Hello friends,
greetings to all of you. At this time we will exercise our German knowledge by using common verb “Gehen” – to go in different contexts. In either case let’s begin.
1. Man hat zwei Stunden zu gehen. -> It takes two hours to go/get there.
2. Ich bin heute nicht mit der Straßenbahn gefahren, sondern zu Fuß gegangen. -> I didn’t take the tram today, but walked instead. As can be seen, Perfekt in German with motion verbs for instance kommen, gehen, fahren requires auxiliary verb “sein” – to be. Ich bin gefahren, du bist gekommen, sie ist gegangen…
3. Sie ging auf den Zehenspitzen. -> She walked on tiptoe. Gehen in Präteritum is irregular and becoms “ging“. It is conjugated correspondingly, depending on the person (subject): Ich ging, du gingst, er/sie/es ging, wir gingen, ihr gingt, sie/Sie gingen. As this verb is irregular, in that case we have to memorize it.
4. Er geht ruhig seines Weges. -> He calmly goes his own way.
5. Du kannst ihn doch nicht so ohne Abschied gehen lassen. -> You can’t just let him go like that without saying goodbye. Expression “Gehen lassen” means here to let someone go. Lass mich gehen. – Let me go.
6. Die Studenten gehen nächste Woche ins Praktikum. -> The students start their internship next week (will begin their internship). By the way, nice expressions “ins Praktikum gehen” – to go the the internship or “ins Büro gehen” – to go to the office. So, since Praktikum and Büro are neutral, d.h. das Praktikum, das Büro and we have Akkusativ case, in+das becomes ins. Example: Ich gehe (wohin – where?) ins Theater.
7. Da unser Freund nicht pünktlich erschienen ist, sind wir gegangen. -> Since our friend didn’t show up on time, we left.
8. Heute geht ein starker Wind. -> There is a strong wind today. As can be seen, wind goes in German language. In other words you can say “Heute ist es windig in Berlin” – It’s windy in Berlin today.
9. Die Uhr geht richtig. -> The clock is accurate.
10. Wir gehen an die Arbeit. -> We are going to work. Where do we go? -> Akkusativ case with die Arbeit becomes an die Arbeit.
Another handy examples:
11. Er geht ins zwanzigste Jahr. -> He is entering his twentieth year (soon he will be 20)
12. Wir gehen in Urlaub. -> We are going on holiday.
13. Man soll nicht nur nach dem Äußeren gehen. -> You shouldn’t judge by appearances only. -> another fixed expression, to judge someone by appearances.
14. Er läßt die Dinge gehen. -> He lets the things be. (doesn’t care about outcome)
15. Alles geht nach Wunsch. -> Everything is going just as planned. Well-known expression.
16. Seine Arbeit geht ihm über alles. -> His work means everything to him.
17. Das geht über meine Kräfte. -> This is beyond my capabilities.
18. Das neue Geschäft geht gut. -> The new business is doing well. e.g. Es geht mir gut. – I am fine.-> common expression, at least try to memorize it.
19. Es geht um seinen Kopf. -> It’s all about his head (because something dangerous happened to him). Es geht um points to Akkusativ. e.g. Es geht um den neuen Film, eine kleine Tasche etc.
20. Sie geht immer nach der neuen Mode gekleidet. -> She always dresses according to the latest fashion.
At the present time this list with examples is narrow. However it is more important to use those expressions in the right context.
I hope, my dear friends, you’ll find this post useful. Please try to embed those expressions into daily conversation correspondingly. In the meantime I wish you all the best and lets keep in touch.
Another practical posts see below:
Few German language conversational topics
Verbs “haben” and “sein” – usage
25 useful German expressions in German conversation
