German Syllabus

German for the Humanities Grammar Course - Revised 2010 1

UNIT 1 - NOUNS - Singular The grammatical term noun, which originally comes via French from the Latin word nomen meaning 'name', is traditionally defined as 'the name of any person, place or thing'. The German grammarians who standardised their language in the 18th century have been very kind to foreigners learning to read it: they decided that all nouns should be written with an initial capital letter. It is therefore easier to identify nouns in German than it is in any other language in the world, since it is the only one that so marks them. However, the noun is a considerably more complex word in German than it is in English, and in order to understand what its role is in a sentence we have to pay attention to any endings - technically called inflections - that the noun itself may have and the endings that the words belonging with it in the noun phrase have. The study of the endings and variations in form of these words is technically called morphology. This Unit develops the concepts of noun classes (grammatical gender) and the morphological marking (changing endings) of case relations (doer/sufferer: nominative/accusative) demonstrated in terms of a native German reader's expectations. English nouns fall into three groups, masculine, feminine and neuter (from Latin ne + uter = 'not either', i.e neither masculine nor feminine). Natural gender, allowing for occasional personifications, decides which nouns belong in which group and determines whether we refer back to the noun as he, she or it respectively. German nouns also fall into three groups, - traditionally also referred to as masculine, feminine and neuter genders but natural gender is only a minimal factor in deciding which nouns belong where, so, although we will stick with the traditional terminology, it might have been less misleading to refer to them merely as Class 1 nouns, Class 2 nouns and Class 3 nouns. Whereas in languages like Latin and Greek we can tell the noun class from the ending on the noun itself, in German we mostly use the so-called definite article, i.e. the word meaning the (and so referring to some definite thing or person we already know about), because most German nouns lost their distinctive gender endings about a thousand years ago. Consider the following vocabulary: VOCABULARY 1 Class 1 (masculine) nouns der Mann - the man, husband der Freund - friend der König - king der Kater - tomcat / hangover der Feind - enemy der Führer - leader der Tisch - table der Wagen - cart, car, carriage Class 2 (feminine) nouns die Frau - the woman die Mutter - mother die Königin - queen die Katze - cat die Geisel - hostage (male or female) die Wache - guard, watch die Nation - nation die Universität - university die Armee - army die Pistole - pistol die Maschine - machine, aeroplane die Blume - flower Class 3 (neuter) nouns das Weib - the woman (pejorative) das Mädchen - girl das Kind - child das Girl - girl (from English) das Tier - animal das Ding - thing das Haus - house das Volk - people das Heer - army das Gewehr - gun, rifle das Flugzeug - aeroplane das Auto - car In virtually every sentence we read some action or state is described. The word in the sentence that refers to the action or state is the verb, traditionally defined as a 'doing word'. The nouns of the

2 German for the Humanities Grammar Course - Revised 2010

sentence have some relation to the verb and in English this relation is interpreted according to whether the noun is in front of the verb or after it: if the noun is in front, then it signifies the doer of the action, if it is after the noun, then it signifies the undergoer or sufferer of the action. But this is not necessarily the case in German, especially with Class 1 nouns. The function of Class 1 (masculine) nouns in a sentence may be deduced from the form of the accompanying word in the noun phrase, the determiner, which in the above lists takes the form of the definite article. Let us consider the sentences below, though we will first need the following list of verbs to understand them: VOCABULARY 2 Verbs beißt - bites, is biting (NB Read ß as ss) liebt - loves hasst - hates braucht - needs sucht - seeks, is seeking, looks for, is looking for findet - finds tötet - kills, is killing macht - makes, is making, does, is doing sitzt - sits, is sitting Der Mann liebt das Tier. - The man loves the animal. Das Tier liebt den Mann. - The animal loves the man. Der Hund beißt den Mann. - The dog is biting the man. Der Hund beißt die Katze. Nein, den Mann beißt der Hund! - The dog is biting the cat. No, the dog is biting the man! The form of this masculine article is unambiguous, namely: the DOER of an action = der Mann the SUFFERER or UNDERGOER of an action = den Mann The same does not apply to Class 2 and Class 3 (feminine and neuter) nouns. Consider: Die Frau liebt die Blume. - The woman loves the flower. Die Katze liebt die Blume. - The cat loves the flower. Die Frau liebt die Katze. - The woman loves the cat. Die Katze liebt die Frau. - The cat loves the woman. and further: Das Mädchen liebt das Tier. - The girl loves the animal. Das Tier liebt das Mädchen. - The animal loves the girl. Das Mädchen liebt die Frau. Die Frau liebt das Mädchen. The form of the article for feminine doers and sufferers is the same, namely die, so it is ambiguous, and for neuter doers and sufferers it is the same, namely das, so again it is ambiguous. For these nouns, the order of the words in the sentence, the word order, provides, as it does in English, the cue as to their function in the sentence. Consider the cues provided by the articles in the following sentences or sentence segments. What do they indicate about the role (doer or undergoer) of the nouns following them? 1. Der Mann ..... - the man must be the doer of an action 2. Der Mann beißt ..... - doing some biting, not being bitten 3. Den Mann ..... - the man is going to suffer an action 4. Den Mann beißt ..... - the man is being bitten 5. Den Mann beißt der Hund. 6. Der Mann beißt den Hund.


7. Die Frau ..... - the woman does or suffers something 8. Die Frau beißt ..... - unclear if biting or being bitten 9. Die Frau beißt der Hund - she suffers the bite 10. Die Frau beißt den Hund. - she inflicts the bite 11. Die Katze beißt die Frau. - the cat is biting (word order decides) 12. Die Frau beißt die Katze. - the woman is biting Who or what is doing the action in the following? 13. Das Mädchen ..... 14. Das Mädchen beißt ..... 15. Das Mädchen beißt den Hund. 16. Das Mädchen beißt der Hund. 17. Das Mädchen beißt die Frau. 18. Die Frau beißt das Mädchen. VOCABULARY 3 Other types of article, as we have seen, technically called determiners, have the same ending variations as those seen in der/die/das, except that -as is replaced by -es: Doer: dieser/diese/dieses - this, that; this one here, the latter Undergoer: diesen/diese/dieses jener/-e/-es etc. - that; that one over there, the former (cf. Eng. yon) jeder/-e/-es etc. - each, every (BEWARE: easily confused with jener!) welcher/-e/-es etc. - which? solcher/-e/-es etc. - such mancher/-e/-es etc. - many a Consider: 1. Diese Frau beißt das Mädchen. 2. Dieses Mädchen beißt die Frau. 3. Dieser Mann beißt das Mächen. 4. Diesen Mann beißt das Mädchen. Doer Sufferer Class 1 der / -er den / -en Class 2 die / -e die / -e Class 3 das / -es das / -es Exercise 1 - Translate: 1. Das Mädchen sucht das Kind. 2. Der Feind hasst den König. 3. Den Feind hasst der König. 4. Der Hund beisst die Frau. 5. Das Volk braucht die Königin. 6. Der Freund findet den Hund. 7. Den Hund findet das Kind. 8. Die Mutter findet das Kind. 9. Die Katze tötet den Hund.

10. Die Katze tötet die Maus. Technically we call the case of someone doing an action, or the case of the doer, the nominative case and the doer is technically called the subject of the verb. We say the noun is “in the nominative case”. Technically we call the case of someone undergoing or suffering an action, or the case of the undergoer/sufferer, the accusative case and the undergoer/sufferer is technically called the object of the verb. We say the noun is “in the accusative case”.


UNIT 2 - NOUNS - Plural The form of the article for plural doers and sufferers, regardless of class or gender, is ambiguous. Once again, word order provides the cue as to their function in the sentence. The plural article, for doers and sufferers, is "die". Plural nouns add one or other of the following endings: -, -e, -er, -n, -en, -nen ", "e, "er, -s (a few words of foreign origin) eg. der Mann - die Männer (dictionary entry: Mann, n[oun]. m. ("er)) die Frau - die Frauen ( “ “ Frau, n. f. (-en)) das Mädchen - die Mädchen( “ “ Mädchen, n. n. (-)) VOCABULARY 2 der Mensch (-en) - person, human being das Volk ("er) - people (of a country) die Nation (-en) - nation der König (-e) - king die Königin (-nen)- queen der Führer (-) - leader das Kind (-er) - child das Tier (-e) - animal der Freund (-e) - (male) friend die Armee (-n) - army das Haus ("er) - house die Revolution (-en)- revolution der Diener (-) - servant der Mörder (-) - murderer die Blume (-n) - flower NB ALL FEMININE NOUNS CHANGE IN THE PLURAL. WHY? Learn also: nicht - not mehr - more nicht mehr - no more, no longer auch - also jetzt - now aber - but, however nur - only EXERCISE 2: Translate the following sentences. (NB Some may have more than one possible meaning.) 1. Das Volk liebt den König. 2. Die Königin hasst das Kind? Nein, den König hasst die Königin. 3. Dieser Mann hasst jedes Kind. 4. Die Revolution sucht der Führer. 5. Welche Nation braucht die Revolution nicht? 6. Dieses Tier hasst jedes Kind. 7. Dieses Kind hasst jedes Tier. 8. Diese Nation braucht jeden Mann, jede Frau und jedes Kind. 9. Die Frau sucht das Kind, findet aber nur die Blumen. 10. Das Volk sucht den Führer, findet aber die Königin. 11. Das Volk hasst die Mörder.


12. Jenes Kind liebt Tiere, dieses Kind aber nicht. 13. Die Revolution braucht Führer; der König braucht Freunde. 14. Das Volk liebt Königinnen, hasst aber Könige. 15. Sucht die Katze die Kinder?

UNIT 3 - PRONOUNS Each class of noun has a corresponding pronoun: Class 1 Noun Doer: der Mann // Pronoun Doer: er / der (stressed) Noun Undergoer: den Mann // Pronoun Undergoer: ihn / den (stressed) Class 2 Noun Doer and Undergoer: die Frau // Pronoun Doer and Undergoer: sie / die (stressed) Class 3 Noun Doer und Undergoer: das Kind // Pronoun Doer and Undergoer: es / das (stressed) Plural Noun Doers and Undergoers: die Männer, die Frauen, die Kinder Pronoun Doers and Undergoers: sie / die (stressed) Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Plural Doer der / er die / sie das / es die / sie Undergoer den / ihn die / sie das / es die / sie EXERCISE 3A - translate: Das Volk liebt den König nicht mehr und die Revolution beginnt. Jetzt sucht es nur den Führer; den findet es aber nicht. Der liebt die Konigin (die heisst Eva), und sie liebt ihn. Den Führer liebt auch das Volk. Endlich findet es ihn und bringt ihn zurück. Der König sitzt aber mittlerweile da und denkt grimmig, wie sehr er diesen Mann hasst. Der Mann macht ihn wütend. NB mittlerweile - meanwhile wütend - furious grimmig - angry, angrily endlich - at last

sehr very, very much auch - too, also zurück - back wie - how VERBS - "Doing words" The form of the verb as it is found in the dictionary is called the infinitive. The German infinitive ends with -en, or occasionally -n: German infinitive - lieben // English infinitive - to love As in English, the ending on the German verb changes to agree with the subject of the verb, the doer of the action: er / sie / es liebt // sie lieben he / she/ it loves // they love_ Compare the following: Sing.: der Mann / er liebt Plural: die Männer / sie lieben


die Frau / sie liebt die Frauen / sie lieben das Kind / es liebt die Kinder / sie lieben These verb endings can help disambiguate subject pronouns. Compare: Sie liebt den Führer. Sie lieben den Führer. Note that the following sentence relies on a wider context to make its meaning clear: Der Führer liebt sie. The leader loves her / them. Note too the most common IRREGULAR VERBS: sein - to be er / sie / es ist // sie sind he/ she/ it is // they are haben - to have er / sie / es hat // sie haben he/ she/ it has // they have VOCABULARY 3 Verbs kämpfen - to fight ermorden - to murder gehen - to go, walk stehen - to stand heißen - to be called (Sie heißt Eva - She is called Eva) kommen - to come hören - to hear Adjectives / Adverbs (Adjective: she is eloquent, an eloquent speaker) (Adverb: she speaks eloquently) Unlike in English, which usually adds -ly to the adjective to form the adverb, there is, for present purposes, NO DISTINCTION OF FORM IN GERMAN BETWEEN ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. treu - loyal(ly) schnell - quick(ly) plötzlich - sudden(ly) laut - loud(ly) allein - - alone traurig - sad(ly) kaputt - broken, ruined schrecklich - terrible(terribly) glücklich - happy, lucky (happily) froh - glad(ly) NOTE: Occasionally, a German word may have one meaning when used as an adjective, but a different meaning when used as an adverb, e.g. ganz (adj.) - whole, unbroken (Das Ei ist noch ganz - The egg is still whole.) (adv.) - quite (Das Ei ist ganz gut. - The egg is quite good.) NOUN das Fenster (-) - window MISCELLANEOUS fast - almost, nearly noch - still wohl - probably denn - for, because ja - 1) yes (at beginning of sentence); - 2) of course, as you would know (within sentence). sofort - immediately da - then, there gar nicht - not at all


doch - yet, nevertheless

NUMBERS 1 eins (ein-) 4 vier 7 sieben 10 zehn 13 dreizehn 2 zwei 5 fünf 8 acht 11 elf 14 vierzehn 3 drei 6 sechs 9 neun 12 zwölf 15 fünfzehn etc. then 20 zwanzig 30 dreißig 40 vierzig 50 fünfzig 60 sechzig 70 siebzig 80 achtzig 90 neunzig 100 hundert NB 21 einundzwanzig 32 zweiunddreißig 44 vierundvierzig 178 hundertachtundsiebzig 596 fünfhundertsechsundneunzig etc. EXERCISE 3B - Translate: 1. Sie hören den Feind nicht. 2. Sie hört den Feind nicht. 3. Den König liebt sie nicht. 4. Das Kind beißt der Hund. 5. Das Volk ist treu, die Königin aber nicht. 6. Könige hassen die Revolution,* aber die Völker brauchen und suchen sie. 7. “Jede Nation braucht ja Freunde, aber diese braucht auch Feinde”, denkt der Führer halblaut. 8. Welches Ding braucht der König? Die Diener bringen es sofort. 9. Acht Diener hat er, und er braucht sie alle. 10. Sie finden den Feind und töten ihn sofort. 11. Die Fenster sind alle kaputt. 12. Er hört sie nicht mehr. 13. Sie hört ihn nicht mehr. 14. Sie hören sie nicht mehr. *NB here German does not distinguish between the ‘the revolution’ (some specific revolution) and

‘revolution [in general]’. It uses die for both, so context has to tell you which is meant. UNIT 4 - THE CASE OF THE BENEFICIARY (Dative Case) There is a further case in German, the case of someone benefitting from an action, or the case of the beneficiary, which is technically called the dative case. Consider the following sentences: 1. Das Kind gibt dem Mann den Hund. 2. Das Kind gibt der Frau den Hund. 3. Das Kind gibt dem Mädchen den Hund. 4. Das Kind gibt den Männern, den Frauen und den Mädchen den Hund. dem is the mark of the masculine and neuter singular beneficiary. der is the mark of the feminine singular beneficiary. den + -n is the mark of the plural beneficiary. (NB If the plural of the noun already ends in -n, there will not be an extra one added.) Consider the expectations of the German reader: Dem Mann . . . . . the man must be the beneficiary of some action Dem Mann gibt das Kind den Hund. the man must be beneficiary the dog must be the sufferer of the action Der Frau . . . . . the woman must be the beneficiary Der Frau gibt der Mann den Hund. the woman must be beneficiary the man must be the doer the dog must be the sufferer of the action Dem Mädchen . . . . . the girl must be beneficiary Dem Mädchen gibt das Kind das Tier. the girl must be beneficiary the child must be the doer the animal must be the sufferer of the action

(word order decides the function of ambiguous noun forms)

Den Männern . . . . . the men must be beneficiaries Den Frauen . . . . . the women must be beneficiaries


Den Mädchen . . . . . the girls must be beneficiaries Den Frauen geben die Männer den Hund. the women must be beneficiaries the dog must be the sufferer the men are the doers TABLE: THE FORMS OF THE ARTICLE masc.sing. fem.sing. neut.sing. plurals Nominative: der die das die Accusative: den die das die Dative dem der dem den + -n THE FORMS OF THE PRONOUN: stressed/ unstressed masc.sing. fem.sing. neut.sing. plurals Nominative: der/er die/sie das/es die/sie Accusative: den/ihn die/sie das/es die /sie Dative: dem/ihm der/ihr dem/ihm denen/ihnen (NB how the plural dative pronoun has an extra -n, just as the dative plural noun usually does.) VOCABULARY 4: Nouns: der Brief (-e) letter der Bericht (-e) report der Vater (") father der Sohn ("e) son der Bruder (") brother die Mutter (") mother die Tochter (") daughter die Schwester (-n) sister Verbs: kaufen to buy verkaufen to sell schenken to give (as a present) Miscellaneous alles everything nichts nothing etwas 1) something, anything; 2) somewhat, rather EXERCISE 4A A. Underline the beneficiary, if any, in the following English sentences: 1. Read me a story. 2. Give Peter the book. 3. He bought a rug for his parents. 4. He bought his parents a rug. 5. When did you tell him the rumours? 6. I can't see him now. 7. Do me a favour! 8. She threw him stones. 9. She threw stones to him. 10. Will you do my homework for me? 11. They'll make it easy for you! 12. Give the cat breakfast! 13. Pass me the salt! 14. Write your uncle a letter.


15. Write a letter to your uncle! B. Underline the undergoer, if any, in the above sentences. C. In each of the following sentences, circle the beneficiary of the action and underline the

undergoer. 1. Der Königin schickt der König zwei Diener und vier Dienerinnen. 2. Die Königin ermordet die fünf Diener. 3. Dem Führer schicken sie diesen Bericht sofort. 4. Er gibt der Katze nur Fisch. 5. Sie verkauft den Mädchen zwei Hunde. 6. Sie verkaufen dem Mädchen zwei Hunde. 7. Ihnen verkauft das Mädchen acht Hunde. 8. Dem Führer schenken sie jeden Sohn. 9. Väter kaufen Kindern alles. 10. Kindern kaufen Mütter nichts. 11. Kinder kaufen Vätern nichts. 12. Müttern kaufen Kinder alles. 13. Der König gibt dem Ungeheuer die Prinzessin. 14. Der Königin gibt der König zwei Ungeheuer! 15. Zwei Ungeheuern geben die Könige das Mädchen! 16. Die Mädchen geben dem König das Ungeheuer. 17. Das Ungeheuer gibt dem Mädchen den König. 18. Das Ungeheuer gibt den Mädchen den König. 19. Den König gibt die Konigin dem Ungeheuer! 20. Die Königin gibt der König den Ungeheuern! 21. Das Ungeheuer gibt dem Volk die Prinzessin. 22. Das Volk gibt dem Ungeheuer die Prinzessin zurück. 23. Die Minister geben ihm auch den König zurück.

NB das Ungeheuer (-) = das Monstrum (Monstren). UNIT 5 - 1st , 2nd, 3rd pronouns present tense of regular verbs present tense of haben and sein PRONOUNS - 1st, 2nd and 3rd Person Person 1 2 3 m. f. n. Singular Nom. ich du er sie es Acc. mich dich ihn sie es Dat. mir dir ihm ihr ihm Plural Nom. wir ihr sie Acc. uns euch sie Dat. uns euch ihnen NB The 3rd person pronouns when written with a capital letter (apart from at the beginning of a sentence) also mean ‘you’, both singular and plural, so Sie doer or undergoer, singular or plural, and Ihnen ‘to/for you’, both singular or plural. This is the so-called polite or formal way of saying ‘you’ and will probably only be found in academic texts when the author addresses the reader or is quoting from some source where it occurs. PRESENT TENSE - Regular Verbs sample infinitive: machen - to make, to do Singular


1. ich machE - I make, am making, do make 2. du machST - you (sing. fam.) make, are making, do make 3. er/sie/es machT - he/she/it makes, is making, does make Plural 1. wir machEN - we make, are making, do make 2. ihr machT - you (pl. fam.) make, etc. 3. sie machEN - they make, etc. NOTE the difference in meaning between: sie (she) macht, and sie (they) machen, and Sie (you) machen VOCABULARY 5 Nouns: s Geld - money e Dame - lady Verbs schicken - to send senden - (Guess this one!) schenken - to give (as a present) bringen - to bring, take (to some place) kaufen - to buy verkaufen - to sell Adjectives leicht - light, easy schwer - heavy, difficult krank - sick gesund - healthy arm - poor reich - rich alt - old jung - young Miscellaneous: nach Hause = heim - (to) home genug - enough zu - to, too EXERCISE 5 1. Ich kaufe ihm etwas. 2. Er bringt mir etwas. 3. Wir verkaufen euch nichts. 4. Sie schenken ihr immer Blumen, aber sie schenkt ihnen nie etwas. 5. Du liebst den Fritz.* Er ist mir zu arm und etwas zu alt. 6. Ihr verkauft ihr das Auto! 7. Wir schicken euch Wein. 8. Sie senden dir Zigaretten. 9. Sie raucht nur Zigarren.

10. Ich bringe sie jetzt nach Hause.** *NB the article is often used in German with personal names with well-known people or colloquially

about friends or family. English does not use it like this. **NB The present tense form of the verb can often refer to the future in German, so ‘will…’. The

context usually makes it clear which is meant. PRESENT TENSE: haben and sein HABEN - to have Singular


ich habE - I have, am having, do have du haST - you have, etc. er/sie/es haT - he/she/it has, etc. Plural wir habEN - we have, etc. ihr habt - you (pl. fam.) have sie haben - they have, etc. (Sie habEN - you (sing. & pl. polite) have, etc.) SEIN - to be Singular Plural ich bin - I am wir sind du bist ihr seid er/sie/es ist sie sind EXERCISE 5B - Translate: 1. Ihr habt es sehr leicht! 2. Reich sind wir nicht, wir haben aber genug. 3. Du bist so alt wie der Michael! 4. Er ist nicht so krank wie ich. 5. Ihr seid nicht so gesund wie wir. 6. Er hat mehr Geld als die Dame. 7. Sie hat mehr Geld als das Mädchen. NB so...wie... - as...as... als - than UNIT 6 - the indefinite article eine/eine/ein - verb position in statments and questions EIN-words In Unit 1, Vocabulary 3 we met the determiners dieser, jener, jeder etc. whose endings go like those of der, so that they are often called in German grammar der-words. There is another group of determiners, however, that go differently from the der-words in that they have what some linguists call a “zero-ending” i.e. no ending at all. The word ein (= ‘one, a, an’) is a case in point: whereas German has the –er ending in der Mann, dieser Mann for ‘the man’, ‘this/that man’ etc., using ein it has just ein Mann for’ one man’, ‘a man’, that is there is no –er ending at all. Apart from the masculine nominative singular, this also the case with the neuter nominative and accusative singular, so instead of das/dieses Haus, we have just ein Haus. Otherwise ein takes the same endings as the der-words. Words that go like ein are often called ein-words. Here is a table of the ein-word kein , meaning ‘no, not a’. It is used because ein because of its meaning ‘one’ has no plural forms. The capitalized forms are the ones that diverge from the der-words’ endings. kein - no, not a (used as the model, since ein (= a. an. one) has no plural) Sg. Pl. m. f. n. N. KEIN keinE KEIN keinE A. keinEN keinE KEIN keinE D. keinEM keinER keinEM keinEN The other ein-words are:


ein - a, an, one calld technically “the indefinite article”) mein - my dein - your sein - his, its, her (if referring to a neuter word like Mädchen) ihr - her, its, their unser - our euer - your Ihr - your ---------------------------------------- EXERCISE 6A 1. Die Minister bringen dem König ihren Bericht. 2. Der Führer sucht seinen Brief, findet ihn aber nicht. 3. Die Königin braucht ihren Brief und sucht dann das Mädchen, aber sie findet es nicht. (dann =

then) 4. "Ihr habt euren Führer, mich braucht ihr nicht mehr”, sagt der König zu seinem Volk. 5. Nur einen Sohn hat der Bruder, aber die Schwestern haben je drei (= jede Schwester hat drei). 6. Ihr Sohn kauft Ihnen alles. 7. Ihr kauft euer Sohn gar nichts. ---------------------------------------- Verb Position In all statements the German verb occurs in second position in its sentence, i.e. only one potential question about the action in the verb can be answered in front of it, e.g. Who did the action? (subject) Who underwent the action? (direct object) For whose benefit was it done? (indirect object) When did it happen? (time phrase or clause) etc. E.g. Der König kommt jedes Jahr. OR Jedes Jahr kommt der König. The king comes every year / Every year the king comes. In these German statements the verb is always the second “concept”, whereas in the English ones the verb is 2nd in one statement but 3rd, after “every year” and “the king“ in the other. In yes/no questions the verb is in first position. E.g. Kommt der König jedes Jahr? Answer: Ja, or Nein. In w-questions (English wh-questions) the verb follows straight after the w-word or the phrase containing the w-word. E.g. Was macht der König? What is the king doing? Welcher Mann liebt die Königin? Welchen Mann liebt die Königin? The w-words are: was? - what? wie? - how? wieviel? - how much? wer? - who? (doer) wieviele? - how many? wen? - whom? (undergoer) wo? - where? (in what place?) wem? - to/for whom? (beneficiary) wohin? - where to? whither? wann? - when? woher? - where from? whence? warum? - why? welcher? - which? weshalb? - why? weswegen? - why?


wieso? - why? how come? ---------------------------------------- Vocabulary 5 r Maler (-) - painter r Schriftsteller (-) - writer, author r Krieg (-e) - war e Zeit (-en) - time e Zeitung (-en) - newspaper e Arbeit (-en) - work e Regierung (-en) - government s Buch (ër) - book s Werk (-e) - work (of art, lit.) s Bild (-er) - picture s Leben (-) - life e Wahrheit (-en) - truth sagen - say, tell zeigen - point, show schreiben - write malen - paint verstehen - understand glauben - think, believe hoffen - hope --- schon - already* schön - beautiful* nie - never noch nicht - not yet sehr – very, very much sonst - 1) otherwise, (or) else leider – unfortunately wieder - again 2) formerly noch ein - another, an additional bald - soon oder - or denn - for (= because) sogar - even * NOTE the importance of the presence/absence of an Umlaut in these two words! ---------------------------------------- Exercise 6B 1. Wem schenkt der Professor sein Werk? 2. Der Maler malt der Königin ihr Bild, dann zeigt er es ihr. 3. Der Bibliothek schenkt dieser Schriftsteller sein Lebenswerk. 4. Jetzt haben wir schon wieder Krieg. 5. Wer macht mir diese Arbeit? Ich nicht, denn ich habe keine Zeit. 6. Die Königin schreibt dem Führer einen Brief und sagt: "Mein Adolf! Ich gebe Dir alles, was ich habe, sogar mein Leben, aber meinem Mann, dem König, gebe ich gar

nichts mehr, denn den hasse ich. Glaubst Du das? Oder denkst Du, ich sage Dir nicht die Wahrheit? Ach, ich brauche Dich so sehr, aber ich habe Dich leider nicht. Liebst Du mich noch? Oder hasst Du mich schon wieder? Schreibst Du mir noch einen Brief? Wann höre ich wieder von (= from) Dir?

Deine Eva. P.S. Ich hoffe, Deine Frau, die Brünhilde, findet diesen Brief nicht, sonst tötet sie Dich sofort.

Dann habe ich Dich nicht mehr. E. 7. Die griechische Sage erzählt von König Minos von Kreta. Ihm erbaut der athenische Künstler

Daidalos einen Palast mit enorm viel Räumen und Gängen: jeder Fremdling verirrt sich darin. Labyrinth nennen die Griechen diesen Irrgarten. Dort wohnt der Sohn von Minos, der Minotauros, ein Ungeheuer, halb Mensch, halb Stier.

Eine Wandmalerei erzählt uns von den Stierspielen - die liebten* die Kreter -: ein Jüngling und

zwei Mädchen wagen ein gefährliches Spiel mit einem riesigen Stier. Sie tragen nur ein Hüfttuch; das hält ein Gürtel.

*NB liebten is a past tense form meaning ‘loved’. Nouns: Adjectives: r Fremdling (-e) = fremde Person fremd - strange, foreign r Gang (ë) - passageway gefährlich - dangerous (e Gefahr (-en) - danger) r Gürtel (-) - belt riesig - gigantic (r Riese - giant) e Hüfte (-n) - hip Verbs: r Jüngling (-e) = junger Mann erbauen - build (bauen - build)


r Künstler (-) - artist erzählen - tell, recount, narrate e Malerei - painting halten - hold r Raum (ë) – room, space, area irren - err, be wrong, wander malen - to paint e Sage (-n) - tale, legend er verirrt sich - he loses himself s Spiel (-e) - game nennen - name r Stier (-e) = r Bulle (-n) tragen - wear, carry s Tuch (ër) - cloth wagen - dare, risk e Wand (ë) - wall wohnen - dwell Miscellaneous: darin - (Guess!) dort = da mit - with von - of, from UNIT 7 Irregular Verbs (a) Strong Verbs (vowel-changing verbs) Some verbs have a different vowel ( and a couple also have a different consonant) in the du and er/sie/es forms from the vowel they have in the infinitive, i.e. the dictionary form. You need to be able to identify such verbs so that you do not try to look up an infinitive form in the dictionary that doesn't exist. Examples are: sehen fallen nehmen geben (to see) (to fall) (to take) (to give) ich sehe falle nehme gebe du siehst fällst nimmst gibst* er/sie/es sieht fällt nimmt gibt* wir sehen fallen nehmen geben ihr seht fallt nehmt gebt sie sehen fallen nehmen geben * In pre-20th century texts giebst and giebt. Vowel-changing strong verbs of this type will be shown in vocabularies as follows: sehen (ie) - to see geben (i) - to give fallen (ä) - to fall lesen (ie) - to read nehmen (nimmt) - to take lassen (ä) - to let, leave, cause N.B. tun - to do ich tue wir tun du tust ihr tut er tut sie tun


---------------------------------------- (b) Auxiliary Verbs (so called because they assist in making up complex verb forms, i.e. verb

constructions consisting of more than one word.) sein haben werden (to be) (to have) (to become)

ich bin ich habe ich werde

du bist du hast du wirst

er ist er hat er wird

wir sind wir haben wir werden

ihr seid ihr habt ihr werdet

sie sind sie haben sie werden

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(c) Modal verbs (verbs which in some of their meanings indicate the mood or attitude of the speaker.)

können dürfen mögen müssen (can, to be able) (may, to be (may, to like) (must, allowed) to have to)

ich kann_ ich darf_ ich mag_ ich muss_

du kannst du darfst du magst du musst

er kann_ er darf_ er mag_ er muss_

wir können wir dürfen wir mögen wir müssen

ihr könnt ihr dürft ihr mögt ihr müsst

sie können sie dürfen sie mögen sie müssen sollen wollen wissen (not a modal verb) (shall, ought, (want, claim, (know) be supposed to, be going to) be said to, to be to)

ich soll_ ich will_ ich weiß_

du sollst du willst du weißt

er soll_ er will_ er weiß

wir sollen wir wollen wir wissen

ihr sollt ihr wollt ihr wisst


sie sollen sie wollen sie wissen Important note on modal verbs: These verbs are usually linked to a following verb (the verb with the main meaning in the clause), which is in the infinitive or dictionary form. E.g. Ich will gehen. - I want to go (NB NOT ‘I will go’). Er soll jetzt gehen – he is to go now.

Er soll sehr reich sein – He is said/supposed to be very rich. If there are any other words or phrases referring to the action in the verb, they come between the modal verb and the infinitive, i.e. the infinitive will be located at the very end of the clause or sentence.

E.g. Ich will jetzt alle meine Bücher sofort mit nach Hause nehmen. I want to take all my books home with me now immediately. In English the two verb parts almost always occur side by side. NOTE the following idiomatic uses where German can leave the infinitive understood, but English must express it explicitly. (a) Ich will jetzt sofort nach Hause. (gehen) I want to go home now immediately. (cf. Eng. I want out = I want to get out) (modal + directional (i.e. a word or phrase answering the implied question Where to?) implies to go.) (b) Ich kann das einfach nicht (tun/machen). I simply can't do that. (modal + accusative object implies to do.)

------------------------------------------------ Prepositions (words that are put in front - preposed - of noun phrases.) (a) Prepositions always followed by the accusative case: Durch - through Wider - against Ohne - without Um - around Gegen - against Für - for N.B. also bis - till, until, as far as, by (the time that, etc.) entlang - along

(b) Prepositions that are always followed by the dative case: zu - to, to the house of, for the purpose of, on the subject of/about aus - out of, from bei - near, at the house of, in the works of seit – since (sometimes ‘from’ in the time sense) mit - with nach - after, to (a place), according to* von - of, from, by außer - besides, except (for), aside from gegenüber – opposite, over against* (*In the sense of ‘according to’ nach may be found after the noun phrase, as may gegenüber, i.e. as postpositions.)

---------------------------- Exercise 7


1. Wir müssen alle diese Arbeit machen. 2. Die Armee mag noch kommen, aber ich weiß nicht, wann. 3. Deine Diener sollst du nicht ermorden. 4. Das Volk darf die Königin nicht mehr sehen, denn sie ist ihrem Mann, dem König, nicht treu; es

will sie sehen, aber es darf es nicht. 5. Der Student gibt dem Professor das Buch, aber dieser versteht es nicht, denn er kann kein Deutsch

lesen. Dann weiß er aber, er muß Deutsch lernen, denn alle seine Studenten können diese Sprache schon sprechen und lesen.

6. Eine Königin ist die Frau von einem König, eine Prinzessin ist die Tochter von einem König und

einer Königin, und ein Prinz ist der Bruder von der Prinzessin und der Sohn von dem Königspaar. Additional vocabulary: denn - for (= because) s Paar (-e) - pair, couple sprechen (i) - speak e Sprache (-n) - language, speech

------------------------------

20 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 UNIT 8 - The Genitive Case The case of the ‘possessor’ can be indicated in German by von (cf. Ex.7, sentence 6), but it can also be indicated, especially in written German, by the endings of a further case, the genitive case. E.g. 1. Die Königin ist die Frau des Königs. = Die Königin ist die Frau von dem König. 2. Der König ist der Mann der Königin. = Der König ist der Mann von der Königin. 3. Der König ist der Herrscher des Volkes. ( = ruler) = Der König ist der Herrscher von dem Volk. 4. Die Prinzen sind die Kinder der Könige. = Die Prinzen sind die Kinder von den Königen. From the above examples it can be inferred that the genitive is formed in the following ways: Sg. Pl. M. dES KönigS F. dER Königin dER Könige, Königinnen, Völker N. dES VolkES System: Sg. Pl. det. noun det. noun M. -es +(e)s F. -er ------ -er pl. form of noun N. -es + (e)s The full (four-) case system of German can now be schematised as follows: Sg. Pl. M F N Nom. -ER -E -ES -E Acc. -EN -E -ES -E Gen. -ES -ER -ES -ER (+ (E)S ) (+ (E)S (on noun) ( on noun) Dat. -EM -ER -EM -EN (sometimes (sometimes (+ N on noun) + E on noun) + E on noun) Exercise 8A (Revision) 1. Woher kommt er mit diesem Mädchen? 2. Wollen Sie etwas für mich tun? 3. Der Führer kämpft für die Revolution, aber die Regierung kann nur gegen ihn und seine

revolutionäre Armee kämpfen. 4. Ohne dich kann ich nicht leben, doch mit dir darf ich nicht leben. 5. Seit dem Krieg will das Volk nicht wieder kämpfen; es will nur arbeiten und für Haus und Kinder

sorgen. (sorgen = to care) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 21 Exercise 8B 1. Der König schickt der Königin eine neue Dienerin. 2. Der König schickt die neue Dienerin zu der Königin. 3. Der König kauft der Königin eine neue Sklavin. 4. Der König kauft für die Königin eine neue Sklavin. 5. Frage: Wen schickt der König? Antwort: Die Dienerin der Königin. 6. Das sind die Bücher meines Bruders. 7. Wann beginnt die Konferenz der Minister? 8. Wann beginnt die Konferenz der Ministerin? 9. Wann beginnt die Konferenz des Ministers?

10.Eine Königin ist die Frau eines Königs, eine Prinzessin ist die Tochter eines Königs und einer Königin, und ein Prinz ist der Bruder der Prinzessin und der Sohn des Königspaares.

11.Den Brief schreibt die Königin ihrem Liebhaber, dem Führer. Dann schickt sie nach einer ihrer Dienerinnen. Diese Dienerin nimmt den Brief von der Königin, denn sie soll ihn zu dem Führer bringen. Sie geht schnell weg, denn sie will den Brief so bald wie möglich zu ihm bringen, aber sie muß den Weg vor den Räumen des Königs entlang gehen. Sie hofft, der König sieht sie nicht. Aber der König schaut gerade aus dem Fenster seines Arbeitszimmers und erblickt die Dienerin. Er weiß genau, was sie tut, denn er weiß, seine Frau hat einen Liebhaber und schickt diesem oft Briefe. "Das darf sie nicht mehr," denkt er. Er schickt einen seiner Diener der Dienerin der Königin nach und sagt ihm, er soll den Brief stehlen, bevor er in die Hände des Führers kommt. Kann der Diener des Königs den Brief der Königin stehlen? Das wissen wir noch nicht. Wir müssen noch etwas warten.

r Wortschatz - Vocabulary (< s Wort + r Schatz - treasure) bald - soon möglich - possible weg - away r Weg (-e) - way, road r Raum (ë) = s Zimmer (-) vor - in front of, before schauen = sehen; erblicken - catch sight of noch - 1) still, 2) more noch nicht - not yet gerade - 1)(adj.) - straight, 2)(adv.) just (with a verb it gives the idea of: “is just (do)ing”.) ------------------------------------------------------------- Verbs that are followed by the Dative Case So far all the verbs we have encountered have the object in the accusative case form, but just as there are prepositions that always take the dative case after them while others always take the accusative, so there are a number of verbs that always have their object in the dative case, probably because the object is felt to be a beneficiary or recipient rather than an 'undergoer'. Some of the most common of these verbs are:

antworten - answer begegnen - meet, encounter, come across danken - thank dienen - serve entsprechen -correspond to fluchen - curse folgen - follow glauben - believe gratulieren - congratulate helfen - help nützen OR nutzen - benefit, be useful to raten - advise schaden - hurt, injure, damage schmeicheln - flatter Note how occasionally a verb may be followed by accusative or dative but with a difference of meaning trauen (+ dat.) - trust VERSUS trauen ( + acc.) - join in marriage). E.g. Der Priester traut ihnen nicht - The priest does not trust them.

22 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 Der Priester traut sie nicht. - The priest does not marry them. versichern (+ dat.) - assure BUT versichern (+ acc.) - insure Sie versicherte mir, sie wollte mir helfen. She assured me she wanted to help me. Sie versicherte mich gegen Krankheit und Unfall. She insured me against illness and accident. The following verbs have the person as object in the dative, though they may have a thing as object in the accusative as well: befehlen - order, command (E.g. Er befiehlt es ihnen - he orders them to [do it].) erlauben - allow (Er erlaubt ihm zu gehen. Er erlaubt es ihm.) verbieten - forbid (E.g. Sie erlauben (verbieten) ihm die Fahrt. They allow (forbid) him [to make] the trip.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weak Nouns Historically, the nouns we have dealt with so far are called strong nouns, because their endings are strong enough to tell you something about their case and number, e.g with, for example, Mann: the -es of Mannes indicates genitive case singular, the (optional) -e of Manne indicates dative singular, the umlaut + -er of Männer indicates plural - nominative, accusative or genitive -, and the -n of Männern indicates dative case plural. In older German, there were nouns in all three genders that are referred to by grammarians as weak nouns, because they do not add such “strong endings”, but only the weak ending -en in all case and number forms apart from the nominative singular, so that their form tells you almost nothing about their case and number, and the reader is dependent on the form of the determiner in front of them and/or on context to know what case and number they are in. In modern German such completely weak nouns are all masculine; no longer are there any feminines or neuters. Take the word Prinz, for instance. This endingless form can only be nominative singular, but the form Prinzen could be accusative, genitive (no -(e)s!) or dative singular, or it could be any of the four cases in the plural. Masculine weak nouns are characteristically certain monosyllabic nouns, almost all nouns ending in -e, and nouns of foreign (French, Latin, Greek) origin stressed on the last syllable and ending in a consonant (so not those ending in -er or -or) The weak masculine noun case and number table would thus look like this: Sg. Pl.

Nom. der Prinz die PrinzEN Acc. den PrinzEN die PrinzEN

Gen. des PrinzEN der PrinzEN Dat. dem PrinzEN den PrinzEN As can be seen from the table, the reader is indeed dependent on the form of the determiner (here der, den, des etc.), but even then den Prinzen is ambiguous as between accusative singular and dative plural, so there the context must decide which it is, e.g 1. whether the preposition before the phrase takes the accusative or dative case, so a) gegen den

Prinzen must be acc. sing., ‘against the prince’, whereas b) mit den Prinzen must be dat. pl., with the princes;

2. whether a verb is followed by the accusative case or the dative case will also be crucial too. Cf. a) Sie sieht den Prinzen nicht. - she doesn’t see the prince (sehen takes the accusative) vs. b) Sie glaubt den Prinzen nicht - she doesn’t believe the princes (glauben takes the dative).

Now that we have covered all four German cases, it is important to see how a German-English dictionary will indicate the grammatical information about a strong or weak noun. By way of example, the Collins German Dictionary typically starts its entry for the strong noun Mann as follows:

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 23 “Mann m -es,ër man, husband.” Thus it shows that the noun is masculine (m), that it takes -es in the genitive singular and ër in the plural (and, by implication, an extra -n in the dative plural), and so it is a strong noun. The entry for the weak noun Prinz, however, starts as follows: “Prinz m -en, -en prince.” Thus the “-en, -en” shows it is a weak masculine noun with the -en ending everywhere outside the nominative singular. Some weak masculine nouns r Ahn* (-s OR -en, -en) OR r Ahne (-n, -n) ancestor, forebear.

(NB e Ahne (-n) OR e Ahnin (-nen) - ancestress) r Archäologe (-n, -n) - archaeologist r Bote (-en, -en) - messenger r Christ (-en, -en) - Christian r Chronist (-en, -en) - chronicler r Doktorand (-en, -en) - doctoral student r Erbe (-n, -n) - heir, inheritor

(NB s Erbe (no pl.) - inheritance, heirtage, legacy) r Fürst (-en, -en) - prince, ruler r Gedanke (-n, -n) - thought, idea r Geograph/Geograf (-en, -en) - geographer r Graf (-en, -en) - count (aristocrat) r Grieche (-en, -en) - Greek r Held (-en, -en) - hero r Katholik (-en, -en) - Catholic r Matrose (-en, -en) - sailor r Mensch (-en, -en) - human being, person r Nachbar* (-s OR -n, -n) - neighbour r Photograph/Fotograf (-en, -en) - photographer r Prinz (-en, -en) - prince (non-ruling member of a ruling house) r Protestant (-en, -en) - Protestant r Soldat (-en, -en) - soldier r Student (-en, -en) - (university) student r Untertan*(-s OR -en, -en) subject (of a ruler) *These nouns may be encountered also as strong nouns, hence the -s alternative in the genitive singular. NOTE the following word which is unique amongst weak nouns as it adds only -n in the singular, but -en in the plural: r Herr (-n, -en) - lord, master, gentleman, Mr. (cf. Lobe den Herrn - Praise the Lord vs. Glaube den Herren - Believe the gentlemen) Exercise 8C 1. Das Mädchen liebt den Matrosen. 1. Die Soldaten folgen den Matrosen durch die Stadt. 2. Das Leben dieses Menschen ist sehr wichtig für uns. 3. Jene Helden kämpfen mit ihren Nachbarn gegen ihren Herrn. 4. Der Geograf kann den Archäologen kaum glauben. 5. Den Grafen lieben seine Untertanen, sie hassen aber den Fürsten. 6. Kann der Doktorand dem Studenten wirklich helfen? 7. Durch die Geschichte kann ein König die eigenen Ahnen und auch die Vorfahren seiner Gemahlin

kennen lernen. e Geschichte (-n) - 1) story 2) history eigen - (my/ his/ her etc.) own r Gemahl (-e) - husband, consort

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIT 9 - The Simple Past Tense (also called the Imperfect Tense or Preterite Tense) (a) Weak or Regular Verbs

24 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 These verbs form their past tense by adding a -t- to their stem to indicate that they are referring to

a past action (just as English verbs add -ed (leaned), sometimes -t (leant)), and then comes a further ending to indicate person and number. This latter ending is the same as in the present tense, except that: a) an -e- is inserted if the combination of endings will be hard to pronounce, b) the er/sie/es ending is not -t, but -e.

machen - Formula: stem mach- + t + person/number ending

ich machTe - I made, was making, used to make, did make, have made

du machTest - you made, etc.

er machTe - he made, etc.

wir machTen - we made, etc.

ihr machTet - you made, etc.

sie machTen - they made, etc. This aspect of the grammar should not cause you any problems except for the difference between: sie machte ‘she made” and sie machten ‘they made’.

(b) Vowel-changing Weak Verbs

These verbs form their past tense by adding the above 'weak' endings, but they also change their internal vowel from e to a. A couple also change their consonants. These verbs are:

infinitive present past meaning kennen ich kenne ich kannte (be acquainted (with, know nennen ich nenne ich nannte name rennen ich renne ich rannte run brennen ich brenne ich brannte burn ---------- senden ich sende ich sandte send OR ich sendete wenden ich wende ich wandte turn OR ich wendete ---------- denken ich denke ich dachte think bringen ich bringe ich brachte bring, take (c) Modal verbs and wissen

The modals and wissen are rather similar to the verbs in Group (b) in that they take the 'weak' endings and also change their vowel. They have no Umlaut in the past tense. (If you see a past-tense-looking modal form with an Umlaut, it will in fact have a quite different meaning (namely, ‘would be able’ etc.)), as you will see later when we reach the unit on the Subjunctive Mood.) The modals go as follows: infinitive present past meaning of past dürfen ich darf ich durfte I was allowed können ich kann ich konnte I was able

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 25 mögen ich mag ich mochte I liked müssen ich muß ich mußte I had to sollen ich soll ich sollte I was supposed to wollen ich will ich wollte I wanted (to) ---------- wissen ich weiß ich wußte I knew ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NB kennen - know ich kannte - I knew können - can, be able ich konnte - I could, I was able to -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Exercise 9A Der Freiheitskampf der Hellenen For this text, which is lifted straight from a German schoolbook, little vocabulary will be given, so you will have to use your dictionary. Because German capitalises all nouns, you will need to be able to distinguish common (i.e. ordinary) nouns from proper nouns (names)( so you may need to dip into an encyclopaedia or atlas as well). NOTE that German sometimes uses a capital J where English would use I. The element -kundig means ‘knowing (about)’, e.g. deutschkundig means ‘knowing German’. Die Griechenstädte Kleinasiens unterstehen seit 546 v. Chr. dem Satrapen von Sardes in Lydien. Sie müssen den Persern Abgaben zahlen und Heeresdienst leisten. Aus den Schiffen der seekundigen Jonier und der Phöniker stellen die Großkönige ihre Flotte zusammen. Die Perser setzen in den Städten der Griechen Tyrannen ein, und diese erhalten aus Sardes ihre Weisungen. Das verletzt das Freiheitsgefühl der Griechen. Die Hellenen sind gewohnt, zu ihren Göttern aufrecht, mit erhobenen Händen zu beten, und verabscheuen den Kniefall vor dem Großkönig, denn das verlangt man am persischen Hof. Die Jonier vertrauen auf die Hilfe des Mutterlandes und erheben sich um 500 v. Chr. unter der Führung Milets, der "Königin der Griechenstädte". Sparta will sie nicht unterstützen, aber Athen sendet zwanzig Schiffe. Zwar können die Jonier Sardes erobern und zerstören, aber bald kommt der Gegenschlag der Perser. 494 v. Chr. zerstören diese Milet und verschleppen seine Bevölkerung an den Tigris.

UNIT 9 (cont.)- The Past Tense of Strong Verbs Whereas weak verbs are called “weak” because they need a “crutch” from outside, the T (written “t”), to show the change of tense, the strong verbs are so called because they show it by internal vowel change within themselves. This phenomenon can be observed in English (strong I spring > I sprang versus I leap > I leaped *) as well as German (one of the results of the two languages being related in origin). (*NB some English verbs, like this one, may have an alternative weak form with t, but with a change of vowel pronunciation, so I leap > I leapt.) Compare: English Present Past weak: We work_ every day. We worked every day. strong: We sing every day. We sang every day.

26 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 German Present Past weak: Wir arbeiten jeden Tag. Wir arbeiteten jeden Tag. strong: Wir singen jeden Tag. Wir sangen jeden Tag. (Verbs whose stem ends in t or d, e.g. arbeit-, add an e before the t of the ending, otherwise the past tense t would not be heard, hence arbeitete ‘worked’ and badete ‘bathed’ from baden ‘to bathe’.) The endings on the strong verbs are different to those on the weak verbs to the extent that the ich and the er/sie/es forms have, not an e, but a “zero ending”, i.e. no ending at all. Examples of the past tense paradigm of the strong verb are: singen ziehen fallen stehen (sing) (pull/move) (fall) (stand) ich sang ich zog ich fiel ich stand du sangst du zogst du fielst du standest er sang er zog er fiel er stand wir sangen wir zogen wir fielen wir standen ihr sangt ihr zogt ihr fielt ihr standet sie sangen sie zogen sie fielen sie standen Note that some verbs also change their consonants. The vowel-changing verbs already met in the present tense are in reality strong verbs, though not all strong verbs have such a change in the present tense, but all will have a change in the past tense. All new strong verbs introduced from now on will have their vowel changes for present and past indicated as follows: helfen (i, a) - to help to be read as helfen du hilfst half er hilft (infinitive) (present tense (past tense) vowel change) ------------------------------------------------ The Past Tense of the three Auxiliary Verbs sein haben werden ich war I was ich hatte I had ich wurde I became du warst du hattest du wurdest er war er hatte er wurde wir waren wir hatten wir wurden ihr wart ihr hattet ihr wurdet sie waren sie hatten sie wurden Note that in older texts the past tense singular of werden may go: ich ward, du wardst, er ward. Larger dictionaries may give the past tense form next to the verb itself or even list it as a separate entry, while smaller ones may simply mark the verb as “irr.” = ‘irregular’ or “st.” /“sv” = ‘strong/ strong verb’ and leave you to look it up in a list of Irregular Verbs or Strong Verbs at the back of the German-English section of the dictionary. --------------------------------------------------------- Prepositions followed by the Genitive während - during anstatt OR statt - instead of wegen - because of trotz - in spite of

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 27 innerhalb - within oberhalb - above außerhalb - outside unterhalb - beneath, below dank - thanks to laut - according to jenseits - on the other side of, beyond diesseits - on this side of (NB s Jenseits - the next world s Diesseits - this world) ------------------------------------------------ Exercise 9B 1. Niemand wußte mehr als der Aristoteles, denn er konnte besser denken als alle Mitmenschen

seiner Zeit, d.h. als alle seine Zeitgenossen. (niemand - no one, nobody r Genosse (-n) - comrade d.h. = das heißt - i.e., that is) 2. "Die Lösung dieses Problems finden Sie in vielen Büchern und Zeitschriften. Doch wissen das

nur sehr wenige Leute. Ich kann es einfach nicht verstehen. Soll ich Ihnen eine meiner Zeitschriften bringen?" fragte mein Kollege. Ich aber antwortete: "Nein. Das Problem ist gar nicht wichtig, und ich persönlich will es nicht lösen."

(lösen - to solve; einfach - simple; e Zeitschrift (-en) - magazine, journal; wichtig - important) (Note that in German the present tense is often used where in English we would use the future tense,

i.e. ‘will…’) 3. Der Maler dachte, der Schriftsteller wollte ihm helfen, aber er kannte ihn nicht sehr gut. Also

glaubte jener alles, was dieser ihm sagte. 4. Der Professor antwortete den Studenten, aber seine Antworten waren so kompliziert, sie konnten

seinen Gedanken gar nicht folgen. Die Studenten mußten also immer wieder fragen, und er mußte immer wieder antworten.

(r Gedanke (-n, -n) - thought, idea immer wieder - again and again) 5. Dürer zeichnete ein Bild von seiner Mutter, dann zeigte er es ihr. (zeichnen - to draw BUT zeigen - to show) 6. In seinem Leben malte und zeichnete er Hunderte von Bildnissen, und zwar von Verwandten, von

Mitbürgern und von Mitgliedern des hohen Adels. Er machte sogar einige Selbstbildnisse. (s Bildnis (-se) = s Porträt; und zwar - and in fact, to be more precise; r Verwandte (-n) -

relative; r Bürger (-) - citizen; s Mitglied (-er) - member (s Glied (-er) = s Bein (-e)(‘leg’)/ r Arm (-e)); hoch (hoh- before an -e)

- high; r Adel - nobility, aristocracy) 7. Die Schriftstellerin Dorothea S. kannte die Werke ihrer Zeitgenossen gut, aber sie konnte, ja sie

durfte selbst unter ihrem eigenen Namen gar nichts veröffentlichen, denn sie war doch eine Frau, und zwar eine Frau aus guter Familie, und so etwas machte eine solche Frau ja nicht. So dachten wenigstens ihre Eltern. (Es ist kein Wunder, sie mochte sie nie.) Ihre Werke mußten also unter einem männlichen Decknamen erscheinen. Auf diese Weise veröffentlichte sie jedes Jahr mindestens zwei Romane und ein halbes Dutzend Kurzgeschichten oder Novellen. Das wußten ihre Eltern natürlich nicht.

(veröffentlichen = publizieren; doch - 1) yet, 2) after all; decken - to cover; erscheinen - to appear; auf diese Weise - in this way; wenigstens =

mindestens - at least; r Roman (-e) - novel; e Geschichte (-n) - 1) history, 2) story; e Novelle - novella ja - 1) yes, 2) indeed, of course) Unit 10 - Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs In English, whenever we want to compare two people or things we add -er to adjectives of one or two syllables and put more in front of longer adjectives, e.g. He is taller and handsomer (OR more handsome) than his brother.

28 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 The Opera House is grander and more inspiring than any building I know. When two actions are compared more is put in front of the adverb, e.g. She sings more strongly and more beautifully than I/me. This form is technically called the comparative degree of the adjective and adverb, as distinct from the simple or positive degree, i.e. tall, handsome, strongly etc. In German, which does not distinguish adjective and adverb in the comparative degree, -er is added to any adjective and adverb, though a few common one-syllable ones will also be found with an Umlaut in the comparative. Thus: stark - strong(ly) stärker - stronger, more strongly groß - big, great größer - bigger, greater klein - little, small kleiner - smaller lieb - dear (term of affection) lieber - dearer schön - beautiful(ly) schöner - more beautiful(ly) wichtig - important wichtiger - more important einflußreich - influential einflußreicher - more influential N.B. hoch - high höher - higher gut - good, kind, well besser - better wenig - little, not much weniger OR minder - less viel - much, a lot mehr - more gern - gladly (expresses liking) lieber - preferably (expresses preference) E.g. Ich esse gern Kuchen, aber ich esse lieber Schokolade.

I like (eating) cake, but I prefer (to eat) chocolate. The words gern and lieber are often used with the verb mögen in the sense of ‘to like’ or ‘to

prefer’: ich mag gern… - I like… / ich mag lieber…- I prefer… als - than (after a comparative adjective or adverb, but in other contexts it has other meanings

such as ‘when’, ‘as’) In some varieties of German wie may occur in the sense of als = than Examples 1. Er ist größer und schöner als sein Bruder. 2. Das Opernhaus ist feiner und inspirativer als jedes Gebäude, das ich kenne. 3. Sie singt stärker und schöner als ich. Note the importance of the case form in German in: 4. Sie mag ihren Bruder besser als ich. She likes her brother better than I (do). 5. Sie mag ihren Bruder besser als mich. She likes her brother better than (she likes) me. (English nowadays would say ‘...than me’ for both, no matter whether I was the subject of object of the liking, but German is strict in using the appropriate nominative (ich) or accusative (mich) case form.) The Future Tense Although German often uses the present tense as a future, e.g. Sein Buch erscheint in einem Monat. His book will appear in one month. the language does have a future tense in its own right. Like the English future, the German future is a compound tense, i.e. unlike the present and the simple past tenses, which we have already learned, it consists of more than one verb part. The German future tense is formed according to the following formula: Present tense infinitive of of

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 29 werden main verb (at the end of the sentence or clause)

E.g. Ich werde ihn morgen oder übermorgen besuchen. I will visit him tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Natürlich wird sie noch bei ihm im Palast sein. Of course she will still be with him in the palace. Dieser Schriftsteller wird ein solches Werk nie wieder schreiben. This writer will never again write such a work.

2 1 Die Eltern werden ihre Kinder nicht mehr sehen dürfen.

1 2 The parents will not be allowed to see their children anymore. We are now meeting a crucial difference in the syntax of the verb phrase between English and German that we will see repeatedly in the grammar. Syntax means the way words interact in the structure of a sentence and word order or the order in which words come in a sentence is one aspect of syntax. Verbs can be finite if, in German, they have an ending that agrees or automatically goes with the subject (ich mache, du machst, er macht etc.); or verbs can be non-finite, i.e. they don’t have a particular ending that goes with a subject. The infinitive is, as its name indicates, a non-finite verb form. The infinitives besuchen, sein, schreiben, sehen and dürfen would not change in these sentences, even if the subject and therefore the finite verb were to change (e.g. Der Vater wird seine Kinder nicht mehr sehen dürfen). In both English and German a sentence or clause (a clause being a string of words containing one finite verb) may contain only a finite verb or else a finite verb and one or more non-finite verbs. BUT whereas in English the finite and non-finite verbs will always be placed side by side, or almost side by side, near the front straight after the subject of the sentence in German the finite verb occurs near the beginning of the sentence but the non-finite verb(s) occur(s) at the end of the sentence. This is clearly illustrated in the above German sentences with their translations into English. The combination of finite and non-finite verbs in a sentence or clause is technically called the verb phrase. What we have said here so far about the German verb phrase applies only to a main or principal clause in a sentence. Later in the course we will encounter types of clause where the whole verb phrase comes at the end of the clause in German. Adjectives in the Noun Phrase German adjectives do not take endings when standing alone towards the end of the clause (technically: when in the predicate, hence they are called technically predicative adjectives), e.g. Diese Frauen sind jung und schön. However, adjectives do take endings when they are before the noun in a noun phrase (adverbs never do). Because such adjectives give some attribute of the noun, they are technically called attributive adjectives. (A noun phrase may be made up of: 1) just a noun (Frauen) OR 2) a determiner followed by a noun (diese Frauen) OR 3) one or more adjectives followed by a noun (schöne, junge Frauen) OR 4) a determiner followed by one or more adjectives followed in turn by a noun (diese schönen, jungen Frauen).) Sometimes the endings on attributive adjectives are the same as those of the determiners der, dieser etc., thus guter Wein . These are the so-called strong endings, because they can to some extent or other show the gender, number and case of the noun phrase (so the -er of guter tells us that the masculine word Wein here is in the nominative singular and so is the subject of the verb). However, if there is a determiner already at the beginning of the noun phrase with an ending on it, the adjective will be found to have only -e or -en as its ending, thus dieser gute Wein, where the -er of dieser tells us that Wein is nominative singular, so the adjective gut doesn’t need to, hence it has just the almost undifferentiated “grunt” ending -e. These two endings, -e and -en, are the so-called weak endings, because, as there are only the two, they can virtually not give any information about gender, number and case.

30 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010

E.g. Dieser Schriftsteller ist interessant. Er ist ein interessanter Schriftsteller. That writer is interesting. He’s an interesting writer. (NB Distinguish: Er ist ein interessanterer Schriftsteller - He is a more interesting writer.) Das ist der interessante Schriftsteller.. That’s the interesting writer. Ich mag interessante Schriftsteller. I like interesting writers. Ich mag nur die interessanten Schriftsteller Deutschlands. I like only the interesting writers of Germany.

The Pronoun man The pronoun man - often called the "indefinite pronoun" and corresponding to the pronoun one of educated English - can be translated in a number of ways. Thus: Man kann nur hoffen, daß er kommt. One can only hope that he comes. You can only hope that he comes. We can only hope that he comes. They can only hope that he comes. People can only hope that he comes. It can only be hoped that he comes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exercise 10 1. A: Welche antiken Städte waren Ihrer Meinung nach wirklich schön? Rom, zum Beispiel? B: Na, Rom war schon schön, doch schöner war bestimmt Korinth. A: Aber galt nicht Babylon als schöner als alle anderen Städte der Antike - wegen der berühmten

Gärten? Es gehörte doch zu den sieben Wundern der Welt. B: Das weiß ich. Aber Sie müssen zugeben: architekturmäßig war Korinth ganz gewiß schöner

als jede römische oder griechische Stadt. e Meinung - opinion; nach (postposition) - according to wirklich - real(ly); schon - 1) already 2) (followed later by aber or

doch) admittedly bestimmt - definite(ly); sicher = gewiß - sure(ly), certainly gelten (i, a) als - rate as; gehören - belong doch = aber - 1) but, however (at beginning of clause), 2) Implies: contrary to what you seem to think

(when unstressed within a clause), 3) after all (when stressed within a clause) zugeben (i, a) - admit, -mäßig - (here) with respect to, (cf. Eng. -wise); überhaupt - at all, in

general 2. Die Nachdrucke seiner Romane werden immer zahlreicher, aber auch teurer. r Nachdruck(-e) = r Reprint (-s); zahlreich - numerous; 2 Die Nachdrucke seiner Romane werden in stark sozialistischen Ländern sicher nicht erscheinen, ja

sie werden nicht erscheinen dürfen, denn sie sollen "ideologisch" zu konservativ sein. 3 Die kleine Fürstin mochte ihre junge Tante viel lieber als ihre alten Onkel.

e Fürstin (see the list of weak nouns in Unit 8) Guess Onkel and Tante. Unit 11 - The Superlative of the Adjective and Adverb When we are comparing more than two things or people we use the adjective in the superlative degree. Adjectives in the superlative degree in English are recognized by their ending in -st or being preceded by most. When more than two actions are being compared, the adverb is preceded by most.

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 31 E.g. She is the nicest girl I know. " " " healthiest " " " . " " " most healthy " " " . " " " most interesting " " " . Of all the writers I know she writes (the) most interestingly. In German all adjectives in the superlative degree are recognized by their ending in -st; some of them also have an umlaut on their stem vowel. E.g. Sie ist das netteste Mädchen, das ich kenne.

Sie ist das gesundeste OR gesündeste Mädchen, das ich kenne. " " " interessanteste " , " " " Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, Wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land? Can you recognize which fairy tale this comes from? Notice here how the superlative adjective is turned into a noun in text by using a capital letter. What might der Schönste mean? And das Schönste? Adjectives occurring in the predicate of the clause and adverbs in the superlative degree are encountered in the frame: am + (superlative form of adj. + -en) E.g. 1. Der Rhein ist bei Bingen am breitesten. The Rhine is broadest OR at its broadest at Bingen. 2. Von allen Sängerinnen der Welt sang sie am schönsten. Of all the (female) singers in the world she sang (the) most beautifully. The following irregular comparative and superlative forms are worth noting: gut - good, well besser - better best- - best viel - much mehr - more meist- - most wenig - little minder - less mindest- - least (OR weniger) (OR wenigst-) hoch - high höher - higher höchst- - highest gern - gladly lieber - preferably am liebsten - best of all The hyphen with best-, meist- etc. means that as adjectives they are not normally used without some case/number ending on them, e.g. Von allen Sängern ist er der beste. (NOT just best) Of all (the) singers he is best. Die meisten interessanten Werke seines Repertoires sind verloren. Most of the interesting works (of =) in his repertoire are lost. Seine meisten Werke sind verschollen. Most of his works are missing/lost. N.B. mehr before an adjective is not a sign of its being in the comparative degree, but means ‘rather’;

this sense can also be expressed by the word eher (originally a comparative form of the word ehe ‘before’)

E.g. 1. Sie ist mehr intelligent als schön. Sie ist eher intelligent als schön She is more/rather bright than beautiful. " " bright rather than " . 2. Ihre Schwester ist schön, aber sie selbst ist mehr/eher intelligent. Her sister is beautiful, but she herself is intelligent rather.

32 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 When it occurs as a word in its own right, meist means ‘mostly, for the most part’ and is not a sign that any following adjective or adverb is in the superlative degree; E.g. 1. Die meist interessanten Werke dieses Schriftstellers verkaufte man leicht. The mostly (OR for the most part) interesting works of that writer were easily sold. 2. Seine Artikel waren meist beeindruckend. His articles were mostly impressive. When it occurs as a word in its own right, höchst means ‘most’ in the sense of ‘extremely’ (synonym in German: äußerst), and no comparison is implied; E.g. 1. Seine höchst OR äußerst interessanten Werke . . . His most (i.e. extremely) interesting works . . . 2. Seine Artikel waren höchst (OR äußerst) beeindruckend. His articles were most impressive. Common adverbs ending in -ens based on the superlative are: meistens - mostly; höchstens - at most; wenigstens AND mindestens (also zumindest) - at least; frühestens - at the earliest; spätestens - at the latest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prepositions that take both the Accusative and the Dative The following nine prepositions take both the accusative and dative: an - on (a vertical surface), vor - in front of, before, ago against auf - on (a horizontal surface), hinter - behind upon in - in, into neben - next to, beside, along with über - above, over, across, about, via zwischen - between unter - under, among The two cases are, however, not used arbitrarily. If you see the accusative after one of these prepositions you know the reference is to the destination of the action, i.e. there is an answer to an implied question Where to? E.g. Die Armee des Königs marschierte in das Land seines Feindes. The king's army marched into the land of his enemy. If the dative occurs after one of these prepositions, you know the reference is to the area within which the action takes place, i.e. answering the implied question In what place? E.g. Die Armee des Königs verbrannte die Städte und ermordete die Menschen in dem Land seines

Feindes. The king's army burnt the towns and murdered the people in the land of his enemy. There are numerous figurative uses of these prepositions where the criteria of Where to? and In what place? cannot be applied. E.g. über in the sense of ‘about, on the subject of’ always occurs with the accusative, while vor in the sense of ‘ago’ always has the dative. E.g. Er schrieb immer am interessantesten über die Geschichte der frühchristlichen Kirche im

Morgenland. He always wrote most interestingly on OR about the history of the early Christian church in

the Orient. Die Priesterehe in der abendländischen Kirche verschwand ungefähr vor einem Jahrtausend

völlig.

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 33 Priestly marriage in the western church disappeared about a millennium ago completely.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exercise 11 Translate or draw a picture of the following: 1. Der Vogel fliegt über das Wasser. 2. Der Vogel fliegt über dem Wasser. 3. Das Kind rannte in das Haus (hinein). 4. Das Kind rannte in dem Haus (herum). 5. Der Lehrer schrieb die Namen in sein Buch. 6. Ihre Namen standen in seinem Buch. 7. Der Fisch schwamm unter dem Boot. 8. Der Fisch schwamm unter das Boot. 9. Der Redner sprach über dem wachsenden Lärm der Stimmen. 10. Der Redner sprach über den wachsenden Lärm der Industrie.

s Wasser (-) - water fliegen (ie., o) - fly r Vogel (¨) - bird lehren - teach r Fisch (-e) stehen (e, stand) - stand s Boot (-e) schwimmen (i, a) - swim, float r Redner (-) - orator, speaker reden - talk r Lärm - noise wachsen (ä, u) - grow (cf. Eng. wax) e Stimme (-n) - voice N.B. -d added to the infinitive of a verb produces an adjective in -end so equivalent to English

adjectives in -ing (technically called present participles) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit 12 - The Past Participle and the Compound Past Tenses So far we have met three tenses of the German verb: two simple tenses - the present and the simple past - thus tenses where the whole verb consists of only one word, and one compound tense, the future - thus a tense where the whole verb consists of more than one word, in which case we can speak of a verb complex. We now want to look at some further past tenses, but these are all compound tenses, though whereas the future tense consisted of a finite form of an auxiliary verb in combination with the verbid called the infinitive, the compound past tenses are made up of a finite form of an auxiliary and another verbid called the past participle. The past participle in German can mostly be found in one of the two following shapes: Prefix Stem Ending weak verbs: GE- + Verb stem + -T ge- mach -t gemacht (Eng. made) strong verbs: GE- + Verb stem + -EN (+ or - vowel change) ge- sung -en gesungen (Eng. sung) Because of this third possible vowel change, strong verbs will be given in vocabulary lists in the form: singen (i, a, u) = er singt, sang, gesungen fallen (ä, ie, a) = er fällt, fiel, gefallen ziehen (ie, zog, gezogen) = er zieht, … stehen (e, stand, gestanden) = er steht, … laufen (äu, ie, au) = er läuft, lief, gelaufen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

34 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 The Perfect Tense The perfect tense, the first we will learn that incorporates the past participle, can be recognised from its having the following form: present tense past participle of + (at end of clause) haben Although this means that a verb in the German perfect tense form, e.g. Ich habe die Arbeit oft gemacht, has the same shape as a verb in the English perfect tense, e.g. I have often done the work, and can mean the same, it can also have any of the meanings it would have if it were in the German simple past tense, i.e. I did the work, I used to do the work, I was doing the work. In other words, while the English simple past tense and perfect tense have a distinct difference in meaning, i.e. I often did the work (implication: I don't do it any more) and I have often done the work (implication: I still do it or may still go on doing it into the future) and would not usually be interchangeable, the German simple past tense and perfect tense are, to all intents and purposes, the same in meaning, i.e. Ich machte die Arbeit oft and Ich habe die Arbeit oft gemacht are virtually synonymous. The difference between these two German tenses is largely a stylistic one, for the simple past tense is mainly used for narration, i.e. recounting a series of events that occurred in the past, and the perfect tense is used in conversation, letter-writing etc., though in written German it can serve to indicate that an event is not merely part of narrative but has some more direct relevance to the overall argument in hand. E.g. "Pippin traf noch eine andere folgenreiche Entscheidung: auf Bitten des Papstes zog er über

die Alpen und schützte den Papst und den Kirchenstaat vor den Langobarden. Dies hat für alle seine Nachfolger wichtige Folgen gehabt."

"Pippin took yet another momentous decision: at the request of the Pope he marched across the Alps and protected the Pope and the ecclesiastical state from the Lombards. This had (not: has had) important consequences for all his successors."

The following illustrates a full set of possible meanings for the German perfect tense (with adverbs and prepositions often making clear which is meant): Er hat mir geholfen. He has helped me. He has been helping me. He helped me. He was helping me. He used to help me. He did help me. He would (often) help me = he used to help me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exercise 12 1. Wer hat meine Bücher gesehen? Ich habe sie in der Bibliothek gelassen, aber ich weiß nicht

mehr, wo sie sind. Hat jemand sie vielleicht vom Tisch genommen? 2. "Habt ihr meine Arbeit schon gemacht, oder sogar schon begonnen?" "Nein, natürlich nicht. Wir haben noch keine Zeit gehabt. Auch habe ich noch nicht alle

Probleme gelöst. Können wir nicht noch einen Tag haben?" In the first sentence here schon would usually be expressed in English as ‘yet’, rather than as ‘already’.

3. Wer hat achtzehnhundertsiebzig den Krieg zwischen Frankreich und Preußen gewonnen? 4. "Warum hat Gott vor fast zweitausend Jahren seinen Sohn in die Welt geschickt?" fragte der

Prediger. 5. Cäsar zog mit seinen Legionen über die Alpen nach Gallien. Dort kämpfte er lange mit den

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 35 keltischen Stämmen, aber endlich konnte er sie alle unterwerfen. Römische Garnisonen blieben im Land und errichteten erst Festungen, dann Städte. So hat Rom den ersten Teil seines Reiches außerhalb Italiens gegründet.

Vocabulary:

e Bibliothek (-en) - library lassen (ä, ie, a) - leave, let r Tisch (-e) - table nehmen (nimmt, a, genommen) - take Frankreich - France beginnen (i, a, o) - begin Preußen - Prussia lösen - solve e Welt (-en) - world unterwerfen (i, a, o) - subjugate r Prediger (-) - preacher errichten - erect r Stamm (ë) - tribe gründen - found e Garnison (-en) - garrison gewinnen (i, a, o) - win e Festung (-en)- fort, fortress vielleicht - perhaps e Stadt (ë) - town, city noch ein - another, an additional Gallien - Gaul erst - 1) first, 2) not until, only r Teil (-e) - part lange - for a long time s Reich (-e) - empire endlich - at last jemand - someone, anyone

6. Einführung in die deutsche Geschichte Die Germanen sind die Ahnen oder Vorfahren der germanischen Völker von heute. Zu den germanischen Völkern von heute rechnen wir: i. (erstens) Die Deutschen, darunter auch die Deutschsprachigen in Österreich und der Schweiz

usw.; die Friesen, die in Friesland, d.h. in Teilen der nördlichen Niederlande und Norddeutschlands wie auch auf Inseln vor der Nordseeküste leben; die Niederländer oder Holländer und die Engländer. Diese drei Gruppen nennt man die Nordseegermanen.

ii. (zweitens) Die Skandinavier, d. h. die Isländer, die Schweden, die Norweger, die Dänen und die

Faröer auf den Faröer-Inseln nördlich von Schottland zwischen Island und Schweden. Nicht aber die Finnen, die sind sprachlich Nichtgermanen. Die Skandinavier nennt man oft die Nordgermanen. iii. (drittens) Früher gab es eine dritte grosse Gruppe von germanischen Völkern, die Ostgermanen.

Zu ihnen rechnen wir die Goten - die Ostgoten oder Westgoten -, die Wandalen und die Burgunder u. a. Alle diese ostgermanischen Völker haben vor mehr als einem Jahrtausend aufgehört, als identifizierbare Völker in der Weltgeschichte zu existieren. NB es gibt - there is / there are

Wir rechnen die Sprachen aller drei Gruppen zu der germanischen Sprachfamilie. Diese Sprachfamilie zerfällt also in drei Hauptgruppen: Westgermanisch, Nordgermanisch und das ausgestorbene Ostgermanisch.

NB I, II, III = römisch eins, zwei, drei (großgeschrieben) i, ii, iii = römisch eins, zwei, drei (kleingeschrieben) 1, 2 3 = arabisch eins, zwei, drei

Try understanding the above passage without the help of a vocabulary list. (BUT note aufhören - to cease.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note the following fusions of prepositions with the article: am = an dem vom = von dem ans = an das vorm = vor dem im = in dem vors = vor das ins = in das zum = zu dem

36 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 zur = zu der ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Verbs whose Past Participles have no GE- From what has been said already in this unit about the form of the past participle it could be inferred that the past participle of any verb, weak or strong, is immediately recognisable by the ge- prefix it must have. There are, however, quite a lot of verbs that for rhythmic reasons do not add a ge- prefixed to their past participles. These are all verbs that do not have the stress on the first syllable and they fall into three groups. 1. Verbs whose infinitive form ends in -ieren. E.g. Den Terminus "demokratische Diktatur" hat der Verfasser ungenügend definiert. The author has defined the term "democratic dictatorship" inadequately. Most verbs ending in -ieren are of foreign origin. 2. Verbs whose infinitive form begins with an inseparable prefix. There are a number of prefixes that can occur on a verb that change the meaning of the simple verb

to a greater or lesser extent. These prefixes are inseparable from the verb and are always unstressed. (There are analogues of them in English, e.g. What fell on him? vs. What befell him? / I can't get it. vs. I can forget it.) The most common of theses inseparable prefixes are:

BE- e.g. bekommen (o, a, o) - to receive, get. Der Führer hat einen Brief bekommen. The leader received a letter. ENT- e.g. entwickeln - to develop Seinen Stil als Maler hat er erst spät entwickelt. He only belatedly developed his style as a painter. EMP- e.g. empfangen (ä, i, a) - to receive Der König hat die Gesandten nicht empfangen. The king did not receive the envoys. GE- e.g. gebrauchen - use

Das Wort "Glaube" hat er in seinen Schriften oft gebraucht. He has often used the word "faith" in his writings.

The fact that ge- functions both as a prefix in its own right and as the past participle prefix means that there will be times when a past participle will be ambiguous as to its deriving from the simple verb or from the ge- verb, and this is in fact the case in the example above, where gebraucht could potentially derive from brauchen ‘to need’, so that the sentence could be interpreted as: He has often needed the word "faith" in his writings. The general sense makes it likely, however, that ‘used’ is the better reading. Thus we often have to rely on context for our interpretation. Sometimes grammatical considerations will disambiguate the sentence for us.

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 37 E.g. hören (+ acc.) - to hear Das Kind hat ihn nicht gehört. The child did not hear him. gehören (+ dat.) - to belong to Das Kind hat ihm nicht gehört. The child did not belong to him. ER- e.g. eröffnen - to open

Man hat kürzlich ein neues Institut für orientalische OR morgenländische Sprachen eröffnet. A new institute of oriental languages has recently been opened.

VER- e.g. verfolgen - to pursue, persecute.

Die Nazis haben ihre Politik der Ausrottung der Juden aufs grausamste verfolgt. The Nazis pursued their policy of the extermination of the Jews in the cruellest way

possible. (OR most cruelly). Die Nazis haben außer den Juden auch die Zigeuner verfolgt.

The Nazis persecuted besides the Jews also the Gypsies.

ZER- e.g. zerstören - to destroy Die Germanen haben das weströmische Reich im fünften Jahrhundert n.Chr. (= nach

Christus) zerstört. The Teutons destroyed the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. MIß- e.g. mißbrauchen - to misuse, abuse In seinem Buch hat er die Folgerungen anderer Forscher mißbraucht. In his book he has misused other researcher' deductions. Note some of the ways these prefixes can alter the meaning of a basic verb: kennen - to know bekennen - to confess erkennen - to recognise verkennen - to fail to recognise

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pluperfect Tense The pluperfect tense (i.e. the "more than perfect" tense) is another compound past tense made up on the basic pattern of the perfect. It corresponds almost exactly in meaning to its English counterpart and can be recognised from its being based on the formula: past tense past participle of + (at end of clause) haben (hatte etc.)

Eg. 1. Ich riet ihm, den Aufsatz zu lesen, aber er hatte ihn schon gelesen. I advised him to read the essay, but he had already read it. 2. Das hatten die Griechen schon vor den Römern erkannt. The Greeks had already recognised/realised that before the Romans.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unit 13 - Verbs taking sein in the compound past tenses There is an old English - technically Middle English (i.e. Chaucer's language) - folksong that opens with the line: Sumer is icumen in.

38 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 Most speakers of modern English would assume that this line is to be read as: "Summer is acoming in", but it does not mean that, it means literally: “Summer is come in” or, as we would say nowadays: “Summer has come in”. In Middle English most verbs formed their perfect tense forms with the auxiliary verb have, as is normal to-day, but others used the verb be as their auxiliary. This latter practice is still quite normal in Elizabethan English and accounts for sentences in the 1611 Authorised (King James) Version of the Bible like "When Jesus was come into Samaria . . . ", "He is risen." etc., where we would say "had come", "has risen" and so on. This use of be as a perfect and pluperfect tense auxiliary survived in English into the late 18th or even early 19th century but is now completely obsolete. In German, however, intransitive verbs signifying a change of place or a change of state have sein as their auxiliary in the compound past tenses. Examples: Perfect tense - erscheinen (ei, ie, ie) - to appear Sein neuestes Werk ist dieses Jahr erschienen. His newest work appeared this year. (NOT: is appearing!!!!) fliegen (ie, o, o) - to fly Die amerikanischen Truppen sind schon in den Mittelosten geflogen. The American troops have already flown to the Middle East (NOT: are flying!!!). Pluperfect tense - sterben (i, a, o) - to die Wir sind so schnell wie möglich marschiert, aber die Geiseln waren alle schon gestorben. We marched as quickly as possible, but the hostages had all died already. The important thing for readers to remember here is that forms like ist ... erschienen, sind ... geflogen, sind ... marschiert MUST NOT be read as "is appearing", "are flying", "are marching" etc. - meanings that can only be conveyed by the present tense form in German - and a form like waren ... gestorben cannot mean "were dying", for which German would normally use the simple past tense (though in spoken German the perfect might be used, but definitely not this pluperfect tense form). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Separable Prefixes We have already seen that German simple verbs can undergo a change of meaning if they have one of the inseparable prefixes attached to them; they thereby in fact become different verbs and have to be looked up in the dictionary according to their prefixed form, i.e. under bekommen, not kommen, under empfangen, not fangen, etc. There are other prefixes, too, that change the meaning of the simple verb to some degree or other, the so called separable prefixes. The separable prefixes are really kinds of adverb that are by convention written together with the simple verb as one word: 1. in the infinitive (i.e. dictionary) form, 2. in the past participle (also the present participle ending in -end [= Eng. -ing], often used as an adjective as in the sentence under ENTGEGEN below), and

3. whenever the finite verb occurs at the end of its clause or sentence. (This last phenomenon will be dealt with in more detail in a later unit.)

Where, however, the verb is in second position in its clause, the separable prefix occurs alone at the end of the clause. Examples:

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 39

1. infinitive (or dictionary) form: ansehen - to look at, regard 2. past participle: angesehen - looked at, regarded (as adj. = ‘respected’)

Sentence examples:

1. Die Leute wollten dieses Kunstwerk ansehen. The people wanted to look at this work of art. 2.(a) Sie haben dieses Kunstwerk gern angesehen. They liked looking at this work of art. (literally: They looked gladly at this work of art.) (b) Die Mona Lisa ist ein sehr angesehenes Kunstwerk. The Mona Lisa is a very well regarded work of art. 3. Die Leute waren erstaunt, als sie das Kunstwerk ansahen. The people were astonished when they looked at the work of art. 4. Das neue Kunstwerk ansehend, waren die Leute ganz erstaunt. Looking at the new artwork the people were quite astonished.

BUT 5. Die Leute sahen sein Werk mit Erstaunuen an. The people looked at his work in astonishment. The people regarded his work with astonishment. 6. Wir sehen seine Werke immer mit Vergnügen an. We always look at his works with pleasure.

The implications of this are: a. You cannot be certain what the full verb in a clause or sentence is until you have reached

the end and seen whether or not there is a separable prefix there; b. if the verb has a separable prefix, you must look the verb up in a dictionary alphabetically

under the prefix, not under the simple verb, e.g. in Er blickte sie erstaunt an (= er sah sie erstaunt an) look the meaning up under anblicken, not just blicken.

The commonest separable prefixes are: AB- e.g. ablehnen - to refuse Man lehnte sein Angebot ab. His offer was refused. (literaly: One refused his offer.) AN- e.g. anbieten (ie, o, o) - to offer. Er bot dem Institut seine Hilfe an. He offered the institute his help. AUF- e.g. aufhören - to cease Die Kritik an ihm hörte bald auf. The criticism of him soon ceased. AUS- e.g. aussetzen - 1) (intransitive) to cease Die Musik setzte plötzlich aus. The music suddenly ceased. 2) (transitive) to expose

Napoleon setzte seine Armee der Härte des russischen Winters aus. Napoleon exposed his army to the rigour of the Russian winter.

BEI- e.g. beiwohnen (+ dat.) - to attend (can also mean: ‘to cohabit’ with someone). Er hat der Erstaufführung seines neuen Stückes nicht beigewohnt.

40 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 He did not attend the premiere (literally: ‘first performance’) of his new play. EIN- e.g. einsetzen - 1) (intrans.) to begin Die Musik setzte ebenso plötzlich wieder ein. The music began again just as suddenly. 2) (trans.) to insert Welches Wort soll man hier einsetzen? Which word is one to insert here? ENTGEGEN- e.g. entgegenkommen - to come towards, come to meet. Ein kleines Mädchen kam dem Führer mit einem Blumenstrauß entgegen. A little girl came towards the Führer with a bunch of flowers. Er war schon immer ein sehr entgegenkommender Mann. He has always been a very accommodating man. (Here entgegenkommend is a present participle.) FORT- e.g. fortfahren - 1) to drive away (where fort = weg) Er verließ das Haus und fuhr fort. He left the house and drove away. 2) to continue Nach einer kurzen Pause fuhr sie mit ihrer Lektüre fort. After a short pause she continued with her reading. HER- e.g. herstellen - to produce Das Pergament stellte man aus Kalbshäuten her. They made parchment out of claf skins. (especially common when combined with other prefixes) e.g. herauskommen - to come out(side), be published Wann kommt Ihr nächstes Buch heraus? When is your next book coming out? HIN- e.g. hinstellen - to put down (in front of you) Stellen Sie bitte Ihre Bücher hier hin. Please put your books down here. (also especially common when combined with other prefixes) e.g. hinausschicken - to send out(side) Er schickte alle seine Kinder in die weite Welt hinaus. He sent all his children out into the wide world. LOS- e.g. loswerden - to get rid of Endlich sind wir die vielen Probleme losgeworden. At last we have got rid of the many problems. MIT- e.g. mitteilen - to communicate, pass on Seine Folgerungen hat er in einem Zeitungsartikel mitgeteilt. He communicated his deductions in a newspaper article. NACH- e.g. nachschlagen (ä, u, a) - to check (in reference book) Die Tatsachen kann man in jeder Enzyklopädie nachschlagen. The facts can be checked in any encyclopaedia. VOR- e.g. vorkommen - 1) to happen, occur, So etwas war noch nie vorgekommen. Such a thing had never yet happened. 2) to seem Seine neuesten Schlüsse kommen mir verdächtig vor. His latest conclusions seem suspicious to me. WEG- e.g. wegräumen - to clear away Das Erscheinen seiner neuesten Studie räumt mit Bestimmtheit die

Mißverständnisse früherer Forscher-generationen weg.

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 41 The appearance of his latest study will certainly clear away the

misunderstandings of earlier generations of researchers. WEITER- e.g. weiterlesen - to read on, continue reading Wenn wir weiterlesen, begegnen wir weiteren Mängeln. When we read on we encounter further shortcomings. ZU- e.g. zumachen - to close, shut Den Eingang des Grabes machten die Priester mit einer riesigen Steinplatte zu. The priests closed the entrance of the grave with a gigantic stone slab.

ZURÜCK- e.g. zurückgehen - to go back, return Die heutigen Dialektgrenzen der deutschsprachigen Länder gehen teilweise auf

die alten Stammesgrenzen zurück. The present-day dialect boundaries of the German-speaking countries go back

partly to the old tribal boundaries. ZUSAMMEN- e.g. zusammenstellen - to put together Wir wollen zuerst ein Verzeichnis der wichtigsten Daten zusammenstellen. We firstly want to put together a catalogue of the most important data. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

N.B. Whereas past participles of inseparable prefix verbs were not readily identifiable because they lacked the ge- prefix, those of separable prefix verbs are more readily identifiable because of their having the ge- "infixed" between the separable prefix and the past participle stem, e.g. beigewohnt, losgeworden in the sentences above.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The zu Infinitive In English a few verbs are always found followed by another verb in its simple infinitive, i.e. its dictionary form, e.g. He will come tomorrow, but most will have a following infinitive preceded by the meaningless little word to, e.g. He wants to come tomorrow. (It is no more possible to say *He wants come tomorrow than it is to say *He will to come tomorrow. (The asterisk here is a technical way of showing that the sentence is ungrammatical.) Similarly, in German a few verbs are normally followed merely by the dictionary or simple infinitive form of another verb, e.g. the modals, where, as we have seen, this simple infinitive is typically found at the end of the clause. Thus: Er will den Versuch selbst machen. He wants to make the attempt himself. Most verbs are, however, followed by an infinitive preceded by the little word zu, the so-called zu infinitive, e.g. Er wünscht den Versuch selbst zu machen. He wishes to make the attempt himself. N.B. In the case of separable prefix verbs the zu is found "infixed" between the prefix and the infinitive form of the simple verb (cf. the infixing of the ge- of the past participle). Inseparable prefix verbs are like any non-prefixed verb in respect of the zu infinitive form. E.g. Er wünscht das ganze Experiment selbst zu verrichten. " " " " " " auszuführen. He wishes to carry out the whole experiment himself. Except in the case of a very few verbs (wünschen - to wish, brauchen - to need, scheinen - to seem) the main verb and the elements belonging to it are separated off from the zu infinitive and the elements belonging with it by a comma, though the spelling reform of 1996 has made this comma optional unless ambiguity threatens (and it is not always found in 19th century German texts either).

42 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 E.g. 1. Er versuchte, jeden Tag an seiner Dissertation zu arbeiten, aber ab und zu mußte er einen

freien Tag haben. He tried to work on his thesis every day, but now and then he had to have a free day. 2. Er versuchte jeden Tag, an seiner Dissertation zu arbeiten, aber er konnte nie eine einzige

Seite schreiben. He tried every day to work on his thesis, but he was never able to write a single page. Not only verbs, but also adjectives and nouns can be followed by a zu infinitive, though English will often express the equivalent meaning by an of . . . ing construction, rather than by an infinitive construction. E.g. Er ist bereit, uns jederzeit zu helfen. He is ready/willing to help us anytime. Er ist es müde, uns immer wieder helfen zu müssen. He is tired of having to help us again and again. Er sprach seine Bereitwilligkeit aus, uns zu helfen. He expressed his willingness/readiness to help us. Die Kunst, anderen zu helfen, ist leicht zu erlernen. The art of helping others is easy to learn. There are also three prepositions that are used with a zu infinitive: 1. um . . . zu (+ infin.) - in order to E.g. Ich bin gekommen, um Ihnen zu helfen. I have come (in order) to help you. 2. ohne . . . zu - without . . . ing Er verschwand, ohne uns zu helfen. He disappeared without helping us. 3. statt OR anstatt . . . zu - instead of . . . ing Er half den anderen, statt OR anstatt uns zu helfen. He helped the others instead of helping us. Exercise 13 1. Alles hängt von den Verhandlungen mit den feindlichen Streitkräften ab. abhängen (ä, i, a) von - depend on feindlich - hostile e Verhandlung (-en) - negotiation e Streitkraft (ë) - (military) force 2. Wie kann man die Sache anders auffassen? e Sache (-n) - thing, matter auffassen - conceive of anders - otherwise, differently 3. Die ganze Lage sieht immer gefährlicher aus. e Lage (-n) - situation gefährlich - dangerous aussehen (ie, a, e) - seem, appear 4. Trotz seines großen Interesses für die Arbeit hat er nur sehr wenig zu ihrer Ausführung

beigetragen. s Interesse (-n) - interest beitragen (ä, u, a) - contribute e Ausführung (-en) - carrying out, execution 5. Er ist meinen Wünschen nur halbwegs entgegengekommen. r Wunsch (ë) - wish halbwegs - halfway

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 43 6. Die Wissenschaftler des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts setzten diese Methode fort; erst die Forscher

unseres Jahrhunderts haben eine neue Methode angewandt/angewendet. r Wissenschaftler (-) - scientist, scholar s Jahrhundert (-e) - century erst - not before, only fortsetzen - continue anwenden - apply, use ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIT 14 - DER, DIE, DAS in adjectival clauses Early on in this course we have encountered the forms der, die, das etc. in three different senses: 1. as the definite article, i.e. in the sense of ‘the’; 2. when stressed before a noun or noun phrase, as a “demonstrative adjective”, i.e. in the sense

of ‘that’ (= dieser); and 3. when stressed and not part of a noun phrase, as equivalent to the stressed form of er, sie, es

etc., i.e. in the sense of ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ etc. But these forms have a fourth function in German, namely as a relative pronoun. Sometimes a whole clause may be used to describe a noun in much the same way as an adjective is. Whereas such a clause can be recognised in English by its being introduced by who(m)/whose, which or that, in German such a clause - called an adjectival clause or a relative clause, relating as it does to the noun - is recognised by two features:

(a) it is introduced by der, die, das etc. following a comma (sometimes by welcher with its various endings instead), and

(b) by the fact that the finite verb is located not in first or second position, but at the end of

the clause. E.g. 1.(a) Ein sehr starker Mann half uns bei der Arbeit. A very strong man helped us with the work. (b) Ein Mann, der sehr stark war, half uns bei der Arbeit. A man who was very strong helped us with the work. 2.(a) Meine verwitwete Schwester wohnt jetzt bei uns. My widowed sister now lives with us. (b) Meine Schwester, die ihren Mann durch den Tod verloren hat und also Witwe ist, wohnt

jetzt bei uns. My sister, who lost her husband through death and (who) is therefore a widow, now

lives with us. When used either as a relative pronoun in an adjectival clause or as a stressed pronoun (3rd use above), the genitive singular or plural form and the dative plural form will differ slightly from the equivalent form in uses 1 and 2 above by having an extra -(s)en. These forms are thus even more easily recognised than the rest. The full relative pronoun/stressed pronoun paradigm is as follows: M F N Pl. Nom. der die das die Acc. den die das die Gen. DESSEN DEREN DESSEN DEREN Dat. dem der dem DENEN (NB The pronoun deren may occasionally be found in the form derer) E.g. 3. Meine Schwester, deren Mann gestorben ist, wohnt jetzt bei uns. My sister, whose husband has died, now lives with us.

44 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 4. Mein Bruder, dessen Frau gestorben ist, wohnt jetzt bei uns. 5. Die Studenten, denen ich je eine Kopie des Gedichts gegeben habe, haben sie nicht

mehr gebraucht. The students to whom I gave a copy each of the poem no longer needed it. As a rule of thumb (German: eine Faustregel, literally ‘fist rule’) dessen or deren following a comma can be read as ‘whose’ if the verb is at the end of the clause (though sometimes it may turn out to be the stressed pronoun, so dessen would be ‘his’ or ‘its’, deren ‘her’, ‘its’, or ‘their’ if the verb is not at the end of the clause). In written English we distinguish by means of commas between two types of adjectival or relative clause: the defining, or restrictive, relative clause and the non-defining, or non-restrictive, relative clause. The defining or restrictive relative clause gives defining information about the noun it refers back to and is not surrounded (or bracketed) by commas. E.g.

1. There were two men in the room and the man who was standing by the door suddenly laughed out loudly.

Here the relative clause defines one of the two men and is restricted to him; if this clause were left out the sentence would not make sense, thus: *There were two men in the room and the man suddenly laughed out loudly. The non-defining or non-restrictive relative clause only gives non-essential, additional information and is surrounded, or bracketed, by commas. E.g.

2. There were a man and a woman in the room and the man, who was standing by the door, suddenly laughed out loudly.

Here the relative clause does not define the man, but just gives incidental information about him and could be omitted without the sentence losing its essential meaning, thus: There were a man and a woman in the room and the man suddenly laughed out loudly. In German, on the other hand, there is a fixed rule that all clauses are separated off from each other by commas, so there are always commas around both defining and non-defining relative clauses. As a result, they are not always readily differentiable except maybe through context. The above two sentences would go in German respectively:

Es waren im Zimmer zwei Männer. Der Mann, der an der Tür stand, lachte plötzlich laut auf. and

Es waren im Zimmer ein Mann und eine Frau. Der Mann, der an der Tür stand, lachte plötzlich laut auf.

However, sometimes the non-defining type can be expressed and so recognised by the verb being not at the end of the clause, but in second position within it such that it actually has main clause structure, thus:

Es waren im Zimmer ein Mann und eine Frau. Der Mann, der stand an der Tür, lachte plötzlich laut auf.

(Cf. also sentences 3 andd 4 in Exercise 14A below.) Incidentally, the rule about commas marking clauses off from one another is very useful to people learning to read German, since the verb in true relative clauses will almost always be found at the next comma or other punctuation mark (full stop, semicolon, colon or else und, which can function like a comma when joining two clauses). Exercise 14A 1. Adolf heißt der Führer, der die Königin liebt, aber der ist auch der Mann, den der König töten

will. (N.B. how important the case form is for getting the correct meaning of these adjectival clauses

in German, whereas in English it is verb position that decides the issue.) 2. Adolf ist der Mensch, der den König töten will. 3. Er war ein Diktator, dessen Volk sehr unglücklich war, denn es hatte gar keine Freiheit mehr.

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 45 4 Er war ein Diktator, dessen Volk war sehr unglücklich, denn es hatte gar keine Freiheit mehr. 5. Die Leute, denen die Politiker am besten dienen, sind jene Leute, die ihnen Treue schenken. 6. Die Forscherin, deren Artikel in dem letzten Heft der Zeitschrift steht, ist die Tochter eines

berühmten Archäologen. s Heft (-e) - exercise book, issue (of journal) berühmt - famous, renowned 7. Die Forscher, deren Artikel in diesem Heft der Zeitschrift gedruckt sind, sollen entweder

Archäologen oder Historiker sein. drucken - to print entweder . . . oder - either . . . or r Historiker (= r Geschichtler) - historian. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Reflexive Pronoun and Reflexive Verbs When the undergoer of an action is also the doer of that action English adds -self to the object pronoun, which is called the reflexive pronoun, because it “reflects” or “bends back” to the subject. E.g. 1.(a) I1 see myself1 in the mirror. vs (b) She1 sees me2 in the mirror. 2.(a) She1 sees herself1 in the mirror. vs (b) She1 sees her2 in the mirror. German does not make any distinction between ordinary object pronouns and reflexive pronouns except in the 3rd person forms, where, to avoid ambiguity, sich is used for all three genders in both the singular and the plural of the accusative and dative. Thus: 1.(a) Ich1 sehe mich1 im Spiegel. (b) Sie1 sieht mich2 im Spiegel. 2.(a) Sie1 sieht sich1 im Spiegel. / Sie1 sehen sich1 im Spiegel. Er1 sieht sich1 im Spiegel. Es1 sieht sich1 im Spiegel. versus. (b) Sie1 sieht sie2 im Spiegel. / Sie1 sehen sie2 im Spiegel. Er1 sieht ihn2 im Spiegel. Es1 sieht es2 im Spiegel. (Das Kind1 sieht das Buch2 im Spiegel. 3.(a) Sie1 kauft sich1 etwas. / Sie1 kaufen sich1 etwas. Er1 kauft sich1 etwas. Es1 kauft sich1 etwas. versus. (b) Sie1 kauft ihr2 etwas. / Sie1 kaufen ihnen2 etwas. Er1 kauft ihm2 etwas. Es1 kauft ihm2 etwas. (Das Mädchen1 kauft dem Kind2 etwas.)

46 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 All the above examples of the reflexive pronoun in German involve what we might call “literal uses”, i.e. English will also use a reflexive pronoun in the corresponding translations, e.g. ‘She sees herself in the mirror’, ‘They buy themselves something’, and so on. But of probably greater importance in reading expository German are reflexive verbs whose English equivalents do not involve the use of reflexive pronouns. Some useful reflexive verbs of this type are (with strong verb vowel changes): sich befinden (i, a) - to be situated s. entscheiden (ei, ie) - to decide (between alternatives) s. entschließen (ie, o) - to decide (firmly), resolve s. ändern - to change, alter (= ‘anders werden’) s. anstrengen - to make an effort, endeavour s. ereignen - to occur, take place s. erinnern an (+ acc.) - to remember (erinnern an - to remind of) s. freuen auf (+ acc.) - to look forward to s. freuen über (+ acc.) - be glad about, rejoice at s. freuen an (+ dat.) - take pleasure in, delight in (freuen - to please, delight) s. erholen - to recover (from illness etc.) s. (dat.) vorstellen - to imagine (voluntarily) versus s. (acc.) vorstellen - to introduce oneself s. (dat.) einbilden - to imagine (involuntarily or irrationally) s. weigern - to refuse Exercise 14B 1. Durch seine vielen Ausbrüche des Zorns machte sich der König bald krank. r Ausbruch (ë) - outburst r Zorn - anger krank - sick, ill 2. "Du machst dich durch deine Zornausbrüche bald krank," warnte ihn die Königin. "Und du

wirst dir sicher auch andere Schwierigkeiten verursachen." sicher - certain(ly), sure(ly) e Schwierigkeit = s Problem (schwierig - difficult) verursachen - to cause (e Ursache (-n) - cause) 3. Nach drei Tagen befand sich die Armee in einer schwierigen Lage. 4. Der Führer bildete sich ein, daß das ganze Volk ihn liebte, aber es liebte ihn sicher nicht. 5. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, wie die Königin ihn lieben konnte. 6. Die schlimme Lage ändert sich gewiß nicht bald. schlimm - bad, serious; gewiß = ‘sicher’ 7. Die Männer erinnerten ihren Führer an den Zorn des Königs und weigerten sich, einen Schritt

weiterzugehen, aber jener erinnerte sich nur an seine geliebte Freundin, die Königin und freute sich auf den baldigen Kampf mit den Anhängern ihres Ehemannes, der sie in seiner Festung gefangen hielt.

r Schritt (-e) - step, pace baldig - (Have a guess!) r Anhänger (-) - adherent e Festung - fortress fangen (ä, i, a) - to catch, capture; r Ehemann (ër) - husband (e Ehe (-n) - marriage) 8. Dieses Volk kann sich weder für Krieg noch für Frieden entscheiden: es freut sich an keinem

von beiden. Es strengt sich an, unter anderen Völkern Uneinigkeit zu stiften, ohne sich selbst an den Auseinandersetzungen zu beteiligen, die sich aus seiner Einmischung ergeben.

weder . . . noch . . . - neither . . . nor . . . r Friede(n) - peace e Uneinigkeit - dissension stiften = verursachen e Auseinandersetzung - dispute s. beteiligen an (+ dat.) - take part in, participate in e Einmischung - meddling, involvement

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 47 (s. einmischen - to meddle (mischen - to mix)) s. ergeben - to result (s Ergebnis (-se) - result) 9. In diesem Land ereignet sich nichts; ich habe mich also entschlossen, nach Australien

auszuwandern. Ich bin darüberhinaus seit dem Winter ziemlich krank und kann mich dort gut erholen.

auswandern = emigrieren ziemlich - fairly, rather darüberhinaus - over and above that, moreover NB With the preposition seit ‘since’ German uses the present tense, as the action/condition is still

going on, whereas English would use the perfect tense. 10. Nach meiner Erholung freue ich mich über die Gelegenheit, mich wieder betätigen zu können,

aber ich darf mich nicht überanstrengen, sagt mein Arzt. e Erholung - (Have a guess!) e Gelegenheit - opportunity s. betätigen - get active (tätig - active (e Tat (-en) - deed)) s. überanstrengen - (Have another guess!) r Arzt (ë) - doctor

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pronouns SELBST and SELBER 1. These two pronouns have the following meaning: emphatic pronoun: myself, himself, etc. e.g. Er schreibt alles selbst OR selber. He writes everything himself. Ich selbst OR selber glaube alles, was sie sagen. I myself believe everything that they say. reflexive + emphatic: e.g. Ich helfe mir selbst. I help mysélf. Er hilft sich immer selbst OR selber. He always helps himsélf. (Sentence 8 in the above exercise furnishes a further example.) 2. NOTE how the position of selbst affects its meaning: (a) following a noun or another pronoun = emphatic pronoun: ‘-self’ Der Mann selbst macht die Hausarbeit. The man himself does the housework. Er selbst . . . - He himself . . . (b) before a noun or another pronoun = ‘even’ (= Ger. sogar) Selbst der Mann macht die Hausarbeit. Even the husband does the housework. Selbst er . . . - Even he . . . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIT 15 - Other Non-Principal Clauses In the previous unit we saw that adjectival or relative clauses provide additional information about something or someone involved in the main statement contained in the main or principal clause of the sentence. Clauses whose function is subordinate to that of the main or principal clause are called non-principal clauses or, in German grammar more frequently, subordinate clauses, as they are grammatically subordinate to the main or principal clause. The adjectival clause is only one of three

48 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 main types of subordinate clause in German. The other two are as follows. 3. In Unit 6 we saw that the verb followed immediately after one of the interrogative or w- words

that are used to introduce a question requiring some piece of information as the answer (who? what? where? why? etc.) rather than just yes or no. But this is only the case where a question is being directly asked, i.e. in the case of a direct question (e.g. What did the Romans think of the Greeks? - Was dachten die Römer von den Griechen?). If, on the other hand, the question is being referred to only indirectly, i.e. it is an indirect question introduced by some phrase like “I wonder…”/”We don’t know…”, then in the German clause introduced by the w-word you will find the finite verb at the end at the end of the(subordinate) clause, e.g.

Ich möchte gern wissen, was die Römer von den Griechen dachten. (literally: I would like to know….) I wonder what the Romans thought of the Greeks. Man weiß nicht, was die Römer von den Griechen dachten. (literally: One does not know…) We do not know OR It is not known what the Romans thought of the Greeks.

Further examples are:

Wo befand sich damals die Hauptstadt des Landes? (lit.: Where found itself…)

Where was the capital of the country (situated) at that time? Man fragt sich, wo sich damals die Hauptstadt des Landes befand. (lit,: One asks onself…) One wonders where the capital of the country was (situated) at that time. Man weiß nicht, wo sich damals die Hauptstadt des Landes befand. The same will apply, then, to the other w-words: was, wer, wann, warum, weshalb, weswegen, wieso, wie, wieviel(e), wo, wohin, woher and welcher. At this point we may note that where we would perhaps expect German to use a preposition before was in asking some kinds of questions, e.g. With what did they threaten him? - Mit was haben sie ihm gedroht? and we do find this in German texts; however, expository German tends to do what older English did and to say the equivalent of where- + preposition, i.e. Wherewith did they threaten him? - Womit haben sie ihm gedroht? So, in German this will be wo- + preposition or, if the preposition begins with a vowel, wor- + preposition (worin, woraus etc.), to make the pronunciation a little easier. E.g. Womit drohten die Römer damals ihren Feinden? What did the Romans threaten their enemies with at that time. (lit. wherewith) Man weiß nicht, womit die Römer damals ihren Feinden drohten. Worauf bezieht sich das Wort "damals" in seinem Text? To what does the word damals refer in his text?

NB sich beziehen auf (+ acc.) - to refer to Man kann nicht sagen, worauf sich das Wort damals in seinem Text bezieht. In Unit 6 we saw that yes/no questions had their verb in first position. Again, that only applies when they are direct questions. In indirect questions the yes/no question is recognised by its being introduced by the German word ob (= ‘whether, if’) with the finite verb occurring in final position. E.g.

Bedrohten die Römer ihre Feinde tatsächlich? Did the Romans actually threaten their enemies? Man weiß nicht, ob die Römer ihre Feinde tatsächlich bedrohten. It is not known whether (OR if) the Romans actually threatened their enemies.

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 49 NB both drohen (+ dat.) and bedrohen (+ acc.) mean ‘to threaten’.

2. There is a set of other words that typically introduce subordinate clauses; these words are usually called subordinating conjunctions, because they join or “conjoin” the subordinate clause with the principal clause. Just as the adjectival clause functions like an adjective, so these subordinating conjunctions introduce clauses which function either like an adverb, i.e. as an adverbial clause giving information about when, why etc. the main action occurred, or as a noun clause. As in the case of the other subordinate clauses, the finite verb is located at the end. E.g. 1. Adverbs vs. adverbial clause (a) Adverbial phrase of time (answering the potential question: When?):

Am Ende des Krieges im Osten zogen die Soldaten in die Heimat zurück. At the end of the war in the east the soldiers moved back to their homeland.

Adverbial clause of time (answering the potential question: When?): Als der Krieg im Osten endete, zogen die Soldaten in die Heimat zurück. (b) Adverbial phrase of reason (wegen…) + one of time (nach…)

Wegen seiner tiefen Depression versuchte er nach seiner Rückkehr von Europa, Selbstmord zu begehen.

Because of his deep depression he tried after his return from Europe to commit suicide (lit.: ‘self murder’).

Adverbial clause of reason (weil…) + one of time (nachdem…)

Weil er tief deprimiert war, versuchte er, nachdem er von Europa zurückgekehrt war, Selbstmord zu begehen.

2. Noun vs. noun clause

Just as nouns can be the subject or object of a verb, so can a noun clause. Most noun clauses are introduced by the conjunction daß / dass, but they can also be introduced by w-words such as was, wer.

Die Sprache der Lutherbibel bildet die Grundlage der heutigen deutschen Schriftsprache. Diese Tatsache ist allgemein anerkannt. (the noun phrase here is the subject of ist) OR Man kann diese Tatsache nicht leugnen. (the noun phrase here is the object leugnen ‘to deny’) The language of the Luther Bible constitutes the basis of the German written language of today. This fact is generally acknowledged. OR One cannot deny this fact. Daß die Sprache der Lutherbibel die Grundlage der heutigen deutschen Schriftsprache bildet, ist allgemein anerkannt. (the whole noun clause Daß…bildet is the subject of ist) OR Man kann nicht leugnen, daß . . . . bildet.(the whole noun clause daß…bildet is the object of leugnen) When the word wer begins a noun clause with the verb at the end it means ‘whoever’. Contrast: Wer leugnet diese Tatsache? - Who denies this fact? (direct question) And Wer diese Tatsachen leugnet, ist kein echter Wissenschaftler. Whoever denies these facts is no genuine scholar / scientist. (Here, of course, the noun clause Wer…leugnet is the subject of ist.)

The following is a fairly exhaustive list of these subordinating conjunctions: als - when, as (time) obgleich )

als ob / als wenn - as if obwohl ) - although bevor ) before obschon ) ehe ) (cf. older English ere = ‘before’) bis - until, by the time that seit OR seitdem - since (time)

da - as, since (reason) so daß - with the result that, so that damit - in order that, so that während - while (time), whereas

50 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 daß - that weil - because falls - in the case that, if sobald - as soon as nachdem - after wenn - when(ever), if ob - whether, if wenngleich - although je nachdem, ob - according to whether, depending on whether wie - as (time OR manner) zumal - especially as Note that daß can combine with prepositions and other words to produce further subordinating conjunctions. E.g. (a) Die Kelten schlichen sich ins Lager, ohne daß die Römer sie hörten. The Celts slipped into the camp without the Romans' hearing them.

(lit.: …without that the Romans heard them.) (b) Anstatt dass OR statt daß England und Frankreich sich mit der Sowjetunion verbündeten,

schloß erstaunlicherweise der Nationalsozialist Hitler ein Verbündnis mit dem Erzkommunisten Stalin.

Instead of England and France allying themselves with the Soviet Union it was astonishingly the National Socialist Hitler that formed an alliance with the arch-communist Stalin. (lit.: instead that England and France allied themselves…)

(c) Es sind zu viele Fehler in dieser Arbeit, als daß wir sie alle in der vorliegenden Rezension

besprechen können. There are too many errors in this piece of work for us to be able discuss them all in the

present review. (lit. than that we can discuss them all…)

The technique of bracketing to unravel complex sentences As said already in the previous unit in the case of adjectival / relative clauses, all subordinate clauses - i.e. adjectival/relative clauses, adverbial clauses and noun clauses - must in German be separated from the rest of their sentence by commas at both ends of the clause (though instead of the second comma there may be a full stop, semicolon, colon or und). These commas are, for people learning to read German, important signposts in the unravelling of complex sentences. (Unlike in English, commas are not normally put around verbless phrases in German, except phrases in apposition, e.g. Die Chefin der Bundesregierung, die Kanzlerin Angela Merkel, gab war gestern in Washington. - ‘The head of the Federal Government, the Chancellor A. G., was in W. yesterday.’) The technique of bracketing to work out the way very complex sentences can be broken down for comprehension can be useful. The brackets used will always be located at points where there are commas etc. It is best to always use the same type of brackets for the same type of clause, for example: 1. round brackets (runde Klammern) for principal clauses ( ); 2. square brackets [eckige Klammern] for adjectival / relative clauses [ ]; 3. curly brackets {Schweifen} for adverbial clauses { }; 4. vertical lines |senkrechte /vertikale Linien| for noun clauses | |. The following sentences could be analysed or unravelled in this way. 1. In this first sentence the clauses are neatly separated off from one another in succession. (NOTE also in the reference following the quoted passage how German bibliographical references do not usually italicise book titles and only give the place of publication, not the publisher.) |Daß Konstantin aber die ganze illyrische Halbinsel mitsamt Konstantinopel dem Neffen gab,| (geschah vielleicht nur deshalb,) {weil diese Perle des Reiches in den Händen eines der drei Söhne sofort der Gegenstand der grimmigsten Eifersucht werden mußte,} {wie denn später auch geschah.} (Aus: Jakob Burkhardt, Die Zeit Konstantins des Großen. Leipzig, 1924, S. 366) Literal translation:

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 51 |That Constantine however gave the whole Illyrian peninsula together with Constantinople to the nephew| (happened perhaps only for the reason) {because this pearl of the empire had to become in the hands of one of the three sons immediately the object of the most furious jealousy}, {as later also happened}. 2. In this next sentence, as in most complex German sentences, one clause may begin and end before the prior one has finished, so that the former is embedded inside the latter. (Die ständig wachsende Gemeinschaft derer, [die das Kommen Jesu erwarten,] weiß sich als das wahre Gottesvolk,) [für das jetzt die Verheißungen in Erfüllung gehen.] (Nach: Rudolf Bultmann, Das Urchristentum im Rahmen der antiken Religionen. München, 1962, S. 163) Literal translation: (NB Jesu = Latin genitive of Jesus; derer = deren; s Urchristentum - primitive Christianity; r Rahmen (-) - frame, framework) (The constantly growing community of those [who expect the coming of Jesus] knows itself as the true people of God) [for whom now the promises go into fulfilment] (= are fulfilled) 3. In this third sentence the writer uses not only a der, die, das type form as a relative pronoun, but also the welcher, welche, welches relative pronoun. In the final daß clause the author has not put the finite verb voraussah at the end as we might expect - and as he could have - but has allowed one element of the clause to come after it, as sometimes happens, e.g to emphasise that element. (Das starke politische Engagement Mommsens, [das man ihm zu seinen Lebzeiten so oft verdachte,] findet größeres Verständnis in einer Zeit,) [welche feststellen kann,] {daß Mommsen manche Fehlentwicklungen der deutschen Politik richtiger voraussah als seine einstigen optimistischen Widersacher.} (Nach: Karl Christ, Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903). In: Von Gibbon zu Rostovtzeff. Leben und Werk führender Althistoriker der Neuzeit. Darmstadt, 1971,S. 84) NB In English, titles have a colon between the main title and the subtitle, but in German a full stop is used. Literal translation: (The strong political engagement of Mommsen, [which people in his lifetime so often held against him,] finds greater understanding in a time) [which can ascertain] {that Mommsen foresaw many wrong developments of German politics more correctly than his onetime optimistic opponents.}

jemandem etwas verdenken - to hold something against someone (verdenken basically means ‘to think badly of’)

4. This fourth sentence demonstrates how a conjunction may be followed by more than one clause attached to it. When bracketing such a succession of clauses, the second of the two brackets is used after each verb that depends on or follows on from that conjunction. [Da die Entdeckerreisen seither nie mehr aufhörten,] Holländer, Franzosen und Briten die Meere befuhren,] unbekanntes Land betraten,] nach nördlichen Passagen fahndeten,] (veränderte sich das Bild der Welt ununterbrochen.) (Aus: Albert Renner, Arhur Mojonnier, Die Conquista - Mexico und Peru. In: Das Zeitalter Spanien-Habsburgs. München, 1964, S. 208) Literal translation: [As the discoverer voyages since (then) never more ceased,] Dutchmen, Frenchmen and Britons travelled the seas,] stepped upon unknown land,] searched after northern passages,] (the image of the world changed uninterruptedly.)

entdecken - to discover befahren (ä, u, a)- to travel over betreten (-tritt, a, e) - to walk on(to) fahnden - to search verändern - to alter, change unterbrechen (i, a,

o)(insep.) - to interrupt Exercise 15A First attempt to use the bracketing method to analyse the following sentences in terms of their clause structure, then try translating them. 1. Österreich richtete, nachdem es die volle Beistimmung Deutschlands gefunden hatte, am 3. Juli ein

Ultimatum an Serbien, das so abgefaßt war, daß die serbische Regierung es nicht annehmen konnte. (Aus: Der erste Weltkrieg (1914-1918), in: Gaston Casella, Arthur Mojonnier, Eduard von Tunk, Das 20. Jahrhundert, München, 1964, S. 7. richten - to direct, send e Beistimmung - agreement (beistimmen (+ dat.) - to agree to) abfassen -

52 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 to compose e Regierung - government (regieren - to rule) annehemen - 1) to accept 2) to assume.

2. Das Wort Tropen ist aus dem Griechischen abgeleitet und bedeutet ‘Wendung’ oder ‘Umkehr’. Es ist auf die Sonne bezogen, so daß die Tropen eigentlich die Linien sind, auf denen die Sonne “umkehrt”, nachdem sie ihren nördlichsten bzw. südlichsten Stand erreicht hat, und zwar dort, wo sie senkrecht über der Erde im Zenit steht. (Aus: Ernst Weigt, Tropen und Subtropen. Begrenzung und Merkmale. In: Passat. Illustrierte Monatszeitschrift über die tropische Welt 2:2 (1950), S. 7.) ableiten - to derive umkehren - to turn around beziehen (ie, -zog, -zogen) auf - to refer to, apply to r Stand - position erreichen - to reach und zwar - and in fact senkrecht = vertikal begrenzen - to limit s Merkmal (-e) - characteristic e Zeitschrift (-en) - journal

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Modal Verbs in Compound Past Tenses Modal verbs can be very confusing when encountered in the perfect or pluperfect tense; this is because they do not occur there in their past participle form if there is another infinitive present in the same clause, i.e. an infinitive depending on the modal verb itself. Thus a double infinitive (in meaning = infinitive + past participle) construction is encountered in these tenses in which the second, i.e. the modal infinitive has to be read as a past participle. E.g. (a) Die Deutschen haben es aber nicht gekonnt. (no other infin.) Die Deutschen haben es aber nicht machen können. (double infin., so read können here as

gekonnt) The Germans have not been able to do it however. OR: The Germans were not able to do it however. (b) Die Reservisten hatten nicht in die Schlacht gewollt. Die Reservisten hatten nicht in die Schlacht gehen wollen. The reserves had not wanted to go into (the) battle. The same complication will often be met with in the case of most other verbs that are normally followed by a simple infinitive, viz. lassen, sehen, hören, heißen (= ‘to bid, order’) in particular. E.g. Spengler hatte seither eine weitere gewaltige Studie über den Verfall des Abendlandes im Druck

erscheinen lassen. Spengler had since published (lit.: had let OR caused to appear in print) a further mighty study

on the decline of the West. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word Order in Subordinate Clauses Containing Double Infinitives Although it was said above that in a subordinate clause the finite verb is to be looked for at the end of the clause, this is not the case where there is a double infinitive in the subordinate clause, for then the finite verb is to be looked for in front of the double infinitive, sometimes even in front of a phrase, particularly a prepositional phrase, preceding the double infinitive. This is, however, virtually the only exception to the finite-verb-at-the-end rule you need to worry about in reading expository German. E.g. (a) Es ist klar, daß die Deutschen es nicht haben machen können.

It is clear that the Germans have not been able to do it.

(b) Die Offiziere verstanden, warum die Reservisten nicht in die Schlacht hatten gehen wollen OR warum die Reservisten nicht hatten in die Schlacht gehen wollen. The officers understood why the reservists had not wanted to go into battle.

(c) Man kann nicht sagen, wann er eine so gewaltige Studie wird wieder im Druck erscheinen lassen.

One cannot say when he will again publish such a mighty study. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 53 Exercise 15B 1. Warum die Aufklärung gerade im achtzehnten Jahrhundert aufkam, ist jedermann klar. e Aufklärung - Enlightenment/ aufkommen - arise jedermann - anyone, everyone/ gerade - (adj.) straight (adv.) just, precisely 2. In Nordafrika hatten die Menschen das fruchtbare Land jahrtausendelang viel zu intensiv

kultiviert, so daß es schließlich zur Wüste geworden ist. fruchtbar - fruitful, fertile/ (jahre)lang - for (years) schließlich - finally e Wüste - desert 3. Galilei soll in den Schoß der Kirche zurückgekehrt sein, weil er es nicht wagte, sich ihr

kompromißlos entgegenzusetzen. zurückkehren - to return r Schoß - lap, bosom (fig.) wagen - to dare kompromißlos - uncompromising s. entgegensetzen - to oppose NB in this sentence es does not need to be translated 4. Bis Johannes der Apostel oder ein anderer Johannes das vierte Evangelium verfaßte, war zwar

die griechische Herrschaft in der antiken Welt längst untergegangen, doch waren griechische Denkformen noch immer lebendig und sogar äußerst einflußreich.

s Evangelium (-ien) - Gospel/ verfassen - to compose, write zwar . . . doch . . . - admittedly . . . yet . . . e Herrschaft (-en) - dominion antike - ancient längst - long (since) untergehen - founder, be lost, lebendig - alive, lively become extinct einflußreich - influential (r Einfluß (¨sse) - influence) 5. Die Germanen hatten gegen die Römer nichts mit Erfolg unternehmen können, ehe der Arminius

zu ihrem Anführer wurde. r Germane (-n) - (ancient) German, Teuton r Erfolg - success unternehmen - undertake r Anführer = r Führer Arminius ist ein Personenname NB in this sentence zu does not need to be translated 6. Obgleich die Deutschen trotz der Versuche vieler ehrgeiziger Herrscher sich seit dem Mittelalter

nicht mehr zu einem Reich hatten zusammenschließen können, gelang es dem schlauen preußischen Politiker Fürst Otto von Bismarck, durch Bestechung, Bedrohung und andere Schikanen alle deutschsprachigen Staaten außer Österreich unter die Herrschaft seines Herrn, des Königs von Preußen, zu bringen; Österreich hat sich diesem Reich überhaupt nicht anschließen dürfen.

ehrgeizig - ambitious (r Ehrgeiz - ambition: e Ehre - honour + r Geiz -= greed) r Herrscher (-) - ruler s Mittelalter - middle ages zusammenschließen (ie, o, o) - to join (together) schlau - cunning r Politiker (-) - politician r Fürst (-en) - prince bestechen (i, a, o) - bribe gelingen (i, a, u) (+ dat.) - be possible for (es gelingt ihm - he succeeds; das ist ihnen gelungen - they

succeeded in that ) e Schikane (-n) - chicanery, underhand dealing deutschsprachig = ..., die Deutsch sprechen Preußen - Prussia überhaupt nicht = gar nicht s. anschließen - to join, attach oneself 7. Ich erinnere mich nicht mehr daran, ob ich ihn je OR jemals habe Klavier spielen hören (Some

Germans would say: spielen gehört) je = jemals - ever s Klavier - piano NB in this sentence daran does not need to be translated

54 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 (The function of not-to-be-translated es and daran in sentences 3 and 7 respectively will be dealt with in a later unit on cataphora.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIT 16 - The Passive Voice It is a characteristic of the German language to use its grammatical words in a very economical way, viz. by "recycling" them so that they can be used in a number of different functions. We have already observed this in the case of der, die, das etc. in Unit 14. We will now find that this is also the case with the verb werden. As we saw earlier, werden can be a verb in its own right meaning ‘to become’, as in the sentences: 1. Er wurde berühmt. - He became famous. 2. Er wird Schriftsteller. - He is becoming OR will become a writer. 3. Er ist zum berühmtesten Schriftsteller seines Landes geworden. He became OR has become the most famous writer in his country. If, however, it is found linked with the infinitive form of some other verb (or even the infinitive of itself, of course), it is recognised as functioning as an auxiliary verb that helps to form the explicit future tense of the other verb. E.g. 1. Er wird bestimmt berühmte Bücher schreiben. He will definitely write famous books. And note its double use in: 2. Sie werden alle bestimmt berühmte Schriftsteller werden. They will certainly all become famous writers. It can, however, be very frequently found in expository German linked with another verbid, i.e. non-finite verb form, that we have already met in dealing with the perfect and pluperfect tenses, namely the past participle; when this is the case, we recognise that we are encountering the passive voice of the verb when werden is linked to the past participle form. Right through this course so far we have encountered only verbs in the active voice, i.e. that voice or function of the verb in which the subject, the noun or pronoun in the nominative case, is the actor or doer of the action. In the passive voice, on the other hand, the subject - again the noun in the nominative case - is, as the term “passive” (Latin: passio - ‘suffering, undergoing’) indicates, the sufferer or undergoer of the action. Where necessary, the actor or doer in a passive sentence is indicated by the preposition von (sometimes durch if not a person). E.g. 1. Active: Man schreibt viele Bücher über das Thema. People write many books about the topic.

Passive: Viele Bücher werden über das Thema geschrieben. Many books are OR are being written on the topic. (Literally: Many books become OR are becoming written . . .) (NOTE that very often active sentences introuduced by man are better expressed in English by a passive sentence, so that the English translation of the second, passive sentence above might be regarded as more normal than the active tranlstion using people or one.) 2. Active: Diesen Band über die Traumdeutung verfaßte Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud wrote this volume on the interpretation of dreams. Passive: Dieser Band über die Traumdeutung wurde von S.F. verfaßt. This volume on the interpretation of dreams was written by S.F. The passive voice of the verb can be encountered in any tense that the active voice can. The formulae for recognising the various tenses of the passive voice are as follows: 1. Present Tense Passive: Present tense past participle of + of main verb werden (at end of clause) (wird etc.)

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 55 Example: Viele Bücher werden über das Thema geschrieben Many books are OR are being written on the topic. 2. Simple Past Tense Passive: Simple past tense of + past participle werden of main verb (wurde etc.) Example: Dieser Band über die Traumdeutung wurde von Sigmund Freud verfaßt. This volume on the interpretation of dreams was written by S.F. 3. Future Tense Passive: Present tense past participle of + of main verb + werden

werden (2nd from end) (at end) Example:

Der Band über die Traumdeutung wird von S.F. geschrieben werden. The volume on the interpretation of dreams will be written by S.F.

4. Perfect Tense Passive: Present tense past participle of + of main verb + worden sein (2nd from end) (at end)

(ist etc.) Example:

Der Band über die Traumdeutung ist von S.F. geschrieben worden. The volume on the interpretation of dreams has been written OR was written by S.F.

5. Pluperfect Tense Passive: Simple past tense past participle of + of main verb + worden

sein Example:

Der Band über die Traumdeutung war von S.F. geschrieben worden, bevor er nach England auswanderte.

The volume volume on the interpretation of dreams had been written by S.F. before he emigrated to England.

NOTE: Whereas the past participle of werden as a full verb (= ‘become’) is geworden, an old past participle form worden is used in the passive, so that compound past tenses of the passive are readily recognised as such, in fact WORDEN = ‘BEEN’ is a useful equation.

Compare: Das Buch ist schlecht geworden. The book has turned out (lit.: become) bad. Das Buch ist schlecht geschrieben worden. The book has been written (OR was written) badly. Exercise 16A 1. Die Bibel wurde sechzehnhundertelf von einer Art Kollektiv ins Englische übersetzt, aber die

maßgebende Übersetzung ins Deutsche war schon 1523 von dem ehemaligen Mönch Martin Luther gemacht worden.

e Art (-en) - 1) kind, 2) way, manner übersetzen - to translate maßgebend OR maßgeblich - standard ehemalig - former r Mönch (-e) - monk (ehemals - formerly) NB Words indicating weights and measures and those like Art ‘kind’, ‘Typ - type, Sorte - sort etc. do

not normally have any word for ‘of’ after them. Also, year numbers do not have a word for ‘in’ before them.

56 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 2. Die Ergebnisse dieser wichtigen Untersuchung werden erst nächstes Jahr veröffentlicht. s Ergebnis (-se) - result wichtig - important veröffentlichen = publizieren (öffentlich - public) e Untersuchung - investigation (untersuchen - to examine) 3. Diese Töpfe wurden zum meisten Teil im vorigen Jahrhundert von Heinrich Schliemann in Troja

ausgegraben. r Topf (ë) - pot vorig - previous zum meisten Teil - for the most part ausgraben - to excavate (graben (ä, u, a) - to dig) 4. Alle diese Gedichte wurden schon vor dem Krieg im Druck herausgegeben. Kurz nachher

wurden die Originale durch Brand zerstört. s Gedicht (-e) - poem herausgeben - issue, edit r Druck (-e) - print, printing (drucken - to print) nachher - afterwards (vorher - before) r Brand (ë) - fire, conflagration (seither - since) zerstören - to destroy (stören - to disturb) 5. Genau welche Maßnahmen getroffen worden sind, um den Aufstand zu unterdrücken, weiß man

bislang nicht, aber es kann von allen angenommen werden, daß seine Unterdrückung unsagbare Grausamkeiten herbeiführen wird. Die Lage der aufständischen Bauern wird bestimmt immer unerträglicher.

e Maßnahme (-n) - measure unterdrücken - to suppress treffen (i, traf, o) - to meet, (here =) take r Aufstand (ë) - uprising, rebellion aufständisch - rebellious r Bauer (-n) - peasant bislang (= bisher) - so far alle - everyone annehmen (nimmt, a, genommen) - to accept, assume unsagbar - unspeakable e Grausamkeit - cruelty herbeiführen - to bring about (grausam - cruel) unerträglich - unbearable (ertragen (ä, u, a) - suffer) 6. Das Kapital, das Werk, das vom deutschen Juden Karl Marx nur durch jahrelange Lektüre im

Britischen Museum verfaßt werden konnte und seither neben der Bibel zum einflußreichsten Buch der Weltgeschichte geworden ist, wird von den meisten Menschen nur mit Mühe verstanden und ist deshalb von verhältnismäßig wenigen je gelesen worden, wenigstens im Vergleich mit der Bibel.

r Jude (-n) - Jew e Lektüre - reading einflußreich - influential (r Einfluß (ë) - influence) e Mühe - trouble, bother deshalb = also verhältnismäßig - relatively je - ever (s Verhältnis (-se) - proportion, relationship) r Vergleich (-e) - comparison (vergleichen (ei, i, i) - to compare) 7. Am besten läßt sich das Verhältnis Albrecht Dürers zu seiner Mutter an dem berühmten Bildnis

von ihr, das mit Kohle gezeichnet wurde und heute in Berlin aufbewahrt wird, erkennen. es läßt sich erkennen = es kann erkannt werden

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 57 erkennen - to recognise, realise s Bildnis (-se) - representation, portrait an (here) - by e Kohle (-n) - coal, charcoal zeichnen - to draw aufbewahren - to keep, store, preserve Another way that the English passive voice can be expressed in German, using the verb lassen (ä, ie, a) in the formula: lassen + sich + (active) infinitive (at the end) Literally: let + itself/themselves etc.+ passive infinitive (be …ed) can be …ed The combination of lassen and sich is another way of expressing in German what English would

express by the passive but including the sense ‘can’ and the passive infinitive in English It is very common in expository German.

Examples (including sentence 7 above): 1. Das läßt sich leicht beweisen. (lit.: that lets itself easily prove = that let’s itself easily be proved) That can easily be proved. 2. Ihre Aufsätze lassen sich nicht so scharf kritisieren. Their essays/articles cannot be so sharply criticised. Exercise 16B (Remember that lassen is, like the modals, a verb that is part f a double infinitive construction in the compound past tenses.) 1. Ciceros Aussagen über Cäsar lassen sich nicht ohne weiteres glauben.

e Aussage (-n) - statement, assertion ohne weiteres - readily, without further ado

2. - Die Funde in Jerusalem ließen sich durch weitere Funde außerhalb der Stadt ergänzen. ergänzen - to supplement, complement (based on ganz = ‘whole’)

3. Die Ordnung, daß der hohe Truppenführer hier ohne Provinziallegat verwaltet hat, läßt sich aus

zwei Parallelstellen wahrscheinlich machen. (Aus: Hans-Georg Pflaum, Zur Reform des Kaisers Gallienus. In: Historia, Band XXV/1, Wiesbaden 1976, S. 110) verwalten - to govern, rule e Stelle (-n) 1) place 2) passage wahrscheinlich - probable, probably

4. Trotz aller Bemühungen damaliger und derzeitiger Forscher hat das Haus direkt am Eingangstor sich nicht als zu den ältesten gehörend nachweisen lassen. e Bemühung - effort (s. bemühen - to make an effort) damals - at that time, then derzeit - at the present time r Eingang (ë) - entrance gehören (+ dat.) - to belong nachweisen (ei, ie, ie) - to demonstrate, show

Exercise 16C (Fortsetzung und Schluß) Er erkannte die Stimmen als die seiner Frau und ihres Liebhabers, und als er über den Balkon schaute, da sah er sie unten vor der Treppe mit den zehn Verrätern seiner Ehrengarde reden. Er hob die Bombe hoch und rannte eben die Treppe hinunter, um sie auf die zwölf Verräter zu werfen, als er plötzlich stolperte. Da fielen er und die Bombe mitten unter die Verräter: die Bombe explodierte sofort, und alle dreizehn - König, Königin, Führer und Soldaten sprangen in die Luft und waren tot. Ach, wie schrecklich die ganze Szene aussah . . . , aber es ist besser, ich beschreibe sie nicht und beende diese schaurige, traurige Geschichte von Hochverrat, Mord und Metzelei lieber gleich hier. r Liebhaber (-) - lover, schauen (= sehen) - to look r Balkon - Have a guess! e Treppe - steps, staircase r Verräter (-) - traitor (verraten (ä, ie, a) - to betray) werfen (i, a, o) - to throw plötzlich - suddenly stolpern - stumble mitten (+ prep.) - in the midst

58 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 in die Luft springen - blow up, be blown up (e Luft - air) schrecklich - terrible beschreiben - to describe schaurig - horrible (schauern OR schaudern - to shudder) traurig - sad (trauern - to mourn) r Hochverrat - high treason r Mord - murder (NB r Mörder (-) - murderer) e Metzelei - mayhem (metzen - chop up, massacre) lieber - preferable (lieb - dear) gleich - (adj.) equal, same e Stimme (-n) - voice (adv.) 1. equally, the same way 2. immediately, in a moment, directly beenden - to finish (trans.) (enden - to finish (intr.)) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 59 UNIT 17 - The Subjunctive Mood: The General Subjunctive The verb forms we have encountered so far always refer to an action that has happened or that is expected to happen, i.e. they indicate - or are indicative of - a "real" action or state and are said to be in the indicative mood. E.g. 1. Wenn er davon sprach, so wurden seine Zuhörer böse. If OR Whenever he spoke of it, his audience (listeners) became angry. In this sentence the verb forms indicate that both the speaking and the getting angry have actually occurred a number of times in the past. 2. Wenn er davon spricht, werden seine Zuhörer böse. If OR When he speaks of it, his audience becomes angry. In this sentence the verb forms indicate that the speaking or getting angry actually occur at the present time (when) or are quite likely to occur (if). In both the above sentences the verbs are in the indicative mood. But very often in texts we encounter verb forms that, while they look basically like the past tense forms of the indicative mood we have long been meeting (e.g. hatte, war, sprach, wurde), differ from them most obviously by having an Umlaut (e.g. hätte, wäre, spräche, würde). When we meet these umlauted forms, they tell us that the action is irreal or somehow hypothetical, that it has not happened or is unlikely to happen. Compare the following two sentences with the above. 3. Wenn er davon gesprochen hätte, wären seine Zuhörer böse geworden.

If he had spoken of it, his audience would have become angry (implication: but he did not speak of it and they therefore did not become angry).

Here some action that might potentially have occurred in the past, did not in fact happen. 4. Wenn er davon spräche, würden seine Zuhörer böse.

If he spoke OR were to speak of it, his audience would become angry (implication: but he is not speaking/does not speak/ will not speak of it and his audience therefore is not getting/ does not get/ will not get angry).

Here some action that could potentially occur in the present or future is not regarded as actually occurring or likely to occur. The verbs in sentences 3 and 4 are in a special form which tells us that the actions are potential, hypothetical or irreal (or contrary-to-fact). Such verb forms are said to be in the subjunctive mood, in contrast to the indicative mood forms of sentences 1 and 2. Like the indicative mood, the subjunctive mood has simple verb forms and compound verb forms, but only two tenses: the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive. Sentence 4 above illustrates the present subjunctive. You will notice:

(a) all the present subjunctive forms are simple (one-word) verb forms; (b) these simple subjunctive verb forms always refer to present (or future) time, never to

past time, even though they are etymologically or historically derived from past tense indicative forms.

Sentence 3 above illustrates the past subjunctive. You will notice:

(a) all the past subjunctive forms are compound (more-than-one-word) forms, made up of the present subjunctive form of haben (hätte) or sein (wäre) and the past participle of the main verb.

60 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 (b) these past subjunctive forms in German almost always correspond to English verb

forms made up of either had or would have + past participle.

All the verbs used in sentences 1 and 2 were irregular, strong verbs. The following are examples of the full present tense subjunctive paradigm of strong verbs: sein sprechen schreiben ich wäre ich spräche ich schriebe du wär(e)st du spräch(e)st du schriebest er wäre er spräche er schriebe wir wären wir sprächen wir schrieben ihr wär(e)t ihr spräch(e)t ihr schriebet sie wären sie sprächen sie schrieben You will notice:

(a) that where the Umlaut can occur it is always a clear signal that the verb form is

subjunctive; (b) that the subjunctive stem of the verb is always followed by an -e, which although

optional in the 2nd person - du and ihr - forms in colloquial German, is usually present in literary and expository German;

(c) that this -e on the ich and er forms is a useful secondary signal of the subjunctive

where the stem is umlauted, but is the vital primary signal of the subjunctive in verbs like schreiben whose stem cannot take an Umlaut;

(d) in non-umlauting verbs like schreiben, the wir and sie (= ‘they’) forms of the present

subjunctive are indistinguishable from the past indicative forms.

The regular weak verbs pose a problem for the reader when they occur in the present subjunctive, for all present subjunctive forms of all regular weak verbs are exactly the same as the corresponding forms of the past indicative. In the case of regular weak verbs and the ambiguous wir/ sie forms of non-umlauting strong verbs like schreiben, their apparently past indicative forms will be recognised as in fact being present subjunctive through the presence of other unambiguously present subjunctive forms and/or by the clearly present time reference of the context. E.g. 5. Wenn man heute davon schriebe, würden die Leser böse. If one wrote OR were to write about it to-day, the readers would be angry. (Primary signal: the -e of schriebe.) 6. Wenn wir heute davon schrieben, würden die Leser böse. (Signal: the presence of the pres. subj. form würden.) 7. Wenn wir davon heute schrieben, glaubten uns die Leser nicht. (Signal: the present time implied in heute.) The last sentence is, as regards the verb forms, ambiguous as between:

(a) If OR Whenever we wrote about that to-day, the readers did not believe us. and

(b) If we wrote about that to-day, the readers would not believe us.

The time reference in heute pretty well excludes possibility (a), especially if we think of wenn meaning ‘if’ here. Were it not for the presence of an element like heute in the sentence, we would have to look for signals, e.g. unambiguously present subjunctive verbs, in the immediately surrounding context. There are a small number of irregular weak verbs that thanks to umlauting or vowel change equivalent to Umlaut have unambiguous present subjunctive forms. They are:

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 61 infinitive past indicative present subjunctive haben hatte hätte dürfen durfte dürfte können konnte könnte mögen mochte möchte müssen mußte müßte wissen wußte wüßte brennen brannte brennte kennen kannte kennte nennen nannte nennte rennen rannte rennte denken dachte dächte bringen brachte brächte Note that the two remaining modal verbs sollen and wollen are ambiguous because they do not umlaut: sollen sollte sollte wollen wollte wollte The auxiliary verb werden is, like the strong verbs, unambiguous because its present subjunctive stem can take an Umlaut, viz. würde. As a full verb this form means, of course, "would become", as in sentence 4 above. However, the present subjunctive form würde can also function as an auxiliary verb, which, when followed by the infinitive of the main verb, forms what some people call the 'future subjunctive' and others the 'conditional tense'. This würde + infin. construction, can mostly be translated as would + infin. into English, thus having one of the meanings we have already encountered for the present subjunctive itself. Using this compound form with würde, sentence 5 above could have, without any change of meaning, the structure: 8. Wenn man heute davon schriebe, würden die Leser böse werden.

If one wrote about that today, the readers would become angry.

and sentence 7 the structure: 9. Wenn wir davon heute schrieben, würden uns die Leser nicht glauben.

If we wrote (OR were to write) about that today, the readers would not believe us.

A few strong verbs, for historical reasons, have eccentric present subjunctive forms. The main ones are:

Infinitive past indicative present subjunctive beginnen begann begönne helfen half hülfe stehen stand stünde* sterben starb stürbe *The form stände is also used. If the expected form hälfe ‘(I) would help’ were used it would sound like present indicative helfe ‘(I) help’ and stärbe ‘(I) would die’ would sound like sterbe “(I) die”, so ambiguity originally made the forms with ü necessary, but that is not the case with stände (nor with the expected begänne for ‘(I) would begin’). (These eccentric umlauted forms are all based on the fact that in older German some strong verbs had different vowels in the past tense singular from the past tense plural. The only surviving one being old-fashoned ich/er ward etc. versus wir/sie wurden etc., as touched on in Unit 9.) Uses of the General Subjunctive A. Hypothesis When we encounter a form of the general subjunctive - the subjunctive whose forms are discussed above - in a text, we recognise immediately that the author is telling us that what we have before us is not so much a statement of actual fact as something hypothetical. This "hypotheticalness" implied in the subjunctive forms may be of two types: 1. conditionality, 2. "irreality".

62 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 1. Conditionality is illustrated in the conditional sentences 3 to 9 above. Here the author is saying that something would be or would have been the case, if some prior condition were or had been fulfilled. The typical form of the conditional sentence has the condition expressed as "wenn . . . + (at end) verb in subj.", followed by the conclusion with the verb in the subjunctive as its first word. Or the order may be reversed. (Very frequently the conclusion will have the "würde . . . + infinitive" construction instead of the present subjunctive.) Examples: 10. Wenn wir das heute schrieben, würden die Leser böse. (condition) (conclusion) OR 11. Wenn wir das heute schrieben, würden die Leser böse werden. (condition) (conclusion) If we wrote that to-day, the readers would get angry (hypothesis only, for we don't in fact write it and they don't get angry.)

Contrast this hypothetical conditional sentence with the factual sentences containing an open condition:

12. Wenn wir das schreiben, werden die Leser böse. If OR When(ever) we write that, the readers get angry. (open or factual condition) (factual conclusion) 13. Wenn wir das schrieben, wurden die Leser böse. If OR Whenever we wrote that, the readers became angry. The condition was often fulfilled, so the conclusion often resulted.) 14. Wenn die Griechen die besten Kämpfer der ganzen Antike gewesen wären,dann hätten die

Römer ihr Reich nie gegründet. If the Greeks had been the best fighters in all antiquity, the Romans would never have

founded their empire. (implication: but the Greeks weren't the best fighters, so it isn't the case that the Romans never founded their empire, so this is an irreal conditional sentence)

Contrast 15 with 14:

15. Wenn die Griechen die besten Kämpfer der frühen Antike gewesen waren, so konnten sie nicht verhindern, daß die Römer in der mittleren Antike ihr Reich gründeten.

If the Greeks had been the best fighters in early antiquity (implication: as they had in fact been), they could not prevent the Romans founding their empire in middle antiquity (implication: also an actual fact, so this is an open condition sentence.)

Sentence type 15 is not usual in English, but is very common in expository German. Note that it is normal for the conclusion of any conditional sentence to start with so or dann, as happens in 14 and 15. When reading an open condition sentence like that in 15, it may seem more sensible to an English-speaking reader to think of it as an although-sentence, thus

Although the Greeks had been the best fighters in ealry antquity, they could not prevent the Romans founding their empire in middle antiquity.

2. Irreality is, of course, an aspect of hypothesis, but is a reason for the subjunctive's occurring in sentences that are not obviously conditional sentences. E.g.

16. Ich wünschte, er hätte das Buch nie geschrieben. I wish he had never written the book (impl.: but he did). 17. Er wünschte, er wäre der größte Dramatiker der Welt. He wished he were the greatest dramatist in the world (impl.: but he wasn't).

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 63 Contrast:

18. Er wußte, er war der größte Dramatiker der Welt. He knew he was the greatest dramatist in the world. (impl.: and he was)

Note how the English version of 17 contains the combination he were - one of the last vestiges of the use of the subjunctive verb form in English - to indicate irreality, where in 18 - a sentence conveying factuality - only he was is possible. The Adverbs fast and beinahe with the Subjunctive There is one other type of irreal sentence where the subjunctive is used in German, but would not be in English, and that is in some sentences containing the words fast and beinahe, both meaning ‘almost, nearly’, since if something almost happened it did not in fact actually or really happen. Example:

19. Rom wäre fast OR beinahe von den Kelten erobert worden, nur hat das Geschnatter der Gänse die Bewohner der Stadt rechtzeitig gewarnt.

Rom was almost conquered by the Celts, only, the clacking of the geese warned the inhabitants of the city in time.

B. Indirect Quotation The other meaning that the use of the general subjunctive in a text may convey is that the author is ascribing a statement he is making to someone else. This may be made explicit by such introductory phrases as X sagt, daß . . . . However, the subjunctive itself can then be used sentence after sentence to show that the author is still quoting his source and to save the use of phrases of the kind "he goes on", "he continues" that English has to keep inserting. This fits in with the meanings covered in A. above to the extent that the author quoting is not vouching for the factuality of what the author being quoted says. Once the text returns to the indicative verb forms, however, we know the author means us to again take what we read as statement of fact asserted by himself. Examples:

19. Aristoteles sagte, daß der Mensch nur ein Tier wäre. Er wäre aber anders als die anderen Tiere darin, daß er Intelligenz und Vernunft besäße, die die nichtmenschlichen Tiere nicht hätten. Aber es gibt Tiere, die, wenn nicht Vernunft, so doch eine gewisse Intelligenz haben.

Aristotle said that man is OR was only an animal. He is OR was, however, [he went on]

different from the other animals in that he possesses OR possessed intelligence and reason, which the non-human animals don't OR didn't have. But there are [clearly the author's own comment, because indicative] animals which have, if not reason, then a certain amount of intelligence.

20. Mancher Historiker meint, die Süddeutschen hätten vor 1866 den Bayerischen König höher

als den König von Preußen geachtet, nachdem sie Bismarcks wahre Absichten durchschaut hätten. Aber Bismarcks Absichten haben sie nie wirklich durchschaut.

Many a historian is of the opinion that the South Germans respected the Bavarian king more

highly than the King of Prussia, after they had seen through Bismarck's true intentions. But [author's own comment] they never really did see through his intentions.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exercise 17 1. Er hätte nicht gesprochen, wenn er es nicht gemußt hätte. 2. Wenn er schreiben durfte, blieb er in der Bibliothek. 3. Er bliebe in der Bibliothek, wenn er schreiben dürfte.

64 German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 4. Wenn die Türkei stark genug wäre, eroberte sie Griechenland. 5. Wenn die Türkei stark genug war, eroberte sie Griechenland. 6. Griechenland hätte sich von der Türkei nicht erobern lassen, wenn es stark genug gewesen wäre. 7. Das Kind dachte, es hätte das Geld verloren, aber es hatte es nicht verloren.

s Geld (-er) - money verlieren (ie, o, o) - to lose

8. Wenn Friedrich kein strenger Herrscher gewesen wäre, hätte Preußen seinen endgültigen Vorrang unter den deutschen Staaten nie erlangen können.

streng - severe, strict r Herrscher (-) - ruler endgültig - ultimate, final r Vorrang - pre-eminence erlangen - to attain (r Rang (ë) - rank) 9. Man würde den Bericht gern annehmen, aber nur wenn die Schlüsse, die darin gezogen werden,

der Regierung keine Schwierigkeiten bereiteten, aber sie haben sie schon in große Verlegenheit gebracht.

annehmen - to accept, assume r Schluß (¨sse) - end, conclusion ziehen (ie, zog, hat gezogen) - to pull, draw bereiten - to prepare (here = to cause) e Schwierigkeit - difficulty, problem (schwierig - difficult) e Verlegenheit - embarrassment (verlegen - embarrassed) 10. Ich wollte, daß er uns allen helfen sollte, aber er half keinem einzigen von uns.

11. Ich wollte, er hülfe uns allen, aber er hilft uns bestimmt nicht. (= Ich wünschte, er . . . ) 12. Der Minister dachte, daß er ein lebenslanges Recht auf sein Amt hätte, aber er hatte sich

getäuscht. s Recht (-e) auf - right to s Amt (ër) - office s. täuschen - to be mistaken, deceive o.s. 13. Der Herrscher hätte seinem Volk gerne geholfen, aber er konnte es nicht, denn er wäre dann den

Verrätern in die Hände gefallen (= . . . in die Hände der Verräter . . . ). 14. Sie stürben, wenn sie nicht arbeiteten. 15. Sie wären alle gestorben, wenn sie dageblieben wären. 16. Es hieß in der Zeitung, sie wären alle gestorben, weil sie dageblieben und nicht weggerannt

wären. (= Es wurde in der Zeitung gesagt, . . . ) 17. Zu diesem Thema würde sie nichts mehr schreiben, wenn sie das Leben der Armen der

Entwicklungsländer wirklich kennte, aber sie behauptet, sie und ihr Mann kennten Südasien wie die Tasche. Ich dächte eher, schon der Anblick eines einzigen indischen Dorfes brächte einen sensiblen Beobachter zum Weinen wegen des überschüssigen Wohlstandes Europas.

e Armen (pl.) - the poor r Anblick(-e) - sight s Entwicklungsland(ër) - developing country (e Entwicklung - development; s. entwickeln - develop) e Tasche(-n) - bag, pocket (here = "back of . . . hand") eher - rather s Dorf(ër) - village

German for the Humanities - Grammar Course May 2010 65 schon = (here) even sensibel - sensitive weinen - to weep r Beobachter - observer (beobachten - to observe) überschüssig - excessive (überschéßen - shoot over, exceed) r Wohlstand - prosperity 18. Die Zeitung berichtet, die amerikanischen Truppen wären ins Dorf gekommen, hätten wild um

sich geschossen und jeden Mann, dem sie begegnet wären, erschossen. Die Frauen und Kinder hätten sie mitgenommen und jene säßen jetzt alle in einem Gefangenenlager. Doch war an dem Tag kein einziger weißer Soldat in der Gegend, denn die Amerikaner waren noch nicht angekommen.

schießen (ie, o, o) - to shoot erschießen - shoot and kill begegnen (+ dat.; takes sein as aux.)) - meet, encounter r Gefangene - prisoner (fangen (ä, i, a) - catch, capture) s Lager (-) - camp e Gegend(-en) - district weiß - white ankommen - to arrive 19. Es steht eine Frau an der Tür, die sagt, sie kennte dich. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


UNIT 18 - The Subjunctive Mood: The Special Subjunctive A. Indirect Quotation There is another set of subjunctive forms in German that can be used to express indirect speech, but they cannot be used to express irreal conditions. for that reason we will refer to them as special subjunctive forms. They tend not to be used in spoken German, mainly in written German. The present tense forms of this special subjunctive are based on the present indicative forms of the verb, but only a few of subjunctive forms are actually different from the indicative forms. In fact for the vast majority of verbs only the 3rd person singular (er/sie/es) forms will be encountered, since they are made up according to the formula: infinitive stem + -e. Thus Indicative: er hat kennt kommt läuft fährt isst wird Subjunctive: er habe kenne komme laufe fahre esse werde Thus sentences 7 and 19 above could be expressed as: 20. Das Kind dachte, es habe das Geld verloren. (the past special subjunctive) 21. Es steht eine Frau an der Tür, die sagt, sie kenne dich.

The modal verbs can also show the special subjunctive in the ich form, since the formula is the same as for the 3rd person singular: stem + -e. 23. Sie versprachen, ich könne / dürfe/ solle mitgehen.

They promised I could / was allowed to / was to go with them. The special subjunctive forms solle and möge are often used in indirect commands with möge (which can literally mean ‘may/might’ as well as ‘like’) being less peremptory than solle - or often indicative soll instead -, thus 24. Sagen Sie bitte dem Jungen, er solle OR soll hereinkommen.

(lit.: Say you to the boy, he is to come in) Tell the boy to come in, please.

25. Sagen Sie bitte Herrn Schmidt, er möge jetzt hereinkommen. (lit.: Say you please to Mr Smith, he might now come in) Tell Mr Schmidt to come in now, please.

The only verb that shows clear special subjunctive forms throughout is the verb sein. The forms are (with the indicative forms in brackets for the sake of comparison):

Singular Plural ich sei (ich bin) wir seien (wir sind) du seist (du bist) ihr seiet (ihr seid) er sei (er ist) sie seien (sie sind)


Examples 19 and 20 restated using the special subjunctive where appropriate: 26. Aristoteles sagte, daß der Mensch nur ein Tier sei. Er sei aber anders als die anderen Tiere

darin, daß er Intelligenz und Vernunft besitze, die die nichtmenschlichen Tiere nicht hätten. Aber es gibt Tiere, die, wenn nicht Vernunft, so doch eine gewisse Intelligenz haben.

Aristotle said that man is OR was only an animal. He is OR was, however, [he went on] different from the other animals in that he possesses OR possessed intelligence and reason, which the non-human animals don't OR didn't have. But there are [clearly the author's own comment, because indicative] animals which have, if not reason, then a certain amount of intelligence.

27. Mancher Historiker meint, Süddeutschland habe vor 1866 den Bayerischen König höher als

den König von Preußen geachtet, nachdem es Bismarcks wahre Absichten durchschaut habe. Aber Bismarcks Absichten hat es nie wirklich durchschaut.

Many a historian is of the opinion that the South Germans respected the Bavarian king more highly than the King of Prussia, after they had seen through Bismarck's true intentions. But [author's own comment] they never really did see through his intentions.

B. Suggestion The following uses the Special subjunctive are not shared by the General subjunctive. In certain types of German the special subjunctive is used to express a kind of wish or exhortation. Examples 5. Es lebe der König!

Long live the king (lit.: May the king live!)

6. Es werde Licht! Let there be light! (lit.: may there become light!)

7. Dem sei, wie es sein mag. Be that as it may (lit.: To that let it be, as it may be.)

8. Es koste, was es wolle. Cost what it may. (lit.: Let it cost what it may want.)

In certain types of written German, quite especially academic German, it may be used to express a kind of recommendation. Examples 9. ABC sei ein gleichwinkliges Dreieck.

Let ABC be an equilateral triangle. (lit.: Let ABC be an equiangular triangle.)

10. Man nehme drei Eier und ein Pfund Mehl. (In older recipes take three eggs and a pound of flour (lit.: Let one take….)

11. Der Leser sei darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß Julius Cäsar darauf bedacht war, den eigenen

Ruhm möglichst zu verbreiten. The reader’s attention is drawn to the fact that J.C. was concerned to spread his fame as much as possible. (lit.: Let the reader be made attentive to it (viz. The fact), that J.C. was concerned about that, to spread the own fame most possibly.)

12. Man vergesse nicht, daß er für den eigenen Tod verantwortlich war. Let it not be forgotten that he was responsible for his own death. (lit.: May OR Let one not forget that…)

13. Hierfür seien zunächst die Reste zweier besonders sttlicher Häuser herangezogen. (Nach: T. Wiegand u. H. Schrader, Priene. Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen und Untersuchungen in den Jahren 1895-1898. Berlin, 1904, S. 287. For this we will adduce the remains of two especially fine houses (lit.: for this let the remains…be adduced)


Exercise 17 Underline the special subjunctive forms in the following sentences and explain why they were used, then try to express the meanings of the sentences (by translation or summary, as you wish): 1. Göhler, Boren und Chr. Meier seien nur als einige besonders namhafte Vertreter dieser

Auffassung genannt, die auf Theodor Mommsen zurückgeht. (Nach: Klaus Meister, die Bundesgenossengesetzgebung des Gaius Gracchus) r Bundesgenosse (-n, -n) - confederate, ally e Gesetzgebung - legislation (lit.: law giving) G.G. ist ein Personenname. namhaft - renowned r Vertreter (-) - representative e Affassung - idea, concept (auffassen - to conceive of) zurückgehen auf - to go back to, derive from

2. Die Vermutung von Schulz, es handele sich bei dem “Panzer” um einen Zusatz, beruht auf der

unsachgemässen Hinzunahme des “(Lang-)Schwertes” von V. 39 und beachtet nicht die Tatsache, dass in V. 39 nicht mehr Saul das handelnde Subjekt ist, sondern David selbst, der sich das Schwert Sauls anlegt. (Aus: L. Krinetzki, Ein Beitrag zur Stilanalyse der Goliathperikope. In Biblica 54 (1973), S. 217, Anm. 3) r Beitrag (¨) - contribution e Vermutung - presumption, supposition (vermuten - to presume, suppose) es handelt sich um - it is a matter of / a case of, it is about bei (here) - in the case of r Panzer (-) - 1) armour 2) (army) tank r Zusatz (ë) - addition beruhen auf - to rest, be based on (ruhen - to rest) sachgemäß - proper, appropriate (e Sache - thing matter + gemäß - (postposition or suffix) according to e Hinzunahme(-n) = r Zusatz (all verbs with the prefix hinzu- mean ‘to add’ in some way, hence hinzunehmen) s Schwert (-er) - sword V. = Vers beachten - to take notice of e Tatsache (-n) = s Faktum / r Fakt handeln - to act anlegen - to put on (clothing etc.). NB this author does not use ß but always ss. (which is characteristic of Swiss standard German).

2. Zu Beginn werden ähnlich wie in unseren Briefen fast nur Eingangs- und Schlußformeln exzerpiert. Als Beispiel diene das 2. Buch des spätantiken Briefmeisters. (Aus: Peter von Moos, Epistolae duorum amantium, S. 9) zu (here) = at ähnlich - similar r Eingang (see Units 13 and 16) r Schluß (ë) - 1) close, closure 2) conclusion e Formel (-n) - formula exzerpieren - Have a guess! (z = c) r Meister (-) - master

NOTES 1. Textbooks and grammar books of German use a lot of different terminology in talking about the

subjunctive. In German it is called der Konjunktiv, and the general subjunctive is called Konjunktiv II (Konjunktiv zwei) and the special subjunctive is called Konjunktiv I (Konjunktiv eins). Very confusing is that many older textbooks written in English call (a) the present special subjunctive (sei, habe, könne etc.) the “present subjunctive”, because it is historically formed from the present tense, (b) the general present subjunctive (wäre, hätte, würde, käme, könnte etc.) they call the “imperfect subjunctive”, because it is historically formed from the simple past tense (war, hatte, wurde etc.), which they misleadingly call the “imperfect tense” (as mentioned in our lecture on the simple past tense), (c) the past special subjunctive (er sei..gekommen, er habe...gesehen) the “perfect subjunctive”, because it is formed historically along the lines of the perfect indicative tense, and (d) the general past subjunctive (wäre...gekommen, hätte...gesehen) they call the “pluperfect subjunctive”, because it is historically modelled along the lines of the pluperfect indicative tense. We have chosen here to use functional labels, i.e. labels that give you some idea of the function of the various subjunctive forms, rather than to use the opaque German labels (though you should recognise these if you go on studying German) or the often functionally quite misleading historical labels of so many English textbooks.

2. The word “mood” in the term “subjunctive mood” has nothing to do with the usual English meaning of this word (‘state of mind or emotion’), but is derived from the Latin word modus meaning ‘way, manner, mode’. In German the word has been taken over in its Latin form, der Modus.

3. Because it is not always actual speech that is being reported but rather thoughts or fears, i.e. rather indirect thought than indirect speech, some textbooks refer to the phenomenon more generally as “indirect discourse”.


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