Episode 15 - Introduction to Capitalization (big letters) in German
2023-12-07 12 min
Description & Show Notes
In this episode we will cover the basic rules of capitalization in German. Capitalization means writing some words with a big letter (capital) in the beginning of the word. German is the only language that writes many words other than names and the beginnings of sentences with a capital. We are going to cover the basic rules and make sure you will not get confused about this when learning German.
Basic Rules for Capitalization in German: What Words to Write with Big Letters
In this episode, Susi covers the basic rules of capitalization in the German language. She explains which words are written with a big letter at the beginning and provides examples to help you understand the concept. If you've ever been puzzled by when to capitalize words in German, this episode is just what you need! Stay tuned for future episodes where Susie will delve into holidays, the German alphabet, and more.
Primary Topic: Introduction to Better German Podcast
In this episode, Susi covers the basic rules of capitalization in the German language. She explains which words are written with a big letter at the beginning and provides examples to help you understand the concept. If you've ever been puzzled by when to capitalize words in German, this episode is just what you need! Stay tuned for future episodes where Susie will delve into holidays, the German alphabet, and more.
Primary Topic: Introduction to Better German Podcast
- Susie Blumel introduces the Better German podcast, emphasizing its focus on teaching German language, countries, and culture.
Primary Topic: Basic Rules of Capitalization in German
- Explanation of the importance of covering capitalization early in the podcast and the differences in capitalization rules between German and other languages.
Primary Topic: Words Written with a Capital Letter in German
- Discussion of the rule that every noun in German is written with a big letter, and the unique nature of this rule in the German language.
Primary Topic: Exceptions and Specific Cases of Capitalization in German
- Explanation of exceptions to capitalization rules for book titles, chapter names, and specific words used in sentences.
Primary Topic: Future Episodes and Topics
- Teaser for upcoming episodes on holidays, German courses, and German pronunciation, along with reminders for listeners to subscribe and sign up for the newsletter.
Links:
- Episode 14 - Watching Movies with Subtitles to Learn German
Links:
- Episode 14 - Watching Movies with Subtitles to Learn German
- Interactive Movie Guide to help you find German movies with subtitles on your level.
- YouTube Channel
- YouTube Channel
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Do let me know, which subjects you would like covered!
And watch out for the next episode - I publish a new one every Thursday.
Transcript
Welcome to the Better German podcast.
My name is Susi Blümel, and I will teach
you German and everything around the
language , the countries and the culture.
So I'm really thrilled, you're
tuning in, whether you're coming
back or you're listening to my
podcast for the very first time.
In this episode, I'm going to cover the
basic rules of capitalization in German.
Capitalization means, which words do we
ride with a big lecture in the beginning?
This is something that I wanted to cover
quite in the beginning of the podcast,
because while I'm going along this
podcast, I kind of follow a path like
a course, so I highly suggest you to
start in the beginning of the podcast
and follow along through the episodes.
So I don't have any additional
materials for this episode, but I
want to refer you to something that
I published with the last episode.
And that is an interactive guide
about German movies and shows.
So in the last episode, which
was episode 14, I describe it and
you can access it on my homepage.
This is bettergerman.info/movies, and
I'll also link to it in the show notes,
and I highly suggested to get it because
watching movies with subtitles is one
of the best things you can do to help
you learn German, and I think it's
probably the most entertaining one.
You can find the show notes
at bettergerman.info/ the
number of the episode.
This is episode 15.
So the show notes are
bettergerman.info/15.
Or you should also be able
to see them wherever you are
listening to this podcast.
Okay, so let's jump into this episode,
we're going to cover which words in
German are written with big letters.
This is different in German than in
most of the other languages or all of
the other languages, actually, and it's
something that you will see, and maybe
you're wondering about it and therefore
we're covering which one's, which.
So welcome to the better German podcast.
I'm Susi, I'm a German teacher, and I
have decided that I want to help people
to learn German without the super
complications that are sometimes there.
It is a language that can be learned
and I'm going to help you with it.
So if you follow this podcast, from
the first episode, actually it's
more or less build up like of course.
So.
Let's get into the subject.
It's actually very easy.
Like which words do we ride
with a big letter ? So as, also
English, we write, every beginning
of a sentence with a big letter.
Okay.
That's the easy part.
We write names with
big letters, obviously.
Susi.
Or also last names, Franz Maier.
Franz being the first name.
Maier the last name.
But, we also write every
noun, with a big letter.
So every noun, a noun is a word like
chair, wall, window and things like that.
So in German, these would be
written with a big letter.
So the German translation, not
the English ones obviously.
So in German window - Fenster.
We write Fenster, with a
capital, a capital is a big
letter, so not a small letter.
In German, by the way, this
is called "Großschreibung".
So "groß" meaning big.
Und "Schreibung" is the way
how you write something.
So Großschreibung is, what are you writing
with a big letter in the beginning?
So the Großschreibung.
in German is every noun is
written with a big letter.
Das Fenster, das Bild, das.
Kind.
And one of the easy rules is if you
have an article in front of it, you
will write it with a big letter.
Why am I telling you this?
Basically the main reason why I'm
telling this to you as a beginner is,
so do you don't get puzzled by it.
And when you learn a new noun,
yes, you will try to write it
correctly with a big letter.
I don't think it's something that you
should get worried about very much,
but try to do it correctly, obviously.
By the way, German is the only
language on this planet that does that.
It's literally the only language that
will write all nouns with capitals,
usually like English, it's the
beginning of, sentences, and a few
other occasions, but German really
writes every noun with a big letter.
And actually, throughout the history
of German for many, many years, there
have also been people that said,
okay, maybe we should get rid of it.
I'm not going to go into if it's
good or bad that it's done like that.
There are certain reasons why
this is the case, which I'm
not going to go into right now.
'cause that's like deep into the grammar.
But anyway.
German is the only
language that does that.
And this rule that so far as I
have told you is relatively easy.
So, every noun is written with a capital,
with a big letter, in the beginning.
and why am I telling this to you?
I'm basically telling this to you at this
point, so you're not getting confused.
So, if you see that something's
written with a big letter,
you can know it's a noun.
One thing, however, that is important
to know here, that other words can
be written with big letters as well.
depending on how they
are used in the sentence.
So, for example, when you say something
like, My husband's snorewhen sleeping.
Mein Mann schnarcht beim Schlafen.
Schlafen, sleeping, is actually not a
noun originally, but if you use it in
this way, when sleeping, beim Schlafen,
then it's also written with a big letter.
You don't need to worry if you're a
beginner or like only a little bit
advanced, on learning the rules, when
I writing things with a big lecture.
I just want you to not get
confused, why that is the case.
So if you see that in a
book, you'll understand it.
I'm going to tell you a few words,
a few examples that give you a clue
why things are written that way.
So every word is written with a
capital in the beginning of a sentence.
Then next point that's maybe a question.
How is it when you have headings,
when you have titles of books?
In English the rule is actually different.
In English, when you have a title
of a book, for example, or the name
of a chapter, you write every word
except for the really small ones
like "in" and "the" with a capital.
In German, we don't do that.
In German we write all
the nouns with a capital.
And, I'm going to give you, a few more
examples when you have, for example,
Before a word, an article, you will
write it with a big letter, usually.
So, if you say "Das Lesen
ist gut", reading is good.
And there's a "das" before you
will see it's a big letter.
And there is another word that I'm
telling you, "beim", for example.
"beim Lesen", when reading.
You will always write this with
a capital, but at this point
in time, don't worry about it.
When you learn new nouns words like
table, chair, love, you know that this is
something that is written with a capital.
And when you see other things written
with a capital just note it for
now, don't worry about the rule too
much and know that this can happen.
And when you are more advanced
then we're going to go more into
the exact rules when you do that.
But honestly, I think for a learner
of German as a second language, until
you get to the point where you say,
okay, you want to write correctly.
You want to be able to write whole
articles in German and essays or books,
you don't have to worry about that
ever, but know that this is there.
And, don't get confused about it.
So I hope, if you had a question mark
about this or were wandering, then
I hope that it, is no longer there.
And if you were always like, huh, I
don't care about them, then that's fine.
And carry on with it.
Okay.
See you next time.
The next episodes, are going to
be the second part of the holidays
in autumn and winter in Vienna.
This one I'm excited about it, on
one hand, on the other hand, I always
think I have forgotten something.
There is something else I need to
add, but anyway, it's coming up,
I'm almost finished with the edit.
And then I have an episode coming,
which is called at this point,
"Why pay for German course?"
So I'm going to cover some points for
you to consider if you're looking at:
are you going to do a German course?
Do you want to pay for it, or not, and
what are actually the plus points as
far as I can tell from my experience.
to paying a course, as opposed to
learning by yourself, with YouTube
or a podcast or things like that.
So, with that episode, I want to.
give you more information so you
can make him more educated decision.
when you're looking at whether or not
you should pay for a German course,
This is probably true, not just for a
German course, but as this podcast is
about learning German, I've particularly
looked at it from that viewpoint.
And then the next one after that
is actually, we're going to cover,
the German alphabet and the basics
of the German pronunciation.
I can't cover everything about
German pronunciation, obviously
in one podcast episode, but
we're going to cover the basics.
This is an episode that I am
going to record with video.
So while you will be able to listen
to it as a podcast, you will also
be able to watch it as a video.
Okay.
Cool.
So this is just to give you a little
bit of an idea of what's coming.
See you the next time, see you
in the next episode next week.
Hang in there.
Do well, and.
one other thing, if you like this podcast,
please tell other people about it.
subscribe to the podcast.
And if you want to get notified about a
new episode or new things coming up, then
please go to better german.info/newsletter
and sign up for the newsletter there.
See you next week bye bye!