Niw Englisch/Level I/Hu hattest þu? (2. Dæl)
Lesson I.2: Hu hattest þu? (2. Dæl)
The dialogue of this lesson is a conversation between two persons: Franz and Mr. Swart. We also discuss some grammar: subject pronouns and some important verbs in the present tense.
Dialogue
editIn this short dialogue Mr. Swart uses the form you – þu.
Franz | Goden Morgen. Ert þu Herr Ƕeit? |
---|---|
Herr Swart | Na, ic em Herr Swart. Hu hattest þu? |
Franz | Ich hatte Franz. Þanke, Herr Swart. Ic em lætt. |
Herr Swart | Bidde, Franz. Ic em eak lætt. Oþ lætter! |
Franz | Oþ Eftseen! |
- How is the "ee" in "eftseen" pronounced?
- How is the "ei" in "Ƕeit" pronounced?
- How is the "þ" in "þu" pronounced?
- How is the "a" in "hatte" pronounced?
- How is the "g" in "Morgen" pronounced?
- How is the "æ" in "lætt" pronounced?
- Similar to "ay" and "e" in "bay" and "bet".
- "ei" is pronounced like "ai" in German or like the "i" in the English word "time".
- "þ" is pronounced like "th" in "thin".
- "a" is pronounced like "Mann" in German.
- "g" is usually pronounced like "gold", but in the middle of words, it is sometimes pronounced like "ch" in "loch".
- Similar to "a" in "mad".
English | Niw Englisc |
---|---|
Good morning. | Goden Morgen. |
you (singular) | þu |
You are... (singular) | þu ert ... |
Are you...? (singular) | Ert þu ...? |
no | na |
late | lætt |
I am late. | Ic em lætt. |
You're welcome. | Bidde. |
also | eak |
later | lætter |
See you later. | Oþ lætter. |
- Translate the dialogue to English with the help of the list of vocabulary.
- Listen to the recording without reading and try to understand the meaning of the words. If you cannot remember some words, look them up and start again.
- Read the dialogue aloud. Compare your pronunciation with the pronunciation of the recording.
- Listen to the recording without reading and write down the dialogue in Niw Englisc. Pause the playback after each sentence to write down what you have heard. Repeat this exercise until you know the spelling of the German words.
- Translation to English:
- Franz: Good morning. Are you Mr. Weiß?
- Mr. Swart: No, I'm Mr. Swart. What's your name?
- Franz: My name's Franz. Thank you, Mr. Swart. I'm late.
- Mr. Swart: You're welcome, Franz. I'm also late. See you!
- Franz: Goodbye!
- —
- —
- —
ȝiȝ and þu
editUnlike many European languages, there is only a singular, and a plural form of 'you' in Niw Englisc. English around 1600 had "thou" and "ye" for the singular and plural, but now usually has just "you." In Niw Englisc, if you address one person, you use "þu" and if you address more than one, you use "ȝiȝ." If you address two people, you use "ȝit."
Notice that Franz addresses Mr. Swart with his last name while Mr. Swart addresses Franz with his first name. Even with this, they both use "þu" with each other, because there is one Franz and one Mr. Swart.
Subject Pronouns
editA noun is a word that describes a person, place, animal, or thing, e.g. "apple", "woman", "man", etc. Pronouns are the little words that refer to previously mentioned nouns, e.g. "it", "she", "he", or even "we", "him", etc.
The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that the sentence is about. Usually it is the most active thing or being of the sentence. For example, in the sentence "The woman ate an apple.", both "woman" and "apple" are nouns, but "woman" is the subject of the sentence because the sentence is about the action performed by the woman. (If you are curious: "apple" is the direct object of the sentence.)
If we replace the nouns of the example by pronouns, the sentence becomes: "She ate it." In this example, "she" and "it" are pronouns. The subject of this sentence is the pronoun "she" and therefore this kind of pronoun is called a subject pronoun.
Now that you know about the English subject pronouns, here is a table of them with their Niw Englisc counterparts. Note that you corresponds to three different words in Niw Englisc, depending on whether you address one or more persons and whether you are using a more formal or more familiar way of addressing them.
English | Niw Englisc | ||
---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st person | I | ic |
2nd person | you | þu | |
3rd person | he, she, it | he, scie, it | |
plural | 1st person | we | wiȝ |
2nd person | you | ȝiȝ | |
3rd person | they | hje |
*Wit is the first person dual ("we two"), and ȝit is the second person dual ("you two").
- we
- they
- he
- you
- I
- it
- you two
- you guys, y'all, you all
- she
- we two
- wiȝ
- hje
- he
- þu
- ic
- it
- ȝit
- ȝiȝ
- scie
- wit
Names
editTo say the name of someone or something you can use to be called — haten. The form of the verb is the only remnant of the passive form of the verb. You have already seen some forms of the verb haten. Here is a more systematic table with all the forms in the present tense. Note that the subject pronouns are capitalized because they start the sentences.
English | Niw Englisc |
---|---|
My name is... | Ic hatte ... |
His/Her/Its name is... | He/scie/it hatte... |
Their names are... | Hje hatten ... |
Our names are... | Wiȝ hatten ... |
Your name is... | Þu hattest ... |
Your names are... | Ȝiȝ hatten ... |
What is your name? | Hu hattest þu?* |
What are your names? | Hu hatten ȝiȝ?* |
Note: There are possessive pronouns (e.g. "my", "your", "his", her", ...) in Niw Englisc, they just don't apply here. For instance, native speakers usually don't say Mein Name is ... (My name is...).
- Hello. My name is ____ (put your name here).
- What is your name?
- My name is Iris.
- What is his name?
- His name is Andreas.
- What are their names?
- Their names are Gerd and Udo.
- Her name is Eda.
- Its name is Mensch-ärger-dich-nicht. (This is a popular board game in Germany.)
- Hallo. Ich hatte ____.
- Hu hattest þu?
- Ic hatte Iris.
- Hu hatte he?
- Er hatte Andreas.
- Hu hatten sie?
- Sie hatten Gerd und Udo.
- Scie hatte Eda.
- It hatte Mensch-ärger-dich-nicht.
Important Verbs
editVerbs are the words that describe the action of a sentence, e.g. (to) run, (to) call, (to) be, etc. Conjugation refers to changing the form of a verb depending on the subject of a sentence. For example, the verb to be – wesen has several different forms: (I) am..., (you) are..., (he) is..., etc. Most English verbs, however, have only two forms in the present tense, e.g., (I/you/we/they) run and (he/she/it) runs. Niw Englisc verbs, on the other hand, have usually several forms in the present tense.
You have already learned the forms of one Niw Englisc verb: to be called – haten.
English | Niw Englisc | ||
---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st person | I am called | ic hatte |
2nd person | you are called | du hattest | |
3rd person | he/she/it is called | he/scie/it hatte | |
plural | 1st person | we are called | wiȝ hatten |
2nd person | you are called | ȝiȝ hatten | |
3rd person | they are called | hje hatten* |
Two extremely common verbs are to be — wesen and to have — haben. They are conjugated like this:
English | Niw Englisc | ||
---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st person | I am | ic em |
2nd person | you are | þu ert | |
3rd person | he/she/it is | he/scie/it is | |
plural | 1st person | we are | wiȝ sind |
2nd person | you are | ȝiȝ sind | |
3rd person | they are | hje sind |
English | Niw Englisc | ||
---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st person | I have | ich habe |
2nd person | you have | þu hafst | |
3rd person | he/she/it has | he/scie/it hafþ | |
plural | 1st person | we have | wiȝ habeþ |
2nd person | you have | ȝiȝ habeþ | |
3rd person | they have | hje habeþ |
1. haten
- (ic/he/scie/it) hatte
- (þu) hattest
- (wiȝ/ȝiȝ/hje) hatten
2. wesen
- (ic) em
- (þu) ert
- (he/scie/it) is
- (wiȝ/ȝiȝ/hje) sind
- (wit/ȝit) sind
3. haben
- (ic) habe
- (þu) hafst
- (he/scie/it) hafþ
- (wiȝ/ȝiȝ/hje) habeþ
Test
editThe test consists of three parts: grammar, vocabulary, and translation. The grammar part is about conjugation; i.e., different forms of verbs for different subject pronouns. The vocabulary and translation problems are all from English to Niw Englisc because this is what you have to learn if you want to communicate in Niw Englisc.
- we are
- she is
- we have
- he is called
- you have (singular, informal)
- he has
- they are called
- I am
- you are (singular, informal)
- it is called
- he is
- it has
- we are called
- it is
- you are (plural, informal)
- you have (plural, informal)
- I am called
- they are
- she is called
- I have
- she has
- you are called (singular, informal)
- they have
- you are called (plural)
- wiȝ sind
- scie is
- wiȝ habeþ
- he hatte
- þu hafst
- he hafþ
- hje hatten
- ic em
- þu ert
- it hatte
- he is
- it hafþ
- wiȝ hatten
- it is
- ȝiȝ sind
- ȝiȝ habeþ
- ic hatte
- hje sind
- scie hatte
- ic habe
- scie hafþ
- þu hattest
- hje habeþ
- ȝiȝ hatten
- we
- no
- she
- late
- you're welcome
- I
- you (singular)
- yes
- they
- also
- it
- you (plural)
- later
- he
- wiȝ
- na
- scie
- lætt
- bidde
- ic
- þu
- ȝa
- hje
- eak
- it
- ȝiȝ
- lætter
- he
- Good evening! Are you Franz?
- Good evening. Yes, I'm Franz. Are you Susanne?
- No, my name is Sabine. I'm late. See you later!
- Bye!
- Goden Æfen! Ert þu Franz?
- Goden Æfen. Ȝa, ic em Franz. Ert þu Susanne?
- Na, ic hatte Sabine. Ic em lætt. Oð lætter!
- Faarwell!
(edit template) | Level I Lessons | (discussion) |
Section I.A: I.1 Hu hattest þu? (1. Dæl) • I.2 Hu hattest þu? (2. Dæl) • I.3 Bidde bokstafe þu • Review Section I.A | ||
Section I.B: I.4 Freeteid • I.5 Gebyrddæȝ • I.6 Etten • Review Section I.B | ||
Section I.C: I.7 Kleidung • I.8 Kynn and und Nationalität • I.9 Skole • Review Section I.C | ||
Section I.D: I.10 Þat Fest • I.11 Sunderfreedom and Geandwyrdung • I.12 Weddr • Review Section I.D | ||
Section I.E: I.13 Æt Huse Etten • I.14 Filme • I.15 Þat Huus • Review Section I.E |