Lektion 9 Stufe 2 Seite B

Eine Küchenwaage

Kultureller Leckerbissen – wir messen

As you no doubt noticed in the recipe, ingredients are measured by grams and liters, not by cups.  The picture above shows a well-used kitchen scale, and many households still have them.  However, many Messbecher give measurements for various kinds of ingredients, so you can really get by without a scale.  Although most modern Messbecher are shaped more like the one on the page 2A, here are a couple of pictures of funnel-shaped Messbecher, so you can see how this way of measuring works.

For converting German recipes to American measurements you can start with this site: http://german.about.com. It is good for small quantities and also for temperatures. (The 200-220 degrees in the Pflaumenkuchen recipe would be about 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit, so be sure to convert temperatures, so you don't get undercooked cakes or meat.)

However, for ingredients that come in larger quantities (flour and sugar), it's good to know that 100 grams of flour is a little less than a cup, and 100 grams of sugar is a little less than ½ cup. Many American measuring cups have liter measures on them also, so liquids shouldn't be too much of a problem.

One other problem can come with odd measurements such as a “Prise” (“pinch”) or “Messerspitze” (“knife tip”, i.e. a very small amount).

Finally, there's vanilla, which does not come in liquid form but rather in small packages (“Päckchen”) of vanilla sugar. Most recipes called for 1 Päckchen, just as most American recipes call for 1 teaspoon of the extract. Other flavorings (almond, lemon, etc.) come in tiny vials of concentrated extract, and the recipes calls for a few drops (“Tropfen”) only.

Once all this is cleared up, it's really not that hard to use German recipes.
Versuch's mal! Es macht Spaß.

Etwas Neues!  (Das Passiv)
In this unit we're going to learn about the passive  (das Passiv).  What is it?  When is it used?  How is it formed?  
Let's start by looking at some sentences from the Präsentation.

1. Die Zutaten werden bereitgestellt.
2. Die Hefe wird mit Zucker und Milch leicht verrührt.
3. Ca.  2/3 von dem Mehl wird in eine Schüssel gesiebt und eine Vertiefung  in die Mitte gemacht.
4. Der Teig wird von der Mitte aus mit den restlichen Zutaten (außer dem restlichen Mehl) gut verrührt.  
5. Das restliche Mehl wird daruntergeknetet. 
6. Das Backblech wird gefettet und der Teig darauf ausgerollt.
7. Die Pflaumen werden in Scheiben geschnitten und auf den Teig gelegt. 
8. Der Kuchen wird ca. 20-30 Minuten bei 200-225 Grad gebacken.
9. Der Kuchen wird mit Zucker und etwas Zimt bestreut.

a)  What verb do they all have in common?  What pronouns could be substituted for the subject?
Did you answer „werden“  and „er, sie, es, sie (pl)“?  Then you've got your first clue.

b) Here's a tricky question:  Who is doing all the sifting, mixing, kneading, etc?
It doesn't say. That's your next clue.

c) Now that we've discovered the helping verb used second, what form of the “real” verb is used, and where is it in the sentence?
The past participle; it comes at the end.

d) Another harder question: What could you say the English versions of these sentences would all have in common?
They say that something “is/are being done” but they don't say who's doing it.

e) Perhaps even harder: What could you say that the subjects (nominative) of each of these sentences (the yeast, flour, dough, plums, etc.) have in common?
They're all getting the action of the verb done to them rather than doing that action themselves.

Aha! And that, liebe Freunde, is the secret of the “passive.”

• It's used in both English and German to show that something (the grammatical subject) is getting an action done to it rather than doing something itself. (That's where the name comes from: the subject sits there ”passively” and lets something be done to it.)
• It's really not important who is actually doing the action.
• It can be used with any subject, but it is most common in the so-called third person (he, she, it, they).
• To form it, German uses a form of werden plus the past participle at the end. (English uses a form of “to be” and the past participle.)

Wiederholen wir
So before we go on, it would be a good idea to review the forms of werden and some past participles.
Zuerst werden.  Kannst du die Tabelle ergänzen?

Übe einige Partizipien mit diesen Karten. Vielleicht kennst du nicht alle Vokabeln schon, aber sie werden in dieser Lektion benutzt. Also lerne sie gut.

Üben wir
Schreib das Englische für diese Sätze.  Beim Klicken siehst du die Antworten.  Wenn du andere Antworten hast, kannst du deinen Lehrer / deine Lehrerin fragen, ob sie auch richtig sind.

Wir werden beobachtet.		We're being observed.
Ich werde nicht gut bezahlt.		I'm not being paid well.
Der Teig wird gut geknetet.		The dough is kneaded well.
Das Essen wird jetzt serviert.		The meal is being served now.
Die Frikadellen werden leicht geformt.		The meat balls are easily shaped.
Das Geschirr wird gespült.		The dishes are being washed.
Die Teller werden auf den Tisch gelegt.		The plates are put on the table.

Alles klar? Dann mach weiter.

Weiter: Stufe 2, Seite C