Where are you from?

Lesson Overview: Asking and Talking About Origin

This lesson introduces you to essential German grammar and vocabulary focused on discussing where you come from and talking about nationality. You will learn about definite and indefinite articles in the nominative case, understand the four German grammatical cases and why they matter, and explore nouns with their plural forms. This foundational content is perfect for A1 beginners aiming to handle simple conversations about personal background.

Key Grammar Points

Articles in the Nominative Case

German articles change depending on the gender and case. In this lesson, you’ll focus on definite articles like der, die, and das as well as indefinite articles such as ein and eine when they are in the nominative case, which is used for the subject of a sentence.

The Four German Cases

German grammar uses four cases — nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive — which affect articles and noun endings. For this lesson's introductory content, the nominative case is the focus, as it identifies the subject performing the action.

Nouns and Their Plural Forms

You'll learn essential vocabulary related to countries and cities, along with their plural forms. Understanding pluralization helps you describe groups of people or places, such as die Städte (the cities).

Useful Vocabulary and Expressions

• Woher kommst du? — Where are you from?
• Ich komme aus Deutschland. — I come from Germany.
• Kommst du aus der Schweiz oder aus Österreich? — Do you come from Switzerland or Austria?
• Ich lebe in einer großen Stadt. — I live in a big city.
• Bist du aus Spanien oder aus Italien? — Are you from Spain or Italy?
• Welche Sprache sprichst du? — Which language do you speak?

Practice with Verbs and Dialogue

The verbs kommen (to come) and leben (to live) are key to this lesson. You'll see their present tense conjugations and use them in natural dialogues that simulate greetings and introductions in various social contexts like language schools, cafés, and offices.

Cultural and Linguistic Notes

English and German differ in how they use articles and endings to express the subject and object in a sentence. For example, English uses word order primarily, while German also changes word endings depending on the case. Useful phrases include Woher kommst du? (Where do you come from?) compared to English, where the word order stays consistent without articles changing form. Also, nationality adjectives in German agree with gender and number, e.g., Ich bin Deutscher (I am a German man) and Ich bin Spanierin (I am a Spanish woman), which differs from English where gender forms are not required.