NOTE: Business English etc.
can be found below the translation exercises.
Translate the Text: Übersetzen
Susann, Faten, Rico, Heike, Simone and Frank.
Der Mann fährt die Straße entlang.
Ich gehe die Straße entlang.
Ich kenne ihn durch einen Freund.
Die Blume ist für dich.
Bitte ohne mich!
Er ist immer gegen mich.
Die Jungen spielen ohne den Hund.
Einen Tisch für eine Person, bitte?
Der Hund läuft gegen die Wand.
Der Zaun un den Park ist alt.
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What is there?
In English, we’d say There is a dog! or There are twenty books! In German, you can use the phrase Es gibt…
Es gibt vier Bücher.
There are four books.
Careful not to say phrase Da ist… ‑ that’s used to point out a location! For example,
Da ist irgendwas.
Similarly to English, the numbers thirteen through nineteen all end with ‑zehn. Notice that there are some letters dropped from sechs and sieben!
dreithree |
dreizehnthirteen |
vierfour |
vierzehnfourteen |
fünffive |
fünfzehnfifteen |
sechssix |
sechzehnsixteen |
siebenseven |
siebzehnseventeen |
achteight |
achtzehneighteen |
neunnine |
neunzehnnineteen |
Culture and Numbers
When counting with your fingers, Germans start with their thumb for eins! If you raise your pointer finger for one, a German person might automatically read it as zwei!
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Eins, zwei, drei, vier…
One, two, three, four…
When giving a number over the phone, German speakers use the word zwo instead of zwei. That way, it doesn’t rhyme and get confused with the similar‑sounding drei!
acht, sieben, sechs und fünf
Das Mädchen hat elf Bücher.
Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, acht, neun.
Eins, zwei, vier, fünf, acht, neun.
Wir haben zehn Söhne.
Eins, zwei, drei, neun, zehn.
Wir haben zwei Tiere.
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Business English word of the Week Geschäftsenglisch
-
Sacked, fired, to be let go, to be dismissed, a dismissal
-
To quit / to resign / to give/hand in a resignation letter
-
Laid-off, to be made redundant
Sample Sentences:
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“The Minister for health was sacked, because he was not a healthy individual“.
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“She decided to quit the company as there were no possibilities for promotion.“
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“The new owner of Twitter immediately made 1,500 employees worldwide redundant as a cost-cutting measure.”
Law English word of the Week Recht Englisch
Arbitration
The nomination of an independent person or body within a contract to solve disputes is a more economic and quicker mechanism than the law courts and one that tends to attract less publicity. Arbitration is common in work contracts.
Vocabulary for Contracts Verträge
Acceptance of offer
The unconditional acceptance of an offer forms the contract. It may be either oral, in written form or in an implied form of conduct. Where the means of communication is instantaneous (i.e. face-to-face, telephone, fax or email) the contract will come into being when and where the acceptance is received. If it is posted it is deemed effective from the time of posting.
Word of the day:
A sycophant (/ˈsɪkəfant/) is someone who acts obsequiously towards someone important in order to gain an advantage.
Sample Sentence:
“The President of the USA is surrounded by sycophants who are only ‘Yes-Men’ said the reporter.”
Phrase of the day:
“It’s all Greek to me!”
Sample Sentence:
“I can not understand a single word of what they are talking about, not one word of it at all; it’s all Greek to me!!!“
Idiom of the day:
“to be caught red-handed!” to discover someone while they are doing something bad or illegal:
Sample Sentence:
“She was caught red-handed taking money from the shop’s till.”
British English (B.E.) / American English (A.E.) Vocabulary:
British English / (B.E.) = Metholated spirits
American English (A.E.) = denatured alcohol
Pronunciation tip:
“I like New York, unique New York, I like unique New York.”
Try and say this sentence ten times quickly without a mistake.
Versuchen Sie, diesen Satz zehnmal schnell und fehlerfrei zu sagen.
False Friends Tip of the Week:
German Translation False Friend (F.F.) Meaning of F.F.
eitel vain idle untätig
Slang word of the day:
Vamoose (means flee, bolt, escape, scarper, make off, & make a break for it) depart hurriedly.
Sample Sentence:
“Hey, guys we’d better vamoose before we get caught red-handed!“
Colloquial / Colloquialisms:
30 ANTS
(My first 5 examples, watch for the next five in my next blog; can you think of any more?)
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5 ants + 5 ants = Tenants.
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To bring ants from another country into your country = Important.
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An Ant that goes to school = Brilliant.
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An Ant that’s looking for a job = Applicant.
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A spy ant = Informant.
Cockney rhyming slang:
Daisies = daisy roots = boots.
Quote of the week:
“I always keep some whiskey handy in case I see a snake…which I also keep handy.” W. C. Fields.
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