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Contents
Adverbs and adverbial phrases ............................................................................................................... 3
Description .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Determiners ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Articles ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Demonstrative adjectives ................................................................................................................... 6
Possessive adjectives .......................................................................................................................... 8
Quantifiers .......................................................................................................................................... 8
The imperative ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Formation.......................................................................................................................................... 10
Notes ................................................................................................................................................. 11
Cases ..................................................................................................................................................... 13
Notes ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Compound verbs ................................................................................................................................... 15
Komplexe Verben .............................................................................................................................. 15
Inseparable verbs .............................................................................................................................. 15
Separable verbs................................................................................................................................. 15
Variable verbs ................................................................................................................................... 16
Conjunctions ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Co-ordinating conjunctions............................................................................................................... 18
Subordinating conjunctions .............................................................................................................. 18
Notes ................................................................................................................................................. 19
Negation................................................................................................................................................ 21
Uses of nicht...................................................................................................................................... 21
Uses of kein ....................................................................................................................................... 22
Other common means of negation ................................................................................................... 22
Participles .............................................................................................................................................. 23
Present participle .............................................................................................................................. 23
Past participle ................................................................................................................................... 24
Plural forms of nouns ............................................................................................................................ 26
Guidelines ......................................................................................................................................... 26
Notes ................................................................................................................................................. 27
Prepositions .......................................................................................................................................... 29
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German Grammar
Prepositions + accusative.................................................................................................................. 29
Prepositions + dative......................................................................................................................... 29
Prepositions + dative or accusative .................................................................................................. 30
Prepositions + genitive...................................................................................................................... 30
Notes ................................................................................................................................................. 31
Prepositional verbs ........................................................................................................................... 32
Adjectives and nouns with prepositions ........................................................................................... 32
Pronouns ............................................................................................................................................... 33
Personal pronouns ............................................................................................................................ 33
Indefinite pronouns .......................................................................................................................... 34
Demonstrative pronouns .................................................................................................................. 34
Possessive pronouns ......................................................................................................................... 35
Interrogative pronouns ..................................................................................................................... 35
Relative pronouns ............................................................................................................................. 37
Pronominal adverbs .......................................................................................................................... 38
Qualifying adjectives ............................................................................................................................. 39
Agreement of adjectives ................................................................................................................... 39
Adjectives used as nouns .................................................................................................................. 41
Present and past participles used as adjectives ............................................................................... 41
Comparison of adjectives.................................................................................................................. 42
Word order ........................................................................................................................................... 44
Simple sentences statements ........................................................................................................... 44
Interrogative sentences questions ................................................................................................... 46
Connected sentences ........................................................................................................................ 46
Verbs ..................................................................................................................................................... 48
Weak, strong and irregular verbs ..................................................................................................... 48
Reflexive verbs .................................................................................................................................. 49
Modal verbs ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Dependent infinitives ........................................................................................................................ 51
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German Grammar
Introduction
Description
Syntactically, one can relate adverbs to such questions as: when, how, where, and why, and
classify them accordingly as adverbs of time, manner, place, quantity, opinion, or as
interrogative adverbs.
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German Grammar
adjectives adverbs
Heike ist immer guter Laune. Heike ist ein gut gelaunter Mensch.
Paul ist wieder gesund. Paul ist immer gesund.
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German Grammar
Determiners
Die Artikel
Introduction
Determiners are used to make the meaning of a noun more precise.
Der Garten des Sonnenkönigs.
Please note that words can be used without determiners:
Ordnung muss sein.
The main types of determiners are as follows...
Articles
They agree in gender and number with the noun they determine. Articles as well as nouns
may change their form:
singular plural
masculine der Bruder Gärten
feminine die Wohnung die Wohnung
neuter das Haus Häuser
- Some nouns have a 'natural' gender, eg. der Mann, die Frau.
- In the case of job titles, a woman can often be distinguished from a man by the addition of
the ending -in to the masculine form.
- Masculine forms of job titles ending in –mann can be made feminine by changing the
ending to –frau.
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German Grammar
The best way to remember which is which is to learn the gender of each new noun as you
come across it.
Please note:
2. Indefinite articles
singular plural
masculine ein Bruder Brüder
feminine eine Schwester keine Geschwister
neuter ein Kind Kinder
Please note:
Articles as well as nouns may change their forms to indicate their varying relationships to
other parts of the sentence. This is what is grammatically referred to as 'cases'. There are
four cases in German. (see note on cases)
Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives are used to point to a person or an object. They agree in gender
and number with the noun they determine.
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German Grammar
1. the demonstrative adjectives dieser, diese, dieses refer to what is near or present.
It is the equivalent of this.
2. the demonstrative adjectives der, die, das refer to what is far or distant or in the
past. They are the equivalent of that. They are usually followed:
- by da/drüben:
- or by a relative clause:
3. in more formal language the demonstrative adjectives jener, jene, jenes are used:
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German Grammar
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives (mein, dein sein) indicate possession. They agree in gender and
number with the noun they determine. They are declined in the singular like the indefinite
article ein.
They are declined in the plural like the definite article die.
Please note that the other possessive adjectives: ihr (her), unser (our), euer (your, plural),
ihr (their), Ihr (your, formal) follow the same declension pattern as mein, dein, sein.
Quantifiers
1. indefinite quantifiers
Er hat viele Verwandte, einige gute Kollegen aber wenige Freunde.
wenige
einige
+ noun
mehrere
viele
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German Grammar
Most ordinal numbers are formed by adding the ending –te to the cardinal if it is 19
or less, or -ste if it is 20 or more. There are some exceptions: erste, dritte, siebte and
achte are irregular. Ordinal numbers require adjective endings
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German Grammar
The imperative
Der Imperativ
Introduction
The imperative mood is used
Formation
The imperative in German is used in the 2nd person singular (informal and formal) and the
2nd person plural (informal and formal).
In the du-form most verbs form the imperative by omitting the–st of the present tense:
present imperative
du gehst geh!
du sagst sag!
du siehst sieh!
Strong verbs which change their vowel from a to ä in the du and er-forms of the present
tense do not have the ä in the imperative:
The ihr-form of the imperative is mainly formed by omitting the –en/-n from the stem of
the infinitive and adding –t, or in a few cases –et
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German Grammar
infinitive imperative
gehen geht!
sagen sagt!
sehen seht!
The Sie-form of the imperative is formed by using the infinitive and following it by Sie.
present imperative
gehen gehen Sie!
sagen sagen Sie!
sehen sehen Sie!
Notes
- In the case of separable verbs, the separable prefix normally goes to the end of the
sentence or clause.
- the order of direct and indirect object pronouns is the same for the imperative as for the
indicative:
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German Grammar
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German Grammar
Cases
Kasus
Introuction
Nouns in German are classified as being either masculine, feminine or neuter. This is called gender.
This convenient grammatical label applies to people as well as things and is identified through the
accompanying article.
'der' (masculine), 'die' (feminine), 'das' (neuter), 'die' (plural for all).
According to their place in the sentence and their relationship to other parts of the sentence, nouns
as well as determiners, for example articles, may change their forms. This is what is grammatically
referred to as 'cases'.
1. The nominative
2. The accusative
3. The genitive
4. The dative
1. the nominative
The nominative case indicates the subject of the sentence; in other words the
determiner + noun carry out the action of the verb.
2. the accusative
The accusative case indicates the object of the sentence; in other words the determiner
+ noun are subjected to the action of the verb - and after certain prepositions.
masculine der Bruder Ich habe den Bruder der Studentin angerufen
feminine die Familie Ich habe die Familie besucht
neuter das Kind Ich habe das Kind gesehen
plural for all die Brüder Die Studenten haben die Brüder nach Cambridge
eingeladen
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German Grammar
3. The genitive
The genitive case is used when expressing possession - the equivalent of the English ‘of’
- and after certain prepositions.
4. the dative
The dative case is used when introducing an object - generally the equivalent of the
English ‘to’ - and after certain prepositions.
masculine der Bruder Sie hat dem Bruder einen Fußball geschenkt
feminine die Familie Sie hat der Familie eine Flasche Sekt geschenkt
neuter das Kind Sie hat dem Kind ein Spielzeug geschenkt
plural for all die Brüder Sie hat den Brüdern Bücher geschenkt
Notes
- German nouns can change
•
between singular and plural
der Bruder (masculine singular)
die Brüder (masculine plural)
•
between cases
der Bruder (nominative singular)
des Bruders (genitive singular)
den Brüdern (dative plural)
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German Grammar
Compound verbs
Komplexe Verben
Introduction
• Compound verbs consist of a verb and a prefix.
Inseparable verbs
Some verbs are always inseparable, that is to say the prefix is never separated from the
verb.
These are verbs with the following prefixes: be-, ge-, ent-, emp- er-, ver-, zer-
inseparable examples
prefixes of verbs
be- kommen
ge- schehen
ent- decken
emp- fehlen
er- halten
ver- stehen
zer - brechen
in inseparable verbs the stress always falls on the first syllable of the main part of the verb,
e.g. verbínden, hinterlassen, whereas in separable verbs, the stress falls on the prefix, e.g.
anrufen, stattfinden.
Separable verbs
prepositions adverbs
ab- ein-
an- her-
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German Grammar
auf- hin-
aus- wahr-
bei- zurück-
mit-
nach-
statt-
vor-
zu-
Other kinds of separable prefixes can also be words like: vollenden (to complete, to finish),
heimfahren (to drive home), kennenlernen (to get to know).
Please note:
- the prefix is usually separated from the verb and sent to the end of the sentence
- in the infinitive form the prefix joins together with the basic verb
- in the zu + infinitive form the zu comes between the prefix and the main verb
- in the past participle form the prefix is separated from the verb by ge-
- in separable verbs, the stress falls on the prefix, e.g. anrufen, stattfinden, whereas
in inseparable verbs the stress always falls on the first syllable of the main part of the
verb, eg. verbinden, hinterlassen.
Variable verbs
It is best to try and learn whether a verb is separable or inseparable when you first
encounter it. But a guide that usually works is that verbs with these prefixes tend to be
separable when the emphasis is on the prefix and inseparable when the emphasis in on the
verb itself.
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German Grammar
widerspiegeln widersprechen
Das Wasser spiegelt die Lichter wider. Er widerspricht mir ständig.
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German Grammar
Conjunctions
Konjunctionen
Introduction
Co-ordinating conjunctions
Co-ordinating conjunctions link units of equivalent syntactic status, sometimes simply two
nouns and sometimes two sentences: und, aber, denn, oder, sondern.
Subordinating conjunctions
subordinating conjunctions link clauses of different status, one being dependent on the
other, i.e. a subordinate clause dependent on a main clause. The conjunction dass is
frequently used to introduce indirect statements. Similarly, the conjunction ob introduces
indirect questions.
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German Grammar
Wenn das Wetter schlecht ist, fahre ich mit dem Bus zur Uni.
Einkaufen gehe ich meistens am Wochenende, weil ich unter der Woche wenig Zeit
habe.
Notes
- The verb of the subordinate clause is always placed at the end of the clause.
Ich arbeite in der Bibliothek, wenn ich keine Seminare habe.
- The subordinate clause is always separated from the main clause by a comma.
- When the subordinate clause is placed first, the subject and verb of the main clause are
inverted.
statement subordinate clause in initial followed by inversion
position
Ich fahre mit der U-Bahn Wenn das Wetter schlecht ist, fahre ich mit der U-Bahn.
Ich frühstücke Nachdem ich mich gewaschen habe, frühstücke ich.
- The verb mode used in most subordinate clauses is the indicative, but the subjunctive is
also used in certain circumstances after wenn, ob, als ob and dass.
- After wenn the indicative is used for statement-of-fact conditions; the subjunctive is used
for conditions which are unlikely to be realised.
- In the following examples of indirect statements and questions there is no great difference
in meaning between the subordinate clauses in the indicative or in the subjunctive. The
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German Grammar
subjunctive forms (present and past) are merely a means of diffusing the directness of the
statement.
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German Grammar
Negation
Die Negation
Introduction
In German negative statements are formed mostly by using nicht and kein.
Uses of nicht
When nicht is used to negate a whole sentence or clause it usually comes after any direct or
indirect objects and also after most adverbs or adverbial phrases.
Please note:
- When the subordinate clause is placed first, the subject and verb of the main clause are
inverted.
- In certain registers, such as news reporting, one is kept waiting till the very end of a
lengthy sentence to see whether a nicht will negate the entire meaning or not.
[According to a study at Macquarie University in Australia a cup of coffee will not harm the
health of the unborn child in the final weeks of pregnancy.]
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German Grammar
Uses of kein
kein is the negative form of ein– whenever ein, eine is used, you can create the negative
form by simply putting k in front of the indefinite article.
- When the subordinate clause is placed first, the subject and verb of the main clause are
inverted.
-nicht (nur) …, sondern (auch) ... is used to negate one element and contrast it with
another.
- there are various expressions for emphasising a negation, including keineswegs (by no
means), in keinem Fall / auf keinen Fall (not under any circumstances), (ganz und) gar nicht
(not at all), etc.
- other negative expressions include nichts (nothing), nichts mehr (nothing more), nicht
mehr (no more, not anymore), niemand (nobody, no-one) and nie (never).
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German Grammar
Participles
Partizipien
Introduction
Present participle
The present participle is used:
- with a finite verb: when it is invariable.
Singend ging sie in die Küche.
(Sie sang, indem sie in die Küche ging.)
- as an adjective: when it :
• either stands alone
Der Kunde war wütend.
• or agrees in gender and number with the noun it qualifies and is declined as an adjective.
Der wütende. Kunde will eine Rückzahlung haben.
- as a noun when it can have various functions in the sentence in relation to the verb.
Die Universität bietet ein interessantes Programm für Studierende aus aller Welt.
Note that even though the participle has been nominalised it behaves like an adjective and
takes the same endings as an adjective.
- with zu: when it can take on a function which is met by the passive in English.
Sagen Sie mir bitte, wie hoch die zu bezahlende Summe ist.
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German Grammar
Past participle
Please note:
- the perfect tense is formed from the present tense of haben or sein. plus the past
participle of the verb. Most verbs form their perfect with haben;
- The past participle is placed at the end of a simple sentence or main clause
Wir haben gestern bis spät in die Nacht bei Freunden Karten gespielt.
but is superseded by the auxiliary verb haben or sein. in subordinate clauses
Der Student, der uns im Restaurant geholfen hat, spricht sehr gut Englisch.
infinitive perfect
1 hören sie hat gehört
2 denken ich habe gedacht
3 wachsen er ist gewachsen
4 studieren ich habe studiert
5 aufhören Sie haben aufgehört
6 aufwachsen ihr seid aufgewachsen
7 verfliegen es ist verflogen
Note that:
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German Grammar
1. to form the past participle of most regular verbs, you simply take the infinitive, add a ge- at
the beginning and replace the final -en with a -t as in line 1 of the above table eg: hören.
(infinitive) —> gehört (past participle)
2. verbs in lines 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 are irregular verbs and their past participles have to be learnt
by heart.
3. separable verbs like those in lines 5 and 6 form their past participles by inserting the -ge
between the separable prefix (here auf) and the rest of the verb.
eg: regular separable verb: aufhören (infinitive) —> aufgehört (past participle)
irregular separable verb: aufwachsen (infinitive) —> aufgewachsen (past participle)
4. the past participle can be used as a finite verb and is then invariable.
Erstaunt stand Frau Büchner auf und sah zwei Polizisten am Fenster.
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German Grammar
Introduction
Nouns are singular or plural.
There is no distinction of gender for plural nouns in German. The plural form of a German
noun cannot always be anticipated. It is therefore advisable to learn it as you come across it.
There are nevertheless some guidelines linked to a noun's ending and gender which can be
referred to.
Guidelines
plural forms masculine feminine neuter
der Wagen
no ending, with or die Wagen die Mutter das Mädchen
without Umlaut der Bruder die Mütter die Mädchen
die Brüder
der Arm
die Arme
ending –e, with or die Frucht das Bein
without Umlaut die Früchte die Beine
der Vertrag
die Verträge
die Studentin
ending -nen
die Studentinnen
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German Grammar
Notes
- Nearly all feminine nouns, apart from a few within four of the five feminine categories
above, form their plural in –n or –en.
- A few nouns, most of them borrowed from Latin or Greek, change the last two letters of
the noun to –en in the plural, as in das Museum, die Museen, das Stadion, die Stadien.
- To form the dative plural, add -n or -en to the nominative plural, unless it already ends in -
s or -n, in which case add nothing: In den meisten deutschen Autos...
- The plural forms of nouns for all genders are the same in the nominative, genitive, and
accusative cases.
- Compound nouns
German uses compound nouns more often than English and they are formed by simply
putting two or more nouns together. Sometimes a letter is deleted or an -n or -s is inserted
in between to ease pronunciation. The gender of a compound noun is always the one of the
last word.
Noun compounding can lead to the creation of rather long words in German, such as the
famous:
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German Grammar
Please note
- Some English plural nouns are expressed by a singular noun in German, e.g. die Schere
(pair of) scissors, die Hose (pair of) trousers, die Politik politics.
- A few German nouns have different plurals for different meanings, e.g. die Bank: die
Banken banks, die Bänke benches, das Wort: die Wörter words (in isolation, as in a
dictionary), die Worte words (connected in a sentence or phrase). - Masculine and neuter
nouns do not change in the plural when they are used as part of quantifying expressions,
such as zwei Pfund Tomaten, drei Glas Wein, zwei Dutzend Eier. But feminine nouns do
change: zehn Flaschen Bier, zwei Tassen Tee.
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German Grammar
Prepositions
Präpositionen
Introduction
Prepositions are so called because they are placed before nouns or pronouns.
Prepositions, in German, determine the case of the noun or pronoun they are linked to.
Prepositions + accusative
Prepositions + dative
They are: ab, aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu
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German Grammar
Note that in the dative plural the article is the same for all three genders and an n is added
where possible to the plural noun.
They are: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen
The use of a preposition with the accusative indicates some direction and movement and
answers the question 'where to?'.
The use of a preposition with the dative indicates a position and location and answers the
question 'where?'.
Wir liefen hinter das Haus. Wir spielten hinter dem Haus.
plural
Wir liefen hinter dieHäuser. Wir spielten hinter den Häusern.
Prepositions + genitive
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German Grammar
In less formal German the genitive is often replaced by the dative form:
Notes
1. Certain prepositions can contract with the definite article that follows them:
2. the dative contractions beim, vom, zum and zur, am and im and the accusative contractions ans
and ins are rarely obligatory, but they occur much more frequently than the long forms. The
other contractions tend to be used more often colloquially and less often in formal German.
Ich bekomme nichts von meinem Vater. —> Ich bekomme nichts von ihm.
However, when you need to refer to a thing or a concept, a compound using da- (or dar- if
the preposition begins with a vowel) plus the preposition is used.
These combined forms are often used to form a ‘bridge’ from a main clause to a dass clause.
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German Grammar
Prepositional verbs
A large number of German verbs are linked to one or several prepositions which affect their
meaning. Prepositional verbs have to be learnt by hart including the case determined by the
preposition.
Adjectives and nouns, too, are often linked with prepositions with varying degrees of
restriction. The following combinations are more or less obligatory.
The preposition to be used is in most cases unpredictable and should be learned together with
the adjective or noun in question.
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German Grammar
Pronouns
Die Pronomen
Introduction
A pronoun is used instead of a noun (pronoun literally means 'for' a noun) or a phrase and has the
same syntactic function as the noun.
Personal pronouns
The case of a noun or pronoun indicates its function in the sentence. There are three cases
used with personal pronouns (see note on cases):
Please note:
- certain verbs require a dative object for what in English would be a direct object:
- nominative, accusative and dative personal pronouns can be used within the same
sentence. If there are two pronouns, one accusative and one dative in the same sentence
the accusative pronoun will be first in the word order.
Tim hat seiner Freundin ein Buch geschenkt. —> Er hat es ihr geschenkt.
- in sentences with one noun and one pronoun, regardless of which is accusative or dative,
the pronoun will be first.
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German Grammar
Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are used instead of a person, a thing or an idea in a vague and
unspecified manner:
man is used only in the nominative; and are used for the accusative and the dative.
Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are used instead of a noun to single out someone or something.
Welches Brot schmeckt dir am besten? – Dieses hier finde ich gut, aber am
besten schmeckt mir das da.
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German Grammar
Please note the similarities of endings between the demonstrative pronouns and the
definite articles.
Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns are used instead of a noun to indicate possession. They vary with
regard to gender, number, person and case:
meiner, deiner, seiner/ihrer, uns(e)rer, eu(e)rer, ihrer, Ihrer
Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used instead of a noun to express a question. They are placed at
the beginning of the sentence:
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German Grammar
Please note
Nom wer
Acc wen
Gen wessen
Dat wem
If the preposition begins with a vowel, then an r is inserted after the wo: woran?
worauf? worüber?, etc...
Der junge Student in meinem Seminar ist sehr intelligent. Welchen meinen
Sie?
- was für? meaning What sort of? can be followed by a noun or a pronoun:
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German Grammar
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to relate a noun or pronoun to a relative clause that follows:
- The most common relative pronoun is der, die, das, translated into either who, which or
that in English depending on function, gender and formality.
Note that:
1. relative pronouns agree in number and gender with the noun that they refer to.
2. the case of the relative pronoun is determined by its function within the relative clause.
3. when a relative pronoun follows a preposition, the preposition determines the case, while
the gender and number are determined by the noun.
4. in a relative clause the verb is always sent to the end of the clause.
5. in written German the relative pronoun is separated from the noun it refers to by a comma.
• wo + preposition. As with question words, relative pronouns can also be formed in this
way:
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German Grammar
Die Kreditkarte, womit ich bezahlen wollte, ist nicht mehr gültig.
• wer and derjenige, der are both used in the sense of whoever or the old-fashioned he
who:
Pronominal adverbs
Words like davon, damit, daran are called pronominal adverbs and are often used to
reinforce the link between a main clause and a dass-clause:
Wir möchten Sie daran erinnern, dass morgen ein Feiertag ist.
Ich möchte mich herzlich dafür bedanken, dass ihr mir geholfen habt.
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German Grammar
Qualifying adjectives
Qualifizierende Adjektive
Introduction
Agreement of adjectives
Adjectives in German describe or qualify a noun. They can precede the noun (attributive
adjectives) or can be separated from it by a verb (predicative adjectives).
- When the adjective precedes the noun, its ending varies according to:
• the gender
• whether the adjective follows the definite article, the indefinite article or
has no preceding article.
• the number
singular plural
ein kleiner Balkon keine kleinen Balkone
masculine
der kleine Balkon die kleinen Balkone
eine kleine Wohnung meine kleinen Wohnungen
feminine
die kleine Wohnung die kleinen Wohnungen
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German Grammar
Note:
The plural endings are used with definite articles or words following the same pattern as the
indefinite article, such as mein and kein.
Notes:
- Some adjectives require the noun or pronoun to which they are referring to be in a
particular case: the accusative, genitive or dative.
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German Grammar
Certain adjectives are used as nouns. The endings they take are as with ordinary
adjectives.
Note
To express nationality German uses a noun rather than an adjective: 'I am (an)
Englishman/woman' rather than 'I am English'.
Both present and past participles (see note on participles) can be used as adjectives:
• Present participles
• Past partiples
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German Grammar
Comparison of adjectives
- the comparative
Note:
• We can compare two adjectives describing the same person. This type of
comparison is introduced by eher
- the superlative
The superlative form of the adjective is obtained by adding –st and the appropriate
adjective ending.
Sie ist sehr intelligent. Sie ist die das schönste Mädchen auf der Welt.
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German Grammar
Note:
•adding an Umlaut
- irregular forms
Comparatives and superlatives with irregular forms are not very numerous in German.
Here are the most common ones:
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German Grammar
Word order
Die Wortstellung
Introduction
Because of the case system which helps to recognise the subject, the object and the complement in
a sentence, word order in German can be flexible depending on the focus of attention.
Simple tenses
Compound tenses
Please note:
Mein Vater schenkt meiner Mutter ein neues Auto zum 40. Geburtstag.
if either the direct or the indirect object is a personal pronoun (mich/mir, dich/dir, etc.)
then the pronoun precedes the noun
if both the objects are pronouns, then the direct object precedes the indirect object
2. separable verbs
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German Grammar
• in compound tenses or with the use of modal verbs the prefix remains attached to the
verb (in the infinitive or past participle) at the end of the sentence.
(see also Grammar Note on Compound Verbs and the section on Using subordinating
conjunctions in the last section on connected sentences)
3. subject-verb inversion
As in English, German sentence elements other than the subject can appear in initial
position.
The placing of an element in initial position, or fronting, as it is often called allows the
speaker to change the focus of attention in the sentence. When this occurs the finite
verb normally has to come in second position, irrespective of whether the initial element
is an adverb, noun, pronoun, subject, object, etc.
Because of the case system in German it is possible to front elements which in English
would normally not be possible and which could lead to misunderstandings.
English speakers might well think that the policeman did the biting of the dog, but the
case indicators (Den – accusative and mein – nominative) leave no doubt in a German
speaker’s mind.
Ins Bein hat mein Hund den Polizisten gebissen (und nicht in die Hand).
Ins Bein gebissen hat mein Hund den Polizisten.
Als er auf uns zugekommen ist, hat mein Hund den Polizisten ins Bein gebissen.
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German Grammar
4. negative sentences
(please refer to the Grammar Note on Negation to find out about the use of 'nicht' and
'kein')
Connected sentences
A coordinating conjunction simply links words or sentences together and has therefore no
effect on the word order.
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German Grammar
The subordinate conjunction is placed at the beginning of the subordinate clause and the
verb at the end. The subordinate clause is separated from the main clause by a comma.
(see also Grammar Note on Conjunctions to find out more about word order in subordinate
clauses)
Please note:
Separable verbs in a subordinate clause are used united with their prefix at the end
of the sentence
In the present perfect tense of a separable verb in a subordinate clause a prefix joins
up with the past participle
Er wusste nichts von unserem Ausflug, weil er mich nie angerufen hat.
The subordinate conjunction wenn corresponds to the English 'if' and is used in conditional
clauses.
Wenn wir mehr Geld hätten, würden wir ein Auto kaufen.
Please note:
Conditional sentences can be used without a conjunction, in which case the word order
changes
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German Grammar
Verbs
Die Verben
Introduction
For reference to:
the conjugation of
regular verbs
irregular verbs:
i.e. auxiliary, modal, common irregular verbs
the use of compound verbs
inseparable
separable
variable
Strong verbs have stem vowel changes in the simple past and the past participle.
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German Grammar
Irregular verbs are strong verbs which also have stem changes in the present tense
Strong verbs and irregular verbs are often listed together under the rubric 'irregular verbs'. For
common 'irregular verbs' see the standalone unit on German verbs.
Mixed verbs are verbs which behave much like weak verbs, but which have a stem vowel change in
the simple past and the past participle
Reflexive verbs
A verb is reflexive when the action it expresses is both acted by and upon the subject. Most
verbs used reflexively can also be used as normal transitive verbs, i.e. when the object is
different from the subject.
The reflexive pronoun can be in either the dative or the accusative case:
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German Grammar
• when the reflexive pronoun serves as a direct object, it is used in the accusative
• when the reflexive verb already has a direct object in the accusative case, as in the
second example below, the reflexive pronoun is used in the dative
Modal verbs
There are six auxiliary modal verbs in German. Although modal verbs do not express an
action in themselves they affect the meaning of the main verb. The main verb affected is
usually in the infinitive
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German Grammar
Dependent infinitives
Four verbs: hören, sehen, helfen and lassen can be used by themselves or like modal verbs
with a dependent infinitive.
Please note that lassen by itself means 'to leave'; when followed by an infinitive it means 'to
let, allow', or ‘to have something done’.
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