2 gern, sehr gern, nicht gern
Now, some things you will like more than others. How can you say that you like something very much, or a little, or not at all?
Activity 2
Look at these smiley or not so smiley faces. Which variations of gern do you think matches which emoji? Please note the words for ‘not’ (nicht) and for ‘especially/particularly’ (besonders).
Drag and drop the expressions to match the images. If you’re unsure whether you’re correct, just click on‚ ‘reveal answer’ to check.
besonders gern
überhaupt nicht gern
gern
nicht gern
nicht so gern
sehr gern
Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.
-
besonders gern
-
überhaupt nicht gern
-
gern
-
nicht gern
-
nicht so gern
-
sehr gern
- 1 =
- 2 =
- 3 =
- 4 =
- 5 =
- 6 =
Answer
The correct answer is:
Table 1 Answer to Activity 2
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Box 1 Expressing likes and dislikes
It’s worth remembering that gern is an adverb. It adds further information about the verb and, therefore, needs to be close to it. In a basic statement, only negations (e.g. nicht, überhaupt nicht) or graduations (e.g. sehr, total, besonders) should come between the verb and gern.
Here are some examples
Table 2 Using gern in a sentence
Florian isst Fleisch. | Florian eats meat. |
Florian isst gern Fleisch. | Florian likes to eat meat. |
Anna trinkt Kakao. | Anna drinks cocoa. |
Anna trinkt gern Kakao. | Anna likes to drink cocoa. |
To say you like it very much, add sehr gern; to say you don’t like something, add nicht gern.
Table 3 Using sehr gern and nicht gern
Ich trinke sehr gern Wein. | I like (to drink) wine very much. |
Er isst nicht gern Gemüse. | He doesn’t like (to eat) vegetables. |
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