German All-in-One For Dummies (eBook)

Wendy Foster teaches Business English, German, French, and intercultural communication skills. She also does editing for online German education programs. Wendy received her degree in German studies at the Sprachen-und-Dolmetscher-Institut in Munich and later her MA in French at Middlebury College in Paris. Paulina Christensen has been working as a writer, editor, and translator for more than 10 years. She has developed, written, and edited numerous German-language textbooks and teachers' handbooks for Berlitz International. Dr. Christensen recieved her MA and PhD from Dusseldorf University, Germany. Anne Fox has been working as a translator, editor, and writer for more than 12 years. She studied at Interpreter's School, Zurich, Switzerland, and holds a degree in translation. Most recently she has been developing, writing, and editing student textbooks and teacher handbooks for Berlitz.

Introduction 1

Book I: Getting Started with German 7

Chapter 1: Warming Up to German Basics 9

Chapter 2: Handling Numbers, Times, Dates, and Measurements 31

Chapter 3: Meeting and Greeting: Guten Tag! 53

Chapter 4: Talking about Home, Family, Friends, and Daily Life 77

Chapter 5: Talking Telecommunications, Business, and Current Events 97

Chapter 6: Shopping Simplified 119

Chapter 7: Dining Out and Buying Food: Guten Appetit! 137

Book II: Speaking German on the Go 165

Chapter 1: Locating Places 167

Chapter 2: Going Out on the Town 185

Chapter 3: Planning a Pleasure Trip: Gute Reise! 203

Chapter 4: Finding a Place to Stay: Gute Nacht! 227

Chapter 5: Getting Around 243

Chapter 6: Handling Emergencies: Hilfe! 263

Book III: Assembling the Grammatical Foundations for Communication 281

Chapter 1: Laying Out the Basics to Build Sentences 283

Chapter 2: Sorting Out Word Gender and Case 307

Chapter 3: Dealing with the Here and Now: The Present Tense 331

Chapter 4: Asking and Answering Questions 353

Chapter 5: Describing and Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs 379

Chapter 6: Modifying Verbs with Helpers: The Modal Auxiliaries 411

Chapter 7: Instructing and Commanding: The Imperative Mood 429

Chapter 8: Sorting Out Separable- and Inseparable-Prefix Verbs 445

Book IV: Building Detail and Precision in Your Communication 463

Chapter 1: Tying Ideas Together with Conjunctions and Relative Pronouns 465

Chapter 2: Specifying Relationships with Prepositions 479

Chapter 3: Using Reflexives and Other Verb Combinations 493

Chapter 4: Conversing about the Past: The Present Perfect and Past Perfect 507

Chapter 5: Narrating the (Simple) Past: Fact and Fiction 525

Chapter 6: Looking to the Future (And Avoiding It) 537

Chapter 7: Describing Your Mood: Summing Up the Subjunctive 549

Book V: The Appendixes 563

Appendix A: Verb Tables and Case Charts 565

Appendix B: German-English Mini-Dictionary 587

Appendix C: English-German Mini-Dictionary 599

Appendix D: Fun & Games 611

Appendix E: About the CD 655

Index 659