Curs germana-engleza

Curs germana-engleza

Personal pronouns - nominative case

The personal pronouns in the nominative case are:

Personal pronouns - accusative case

The personal pronouns in the accusative case are:

Personal pronouns - dative case

The personal pronouns in the dative case are:

du and ihr vs. Sie

The proper German pronoun for 'you' depends upon your closeness to the person you are addressing:

Sie and its related forms are used when addressing one or several persons whom you would normally call by the last name.

Du and its related forms are used when addressing one person (ihr more than one person) whom you normally would call by the first name.

Possible meanings of sie

Depending upon its context, the pronoun sie can have various meanings.

1.     When it is capitalized and does not begin a sentence, it always means 'you' (formal - singular or plural).

2.     When it is not capitalized and appears as the subject of a singular verb, it means 'she' ('it' if it refers to an object of feminine grammatical gender).

3.     When it is not capitalized and appears as the subject of a plural verb, it means 'they'.

4.     When it is used as the direct object of a verb, it can mean 'her' ('it' if it refers to an object of feminine grammatical gender), or 'them'.

Gender agreement

In English, only pronouns referring to people show gender differentiation (the woman - she/her, the man - he/him). In German, pronouns referring to objects also show gender differentiation. Thus er / ihn / ihm are used to refer to masculine nouns, sie / sie / ihr to refer to feminine nouns, and es / es / ihm to refer to neuter nouns. All translate into English as 'it.'

The non-specific pronoun man

The pronoun man can be translated as 'one, they, you (in an unspecified reference), people, someone,' etc. It is used for generalized assertions or questions, and in substitutes for passive voice expressions. It only appears as the subject of a singular verb. The corresponding accusative and dative forms are einen and einem.

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns introduce questions. In the various cases, their forms are as follows:

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns emphasize the thing or person being referred to. In German, they have the same form as the definite articles, except for the dative plural and genitive singular and plural and plural forms.

Relative pronouns - function

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses, which specify a fact about an object or a person. The gender of the relative pronoun is determined by the gender of the word to which it refers, and its case is determined by its function in the relative clause. Relative clauses use dependent word order.

Relative pronouns - form

Relative pronouns have the same form as demonstrative pronouns, or as definite articles (with the exception of the dative plural and the genitive singular and plural).

Relative pronouns - wo-compounds

If a relative pronoun is the object of a preposition and refers to a thing, rather than a person, the preposition-pronoun combination often appears as a wo-compound.

Reflexive pronouns - function

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence. They are used most frequently with reflexive verbs in either the accusative or dative case, depending upon the meaning of the verb.

Reflexive pronouns - form

The reflexive pronouns have the same form as the personal pronouns, except for those associated with er, sie (singular and plural), es, and Sie(you - formal).

Regular verbs

The regular verbs in the present tense follow the pattern: infinitive stem + personal ending

Personal pronouns

Regular verbs with stem ending in -t, -d, or a consonant combination

Verbs in which the stem ends in -t , -d, or a consonant combination such as -gn, add an -e- before the ending in the du, ihr and er / sie / es forms:

Personal pronouns

Regular verbs with stem ending in -s, -ss, or -z

Verbs in which the stem ends in -s, -ss, or -z use only a -t, rather than -st ending in the du form:

Personal pronouns

Verbs with stem vowel change

A number of verbs change their stem vowel in the du and er / sie / es forms of the present tense. The stem vowel changes are a > ä, e > ie, and e > i.

Personal pronouns

Present tense verb form - meanings

The one-word present tense form in German can correspond to one- or multi-word present tense verb forms in English.

The verb sein (to be)

The present tense forms of the verb sein are:

Personal pronouns

The verb haben (to have)

The present tense forms of the verb haben are:

Personal pronouns

The verb werden (to become, get)

The present tense forms of the verb werden are:

Personal pronouns

The verb lassen (to let, have done)

The present tense forms of the verb lassen are:

Personal pronouns

Verbs with separable prefixes

Many German verbs have a prefix in their infinitive form, which separates from the verb in certain sentence structures and appears at the end of the phrase. If the sentence structure requires that the whole verb appear at the end of the phrase (e.g., in dependent clauses), the two parts are unified; if not, they are separated.

List of separable prefix verbs

List of verbs with separable prefixes

© 1997 by Gary Smith

Modal auxiliary verbs - function

Modal auxiliary verbs express relations (such as permission, obligation, ability, etc.) between the doers of actions and the actions themselves. The singular forms of German modal auxiliary verbs use special stems.

Modal auxiliary verbs - forms

The present tense forms of the modal auxiliary verbs use the special stem in the singular and the infinitive stem in the plural. The ich- and er / sie / es-forms take no personal ending.

Personal pronouns

Command forms

The form of a command depends upon the speaker's relationship to the person(s) being addressed. Three forms are possible:

1.     the du form, for one person whom one calls by the first name,

2.     the ihr form, for several people whom one calls by the first name,

3.     the Sie form, for one or several people whom one calls by the last name.

The du command form

Commands to persons whom the speaker addresses with du use the verb stem associated with du in statements and questions, but with no ending or with an optional -e ending. This means that verbs with 1) an e > i or 2) an e > ie vowel change use the changed vowel in the command form. Verbs with 3) an a > ä or au > äu vowel change, however, use the original vowel in the command form. 4) Some irregular forms occur.

The ihr command form

Commands to a group of persons whom the speaker addresses individually with du use the same verb form as that associated with ihr in statements and questions.

The Sie command form

Commands to a person or group of persons whom the speaker addresses with Sie use the same verb form as that associated with Sie in statements and questions. The pronoun Sie is included in the command. The command form for sein (to be) uses an irregular form.

Reflexive verbs

A reflexive verb requires a reflexive pronoun when it refers to an action affecting the subject of the sentence. Generally, the same verb can also be used non-reflexively, if it refers to an action affecting someone or something other than the subject. The reflexive pronoun can be either in the accusative or dative case, depending upon its function in the sentence.

List of reflexive verbs

Verbs with special objects

Some verbs take dative, rather than accusative objects. Even though they translate into direct object expressions in English, they can often be interpreted as a giving of something to somebody, and this implies that the object is really an indirect object.

Other German verbs take genitive objects. They belong more to a literary than a conversational style, and usually translate into English expressions containing 'of'.

Expressions meaning 'to like'

'To like doing something' is expressed by:

1.     gern + verb

2.     gefallen + zu + verb infinitive

'To like somebody or something' is expressed by:

1.     gern haben + object

2.     subject + gefallen + dative object.

Expressions meaning 'to not like'

'To not like doing something' is expressed by:

1.     nicht gern + verb

2.     nicht gefallen + zu + verb infinitive

'To not like somebody or something' is expressed by:

1.     nicht gern haben + object

2.     subject + nicht gefallen + dative object

3.     nicht mögen + object

Expressions meaning 'would like'

'Would like to do something' is expressed by: möchten + verb

'Would like something' is expressed by:

1.     möchten + object

2.     hätten gern + object

Es gibt (there is, are)

To make a general statement or question about the existence of something, German uses the expression es gibt. Since the thing referred to is the direct object of the verb geben, it appears in the accusative case. The verb is always singular, because its subject is always es.

Statements

In statements, the conjugated verb always constitutes the second component of the sentence.

1.     The subject may precede it, as in English, or

2.     some other component which normally follows the verb may precede it, in which case the subject immediately follows the conjugated verb.

Questions

In questions which ask for a specific piece of information, the word order follows the pattern:

Question word(QW) - verb(V) - subject(S) - predicate components(PC)

In questions which ask for a yes or no response, the word order follows the pattern:

Verb(V) - subject(S) - predicate components(PC)

Commands

In commands, the verb is the first component.

1.     In the Sie command form, it is followed by the subject pronoun.

2.     The du and ihr command forms omit the subject pronoun.

Negation with nicht

Nicht negates 1) verbs, 2) adjectives, 3) adverbs, 4) prepositional phrases, and 5) nouns preceded by a definite article or 6) a possessive.

Position of nicht

The position of nicht in a negative sentence varies, but generally follows these rules:

Nicht follows 1) the verb in second position in a declarative statement, 2) the subject in a question, 3) objects of the verb (especially pronoun objects), and 4) adverbs of specific time.

Nicht precedes 1) predicate adjectives (i.e., those which complete the meaning of a linking verb, such as sein or bleiben), 2) predicate nouns (same definition as for predicate adjectives), 3) adverbs (except for those denoting specific time), 4) prepositional phrases.

Since there is considerable flexibility in the position of nicht, one should simply place it where it sounds right after some practice.

Negation with kein

Kein negates nouns preceded by 1) an indefinite article, or 2) no article.

The endings added to kein are determined by the gender and case of the noun following it.

Dependent clauses

Dependent clauses are sentence parts which contain the components of a complete sentence (subject - verb - predicate), but require another (independent) clause to complete their meaning. They can be introduced in a number of ways:

1.     by a subordinating conjunction

2.     by a relative pronoun.

Dependent clauses - word order

In a dependent clause, the conjugated verb appears at the end of the clause. All other elements of the clause remain in their normal position.

Dependent, independent clauses - word order

When a dependent clause precedes an independent clause, the conjugated verbs are the last component of the first clause and the first component of the second clause. Thus the two verbs always appear on either side of the comma which separates the clauses.

Direct and indirect objects of verbs

When a verb has a direct and an indirect object, the direct object is

1.     the second of the two if it is a noun,

2.     the first of the two if it is a pronoun.

Time, manner and place expressions

In sentences containing expressions relating to the time(T), manner(M), or place(P) of an action, these expressions generally appear in that order. Also, more general time expressions(GT) usually precede more specific ones(ST). Any of these expressions can be emphasized by placing it first in a sentence.

Infinitive phrases with zu

Many German expressions require an infinitive phrase with zu to complete them. The zu + infinitive construction appears at the end of its phrase, rather than at the beginning.

Introduction to prepositions

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, an object of the preposition (either a noun or pronoun), and other words (such as articles and adjectives). German prepositions may be classified according to the case of their object, Some take accusative objects, some dative objects, some accusative or dative objects, and some genitive objects. The following screens show which prepositions use which kinds of objects.

Accusative prepositions

The accusative prepositions and their most common meanings are:

durch - through, by (with passive verb)

für - for

gegen - against

ohne - without

um - around, at (in time expressions)

Dative prepositions

The dative prepositions and their most common meanings are:

aus - from, out of

ausser - besides

bei - near, at the home of

mit - with

nach - after (time), to (space)

seit - since (time)

von - from, of, by (with passive verb)

zu - to (space), to the place of

Accusative/dative prepositions

The accusative / dative prepositions and their most common meanings are:

an - to, close by (something vertical)

auf - onto, on top of (something horizontal)

hinter - behind

in - into, inside of

neben - next to

über - over, above

unter - below, under

vor - in front of

zwischen - between

Accusative/dative prepositions (cont.)

These prepositions use the accusative case to indicate:

1) Motion in a specific direction.

They use the dative case to indicate:

2) Position at a location

3) Undirected motion within an area.

Genitive prepositions

The most common genitive prepositions are:

statt, anstatt - instead of

trotz - in spite of

während - during, in the course of

wegen - because of

Da- and wo-compounds

When a preposition has a pronoun object, and the pronoun does not refer to a person, the prepositional phrase often takes the form of a da-compound (in statements) or a wo-compound (in questions). Prepositions beginning with a vowel require an -r- in the middle of the compound. Some prepositions do not form such compounds.

Form of Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs have the same form in German. The context in which they are used indicates how to interpret them.

Endings on adjectives

When an adjective precedes the noun it modifies, it takes an ending. The form of the ending depends upon several factors: the gender and case of the noun, and the type of word which precedes the adjective-noun combination.

Predicate adjectives do not take an ending.

Significant (strong) endings

Significant or 'strong' adjective endings correspond to those of the der-word noun modifiers. These endings indicate the gender and case of the noun the adjective modifies.

For the genitive masculine and neuter, the adjective ending is -en rather than -es, because the noun carries a 'strong' ending.

Significant (strong) endings (cont.)

These endings are used when the word preceding the adjective carries no ending, or the adjective is unpreceded.

They are also used after the words viele, mehrere and einige.

Non-significant (weak) endings

Non-significant, or 'weak' endings are either -e or -en. They indicate nothing about the gender or case of the noun the adjective modifies.

Non-significant (weak) endings (cont.)

These endings are used when the word preceding the adjective carries a significant ending.

Special adjective and adverb expressions

Adjectives and adverbs often appear in conjunction with special 1) accusative, 2) dative or 3) genitive expressions.

Comparison of adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs can express three levels of comparison:

1) Positive

2) Comparative

3) Superlative

Although German and English are somewhat similar in the way they form adjective and adverb comparisons, there are a number of significant differences. For example, the German forms add adjective endings where required.

Positive forms of adjectives and adverbs

Positive comparisons in German use the expression sowie (asas), or genausowie (just asas) with the adjective or adverb.

Comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs

In German, all adjectives and adverbs form their comparative by adding an -er to the positive form. None use the equivalent of 'more,' as for multi-syllable English adjectives and adverbs. Most one-syllable German adjectives and adverbs with stem vowel a, o, or u change that vowel to its Umlaut equivalent.

As the last example shows, German uses als as the connecting word for comparisons ('than' in English).

A number of irregular forms exist.

Superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs

German adjectives and adverbs form their superlative with -(e)st + adjective ending. The -e- is used after a t, d, or an s sound.

The one-syllable adjectives and adverbs with stem vowel a, o, or u which change that vowel to its Umlaut equivalent in the comparative do so in the superlative as well.

Adjectives preceding the nouns they modify use the form definite article + adjective +(e)st + adjective ending. Adverbs and predicate adjectives use the form am + adjective +(e)st + adjective ending.

A number of irregular forms exist.

Coordinating conjunctions

A coordinating conjunction connects two independent clauses. Both clauses use the word order they would have as independent sentences.

The coordinating conjunctions in German are:

aber - but, nevertheless

denn - for, because

oder - or

sondern - but rather

und - and

Subordinating conjunctions

A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause, which uses dependent word order.

The subordinating conjunctions in German are:

als - when (once in the past)

bevor - before

dass - that

nachdem - after

ob - if, whether

obwohl, obgleich - although

seit - since

weil - because

wenn - if, when (repeatedly in the past, or once or repeatedly in the present or future)

Simple past tense

The simple past tense, sometimes called the narrative past, is used to relate a sequence of events. It appears primarily in written German, e.g., in newspapers, novels, etc.

Simple past tense - regular verbs

Regular verbs form the simple past by inserting an -(e)t- tense marker between the verb stem and the personal ending.

Personal pronouns

Verbs whose stem ends in -d, -t, or a consonant combination such as -gn use the -e- as part of the tense marker. Example: ich arbeitete.

Simple past tense - regular verbs with altered stem

Some regular verbs form the simple past by inserting the -(e)t- tense marker between an altered verb stem and the personal ending.

Personal pronouns

The simple past forms for the regular verbs with altered stem may be found in the list of principal parts of verbs.

Simple past tense - modal auxiliary verbs

The modal auxiliary verbs form their past tense by inserting the -t- tense marker between a stem without an Umlaut and the personal ending.

Simple past tense - irregular verbs

Irregular verbs form the simple past by using a verb stem unique to each verb. The personal endings differ slightly from those of the regular verbs in the simple past.

Personal pronouns

The simple past forms for specific irregular verbs may be found in the list of principal parts of verbs.

Compound past tense

The compound past tense, sometimes called the conversational past, is used to refer to unconnected events, and is the most common past tense form in conversational German. It is formed with a helping verb (haben or sein) and the past participle of the main verb.

Notice from the translations that this tense can correspond either to the simple or the compound past in English.

Compound past tense - sein as helping verb

Sein appears as the helping verb for any verb whose meaning designates a change of location,

1) if it does not have a direct object.

2) The same verb with a direct object uses haben as its helping verb.

Sein also appears as the helping verb

1) for any verb whose meaning designates a process or development,

2) for two other verbs which fit neither category - sein and bleiben.

The verbs which use sein as a helping verb may be found in the list of principal parts of verbs.

Past participle - regular verbs

Regular verbs form their past participle according to the following pattern:

ge + stem + (e)t.

If the verb begins with an unaccented syllable the ge- prefix is not used.

Past participle - regular verbs with altered stem

Some verbs form their past participles like a regular verb, but use the same altered stem as for the simple past:

ge + altered stem + (e)t.

If the verb begins with an unaccented syllable the ge- prefix is not used.

The past participle forms for the regular verbs with altered stem may be found in the list of principal parts of verbs.

Past participle - modal auxiliary verbs

Modal auxiliary verbs form their past participle using the same stem as for the simple past:

ge + stem without Umlaut + t.

This form of the past participle appears only when the modal auxiliary is used alone, which is infrequent.

More often, the modal is used in conjunction with another verb, and the past participle becomes part of a double infinitive construction.

Past participle - irregular verbs

Irregular verbs form their past participles by using a verb stem unique to each verb, according to the following pattern:

ge + verb stem + en

If the verb begins with an unaccented syllable the ge- prefix is not used.

The past participle forms for specific irregular verbs may be found in the list of principal parts of verbs.

Past perfect tense

The past perfect tense refers to a past event which occurred before another past event. It consists of the simple past form of the helping verb (haben or sein) and the past participle of the main verb.

Principal parts of verbs

The principal parts of a verb are its infinitive form, present tense er / sie / es-form, simple past form, and past participle with helping verb. For irregular verbs, these must be learned individually.

Future tense

The future tense is formed with the helping verb werden and the infinitive of the main verb.

If it is clear from the context (for example, through an adverb or prepositional phrase) that the future is intended, German tends to use the present rather than the future tense.

Future perfect tense - function

The future perfect tense is used to refer to an event that will have happened before another future event.

With the adverbs wohl or schon, it refers to a probable event in the past.

Future perfect tense - form

The future perfect tense is formed with the future tense helping verb werden and the perfect infinitive (past participle + infinitive of its compound past helping verb) of the main verb.

The general subjunctive

The general subjunctive is used:

1) to make a conjecture or hypothetical statement,

2) to express a wish that is not likely to be fulfilled,

3) to make polite requests,

4) to quote indirectly what another person has said.

Present time subjunctive - regular verbs

The present time subjunctive of a regular verb has exactly the same form as the simple past tense of that verb (1). Thus the conditional with würde is generally used instead (2).

Present time subjunctive - regular verbs with altered stem

The present time subjunctive of a regular verb with altered stem uses the simple past tense form of the verb, but with an Umlaut over the stem vowel. However, the verbs kennen, nennen, and rennen use e rather than ä as their stem vowel.

Present time subjunctive - modal auxiliary verbs

The present time subjunctive of a modal auxiliary verb uses the simple past tense form of the verb, with an Umlaut over the stem vowel, except for sollen and wollen. Subjunctive modal auxiliary verbs are especially important for making polite requests.

Present time subjunctive - irregular verbs

The present time subjunctive of an irregular verb uses as its base the simple past tense verb stem, but with an Umlaut over the stem vowel, if it is a, o, or u. The subjunctive also uses different endings from the simple past for most forms. Thus even verbs with an i, e, or ie stem vowel in the simple past, which can carry no Umlaut, are nevertheless nearly always recognizable as subjunctive forms.

Present time subjunctive - irregular verbs (cont.)

The pattern for the present time subjunctive of irregular verbs is:

subjunctive stem + subjunctive ending

Personal pronouns

Past time subjunctive

The past time subjunctive consists of the subjunctive form of haben or sein as the helping verb, and the past participle of the main verb.

Past time subjunctive with modal auxiliaries

When a sentence contains a modal auxiliary verb in combination with a main verb, the past time subjunctive consists of the subjunctive form of haben, and the modal auxiliary and main verbs as a 'double infinitive' at the end of the clause.

The conditional with würde

The subjunctive form of werden, in combination with the infinitive of the main verb, is often used instead of the present time subjunctive of the main verb, particularly when the subjunctive of the main verb looks the same as its simple past tense. This würde construction is also generally used in the 'then' clause of an 'ifthen' statement.

The special subjunctive - function

The special subjunctive is used primarily in written and oral news reports for indirect quotes (1). It also appears in directives or expressions of good will (2).

The special subjunctive - form

The special subjunctive uses the infinitive stem of the verb for all of its forms, with the same personal endings as those of the general subjunctive. Often it looks exactly the same as the present tense, in which case the general subjunctive is used instead. Its er / sie / es form is always distinctive, however, and thus appears most frequently.

Personal pronouns

The verb sein does not use an -e ending on the ich and er / sie / es forms.

Function of the passive voice

In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the receiver rather than the doer of the action expressed by the verb. In German, the passive voice is used primarily to describe situations where the activity or process is emphasized, rather than the doer or cause of the activity. If mentioned at all, the doer appears as the object of von (by), and the cause as the object of durch (by means of).

Passive voice, present tense

The present tense passive uses the present tense of the verb werden as a helping verb, with the past participle of the main verb.

Passive voice, other tenses

The other tenses in the passive voice use the tense forms of the helping verb werden, together with the past participle of the main verb. The past participle form of werden in the passive voice is worden, rather than geworden.

Passive modal auxiliary forms

Passive constructions with modal auxiliary verbs take the following form:

modal auxiliary + past participle of main verb + infinitive of werden

The modal auxiliary verb itself changes tense to form the other tenses of these constructions.

The impersonal passive

In German, the passive voice can appear without any subject of the verb, or with an impersonal subject es. This grammatical structure places emphasis upon the action itself, rather than upon the doer or receiver of the action. It is frequently used in official directives.

Substitutes for the passive

In conversational German, the passive voice is not used as frequently as in English. Instead, a number of substitute structures can be used:

1) man as a non-specific subject of an active verb

2) a reflexive verb construction

3) sich lassen + infinitive of the main verb

4) sein + zu + infinitive of the main verb.

The man construction

An active voice man construction can be used as a substitute for almost any passive verb structure, with or without a modal auxiliary, in any tense.

Reflexive constructions

Many normally non-reflexive verbs can be used reflexively as a substitute for a passive construction.

The sich lassen construction

sich lassen translates literally as 'to allow itself.' When used in conjunction with the infinitive form of a verb, it translates as 'can be' (done, understood, seen, etc.). Thus it can serve as a substitute for passive constructions with können.

The seinzu + infinitive construction

sein (to be), used in conjunction with zu + the infinitive of a verb, translates literally as 'is to be' (done, understood, seen, etc.). Thus it can serve as a substitute for a passive construction with können (can be), sollen (should be), or müssen (must be).

List of masculine N-nouns

© 1997 by Gary Smith

Summary of definite and indefinite articles

The endings of definite and indefinite articles are the same, except for those indicated by , where the indefinite article takes no ending. The indefinite article examples for the plural use the ein-word kein, since ein appears only with singular nouns.

Definite articles

Indefinite articles

Summary of personal pronouns

Some common verbs with stem vowel change a > ä

Some common verbs with stem vowel change e > ie

Some common verbs with stem vowel change e > i

List of verbs with separable prefixes

© 1997 by Gary Smith

List of reflexive verbs

List of verbs with dative objects

List of verbs with genitive objects

This page not yet prepared.

Comparative and superlative adjectives/adverbs with Umlaut vowel

Irregular comparative and superlative adjectives / adverbs

Special accusative adjective and adverb expressions

This page not yet prepared.

Dative adjective and adverb expressions

Genitive adjective and adverb expressions

Principal parts of irregular verbs