Meeting at a quiet cafe | Learn German in English

German lesson set in a contemporary Berlin everyday setting: At a cafe, two friends plan to meet in a quiet place, bring a book, and read for a while..

EN → DE / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Meeting at a quiet cafe to practice German conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?

MURKH-test doo dikh in EYE-nem ka-FAY TREFF-en? Would you like to meet at a cafe?
B

Das klingt entspannend.

dahs KLINKT ent-SHPAN-ent. That sounds relaxing.
A

Welches Café magst du?

VEL-khes ka-FAY mahkst doo? Which cafe do you like?
B

Ich mag das ruhige Café am Park.

ikh mahk dahs ROO-ee-guh ka-FAY ahm park. I like the quiet one near the park.
A

Lass uns uns dort treffen und die Ruhe genießen.

lahs oons oons dort TREFF-en oont dee ROO-uh guh-NEE-sen. Let's meet there and enjoy the quiet.
B

Ich kann ein Buch mitbringen.

ikh kahn ayn bookh MIT-bring-en. I can bring a book.
A

Wir können dort eine Weile lesen.

veer KURN-en dort EYE-nuh VY-luh LAY-zen. We can read there for a while.
B

Das wäre eine schöne Pause.

dahs VAIR-uh EYE-nuh SHURN-uh POW-zuh. That would be a nice break.

Word by Word

Möchtest In "Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?", "Möchtest" means "would like" and makes a polite question about someone’s wish. The reusable pattern is "Möchtest du ...?" followed by what the person may want to do.
du In "Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?", "du" means "you" when speaking to one person directly. It is the person being asked and is used with the form "Möchtest" here.
dich In "Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?", "dich" means "yourself" and shows that the person meets with someone. The reusable expression is "sich treffen"; with "du", the form used here is "dich treffen".
in In "in einem Café", "in" means "in" or "at", giving the place where the meeting happens. It commonly appears before a place, as in "in einem Café".
einem In "in einem Café", "einem" means "a" or "one" as part of the phrase "a café". Together with "in" for a fixed location, it forms "in einem Café".
Café In "in einem Café", "Café" means "cafe", the place where the two people plan to meet. It can be used after a place phrase such as "in einem Café".
treffen In "Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?", "treffen" means "meet". It follows "Möchtest" and appears at the end of this question; the reusable pattern is "sich treffen".
Das At the start of "Das klingt entspannend", "Das" means "that" and refers to the suggested cafe plan. The same worklist form also appears as lowercase "das" in "das ruhige Café", where it means "the".
klingt In "Das klingt entspannend", "klingt" means "sounds" and describes the impression made by the suggestion. A reusable pattern is "Das klingt ..." followed by a description.
entspannend In "Das klingt entspannend", "entspannend" means "relaxing" and describes the plan as calming. It is used after "klingt" to give an impression of something.
Welches In "Welches Café magst du?", "Welches" means "which" and asks the listener to choose a particular cafe. It comes directly before the noun in the pattern "Welches Café ...?".
magst In "Welches Café magst du?", "magst" means "like" in the question addressed to one person. It is used with "du" in the pattern "Welches ... magst du?".
Ich In "Ich mag das ruhige Café am Park", "Ich" means "I" and identifies the speaker as the person who likes the cafe. It stands at the beginning of this statement before "mag".
mag In "Ich mag das ruhige Café am Park", "mag" means "like" and expresses the speaker’s preference for the cafe. The reusable pattern is "Ich mag" followed by the thing someone likes.
ruhige In "das ruhige Café", "ruhige" means "quiet" and describes the cafe. It appears directly before "Café" in the noun phrase "das ruhige Café".
am In "am Park", "am" means "at the" or "near the" and gives the cafe’s location in relation to the park. The reusable place pattern is "am" followed by a location, as in "am Park".
Park In "am Park", "Park" means "park" and identifies the nearby place. It follows the location expression "am".
Lass In "Lass uns uns dort treffen und die Ruhe genießen", "Lass" helps make a suggestion meaning "let’s". The reusable pattern is "Lass uns" followed by an activity.
uns In "Lass uns uns dort treffen", "uns" means "us". The first "uns" belongs to the suggestion "Lass uns", while the second is part of "uns treffen", meaning that we meet each other.
dort In "uns dort treffen", "dort" means "there" and points to the cafe already being discussed. It commonly comes before the activity or verb phrase that happens there.
und In "treffen und die Ruhe genießen", "und" means "and" and joins the two planned activities. It connects "treffen" with "die Ruhe genießen".
die In "die Ruhe genießen", "die" means "the" and introduces the specific quiet or calm being enjoyed. It is used directly before the noun "Ruhe" in this expression.
Ruhe In "die Ruhe genießen", "Ruhe" means "quiet" or "calm", referring to the peaceful atmosphere at the cafe. The reusable expression is "die Ruhe genießen", meaning to enjoy the quiet.
genießen In "die Ruhe genießen", "genießen" means "enjoy" and describes what the friends plan to do with the quiet atmosphere. It is used in the infinitive after "Lass uns" and can take an object such as "die Ruhe".
kann In "Ich kann ein Buch mitbringen", "kann" means "can" and expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility. After "kann", the other verb appears at the end, as in "ein Buch mitbringen".
ein In "ein Buch", "ein" means "a" and introduces one unspecified book. The reusable pattern is "ein" followed by a singular noun, as in "ein Buch mitbringen".
Buch In "ein Buch mitbringen", "Buch" means "book". It is the thing the speaker offers to bring along.
mitbringen In "Ich kann ein Buch mitbringen", "mitbringen" means "bring along" and refers to bringing the book to the cafe. It appears as a complete infinitive after "kann" in the pattern "etwas mitbringen".
Wir In "Wir können dort eine Weile lesen", "Wir" means "we" and refers to both people together. It is the subject of the statement and comes before "können".
können In "Wir können dort eine Weile lesen", "können" means "can" and expresses what the two people are able or allowed to do. It is followed by the infinitive "lesen" at the end.
eine In "eine Weile", "eine" means "a" and introduces an unspecified period of time. The reusable expression is "eine Weile", meaning "for a while".
Weile In "eine Weile lesen", "Weile" means "while", a short period of time. Together, "eine Weile" tells how long they plan to read.
lesen In "eine Weile lesen", "lesen" means "read" and names the activity the friends can do at the cafe. It appears as an infinitive after "können".
wäre In "Das wäre eine schöne Pause", "wäre" means "would be" and presents the planned reading time as a possible nice break. The reusable pattern is "Das wäre ..." followed by a description or noun phrase.
schöne In "eine schöne Pause", "schöne" means "nice" and describes the break positively. It appears directly before the noun "Pause".
Pause In "eine schöne Pause", "Pause" means "break", referring to a restful break from other activities. The phrase "eine schöne Pause" describes the planned cafe time.

Grammar Points

Möchtest du + Infinitiv?

Möchtest du dich treffen?

MURKH-test doo dikh TREFF-en?

Would you like to meet?

möchten steht mit einem Infinitiv. Das konjugierte Verb steht auf Position 2, der Infinitiv am Satzende.

Welches + sächliches Nomen

Welches Café klingt entspannend?

VEL-khes ka-FAY KLINKT ent-SHPAN-ent?

Which cafe sounds relaxing?

Bei sächlichen Nomen verwendet man im Nominativ welches, zum Beispiel: welches Café.

German Vocabulary

Café noun
ka-FAY cafe

Welches Café magst du?

entspannend adj
ent-SHPAN-ent relaxing

Das klingt entspannend.

genießen verb
guh-NEE-sen to enjoy

Lass uns uns dort treffen und die Ruhe genießen.

klingen verb
KLIN-gen to sound klingt

Das klingt entspannend.

mitbringen verb
MIT-bring-en to bring along

Ich kann ein Buch mitbringen.

möchten verb
MURKH-ten would like Möchtest

Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?

mögen verb
MUR-gen to like magst

Welches Café magst du?

Park noun
park park

Ich mag das ruhige Café am Park.

Ruhe noun
ROO-uh quiet; calm

Lass uns uns dort treffen und die Ruhe genießen.

ruhig adj
ROO-ikh quiet ruhige

Ich mag das ruhige Café am Park.

sich treffen phrase
zikh TREFF-en to meet

Möchtest du dich in einem Café treffen?

welcher det
VEL-kher which Welches

Welches Café magst du?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

That sounds relaxing.

Show AnswerDas klingt entspannend.

Which cafe do you like?

Show AnswerWelches Café magst du?

I can bring a book.

Show AnswerIch kann ein Buch mitbringen.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to sound

Show Answerklingt

to like

Show Answermagst

which

Show AnswerWelches

cafe

Show AnswerCafé