Day 172 of 185

Day 172: Repair the Mower Instead

In the garage of the family house in Erlangen, Jürgen (A) has had enough of his old lawnmower when his daughter Philippa (B), who volunteers at a repair café, drops by.

How to study this lesson 3 steps
  1. Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
  2. Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
  3. Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.

Dialogue

Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.

Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning

  1. A

    Der Rasenmäher springt schon wieder nicht an. Ich lasse mir jetzt einfach einen neuen liefern.

    The lawnmower won't start again. I'm just going to have a new one delivered.

  2. B

    Wegen so einer Kleinigkeit wirfst du den doch nicht weg! Lass mich erst mal schauen, bevor du Geld ausgibst.

    You're not throwing it out over a little thing like that! Let me have a look first, before you spend any money.

  3. A

    Kleinigkeit? Der ist fast so alt wie du, da gibt's doch gar keine Ersatzteile mehr.

    A little thing? It's almost as old as you are: you can't even get spare parts for it any more.

  4. B

    Im Repair-Café besorgen wir die ständig. Statt eines neuen Geräts brauchst du vielleicht nur eine Zündkerze für fünf Euro.

    At the repair café we get hold of them all the time. Instead of a new machine, you might only need a spark plug for five euros.

  5. A

    Na gut, aber innerhalb einer Woche muss der Rasen gemäht sein, sonst kann ich bald Heu machen.

    All right, but the lawn has to be mown within a week, or I'll soon be able to make hay.

  6. B

    Das schaffen wir sogar heute noch. Sag mal, Papa, wann hast du eigentlich zuletzt Benzin nachgefüllt?

    We can even get that done today. Tell me, Dad, when did you last actually put petrol in it?

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