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In
this section, we will try to develop a strategy for attacking
sentences like:
Die
Geographie der Pflanzen untersucht, ob diese Pflanzen heißer
Klimate, wie Elephantenzähne, Tapier-, Krokodil- und
Didelphis-Gerippe, die man neuerdings in Europa entdeckt hat,
zur Zeit allgemeiner Wasserbedeckung durch die Gewalt der
Meeresströme vom Äquator her in die gemäßigten
Zonen angeschwemmt worden sind, oder ob einst diese nördlichen
Klimate selbst Pisanggebüsche und Elephanten, Krokodile
und baumartiges Bambos-Schilf erzeugten.
Commas
Commas actually do the hardest work for you, because
in German, any two clauses are usually separated by a comma.
Thus, the commas separate the sentence into its component
parts for you. The chief exception is
that clauses joined by und or oder are only
separated by commas if they are both complete main clauses
(i.e. both include a subject and a verb).
Sie
fuhren nach Hause und sahen einander dann stundenlang in die
Augen
They drove home and then looked in each
other's eyes for hours (Common element is sie [they])
Since
these combinations of sentences with coordinating conjunctions
cause little confusion, we will ignore them; our method will
be to separate the sentence into the pieces determined by
the commas.
Semicolons
These
separate parts of the sentence which could be complete sentences
on their own. One can therefore investigate the two parts
independently. Semicolons are good friends too....
What
can we expect to find?
Commas can indicate the following:
...the
main clause(s) (verb in second position).
...subordinate
clauses (verb in final position).
...relative clauses (these are a type of subordinate
clause).
...infinitive
clauses. These consist of an infinitive with object(s),
or modifier(s), or both):
Ich
habe keine Zeit, den Hund zu baden
I have no time to bathe the dog
(object)
Wie
bringt ihr es fertig, so schnell und so elegant zu
essen und gleichzeitig fernzusehen?
How do you manage to eat so quickly
and so elegantly and to watch TV at the same time?
(modifiers)
Recall
the subordinating conjunctions
um...zu = in order to ohne...zu = without...
[doing X] (an)statt...zu = instead of [doing X]
Hunde
leben, um zu essen
Dogs live in order to eat
Wenige
Leute gehen in Deutschland spazieren, ohne in Hundemist
zu treten
Few people go for a walk in Germany
without stepping in dog mess
Anstatt
sich diszipliniert zu duschen, liegen Katzen herum
und lecken sich sauber
Instead of showering in a disciplined
manner, cats lie around and lick themselves clean
...appositions.
These describe a noun, but contain no verbs (this distinguishes
them from relative clauses). They are in the same case as the
noun:
Rex,
der hungrigste Hund der Welt, verlor plötzlich
seinen Appetit.
Rex, the hungriest dog in the world,
suddenly lost his appetite.
Lisa,
seine Besitzerin, hatte sein Essen in die Badewanne
gestellt.
Lisa, his owner, had put his
food in the bathtub.
Ich gebe Rex, dem hungrigsten Hund der Welt, einen
Knochen
I give Rex, the hungriest dog in
the world, a bone
...interjections--e.g.
ja, oh, eh, nein--these
are nothing to worry about
Oh ja, Rex ist sehr schmutzig.
Oh yes, Rex
is very dirty.
...series.
These can be series of clauses, or just of words [no commas
before und or oder in a series of words; the
rule given above applies for und
or oder in a series of clauses]
Rex isst Hühner, Mäuse, rohe
und gekochte Eier, rohe Kartoffeln, und Haare.
Rex eats chickens,
mice, raw and boiled eggs, raw potatoes, and hair.
Lisa füttert den Hund, versucht ihn zu baden, füttert
ihn wieder, und geht dann ins Bett.
Lisa feeds the dog,
tries to bathe him, feeds him again, and then goes to bed.
...commas
inserted for clarity where they are grammatically not
necessary (there will be an example below).
Finding
the main clause(s)
This
should be your first step in analyzing a complex sentence.
The main clause will have the verb in second position (or
in first position for questions, commands etc. as discussed
in the "Verb First" handout), whereas dependent clauses will
have it in final position.
Exceptions
1. Conditional sentences omitting "if" are dependent clauses
with the verb in first position.
Ist
Barney böse, so frißt er die lächelnden Kinder
If Barney is mad, he eats the smiling
children
2.
If speech or thoughts are reported without using the word daß,
the verb is in second position, even though the clause containing
the reported speech is subordinated to the clause containing
the verb of saying or thinking. E.g. in the sentences:
Er
sagt, er habe keine Zeit.
"Er sagt" is the main clause; "er habe keine Zeit" is subordinate.
Sie
denkt, sie könne schwimmen.
"Sie denkt" is the main clause; "sie könne schwimmen"
is subordinate.
3.
Rare: when als is used instead of als ob or
als wenn to mean as if, the verb is in second position,
even though this als is a subordinating conjunction.
Sie
sieht aus, als hätte sie viel getrunken
She looks as if she had drunk a lot
Example
Let
us return to our sample sentence, numbering the parts separated
by commas:
(1)
Die Geographie der Pflanzen untersucht, (2) ob diese Pflanzen
heißer Klimate, (3a) wie Elephantenzähne, (3b)
Tapier-, (3c) Krokodil- und Didelphis-Gerippe, (4) die man
neuerdings in Europa entdeckt hat, (5) zur Zeit allgemeiner
Wasserbedeckung durch die Gewalt der Meeresströme vom
Äquator her in die gemäßigten Zonen angeschwemmt
worden sind, (6) oder ob einst diese nördlichen Klimate
selbst Pisanggebüsche und Elephanten, (6a) Krokodile
und baumartiges Bambos-Schilf erzeugten.
First,
look for the main clause(s). This should have the verb in
second position. This is only true of (1), where "Die
Geographie der Pflanzen" (answering the question: "Was?")
occupies first position, and is followed by the verb "untersucht."
The main clause is therefore
(1)
The geography of plants examines
Subordinated
to it is (2), which is introduced by the subordinating conjunction
ob:
(2)
whether these plants from hot climates
Now
(3a) - (3c) clearly form a series. They contain no verb, and
constitute an apposition giving more information about "Pflanzen
heißer Klimate," in this case, that these plants
are like the various animal parts named in the series [because
they all come from tropical climates, but this is not explicitly
stated here]:
(3a)
- (3c) like elephant teeth, tapir, crocodile and didelphis
skeletons
Next,
(4) is a relative clause subordinate to (3):
(4)
which have recently been discovered in Europe
After
that, (5) finally continues the subordinate clause (2), which
was interrupted by the apposition (3) and the relative clause
(4) that referred to the apposition:
(5)
were carried by the current
[=angeschwemmt worden sind] from
the equator to the temperate zones by the power of the ocean
currents at the time of general water-covered-ness [i.e.when
(almost) everything was covered with water]
Then
comes (6), introduced by the coordinating conjunction oder
combined with the subordinating conjunction ob:
thus (2) [with all of its subsequent parts] and (6), the two
alternatives being considered by the geography of plants,
form a series coordinated by oder.
The comma setting off (6a) just indicates another series of
plants and animals:
(6)
+ (6a) or whether these northern climates once themselves
[=selbst] generated pisang bushes and elephants, crocodiles
and tree-like bamboo reeds.
One
can now put the pieces together into an elegant translation:
Die
Geographie der Pflanzen untersucht, ob diese Pflanzen heißer
Klimate, wie Elephantenzähne, Tapier-, Krokodil- und
Didelphis-Gerippe, die man neuerdings in Europa entdeckt hat,
zur Zeit allgemeiner Wasserbedeckung durch die Gewalt der
Meeresströme vom Äquator her in die gemäßigten
Zonen angeschwemmt worden sind, oder ob einst diese nördlichen
Klimate selbst Pisanggebüsche und Elephanten, Krokodile
und baumartiges Bambos-Schilf erzeugten.
The
geography of plants examines whether these plants from hot
climates, like elephant teeth, tapir, crocodile and didelphis
skeletons, which have recently been discovered in Europe,
were carried by the current from the equator to the temperate
zones by the power of the ocean currents at the time when
almost everything was covered with water, or whether these
northern climates once themselves generated pisang bushes
and elephants, crocodiles and tree-like bamboo reeds.
A
diagram of this sentence might look as follows:
(1)
Die Geographie der Pflanzen untersucht,
(2)
ob diese Pflanzen heißer Klimate,
(3a)
wie Elephantenzähne, (3b) Tapier-, (3c) Krokodil- und
Didelphis-Gerippe,
(4)
die man neuerdings in Europa entdeckt hat,
(5)
= (2) continued: zur Zeit allgemeiner Wasserbedeckung durch
die Gewalt der Meeresströme vom Äquator her in die
gemäßigten Zonen angeschwemmt worden sind,
(6)
oder ob einst diese nördlichen Klimate selbst Pisanggebüsche
und Elephanten, (6a) Krokodile und baumartiges Bambos-Schilf
erzeugten.
Summary
You will find this process increasingly easy with practice.
The moral of the story for now is: use the commas to separate
out the clauses, look for the main clause, and then work piece
by piece.
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