German 1 Online: Reading Guide for Pages 110-115: Die Uhrzeit

For this reading assignment, enter page “110” in the search bar for the eText and begin your reading.

Page 110 In Chapter 4, we will be focusing on learning vocabulary related to structuring your day (times on a clock, making plans) and giving suggestions and commands, but in addition, we will also learn ‘cultural’ information and vocabulary for movies, music and theater. The grammar for Chapter 4 will cover several major topics: the separable prefix verbs (ich sehe fern, ich komme mit), the modal verbs (ich kann, er muss, wir sollen), plus the imperative command forms of verbs, and a few smaller topics. This first reading guide deals mostly with the introductory topic of Telling Time in German.

Page 111

Alles klar? There is some important vocabulary in this introductory section about invitations (die Einladung, the verb is einladen to invite), about parties and social gatherings, and some nice abbreviations that Germans use when texting. You will complete activities A, B and C as part of your Connect Aufgabe. You should probably read them a bit in advance, here, but most of the work can be done in the Aufgabe assignment itself.

To access the next section (page 112), please click on the right-side menu of “Kapitel 4 Sections” and choose “Wörter im Kontext” — you will land on page 112 and continue reading. Or you can simply enter “112” in the search box above the eBook.

Page 112

Thema 1: Die Uhrzeit (Time on a Clock, the Time of Day) TELLING TIME is a little complicated in German!! Please don’t think you can just assume it’s exactly like English. Every language tells the time in a slightly different manner. You will need to read the time descriptions on page 112 thoroughly and try to understand how the time can be said in German. As in other introductory sections, you will need to read this section thoroughly, using the green “Sprach-Info” box for some extra important information. You will need to learn to be able to understand and say what time it is in German.

Things to notice: • There are two main ways of telling time in German: you can use the (familiar, casual) 12-hour clock like we do in

English, OR the (more formal, official) 24-hour clock for schedules and travel plans.

• If you use the 12-hour clock, you say phrases like “ten after one”, “quarter after two” and “twenty till four”. These are the standard phrases that most Germans will use in conversation:

Viertel nach zwei = a quarter after two (notice that “Viertel” is 1/4, not the number “vier” four) Viertel vor zwei = a quarter to/till two halb zwei = one thirty, half of the way UNTIL two (definitely NOT ‘half past two’!!) zwanzig nach zwei = twenty after two zwanzig vor zwei = twenty to/till two

• When using “halb” PLEASE REMEMBER that it means halfway until the NEXT hour: halb vier = 3:30, not 4:30!

• When using the 12-hour clock, you often do not say the word “Uhr” since it’s a more casual way of speaking. It’s normal to just say “Es ist zwei” for “it’s two o’clock”. You can also say “Es ist zwei Uhr” if you like.

• The phrases “a.m.” and “p.m.” are unique to English: they are NOT USED in German. If you are using the 12-hour counting and want to say “A.M.” or “P.M.” you should use the following words:

abends = in the evenings, p.m.

morgens = in the mornings, a.m.

vormittags = in the mid-mornings, a.m.

nachmittags = in the afternoon, p.m.

• If you use the 24-hour clock, then you simply keep counting past 12 noon. 1:00pm = 13 o’clock in German, “dreizehn Uhr”. 8:00pm = 20 o’clock in German, “zwanzig Uhr”. Midnight is usually “vierundzwanzig Uhr” (24 o’clock) although “null Uhr” (0 o’clock) is also possible.

• When using the 24-hour clock, you MUST include the word “Uhr”. It’s a more formal official way of talking and sounds strange without the “Uhr” added. “Es ist zweiundzwanzig Uhr” = “it’s 10 pm” or “it’s 2200 hours”.

• You cannot ‘mix and match’ the 12-hour phrases (Viertel vor, halb) with the 24-hour official time. If it’s 3:45 pm, you can either say “Viertel vor vier” or “fünfzehn Uhr fünfundvierzig”. What you cannot say is “Viertel vor fünfzehn Uhr” — that’s mixing the casual “Viertel” with the formal “fünfzehn” 24-hour clock and it is wrong. Please try to stick to EITHER casual OR official time and don’t mix them too much.

• The word “Uhr” means ‘clock’ NOT HOUR. It looks like ‘hour’ in English but it doesn’t mean that. It refers to the clock on the wall. If you want to say “for three HOURS” you use the word “die Stunde” for the amount of time ‘hour’: “für drei Stunden”. “Für drei Uhr” makes absolutely no sense in German: for three clock?

• As noted in the green Sprach-Info box on page 113, to say “AT” a time in German, you use the word “UM”.

I’m going to campus at 3:15. = Ich gehe um Viertel nach drei zur Uni.

We eat at 6:30 every evening. = Wir essen um halb sieben jeden Abend.

Please make sure to familiarize yourself with the ways of expressing the time (page 112) OR if you prefer a different summary, see my handout and a different textbook summary at the following links:

Handout: Telling Time Overview (http://www.nthuleen.com/saddleback/handouts/TellingTime-Overview.pdf)

Handout: Telling Time Alternate Textbook (http://www.nthuleen.com/saddleback/handouts/TellingTime-OutlineReview.pdf)

Page 112-114

Aktivität 1, 3, und 4 You will complete activities 1, 3, and 4 as part of your Connect Aufgabe, so you can ignore the textbook page for now until you complete that assignment. Activities 2 and 5 are not assigned.

Page 114

Aktivität 4 There is quite a bit of important new vocabulary in this activity. Please make sure to read and understand the sentences thoroughly when you complete the exercises! We will be using many of these verbs in talking about daily routines and plans:

er steht auf = he gets up

er frühstückt = he eats breakfast

er ruft … an = he calls (on telephone)

er trifft = he meets

er geht einkaufen = he goes shopping

Now that you have learned how to tell the time in German, you should complete the Aufgabe on the Connect website. After you have completed those exercises, move on to the next reading guide (pages 121-124), where we learn an important grammar topic, the separable-prefix verbs.