This document provides an overview of basic German grammar concepts across three levels (German I, II, III). It covers topics such as pronunciation, the alphabet, nouns and cases, articles, pronouns, verbs like "to be" and "to have", phrases, questions words and more. The document is organized with numbered sections for each grammar topic and includes examples and explanations.
This document provides an overview of basic German grammar concepts across three levels (German I, II, III). It covers topics such as pronunciation, the alphabet, nouns and cases, articles, pronouns, verbs like "to be" and "to have", phrases, questions words and more. The document is organized with numbered sections for each grammar topic and includes examples and explanations.
This document provides an overview of basic German grammar concepts across three levels (German I, II, III). It covers topics such as pronunciation, the alphabet, nouns and cases, articles, pronouns, verbs like "to be" and "to have", phrases, questions words and more. The document is organized with numbered sections for each grammar topic and includes examples and explanations.
2. Pronunciation 3. Alphabet 4. Nouns and Cases 5. Articles and Demonstratives 6. Subject Pronouns 7. To Be, to Have and to Become 8. Useful Words 9. Question Words 10. Numbers 11. Days of the Week 12. Months of the Year 13. Seasons 14. Directions 15. Colors and Shapes 16. Time 17. Weather 18. Family 19. To Know People and Facts 20. Formation of Plural Nouns 21. Possessive Adjectives 22. Accusative Case 23. Dative Case 24. Genitive Case 25. To Do or Make 26. Work and School 27. Prepositions 28. Contractions 29. Countries and Nationalities 30. Negative Sentences 31. To and From places 32. To Come and to Go 33. Modal Verbs 34. Conjugating Regular Verbs 35. Reflexive Verbs 36. Irregularities in Regular Verbs 37. Verbs with Prepositions 38. Separable Prefixes 39. Inseparable Prefixes 40. Present Perfect Tense 41. Irregular Past Participles 42. Sein Verbs and Past Participles 43. Food and Meals 44. Fruits, Vegetables, Meats 45. Genitive Partitive 46. Commands 47. Subordinating Conjunctions 48. Holiday Phrases German National Anthem Austrian National Anthem
German II 49. Helfen, lassen and the senses 50. Places 51. Transportation 52. Imperfect Tense 53. Irregular Stems in Imperfect 54. House and Furniture 55. Location vs. Direction 56. Clothing 57. Future Tense 58. Asking Questions 59. Declensions of Adjectives 60. Adjectives 61. Comparative and Superlative 62. Sports 63. Nature 64. Object Pronouns 65. Parts of the Body 66. Relative Pronouns 67. Da and Wo Compounds 68. Animals 69. Likes and Dislikes 70. Past perfect tense 71. Als, wenn and wann 72. Review of Word Order 73. Flavoring Particles Die Lorelei
German III 74. Colloquial Expressions and Idioms 75. Word Formation 76. Adjectival Nouns 77. Ordinal Numbers 78. Passive Voice 79. Problems with the Passive 80. Avoiding the Passive 81. Showing Purpose 82. Shopping 83. Post Office and Bank 84. Zu with Infinitives 85. Office / School Supplies 86. Expressions of Time 87. Travelling / Airport 88. Another 89. Cosmetics / Toiletries 90. Subjunctive II (Conditional) 91. Other Uses of the Subjunctive 92. Subjunctive I (Indirect Discourse) 93. Parts of a Car 94. Present participle 95. In the Ocean 96. Als ob/ Als wenn 97. In Space 98. Future Perfect 99. Make-Believe Stuff 100. Spelling Reform 101. Review of Declensions of Nouns
1. Some Basic Phrases Guten Morgen goot-en mor-gen Good Morning Guten Tag goot-en tahk Hello/Good Day Guten Abend goot-en ah-bent Good Evening Gute Nacht goot-eh nakht Good Night Auf Wiedersehen owf vee-dair-zayn Goodbye Bitte bih-tuh Please Danke dahn-kuh Thank you Bitte schn bih-tuh shurn You're welcome Ja/Nein yah/nine Yes/No Herr/Frau/Frulein hair/frow/froi-line Mister/Misses/Miss Wie geht es Ihnen? vee gayt es ee-nen How are you? (formal) Wie geht's? vee gayts How are you? (informal) Ich bin mde. ikh bin moo-duh I'm tired. Ich bin krank. ikh bin krahnk I'm sick. Ich habe Hunger. ikh hah-buh hoong-er I'm hungry. Ich habe Durst. ikh hah-buh dirst I'm thirsty. Gut/Es geht/So lala goot/ess gate/zo lahlah Good/OK Schlecht/Nicht Gut shlekht/nisht goot Bad/Not Good Wie heien Sie? vee hie-ssen zee What's your name? (formal) Wie heit du? vee hiesst doo What's your name? (informal) Ich heie... ikh hie-ssuh I am called... Mein Name ist... mine nah-muh isst My name is... Woher kommen Sie? vo-hair koh-men zee Where are you from? (formal) Woher kommst du? vo-hair kohmst doo Where are you from? (informal) Wo wohnen Sie? vo voh-nen zee Where do you live? (formal) Wo wohnst du? vo vohnst doo Where do you live? (informal) Ich komme aus den Vereinigten Staaten. ikh koh-muh ows dane fair-ine-ik-ten shtat-en I am from the United States. Ich wohne in... ikh voh-nuh in I live in... Wie alt sind Sie? vee alt zint zee How old are you? (formal) Wie alt bist du? vee alt bisst doo How old are you? (informal) Ich bin ____ Jahre alt. ikh bin ____ yaa-reh alt I am ____ years old.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? shpreck-en zee doytch Do you speak German? (formal) Sprichst du Englisch? shprikhst doo eng-lish Do you speak English? (informal) Franzsisch, Italienisch, Spanisch, Russisch, Japanisch frahn-tsur-zish, ee-tahl-yay-nish, spahn-ish, roos-ish, yah-pahn-ish French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, J apanese Ich spreche... ikh shpreck-uh I speak... Ich spreche kein... ikh shpreck-uh kine I don't speak any... Ich verstehe [nicht]. ikh fehr-stay-eh [nisht] I [don't] understand. Ich wei [nicht]. ikh vise [nisht] I [don't] know. Entschuldigen Sie ehnt-shool-dih-gun zee Excuse me Es tut mir leid. ehs toot meer lite I'm sorry Bis spter/bald biss shpay-ter/bahlt See you later/soon Tag/Tschs/Tschau tahk/tchews/chow Hi/Bye Ich liebe dich. ikh leeb-uh dish I love you. Ich liebe Sie. ikh leeb-uh zee I love you (all). Note: Ich is not actually pronounced ikh. There is no equivalent sound in English. It is somewhere between ish and ikh and somewhat like a soft hiss of cat.
2. Pronunciation German letter English sound a ah e eh i ee or ih o oh er u oo b b, but p at end of syllable d d, but t at end of syllable g g, but k at end of syllable ch guttural, almost like sh au ow (as in "cow") ei eye eu, u oy ie ee j y qu kv s z or ss at end of word ss sp shp (at beginning of word) st sht sch sh th t v f w v z ts
3. Alphabet a ah j yoht s ess b bay k kah t tay c tsay l el u oo d day m em v fow e ay n en w vay f eff o oh x eeks g gay p pay y irp-se-lon h hah q koo z tset i ee r ehr Note: isn't said when reciting the alphabet. It's actually a double s. Some people will write it ss instead of .
4. Nouns and Cases All nouns have a gender in German, either masculine, feminine or neuter. There really isn't a lot of logic to which nouns are which gender, so you must memorize the gender of each noun. Male persons or animals, the seasons, months, and days are all masculine, as are nouns ending in -ant, - ast, -ich, -ig, -ismus, -ling, -or and -us. Female persons or animals, German rivers and numerals are all feminine, as are nouns ending in -a, -anz, -ei, -enz, -heit, -ie, -ik, -in, -keit, -schaft, -sion, -sis, -tt, - tion, -ung and -ur. Young persons or animals, metals, chemical elements, letters of the alphabet, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, continents, countries and provinces are all neuter, as are nouns that end in -chen, -icht, -il, -it, -lein, -ma, -ment, -tel, -tum, and -um. Nouns referring to things that end in -al, - an, -ar, -t, -ent, -ett, -ier, -iv, -o and -on, as well as most words with the prefix ge- and most nouns ending in -nis and -sal are also neuter. All nouns in German are capitalized as well. All nouns (as well as pronouns and adjectives) have a case depending on what function they serve in the sentence. These may seem strange, but remember that English uses cases also; however, we would say direct object instead of accusative, or indirect object instead of dative. Although these cases may make learning new words difficult, they actually help with word order because the position of words in a sentence is not as crucial in German as it is in English. And the reason for that is because words can occur in these four cases: Nominative subject of the sentence The girl is reading. Accusative direct objects We see the guide. Dative indirect objects We give it to the guide. Genitive indicates possession or relationship The book of the girl. Note: The nouns I give you, and the ones you look up in a dictionary, will be in the nominative case.
5. Articles and Demonstratives Definite Articles (The) Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural Nominative der (dare) die (dee) das (dahs) die Accusative den (dane) die das die Dative dem (dame) der dem den Genitive des (dess) der des der Indefinite Articles (A, An) Masculine Feminine Neuter Nom. ein (ine) eine (ine-uh) ein Acc. einen (ine-en) eine ein Dat. einem (ine-em) einer(ine-er) einem Gen. eines (ine-es) einer eines Demonstrati ves (This, That, These, Those) This / These That / Those Masc. Fem. Neu. Pl. Masc. Fem. Neu. Pl. Nom. dieser diese dieses diese der die das die Acc. diesen diese dieses diese den die das die Dat. diesem dieser diesemdiesen dem der dem den Gen. dieses dieser dieses dieser des der des der Note: Jener is an older word found in written German that was used to mean that or those, but today in spoken German the definite articles are used. Dort or da may accompany the definite articles for emphasis. Das is also a universal demonstrative and therefore shows no agreement. Notice the last letter of each of the words above. They correspond to the last letters of the words for the definite articles. Words that are formed this same way are called der-words because they follow the pattern of the der-die-das declension. Other der-words are: jeder-every, and welcher-which. Mancher (many) and solcher (such) are also der-words, but they are used almost always in the plural.
6. Subject (Nominative) Pronouns Subject Pronouns ich ikh I wir veer we du doo you (familiar) ihr eer you (all) er, sie, es, man air, zee, ess, mahn he, she, it, one sie, Sie zee they, you (formal) Note: Man can be translated as one, we, they or the people in general. When referring to nouns as it, you use er for masculine nouns, sie for feminine nouns and es for neuter nouns. However, the definite articles der, die and das can be subsituted for er, sie and es to show more emphasis.
7. To Be, to Have, and to Become Present tense of sein - to be (zine) I am ich bin ikh bin we are wir sind veer zint You are (fam.) du bist doo bihst you are ihr seid eer zide He/she/it is er/sie/es ist air/zee/ess isst they (you) are sie sind zee zint Note: You must use the subject pronouns (ich, du, er...); however, I will leave them out of future conjugations. Present tense of haben - to have (hah-ben) Present tense of werden - to become (vair-den) habe hah-buh haben hah-ben werde vair-duh werden vair-den hast hahst habt hahbt wirst veerst werdet vair-det hat haht haben hah-ben wird veert werden vair-den Past (Imperfect) Tense sein haben werden war var waren vah-ren hatte hah-tuh hatten hah-ten wurde voor-duh wurden voor-den warst varst wart vart hattest hah-test hattet hah-tet wurdest voor-dest wurdet voor-det war var waren vah-ren hatte hah-tuh hatten hah-ten wurde voor-duh wurden voor-den Haben is frequently used in expressions that would normally take to be in English. Ich habe Hunger. =I am hungry. Ich habe Durst. =I am thirsty. Ich habe Langeweile. =I am bored. Ich habe Heimweh. =I am homesick. Ich habe Angst. =I am afraid.
8. Useful Words and und oont really wirklich veerk-lish right! stimmt shtimt but aber ah-ber together zusammen tsoo-zah- men anyway berhaupt oo-ber- howpt very sehr zair all alle ahl-luh enough genug guh-nook or oder oh-der now jetzt yetst exactly genau guh-now here hier here so also al-zoh sometimes manchmal mahnch- mal also auch owkh another noch nohkh always immer im-er both beide by-duh already schon shone never nie nee some etwas eht- vahss isn't it? nicht wahr nikht vahr often oft ohft only nur noor too bad schade shah-duh of course klar klahr again wieder vee-der gladly gern gehrn perhaps vielleicht fee-likht hopefully hoffentlich hoh- fent-likh immediatelysofort zoh-fort a little ein bisschen ine biss- khen between zwischen zvish-en sure(ly) sicher(lich) zikh-er- likh a little ein wenig ine vay- nikh therefore deshalb des- halp rather sondern zohn- dehrn not at all gar nicht gar nikht a lot, many viel(e) feel(uh) finally schlielich shleess- likh not a bit kein bisschen kine biss- khen Es gibt is commonly used to mean there is/are.
9. Question Words Who Wer vehr Whom (acc.) Wen vain What Was vahs Whom (dat.) Wem vaim Why Warum vah-room How Come Wieso vee-zo When Wann vahn Where from Woher vo-hair Where Wo voh Where to Wohin vo-hin How Wie vee Which Welch- velsh
10. Numbers 0 Null nool 1 Eins ines 2 Zwei tsvy 3 Drei dry 4 Vier feer 5 Fnf fewnf 6 Sechs zecks 7 Sieben zee-bun 8 Acht ahkht 9 Neun noyn 10 Zehn tsayn 11 Elf elf 12 Zwlf tsvurlf 13 Dreizehn dry-tsayn 14 Vierzehn feer-tsayn 15 Fnfzehn fewnf-tsayn 16 Sechzehn zeck-tsayn 17 Siebzehn zeep-tsayn 18 Achtzehn ahkh-tsayn 19 Neunzehn noyn-tsayn 20 Zwanzig tsvahn-tsikh 21 Einundzwanzig ine-oont-tsvahn-tsikh 22 Zweiundzwanzig tsvy-oont-tsvahn-tsikh 30 Dreiig dry-sikh 40 Vierzig feer-tsikh 50 Fnfzig fewnf-tsikh 60 Sechzig zekh-tsikh 70 Siebzig zeep-tsikh 80 Achtzig ahkh-tsikh 90 Neunzig noyn-tsikh 100 Einhundert ine-hoon-duhrt 1,000 Eintausend ine-tow-zuhnt Note: Sometimes Zwo (tsvoh) is used instead of Zwei to avoid confusion with Drei. And the use of commas and periods is switched around in German.
11. Days of the Week Monday Montag mohn-tahk Tuesday Dienstag deens-tahk Wednesday Mittwoch mit-vock Thursday Donnerstag don-ers-tahk Friday Freitag fry-tahk Saturday (N & E Germany) Samstag Sonnabend zahms-tahk zon-nah-bent Sunday Sonntag zon-tahk day der Tag (e) dehr tahk morning der Morgen mawr-gun afternoon der Nachmittag (e) nakh-mih-tahk evening der Abend (e) ah-bunt night die Nacht (e) nahkt today heute hoy-tuh tomorrow morgen mawr-gun tonight heute Abend hoy-tuh ah-bunt yesterday gestern geh-stairn last night gestern abend geh-stairn ah-bunt week die Woche (n) voh-kuh weekend das Wochenende (n) voh-ken-en-duh daily tglich teh-glikh weekly wchenlich wer-khen-likh Note: To say on a certain day or the weekend, use am. Add an -s to the day to express "on Mondays, Tuesdays, etc." All days, months and seasons are masculine so they all use the same form of these words: jeden - every, nchsten - next, letzten - last (as in the last of a series), vorigen - previous. In der Woche is the expression for "during the week."
12. Months of the Year J anuary J anuar yah-noo-ahr (Austria) Jnner yeh-ner February Februar fay-broo-ahr (Austria) Feber fay-ber March Mrz mehrts April April ah-pril May Mai my J une J uni yoo-nee J uly J uli yoo-lee August August ow-goost September September zehp-tehm-ber October Oktober ok-toh-ber November November no-vehm-ber December Dezember deh-tsem-ber month der Monat (e) moh-naht year das J ahr (e) yaar monthly monatlich moh-naht-likh yearly jhrlich jehr-likh Note: To say in a certain month, use im.
13. Seasons Winter der Winter dehr vin-ter Spring der Frhling dehr frew-ling Summer der Sommer dehr zom-mer Autumn der Herbst dehr hehrpst Note: To say in the (any season), use im.
14. Directions North der Norden South der Sden East der Osten West der Westen
15. Colors and Shapes orange orange square das Viereck pink rosa circle der Kreis purple violett / lila triangle das Dreieck blue blau rectangle das Rechteck yellow gelb oval das Oval red rot octagon das Achteck black schwarz cube der Wrfel brown braun sphere die Kugel gray grau cone der Kegel white wei cylinder der Zylinder green grn
16. Time What time is it? Wie spt ist es? vee shpayt isst ess (It is) 2 AM Es ist Zwei Uhr nachts ess ist tsvy oor nahkts 2 PM Es ist Zwei Uhr nachmittags tsvy oor nahk-mih-tahks 6:20 Es ist Sechs Uhr zwanzig zex oor tsvahn-tsikh half past 3 Es ist halb vier hahlp feer quarter past 4 Es is Viertel nach vier feer-tel nahk feer quarter to 5 Es ist Viertel vor fnf feer-tel for fewnf 10 past 11 Es ist zehn nach elf tsyan nahk elf 20 to 7 Es ist zwanzig vor sieben tsvahn-tsikh for zee-bun noon Es ist mittags mih-tahks midnight Es ist mitternachts mih-ter-nahks in the morning morgens mawr-guns in the evening abends aah-bunts It's exactly... Es ist genau... ess ist guh-now At 8. Um 8 Uhr. oom akht oor early frh frew late(r) spt(er) shpayt(er)
17. Weather How's the weather today? Wie ist das Wetter heute? vee ist dahs vet-ter hoy-tuh It looks like rain. Es sieht nach Regen aus. es seet nahkh ray-gen ows It's cold Es ist kalt ess isst kahlt beautiful schn shern hot hei hise clear klar klahr icy eisig ise-ikh warm warm varm windy windig vin-dikh cloudy bewlkt beh-verlkt hazy dunstig doons-tikh muggy schwl schvool humid feucht foykt foggy nebelig neh-beh-likh It's snowing Es schneit ess schnite It's raining Es regnet ess rayg-net It's freezing Es friert ess freert The weather is clearing Das Wetter klrt sich auf. dahs vett-er klairt sikh owf is bad ist schlecht isst shlehkt
18. Family Parents die Eltern Mother die Mutter () Father der Vater () Son der Sohn (, e) Daughter die Tochter () Brother der Bruder () Sister die Schwester (n) Grandfather der Grovater () Grandmother die Gromutter () Grandson der Enkel (-) Granddaughter die Enkelin (nen) Niece die Nichte (n) Nephew der Neffe (n) Cousin (m) der Vetter (n) Cousin (f) die Kusine (n) Uncle der Onkel (-) Aunt die Tante (n) Boy der J unge (n) Girl das Mdchen (-) Man der Mann (, er) Woman die Frau (en) Friend (m) der Freund (e) Friend (f) die Freundin (nen) Note: The letters in parentheses indicate the plural form of the noun.
19. To Know People and Facts kennen - to know people wissen - to know facts kenne ken-nuh kennen ken-nun wei vise wissen vih-sun kennst kenst kennt kent weit vighst wisst vihst kennt kent kennen ken-nun wei vise wissen vih-sun
20. Formation of Plural Nouns Plural nouns in German are unpredictable, so it's best to memorize the plural form with the singular. However, here are some rules that can help: 1. Feminine nouns usually add -n or -en. Nouns that end in -in (such as the female equivalents of masculine nouns) add -nen. eine Lampe zwei Lampen eine Tr zwei Tren eine Studentin zwei Studentinnen 2. Masculine and neuter nouns usually add -e or -er. Many masculine plural nouns ending in -e add an umlaut as well, but neuter plural nouns ending in -e don't. Plurals that end in -er add an umlaut when the stem vowel is a, o , u or au. Masculine Neuter ein Rock zwei Rcke ein Heft zwei Hefte ein Mann zwei Mnner ein Buch zwei Bcher 3. Masculine and neuter singular nouns that end in -er either add an umlaut or change nothing at all. Many nouns with a stem vowel of a, o, u or au add an umlaut. Masculine Neuter ein Bruder zwei Brder ein Fenster zwei Fenster 4. Nouns that end in a vowel other than an unstressed -e and nouns of foreign origin add -s. ein Hobby zwei Hobbys ein Hotel zwei Hotels
21. Possessive Adjectives Masc. Fem. Neu. Pl. Nom. mein meine mein meine Acc. meinen meine mein meine Dat. meinemmeiner meinemmeinen Gen. meines meiner meines meiner Note: Other words that are formed like mein are: dein-your (du form), sein-his/its, ihr-her, unser-our, euer-your (ihr form), ihr-their, Ihr-your (Sie form), and kein-no/not any.
22. Accusative Case The accusative case corresponds to direct objects. Here are the accusative forms of the definite and indefinite articles. Note that only the masculine changes in this case. Definite and Indefinite Articles Masc. Fem. Neuter Plural Definite den die das die Indefinite einen eine ein keine Note: Some masculine nouns add an -(e)n to the accusative form, such as international nouns ending in -t (Dirigent, Komponist, Patient, Polizist, Soldat, Student, Tourist, J ournalist); nouns ending in -e denoting male persons or animals (Drache, J unge, Kunde, Lwe, Neffe, Riese, Vorfahre, Zeuge); and the following nouns: Elefant, Herr, Mensch, Nachbar. And wen (whom) is the accusative of wer (who). Personal Pronouns - Nominati ve & Accusati ve ich I mich me wir we uns us du you dich you ihr you euch you er he ihn him sie they sie them sie she sie her Sie you Sie you es it es it German uses the case system to show the function of a word in a sentence, whereas English relies mainly on word order. Take, for example, the following sentences: Ich esse den Apfel translates into I eat the apple. In German, you can switch the word order around without affecting the meaning. Den Apfel esse ich is also I eat the apple, but in English, if you were to change word order, you would have to say the apple eats me. English does not accomodate for the direct object to be placed before the subject and verb like German does.
23. Dative Case The dative case corresponds to indirect objects. Usually in English, we use the words to or for to indicate an indirect object. But German relies on the endings of the dative case. Here are the dative forms of the definite and indefinite articles. Definite and Indefinite Articles Masc. Fem. Neuter Plural Definite dem der dem den Indefinite einem einer einem keinen Note: Those same masculine nouns that added an -(e)n in the accusative form also add an -(e)n in the dative form. And all plural nouns add an -(e)n in the dative plural, unless they already end in an -n or -s. And wem (to/for whom) is the dative of wer (who). Personal Pronouns mir me uns us dir you euch you ihm him ihnen they ihr her Ihnen you ihm it In sentences that show with both a direct and indirect object, the noun in the dative case precedes the accusative noun, unless the accusative case is a pronoun. Ich schenke meinem Bruder eine Krawatte. I give (to) my brother a tie. Ich schenke sie meinem Bruder. I give it to my brother.
24. Genitive Case The genitive case is used to show possession, more often in writing than in speech. When speaking, most people use von (of) plus the dative case to show possession. For proper nouns, German only adds an -s to the noun, whereas English would add an apostrophe and an -s. Femine and Plural nouns do not change in the Genitive case. Masculine and Neuter nouns add an -s if the word is more than one syllable, or an -es if the word is one syllable. Except the weak masculine nouns that added - (e)n in the accusative and dative; they also also add -(e)n in the genitive. There are some irregular nouns that add -s after -en in the genitive case as well, for example der Name becomes des Namens and das Herz becomes des Herzens. die Farbe des Vogels - the color of the bird die Grsse des Hauses - the size of the house die Tasche meiner Mutter - my mother's purse der Bleistift des Studenten - the student's pencil Definite and Indefinite Articles Masc. Fem. Neu. Plural Definite des der des der Indefinite eines einer eines keiner
25. To Do or Make Machen - to do or make mache mock-uh machen mock-en machst mockst macht mockt macht mockt machen mock-en
26. Work and School male female male female worker Arbeiter Arbeiterin lawyer Anwalt (, e) Anwltin architect Architekt (en) Architektin doctor Arzt (e) rztin mechanic Automechaniker Automechanikerin bank employee Bankangestellte (n) Bankangestellte (n) librarian Bibliothekar Bibliothekarin conductor Dirigent Dirigentin TV reporter Fernsehreporter Fernsehreporterin hairdresser Friseur Friseurin engineer Ingenieur Ingenieurin custodian Hausmeister Hausmeisterin cook Koch (, e) Kchin cashier Kassierer Kassiererin pilot Pilot (en) Pilotin waiter Kellner Kellnerin police officer Polizist (en) Polizistin nurse Krankenpfleger Krankenpflegerin president Prsident (en) Prsidentin postal worker Postangestellte (n) Postangestellte (n) priest Priester Priesterin judge Richter Richterin secretary Sekretr Sekretrin writer Schriftsteller Schriftstellerin flight attendant Flugbegleiter Flugbegleiter (in) salesperson Verkufer Verkuferin taxi driver Taxifahrer Taxifahrerin dentist Zahnarzt (, e) Zahnrztin Note: Besides the plural forms shown above, the rest of the male professions are the same (they do not add anything) in the plural, while all the feminine add -nen in the plural. Also, German does not use articles before professions. You would only say Ich bin Kellner if you mean I am a waiter. This is why J FK was made fun of for saying Ich bin ein Berliner, because it translates to I am a jelly donut, instead I am a person from Berlin, which is Ich bin Berliner. School die Schule (n) High School die Oberschule (n) University die Universitt (en) Subject das Fach (, er) Foreign languages Fremdsprachen Linguistics Linguistik Literature Literatur History Geschichte Social Studies Sozialkunde Natural Science Naturwissenschaft Biology Biologie Psychology Psychologie Philosophy Philosophie Sociology Soziologie Earth science Erdkunde Geography Geographie Math Mathematik Computer science Informatik Geometry Geometrie Economics Wirtschaft Mechanical Engineering Maschinenbau Chemistry Chemie Physics Physik Art Kunst Music Musik Band Musikkapelle Drawing Zeichnen Class die Klasse (n) Test die Prfung (en) Lunch das Mittagessen Lunchtime die Mittagspause School Supplies die Schulsachen Dictionary das Wrterbuch (, er) Stapler die Heftmaschine (n) Scissors die Schere (n) Ruler das Lineal (e) Eraser das Radiergummi (s) Chalk die Kreide Book das Buch (, er) Notebook das Heft (e) Pencil der Bleistift (e) Sheet of Paper das Blatt Papier Schoolbag die Schultasche (n) Calculator der Taschenrechner (-) Pen der Kugelschreiber / der Kuli Homework die Hausaufgaben Girl das Mdchen (-) Boy der J unge (n) Friend (m) der Freund (e) Friend (f) die Freundin (nen) Pupil (m) der Schler (-) Pupil (f) die Schlerin (nen) Student (m) der Student (en) Student (f) die Studentin (nen) Teacher (m) der Lehrer (-) Teacher (f) die Lehrerin (nen) Grades die Noten Hard schwer Course der Kurs (e) Easy leicht Semester das Semester (-) Vacation die Ferien (pl.) Schedule der Stundenplan (, e) Assignment die Aufgabe (n)
27. Prepositions Prepositions that take the Accusati ve case durch through gegen against um around fr for ohne without Preps. that take the Dati ve case aus out (of), from (country, town or place) mit with, by means of (transportation) von from (person, open space, or direction), by seit since, for bei near, at, at home of or place of business nach after, to (cities and countries) zu to (mostly people and specifically named buildings) gegenber across from auer except for, besides Preps. that take the Genitive case whrend during trotz in spite of anstatt instead of wegen because of Preps. that may take Acc. or Dat. an at, to, on (vertical surfaces, denotes border or limiting area) auf onto, on (horizontal surfaces), to (some public buildings) hinter behind in in, into (building, enclosed space, feminine or plural countries) neben beside, next to ber over, above, across, about unter under, below, among, beneath vor in front of, before zwischen between For the two-way prepositions: the dative form indicates position and location and answers the question where? The accusative form indicates direction and movement and answers the question where to? For example: In die Schule means to school and uses the accusative form because it is a direction. In der Schule means in school and uses the dative form because it is a location. But one exception is zu Hause - at home (dat.) and nach Hause - (to) home (acc.) Ich bin zu Hause is I am at home, and Ich gehe nach Hause is I am going home. Accusati ve: movement & direction Dati ve: location & position Er hngt das Bild ber das Sofa. He hangs the picture over the sofa. Das Bild hngt ber dem Sofa. The picture hangs over the sofa. Stell es unter den Tisch. Put it under the table. Es ist unter dem Tisch. It is under the table. Fahren Sie den Wagen hinter das Haus. Drive the car behind the house. Der Wagen steht hinter dem Haus. The car is behind the house. Stellen Sie die Flaschen vor die Tr. Put the bottles in front of the door. Die Flaschen stehen vor der Tr. The bottles are in front of the door. Stell es auf den Tisch. Put it on the table. Es liegt auf dem Tisch. It's lying on the table. Schreib es an die Tafel. Write it on the board. Es steht an der Tafel. It is on the board. Er geht in die Kche. He goes into the kitchen. Er ist in der Kche. He is in the kitchen. Stellen Sie es neben das Haus. Put it beside the house. Es ist neben dem Haus. It is beside the house. Stell die Lampe zwischen das Sofa und den Tisch. Put the lamp between the sofa and the table. Die Lampe steht zwischen dem Sofa und dem Tisch. The lamp is between the sofa and the table. Note: Stellen, legen and setzen use the accusative case, while stehen, liegen and sitzen use the dative case.
28. Prepositional Contractions an dem am to/at the auf das aufs upon the fr das frs for the in das ins into the zu dem zum to the an das ans to/on the bei dem beim at the in dem im in the von dem vom from, of the zu der zur to the durch das durchs through the um das ums around the
29. Countries and Nationalities Country Masc. Nationality Fem. Nationality Adjecti ve or Language Germany Deutschland Deutscher Deutsche Deutsch England England Englnder Englnderin Englisch France Frankreich Franzose Franzsin Franzsisch USA die USA Amerikaner Amerikanerin Amerikanisch Russia Russland Russe Russin Russisch Switzerland die Schweiz Schweizer Schweizerin Schweizerisch Italy Italien Italiener Italienerin Italienisch Spain Spanien Spanier Spanierin Spanisch J apan J apan J apaner J apanerin J apanisch China China Chinese Chinesin Chinesisch Austria sterreich sterreicher sterreicherin sterreichisch Australia Australien Australier Australierin Australisch Belgium Belgien Belgier Belgierin Belgisch Canada Kanada Kanadier Kandierin Kanadisch Denmark Dnemark Dne Dnin Dnisch Finland Finnland Finnlnder Finnlnderin Finnisch Greece Griechenland Grieche Griechin Griechisch Holland Holland Hollnder Hollnderin Hollndisch Netherlands die Niederlande Niederlnder Niederlnderin Hollndisch Ireland Irland Ire Irin Irisch Korea Korea Koreaner Koreanerin Koreanisch Mexico Mexiko Mexikaner Mexikanerin Mexikanisch Norway Norwegen Norweger Norwegerin Norwegisch Portugal Portugal Portugiese Portugiesin Portugiesisch Sweden Schweden Schwede Schwedin Schwedisch Poland Polen Pole Polin Polnisch Egypt gypten gypter gypterin gyptisch, Arabisch
30. Negative Sentences Nicht and kein are forms of negation, but nicht means not and kein means no, not a, or not any. Kein is used to negate nouns that either have no articles or are preceded by the indefinite article. Kein precedes the nouns in sentences. It is declined as an ein-word. Ist das eine Kusine? Is that a cousin? Nein, das ist keine Kusine. No, that's not a cousin. Nicht negates nouns preceded by a definite article or a possessive adjective; or it could negate any part (verb, noun, adjective) or all of a sentence. Nicht always follows the verb, but usually precedes the part of the sentence to be negated. It you want to negate an entire sentence, nicht comes last. Nicht also follows expressions of time. Das ist meine Frau. That's my wife. Das ist nicht meine Frau. That's not my wife. Heute ist es kalt. It is cold today. Heute ist es nicht kalt. It is not cold today.
31. To and From Countries and Cities To nach Fromaus In in Note: In also means to when it is used before a country that has a definite article (feminine and plural countries.) Ich fliege in die Schweiz - I'm flying to Switzerland. Ich fliege nach Deutschland - I'm flying to Germany. And when aus is used with feminine or plural countries, the definite article must also be used. Ich bin aus der Schweiz - I am from Switzerland. Ich bin aus Deutschland - I am from Germany.
32. To Come and to Go kommen - to come gehen - to go komme koh-muh kommen koh-men gehe geh-uh gehen geh-in kommst kohmst kommt kohmt gehst gehst geht gate kommt kohmt kommen koh-men geht gate gehen geh-in
33. Modal Verbs German has 6 of them. They express an attitude about an action or condition described by the main verb. The modal auxiliary is conjugated and placed where the verb should be. The main verb is in the infinitive form and at the end of the sentence. Ich kann eine Fahrkarte kaufen. ( I can buy a ticket) Kann is the conjugated auxiliary verb and kaufen is the main verb in infinitive form. knnen - to be able to mssen - to have to drfen - to be allowed to kann knnen mu mssen darf drfen kannst knnt mut msst darfst drft kann knnen mu mssen darf drfen Note: Nicht mssen translates to do not have to or do not need to. Nicht drfen translates to must not. Du mut es nicht machen is you don't have to do it. Du darfst es nicht machen is you must not (or are not allowed) to do it. sollen - to ought to wollen - to want mgen - to like soll sollen will wollen mag mgen sollst sollt willst wollt magst mgt soll sollen will wollen mag mgen Subjunctive of mgen mchte mchten mchtest mchtet mchte mchten Note: This subjunctive of mgen expresses would like to and is used more often than the indicative of mgen. Ich mchte eine Fahrkarte kaufen means I would like to buy a ticket.
34. Conjugating Regular verbs To conjugate means to give the different forms of a verb depending on the subject. English only has two regular conjugations in the present tense, no ending and -s ending (I, you, we, they run vs. he/she/it runs). Refer back to the subject pronouns and the conjugations of to be and to have. The following table is in the same format. To form regular verbs in German, take off the -en ending and add these endings: -e -en -st -t -t -en Regular Verbs kaufen-to buy arbeiten-to work besuchen-to visit passieren-to happen sitzen-to sit helfen-to help bleiben-to remain, stay verdienen-to earn (money) stehen-to stand lernen-to learn brauchen-to need verstehen-to understand sagen-to say rufen-to call fliegen-to fly gewinnen-to win liegen-to lay lehren-to teach suchen-to look for verlieren-to lose gehen-to go stecken-to put schreiben-to write benutzen-to use fragen-to ask finden-to find laufen-to run erlauben-to permit machen-to make denken-to think lieben-to love rennen-to run kommen-to come glauben-to believe, think dauern-to last schlafen-to sleep schwimmen-to swim wnschen-to wish, desire antworten-to answer treffen-to meet tanzen-to dance essen-to eat bezahlen-to pay for ziehen-to move beginnen-to begin trinken-to drink entdecken-to discover sehen-to see reisen-to travel singen-to sing erfinden-to invent vergessen-to forget studieren-to study fischen-to fish ergnzen-to complete waschen-to wash rauchen-to smoke sparen-to save (money) warten-to wait kennen-to know (people) erzhlen-to tell trennen-to separate wischen-to wipe bekommen-to get versprechen-to promise winken-to wave English has three ways of expressing the present tense, such as I run, I am running, I do run. All three of these tenses are translated as one tense in German (ich laufe.) However, you can add gerade after the verb to indicate the progressive form. Ich mache meine Hausaufgaben can be translated as I do my homework or I'm doing my homework. Ich mache gerade meine Hausaufgaben is translated as I'm doing my homework.
35. Reflexive Verbs Reflexive verbs express an action that reciprocates back to the subject. In other words, whoever is speaking is doing an action to himself. Examples in English would be: I wash myself, he hurts himself, we hate ourselves. Usually the -self words are a clue in English, however there are more reflexive verbs in German than in English. Reflexi ve Pronouns Accusati ve Dati ve mich uns mir uns dich euch dir euch sich sich sich sich The reflexive pronoun follows the verb and agrees with the subject. When a clause contains another object besides the reflexive pronoun, then the reflexive pronoun is in the dative case since the other object is in the accusative case. This is when you use the dative reflexive pronouns instead of the accusative ones. Accusative: Ich fhle mich nicht wohl - I don't feel well. Dative: Ich ziehe mir den Mantel aus - I'm taking off my coat. Also note that parts of the body and articles of clothing use the definite article, not a possessive. Reflexi ve Verbs sich rgern to get angry sich aufregen to get excited sich ausruhen to rest sich erklten to catch a cold sich freuen to be happy sich (wohl) fhlen to feel (well) sich hinlegen to lie down sich anziehen to get dressed sich verletzen to get hurt sich ausziehen to get undressed sich beeilen to hurry sich setzen to sit down sich erholen to relax sich vorstellen to imagine Reflexi ve Verbs + Accusati ve: sich rgern ber to be angry at/about sich erinnern an to remember sich freuen ber to happy about sich gewhnen an to get used to sich kmmern um to take care of sich interessieren fr to be interested in sich verlieben in to fall in love with Reflexi ve Verbs + Dati ve: sich erkundigen nach to ask about sich frchten vor to be afraid of
36. Exceptions: Irregularities in Regular verbs 1) Some verbs require an umlaut over the a in the 2nd and 3rd person singular. Fahren-to travel fahre fahren fhrst fahrt fhrt fahren Examples: fallen-to fall, schlafen-to sleep, tragen-to carry, waschen-to wash, laufen-to run 2) Some verbs change the e to ie in the 2nd and 3rd person singular. Sehen-to see sehe sehen siehst seht sieht sehen Examples: lesen- to read, befehlen-to command, empfehlen-to recommend, geschehen-to happen, stehlen-to steal 3) Some verbs change the e to an i in the 2nd and 3rd person singular. Geben-to give gebe geben gibst gebt gibt geben Examples: brechen-to break, essen-to eat, helfen-to help, sprechen-to speak, sterben-to die, treffen-to meet, werfen-to throw *nehmen has another irregularity: it doubles the m and drops the h* nehme nehmen nimmst nehmt nimmt nehmen 4) Verb stems ending -d or -t, add an e before three endings. Reden-to speak rede reden redest redet redet reden 5) Verb stems ending in an s or z sound, have -t for du form ending instead of -st. Sitzen-to sit sitze sitzen sitzt sitzt sitzt sitzen 6) Infinitives ending in -n (not -en) only have -n ending for wir and sie forms. Infinitive stems ending in -el or -er can drop the e in the ich form. Tun-to do / Segeln-to sail tue tun segle segeln tust tut segelst segelt tut tun segelt segeln
37. Verbs with Prepositions arbeiten an +dative to work on erzhlen von +dative to talk about fahren mit +dative to go (by means of) haben Angst vor +dative to be afraid of helfen bei +dative to help with halten von +dative to think of, to value handeln von +dative to deal with trumen von +dative to dream of denken an +accusative to think of lachen ber +accusative to laugh about lesen ber +accusative to read about nachdenken ber +accusative to think about schreiben an +accusative to write to schreiben ber +accusative to write about sprechen ber +accusative to talk about warten auf +accusative to wait for bitten um +accusative to ask for glauben an +accusative to believe in sorgen fr +accusative to care for
38. Separable Prefixes ab- auf- bei- mit- vor- weg- zurck- an- aus- los- nach- vorbei- zu- zusammen- These prefixes are added to the infinitive and change the meaning of the verb. Kommen is to come, but ankommen is to arrive. When conjugated, the prefix goes to the end of the sentence. Er kommt um fnf Uhr an means "he is arriving at 5." But Er kommt um drei Uhr means "he is coming at 3." With modals, the infinitive goes to the end of the sentence as usual, but the prefix remains attached. Ich will jetzt ausgehen means "I want to go out now." Verbs with Separable Prefixes abholen to pick someone up zuhren to listen to ankommen to arrive mitnehmen to take with anrufen to call up einsteigen to board aufhren to stop vorbeikommen to come by aufstehen to get up anznden to light (candles) ausfllen to fill in (the blanks) ausgeben to spend ausgehen to go out anziehen to put on clothes aussehen to look like, appear ausziehen to take off clothes einkaufen to shop ansehen to look at, watch einpacken to pack up aufrumen to tidy up (clothes) fernsehen to watch TV ausleeren to empty austragen to deliver aufmachen to open vorschlagen to suggest zumachen to close wegstellen to put away anmachen to turn on einschlafen to fall asleep ausmachen to turn off anfangen to begin abrumen to clear (the table) aufwachen to wake up zruckkommen to come back auswandern to emigrate vorstellen to introduce weggehen to go away aufwischen to mop up abtrocknen to dry (dishes) abwischen to wipe clean mitkommen to come with einladen to invite anschauen to look at zusehen to observe
39. Inseparable Prefixes be- ent- ge- ver- emp- er- miss- zer- These prefixes always remain attached to their infinitives. The inseparable prefixes are unstressed syllables, as compared to the separable prefixes which can stand alone as different words. Some examples of verbs with inseparable prefixes are besuchen - to visit, erzhlen - to tell, gewinnen - to win, and versprechen - to promise. Unter and ber can function as separable prefixes, but they are much more commonly used as inseparable prefixes. When prefixes are stressed, they are separable; when they are not stressed, they are inseparable. The stress on the following verbs in not on the prefix, so they are all inseparable: unterhalten - to entertain, unternehmen - to undertake, berholen - to overtake, and bersetzen - to translate.
40. Present Perfect or Past Indefinite Tense This tense is used more often than the simple past, especially in conversation, and is equivalent to I have asked or I asked. Regular verbs use a form of haben or sein and a past participle. Past participles are made by adding ge- to the beginning of the verb stem and -t (or -et, if stem ends in -t or -d) to the end. Sagen is to ask, and -sag- is the stem; therefore gesagt is the past participle. Arbeiten is to work, and -arbeit- is the stem; therefore gearbeitet is the past participle. Machen is to do/make, and -mach- is the stem; therefore gemacht is the past participle. Verbs ending in -ieren only add the -t ending. Studieren is to study and studier- is the stem, so studiert is the past participle. The form of haben or sein is placed where the verb should be, and the past participle goes to the end of the sentence. Ex: Ich habe meinen Bruder gefragt - I asked my brother. Haben or Sein Most verbs use haben, but a few use sein, if and only if, both of these conditions are met: 1. The verb expresses motion or change of condition. 2. The verb is intransitive (i.e. cannot take a direct object.) When modals are used in the present perfect tense with a dependent infinitive, the past participle is not used. The infinitive of the modal acts as the past participle. Logically, I had to go home would be translated as ich habe nach Hause gehen gemut. However, it is actually Ich habe nach Hause gehen mssen. When there is no other infinitive in the sentence, then the past participles of the modals are used. I had to would be translated as Ich habe gemut. All modals, as well as reflexive verbs, use haben instead of sein in the present perfect tense. The reflexive pronouns follow the auxiliary verb as in Ich habe mir den Arm gebrochen. I broke my arm. With separable prefixes, the prefix comes before the ge- in a past participle, such as angekommen and aufgestanden. From the participle of the base verb, and then add the prefix to the beginning. But note that the prefix does change the entire meaning of the verb, and it may take a different auxiliary verb than its base verb. For example, stehen takes haben, but aufstehen takes sein. With inseparable prefixes, whether the verb is regular or irregular, there is no ge- prefix when forming the past participle, such as besucht and verloren. To express something that has been going on or happening for a period of time, German using the present tense (rather than the past) and the word schon. "I have been studying German for two years" translates to Ich studiere Deutsch schon zwei J ahre.
41. Irregular Past Participles Like regular verbs, you use a form of haben or sein and a past participle; but forming the participles is much more complicated. The past participles begin with ge- and end with -en (with some exceptions). The new stems in between must be memorized, for they are unpredictable and many contain vowel and consonant changes. Irregular Past Participles that use Haben beginnen begin begonnen beschliessen decide beschlossen bitten ask gebeten brechen break gebrochen empfehlen recommend empfohlen essen eat gegessen finden find gefunden fressen eat (of animals) gefressen frieren freeze gefroren geben give gegeben gewinnen win gewonnen gieen pour, water gegossen halten hold gehalten heien be called geheien helfen help geholfen klingen sound geklungen lassen let, allow gelassen leiden suffer gelitten lesen read gelesen liegen recline gelegen lgen lie gelogen nehmen take genommen reissen tear gerissen riechen smell gerochen rufen call gerufen scheinen shine geschienen schlafen sleep geschlafen schlieen shut geschlossen schneiden cut geschnitten schreiben write geschrieben schreien cry geschrieen schweigen be silent geschwiegen schwingen swing geschwungen sehen see gesehen senden send gesandt singen sing gesungen sitzen sit gesessen sprechen speak gesprochen stehen stand gestanden tragen wear getragen treffen meet getroffen trinken drink getrunken tun do getan vergessen forget vergessen verlassen leave verlassen verlieren lose verloren verstehen understand verstanden verzeihen forgive verziehen waschen wash gewaschen werfen throw geworfen ziehen pull gezogen Some verbs change their stems, like all irregular verbs; but take the endings for regular verbs instead of irregular verbs. They form their past participles like regular verbs. (Ge-stem-t) Infinitive Irregular Stem Past Participle brennen-to burn brann- gebrannt bringen-to bring brach- gebracht denken-to think dach- gedacht kennen-to know (people) kann- gekannt nennen-to call, name nann- genannt rennen-to run rann- gerannt wenden-to turn wand- gewandt wissen-to know (facts) wu- gewut
42. Sein Verbs and Past Participles The following verbs use sein as the auxiliary verb, and many have irregular past participles. bleiben remain geblieben fahren drive gefahren fallen fall gefallen fliegen fly geflogen geboren be born geboren gehen go gegangen gelingen succeed gelungen geschehen happen geschehen kommen come gekommen laufen run gelaufen passieren happen passiert reisen travel gereist reiten ride geritten schwimmen swim geschwommen sein be gewesen springen jump gesprungen steigen climb gestiegen sterben die gestorben treten step getreten wachsen grow gewachsen werden become geworden
43. Food and Meals breakfast das Frhstck bread das Brot (e) lunch das Mittagessen pepper der Pfeffer dinner das Abendessen salt das Salz glass das Glas (, er) ice das Eis fork die Gabel (n) vinegar der Essig spoon der Lffel (-) oil das l knife das Messer (-) sugar der Zucker napkin die Serviette (n) butter die Butter plate der Teller (-) table der Tisch (e) silverware das Besteck dishes das Geschirr tea der Tee juice der Saft (, e) steak das Steak water das Wasser cake der Kuchen wine der Wein chicken das Huhn beer das Bier coffee der Kaffee soft drink die Limonade fish der Fisch milk die Milch ham der Schinken egg das Ei (er) ice cream das Eis honey der Honig jam die Marmelade snack der Imbiss rice der Reis cheese der Kse salad der Salat mustard der Senf soup die Suppe pie die Torte (n)
44. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats fruit das Obst pumpkin der Krbis (e) pineapple die Ananas (-) olive die Olive (n) apple der Apfel () raddish der Rettich (e) apricot die Aprikose (n) lettuce der Salat banana die Banane (n) tomato die Tomate (n) pear die Birne (n) onion die Zwiebel (n) strawberry die Erdbeere (n) meat das Fleisch raspberry die Himbeere (n) roast der Braten (-) cherry die Kirsche (n) veal das Kalbfleisch lime die Limone (n) lamb das Lammfleisch lemon die Zitrone (n) beef das Rindfleisch orange die Orange (n) ham der Schinken (-) peach der Pfirsisch (e) pork das Schweinefleisch grape die Traube (n) bacon der Speck vegetable das Gemse sausage die Wurst (, e) cauliflower der Blumenkohl poultry das Geflgel bean die Bohne (n) duck die Ente (n) pea die Erbse (n) goose die Gans (, e) cucumber die Gurke (n) chicken das Huhn (, er) carrot die Karotte (n) turkey der Truthahn (, e) potato die Kartoffel (n) fish der Fisch (e) cabbage der Kohl
45. Genitive Partitive The genitive partitive is mostly used when talking about quantities of food. The genitive case implies of, so to say a glass of water, you would literally say a glass (in the nominative case) water (in the genitive case.) Remember to add -(e)s to the masculine nouns in the genitive. a glass of water - ein Glas Wasser a piece of cake - ein Stck Kuchen a slice of pizza - ein Stck Pizza
46. Commands Gehen-to go du form conjugated form, minus -(s)t Geh! ihr form conjugated form Geht! Sie form conjugated form with Sie following Gehen Sie! Note: Verbs that take an umlaut in conjugations leave it off in commands. Verbs that change their stem vowel from e to i use the changed stem in the du form. All commands require an exclamation point. Imperati ve of Sein du form Sei! ihr form Seid! Sie formSeien Sie!
47. Subordinating Conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions are used to connect an independent and dependent clause together, and they do affect word order. An independent (or main) clause contains a subject and verb and can stand alone as its own sentence. A dependent (or subordinate) clause also contains a subject and verb, but is introduced with a subordinating conjunction and cannot stand alone as its own sentence. There are also other conjunctions (called coordinating) that do not affect word order. The easiest way to tell the two types of conjunctions apart is to memorize the coordinating ones. Und, aber, denn - for/because, and oder are the coordinating conjunctions. The rest of the conjunctions act as subordinating, and interrogative words can also act as subordinating conjunctions. Some examples are als-when, bevor-before, bis-until, damit-so that, dass-that, wenn-if/when, ob-whether, obwohl- although, nachdem-after, da-since, whrend-while, weil-because, and wie-how. 1. In clauses introduced by subordinating conjunctions, the conjugated verb is forced to the end of the clause (not sentence) and a comma is placed before the conjunction. Ich bliebe zu Hause. Ich bin krank. I'm staying home. I am sick. Ich bliebe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin. I'm staying home because I am sick. (weil is the subordinating conjunction, and bin must go to the end.) Sie kommt nach zu dir. Sie hat gegessen. She's coming to your place. She has eaten. Sie kommt nach zu dir, nachdem sie gegessen hat. She's coming to your place after she has eaten. (nachdem is the sub. conjunction, and hat must go to the end.) However, when a double infinitive construction is involved, the conjugated verb form precedes the two infinitives. (The double infinitive always goes to the end of the clause or sentence.) Ich wei nicht, ob er hat mitkommen wollen. I don't know if he wanted to come along. 2. When a sentence begins with a subordinating conjunction, the main clause begins with the conjugated verb in keeping with the normal word order of German that states verbs are always in the second position. The subordinate clause becomes the first position, so the verb of the main clause must occupy the second position. Hans telefoniert mit Ihnen, whrend Sie in Berlin sind. Hans will call you while you're in Berlin. Whrend Sie in Berlin sind, telefoniert Hans mit Ihnen. While you are in Berlin, Hans will call you. (whrend is a subordinating conjunction, and the subordinating clause occupies the first position of the sentence, so the second position must be occupied by the verb of the main clause, telefoniert.) 3. If there is a separable prefix verb in a dependent clause, the prefix remains attached to the verb, and the entire verb goes to the end of the sentence, whereas normally the prefix would go to the end. Er ist immer mde, wenn er frh aufsteht. He is always tired when he gets up early. 4. When there are two verbs in a dependent clause (such as a modal and an infinitive), the modal goes last, following the infinitive. Er ist mde, wenn er frh aufstehen muss. He is tired when he must get up early.
48. Holiday Phrases Frohe Weihnachten! Merry Christmas! Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter! Gutes Neues Jahr! Happy New Year! Herzlichen Glckwunsch zum Geburtstag! Alles Gutes zum Geburtstag! Happy Birthday!
The German National Anthem: Deutschland-Lied by Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit fr das deutsche Vaterland! Danach lasst uns alle streben brderlich mit Herz und Hand! Einigkeit und Recht und Frieheit sind des Glckes Unterpfand Blh im Glanze dieses Glckes blhe deutsches Vaterland! Unity and right and freedom for the German fatherland; Let us all pursue this purpose brotherly, with heart and hands. Unity and right and freedom are the pawns of happiness. Flourish in this blessing's glory, flourish, German fatherland. The Austrian National Anthem: sterreichische Bundeshymne by Paula von Preradovic Land der Berge, Land am Strome, Land der cker, Land der Dome, Land der Hmmer, zukunftsreich! Heimat bist du groer Shne, Volk, begnadet fr das Schne, Vielgerhmtes sterreich. Hei umfehdet, wild umstritten leigst dem Erdteil du inmitten einem starken Herzen gleich. Hast seit frhen Ahnentagen Hoher Sendung Last getragen Vielgeprftes sterreich. Mutig in die neuen Zeiten, Frei und glubig sich uns schreiten, Arbeistfroh und hoffnungsreich. Einig la in Brderchren, Vaterland, dir Treue schwren, Vielgeliebtes sterreich. Land of mountains, land of streams, Land of fields, land of spires, Land of hammers, with a rich future. You are the home of great sons, A nation blessed by its sense of beauty, Highly praised Austria. Strongly fought for, fiercely contested, You are in the centre of the Continent Like a strong heart. You have borne since the earliest days. The burden of a high mission, Much tried Austria. Watch us striding free and believing, With courage, into new eras, Working cheerfully and full of hope. In fraternal chorus let us take in unity The oath of allegiance to you, our country, Our much beloved Austria.
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