hospital
You'll find that this technique helps make reading German much easier.
Enjoy learning German!
Viel SpaĂ und bis bald! đ¤