Moin! = Hello

Moin is a form of greeting only used in the north of Germany, near the coast. It belongs to another language spoken in Germany, Plattdeutsch, which is similar to Dutch. But nobody has Plattdeutsch as his mother tongue, beside some very, very old people. People who spoke this language are proud of that and there are several initiatives to keep this language alive, but you can' t compare this situation with the situation of Catalan, or Quetchua, to name some examples, where there is a conflict between the official language and the language people actually speak.

Wir sind hier in Ostfriesland, da sagt man den ganzen Tag "Moin", = We are in Ostfriesland, there the people say the whole day "Moin"

sein - sind = to be - we are
Ostrfriesland = region in the Nord-East of Germany
Tag = day
sagen - sagt = to say

grammar: Man is a indefinite pronoun, in other word a pronoun which presents something unknown. There is no clear rule how to translate it into english. Sometimes the best thing to do is to transform the sentence to passive voice.

Man repariert das Auto => On repairs the car => The car is being repaired.

auch am Abend und mitten in der Nacht = even at the evening and at night

What puzzles the two girls is the fact that moin means actually Morgen, morning, but moin is used the whole day.

auch = as well
Abend = by night (mor ore less from six o' clock in the evening until 10 o' clock)
Mitte = center
mitten = in the middle
mitten in der Nacht = at midnight

Wenn man nachts nicht schläft = If one doesn' t sleep

schlafen - schläft = sleep - he sleeps
nicht = no
wenn = when

Grammar: In German there are two types of negation, with kein and with no. We use kein if there is an
indefinite article (Ich habe ein Haus <=> Ich habe kein Haus / I have a house <=> I don' t have a house) and nicht is used if there is no indefinite article. That' s the case for instance if the verb is intransitive,
then there is no object at all (Ich schwimme <=> Ich schwimme nicht / I swimm <=> I don' t swimm). For more information see keiner and nicht.

Versuchst du schon wieder witzig zu sein ? = Do you try to be funny?

versuchen - versuchst = to try - you try
schon = already (Ha llegado ya = He has already arrived)
wieder = once again
schon wieder = once again

Du bist echt ne Spaßbremse = You are a real killjoy

Spaß = joy
Bremse = brake
Spaßbremse = killjoy (literally: a brake joy)

Zu Ostfriesland gehören die ostfriesischen Inseln = To Ostfriesland belong as well the isles of Ostfriesland

Ostfriesland = Region in the Nord-Est of Germany

Insel = isle

In Niedersachsen gibt es aber nicht nur die Nordsee, sondern auch ganz viele andere Landschaften, = But in Niedersachsen there are not only the North-Sea, but other landscapes as well


geben - gibt = to give - he gives
es gibt = there is
Landschaften = landscape

sogar richtige Berge. = and real mountains

richtig = here: real
Berge = mountains

Im Harz zum Beispiel! = As the Harz for instance!

Beispiel = example
Harz = mountains in Germany

Niedersachsen hat nämlich eine riesige Fläche, = Because Niedersachsen has an enormous surface

riesig = enormous
Fläche = surface

obwohl hier nicht so viele Menschen wohnen, wie bei uns in Nordrhein-Westfalen = although there don' t live such a lot of people there as in Nordhrein-Westfalen.

Mensch - Menschen = man - men
nicht so viele = not so many
bei uns = at us

Die Hauptstadt von Niedersachsen heißt Hannover und hier kommt Lena her = The capital of Niedersachsen is called Hannover and that' s where Lena comes from.

Hauptstadt = capital
heißen - heißt = to be called - it is called
kommen - kommt = to come - comes

Lena hat in 2010 den Grand Prix gewonnen und war plötzlich total berühmt = Lena has wone the Grand Prix and suddenly she became very famous

gewinnen - gewonnen = to win - won
hat gewonnen = has won
muy = very
famoso = famous

Grammar: As we have already said the distinction between present perfect / Perfekt and simple past / Imperfekt is inexistent in German. For mor details the tenses of the past.

Und in 2011? = And in 2011?

Da möchte ich nicht darüber reden. = I prefer not to talk about it.

darüber = about it
reden = to talk
möchten = want

Möchten as well as wollen are translated with want, but there is a difference. Wollen is very claiming and in
general not polite. For more details see modal verbs.

Dann sind wir jetzt fertig, tschüß! = Then we have finished, see you later!

fertig = finished
dann = than
jetzt = now

Tschüß! = Ciao