German · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 7 of 12
My day
Mein Tag
Describe your daily routine in German, tell the time, and use present-tense verbs and separable verbs like aufstehen.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Talk about your daily routine
- Tell the time and say when you do things
- Use present-tense verbs, including fährst and liest
- Use separable verbs like aufstehen
Listen
At lunch, Jana asks her colleague Murat about his day. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Jana
Wann stehst du morgens auf, Murat?
When do you get up in the morning, Murat?
Murat
Um halb sechs. Ich fange um sieben an.
At half past five. I start at seven.
Jana
Halb sechs? Das ist früh.
Half past five? That's early.
Murat
Ja, aber ich habe um drei Uhr Feierabend.
Yes, but I finish work at three.
Jana
Und was machst du dann?
And what do you do then?
Murat
Ich kaufe ein und koche. Und du?
I do the shopping and cook. And you?
Jana
Ich stehe um halb acht auf und arbeite von neun bis fünf.
I get up at half past seven and work from nine to five.
Murat
Und abends? Siehst du fern?
And in the evening? Do you watch TV?
Jana
Ja, oder ich lese ein Buch.
Yes, or I read a book.
Understand
Present tense: the verb endings
The infinitive is the basic form of a verb, the one in the dictionary: (to live). Take off -en to get the stem, wohn-, and add an ending for each person. One present form covers “I live”, “I'm living” and “I do live”.
If the stem ends in -t or -d, add an extra -e- before -st and -t, so it's easy to say: , . is “you” for several friends.
| Person | (to live) | (to work) |
|---|---|---|
| / / | ||
| / |
Separable verbs: aufstehen
Some verbs have a small first part that splits off. In a normal sentence, the main verb stands in second place and the small part goes to the very end: → The stress is on the small part: AUF-stehen.
and also change their vowel with and / / : , . The next section explains this.
- Ich stehe um halb acht auf.I get up at half past seven.
- Wir kaufen abends ein.We do the shopping in the evening.
- Der Film fängt um acht an.The film starts at eight.
- Abends sehe ich fern.In the evening I watch TV.
Verbs that change their vowel: du fährst, er liest
A few common verbs change the vowel of their stem, but only with and / / . The endings stay regular. There are three patterns: a → ä (, to go, to drive: ), e → i (, to eat: ) and e → ie (, : , ).
(to take) also changes a consonant: , . In and , the ending is just -t, because the stem already ends in an s sound. The word lists show these forms, so learn them with the verb.
| Person | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| / / | ||||
| / |
- Siehst du abends fern?Do you watch TV in the evening?
- Jana liest ein Buch.Jana is reading a book.
Telling the time
Ask (What time is it?) and answer To say at what time something happens, use : .
Be careful with : it means half to the next hour, so is 7:30, not 8:30. is quarter past and is quarter to.
| Time | German |
|---|---|
| 7:00 | |
| 7:15 | |
| 7:30 | |
| 7:45 | |
| 7:10 | |
| 7:50 |
More in the grammar: German numbers: from 0 to a million · The present tense · Word order
New words
- wannwhen
- morgensin the morning(s)
- aufstehento get up · separable:
- um … Uhrat … o'clock · = clock, watch; plural: ; = from nine to five
- halbhalf · = 5:30
- anfangento start, to begin · separable: , ,
- frühearly
- aberbut
- der Feierabendthe end of the working day, time off after work · masculine, no plural; = I've finished work.
- einkaufento go shopping, to do the shopping · separable:
- kochento cook
- abendsin the evening(s)
- fernsehento watch TV · separable: , ,
- lesento read · , ,
Practise
1.What time is “”?
2.Complete with the right form of .
You work from nine to five.
3.Complete with the right form of .
We live in Berlin.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.I get up at seven o'clock.
5.Complete with the right form of .
In the evening Jana reads a book.
6.Match the verbs with their meanings.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Ich stehe um halb sieben auf.
I get up at half past six.
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.
0 of 5 answered.