I prefer to cover a number of things in a different order from the text's presentation, so we will do a lot of jumping around. In fact, the first thing we will study is actually in the second introductory section, Einführung B. We will begin with section B.3 on page 45 and the personal pronouns in German.

It is absolutely imperative to know the German equivalents of the subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, and they. Some are straight English - German equivalents.

I - ich

We - wir (the w has a v sound, so this is pronounced like veer)

Note, however, the following sticky points.

You - There are three different words for you. Du is a familiar form. It is used with family members and very close friends. However, it is used with one person only. Ihr is the form used with more than one family member or close friend. Sie is a formal form and is used with people you don't know as well. Sie is both a singular and a plural form and is always capitalized. For further explanation about these three words for you, read A.7 Addressing people on page 23 in the text.

He - er. Er can also mean it when referring to masculine objects. Yes, in German objects as well as people have gender. More about that later.

She - sie. Sie can also mean it with feminine objects. It is capitalized only at the beginning of a sentence.

Complete the sentences using woher (where from), aus (from, out of), and the correct forms of the verb kommen.

The use of woher is a little tricky. Germans don't say literally Where do you come from? They use the word woher which means where from. So the question is really From where come you? (Woher kommen Sie?)

The key to completing the sentences is having some idea what the sentences mean. Work on the English equivalent before you try to fill in the blanks. Click below to make sure of the English meaning and to find the correct answers. You will be expected to reproduce the German dialogues from the English equivalents.

(Page 19) --- A.2 -- What is your name? The verb heißen (to be called)

Again, we will be bouncing around. Our first stop in Einführung A is section A.2 on page 19 and the verb heißen (to be called). Germans don't say literally My name is … . They say I am called. They don't say literally What is your name? They say How (wie) are you called? Keep in mind that expressions with equivalent meanings in the two languages don't necessarily use word for word translations. Note that the verb heißen uses the same endings that we learned with the verb kommen. Most verbs will follow this pattern, although many will have slight variations. The du form of heißen adds only a -t instead of -st because of the ß which is the equivalent of a double s. There is no need to add -st to an s.

Your job in this exercise is to put the correct form of heißen in each blank. Refer to the chart on page 19 if you need a reminder. Then click below for the correct answers and the English equivalents. You will be expected to reproduce the dialogues in German from the English equivalents.

You will note that the verb sein is an irregular verb. Its forms do not follow the pattern that we learned with the verb kommen. You will just have to pound these forms in with brute memorization.

Complete the dialogues with the appropriate form of the verb sein (is, am, and are).

Check the English equivalent of the dialogues to aid you in determining what you need to add. Then check to answers to see how you did. Again, you will be expected to reproduce the German dialogues from the English equivalents. Watch for the following new vocabulary:

The verb haben (to have) is the last verb we will study in this lesson. This verb isn't too bad. It's almost "regular". The only difference is that the du, and er, sie, es forms don't have the b from the stem. All of the other persons add the regular endings to the verb stem.

We will handle this exercise the same way we did the others. Work on the dialogues for meaning and then insert the appropriate form of haben. Check for English equivalents and answers, and practice putting the entire dialogue into German from the English version. Note the following new words:

viele=many, a lot of
Freunde=friends (male or a mixture of male and female)
Freundinnen= friends (female)
einen Stift=a pencil
das Deutschbuch=the German book
dann=then
zwei=two
auch=also, too

I have put together a group of short sentences using the verbs kommen, sein, heißen, and haben. Give me the English equivalents of these expressions.

Study the numbers in German. The link below will take you to a practice sheet. There will be a similar sheet on your exam.

Study the colors and do the practice page below. This page will also be an exam page.

Same game. Study the descriptive terms and practice the page below.

More of the same. Study the expressions of greeting and leave taking and work on the practice page below.

Study the instruction for the command forms on page 18. Note that, unlike English, the German formal command contains the word Sie (you). In English we might say "Speak." In German it is literally "Speak you."

Study the command forms on pages 4 and 5 and then those on page 18. Then complete the practice page provided.

This is basically another vocabulary building section, but there is a grammatical complexity. In German, all nouns are classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter ... objects as well as people. (See Section A.6 on page 21). This means that German has a number of different words for the and a or an. While learning the vocabulary for the articles of clothing, you must also learn the gender. Words preceded by der are masculine and those preceded by das are neuter. Die is used with both feminine and plural nouns. When you learn the word for hat, for example, you must learn der Hut, and not just Hut. Notice also that all nouns in German are capitalized. Study this vocabulary and make extensive use of the practice page.

More vocabulary. And more genders to learn. Again, when learning the German equivalent of body, you must learn der Körper and not just Körper, etc. Use the practice page below to assist you in learning this vocabulary.