Ich kann viel verstehen, aber ich kann leider nicht gut sprechen.
I can understand a lot, but unfortunately, I can't speak well.
wohnen is often translated as to live, but it also means to take residence, to dwell. The verb leben is the German word for "to live, to be alive".
nicht is a word used to negate a verb. It comes after a verb, but sometimes between nicht and the verb, there can be another word. In most cases, this will be a direct object of the verb.
Did you notice how verbs seem to always be in the second place in a sentence? Word order is very important in German. As you can see verb really goes to the second place in a sentence. Just be careful. Second place doesn't always mean second word.
In German Verkäufer means "salesman". If you want to say "saleswoman" you will use the word Verkäuferin. You can typically create a female version of a profession by adding "in" to the end of the masculine version of the profession.
Here you can see that the verb ist is the third word in this sentence, but it is located in the second place. First place is the object Meine Adresse (my address). In a logical sense, everything works. Object is first, and the verb is still located in the second place.
In this sentence, we have two verbs: kann (I can) and sprechen (to talk). Just like in the English translation. Kann is a modal verb that typically requires another verb, and that other verb in a German sentence must go to the end of the sentence.
We will talk more about modal verbs in the lessons to come. For now, just remember that they exist and that they work in tandem with another verb.
Key phrases
Ich wohne in Hamburg.
Ich komme aus Berlin.
Ich arbeite hier in Bremen als Ingenieur.
Ich kann ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen.
Ich kann leider nicht gut sprechen.
Questions
1. Ich _ _ _ _ _ ? in Berlin. 2. Ich _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ? hier als Verkäufer. 3. Ich kann ein _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ? Deutsch sprechen. 4. Ich _ _ _ _ ? viel verstehen. 5. Mein Name _ _ _ ? Marko.