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German Grammar Lectures

German Grammar Lectures. Lecture 7: Case and Adjective Endings (Revision) Designed by Paul Joyce University of Portsmouth E-Mail: Paul.Joyce@port.ac.uk. 7.1 Introduction. Over the course of the previous six lectures, a large amount of ground has been covered fairly quickly.

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German Grammar Lectures

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  1. German Grammar Lectures Lecture 7: Case and Adjective Endings (Revision) Designed by Paul Joyce University of Portsmouth E-Mail: Paul.Joyce@port.ac.uk

  2. 7.1 Introduction • Over the course of the previous six lectures, a large amount of ground has been covered fairly quickly. • This lecture will seek to revise two areas of grammar which cause students of German the most problems: • 1) The identification of cases • 2) Adjective endings

  3. 7.2 Starting with the subject • Every German clause has a subject. If you do not have a subject in your clause, you have made a mistake! • The subject is in the nominative case. • Example: Der Junge schreibt (The boy (SUBJECT in the nominative case) writes)) • We identify the subject of the clause: a) by the endings on the verb b) by logic

  4. 7.3 Word Order • In German objects can precede or follow the subject. It is the case endings and the verb endings that tell us which case is which: • Die Katze sah die Hunde. (Plural verb: The cat saw the dogs) • Die Katze sah die Waschmaschine. (It has to be the cat that saw the washing machine, as washing machines can’t see!)

  5. 7.4 The verbs sein, werden and bleiben • Note too that when the verbs sein, bleibenwerden and scheinen are followed by nouns, these nouns are in the NOMINATIVE case Examples: • Eristein guter Lehrer (not: “einen guten”) • Ballackbleibt der beste Spieler (not: “den ”) • Ulf wird mein Freund (not: “meinen...”) • Er scheint ein guter Mensch (not: “einen”)

  6. 7.5 Case of the object(s) ? • The case in which the object(s) in a clause is (are) in depends on the verb. The options: - accusative - dative - genitive - prepositional object (i.e. denken an + Acc) • Some verbs take TWO objects. With a few exceptions, these will be in different cases.

  7. 7.6 Key accusative constructions • Non-Germans often forget that the following constructions require a direct object: • bezahlen: Wer bezahltden Schaden? (pay for the damage  NOT “bezahlen für”) • es gibt:Es gibt einen Gott! (= There is...) • fragen: Ich fragteden Chef nach Arbeit. (= I asked the boss if there was any work.)

  8. 7.7 Verbs taking the accusative: be- • The prefix be- turns an intransitive verb into a transitive verb taking a direct object: • bezahlen:Das bezahle ich! (= to pay for) • bestellen: Ich bestelle das Buch (= to order) • Such verbs use haben as auxiliary verb to form their perfect and pluperfect tenses. • BUT: begegnen, befehlen (order) + Dative • e.g. Wir begegnen ihm(= We meet him)

  9. beantworten: Sie beantwortete die Frage (= to answer (+ Acc.)) bedienen: Ich bediene die Kundin(= serve) bedrohen: Bedrohst du mich?(= threaten) beenden: Sie beenden den Streik(= to end) antworten: Antwortet er auf meine Frage? (= to answer (+ Prep.)) dienen: Sie dienen dem König (+ Dative) drohen: Drohst du mir? (+ Dative) enden: Der Streik endet (= Intransitive) 7.8 Verbs with and without be-

  10. 7.9 Accusative constructions • Many of the following constructions are also in the accusative case: • Greetings: Guten Morgen / Tag / Abend!; Herzlichen Glückwunsch!; Vielen Dank! • Time Phrases: jeden Tag; letzten Freitag; nächsten Sonntag; den ganzen Tag lang • Prepositions: bis, durch, für, gegen, ohne, um

  11. 7.10 Verbs that take two direct objects • Note however that the following verbs can take 2 direct objects: • kosten: Das hat mich1000 Eurogekostet • lehren: Er hat ihnDeutschgelehrt • nennen: Ich nennedicheinen Lügner • fragen: Hast du sie etwasgefragt? • bitten:Das möchte ich Siebitten! • angehen: Das gehtdich nichtsan!

  12. 7.11 Verbs that take the dative case • A number of verbs in German take an dative object as opposed to a direct object. • These have no direct equivalent in English, although some can be grouped together: • abraten: Sie hat ihm davon abgeraten (= She advised him against it) • raten: Sie hat ihmgeraten, etwas zu tun (= She advised him to do something)

  13. 7.12 Dative verbs of “answering” • antworten: Antworten Sie mir! (= Answer me!) • BUT: Antworten Sie auf die Frage! (= Answer the question!) • entgegnen: Er entgegnet dem Mann, dass… (= He replies to the man that...) • erwidern: Sie erwiderte demRichter, dass... (= She replied to the judge that...)

  14. 7.13 Dative verbs of “helping” • beistehen: Meine Freunde stehenmirbei (= My friends are giving me support) • dienen: Er dientederKönigin von England (= He served the queen of England) • helfen: Könnten Sie mir helfen ? (= Could you help me?) • nützen: Der Rat nützt ihnen nicht viel (= The advice doesn’t help them much)

  15. 7.14 Dative verbs of “(dis-)obeying” • folgen: Folgen Sie mirbitte! (= Follow me please!) • gehorchen: Das Kind gehorcht seinem Vater (= The child obeys its father) • widersprechen: Du hast ihmwidersprochen (= You disobeyed him) • widerstehen: Wir widerstehendem Zauber (= We’re resisting the magic)

  16. 7.15 Dative verbs of “(mis-)trusting” • glauben: Natürlich glaube ichdir! (= Of course I believe you!) • misstrauen: Anna misstraut ihrem Gedächtnis (= Anna mistrusts her memory) • trauen: Der Soldat trautedem Frieden nicht (= The soldier was wary of the peace) • vertrauen: Ich vertrauemeiner Sekretärin (= I trust my secretary)

  17. 7.16 Dative verbs of “hurting/sorrow” • fehlen: Du fehlstmir sehr, Schatz! (= I miss you a lot, darling!) • Leid tun: Das tut mir wirklich Leid (= I am really sorry about that) • schaden: Der Lärm schadetdem Menschen (= Noise damages the individual) • wehtun: Er hat ihr sehr wehgetan (= He caused her a lot of pain)

  18. 7.17 Dative verbs of “resembling” • ähneln: Er ähnelt seinem Bruder (= He resembles his brother) • entsprechen: Das entsprichtden Tatsachen (= This corresponds to the facts) • gleichen: Jeder Tag gleichtdem anderen (= Every day is like the next)

  19. 7.18 Dative Verbs: Miscellaneous • befehlen: Er befiehltmir, das nicht zu tun (= He orders me not to do it.) • danken: Ich dankeIhnen sehr dafür! (= I thank you very much for this!) • einfallen: Das ist mir nicht eingefallen! (=That didn’t occur to me!) • gehören: Der BMW gehörtihrgar nicht (= The BMW doesn’t belong to her at all)

  20. 7.19 Dative Verbs: Miscellaneous (2) • gelingen: Das ist ihrnicht gelungen (= She didn’t succeed in this) • genügen: Das genügt mir eigentlich (= That’s enough for me actually) • gratulieren: Er gratuliertdirzum Geburtstag (= He congratulates you on your birthday) • verzeihen: Könnt ihr mirverzeihen? (= Can you forgive me?)

  21. 7.20 Misleading dative constructions • With some of these verbs, the dative object corresponds to the subject in English: • auffallen: Das fällt mir auf (= I notice it) • fehlen: Du fehlstmir (= I miss you) • gefallen: Das gefällt mirgar nicht! (= I really don’t like that!) • gelingen: Das ist mirnicht gelungen. (= I didn’t manage that!)

  22. 7.21 Misleading datives: (dis-)liking • gefallen: Die Sache gefällt mirnicht! (= I don’t like this at all!) • missfallen: Der Film missfällt den Kritikern (= The critics don’t like the new film) • schmecken: Pizza schmecktallen Kindern (= All children like pizza) (N.B. Note the sentence constructions!)

  23. 7.22 Verbs taking dative & accusative • There are a number of transitive verbs which take both an accusative or direct object and a dative or indirect object. • As a general rule, the direct object is usually a thing. • This thing is being taken from or given to a person who is the indirect object (i.e. is in the dative case).

  24. 7.23 Dative +Acc.: giving & taking • bringen: Er bringtihreinen Blumenstrauß (= He brings her a bunch of flowers) • geben: Julia gab dem Lehrereinen Apfel (= Julia gave the teacher an apple) • nehmen: Sie nahmihnendie Hoffnung (= She took their hopes away) • stehlen: Der Täter stahl mirden Fernseher (= The culprit stole my TV set)

  25. 7.24 Dative & acc.: verbs of “saying” • beantworten: Ich beantworte dirdiese Frage (= I’ll answer this question for you) • erzählen: Anna erzähltemirdie Geschichte (= Anna told me the story) • sagen: Ich sage Ihnenmeine Meinung (= I’ll tell you my opinion) • versprechen: Man versprach ihm100 Euro (= They promised him 100 euros)

  26. 7.25 The genitive case • The main role of the genitive case is to link nouns. It tends to indicate possession. • It usually follows the noun on which it depends, but names may come first - Karls Freundin, Goethes Werke (no apostrophe!) • The genitive is also used with certain prepositions: wegen, trotz, statt, während, auf Grund(because of), innerhalb(inside), außerhalb(outside), jenseits(beyond), diesseits(this side of), angesichts (in view of)

  27. 7.26 Case endings • The cases can also be identified by endings on determiners, adjectives and nouns. • Noun endings are limited in German: • Dative plural-n (e.g. Hier ist das Haus mit den Lichtern) • Genitive singular masc. / neuter - -(e)s • (e.g. die Geschichte des Schlosses)

  28. 7.27 Determiners • Endings on determiners show case information. • We can divide determiners into two types: 1) The definite article and its equivalents Demonstratives:der, dieser, jener, solcherDefiners:jeder, (irgend-)welcher, beide, allerPlurals:viele, wenige, mehrere, einige • 2) The indefinite article and its equivalents ein, kein, mein, ihr, unser, eueretc.

  29. 7.28 The Definite Article

  30. 7.29 Quiz (1): Definite article endings • Thus the endings on “der” tell us which case the noun is in, its gender & its number: • What do the following forms of the definite article tell us? • 1) dem ? • 2) den ? • 3) des ? • 4) der ?

  31. 7.30 Quiz (1): Answers • The endings on these forms of the definite article give us the following information: • 1) dem Dative case, masculine & neuter singular • 2) den Masculine accusative singular & dative plural for all genders • 3) des Masculine and neuter genitive singular • BUT 4) der a little more complicated!

  32. 7.31 The many uses of “der” • “der” is the definite article ending which can be used in the most amount of contexts: • der masculine nominative singular (e.g. Der Mann hat ein Auto.) • BUT also feminine dative singular: (e.g. Er gab der Frau das Auto.) • AND also feminine singular & plural in the genitive: (e.g. das Auto der Frau / der Frauen )

  33. 7.32 Case endings: dieser

  34. 7.33 Case endings: jeder

  35. 7.34 Indefinite article & possessives • Unlike “der” there is a zero ending on the indefinite article & possessives for: - masculine nouns in the nominative case - neuter nouns in the nom. and acc. Cases • Anja liest ein Buch (NOT: eines) • Unser Buch wird gelesen (NOT: unseres) • Ist das Buch ihr Roman? (NOT: ihrer)

  36. 7.35 The Indefinite Article

  37. 7.36 “einer” and “eines” • einer = EITHER feminine dative singular: (e.g. Er gab einer Frau das Auto.) • OR feminine genitive singular: (e.g. das Auto einer Frau) • eines = EITHER masculine genitive sing.: (e.g. das Auto eines Mannes) • OR neuter genitive singular: (e.g. das Auto eines Mädchens)

  38. 7.37 Endings on “kein”

  39. Singular mein: my dein: your(= informal) Ihr: your(= formal) sein: his; its ihr: her Plural unser: our euer: your(= informal) Ihr: your(= formal) ihr: their 7.38 The German possessives

  40. 7.39 Possessive endings: “ihr”

  41. 7.40 The possessive euer • The plural possessive euer drops the -e- of the stem when it adds endings: • Ist das euer Auto? (= Is that your car?) • BUT: Wir sitzen in euremAuto. (We are sitting in your car.) • Die Farbe euresAutos gefällt mir. (I like the colour of your car.)

  42. 7.41 Possessive endings: “euer”

  43. 7.42 Quiz (2): possessives • Ich schenkte _______ Mann einen Ring. (I gave my husband a ring.) • Verändern Sie die Farbe ________ Augen!(Change the colour of your eyes!) • Ohne ________ BMW könnt ihr nicht leben.(You can’t live without your BMW.) • __________ Fernsehapparat ist kaputt!(Our TV is broken!)

  44. 7.43 Quiz (2): answers • Ich schenkte meinem Mann einen Ring. (I gave my husband a ring.) • Verändern Sie die Farbe Ihrer Augen!(Change the colour of your eyes!) • Ohne euren BMW könnt ihr nicht leben.(You can’t live without your BMW.) • Unser Fernsehapparat ist kaputt!(Our TV is broken!)

  45. 7.44 Which case endings can you see?

  46. 7.45 Quiz (2): Answers • The endings on the chocolate bar wrapper give us the following information: • 1) der Genuss Masculine nominativesingular noun • 2) einer Tafel Feminine genitive singular • 3) dieser Sorte Feminine genitive singular • 4) Ihrem Sexleben Neuter dative singular

  47. 7.46 Weak adjective declension • The “weak” adjective endings are used after the definite article and its equivalents: • der - the (definite article) • dieser - this; jener - that • jeder - each; welcher? - which? • aller, sämtlicher- all • beide(= plural) - both

  48. 7.47 Weak adjective endings • The “weak” declension only has TWO possible endings: -e and -en. • -e is only used with: - the nominative singular of all genders - the accusative feminine singular - the accusative neuter singular • -en is used: - inall other combinations of case & gender - inall plurals

  49. 7.48 Weak adjective endings: alt

  50. 7.49 Strong adjective declension • “Strong” adjective endings are used if there is no determiner before the adjective whose ending clearly shows the case, gender and number of the noun. This happens: • when there is no determiner at all • after simple numerals - zwei, drei usw. • after certain plurals - viele, wenige, ein paar, mehrere, einige, etliche, folgende

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