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This summary is just
intended as a quick reference. If it makes your head spin, you
might want to look at English Grammar for Students of German,
which is on the recommended reading list for German 101-232.
direct
object: object in the accusative case:
| Ich
trete den Dinosaurier |
I
kick the dinosaur |
indirect
object: object in the dative case:
| Ich
helfe dem Astronauten |
I
help the astronaut |
intransitive
verb: this is a verb that cannot take an object "without the
help of a preposition." Examples are schlafen, gehen, stehen, geschehen, sterben
etc. These are things one cannot do to anything. They can take
prepositional objects (Ich schlafe im Bett, ich gehe in das Haus,
ich stehe auf Barney etc]. Some intransitive verbs are made transitive
by the prefix be-: Ich antworte auf die Frage = Ich beantworte
die Frage; Ich kämpfe gegen dich = Ich bekämpfe dich;
Wir steigen auf den Berg = Wir besteigen den Berg.
adjective:
describes a noun:
| Das
gelbe Haus |
The
yellow house |
adverb:
describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb (!):
| Ich
renne schnelll |
I
run quickly (quickly describes how I run) |
| Das
Haus ist sehr schön |
The
house is very beautiful (very describes the adjective "beautiful") |
| Ich
renne außerordentlich schnell |
I
run extraordinarily quickly (extraordinarily describes the
adverb quickly |
In English, many
adverbs end in "-ly": quickly, loudly, wisely; in German
some (but fewer) end in the suffix "-(er)weise." Typically, however, German
adverbs are distinguished from adjectives by their lack of an ending:
| Der
schnelle, laufende Hund |
The
fast, running dog (schnell as adjective (with
ending): the
dog is (generally) fast and is running) |
| Der
schnell laufende Hund |
The
quickly running dog (schnell as adverb (no ending):
the dog is
running fast (but it may not be a fast dog)) |
This distinction
does not work for predicate adjectives (see below), which follow
the noun and therefore take no ending.
adverbial
phrase = a phrase that functions as an adverb. These phrases usually
indicate time, manner or place. (See also prepositional
phrases below.)
| Wir
fahren mit dem Bus |
We're
going by bus (manner) |
| Um
neun Uhr kam ich in der Schule an |
At
nine o'clock (time) I arrived at the school (place) |
article:
"the," "a" or "an." "The" is called the "definite article" and corresponds
to the forms of "der/die/das" in German; "A/An" is called the indefinite article,
and corresponds to the forms of "ein" in German.
noun:
a word that names a person, place, thing, animal, or concept. Examples:
man, woman, cat, dog, truth, beauty, speed, Austria, Steffi Graf.
Occasionally, nouns can even be derived from verbs, e.g. "Swimming is
fun" [here, "swimming" is used as a noun: "What's fun? Swimming is!"].
Similarly, nouns can sometimes be derived from adjectives, e.g. "I devote my
life to the beautiful and the good."
preposition
= a word that comes before a noun (i.e. is "pre-positioned") to connect it to
other words in the sentence. aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von,
zu, für, ohne, gegen, um, trotz etc. are all prepositions.
| Ich
esse mit dem Hund |
I
eat with the dog |
prepositional
phrases: these consist of a preposition and the noun it governs.
| Wir
fahren mit dem Bus |
We're
going by bus |
| Ich
freue mich auf deinen Besuch |
I'm
looking forward to your visit |
Many prepositional
phrases (e.g. mit dem Bus above) indicate time, manner or place and are
thus adverbial phrases (see above).
complementing
prepositional phrases: this is the name given to prepositional phrases
whose preposition accompanies a "prepositional verb," such as sich freuen
auf or denken an. They are called "complementing" because they are
needed to "complete" the verb.
| Ich
freue mich auf deinen Besuch |
I'm
looking forward to your visit |
| Ich
denke immer an den weißen Hai |
I'm
always thinking of the white shark |
complementing
nouns: these are nouns that have become "part" of a verb, such as
Tennis in Tennis spielen, Holz in Holz hacken or
Fahrrad in Fahrrad fahren. The difference between "complementing
nouns" and the "object" of a verb is sometimes fluid; it affects word order
because complementing nouns are "final field elements" (i.e. they must come
at the end of the phrase, as if they were a separable prefix for the verb),
whereas verb objects are "middle field elements."
conjunctions:
these cute little words combine ("con-junct") words, phrases, or clauses. German
distinguishes coordinating conjunctions (und, denn, sondern, aber, oder)
and subordinating conjunctions (weil, daß, als, damit etc.). Subordinating
conjunctions only connect clauses. Clauses containing a subordinating conjunction
(or a relative pronoun) are subordinate clauses, which means that the
conjugated verb comes at the end of the clause. A main clause can stand
on its own; a subordinate clause cannot, even though it contains a subject
and a verb:
| Ich
bin hungrig, |
weil
ich nicht gegessen habe |
| main
clause |
subordinate
clause |
"Ich bin hungrig"
makes sense by itself. "Weil ich nicht gegessen habe" does not.
predicate
nominatives: nouns following the linking verbs sein,
werden and bleiben are called predicate nominatives. The
linking verbs take no objects.
| Ich
(nom.) bin ein Mensch (predicate nom.) |
I
am a human being |
predicate
adjectives: these are adjectives following linking verbs (see above).
| Ich
werde alt (predicate adjective) |
I'm
getting old |
indirect
questions: clauses that imply a question. These are subordinate clauses.
| Ich
weiß nicht, wie du heißt |
I
don't know what your name is |
| Ich
frage mich, wo Texas ist |
I
wonder where Texas is |
| Ich
wüßte gern, wer "Copacabana" singt |
I'd
like to know who sings "Copacabana" |
| Er
fragt, ob du Geld hast |
He
asks if you have money |
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