Learn How to Ask for a Price in German | Can Do #17

Welcome to Can Do German by GermanPod101.com. Hallo zusammen. Ich heiße Katrin Preußler. Hi, everyone. I'm Katrin Preußler. In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask how much something costs. Expand your vocabulary with our Core 2000 Words eBook. It's free and packed with essential expressions that you'll use on a daily basis. Start building your vocabulary today. Click the link in the description below to download your free German eBook before it's gone. This is Ben Lee, and he's shopping at a small grocery store. He sees a snack with no visible price tag and asks, How much does this cost? Listen to the conversation and focus on the question. Ready? Once more with the English translation. How much does this cost? This costs 2 Euro. Let's take a closer look at the conversation. Do you remember how Ben asks, How much does this cost? Let's start with You can use this word while pointing at something near you. It's useful when you want to refer to something you don't know the word for in German. Next is As in, this costs. is from the verb to cost Last is How much First is Next is in this context Together it's How much All together it's This literally translates as But it means, How much does this cost? Let's take a closer look at the response. Do you remember how the shop clerk says, This costs 2 Euro. Let's start with First is Next is Euro, the name of the currency. Note the singular and plural form of are the same. Together it's Before this is This costs First is This Next is Costs Together it's This costs All together it's This costs 2 Euro The pattern is How much does item cost? To use this pattern, simply replace the item placeholder with the thing you'd like to know the price of. Note, this pattern requires a noun phrase. Imagine you'd like to know the price of a coffee. Let's start with is masculine and singular is also masculine and singular to agree with Think of this like a or an in English Ask, how much does a coffee cost? Literally, how much costs a coffee? Ready? In German, there are two sets of articles. Definite articles are like the in English and indefinite articles are like a or an. While the pattern in this lesson works with both kinds of articles, this lesson will focus on indefinite articles like the English a or an. When introducing a general item, such as when asking for a price of a coffee, use an indefinite article. In German, the indefinite article will depend on the gender of the item. The indefinite article for singular masculine and neuter nouns is ein. For singular feminine nouns is eine. For example Note, indefinite articles are not used with plural nouns. For example Let's look at some examples. Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. Wie viel kosten Erdbeeren? Was kostet das? Did you notice how I used a slightly different phrase? Wondering how you can master these conversations even faster? Here's how. 1. Read along You get the lesson conversation and translations inside our dialogue tool so that you see each word as you hear it and understand it all. 2. Practice speaking By shadowing what you hear, you can also record and compare yourself with native speakers with our voice recording tools. And 3. Take our assessment tests and see how much you remember. These tools are part of our CanDo course. Just click the link in the description to get them. Was kostet das? Literally, what costs this? But translates as, how much does this cost? First is Next is Is from the verb To cost Next is All together Literally, what costs this? But translates as, how much does this cost? Use this pattern when pointing at something or if the item is understood from the context. This pattern is How much does this cost? You should be aware of this pattern, but you won't need it for this lesson. Let's review the new words. Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud, then repeat after me, focusing on pronunciation. Ready? When you don't know the word for something, do you remember how to say this? Do you know the word for this? And how to say how? Do you remember how to say, how much? Do you remember how Benny asks, how much does this cost? Do you remember how to say euro? And how to say, two? Do you remember how the clerk says, this costs two euro? Do you remember how to say coffee? And how to say a coffee? Do you remember how to say watermelon? And how to say a watermelon? Let's practice. Imagine you're Ben and you're at a farmer's market. You'd like to try a snack with no price tag. Ask how much it costs. Ready? Listen again and repeat. Let's try another. Imagine they're also selling artisan coffee. Ask for the price of a coffee. Ready? Listen again and repeat. Let's try one more. They're also selling watermelons. Ask for the price of a watermelon. Ready? The watermelon costs five euro. Listen again and repeat. This is the end of this lesson. Now, here's what you can do to cement this conversation in your head. Review the conversation with our dialogue tool and lesson transcripts. Study the key words and phrases with our spaced repetition flashcards. Review the key grammar and cultural tips inside the lesson notes. And test yourself with our assessment tests. So click the link in the description right now and sign up for your free lifetime account to access our CanDo course. Now you know how to ask how much something costs in German. That's all there is to it. Keep practicing and move on to the next lesson.