Formal German
#1 Lena Wagner.
#2 Guten Tag, hier ist Michael Schmidt. Wie geht es Ihnen?
#1 Gut, danke, und Ihnen?
#2 Auch gut. Frau Wagner, ich möchte Sie treffen. Haben Sie Zeit?
#1 Nein, ich habe jetzt noch zwei Termine.
#2 Dann lassen Sie uns morgen ins Kino gehen. Welchen Film möchten Sie
sehen?
#1 Ich habe keine Lust auf Kino.
English
#1 Lena Wagner.
#2 Hello, Michael Schmidt is here. How are you?
#1 Good, thanks, and you?
#2 Also good. Ms Wagner, I would like to meet you. (literally
#1 No, I still have two appointments at the moment.
#2 Then let us go to the movies tomorrow. Which film do you want to see?
(literally
#1 I’m not in the mood for the cinema.
Informal German
#1 Lena Wagner.
#2 Hi, hier ist Michael. Wie geht es dir?
#1 Gut, danke, und dir?
#2 Auch gut. Lena, ich möchte dich treffen. Hast du Zeit?
#1 Nein, ich habe jetzt noch zwei Termine.
#2 Dann lass uns morgen ins Kino gehen. Welchen Film möchtest du
sehen?
#1 Ich habe keine Lust auf Kino.
Informal English
#1 Lena Wagner.
#2 Hi, Michael is here. How are you?
#1 Good, thanks, and you?
#2 Also good. Lena, I would like to meet you. (literally
#1 No, I still have two appointments at the moment.
#2 Then let’s go to the movies tomorrow. Which film do you want to see?
(literally
#1 I’m not in the mood for the cinema.
Vocabulary Sample Sentences
Ich möchte einen Kaffee. I would like a coffee.
Ich treffe jetzt meinen neuen Boss. I am meeting my new boss now.
Morgen arbeite ich und dann fliege ich nach
Boston.
Tomorrow I work and then I fly to Boston.
Gehst du morgen ins Kino? Are you going to the movies tomorrow?
Gehen Sie an der Tankstelle vorbei. Go past the gas station.
Ich gehe nach Amerika. I go to America.
Lass uns in Kino gehen. Let's go to the movies.
Welchen Film möchtest du sehen? Which movie would you like to see?
Ich sehe ein gutes Café. I see a good café.
Welchen Film möchtest du sehen? Which movie would you like to see?
Grammar Points
In this lesson you will learn more ways of expressing what you want.
We already know the phrase “Ich habe Lust auf…” meaning “I am interested in…” or “I am in the moodfor…”. We also know the corresponding question “Haben Sie Lust auf… / Hast du Lust auf… ?”. Whathappens if you want to answer “No, I am not in the mood for…” to that question? The correct phrasingis “Ich habe keine Lust auf…” in German. “keine“ means “no“. You are literally saying “I have nodesire of …”.
In today’s dialog you have also encountered “Ich m?chte…”, which means “I would like…”. This is anextremely useful phrase because you can express so much with it. For example:
“Ich m?chte einen Kaffee.” – I would like a coffee.
“Ich m?chte Telefonnummern austauschen.” – I would like to exchange phone numbers.
“Ich m?chte morgen frei haben.” - I would like to have a day off tomorrow. (German expression: freihaben = “have free” = have a day off)“Ich m?chte morgen nicht arbeiten.” – I don’t want to work tomorrow. (literally: I would like to notwork tomorrow)“M?chtest du ins Kino gehen?” – Would you like to go to the cinema?
One minor annoyance that all of the longer phrases have in common: the second verb always getstransferred to the end of the sentence. This is the case whenever there are two verbs in one sentence inGerman, for example also with “Lass uns” (Let’s):
“Lass uns ‘Titanic’ sehen!” – Let’s watch ‘Titanic’!
“Lass uns morgen ins Theater gehen!” – Let’s go to the theatre tomorrow! (an actual theatre withactors, not a movie theatre)“Lass uns nicht streiten.” – Let’s not argue.
“Lass uns” (or the polite equivalent “Lassen Sie uns”) is the third really useful phrase when you wantto express your wishes. You can now express what you’re in the mood for, what you would like andyou can make practical suggestions.
Cultural Insight
When calling somebody in Germany, most people will say their name immediately after picking up thereceiver in order to let you know whether you have reached the right person. They expect the samefrom you as the caller: your answer to them saying their name should definitely include your name. Itmay be just your name or it may be your name with a greeting, but if you fail to say who you arealtogether, quite a few people will get annoyed or hang up. It’s not just a common courtesy, it alsodistinguishes you from people that have no business calling, such as telemarketers.
If you want to talk to somebody else in the household, you should still say your name before asking forthe phone to be passed over. If you want to be really polite, you should also have a brief conversationwith whoever answered the phone before requesting that, especially if you are acquainted with theperson. Here’s what such a conversation might look like:
- Gerda Wagner.
- Michael Schmidt, guten Tag. Wie geht es Ihnen, Frau Wagner?
- Gut, danke, und Ihnen?
- Gut, danke. Und wie geht es Ihrem Mann? (And how is your husband?)- Auch gut. Er arbeitet im Moment.
- Und Lena? Ich m?chte eigentlich mit Lena sprechen. (eigentlich = actually)- Lena ist hier. Ich gebe ihr jetzt das Telefon. (I’m giving the phone to her now.)
