Colloquial German
From UniLang Wiki
>> languages >> German >> German issues
The colloquially spoken language differs of course from the written language. Its grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary are considered simpler, sub-standard. This is an attempt to summarize the most important differences.
Contents |
Pronunciation
The letter R is never pronounced as a consonant when it is preceded by a vowel, unless it is the beginning of another syllable. The word ending -er is always pronounced as a short A in words with several syllables. See German pronunciation: R for details.
Shortened Words
einmal --> mal, in some Regions even ma
es --> 's (except at the beginning of a sentence)
gerade --> grade
ist --> is
nein --> nee / nö
nicht --> nich
nichts --> nix
The final E in the 1st person singular verb conjugation is dropped: "ich hab", "ich sag", "ich seh".
If a past perfect ends in -en and the stem ends in a vowel, the E is dropped: "gesehn", "gefah(r)n"
The indefinite articles lose ei-:
| f | m | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | 'ne | 'n | 'n |
| gen. | von 'ner | von 'nem | von 'nem |
| dat. | 'ner | 'nem | 'nem |
| acc. | 'ne | 'n(en) | 'n |
Contractions
When a verb precedes a personal pronoun, the pronoun is simplified and the two are pronounced as one word:
| sein | haben | sagen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg | binnich | habbich | sagich |
| 2 sg | biste | haste | sagste |
| 3 sg m | isser | hatter | sagter |
| 3 sg f | isse | hatse | sagtse |
| 3 sg n | isses | hats | sagts |
| 1 pl | sindwer | hamwer | sagenwer |
| 2 pl | seiter | habter | sagter |
| 3 pl | sindse | hamse | sagense |
Grammar
Genitive case is not used in colloquial speech. Instead, just use the preposition von and dative case:
die Farbe vom Auto = the color of the car (instead of "die Farbe des Autos")
das Haus von mei(ne)m Vata = my father's house (instead of "das Haus meines Vaters")
die Schwesta von Mike = Michael's sister (instead of "Michaels Schwester")
Past tense has two forms that can't be used interchangeably:
Simple past (preterite, Präteritum) can be used for auxiliaries and modal verbs.
Present perfect (perfect, Perfekt) is used for all other verbs.
ich war = I have been / I was ich konnte = I have been able to / I was able to / I could ich hab gesehn = I have seen / I saw
It is also very common (though apparently not in every region) to replace pluperfect (past perfect, "I had done") with other past tense forms, and to use present tense to describe events in the future.
Indirect speech is not described with the subjunctive (Konjunktiv) mood, but with normal indicative or (if the person who reports it doesn't believe) in conditional (Konjunktiv II):
Chris hat gesagt, er hat heute keine Zeit. = Chris said he didn't have any time today. Sarah sagt, sie hätte's nich gesehn. = Sarah says she hadn't seen it. (But I don't believe her)
Conditional (Konjunktiv II) (for irreal constructions) is not used in the correct form of the verb, but constructed by the infinitive of the verb after the conditional form of "werden": "würde, würdest, ...". For a learner, these colloquial rules reduce the effort of learning all verb forms to just a few.
Wenn es regnen würde, würde ich einen Schirm nehmen = If it rained, I would take an umbrella
>> languages >> German >> German issues
