Germanisch for English Speakers

This learning course is inspired by Margarita Madrigal and Language Transfer.

With very little grammatical explanation, you will begin to internalize the language. Don't try to memorize anything! Just take your time and really think through how to translate the phrases. And mistakes are ok! Each lesson will build upon what you learned before it. Think of this course like a puzzle. You are building neural pathways :)

Table of Contents

Lesson 1

The word for I is Ik (pronounced somewhere in between "ick" and "eek")

The word for want is will

The word for it is et (pronounced like the end of "pet")

Now, how would you say "I want it" in Germanisch?

I want it.

Ik will et.

The word for you is du (pronounced like "do")

You want it.

Du will et.

The word for see is sie (pronounced like "see")

I see it.

Ik sie et.

You see it.

Du sie et.

The book is dat buk (pronounced like "daht boowk")

I want the book.

Ik will dat buk.

The word for not is nit (pronounced like "neat")

The standard way to negate a phrase is to place "nit" after the verb and pronoun. You may have heard a phrase like "I want it not!" used in older contexts. When in doubt, think of how you would say it in a kind of old-timey Shakespearean English.

I don't want it.

Ik will et nit.

You don't see it.

Du sie et nit.

If there is an object that is not a pronoun, place "nit" directly after the verb.

I don't want the book.

Ik will nit dat buk.

I don't want it.

Ik will et nit.

You don't see the book.

Du sie nit dat buk.

In this lesson, you have learned:

Lesson 2

To form a question, you invert the subject and verb.

Do you want it?

Will du et?

Don't you want it?

Will du et nit?

Do you want the book?

Will du dat buk?

Don't you want the book?

Will du nit dat buk?

The word for me is my (pronounced like the English word "my")

You see me.

Du sie my.

Do you see me?

Sie du my?

This is called the "oblique" form of a pronoun.

"Du" has a similar form where you replace the u for a y.

I see you.

Ik sie dy.

I want you.

Ik will dy.

The word for to say is seje (pronounced like "say-uh")

I want to say.

Ik will seje.

When there are 2 verbs, the "nit" negation comes after the first verb.

I don't want to say.

Ik will nit seje.

You want to say it.

Du will seje et.

In English, we write "to ___" for the infinitive form of a verb. In Germanisch, if the verb doesn't already end in a vowel, we just add an -e on the end.

Get rid of the final -e for a regular present tense verb.

I say.

Ik sej.

I want to say.

Ik will seje.

I see.

Ik sie.

I want to see.

Ik will sie.

I don't want to see the book.

Ik will nit sie dat buk.

If you do or give something to someone, you don't need to include a word like "to". Just put the oblique pronoun right after the verb.

You say it to me.

Du sej my et.

I don't want to see you.

Ik will sie dy nit.

You don't want to say it to me.

Du will nit seje my et.

In this lesson, you have learned:

Lesson 3

The word for but is mä (pronounced like "mat" without the "t")

I want to say, but I won't.

Ik will seje, mä ik will nit.

In this lesson, you have learned: