6.23 Small talk at a Stammtisch — Epoché
What you will be able to do Join a group at a pub table and take part in small talk: Darf ich mich dazusetzen? Setz dich doch! Toast and order a round: Auf dein Wohl! Prost! Ein Bier, bitte! Cope with dialect: say when you do not understand and ask what you are hearing: Ich verstehe kein Wort. Welcher Dialekt ist das? Recognise regional greetings and leave a group politely: Grüß Gott , Servus , Moin ; Ich muss jetzt los. Bis nächste Woche! Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the German aloud; all of them come back below. German English Ich habe jetzt eine bessere Idee. [1] I have a better idea now. Herr Wirt, noch eine Runde! [2] Landlord, another round! Du verdienst eine bessere Frau als mich. [3] You deserve a better wife than me. Ich habe ja gesagt, dass ich einen ausgeben würde. Also bitte sehr! [4] I said I'd buy you a drink, so here. Wir sollten kein Geld ausgeben. [5] We shouldn't spend money. Es ist eine runde Zahl. [6] It's a round number. Ich trat gegen den Meister an. [7] I faced the champion. Prerequisites : 6.22 — you need the registers from 5.19 Vocabulary , the particles from 2.21 Grammar , and ordering in a café from 6.3 Conversation . Who is speaking to whom Liam, an English speaker who has just moved to a small town in Bavaria, joins the regulars' table at the local inn on a Thursday evening. The regulars are Sepp, a retired craftsman, and Toni, who grew up in Swabia; the landlord calls the last round. Everyone says du : at a regulars' table, the informal address is offered almost at once. Their German mixes standard forms, colloquial speech and dialect. The regulars' table What a Stammtisch is. In many German, Austrian and Swiss inns, one table is reserved for regulars who meet on a fixed evening, often for decades. A sign on the table may mark it. Strangers do not sit there uninvited, but a polite question, Darf ich mich dazusetzen? , is usually welcomed, especially in the countryside. The talk is about local news, football, the weather and politics; the tone is frank and the humour dry. Today, many clubs, language groups and expatriate communities also organise a Stammtisch : a regular, informal evening at a pub. Dialect is alive. Standard German, Hochdeutsch , is what you learn and what everyone understands. But in Bavaria, Swabia, Saxony, Switzerland, Austria and on the North Sea coast, many people speak a regional dialect among themselves, and at a regulars' table the dialect is often at its strongest. Even Germans from other regions may understand little of it. It is perfectly acceptable to say that you do not understand; most speakers will switch to a form closer to the standard. Regional greetings. Greetings tell you where you are. In the south and in Austria people say Grüß Gott and, among friends, Servus , which is both hello and goodbye ; in the north they say Moin at any time of day. Tschüss is understood everywhere. Using the local greeting is a small gesture that is always noticed. What changes in casual speech. Even speakers who do not use dialect shorten their German at the pub. The final -e of verbs disappears ( ich habe becomes ich hab ), es merges with the verb before it ( Wie geht's? , Gibt's was Neues? ), and etwas shrinks to was . These are the colloquial forms of 5.19 Vocabulary . You do not need to imitate them, but you should expect them: they make familiar words sound new. Toasting. When glasses are raised, look each person in the eye and clink: Prost! with beer, Zum Wohl! with wine. Not making eye contact is considered bad manners, and an old superstition says it brings bad luck. Exchange one — joining the table Darf ich mich dazusetzen? [8] May I join you? Setz dich doch! [9] Why don't you have a seat? Bist du neu hier? [10] Are you new here? Ein Bier, bitte! [11] One beer, please! Setz dich doch! uses the particle doch of 2.21 Grammar : it turns the imperative into a friendly invitation. Liam answers the question with an order, which at a regulars' table is answer enough. Exchange two — dialect Ich verstehe kein Wort. [12] I don't understand a word. Welcher Dialekt ist das? [13] What dialect is this? Muttersprache: Schwäbisch! [14] Mother tongue: Swabian! Sprichst du Plattdeutsch? [15] Do you speak Low German? Toni jokes about his origins, and Sepp teases Liam by asking about the dialect of the far north. Honesty about not understanding opens the conversation rather than closing it. Exchange three — cheers, weather and football Auf dein Wohl! Prost! [16] Here's to you! Cheers! Schönes Wetter, oder? [17] Beautiful weather, isn't it? Magst du Fußball? [18] Do you like football? Ich mag Fußball. [19] I like football. …, oder? at the end of a statement invites agreement, like an English tag question: isn't it? Weather and football are the safest topics at any German table. Exchange four — the last round Letzte Runde! [20] Last call! Ich muss jetzt los. [21] I have to leave now. Bis nächste Woche! [22] See you next week! Tschüss dann! [23] Bye then! Sepp's Bis nächste Woche! is an invitation: Liam is now expected next Thursday. In Bavaria he might also hear Servus! as a goodbye. At the table, step by step To join a group in a German pub, ask before you sit: Darf ich mich dazusetzen? or Ist hier noch frei? Once seated, order your own drink and join the toast, with eye contact. Let the regulars lead the conversation at first; questions about where you come from are a sign of interest. If you meet dialect, say honestly that you do not understand, and ask what it is. Small talk in German may sound blunt to English ears, but it is rarely meant unkindly. When you leave, say goodbye to everyone, not just your neighbour, and accept an invitation to come back. Word list Word (article, plural) Meaning Notes sich dazusetzen de to join (someone at a table) Gender / part of speech separable reflexive verb How English differs to sit down there too ; one word in German. Darf ich mich dazusetzen? [8] May I join you? der Dialekt（-e） de diale