[German] 05/15/09 notes from the first meeting.

[Jeffrey Malone]

Wow, thanks for the great notes.  I'm sure all of us really appreciate it!

I have a couple minor corrections however:

> • ❑ grosse / groß
"gross" is a common spelling of groß when an eszett (ß) isn't
available (or when spellt in upercase, as there is no uppercase eszett
[eg, "EIN GROSSER MANN"]).  The added 'e' however would be a
conjugated version of the adjective, such as in "Sie ist eine große
Frau".

> • ❑ die Zahlen
die Zahl is a number, however the plural becomes die Zählen through
the weird vowel change rules.

> ▼ ❑ der
..
> • ❑ Leid
It's actually das Leid.

Slight mix-up on these:
> • ❑ Der altes Man
> • ❑ Die alter Frau
> • ❑ Die alte Bier

Der alter Mann
Die alte Frau
Das altes Bier


> ▶ ❑ german language reform
> happened in roughly 2000... inconsistent usage of how to spell things
> especially with ß
In a fit of boredom I actually looked up this reform that I've heard
referenced so many times...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_spelling_reform_of_1996
If anyone else is so bored and curious.

> • ❑ watched the Wir Sind Helden
If curious, "Helden" means heroes, so the title is "We are heroes"..

> • ❑ singular
> der Traume - the dream
> der Alptraume  - the nightmare

The trailing 'e' is actually not there in the singular, and it's both
Traum and Alptraum.
As an added tidbit, der Alp is actually a word according to my
dictionary -- it means incubus.


> • ❑ die Puls - pulse
der Puls

> • ❑ bewärten - acceptable values.... FIGHT THE MAN
This is a bit beyond what we're currently covering with grammar.  It's
"bewährten", but it's also a conjugated verb to the simple past tense.
 If you want to look up the word, use "bewähren".

> • ❑ lauf = to walk
More often means "to run", and is "laufen" in its infinitive verb form
(der Lauf for "the run").

> • ❑ Augen auf = open your eyes
This is used colloquially, as it lacks a verb... "Eyes open" would be
the literal meaning as I understand it.  It seems like it's used the
same in English, where one can say "[keep your] eyes open" to indicate
"watch for something" .. but I really don't know.


Anyway, once again I really appreciate the notes.
Also, I disclaim responsibility for the mistakes I myself have likely
made above :)

Jeffrey