German · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 5 of 12

Family and friends

Familie und Freunde

Talk about your family in German, say how old people are, and use the personal pronouns, haben and sein, and words like mein, dein and Ihr.

9 lines, with a translation of each

In this chapter you'll learn to

Name the people in your family
Say and ask how old someone is
Use the personal pronouns with haben and sein
Say my, your, his, her: mein, dein, sein, ihr

Listen

At work in Stuttgart, Selin shows her colleague Max a photo on her phone. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.

Speed:

Hide translations (test yourself)

Max
Ist das deine Familie?
Is that your family?
Selin
Ja. Das ist mein Bruder Can, und das ist meine Schwester Elif.
Yes. That's my brother Can, and that's my sister Elif.
Max
Wie alt ist Elif?
How old is Elif?
Selin
Sie ist neunzehn. Sie ist sehr nett.
She's nineteen. She's very nice.
Max
Und wer ist das?
And who's that?
Selin
Das sind meine Eltern. Und du? Hast du Geschwister?
Those are my parents. And you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Max
Ja, ich habe einen Bruder. Er heißt Jan und ist dreißig.
Yes, I have a brother. His name is Jan and he's thirty.
Selin
Hast du auch Kinder?
Do you have children too?
Max
Ja, eine Tochter. Sie ist vier Jahre alt.
Yes, a daughter. She's four years old.

Understand

I, you, he, she …: the personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are the short words that stand for a person or a thing. You already know , and ; here is the full set. is “you” for two or more people you call .

Watch out for : small with a singular verb is “she” (), and with a plural verb it's “they” (). Capital is the polite “you”. For things, the pronoun follows the gender of the noun: → , → , → . So “it” can be , or .

German	English	Example
	I
	you (one friend)
	he; it ( nouns)
	she; it ( nouns)
	it ( nouns)
	we
	you (two or more friends)
	they
	you (polite, one or more)

sein and haben for everyone

(to have) and (to be) are the two most important verbs. Both are irregular, so learn all their forms. Notice that , (they) and always share the same form.

For age, German uses , just like English: (). After , masculine becomes , as when you order:

Person	(to be)	(to have)


/ /


/

my, your, his, her: mein, dein, sein, ihr …

Words like “my” and “your” follow the pattern of and : goes with and nouns, goes with nouns and with plurals (more than one). (your) is for someone you call , for people you call , and for someone you call ; like , it has a capital letter.

means “his”, and means both “her” and “their”. Choose the word by the owner, then the ending by the noun: Max's daughter is , Selin's brother is . drops an e when it has an ending: .

Like , these words change after : masculine becomes , just as becomes . Chapter 8 shows the whole pattern.

English	/ nouns	nouns and plurals
my	,	,
your ()
his
her
our
your ()
their
your ()

Sound tip: two ch sounds

After a, o, u and au, ch is a rough sound from the back of the throat, like Scottish “loch”: , , . After all other letters it's the soft sound of , like a whispered “h” in “huge”: , , . sch is simply “sh”: , .

Ich habe eine Tochter.I have a daughter.

More in the grammar: Cases: nominative and accusative · Personal pronouns: ich, du, Sie … · Possessives: mein, dein, sein … · Sein and haben: to be and to have · The German alphabet and pronunciation

New words

die Familiefamily · feminine, plural:
mein / meinemy
der Bruderbrother · masculine, plural:
die Schwestersister · feminine, plural:
Wie alt ist …?How old is …? · = old; = year, plural:
nettnice, kind · = very nice
Wer ist das?Who is that? · = who
die Elternparents · plural only
die Geschwisterbrothers and sisters, siblings · plural
das Kindchild · neuter, plural:
die Tochterdaughter · feminine, plural:
der Sohnson · masculine, plural:
die Muttermother · feminine, plural:
der Vaterfather · masculine, plural:

Practise

1.Max has a daughter. How do you say “his daughter”?
2.Complete with the right form of .
Und das meine Eltern.
And these are my parents.
3.Complete with the right form of .
Hast du Kinder? – Ja, ich eine Tochter.
Do you have children? – Yes, I have a daughter.
4.Put the words in order to make a question.
Tap the words below in the right order.
How old is your sister?
5.Match the family words.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.You're asking an older man you've just met about a photo. Which question fits?

0 of 6 exercises done.

Say it out loud

Das ist meine Familie.

This is my family.

Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.

Check

Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.

1.How do you say “I'm 25 years old”?
2.You're asking two friends if they have children. Complete: “Habt ___ Kinder?”
3.Which word means “your” when you speak to someone as ?
4.Complete: “Er ___ zwei Kinder.”
5.How does the ch in “” sound?

0 of 5 answered.