Paulina Christensen

Paulina Christensen, PhD, and Anne Fox are veteran language instructors.

Articles & Books From Paulina Christensen

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-22-2022
All languages have ways of showing what role a noun plays in a sentence. In English, a noun’s position in the sentence tells you how it’s being used. In German, the endings on the adjectives and articles that accompany the noun, which are based on case, tell you the noun’s function in the sentence. Here’s a quick overview of the German cases and the relationship they have with nouns, articles, and pronouns.
Article / Updated 01-13-2020
Getting your hellos and goodbyes straight in German is a matter of keeping in mind how well you know someone. If you’re on formal terms — in other words, if you’re addressing one or more people with Sie (zee) (you, formal) — then you have one set of expressions. When you’re on du (dooh) (you, informal) terms of address, you go with conversational expressions.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
German grammar has some striking differences to English grammar. One difference that newcomers to German notice right away has to do with word gender. Basically, you have three genders in German — masculine, feminine, and neuter — and although English has the same three genders, they play a very different role in German grammar.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
In German, vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) can generally be pronounced in two ways — as short or long vowel sounds. The short vowel sounds are “clipped,” meaning they’re pronounced shorter than their English equivalents. Long vowel sounds are “steady-state” or “pure,” meaning the sound quality doesn’t change even though it’s a long sound.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Getting to know the days and months of the German calendar helps you keep track of your travel plans, German holidays, and engagements. Days of the Week in German English German Pronunciaton Monday Montag mohn-tahk Tuesday Dienstag deens-tahk Wednesday Mittwoch mit-voH Thursday Donnerstag don-ers-tahk Frid
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
When traveling in a German-speaking area, you need to know numbers for shopping, dining, transportation, and exchanging money. With this list, you can start practicing German numbers. 0 null (nool) 17 siebzehn (zeep-tseyn) 1 eins (ayns) 18 achtzehn (âHt-tseyn) 2 zwei (tsvay) 19 neunzehn (noyn-tseyn) 3 drei (d
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
If you go to a German restaurant, these expressions can come in very handy. Practice them first, so that you can relax and enjoy the dining experience. English German Pronunciation The menu, please. Die Speisekarte bitte. dee shpay-ze kâr-te bi-te. I’d like…. Ich hätte gern…. iH hê-te gern…. I’d like…. Ich möchte gern….
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Practice these German greetings and expressions, which you’ll use daily when you visit a German-speaking country. With these expressions, you can communicate politely, feel more confident, and travel more comfortably. English German Pronunciation Hello! Hallo! hâ-loh! (informal greeting) Good day! Guten Tag! gooh-ten tahk!
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
If you’re traveling in a German-speaking country and find yourself in an urgent situation, you can get the assistance you need by memorizing these important German phrases. English German Pronunciation Help! Hilfe! hilf-e! Police! Polizei! po-li-tsay! Fire! Feuer! foy-er! Get a doctor! Holen Sie einen Arzt! hohl-en zee ayn-en ârtst!
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
If you travel to a German-speaking country and need to know the time or where something is located, or you just want to get some basic information, a few common questions can come in very handy. English German Pronunciation Do you speak English? Sprechen Sie Englisch? shprêH-en zee êng-lish? How are you? Wie geht es Ihnen?