1.1 Mein Alltag
Lektionsüberblick
The things you do daily should be among the things you feel most confident about when speaking German. Many conversations we have with friends, family, classmates, and even strangers are about what we have going now and what we have done. The “what you are doing now” part was covered in first year German and will be quickly reviewed here. The “what you have done” part will be the focus. In the end, you will be able to 1) talk about your daily routine and 2) talk about your daily routine yesterday.
1) Mein Alltag
Wie sieht dein Alltag aus? What do you do each day? Think about the words and phrases you already know on this topic. Then review some common daily tasks. Which ones do you do? Which ones are missing?
Wann stehst du auf? Wann gehst du an die Uni? Using the model sentences from the presentation, write down what order you do your every day tasks in. When you are done, look over the model again and check if your spelling and structures match with the model.
When you are done, record your daily tasks in your audio journal. Be sure to listen to your recording and rerecord, if you are not satisfied.
Zürich im Blickpunkt
Die Schweiz hat sehr sauberes Trinkwasser. In Zürich, der größten Stadt der Schweiz, gibt es mehr als 1.200 Brunnen mit Trinkwasser. Die Brunnen sind für alle Menschen zu benutzen und gehören zur Stadt.
Switzerland has very clean drinking water. In Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, there are more than 1,200 fountains with drinking water. These fountains are available for everyone to use and are part of the city.
2) Mein Alltag – gestern
Was hast du gestern gemacht? What did you do yesterday? Did you do all of the same daily tasks from #1 yesterday?
Let’s see how Germans-speakers talk about gestern (yesterday) – gestern Morgen, gestern Mittag, gestern Abend. Be sure to click through to each slide in the presentations below.
Kleiner Hinweis
As you learn how to talk about things in the past, it is more important than ever to enter your German mindset – rather than thinking English thoughts and then translating them into German. Look at what the following sentences mean in translation:
| Ich bin aufgestanden. | = I got up. = I have gotten up. |
| Ich habe geduscht. | = I showered. = I have showered. |
| Ich habe gefrühstückt. | = I ate breakfast. = I have eaten breakfast. |
| Ich bin an die Uni gegangen. | = I went to campus. = I have gone to campus. |
As you can see, in English, we differentiate between using the 1-verb past tense (called the imperfect, e.g. I went) and the 2-verb past tense (called the present perfect, e.g. I have gone). In German, by contrast, all of the sentences use the 2-word past tense (Ich bin gegangen). It is not important to learn what these various tenses are called. Instead, focus on repeating the modeled language. This will bring you closer to speaking fluently.
A final difference worth noting is the location of the second verb (called the past participle). In English, the second verb immediately follows the first (I have gone to campus), but in German, the second verb comes at the end of the phrase (Ich bin an die Uni gegangen).
Let’s Practice
Drag and drop the sentences into the correct “time of day” box. Read each sentence aloud as you work through the activity.
Was hast du gestern gemacht? Wann bist du aufgestanden? Wann hast du zu Mittag gegessen? Using the model sentences from the presentations, copy the sentences indicating what you did yesterday. When you are done, look over the model again and check if your spelling and structures match with the model.
Then record your description in your audio journal. Be sure to listen to your recording and rerecord, if you are not satisfied.
Jetzt kombinieren
In this lesson, you reviewed how to 1) talk about your daily routine and you learned how to 2) talk about your daily routine yesterday.
In this combination activity, you can either imagine a scenario, in which you are recording your actions in real-time throughout the day and then comparing them to yesterday, or you can actually do it. Just keep your written journal with you throughout the day and periodically write down a sentence in German about what you are doing. Then think about what that activity looked yesterday. For example,
Heute stehe ich um 7 Uhr auf. Gestern bin ich um 10 Uhr aufgestanden.
Ich esse heute um 12 Uhr zu Mittag. Gestern habe ich um 13 Uhr zu Mittag gegessen.
Heute lerne ich 3 Stunden in der Bibliothek. Gestern habe ich nicht in der Bibliothek gelernt. Ich habe nur zu Hause gelernt.
Whether you are writing down your activities in real-time or all in one setting, be sure to compare your spelling and structures with the vocabulary in this lesson. Once you are done, record your comparisons in your audio journal. Be sure to listen to your recording and rerecord, if you are not satisfied.
Below is a sentence bank that you can use to help guide the formation of your past tense sentences. Focus on copying them as they are and insert the applicable time as indicated, if that information is relevant. Or, add the word nicht if you did not do that activity. Feel free to add other activities from the presentations above if you don’t see one listed below.
| Gestern bin ich um [time] aufgestanden. | Gestern habe ich um [time] gelernt. |
| Gestern habe ich um [time] geduscht. | Gestern habe ich um [time] aufgeräumt. |
| Gestern habe ich um [time] gefrühstückt. | Gestern habe ich um [time] zu Abend gegessen. |
| Gestern habe ich um [time] zu Mittag gegessen. | Gestern bin ich um [time] ins Bett gegangen. |
| Gestern habe ich nicht gefrühstückt. | Gestern habe ich nicht aufgeräumt. |
Media Attributions
- 2030-2040 ch banner reduced size
- Photo of Fountain in Zürich by Djole Sh at Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/the-geiser-fountain-under-cloudy-sky-11270272/
