h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This thread is for those of you who have never spoken any German before or only know a very very small amount.
We'll do the really basic things right from the start and you'll have to practice them back to me. At any point ask a question and I'll either answer it or find out from someone else.

I - ich
you(familiar) - du
he - er
she - sie
it - es
we - wir
They - sie
you (polite or many people)- Sie (note capital S)


Let's start with saying who we are.

Wie heist du? *What's your name?* (literally- How called you?)

You answer:
Ich bin......

Also (therefore)

Wie heist du?
Ich bin Kat, wie heist du?
Ich bin Kat2.

Then I want you to say what the person above you's name is...

Ich bin Kat
Sie ist Kat2.

Now everyone (the three of you) do that.

Katkat

it’s “Wie heißt du?“ instead of „Wie heist du?“.

I suppose you don’t have the letter ß. you can write “ss” or “sz” (old-fashioned) instead of “ß”.

katkodl

Oh my god im embarrassed!!!

Right everyone if you cant find your ß then use "ss" please.

Kat has got an ß!!! where did you find it?

katkodl

STOP CLUTTERING MY THREAD!!!

*whispers* I copied and pasted your one

NOW OUT OUT OUT!!! *shoos you away*

here you go: some more ßs to copy:
ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
that'll do!

*chases after you with a whip*
This is a teaching environment! Not a free for all riot!

Now class....can you learn the names for the subjects (i,you etc) and have a go at saying your name and other people's names.

*scoots*

Ich bin Cat.
du bin Kat.

+=+=+=+

I am Cat.
You are Kat.

Is that right? I'm, not sure that's what you wanted for the second sentence...

Ah, this is my kind of thread, much easier than all that apple eating stuff...

Ummm... Yeah, I am not really sure what you meant with the second sentence thing... And Cat, I think it's "Du bist..." And ummm, Kat, isn't 'you' in the plural form 'ihr'? Not Sie? 'Cause that's what we've been told at school... You - du (singular) - ihr (plural) - Sie (polite).

*blinks*

Anyway...

Ich bin Danielle.
Du bist Kat.

+=+=+=+

I am Danielle.
You are Kat.

*ahem*

Yes I'm sorry you're right.

YOU(PL)- IHR.
YOU(PL) ARE- IHR SIND

My deep appologies.

That was good.
Chris it's du BIST.
See the list at the top?

Also, ich bin Kathryn, du bist Danielle, ihr sind Chris und Danielle!

I am Kathryn, you are Danielle, you are Chris and Danielle.

Right, now let's add something to that so that you can say something more.

COUNTING

1-eins
2-zwei
3-drei
4-vier
5-funf
6-sechs
7-sieben
8-acht
9-neun
10-zehn
11-elf
12-zwolf
13-dreizehn
14-veirzehn
15-funfzehn
16-sechszehn
17-siebzehn
18-achtzehn
19-neunzehn
20-zwanzig
21-einundzwanzig
22-zweiundzwanzig

and so on just added the number each time. All you're saying is one and twenty, two and twenty etc.

30-dreizig
40-vierzig

Ang so on just adding zig to the number. Easy huh?
100- hundert

Now we've got some numbers to work with, we're going to say how old we are.

The question is

Wie alt bist du? (How old are you?)
or
Wieviele Jahre hast du? (how many years have you?)
The above is a stupid evil way of saying it and I doubt many people will ask you that now.

Also,

Wie alt bist du?
Ich bin siebzehn.

I want you to say what your name is and how old you are, what the name of the person above you is and how old the person above you is.

Um beispiel.

Ich heisse Kathryn
Ich bin siebzehn.
Sie heisst TheLanguageThing.
Sie ist vierzehn.

Wie alt bist du?

Ummm... isn't it ihr seid? And anyway... you didn't give us a list of ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid and sie sind. You just told us the pronouns.

And also isn't 30 dreißig? Because I remember my teacher ranting for a whole lesson last year about how that'd the one that you gotta remember and the rest of them it's zig.

Didn't Dani once say that to say how old you are you had to say like 'Ich bin veirzehn Jahre alt' ? I think that was on MSN though, but still, how do i say 'it?

Cat

Yeah, the Jahre alt is 'years old' so that would be 'I am 14 years old.' though you could just say 'I am 14' which would be simply 'Ich bin vierzehn.'

By the way, you typed vierzehn wrong, I am just assuming it was a typo because you only got the i and the e the wrong way around.

*cries*

Right you two, you take the lesson

Awwww.... *hug* I didn't mean to take over... *hides*

it’s „wie viele“ instead of „wieviele“.

it’s „ein Beispiel“ instead of „um beispiel“

I know some of these mistakes have already been mentioned, just to sum up:
those numbers were written incorrectly:
fünf, zwölf, fünfzehn, vierzehn, dreißig

yes, it’s „Ihr seid“ instead of „Ihr sind“

„to be“:
ich bin
du bist
er, sie, es ist

wir sind
ihr seid
sie sind

polite: Sie sind

you COULD say „Wie viele Jahre hat er?“ when talking about a car. but I really wouldn’t use it when talking about a person.

*scoots*

katkodl

*also scoots and wonders why we're scooting*

Danielle, Katkat has got a whip!
*scoots*

I also have a whip... well, it is my sister's, and I'd have to find it. But I have it!