Coffee Break German

Lesson 27
Study Notes

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 1 of 17

LESSON NOTES

ICH ARBEITE IN EINER SCHULE

In this lesson you’ll learn to talk about your job and to say where you
work. You’ll also learn to talk about dates and to give your date of
birth in German. In our Grammar Guru segment, Kirsten focuses on
prepositions which can take either the accusative or dative case, and
Julia visits Vienna in the Cultural Correspondent segment.

TALKING ABOUT BIRTHDAYS

Thomas and Mark pick up from where they left off last lesson, talking
about birthdays. They mention dates and notice how they are
different from basic numbers.

mein Sohn hat am fünfzehnten Mai Geburtstag

my son’s birthday is on the 15th May

zwölften
twelfth

siebzehnten
seventeenth

zwanzigsten
twentieth

dreiunddreißigsten
thirty-third

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 2 of 17

nehmen Sie die erste Straße rechts
take the first street on the right

In addition to the above dates and sentences, Thomas teaches Mark

all the dates of the month, paying close attention to those tricky ones
that don’t follow the pattern. A list of dates up to the 20th of the
month can be found below:

DATES

ersten 1st elften 11th

zweiten 2nd zwölften 12th

dritten 3rd dreizehnten 13th

vierten 4th vierzehnten 14th

fünften 5th fünfzehnten 15th

sechsten 6th sechszehnten 16th

siebten 7th siebzehnten 17th

achten 8th achtzehnten 18th

neunten 9th neunzehnten 19th

zehnten 10th zwanzigsten 2oth

Note the exceptions siebten and zwanzigsten. Siebten meaning

“7th” changes its spelling from the number sieben (the -en of
sieben is knocked off) before adding the -ten ending. Zwanzigsten
adds an extra -s before the -ten ending.

These dates can be combined with the months of the year:

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 3 of 17

Januar
January

Februar
February

März
March

April
April

Mai
May

Juni
June

Juli
July

August
August

September
September

Oktober
October

November
November

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 4 of 17

Dezember
December

Thomas then tests Mark with some dates and months together:

meine Tochter hat am zweiten Februar Geburtstag

My daughter’s birthday is on the 2nd of February

meine Freundin hat am sechsundzwanzigsten Juni

Geburtstag
My girlfriend’s birthday is on the 26th of June

mein Mann hat am siebten September Geburtstag

my husband’s birthday is on the 7th of September

ich habe am zwanzigsten April Geburtstag

my birthday is on the 20th of April

This phrase can also be turned around, to say exactly the same thing:

mein Geburtstag ist am zwanzigsten April

My birthday is on the 20th of April

Wann ist dein Geburtstag, Thomas?

When is your birthday Thomas?

mein Geburtstag ist am sechsten August

my birthday is on the 6th of August

Thomas also gives another, slightly more formal way of saying your
birthday:

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 5 of 17

ich bin am....geboren
I was born on the .....

When Thomas and Mark go on to discuss how you say the year you
were born, Mark discovers it is expressed in a similar way to English.
You must remember to include the hundert, where it is left out in
English (eg: nineteen eight-one)

neunzehnhunderteinundachtzig
1981

zweitausend(und)vier
2004

TALKING ABOUT JOBS

One of the best ways to build your confidence in spoken German is to
engage in conversation with native speakers, and the conversation
often involves talking about what you do for a living. The following
phrases will help you talk about this topic:

was machen Sie hier in Deutschland?

what are you doing here in Germany?

was machen Sie von Beruf?

what do you do for a living?/for a profession? (formal)

was machst du von Beruf?

what do you do for a living? (informal)

ich bin Student(in)

I am a student

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 6 of 17

As Thomas and Mark discuss in the lesson, it’s important to know
that there is no need to say “a” before a job title in German.

The feminine form of many jobs often adds “-in” to the end of the
masculine form.

MASCULINE FEMININE ENGLISH

Lehrer Lehrerin teacher

Arzt Ärztin doctor

Sekretär Sekretärin secretary

Kellner Kellnerin waiter

Klempner Klempnerin plumber

Bauer Bäuerin farmer

Geschäftsmann Geschäftsfrau businessman

Krankenpfleger Krankenschwester nurse

This is not an exhaustive list of occupations, so you may find it easier

to say that you work in a particular place. Note with the following
constructions that since you use the preposition in, this has to be
followed by the dative case.

ich arbeite in einer Schule

I work in a school

ich arbeite in einer Bank

I work in a bank

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 7 of 17

ich arbeite in einem Museum
I work in a museum

In the dative feminine places, like “school” and “bank” change from
eine to einer in the dative after in. Masculine or neuter places, such
as ein Museum change to eimem Museum after a dative
preposition like in.

ich arbeite in einem Supermarkt

I work in a supermarket

GRAMMAR GURU
In this episode Kirsten is joined for the last time by her friend Daniel.

A couple of lessons ago we were talking about

prepositions which took the accusative case,
and prepositions which take the dative case. I
suggested there was a bit of mystery around
one particular preposition: über. This
preposition takes the accusative in such
phrases as gehen Sie über den Platz. It
didn’t go into our accusative list as it can also
take the dative case. A list of common
prepositions which can take both the dative
and accusative case is provided opposite.
All these prepositions can describe where an object is in relation to
another. They can also describe how an object moves. So if an
object is in a fixed place or whether it is moving, we can determine
which case to use.
The dative case is used to describe where something is: ich bin in
der Kirche means “I am in the church”. If you wanted to say you

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 8 of 17

 are “going into the church” then you would use the accusative: ich
gehe in die Kirche. The verb gehen implies the movement,
which we know means accusative.
Here are some examples with some of the other prepositions from
the list:
der Junge läuft unter die Brücke
(die Brücke = accusative)
the boy runs under the bridge

der Junge sitzt unter der Brücke

(der Brücke = dative)
the boy is sitting under the bridge

das Mädchen fährt an die Ampel

(die Ampel = accusative)
the girl is driving towards the lights

das Mädchen steht an der Ampel

(der Ampel = dative)
the girl is sitting/waiting at the lights

There is a handy way to help remember whether it is accusative or

dative you should use with these prepositions:
AA > action = accusative
DD > description = dative
Of course, you do have to be careful, because as with any rule,
there are exceptions e.g. if you are walking around inside a
church, you are still moving, but there is no implied direction,
therefore it would be dative. However, if you are walking towards

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 9 of 17

 the altar in a church, then that would be accusative. We don’t
want to confuse you, so we will stop there for today.
A word from Daniel: “I’ve enjoyed my time here on CBG and I
hope I will be back in a future episode.”
ich wünsche euch weiter hin noch viel Spaß mit eurem
Deutsch
I wish you all the best with your German

CULTURAL CORRESPONDENT
In this lesson Julia introduces us to the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Hallo alle zusammen. Ich bin’s wieder,

Julia, eure Kulturkorrespondentin. It’s
time for another “Top five things to see and
do” and this week we’re leaving Germany and
heading to Austria’s capital Vienna - or
Wien as we say. I’ve already mentioned
Wien in a previous episode, but this time we’ll
focus on a number of Viennese sights in more
detail so that you’ll be prepared when visiting
this beautiful town.

Let’s start right in the city centre with a visit to the

Stephansplatz and Vienna’s most famous landmark the
Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral) which is also known as
the soul of Vienna. This impressive cathedral incorporates
Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque elements and it can be seen as a
National Austrian symbol. The roof of the cathedral is particularly
well-known, with its unmistakable diagonal striped pattern.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 10 of 17

 Not far away, east of Vienna’s city center between the Donau, the
river Danube and the Donaukanal you will find the Wiener
Prater, a huge public park that also features an amusement park.
The amusement park, also known as “Wurstelprater” takes us
back to the 19th century when it was designed as probably the first
theme park in the world, at that time called “Venedig in
Wien” (Venice in Vienna) with several little piazzas and canals.
Nowadays attractions have become more modern with the rides,
bumper cars, carousels and ghost trains you’d expect. But we are
still reminded of the magnificent past when taking a ride in the
world famous Riesenrad, the Ferris wheel which dates back to
1896 and has become one of Vienna’s landmarks, visible from
around the city.

Let’s walk back to the centre of town. Another thing Vienna is very
famous for and that is definitely worth visiting is the Hofburg, a
palace that has been the home to some of the most powerful people
in European history including the Hapsburg dynasty. Nowadays
this is where the Austrian president resides. But the Hofburg is a
kind of tourist magnet also due to another fact: It is home to the
“Spanische Hofreitschule”, the Spanish Riding School. This is a

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 11 of 17

 traditional riding school and centre for classical dressage for so-
called Lipizzaner horses that also tour and perform worldwide.
Visitors can view public performances as well as some training
sessions.

While the Hofburg was the Habsburg’s preferred winter residence,

they moved into another impressive palace in summer. This brings
us to Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace), south west of
Vienna’s city center, with its Baroque gardens and walkways. The
entire grounds are very impressive with beautiful fountains, faux
Roman ruins, a zoo and tropical greenhouse as well as a carriage
museum and palace theatre.

Finally, if you get tired after

such a long day of
sightseeing, have a “coffee
break” at one of the many
famous coffee houses in Wien
– perhaps the Café Sacher,
home of the most delicious
Sachertorte (Sacher cake).

Vienna is a truly beautiful city

and I’m sure you’ll love it if
you get the chance to visit it
and practise your Coffee
Break German there! Back to
Thomas and Mark in the
studio.

DAS REICHT FÜR HEUTE

Ready for more? Turn the page to continue with the

bonus materials for this lesson.

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 12 of 17

CORE VOCABULARY
Januar
January

Februar
February

März
March

April
April

Mai
May

Juni
June

Juli
July

August
August

September
September

Oktober
October

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 13 of 17

November
November

Dezember
December

meine Tochter hat am zweiten Februar Geburtstag

My daughter’s birthday is on the 2nd of February

meine Freundin hat am sechsundzwanzigsten Juni

Geburtstag
My girlfriend’s birthday is on the 26th of June

mein Mann hat am siebten September Geburtstag

my husband’s birthday is on the 7th of September

mein Geburtstag ist am zwanzigsten April

My birthday is on the 20th of April

Wann ist dein Geburtstag, Thomas?

When is your birthday Thomas?

mein Geburtstag ist am sechsten August

my birthday is on the 6th of August

ich bin am....geboren

I was born on the .....

neunzehnhunderteinundachtzig
1981

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 14 of 17

zweitausend(und)vier
2004

was machen Sie hier in Deutschland?

what are you doing here in Germany?

was machen Sie von Beruf?

what do you do for a living?/for a profession? (formal)

was machst du von Beruf?

what do you do for a living? (informal)

ich bin Student(in)

I am a student

der Lehrer / die Lehrerin

teacher

der Arzt / die Ärztin

doctor

der Sekretär / die Sekretärin

secretary

der Kellner / die Kellnerin

watier / waitress

der Klempner / die Klempnerin

plumber

der Bauer / die Bäuerin

farmer

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 15 of 17

der Geschäftsmann / die Geschäftsfrau
business man / woman

der Krankenpfleger / die Krankenschwester

male/female nurse

ich arbeite in einer Schule

I work in a school

ich arbeite in einer Bank

I work in a bank

ich arbeite in einem Museum

I work in a museum

ich arbeite in einem Supermarkt

I work in a supermarket

BONUS VOCABULARY
der Busfahrer / die Busfahrerin
bus driver

der Architekt / die Architektin

architect

der IT Fachmann / die IT Fachfrau

IT consultant

der Direktor / die Direktorin

director

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 16 of 17

der Wissenschaflter / die Wissenschaftlerin
scientist, researcher

der Feuerwehrmann / die Feuerwehrfrau

firefighter

die Vorschung
research

ich arbeite in der Vorschung

I work in research

die Wirtschaft
economy

ich arbeite in der Wirtschaft

I work in the economy

ich arbeite in den Medien

I work in the media

ich arbeite in der Versicherungsbranche

I work in insurance

ich arbeite in der Unterhaltungsbranche

I work in entertainment

Coffee Break German: Lesson 27 - Notes page 17 of 17