LESSON NOTES

Intermediate S2 #36
Don't Be Ripped Off Renting an
Apartment in Germany!

CONTENTS
2 German
2 English
3 Vocabulary
4 Sample Sentences
5 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
6 Grammar
6 Cultural Insight

# 36
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 GERMAN

1. A: Wow. Ich kann das nicht lesen! Da sind so viele Abkürzungen! Hilfst
du mir?

2. D: „Gartenstraße 10, 2-Zimmer-Wohnung, 67 Quadratmeter,

Erdgeschoss, Balkon, Einbauküche, 500 Euro kalt plus
Nebenkosten.“

3. A: Klingt gut, oder?

4. D: Es ist okay. Du solltest dir die Wohnung auf jeden Fall ansehen. In
Berlin-Mitte wohnen reiche und arme Leute nebeneinander und
heruntergekommene Häuser stehen neben neuen Häusern.

5. A: Natürlich werde ich mir die Wohnung angucken. Aber erst einmal
suche ich weitere Möglichkeiten.

6. D: Ja, ohne Aufenthaltserlaubnis und ohne Arbeit wird dir sowieso

niemand eine Wohnung vermieten.

7. A: Ich hätte nichts dagegen, in einem alten Haus zu wohnen, solange

es nicht heruntergekommen ist.

8. D: Alte Häuser sind schöner als neue, aber du bezahlst mehr an

Heizkosten. Außerdem haben alte Häuser oft keinen Aufzug, du
musst also viel Treppen laufen.

ENGLISH

1. A: Wow. I can't read that! There are so many abbreviations! Will you
help me?

CONT'D OVER

GERMANPOD101.COM INTERMEDIATE S2 #36 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF RENTING AN APARTMENT IN GERMANY! 2

2. D: "Gartenstraße 10, 2-bedroom-apartment, 67 square meters, first
floor, balcony, kitchenette, 500 euros base rent plus additional fees."

3. A: Sounds good, doesn't it?

4. D: It's okay. You should have a look at the apartment in any case. In
Berlin-Mitte, rich and poor people live next to each other and run-
down houses are next to new houses.

5. A: Of course I will look at the apartment. But first I'll look for other
possibilities.

6. D: Yes, without a residence permit and without work nobody will rent
you an apartment anyway.

7. A: I wouldn't mind living in an old house, as long as it's not run-down.

8. D: Old houses are more beautiful than new ones, but you pay more for
heating. Besides, old houses often don't have an elevator, so you
have to climb stairs a lot.

VOCABULARY

Ge r man English C lass Ge nde r

Abkürzung abbreviation, shortcut noun; feminine, die plural: Abkürzungen

Aufzug elevator noun; masculine, der plural: Aufzüge

heizen to heat, fuel verb weak verb

vermieten to rent out verb weak verb

niemand nobody pronoun

heruntergekommen run-down adjective

einander one another

GERMANPOD101.COM INTERMEDIATE S2 #36 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF RENTING AN APARTMENT IN GERMANY! 3

 Fall case; fall noun; masculine, der plural: Fälle

side (not main),

Neben- additional prefix

kitchenette, built-in
Einbauküche (EBK) kitchen noun; feminine, die plural: Einbauküchen

plural: Balkone and/

Balkon balcony noun or Balkons

ground floor, first

Erdgeschoss floor noun; neuter, das plural: Ergeschosse

Quadrat square noun; neuter, das plural: Quadrate

flight of stairs,
Treppe staircase noun; feminine, die plural: Treppen

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ko m m , w i r n e h m e n e i n e D u so l l te st n i ch t so o ft d e n Au fzu g
Abkü rzu n g ! n e h m e n , Tre ppe n l a u fe n i st g e su n d .

Come, let's take a shortcut! You shouldn't take the elevator so often,
it's healthy to take the stairs.

In D e u tsch l a n d h e i ze n d i e Wa n n so l l i ch a n fa n g e n , d e n Ofe n
Me n sch e n i h re Wo h n u n g e n n i ch t so vo rzu h e i ze n ?
se h r w i e i n Am e ri ka .
When shall I start to pre-heat the oven?
In Germany, people don't heat their
apartments as much as they do in
America.

S ch re be rg ä rte n si n d G ä rte n , d i e a n U n se r H u n d be l l t a l l e Le u te a n ,
G ro ßstä d te r ve rm i e te t w e rd e n . a be r e r be i ßt n i e m a n d e n .

Schrebergärten are gardens that are being Our dog barks at everybody, but he doesn't
rented out to big-city dwellers. bite anyone.

GERMANPOD101.COM INTERMEDIATE S2 #36 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF RENTING AN APARTMENT IN GERMANY! 4

D i e se G e g e n d i st w i rkl i ch Ei n e Fre u n d i n h a t si ch d i e se Wo ch e
h e ru n te rg e ko m m e n . e i n u n d d e n se l be n Fi l m fü n f m a l
h i n te re i n a n d e r a n g e se h e n . Ich bi n
This area is really run-down.
w i rkl i ch ve rsu ch t, i h n a u ch m a l zu
sch a u e n .

This week a friend watched the same

movie five times in a row. I am honestly
tempted to have a look at it myself.

S i e be fi n d e n si ch d i re kt D i e be i d e n Brü d e r ra u fte n i m m e r
n e be n e i n a n d e r. m i te i n a n d e r.

They are directly next to each other. The two brothers were always brawling
with each other.

D i e s i st In spe kto r Bro w n s n e u e ste r We n n si ch d i e C h a n ce bi e te t, d a n n

Fa l l . w e rd e i ch si e a u f j e d e n Fa l l
e rg re i fe n .
This is inspector Brown's newest case.
If the opportunity presents itself I'll most
definitely take it out.

D i e N e be n ko ste n si n d n o ch n i ch t i m Er h a t m i r be i m Ei n ba u d e r
Pre i s e n th a l te n . Ei n ba u kü ch e g e h o l fe n .

Additional fees are not yet factored into the He helped me with the integration of the
price. kitchenette.

Ich zü ch te Bl u m e n a u f m e i n e m Ich w o h n e n i ch t i m Erd g e sch o ss,

Ba l ko n . so n d e rn i m fü n fte n S to ck.

I grow flowers on my balcony. I don't live on the first floor but on the sixth.

D u so l l te st n i ch t so o ft d e n Au fzu g n e h m e n , Tre ppe n l a u fe n i st g e su n d .

You shouldn't take the elevator so often, it's healthy to take the stairs.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

GERMANPOD101.COM INTERMEDIATE S2 #36 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF RENTING AN APARTMENT IN GERMANY! 5

1. Quadratmeter = square meters

2. auf jeden Fall = in any case

3. einander = one another. This leads to „nebeneinander“ = „next to one another“,

„aufeinander“ = „on top of one another“, „miteinander“ = „together, with one
another“ and other words

4. Möglichkeiten = plural of Möglichkeit (possibility), which is the noun based on

möglich (possible). -keit is a common ending for turning adjectives to nouns.

5. Du bezahlst mehr an Heizkosten. Here, „an“ means „in terms of“. You pay more in
terms of the costs of heating.

GRAMMAR

Th e fo cu s o f th i s l e sso n i s h o w to fo rm a bbre vi a ti o n s.
2 -Zi .-Wh g ., 67 m ², EG , Ba l ko n , EBK
"2 -ro o m -a pa rtm e n t, 67 m ², fi rst fl o o r, ba l co n y, ki tch e n e tte "

The apartment ad they found in this dialog actually read „Gartenstraße 10, 2-Zi.-Whg., 67 m²,
EG, Balkon, EBK, 600,- € kalt + NK“. This translates to „Gartenstraße 10, 2-Zimmer-Wohnung,
67 Quadratmeter, Erdgeschoss, Balkon, Einbauküche, 500 Euro kalt plus Nebenkosten.“

Classified ads like this are hard to read in German, because people need to be concise,
hence they use a lot of abbreviations and many of the abbreviations are non-standard,
created on the spot. Here are some possibilities of how to form an abbreviation:

1. using just the first letter and any key letters after that. Consonants are given
preference because they carry more weight in German. Examples; Zi. = Zimmer,
Whg. = Wohnung

2. in compound nouns or noun combinations, use the first letter of every word. In
the abbreviation, each of these letters will be capitalized to indicate that it is this kind
of abbreviation. Examples; EG = Erdgeschoss (also used in elevators), EBK =
Einbauküche, NK = Nebenkosten.

CULTURAL INSIGHT

GERMANPOD101.COM INTERMEDIATE S2 #36 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF RENTING AN APARTMENT IN GERMANY! 6

Wh a t's i n th e co st o f re n ti n g a G e rm a n a pa rtm e n t

In this dialog's apartment ad you heard that it costs „500 Euro kalt“. The word „kalt“ here refers
to the Kaltmiete , the base price of renting the apartment. However, every month you will
be paying more than that because of the Nebenkosten, the additional costs. These are
things like fees for garbage and sewage disposal, heating, water and maybe a parking
spot.
Your landlord will charge you a pre-determined amount for these throughout the year as
part of your regular rent (the Warmmiete), and at the end of the year you may need to pay
a little more or get some money back, depending on how much heating and how much
water you actually used; it can vary from person to person and the prices can change,
too. One thing you're unlikely to find is air conditioning; only cars, malls and some
restaurants have that in Germany.
Electricity is not typically included in the Warmmiete, and neither is the phone or internet.
For these you will have to make a separate contract with the supplier. You will pay
directly to the electricity supplier, not to your landlord, but again you pay a standard amount
per month and at the end of the year the company will determine if you paid too much or
too little.
German income tax for employees works the same way – throughout the year part of your
salary gets deducted and sent to the tax office before you even see the money, and at the
end of the year you may get some of it back or have to pay a little extra. This makes it easier
to budget, as you avoid having to suddenly cough up thousands of Euros at the end of the
year. Freelancers have to pay their taxes in one large sum.

GERMANPOD101.COM INTERMEDIATE S2 #36 - DON'T BE RIPPED OFF RENTING AN APARTMENT IN GERMANY! 7