First German Story: Henry Hühnchen Part IV

Learn German With Me: Day 15

BelovedWriter
6 min readApr 27, 2022
Courtesy — https://www.thegermanproject.com/

This is part four of decoding the German story of Henry Hühnchen. If you haven’t read the first and second parts, go check out-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Most of the words used in this story were covered in my previous blogs, if you have read those, translating this story will be easy for you. You can check out this list for the articles on language learning. Los, gehen wir! (Let’s Go!)

Please self-read the story in German before going ahead!

Story link

Paragraph XVI: 3:59–4:09

Also gehen Henry Hühnchen, Hanni Henne, Erna Ente, Gerda Gans und Thea Taube die Straße hinunter zum Dorfplatz.

Die Strasse is in accusative plural. The definite article(die) does not change in the accusative case. Check Understanding Accusative Case for more details.

Zum Dorfplatz= zu + dem Dorfplatz. It is used in dative masculine since zu is a dative preposition and Bauernhof is masculine. Check Understanding Dative Case for more details.

Gehen is third person plural meaning to go.

Literal Translation — So go Henry chicken, Hanni hen, Erna duck, Gerda goose and Thea pigeon the stairs downwards to the village square.

Translation — So Henry Chicken, Hanni Hen, Erna Duck, Gerda Goose and Thea Pigeon run down the street to the village square.

Paragraph XVII: 4:09–4:19

Auf der Hauptstraße treffen sie Freddy Fuchs. Er sitzt in einem Café und schreibt auf seinem Laptop.

Auf is a dual preposition. Auf der Hauptstraße is in dative because it is used in the sense that the fox is already on the main street.

Sitzt is third person singular of sitzen meaning to sit.

Einem is dative masculine because in is used for a static destination(Cafe).

Schreibt is third person singular of schreiben meaning to type.

Seinem is in dative because auf is used in the sense of a static destination.
Read more about declensions of seine
here.

Literal Translation — On the main street meet they Freddy fox. He is sitting in a Cafe and typing on his laptop.

Translation — On the main street they meet Freddy Fox. He is sitting in a cafe and typing on his laptop.

Paragraph XVIII: 4:19–4:37

“Hallo zusammen!”, sagt Freddy Fuchs. “Wo geht ihr hin? Warum schaut ihr so ängstlich?”
Der Himmel stürzt ein! Der Hiiiiiimmel stürzt ein!”, rufen alle zusammen.

Sagt is third person singular of sagen meaning to say.

Geht is the second person plural of gehen meaning to go.

Hin literally means there but its usage is different from the literal meaning. You can check this for a complete understanding of hin. If you are a native English speaker or first time learning a new language, it may be difficult for you. So don’t be hard on yourself and let it go if you don’t understand. Eventually, when you read more and hear more colloquial german you will understand what purpose hin serves.
Anyways my explanation is- hin means there but specific there/here. Like-
Q. Where are you going?
A. I am going there.
It is not pointing in a direction. The speaker knows ‘there’ is referring to what place and need not mention it. It can also be said that hin means ‘there only’.
Like-
- Ich lege das Buch hin.
- I am keeping the book there only.

Tip! Always understand the verb and its meaning. Keeping, going, falling would require a location. If a verb requires a location to make sense, so hin will have to be used with that verb if a discreet location is not mentioned.
While verbs like dancing singing would suffice without a location. I sing with a mic. You dance with a stick.
- I keep the book … He is falling…
These sentences require a destination.

Schaut is the second person plural of schauen meaning to look.

Stürzen is to fall in german and stürzt is third person singular of stürzen.

Ein is used in the end in “Der Himmel stürzt ein!” because there are some separable verbs that are added to the main verb to change the meaning. Like in English dis suffix is added to the words like qualify to make disqualify a new word with opposite meaning. In German these separable verbs are added at the end of the sentence. In this case ein is added to the end of the sentence. Stürzen means to fall and einstürzen is written which means to collapse. To convey the meaning of collapse ein(a separable verb) is added at the end of the sentence. To learn more about separable verbs refer to this.

Rufen is third person plural.

Literal Translation — “Hello all!” says Freddy Fox. “Where going you there? Why are looking you so scared?” “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” shout all together.

Translation — “Hello everybody!” says Freddy Fox. “Where are you going? Why are you looking so scared? “
“The sky is falling! THE SKY IS FALLING!”, they all shout together.

Paragraph XIX: 4:37–5:02

“Echt? Woher wisst ihr das?”, fragt Freddy Fuchs.
Wir haben es im Internet gesehen!”, rufen alle zusammen.
Wow! Na dann muss es ja stimmen!”, sagt der Fuchs. “Aber keine Sorge
“Freunde, ich kenne das perfekte Versteck. Folgt mir!”

Wisst is the second person plural of wissen.

Fragt is third-person singular of fragen.

Haben is first person plural meaning to have.

Im Internet = in + dem Internet. It is in the dative case because ‘in’ is referring to a static destination.

Rufen is third person plural.

Muss is third person singular of müssen meaning must.

Stimmen means to vote/true. In German. It is commonly used with ja(yes) in the sense of in favour/true.

Sagt is third person singular of sagen meaning to say.

Keine Sorge is nominative feminine because Sorge(worry) is feminine.

Freunde is plural of Freund. (If the noun is masculine and doesn’t end with e, add e also umlaute in most cases.) Refer to Day 10 — Singular-Plural German Nouns

Kenne is first person singular of kennen meaning to know.

Versteck(hiding place) is neutral. Versteck is the direct object of the sentence and hence in accusative case. So, an e is added at the end of perfect since e is added at the end of an adjective with a neutral noun in accusative case. Check adjective declensions here.

Folgen is to follow in German. Though folgt may seem third person singular, it is in second person plural since conjugations of verb work differently with imperative sentences. We will learn more about imperative sentences but if you want to see the conjugations for folgen, check here.

Literal Translation — “Really? Where from know you this?” asks Freddy Fox
“We have seen it on the Internet!”, they all shout together.
“Wow! No then must it true!” says the fox. “But no worry, friends, I know the perfect hiding place. Follow me!”

Translation — “Really? How do you know that?” asks Freddy Fox.
“We have it on the Internet seen!”, all shout together.
“Wow! Well then it must be true!”, says the fox. “But do not worry friends, I know the perfect hiding place. Follow me!”

Paragraph XX: 5:02–5:18

Freddy Fuchs führt alle durchs Dorf, die Straße hinunter, quer durchs Feld und auf einen Hügel hinauf. Oben auf dem Hügel liegt eine große, dunkle Höhle.

Führt is third person singular of führen meaning to lead.

Durch + das = durchs. …durchs Dorf… means through the village.

Die Strasse is in accusative plural. The definite article(die) does not change in the accusative case. Check Understanding Accusative Case for more details.

Einen Hügel is accusative masculine because auf is talking about a static destination.

Liegt is the third person singular of liegen meaning to be located.

Eine große, dunkle Höhle is in the nominative case because cave is the subject of the sentence.

Literal Translation — Freddy fox leads all through the village, the street downwards, across the field, and on a hill upwards. Above on the hill locates a big, dark cave.
TranslationFreddy Fox leads everyone through the village, down the street, across the field and up a hill. On top of the hill is a big, dark cave.

Photo by Reuben Juarez on Unsplash

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BelovedWriter

I am a pastiche of every character I have ever liked, loved and hated.