Adelaide German Tutor

German learners often stumble over the verbs zahlen and bezahlen , because both translate as “to pay”  in English. While they are closely related, their usage is not always interchangeable. zahlen  is the more general verb. It focuses on the act of paying itself, often without emphasizing what  is being paid for. You might hear it in phrases like Ich zahle jetzt  (“I’m paying now”) or Er zahlt bar  (“He pays in cash”). It can also be used in abstract contexts, such as Steuer

Many native German speakers struggle to pronounce words like think, that, thin, thick because their own language doesn’t have the “th”,...

Beginning in roughly the 8th century AD an iconic sound shift was set in motion, one that is easily spotted by beginners because it...

The High German words machen (make), brechen (break), Becher (beaker), Buch (book), Lerche (lark), Milch (milk), Koch (cook) and...

At some point between the 4th and 7th century AD speakers of what was becoming High German developed a habit of changing the...

At some point between the 4th and 6th century AD speakers of what was becoming High German developed a habit of changing the...

Many a beginner learner of German, or more correctly High German, is surprised to discover that the language shares a number of traits...

From time to time, I’ll be posting my thoughts on the German language, its history and how best to learn it here. Being new to this style...