Grammar Flashcards
What are the Masculine endings and rules?
1.) nouns that denote male beings: der Vater (father), der Onkel (uncle)
- ) nouns that end in -er, which have been formed from verbs:
- der Fahrer (the driver) cf. fahren (to drive)
- der Erfinder (the inventor) cf. erfinden (to invent)
What are the Feminine endings and rules?
- ) nouns that denote female beings: die Mutter (mother)
- ) nouns ending in -ei, -ie, -heit, -keit, -ik, -schaft, -tät, -tion, -ung: die Geologie, die Gesundheit, die Freundlichkeit (friendliness), etc.
3.) nouns that end with -in (a suffix added to M. nouns):
*die Nachbarin (the neighbor lady) cf. der
Nachbar (the neighbor)
*die Freundin (the girl friend) cf. der Freund (the
friend)
4.) MOREOVER, many (but not all) nouns that end in -e are also feminine: die Erde (earth), die Rose (rose), die Hölle (hell)
What are the Neuter endings and rules?
1.) nouns that end in -chen or -lein (which are diminutives): das Fräulein (the little woman) cf. die Frau (the woman)
- ) nouns that have been formed directly from verbs:
- das Singen (the singing) cf. singen (to sing)
- das Leben (the life) cf. leben (to live)
- ) nouns that end in -ium, -tum, -ment, and -sel:
- das Studium (stud), das Christentum (Christianity), das Abonnement (subscription), das Rätsel (riddle)
What endings signify a plural?
If a noun ends in: -l,-e, -r, or -n, OR OCCASIONALLY -s, (and even more rarely) -a, it MIGHT be plural
Also, plurals in German are indicated by the use of the definite article DIE (Primarily rely on this article to determine is a noun is plural.)
List the present tense endings
ich (I) - ending is -e du (informal you) - ending is -st er (he), es (it), sie (she) - ending is -t wir (we) - ending is -en ihr (informal you) - ending is -t sie (they) - ending is -en Sie (formal you) - ending is -en
List the irregular forms of the present tense endings for sein (to be)
ich bin - I am du bist - you are er, sie, es ist - he/she/it is wir sind - we are ihr seid - you are sie sind - they are Sie sind - you are
List the irregular forms of the present tense endings for haben (to have)
ich habe - I have du hast - you have er, sie, es hat - he/she/it has wir haben - we have ihr habt - you have sie haben - they have Sie haben - you have
Dative
Is used for indirect objects. Sometimes it needs “to” or “for” added for the English translation.
Masculine and Neuter def. article = dem
Feminine = der
Plural = den
Dem Fuchs sind die Trauben zu sauer.
- For the fox, the grapes are to sour.
*Placed after the nominative noun; before the accusative noun…otherwise its genitive not dative.
Genitive
The genitive is a form used to indicate possession.
Masculine and Neuter def. article = des
Feminine def. article = der
*Genitive M. and N. nouns often end in -es or -s but they are NEVER plural!
Accusative
Is like the English direct object; it is the object of most verbs (including the verb haben), and some prepositions (see chpt. 5)
Der Brieftriger tötet den Wolf. - The mailman kills the wolf.
Nominative
The subject of the sentence, and it can be the predicate noun (any nouns after the verbs “to be”, “to become” or “to remain”)
Prepositions - Taking the Dative or the Accusative
In the course of verbal action, the preposition will take a different case depending on whether or not a borderline was crossed. This will slightly change the meaning of the sentence. If the border is crossed, then the preposition will be accusative. If no border is crossed, then the preposition will be dative.
Ex: Der mann geht in das Haus (The man goes into the house) OR Der Mann ist in dem Haus (The man is in the house)
In cases where a preposition follows a verb of “mental activity” like antworten (answer) or denken (think), then the case will USUALLY be accusative.
In cases where a verb is used which cannot imply motion or direction like sein, beiben, or sitzen then the preposition will ALWAYS be dative.
Preposition
a word used to show a relationship between two words like up, down, under, behind, etc.
Prepositions taking the Dative case
- Whenever der follows a prep., it will be feminine dative most of the time.
- a noun following a prep. cannot be nominative
- der cannot be accusative
- prepositions taking the genitive occur only about 5% of the time
Nominative Case Endings (der, das, die) & Verbs
if a noun or pronoun is nominative, you will nearly always want to put a verb after it in your English trans.
Ex: Der Mann tötet einen Wolf - The man kills the wolf.
- Dem Kranken mann ist das Licht unangenehm - For the sick man, the light is disagreeable
Accusative Case Endings (den, das, die) & Verbs
If a noun or pronoun is accusative, you will nearly always want to put a verb in front of it in your English trans.
Ex: Den Wolf töet der Mann - The man kills the wolf
- Seit vielen Jahren töet der Jäger böe Wölfe - For man years, the hunter has been killing evil wolves.
***You should never try to embellish an accusative noun by inventing a preposition to put in front of it.
Genitive Case Endings (des, der) & Verbs
If a noun is genitive, you will usually want to connect it with the noun next to it, and the noun will usually be in front of it. Often, you will want to add the preposition “of” to your translation.
Ex: Der Freund des Briefträgers töet den Wolf - The friend of the mailman kills the wolf.
- Oft sieht der Freund der Frau neue Filme - The friend of the woman often sees new films.
***Somtimes an adjective with an -er ending in front of a noun can indicate that noun is in genitive:
Ex: kinder sind der Reichtum armer Leute - Children are the wealth of the poor people.
Dative Case Endings (dem, der, den) & Verbs
If a noun or pronoun is in dative case:
1. you may want to put a verb in front of it if it is the object of an intransitive verb (if it looks like a direct object in you Eng. trans.), and you need not embellish it with a preposition
Ex: Der Frau hilft der Mann - The man helps the woman
- Meistens sagt der Vater des Briefträgers der Frau die Wahrheit - Mostly, the father of the mailman tells the woman the truth.
2. Otherwise, you might have to supply a preposition in your translation.
***The acceptable prepositions are: “to”, “for”, and sometimes “from”. DO NOT try and supply any other prepositions unless there are extreme mitigating circumstances.
Ex: Der Frau fällt die Sprache schwer - For the woman, the language is difficult.
- Oft bringt der Freund der Frau dem Briefträger ein interessantes Buch - The friend of the woman often brings an interesting book to the mailman.
Basic Verb Placement
3 Places of Conjugated Verbs
- it can be the second element in the sentence
- it can begin the sentence
- it can appear at the end of the clause
Place 1
the verb usually is the second element in the sentence, with the subject either appearing before or after it
Ex: Therefore we can say,
Ich sehe den Hund - I see the dog
OR
Den Hund sehe ich - The dog, I see (stressing the dog emphatically as that which I see)
***Recognition of CORRECT CASE ENDINGS is important. If the sentence begins with den or dem the subject will have to be on the “other side” of the verb. ALSO, the subject will be on the other side of the verb is the first noun is plural and the verb singular (vice versa)
THEREFORE, the verb will always be associated with the noun that is the same number as itself!!!
Ex: Die Bücher liest die Frau - The woman reads the books –> Bücher is plural and liest is singular. Hence it belongs with die Frau
- Die Frau töten die Wöfe - The wolves kill the women –> töten has a plural ending. Hence, it belongs with die Wöfe, which is plural also.
man (one) as a pronoun
Will ALWAYS be the subject
Ex: Im kalten Ofen bäckt man kein Brot - In a cold oven one bakes no bread
What happens when a sentence begins with an adverb or with a prepositional phrase or string of prep. phrases…?
The verb will still appear in the ‘second’ place and the subject will always appear on the “other” side of the verb:
Ex: Überall sieht man Kinder - One sees children everywhere
- Durch Gebet und Müh’ erhält man Ochsen und Küh’ - Through prayer and effort one keeps well oxen and cows
When using interrogatives where is the verb placed?
In the second place, that is, at the beginning of a sentence.
Ex: Wer (nominative) is der neue Student? - Where is the new student?
- Wen (accusative) kennt der Briefträger? - Whom does the mailman know?
