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Chapter 4: Personal Pronouns, Demonstratives, Quantifiers and Numbers . . . . . . . . . 561Personal pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.1Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2Substitutes for the pronoun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.3The possessive pronoun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.4This, that, the former, the latter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.5Determiners - articles, demonstratives and quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5656575757582Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.1The ordinals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.2Fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.3Multiplicatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.4Time and date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6263646464Chapter 5: Adverbs: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661What is an adverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662Formation of adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.1Comparison of adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.2Adverbs of place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.3Adverbs of degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .666768693Getting negative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.1Kein and nicht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.2The position of nicht in the sentence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.3Never more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.4Double negatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.5Tag questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.6Negating the negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69707071717272Chapter 6: The Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.1The primary and secondary verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2The primary (strong) verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.1 Group I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.2 Group II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.3 Group III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.4 Group IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.5 Group V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.6 Group VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.7 Group VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.2.8 The preterite presents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74747475757575757575762Weak verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772.1Rückumlaut verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77-4-

34Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77The subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775The verb endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786The imperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807The compound tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.1The future with werden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.2Preterite and present perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.2.1 Present perfect with sein and haben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.3The forms of the auxiliaries haben und sein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.4The conditional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.5Colloquial use of the tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.6The subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.7Indirect discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.8Overview: the use of the German tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.8.1 The present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.8.2 The past or preterite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.8.3 The present perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.8.4 The past and future perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8080808081828484848585858687Chapter 7: Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881The vastness of syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882The V-II rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894Scrambling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.1Lessons to be learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915Verb at the end of subordinate clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916Prefixes separable and inseparable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927Preposed participial constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938Stranding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 948.1Preposition attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 959Long distance movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9510Ellipsis and “shadow pronouns” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9610.1 Cross-linguistic syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9811What about me – disjunctive pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98-5-

12As easy as 1,2,3 - Relational Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9913Freezing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10014Passive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10115Es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10215.1 Es the door keeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10215.2 Es with extraposition from the object position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10316Clause prepositions and subordinating conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.1 Clause-introducing particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.2 Development of clause-preposition plus object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.3 Common subordinating conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Das Ding an sich – the problem with sich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109106107107108Appendix: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114The Gender of German Nouns According to Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Useful Word Lists: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .One-syllable masculines that do not modify: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Two syllable masculines with umlaut: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Foreign nouns with umlaut: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Masculine nouns with plural in -er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Complete list of feminines in -nis: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Strong feminines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pluralia tantum (nouns only used in the plural): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Masculine nouns with missing -n nominative singular: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mixed declension: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Two plurals – different meanings: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nouns in -en that are neuter: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Feminine and neuter nouns in -er: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nouns in -el that are feminine or neuter: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A special note on the word Teil: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Compounds with Mut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Adjectives that do not modify in the comparative: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Uses of the genitive: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Review Questions: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129My favorite reference works: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139-6-

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Introduction:The present volume is a companion to my book The German Language – A Guide for InquisitiveStudents. Both can be used in tandem. The Guide is aimed toward the student (the Germanstudent as well) who wants to know how the awesome German language came to be the way itis. This grammar is mostly descriptive (if not strictly so) and is intended to introduce thestructure of the German language to international students in the shortest possible time. A thirdvolume – Practical Exercises in German Grammar is in preparation.This trilogy is partially the result of necessity. International students at the University ofApplied Sciences - Munich often have no more than one or two semesters to spend in Germanyand wish to learn something of the German language. Others, who plan to complete a course ofstudies in Munich, arrive with good English, but in need of no-nonsense help in German so thatthey can quickly master their studies.In addition, I had in mind my German students, who come from school with detailedknowledge about the surface of the moon, but no idea of what goes on in their mouths (let alonetheir minds) when they speak. Introducing them to the beauty of their own language was myspecial goal. Unfortunately, they have to put up with a book (and a lecture) in English since theirinternational fellow students would not be able to follow the material in German.I am acutely aware that the approach followed here is not in keeping with the modernZeitgeist in language instruction, which holds that understanding the structure and developmentof the language to be learned is useless, detrimental or a potential cause of brain damage.I can only agree with Horace Lunt, who wrote more than half a century ago (1958) in thepreface to his Fundamentals of Russian:Mastery is to be most quickly achieved by facing the difficulties squarely and workingat them constantly. These lessons are intended to take the student over the direct butrocky road . giving him only the real necessities, without sugared pills or fun and games.Prof. Dr. Russell BlockOctober 2012-8-

Chapter 1: The Sound of German1Standard GermanIn this Chapter, we will explain the principles of phonetics (what happens in your mouth whenyou speak) and use these principles to illustrate the standard German pronunciation or“Hochlautung” as used on network television (ARD-ZDF-Deutsch). In addition, we will indicateimportant differences in regional speech (particularly Bavarian).2The standard dialectThe standard German dialect mentioned above is surprisingly not the pronunciation of anyinfluential city or region (cf. Paris as the source of the French standard or Florence for Italian).Rather, the “official” pronunciation of German is based on the way speakers of Low German(‘Plattdeutsch’) pronounce the written literary standard based on the chancellery languagedeveloped in Upper Saxony (Meißen, Leipzig) during the fourteenth century. (See the companionvolume, The German Lanugage – A Guide for Inquisitive Students for further details.)3Overview of the German consonantsIn order to understand the sounds of German (or any other language), it is first necessary toexplore the “geography” of the mouth and the workings of the speech organs. In our discussion,we will use the illustration below:Our handsome friend, the “Illustrated Man,” always looks to the west. More important, heprovides a cutaway view of the portions of the head that are involved in speech production. Themajor players are labeled with their Latin names because the English and “international” namesfor them are based on the Latin.The consonant sounds are described their place of articulation (where they are made inthe mouth) and their manner of articulation (how they are made). Stops are sounds thatcompletely close off the air stream in the mouth. Fricatives, on the other hand, result fromforcing air through a narrow slit produced with tongue, lips and teeth. Affricates are acombination of a stop and a fricative produced at the same place in the mouth. Instead of asudden release (as with the stops), the affricates are released slowly, producing a fricative.-9-

You can see (or rather feel) how this works by contrasting the pronunciation of the t intop, the s in sop and the ch in chop. For the sound of t, the tip of the tongue (apex) is pressedagainst the gum (alveolar) ridge, completely closing off the air stream. The sound of s isproduced with the tip of the tongue and the gum ridge just as is the case with t, but rather thanstopping the airflow, the tongue forms a narrow passage with the gum ridge and the air is forcedthrough producing friction. Finally, ch is produced by making a stop between the “blade” of thetongue and the palate just behind the gum ridge. This stop goes over slowly in to a fricative. Thecombined nature of this sound (stop fricative) is reflected in the International PhoneticAlphabet (IPA) symbol for it [tS], where [t] represents the stop and [S] the fricative. Notice thatthis [S] is identical to the sound sh in she.The following chart gives an overview of the German consonants using the IPA transcriptionfound in most modern dictionaries.German Consonantsvoicelessp t kf sSxpf ts tSvoicedb d gv zZstopsfricativeshdZaffricateslrm n NjliquidsnasalsglideobstruentssonorantsUnfamiliar envwasNote that the true consonants or obstruents (consonants that involve obstruction of the airstream) can occur in voiced and voiceless pairs. This is mother nature’s way of giving us twofor the price of one. That is, pairs like /s/ and /z/ are pronounced the same way (air is forcedthrough a narrow slit formed by the tip of the tongue and the gum ridge), but /z/ involves, inaddition, vibration of the vocal cords, located in the larynx. German does not make full use ofthis distinction.Sonorants (also called Resonants) are consonant sounds that do not involve obstructionof the air stream. In German (and most other languages) they only occur as voiced sounds.Liquids are so called because the air flows by the tongue like a liquid without friction. Thequality of the liquid is determined by the shape of the tongue – or, in the case of German, by thevibration of the uvula or the tongue tip (uvular-r or apical-r). Nasals are stops, that is, the airstream is closed off in the mouth, but released through the nose. To make this possible, MotherNature designed the velum as flap that can be moved up and down, opening or closing off thepassage to the nose. To see how this works, try saying pit and pin while holding your nose. Youwill feel the air trying to force its way out of your nose when you say pin. Glides are producedby the movement of the tongue and lips onto or off a neighboring vowel. When you pronounce-10-

German ja, Your tongue starts in the position of the vowel in see and “glides” onto the followingvowel.Finally, /h/ is not produced in the mouth at all, but in the larynx. It is a voiceless fricativeproduced by creating a narrow slit between the vocal cords and forcing air through. This glottalfricative is nothing more than a breathy, voiceless copy of the following vowel or sonorantconsonant.3.1Tense vs. laxIn the northern German standard pronunciation, there is an important distinction made betweentense and lax consonants. The tense consonants (which are also voiceless) are pronounced withconsiderably more muscle tension in the vocal organs and more air pressure from the lungs. Inthe case of the stops, they are also aspirated, that is, followed by a puff of breath [ph, th, kh]. Fornative speakers of Romance and Slavic languages, where the distinction of voiced vs. voicelessis not accompanied by a corresponding difference in lax vs. tensed, this can pose a considerableproblem.3.2The final devoicing ruleGerman has a final devoicing rule which makes all obstruents (consonants pronounced withobstruction of the air stream, i.e., stops, fricatives and affricates) voiceless at end of a word orbefore a suffix beginning in a consonant, cf.Liebe/liùb«/lieb/liùp/lieblich /liùplIC/Thus, in final position (as defined above) voiced and voiceless consonants never contrast (cf.English, where said and set are quite different words and the difference is based on the voicingof the final consonant). Strangely, most of the Slavic languages also have final devoicing. Thisis a problem for speakers of English and the Romance languages.3.3Comments on individual consonantsCompared to English, German spelling is quite rational. In the new orthography, it is almostalways possible to correctly pronounce a word one sees written. However, because of thepeculiarities of historical development, German has some rather strange features of spelling andpronunciation. We will note some of them here.3.3.1 Vogel-VA handful of words that begin with the sound /f/ are spelled with v , e.g., Vogel, Vater, vier,ver-, vor. Since there is no rational reason to spell the same sound two different ways, we mustlook for a historical explanation. Originally, v and f represented different sounds, which,over the course of time fell together into /f/. In most cases, the spelling was standardized, with v yielding to f . Thus MHG veder NHG Feder ‘feather’. The recent spelling reform didnot succeed in removing the remaining v spellings since eliminating Vogel-V would havechanged the general appearance of German texts beyond the limits of acceptability. Would youlike to deal with: Er wurde von fier fögeln im forraum foll angegriffen ‘He was frontally attackedby four birds

German Grammar in English for International Students Version 2.6 Prof. Dr. Russell Block FK 13 –