Address and contact details

Lesson Overview: Address and Contact Details in German

This lesson is designed for A1 beginner learners focusing on how to ask for and give address and contact information in German. It covers essential vocabulary about personal and contact details, introduces the accusative case for nouns and possessive articles, and provides practical expressions for everyday conversations.

Key Vocabulary and Categories

Words are divided into two main categories:

• Contact Information: die Adresse (address), die E-Mail-Adresse (email address), die Telefonnummer (phone number), die Postleitzahl (postal code), die Straße (street), die Hausnummer (house number), die Vorwahl (area code)
• Personal Details: der Geburtsort (place of birth), das Geburtsjahr (year of birth)

Grammar Focus: Nouns and Articles in the Accusative Case

The lesson explains how to use nouns and possessive articles in the accusative case. This is essential when expressing possession or asking for someone’s contact details, e.g., "Kannst du mir deine Telefonnummer geben?" (Can you give me your phone number?).

Practical Phrases and Expressions

Students practice common phrases for exchanging contact information such as:

• "Wie ist deine Adresse?" (What is your address?)
• "Ich habe deine Telefonnummer nicht." (I don’t have your phone number.)
• "Kannst du mir deine E-Mail-Adresse geben?" (Can you give me your email address?)
• "Ich speichere deinen Kontakt in mein Handy." (I am saving your contact in my phone.)

Dialogue Practice

Multiple dialogues simulate real-life situations at the office, with neighbors, or friends, helping you to practice asking for and giving contact details politely.

Verb Conjugations

The verbs geben (to give) and wohnen (to live) are practiced in the present tense, for example:

• ich gebe
• du gibst
• er/sie/es gibt
• wir geben
• ihr gebt
• sie/Sie geben

• ich wohne
• du wohnst
• er/sie/es wohnt
• wir wohnen
• ihr wohnt
• sie/Sie wohnen

Notes on Language Differences and Useful Expressions

Unlike English, German uses different articles and possessive pronouns in the accusative case depending on the gender of the noun. For example, "deine Telefonnummer" uses the feminine accusative possessive "deine" because "die Telefonnummer" is feminine.

Typical useful phrase: "Wie ist deine Adresse?" directly translates to "What is your address?" but is a very natural way to ask for someone's address in German.

Also, Germans tend to combine street and house number, e.g., "Ich wohne in der Hauptstraße Nummer 12." (I live at Main Street number 12.) which is practical and common in everyday speech.