19/10/2016

EssentialGermanVerbs:Haben(toHave)andSein(toBe)
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LearningtheGerman
VerbsHabenandSein

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BroughtGermanFolklore
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DavidBowieinBerlin

Bauhaus,BlackMountain
andtheInventionof

Grammar

Learning the German Verbs Haben and Sein

ByHydeFlippo
UpdatedJuly27,2016.

Thetwomostimportant
Germanverbsarehaben(to
have)andsein(tobe).Asin
mostlanguages,theverb"to
be"isoneoftheoldestverbs
inGerman,andthereforeone
ofthemostirregular.Theverb
"tohave"isonlyslightlyless
irregular,butnolessvitalto
survivinginGerman.

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We'llstartwithhaben.Lookat
thefollowingtableforthe
conjugationofhaben(tohave)
WorldLanguages.GettyImages/myillo
inthepresenttense,along
withsamplesentences.Notice
thestrongresemblancetoEnglishformanyformsofthisverb,withmost
formsonlyoneletterofffromtheEnglish(habe/have,hat/has).Inthecase
ofthefamiliaryou(du),theGermanverbisidenticaltoOldEnglish:"thou
hast"="duhast."

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HabenisalsousedinsomeGermanexpressionsthataretranslatedwith"to
be"inEnglish:IchhabeHunger.=I'mhungry.
habentohave
Deutsch

English

SampleSentences
SINGULAR

ichhabe

Ihave

duhast

you(fam.)
have

SIGNUP

GERMAN LANGUAGE
ListeningtoGerman
Vocabulary/Vokabeln
Culture
GermanLessonsandCourses

IchhabeeinenrotenWagen.(...aredcar.)

Grammar

DuhastmeinBuch.(...mybook.)

ReadingGerman
GermanPronunciation

erhat

hehas

ErhateinblauesAuge.(...ablackeye.)

siehat

shehas

SiehatblaueAugen.(...blueeyes.)

eshat

ithas

EshatkeineFehler.(...noflaws.)
PLURAL

wirhaben

wehave

WirhabenkeineZeit.(...notime.)

ihrhabt

you(guys)
have

HabtihreuerGeld?(...yourmoney?)

siehaben

theyhave

SiehabenkeinGeld.(Theyhavenomoney.)

Siehaben

youhave

HabenSiedasGeld?(Sie,formal"you,"isboth
singularandplural.)

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19/10/2016

EssentialGermanVerbs:Haben(toHave)andSein(toBe)
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ToBeorNottoBe(Seinodernichtsein)
Lookatthefollowingtablefortheconjugationofsein(tobe)inthepresent
tense.NoticehowsimilartheGermanandEnglishformsareinthethird
person(ist/is).
seintobe
Deutsch

English

SampleSentences
SINGULAR

ichbin

Iam

dubist

you(fam.)
are

Ichbin's.(It'sme.)

erist

heis

EristeinnetterKerl.(...aniceguy.)

sieist

sheis

Istsieda?(Isshehere?)

esist

itis

DubistmeinSchatz.(...mydarling/treasure.)

EsistmeinBuch.(...mybook.)
PLURAL

wirsind

weare

"WirsinddasVolk!"("Wearethepeople/nation!"
Sloganof1989EastGermanprotestsinLeipzig.)

ihrseid

you(guys)
are

SeidihrunsereFreunde?(..ourfriends.)

siesind

theyare

SiesindunsereFreunde.(..ourfriends.)

Siesind

youare

SindSieHerrMeier?(Sie,formal"you,"isboth
singularandplural.)

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Culture

The Brothers Grimm Brought German Folklore

to the World
NotjustMrchenonkel(TellersofFairyTales)

ByMichaelSchmitz
UpdatedAugust09,2016.

Almosteverychildknowsfairy
taleslikeCinderella,Snow
White,orSleepingBeautyand
notjustbecauseofthe
watereddownDisneymovie
versions.Thosefairytales
arepartofGermany'scultural
heritage,mostofthem
originatinginGermanyand
recordedbytwobrothers,
JacobandWilhelmGrimm.
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19/10/2016

EssentialGermanVerbs:Haben(toHave)andSein(toBe)
JustoneofthemanyGrimmfairytales.JonathanMCHugh
IkonImages@gettyimages.de

JacobandWilhelmspecialized

Search... inpublishingthefolklore,

myths,andfairytalestheyhad
collectedovermanyyears.Althoughmostoftheirstoriestakeplaceina
moreorlessmedievalworld,theywerecollectedandpublishedbythe
BrothersGrimminthe19thcentury,andhavelongretainedtheirgriponthe
imaginationofchildrenandadultsallovertheworld.

EarlyLifeoftheGrimmBrothers
Jacob,bornin1785,andWilhelm,bornin1786,weresonsofajurist,
PhilippWilhelmGrimm,andlivedinHanauinHesse.Likemanyfamiliesat
thetime,thiswasalargefamily,withsevensiblings,threeofwhomdiedin
infancy.
In1795,PhilippWilhelmGrimmdiedofpneumonia.
Withouthim,thefamily's
incomeandsocialstatusdeclinedrapidly.JacobandWilhelmcouldno
longerlivewiththeirsiblingsandtheirmother,butthankstotheiraunt,
theyweresenttoKasselforahighereducation.
However,becauseoftheirsocialstatus,theywerenottreatedfairlybythe
otherstudents,anunfortunatesituationthatcontinuedevenattheuniversity
theyattendedinMarburg.Becauseofthosecircumstances,thetwo
brothersbecameveryclosetooneanotheranddeeplyabsorbedintheir
studies.Theirlawprofessorawakenedtheirinterestinhistoryandespecially
inGermanfolklore.Intheyearsfollowingtheirgraduation,thebrothershad
ahardtimetakingcareoftheirmotherandsiblings.Simultaneously,both
startedtocollectGermansayings,fairytales,andmyths.
Inordertocollectthosewellknownandwidelyspreadfairytalesand
sayings,thebrothersGrimmtalkedtomanypeopleinmanyplacesand
transcribedthemanystoriestheyhadlearnedovertheyears.Sometimes
theyeventranslatedthestoriesfromOldGermanintomodernGermanand
adaptedthemslightly.

GermanFolkloreas"CollectiveNationalIdentity"
TheGrimmbrotherswerenotonlyinterestedinhistory,butinunitinga
disparateGermanyintoonecountry.Atthistime,"Germany"wasmoreofa
conglomerationofabout200differentkingdomsandprincipalities.Withtheir
collectionofGermanfolklore,JacobandWilhelmtriedtogivetheGerman
peoplesomethinglikeacollectivenationalidentity.
In1812,thefirstvolumeof"KinderundHausmrchen"was
finallypublished.Itcontainedmanyoftheclassicfairytalesstillknowntoday
likeHnselandGretelandCinderella.Insubsequentyears,manyother
volumesofthewellknownbookwerepublished,allofthemwithrevised
content.Inthisprocessofrevision,thefairytalesbecamemoreandmore
suitableforchildren,similartotheversionsweknowtoday.
Earlierversionsofthetaleswererathercrudeandfilthyincontentandform,
containingexplicitsexualcontentorharshviolence.Mostofthestories
originatedinruralareasandhadbeensharedbyfarmersandamonglower
classes.TheGrimms'revisionsmadethesewrittenversionssuitablefora
morerefinedaudience.Addingillustrationsmadethebooksmoreappealing
tochildren.

OtherWellKnownGrimmWorks
BesidesthewellknownKinderundHausmrchen,theGrimmscontinuedto
publishotherbooksaboutGermanmythology,sayings,andlanguage.With
theirbook"DieDeutscheGrammatik"(TheGermanGrammar),theywere
thefirsttwoauthorswhoresearchedtheoriginanddevelopmentofthe
Germandialectsandtheirgrammaticalcircumstances.Also,theyworkedon
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theirmostlavishproject,thefirstGermandictionary.This"DasDeutsche
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19/10/2016

EssentialGermanVerbs:Haben(toHave)andSein(toBe)

Wrterbuch"waspublishedinthe19thcenturybutwasreallycompletedin
Search...
theyear1961.Itisstillthelargestandmostcomprehensivedictionaryofthe
Germanlanguage.
WhilelivinginGttingen,atthattimepartoftheKingdomofHannover,and
fightingforaunitedGermany,theGrimmbrotherspublishedseveral
polemicscriticizingtheking.Theyweredismissedfromuniversityalongwith
fiveotherprofessorsandalsokickedoutofthekingdom.First,bothlived
againinKasselbutwereinvitedtoBerlinbythePrussianking,Friedrich
WilhelmIV,inordertocontinuetheiracademicworkthere.Theylivedthere
for20years.Wilhelmdiedin1859,hisbrotherJacobin1863.
Tothisday,theGrimmbrothers'literarycontributionsareknownalloverthe
worldandtheirworkistightlyboundtotheGermanculturalheritage.Until
theEuropeancurrency,theeuro,wasintroducedin2002,theirvisages
couldbeseenonthe1.000DeutscheMarkbill.
ThethemesofMrchenareuniversalandenduring:goodversusevilin
whichthegood(Cinderella,SnowWhite)arerewardedandthewicked
(stepmother)arepunished.OurmodernversionsPrettyWoman,Black
Swan,EdwardScissorhands,SnowWhiteandtheHuntsman,etc.showjust
howrelevantandpowerfulthesetalesremaintoday.

Related
GravesiteoftheBrothersGrimm
VisitBrothersGrimmTerritoryonGermany'sFairyTaleRoad
ThePuppetMastersDieAugsburgerPuppenkiste
LanguageSchoolsinGermany
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