by on October 20, 2022
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Germany is a major European nation that people associate mostly with fast cars, beers, football, and bratwurst! However, Germany is so much more than that. It has its influence in almost a dozen countries in Europe and has minority status in countries outside Europe, like Namibia and Brazil. This is why the iconic Oktoberfest draws a global crowd every year, where the people make merry and feast on delicious foods and German lagers. Many students studying abroad also take part in this month-long festival. They can immerse themselves more in the festivities if they are proficient in the German language. Students have been using Duolingo For English Tests for quite some time.

Similarly, they can use Duolingo to practice their German and step into Oktoberfest like true Bavarian! Duolingo can help you learn German with easier examples, clearing your concept in a simple way. These are the six things that you can learn with Duolingo before the Oktoberfest starts –

  1. German has three grammatical genders

Unlike English, in Germany, every noun has grammatical gender. That can be divided into three categories – Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter. There are specific patterns that can help you subdivide it. For example, the definite articles in German keep changing with different words. If the definite article is "der," it is male. Similarly, for female genders, the definite article becomes "die" and "das" for the neuter gender, respectively. However, the pattern is not easy to remember and gets quite confusing with certain words. For example, the word “Car” is called both “auto” and “wagen” in German. If you put definite articles before "auto," it is considered a neuter gender, hence, "das auto." However, “wagen" becomes a masculine gender, and the correct way of saying it is "der wagen."

  1. It has four noun cases

German nouns are of four types, and it is decided depending on the action of the sentence. The four types of nouns in German are – genitive, accusative, nominative, and dative. The case of the noun is decided on the words linked to the nouns. It can be the articles and adjectives, like "a" or "the." Another thing to remember is that in German, irrespective of the noun class, it gets capitalised. It can be a person, an object, or a place – whatever it is, you must write it in the capital, unlike the English language.

  1. Certain German sounds resemble English

Most readers may be surprised to learn that a lot of German words sound like English words. Let us give you a few examples –

German

English

Besser

Better

Apfel

Apple

Bruder

Brother

Buch

Book

Foto

Photo

Delfin

Dolphin

Autobus

Bus

 

We know that there is a common misconception that the German language is very tough and hard to pronounce. Some may even say that German words seem "rude." However, although we cannot deny that totally, we can say that with a little practice, the German language won’t seem as intimidating as before.

  1. German words are placed in a similar order like English

German sentence formation is similar to English in many ways. Germans also put words in the same order as English, however, with one exception. Germans have a few more additional rules for the verbs. In the German language, verbs hold a special place in a sentence. In German, verbs are always placed in the last or second last position in a sentence. In the case of compound verbs, the second part of the verb goes last in the sentence, while the conjugated part remains in the second last position. In addition, they follow the rule "time-manner-place" while writing sentences.

  1. German words can be exceptionally long

German words are infamous for being ridiculously long. So, many students who are learning German from scratch find these daunting. But take it as a fun way of learning something new. For Abroad Study Duolingo can help you learn words like Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung, Streichholzschächtelchen, or Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften. Although you may feel like quitting just by looking at these words, German words are usually formed by combining several small words. So you can break them down and understand them on their own.

  1. German words can be short and poetic too

However, don’t be under the impression that German words are all that long. Germans have some very compact words and are known to express situations and emotions in a single word. For example, if you want to write that you are dissatisfied or discontent with the happenings around the world, you may have to use approximately ten to fifteen words. However, in German, you can simply express the entire thing using one word – Weltschmerz.

Summing Up:

Oktoberfest is one of the grandest festivals in Europe, and knowing a bit of German can help you blend with the crowd and chug a couple of pints. So go through this blog and learn the basics of the German language with the help of Duolingo.

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