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German Grammar > Verbs > Flashcards

Verbs Flashcards

1
Q

what letter do German infinitives always finish with?

A

N - e.g.

kaufen - to buy

sein - to be

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2
Q

what are the 5 main groups of German verbs?

A
  • Auxiliary
  • Modal
  • Weak
  • Strong
  • Mixed
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3
Q

what are auxiliary verbs?

A

Auxiliary (“helping”) verbs are used with other verbs to form compound tenses, like the future tense in English (I will find it) and German (Ich werde es finden)

  • sein / to be
  • haben / to have
  • werden / to wiil
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4
Q

Translate auxilliary verb “to be”

A

sein

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5
Q

Translate auxilliary verb “to have”

A

haben

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6
Q

Translate auxilliary verb “will/would”

A

werden

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7
Q

what are modal verbs?

A

Modal verbs are used with other verbs to indicate their modality, which means the desire, ability, permission or obligation to do them: “You must listen to me!” (“Du musst mir zuhören!”)

  • dürfen - may
  • können - can
  • mögen - to like (to)
  • müssen - must
  • sollen - should
  • wollen - to want to
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8
Q

Translate modal verb “may”

A

durfen

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9
Q

Translate modal verb “can”

A

können

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10
Q

Translate modal verb “to like (to)”

A

mögen

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11
Q

Translate modal verb “must”

A

müssen

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12
Q

Translate modal verb “should”

A

sollen

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13
Q

Translate modal verb “to want to”

A

wollen

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14
Q

what are weak verbs?

A

Weak verbs form the past tense with a hard consonant added at the end, t in German and d (or sometimes t) in English.

Learn is a weak verb in both English (I learn, or learnt and German (ich lerne, ich lernte).

N.B. Weak verbs are all regular.

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15
Q

what are strong verbs?

A

Strong verbs form the past (preterite) tense with a vowel shift, like “swim / swam” in English (schwimmen / schwammen in German).

Strong verbs in German have an irregular participle form that ends in –n, which is also true of many strong verbs in English (I choose, I chose, I have chosen).

N.B. Strong verbs are all irregular.

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16
Q

what are mixed verbs?

A

Mixed verbs get their name because they form the past tense with both a vowel shift and a hard consonant sound at the end. Bring is a mixed verb in both English (we bring/we brought) and German (wir bringen/wir brachten)

17
Q

What is meant by tense?

A

A verb’s tense has to do with the time of the action.

e.g in English

Present

he does it

Preterite (“simple past”)
he did it

Perfect

he has done it

_Past Perfect (“pluperfect”)_
he had done it

Future

he will do it

Future Perfect

he will have done it

18
Q

What is meant by mood ?

A

Mood has to do with the reality of the action.

e.g. in English:

Indicative

he does it

Conditional

he would do it

Imperative

Do it!

19
Q

Explain the Futur I tense.

A

The Futur I tense is similar to our future tense; it uses werden the same way we use “will” in English: “I will read it” –> Ich werde es lesen.

20
Q

Explain The Indikativ/Indicative mood.

A

Used for describing reality: things that have actually happened, are happening or are expected to happen.

21
Q

Explain The Konjunktiv I mood.

A

Serves to distance the writer from indirect or reported speech: according to his spokesman, he knows nothing about the scandal.

22
Q

Explain the Konjunktiv II mood.

A

The Konjunktiv II is similar to the conditional mood in English. It expresses hypothetical and/or conditional actions, and it usually uses a form of werden in the same way that we use “would” (“I wouldn’t do that” –> Ich würde das nicht tun).

23
Q

Explain the Imperativ/Imperative mood.

A

The Imperativ/Imperative mood is used for commands “Go away!”; “Clean your room!”

24
Q

Explain the Präsens tense.

A

The Präsens corresponds to the simple present tense in English (“I take the bus”) as well as the “emphatic” (“I do take the bus”). It can also be used to refer to future events.

25
Q

Explain the Präteritum tense.

A

This equates to the English preterite tense.

The Präteritum and English preterite are both formed with either a hard consonant ending (weak verbs), a vowel shift (strong verbs) or both (mixed verbs).

26
Q

Explain the Perfekt tense.

A

It equates to the English perfect tense.

The Perfekt is formed by conjugating the verb haben (or sometimes sein) in the present tense and adding the participle of the main verb, just the way we do with the verb “to have” in English.

27
Q

Explain the Plusquamperfekt tense.

A

The Plusquamperfekt is directly related to the past perfect (also called the pluperfect) in English. It’s used for an action that was already completed at some point in the past. It’s formed the same way as the Perfekt, except that it uses the past (Präteritum) form of haben or sein instead of the present form.

28
Q

Explain the Futur II tense.

A

The Futur II is similar to the English future perfect, with will + have in English and werden + haben/sein in German: “I will have read it” –> Ich werde es gelesen haben.

29
Q

What is the passive voice?

A

Passive constructions in English usually (but not always) use a form of to be; in German they always use a form of the verb werden.

The object of the sentence is placed first.

e. g. active: The man throws the ball
passive: The ball is thrown by the man

German Grammar (12 decks)

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