Video 46: Irgend-Wörter, Partizip II als Adjektiv & je...desto

Source: Roughly 2 hours total. Approximate topic ranges (long silent/filler stretches, roll call, and pure logistics are skipped):

• 00:00–07:36 — Logistics (attendance, catch-up chat) and a short reading-comprehension vocabulary check (Voraussetzungen, Kita, durchschnittlich) — skipped/minor
• 07:36–22:00 — Grammar topic 1: Irgend- words (irgendein, irgendwelche, irgendjemand, ein paar, manche) for unspecified "some/any" — extracted below
• 22:00–28:30 — Logistics/exercise transition — skipped
• 28:30–36:00 — Hörverstehen (listening comprehension) practice texts: radio announcements, directions, office hours, train delay, shop relocation — exam-format practice, not new grammar/vocab — skipped
• 36:24–43:00 — Short vocabulary cluster: fixed prepositional phrases for leisure activities (schwimmen, auf den See schauen, auf einen Turm/Berg steigen/wandern) — extracted below
• 43:00–47:50 — Grammar topic 2: Partizip II as an attributive adjective, drilled through banking/customer-service fill-in-the-blank sentences — extracted below
• 47:50–53:17 — Grammar topic 3: separable verbs an-/aus-/zuschalten, aufschließen/zuschließen (on/off/closed) — extracted below; plus brief schon vs. noch clarification — extracted below
• 53:17–1:16:00 — Speaking practice (Bildbeschreibung — picture description exercise) with the teacher correcting student sentences live; mostly individual student attempts, only a few reusable corrections extracted below
• 1:16:00–1:36:00 — Grammar topic 4: je...desto / je...umso ("the more... the the more") comparative construction — extracted below in detail
• 1:36:00–end — Logistics (homework, scheduling) and long silence/connection drop — skipped

Topics Covered

• Irgend- words — irgendein(e), irgendwelche, irgendjemand, irgendwie, irgendwann, irgendwas, and the related quantifiers ein paar and manche, for expressing an unspecified "some/any"
• Partizip II als Adjektiv — using a verb's past participle as an attributive adjective with normal adjective-ending rules (e.g. "the overdrawn account," "the repaired device")
• Separable verbs einschalten/ausschalten (turn on/off) and aufschließen/zuschließen (open/lock a door)
• schon vs. noch with completed/incomplete actions
• je...desto (also je...umso) — "the more... the more" comparative construction, with word order and adjective-ending rules, flagged as an important closing device for the Schreiben (writing) exam

Irgend- Words (Unspecified "Some/Any")

The teacher introduces irgend- as a prefix meaning "some," attached to question words or to the indefinite article to express that the speaker doesn't know/care exactly who or what is meant.

• irgendwie — "somehow"
• irgendwann — "sometime" (related to time)
• irgendwas — "something" (somewhat/something, in that sense)
• irgendein(e) — "some (a certain, unspecified) [singular noun]" — declined exactly like the unbestimmter Artikel (ein/eine/ein), with the normal endings -er, -es, -e in the nominative by gender, and -en in the dative.
• irgendwelche — the plural equivalent, used because ein has no plural form, so "welche" supplies the plural endings instead.

Worked examples

• Ich helfe irgendeinem Lehrer. — "I am helping some teacher." (helfen takes the dative; subject ich = nominative; Lehrer = masculine dative → irgendeinem)
• Irgendeine Frau ruft dich an. — "Some woman is calling you." (Frau = feminine nominative subject → irgendeine, no change from the normal eine)
• Hast du irgendwelche Fragen? — "Do you have any/some questions?" (Fragen = plural accusative; since ein has no plural, welche + irgend is used instead → irgendwelche)

Related quantifiers: ein paar vs. manche vs. irgendwelche

• ein Paar + plural noun — "a couple of / a few," always plural, never singular. Example: Ich rufe ein paar Leute an. — "I'm calling a couple of people."
• manche — "several / some," used mainly with persons (people, plural countable nouns). Example: Manche Menschen lernen Deutsch. — "Several/some people learn German." The teacher noted Ich treffe manche Leute ("I'm meeting some people") sounds natural, but a sentence like Hast du manche Fragen? ("Do you have some questions?") does not sound natural in German — in that slot, irgendwelche is required instead.
• irgendwelche — preferred over manche when talking about things/abstract nouns rather than people. Example: Ich habe irgendwelche Informationen mit mir. — "I have some information with me." Rule of thumb given: manche → people; irgendwelche → things. The teacher called irgendwelche "more advanced" and recommended it as the safer/better choice in writing.

Vocabulary: Fixed Prepositional Phrases (Leisure Activities)

A short vocabulary drill on activity + fixed preposition combinations from a reading exercise:

• (im Fluss) schwimmen — to swim (in the river)
• auf den See schauen — to look at the lake
• auf einen Turm steigen — to climb (up) a tower (Turm = tower; steigen = to climb)
• auf einen Berg wandern — to hike up a mountain
• einen guten Ausblick haben — to have a good view

Partizip II als Adjektiv (Past Participle Used as an Adjective)

Drilled through a set of banking and customer-service fill-in-the-blank sentences: take a verb's Partizip II form and use it attributively before a noun, adding the normal adjective ending for the noun's gender/case — exactly as with any other adjective.

• Ich habe mein Konto überzogen und brauche bar Geld. — "I have overdrawn my account and need cash." → Sie können leider kein Geld vom überzogenen Konto abheben. — "Unfortunately you cannot withdraw money from the overdrawn account." (überzogen = Partizip II of überziehen, "to overdraw" → dative neuter/masc ending -en: überzogenen)
• Meine Kreditkarte wurde gestohlen. — "My credit card was stolen." (gestohlen = Partizip II of stehlen, "to steal") → Wir werden zuerst Ihre gestohlene Karte sperren. — "We will first block your stolen card." (not "stolen" the verb — gestohlene here functions as an adjective, feminine accusative ending -e)
• Leider habe ich die bestellten Waren noch nicht erhalten. — "Unfortunately I have not yet received the ordered goods." (bestellt = Partizip II of bestellen, "to order"; Waren is plural → bestellten; erhalten = synonym of bekommen, "to receive")
• Ich habe beide Rechnungen schon bezahlt. Senden Sie mir doch bitte einen Beleg über die bezahlten Rechnungen. — "I have already paid both invoices. Please send me a receipt for the paid invoices." (Beleg = receipt/proof/evidence; bezahlt → bezahlten before plural noun)
• Stimmt es, dass in dem neuen Imbiss das Essen frisch zubereitet wird? — "Is it true that in the new snack bar the food is freshly prepared?" → Du musst die frisch zubereiteten Speisen unbedingt probieren. — "You absolutely must try the freshly prepared dishes." (Speisen = dishes, plural; zubereitet = Partizip II of zubereiten, "to prepare [food]" → zubereiteten)
• Hast du den Wasserkocher schon reparieren lassen? — "Have you already had the kettle repaired?" → Ja, das ist schon das reparierte Gerät, aber es funktioniert immer noch nicht. — "Yes, this is already the repaired device, but it still doesn't work." (reparieren lassen = causative "to have [something] repaired"; reparierte = Partizip II as adjective, neuter nominative -e)

Teacher's summary of the pattern: take the Partizip II form of the verb, then simply add the adjective ending that the noun's gender/case/article situation requires — nothing else changes. One item used the present-tense-derived participle (zubereitet, from a present-tense verb in the original sentence) specifically because the original sentence was in a different tense (Perfekt/passive) — elsewhere in the exercise the participle form was already given directly in the prompt.

Separable Verbs: an-/aus-/zuschalten, auf-/zuschließen

From a fill-in-the-blank exercise about a neighbor's music:

• Das störende Musik vom Nachbarn ist immer wieder an. — "The disturbing music from the neighbor is always on." — an (on) ↔ verb einschalten (to switch/turn on); anschalten = "is on" (already switched on, state).
• aus = off ↔ verb ausschalten (to switch/turn off).
• zu = closed ↔ verb zuschließen/zumachen (to close/lock); contrasted with Schalter ("switch") as a noun.
• Example: Das Geschäft ist zu. — "The shop is closed." (zu here is the separable-verb particle predicate, not the preposition "to" — a common point of confusion the teacher flagged explicitly, since zu + sein together signal the trennbares Verb zumachen/zuschließen in its closed state, not a literal translation of "to.")
• Worked fill-in-the-blank: Die Kuchen müssen angeschaltet werden. / Die Nudeln müssen angeschaltet werden (plural noun → müssen plural) ... ausgeschaltet werden — drilling the Partizip II + werden (Passiv) pattern with the separable prefix an-/aus- attached to the participle (angeschaltet, ausgeschaltet).

schon vs. noch

A clarification that came up while a student was describing a picture and used "noch" where "schon" was correct:

• schon — used with the past tense / completed actions: Ich habe die Hausaufgabe schon gemacht. — "I have already done the homework" (the action is already finished).
• noch — used for the present or future, i.e. actions not yet completed: Ich werde noch die Hausaufgabe machen. — "I will still do the homework" (the action is still pending).
• Rule of thumb given: schon = things already over; noch = things still to come (present/future).

je...desto / je...umso ("The More... The More")

Flagged explicitly as a very important grammar topic for Schreiben — the teacher recommends using it to close a written argument/opinion text (Ausdruck/Schreiben exam task), because it reliably demonstrates an advanced grammar structure right at the end, where first and last impressions weigh on the grader.

Structure

• je introduces a Nebensatz (subordinate clause) → verb goes to the end.
• desto (or its synonym umso — both mean the same thing and are interchangeable) introduces the Hauptsatz (main clause) → verb goes to second position (right after desto/umso + comparative).
• Both clauses must use the comparative form of an adjective (e.g. mehr, besser, schneller, früher) — this is a fixed requirement of the construction, not optional.
• The second clause's truth is dependent on the first clause: "the more/-er X happens, the more/-er Y happens."

Worked examples

• Je schneller ich fahre, desto früher erreiche ich. — "The faster I drive, the earlier I arrive." (Nebensatz: ...fahre [verb last]; Hauptsatz: desto früher erreiche ich [verb 2nd])
• With a modal verb: Je schneller ich fahre, desto früher kann ich erreichen. — "The faster I drive, the earlier I can arrive." (modal kann takes 2nd position after desto; main verb erreichen goes to the end, as in any normal clause with a modal verb)
• Longer clause: Je mehr Autos ich für meine Familie kaufe, desto mehr Geld muss ich ausgeben. — "The more cars I buy for my family, the more money I have to spend." (kaufe goes to the end of the je-clause; muss...ausgeben splits around the Hauptsatz in normal modal-verb order)
• With an adjective + noun (not just "mehr" alone): Je schwierigere Aufgaben die Studenten bekommen, desto mehr Zeit brauchen sie. — "The more difficult tasks the students get, the more time they need." Here the adjective is schwierig → comparative schwieriger, and because it stands directly before a noun (Aufgaben) with no article, it takes the adjective ending for an article-less plural/feminine-type context (schwierigere) — unlike mehr, which never takes an adjective ending even before a noun (mehr Autos, never mehreren Autos in this sense — mehr is invariable). The teacher explained the difference: mehr is one of a small set of adjectives that never take adjective endings (along with prima, rosa, lila), because the ending would sound wrong after these particular word endings (e.g. ein rosa Auto, never ein rosanes Auto).

Suggested topic sentences for Schreiben

The teacher modeled how to close various essay topics with je...desto/umso:

• Digitalisierung: Je mehr man digitale Medien nutzt, desto mehr werden klassische Lehrmethoden ersetzt. — "The more one uses digital media, the more classic teaching methods are replaced."
• Umwelt/public transport: Je mehr man öffentliche Verkehrsmittel nutzt, desto mehr schützt man die Umwelt. — "The more one uses public transport, the more one protects the environment."
• E-Books: Je mehr E-Books man liest, desto besser ist es für die Umwelt. — "The more e-books one reads, the better it is for the environment."
• Sport: Je mehr Sport man treibt, desto gesünder wird man. — "The more sport one does, the healthier one becomes."

Notes & Tips

• irgendwelche vs. manche: use manche for people, irgendwelche for things/abstract nouns — a sentence like Hast du manche Fragen? does not sound natural; Hast du irgendwelche Fragen? is the correct, natural-sounding option, and is flagged as the more advanced/safer choice in writing.
• Partizip II als Adjektiv: just take the participle and attach the normal adjective ending for the noun's case/gender — no other change is needed. Watch for tense mismatches: if the original verb tense in the sentence differs from the participle's implied tense, double-check which form (Partizip II vs. present-tense-derived form) the blank actually requires.
• schon = already/past, noch = still/present-future — a frequent point of confusion according to the teacher ("many people get confused" between these two).
• je...desto/umso is explicitly recommended as a closing sentence for the Schreiben exam — the teacher's advice: always try to end your written opinion piece with a je...desto sentence for the impression of advanced grammar, but if you're not confident the sentence is grammatically correct, skip it rather than risk an incorrect closing sentence, since first and last impressions weigh heavily with the grader.
• mehr, prima, rosa, lila never take adjective endings even when placed directly before a noun — these are a small, fixed group of invariable adjectives, an exception to the otherwise universal rule that adjectives before nouns take an ending.