German efficiency

 German efficiency isn’t about going faster—it’s about being reliably predictable.

Yaw Nyame, MD | Mind & Body

German doesn't borrow words for new concepts.

 German doesn't borrow words for new concepts.

It builds from pieces it already has. Stacked together. Precise. Logical. 𝗞𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝘒𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬 = sick. 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘴 = house. 𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲. Hospital. 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗵 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥 = hand. 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘩 = shoe. 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗲. Glove. 𝗙𝗹𝘂𝗴𝘇𝗲𝘂𝗴 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘨 = flight. 𝘡𝘦𝘶𝘨 = thing/tool. 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁-𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. Aeroplane. 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗳𝘇𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘢𝘧 = sleep. 𝘡𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 = room. 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽-𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺. Bedroom. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗱𝘁𝗯𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗸 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘥𝘵 = city. 𝘉𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘬 = library. 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆. Public library. The rule that makes every compound word readable: The 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 word carries the meaning. Everything before it describes it. 𝘒𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴 is a house. A specific kind - for sick people. 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘩 is a shoe. A specific kind - for hands. Once you see this logic - German stops looking impossible and starts looking like a system. You can as well guess the meaning of a word, compound words through this system. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆

The perfect tense needs an auxiliary verb.

 The perfect tense needs an auxiliary verb.

But which one – 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗻 or 𝘀𝗲𝗶𝗻? Here is the rule that covers the vast majority of cases: 𝗦𝗘𝗜𝗡 – for two categories only: 𝟭. Change of location (Movement from A to B): gehen, kommen, fahren, fliegen, reisen, laufen Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren. (I drove to Berlin.) 𝟮. Change of state (Transition): werden, sterben, einschlafen, aufwachsen Er ist eingeschlafen. (He fell asleep.) 𝗛𝗔𝗕𝗘𝗡 – for everything else. 𝟭. Transitive verbs (verbs with an object): Ich habe einen Apfel gegessen. 𝟮. Static verbs / No change of state: Sie hat viel gearbeitet. The test – two questions: Is it a movement from one place to another? Is it a change from one state to another? Yes to either? 𝘀𝗲𝗶𝗻. No to both? 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗻. This covers the overwhelming majority of sentences you will build at A2 and B1.

English lesson

 

Germany