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Tiscali: German Phrase Finder - Grammar

Phrases



GRAMMAR

nouns

In German all nouns begin with a capital letter. The plural forms vary from noun to noun &endash; there is no universal plural as in English (cat &endash; cats, dog &endash; dogs):



singular


plural


Mann


Männer


Frau


Frauen


Tisch


Tische

(In the dictionary, plural forms appear where they may be useful.)

German nouns are masculine (m), feminine (f) or neuter (nt), and this is shown by the words for the and a(n) used before them:





masculine


feminine


neuter


the


der Mann


die Frau


das Licht


a, an


ein Mann


eine Frau


ein Licht


 

The plural for the for all forms is die:

die Männer die Frauen die Lichter

There is no plural for the ein form. The plural noun is used on its own.

From the phrases in this book you will see that the endings for the word for the vary according to what part the noun plays in the sentence:

If the noun is the subject of the sentence, i.e. carrying out the action, then it is in the nominative case (the one found in dictionaries), e.g. der Mann steht auf (the man stands up). The subject der Mann comes before the verb.

If the noun is the direct object of the sentence, i.e. the action of the verb is being carried on the noun, then the noun is in the accusative case, e.g. ich sehe den Mann (I see the man). Note how the ending of der has changed to den. The same applies to ein, e.g. ich sehe einen Mann (I see a man).

If you see in front of the English noun &endash; of, 's, or s', then the noun is in the genitive case (i.e. it belongs to someone or something), e.g. das Haus der Frau (the woman's house). Note how the ending of die (Frau) has changed to der. The same applies to ein, e.g. das Haus einer Frau (a woman's house).

If you see to the or to a in front of the English noun, then the noun is in the dative case, e.g. ich gebe es der Frau (I give it to the woman). Note how the ending of die (Frau) has changed to der. The same applies to ein, e.g. ich gebe es einer Frau (I give it to a woman).

Several other words used before nouns have similar endings to der and ein.
Those like der are:
dieser this ; jener that ; jeder each ; welcher which
Those like ein are:
mein my ; dein your (familiar sing.) ; Ihr your (polite sing. and plural) ; sein his ; ihr her ; unser our ; euer your (familiar plural); ihr their

Here are the cases for der:





masculine


feminine


neuter


plural


Nominative


der Mann


die Frau


das Licht


die Frauen


Accusative


den Mann


die Frau


das Licht


die Frauen


Genitive


des Mannes


der Frau


des Lichtes


der Frauen


Dative


dem Mann


der Frau


dem Licht


den Frauen


 

Here are the cases for ein:





masculine


feminine


neuter


Nominative


ein Mann


eine Frau


ein Licht


Accusative


einen Mann


eine Frau


ein Licht


Genitive


eines Mannes


einer Frau


eines Lichtes


Dative


einem Mann


einer Frau


einem Licht


The word kein (no, not any) also has the same endings as for ein, except that it can be used in the plural:



Nominative


keine Männer


Accusative


keine Männer


Genitive


keiner Männer


Dative


keinen Männern


adjectives

When adjectives are used before a noun, their endings vary like the words for der and ein, depending on the gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) and whether the noun is plural, and how the noun is used in the sentence (whether it is the subject, object, etc.). Here are examples using the adjective klug &endash; clever





masculine


feminine


Nominative


der kluge Mann


die kluge Frau




ein kluger Mann


eine kluge Frau


Accusative


den klugen Mann


die kluge Frau




einen klugen Mann


eine kluge Frau


Genitive


des klugen Mannes


der klugen Frau




eines klugen Mannes


einer klugen Frau


Dative


dem klugen Mann


der klugen Frau




einem klugen Mann


einer klugen Frau


 





neuter


plural


Nominative


das kluge Kind


die klugen Männer




ein kluges Kind


kluge Frauen


Accusative


das kluge Kind


die klugen Männer




ein kluges Kind


kluge Frauen


Genitive


des klugen Kindes


der klugen Männer




eines klugen Kindes


kluger Frauen


Dative


dem klugen Kind


den klugen Männern




einem klugen Kind


klugen Frauen


When the adjective follows the verb, then there is no agreement:

der Mann ist klug
die Frau ist klug
das Kind ist klug

 

my, your, his, her

These words all take the same endings as for ein and they agree with the noun they accompany, i.e. whether masculine, feminine, neuter, plural and according to the function of the noun (nominative, accusative, etc.):

mein Mann kommt my husband is coming (nom.)
ich liebe meinen Mann I love my husband (acc.)
das Auto meines Mannes my husband's car (gen.)
ich gebe es meinem Mann I give it to my husband (dat.)
meine Kinder kommen my children are coming (nom. pl.)
ich liebe meine Kinder I love my children (acc. pl.)
die Spielsachen meiner Kinder my children's toys (gen. pl.)
ich gebe es meinen Kindern I give it to my children (dat. pl.)

Other words which take these endings are:
dein your (familiar sing.) ; sein his ; ihr her ; unser our ; euer your (familiar plural) ; Ihr your (polite sing. and plural) ; ihr their

pronouns



subject




direct object




I


ich


me


mich


you (familiar sing.)


du


you (familiar sing.)


dich


he/it


er


him/it


ihn


she/it


sie


her/it


sie


it (neuter)


es


it (neuter)


es


we


wir


us


uns


you (familiar plural)


ihr


you (familiar plural)


euch


you (polite sing. & pl.)


Sie


you (polite sing. & pl.)


Sie


they (all genders)


sie


them (all genders)


sie


 

Indirect object pronouns are:

to me mir ; to you (familiar sing.) dir ; to him/it ihm ; to her/it ihr ; to it (neuter) ihm ; to us uns ; to you (familiar plural) euch ; to you (polite sing. and plural) Ihnen ; to them ihnen

you

There are two ways of addressing people in German: the familiar form &endash; du (when talking to just one person you know well), ihr (when talking to more than one person you know well), and the polite form &endash; Sie (always written with a capital letter), which can be used for one or more people.

verbs

There are two main types of verb in German &endash; weak verbs (which are regular) and strong verbs (which are irregular).





weak


strong




spielen


helfen




to play


to help


ich


spiele


helfe


du


spielst


hilfst


er/sie/es


spielt


hilft


wir


spielen


helfen


ihr


spielt


helft


Sie


spielen


helfen


sie


spielen


helfen


 

Other examples of strong verbs are:





sein


haben




to be


to have


ich


bin


habe


du


bist


hast


er/sie/es


ist


hat


wir


sind


haben


ihr


seid


habt


Sie


sind


haben


sie


sind


haben


 

To make a verb negative, add nicht:



ich verstehe nicht


I don't understand


das funktioniert nicht


it doesn't work


past tense

Here are a number of useful past tenses:



ich war


I was


wir waren


we were


Sie waren


you were (polite)


ich hatte


I had


wir hatten


we had


Sie hatten


you had (polite)


ich/er/sie/es spielte


I/he/she/it played


Sie/wir/sie spielten


you/we/they played






ich/er/sie/es half


I/he/she/it helped


Sie/wir/sie halfen


you/we/they helped


Another past form corresponds to the English have ...ed and uses the verb haben to have:



ich habe gespielt


I have played


wir haben geholfen


we have helped


In German the present tense is very often used where we would use the future tense in English:



ich schicke ein Fax


I will send a fax


ich schreibe einen Brief


I will write a letter

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