Hallo allerseits!

Zum Aufwärmen machen wir unseren Tagesminiplausch und eine Wiederholung.

Wiederholung

In the previous lesson, you learned some parts of the body and how to count/use plural forms for parts of the body. Let’s review!

Lektionsüberblick

Now that you could sing the German version of “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” (“Kopf, Schultern, Knie und Fuß“), in this lesson, we will look at which words we can use to describe some of our body. Just like in English, where you would not use short and small interchangeably (a person does not have short feet nor small hair), German also uses specific size words. In the end, you will be able to talk about 1) your height (and other big and small body parts) and 2) the length of your hair (and other long and short body parts). Feel free to lachen (laugh) a little at that! 😉

1) Groß oder klein

When describing our physical appearance, it’s helpful to be able to express how tall we are. German speakers say their Körpergröße (height) in centimeters. This is important because even if you correctly state your height in feet and inches, this is not easily understood by Germans.

Using a feet to centimeter conversion calculator, how tall are you in centimeters? If you would like to learn how to say this number in German, you can check out this video.

We can also describe Körpergröße more generally. In fact, you might recall the words klein, mittelgroß, und groß from our unit on Familie und Herkunft and the word sehr from more recent lessons. Can you guess what these words might mean in the context of height?

klein und groß

See if you can use the information in the image above and your prior knowledge to complete the activity below.

Was ist noch groß oder klein? (What else can be big or small?) Augen, Ohren, Nase, Mund, Füße, und Hände! Let’s practice. Be sure to click through to each question.

2) Lang oder kurz

So if we use klein, mittelgroß, und groß for height, how do we describe the length of hair, arms, legs, fingers, nails, etc.?  Eine gute Frage! (a good question!) Let’s look at how the follow people describe themselves.

Ich habe kurze Haare.

Ich habe lange Haare.

Ich habe lange Arme.

Ich habe kurze Beine.

Ich habe eine lange Nase.

Ich habe lange Nägel.

Now let’s practice using kurz und lang. Be sure to click through each question in the question set below.

*As you conclude this lesson, don’t forget to check Canvas!*