I Love Germany — Let Me Count the Ways
Numbers are pretty basic tools for communication, especially for—need
I say it—shopping! But
learning them is pretty dry stuff. I've tried to make it more interesting,
and a bit easier, by tieing each number in with a concrete idea to make
it easier to remember—and to
make the pronunciation easier to learn.
The first German numbers are a good double lesson, too because they
also contain good illustrations of common pronunciation rules. If you
learn to say these numbers, you will know how to pronounce certain
letter combinations whenever you encounter them.
Suggestion: get the pronunciation in your ear first, then drill with
the numbers, throughout the day. The spelling and the rules will come
by absorption as you say the sounds. Use the phrases when you need to
break the routine up.
|
spelling |
pronunciation help |
rules you can count on (always true) |
practice phrases
see how many you can guess the meaning of (answers below) |
1 |
eins |
think pines |
ei = our long I, as
in eye |
ein Glas Wein |
2 |
zwei |
tsveye |
z = ts; w =
v |
Eine Argument hat zwei Seiten. |
3 |
drei |
same as "dry", but the r is
gutteral, said in the back of the throat. |
If you can't master the gutteral r,
just roll it softly using the tip of the tongue. |
drei kleine Schweine |
4 |
vier |
fear |
ei and ie are
easy to misread; each pair is pronounced like the second letter in
the pair. |
vier Glas Bier |
5 |
fünf |
To get this sound, first say "ee". Then, without moving your tongue, move
your lips forward as if to say "oo". Perfect! |
the first tough one. This is one of the few vowels that has no
corresponding sound in English. It's very common, so be sure to master
it early. |
Eine Hand hat fünf Finger. |
6 |
sechs |
zechs |
ch is like a hard "H". It's exactly the
sound between the K and the
A in Karl. Say it very slowly
and you'll see what I mean. |
|
7 |
sieben |
zeeben |
initial s before a vowel is pronounced
like a Z |
sieben Tage der Woche |
8 |
acht |
acht |
a is like our broad A; but ä is different; we'll get to it later. |
Gib Acht der
Nummer acht. |
9 |
neun |
noin |
eu = our "oy" |
Beatles: "Nummer neun, Nummer neun, Nummer neun
..." |
10 |
zehn |
tsayn |
|
zehn Minuten |
11 |
elf |
elf |
|
elf Elfe |
12 |
zwölf |
tsverlf |
the second tough one: say burn, but
hold the sound just before you move the tip of your tongue up to
make the r. |
Ein Jahr hat zwölf Monate. |
13 |
dreizehn |
dry-tsayn |
|
Dreizehn ist unglücklich. |
14 |
vierzehn |
fear-tsayn |
|
Ich habe vierzehn Jahre. |
15 |
fünfzehn |
fünf-tsayn |
|
|
Take heart: knowing just these numbers and the pronunciation rules they
illustrate gives you a LOT to build on.
The phrases revealed
1. a glass of wine. As you see
in the note to Nummer zwei, the W in Wein is
pronounced as a V, so, yes,
Wein sounds exactly like the plant the
grape grows on.
2. An argument has two sides. This phrase
has several other pronunciation lessons, but they'll wait
3. three little pigs. Toners in
Lexington know Suzanne calls on the first notes of Eine kleine Nachtmusik,
a little night music (or serenade), for the interval between A and D. So
you've heard the important word klein.
As for Schweine, I promised you cognates, and here's a good one.
4. four glasses of beer. Just playing on the rhyme here.
5. A hand has five fingers. This phrase has a lesson that's too important
and too easy to let slip by. ng is never spoken with a hard g. Finger should
sound like singer, not like linger.
7. seven days of the week. There's
another good example here: Tage sounds like
the Indian musical form raga (even if you're not familiar with it, you
can guess the pronunciation). There is no soft G in
German.
8. Give attention
to the number eight. Yes,
the same word means two very different things. But don't feel sorry for
yourself yet; think of how wicked English is in this respect.
9. If you didn't get this one, please apply for the remedial class.
10. ten minutes. The u is
pronounced like English oo in food.
The long-u diphthong in English ("you") doesn't exist in German.
11. eleven elves. This example
is just to forestall the question, "If the Germans use "elf" for eleven,
what do they use for "elf"? It's ein Elf, by the way, zwei
Elfe.
12. One year has twelve months. By now, you've seen a few instances of
ein or eine being used instead of the word eins. Where we use the articles
a or an,
or the word one to specify a single
something, German uses ein (eine is
feminine, but we'll get to that). Eins is just used as the name of the
numeral 1.
13. Thirteen is unlucky. Glück is
luck.
14. I am fourteen years old. (I have fourteen
years.) This construction sounds strange to us, but it's also used in French
and other languages.
