Learn German - Lesson 7 - Grammar:
Beim einrichten
(photo
by Tobias Steinhoff used
under terms of Creative Commons license.)
A. ADJECTlVES - THE ADJECTlVE-NOUN SEQUENCE
Amerikanisches Generalkonsulat. |
American Consulate General. |
Ich muss einige
Geschäftsbriefe schreiben. |
I have to write some business letters. |
Ja, mit so gros sem
Kühlschrank und kombiniertem Gas- und Elektroherd. |
Yes, with such a large refrigerator and combination gas and electric range. |
II. Attributive adjectives in ADJECTIVE-NOUN sequences ALWAYS HAVE ENDINGS.
1.
The adjective
endings are -e, -em. -en, -er or -es:
Nom |
Amerikanischer Tabak ist gut. |
Acc |
Ich rauche gern amerikanischen
Tabak. |
Dat |
Ich rauche nur Zigaretten mit amerikanischem
Tabak. |
|
|
Nom |
Hier ist deutsches Geld. |
Acc |
Haben Sie deutsches Geld? |
Dat |
Was können wir hier mit deutschem
Geld tun? |
|
|
Nom |
Ist das hier gute Tinte? |
Acc |
Hier haben Sie gute Tinte. |
Dat |
Mit guter Tinte kann man gut
schreiben. |
|
|
Nom |
Hier sind grosse Sessel. |
Acc |
Ich suche grosse Sessel. |
Dat |
Ich habe ein Wohnzimmer mit grossen
Sesseln. |
2. No genitive forms are listed for the ADJECTIVE-NOUN sequence, as they occur only very rarely. Note that the adjective endings of the nominative, accusative and dative forms correspond throughout to the endings of the der-type specifiers.
3. Preceding adverbs or numerals do not affect the forms of the adjectives in ADJECTIVE-NOUN sequences:
Die Männer bringen gerade zwei grosse
Kisten herauf. |
The men are just bringing two big crates in. |
Heute ist wirklich schönes
Wetter. |
It's really nice weather today. |
4. The noun is not always present in a sequence when it can be understood from the context. The form of the adjective is the same whether the noun is present or not:
Haben Sie deutsches Geld? |
Do you have any German money? |
Nein. ich habe nur amerikanisches. |
No, I only have American (money). |
|
|
Brauchen Sie einen grossen Teppich für das
Wohnzimmer? |
Do you need a large rug for the living-room? |
Nein, ich möchte zwei kleine für das Schlafzimmer
haben. |
No, I'd like to have two small ones for the bedroom. |
|
|
Trinken Sie lieber deutschen oder französischen
Wein? |
Do you like German or French wine better? |
Ich trinke lieber französischen. |
I like French (wine) better. |
Notice that we usually repeat the noun in English.
5. If there is more than one adjective in an ADJECTIVE-NOUN sequence, all have the same endings:
Hier sind noch einige nette
Häuser zu vermieten. |
There are still some nice houses for rent here. |
Eine Küche mit so vielen eingebauten
Schränken ist doch schön. |
A kitchen with so many built-in cupboards really is nice. |
Trinken Sie gern gutes deutsches
Bier? |
Do you like good German beer? |
III. Adjectives used as nouns often occur without a preceding specifier.
1. Their endings are the same as those outlined above:
Ist sie Amerikanerin oder Deutsche? |
Is she an American or a German? |
Sie sind Deutscher, nicht wahr? |
You're German, aren't you? |
Ich wusste nicht, dass Ihre Frau hier Verwandte
hat. |
I didn't know that your wife has relatives here. |
2. Note that adjectives used as nouns may be preceded by other adjectives. Both then have the same ending:
Ist sie deutsche Staatsangehörige? |
Is she a German citizen? |
Er ist amerikanischer Beamter. |
He's an American official. |
Meine Frau hat nette Verwandte
in Berlin. |
My wife has nice relatives in |
Wir haben gute Bekannte in
Frankfurt. |
We have good friends in |
3. Note carefully the distinction in form between adjectives used as nouns when they are preceded by a specifier and when they are not.
Das ist der amerikanische Beamte. |
That's the American official. |
Morgen besuchen wir die netten Verwandten
meiner Frau in Berlin. |
Tomorrow we're going to visit
my wife's nice relatives in |
Wir treffen unsere guten Bekannten
in Frankfurt. |
We're meeting our good friends
in |
IV. Adjectives in ADJECTIVE-NOUN sequences and in SPECIFIER-ADJECTIVE-NOUN sequences:
1. Compare the following sentences:
Das ist guter französischer
Wein. |
That's good French wine. |
Das ist ein guter
französischer Wein. |
That's a good French wine. |
Wo ist der gute
französische Wein? |
Where's the good French wine? |
Das ist gutes deutsches
Geschirr. |
That's good German dinnerware. |
Das ist ihr gutes
deutsches Geschirr. |
That's her good German dinnerware. |
Wo ist das gute
deutsche Geschirr? |
Where's the good German dinnerware? |
You will note that there is no difference in the form of adjectives in adjective-noun sequences and in sequences with the endingless ein-type specifiers. There is a difference between the form of these adjectives and adjectives in a specifier-adjective-noun sequence where the specifier also has an ending.
B. AN IRREGULAR ADJECTIVE – hoch
I. The adjective hoch has occurred in this unit only as a predicate adjective:
Die Mieten sind hier garnicht so hoch. |
The rents here are not high at all. |
II. As an attributive adjective the stem form hoh- with regular adjective endings occurs:
Wir haben hier sehr hohe
Mieten. |
We have very high rents here. |
Das ist ein ganz hohes
Etagenhaus. |
That's quite a high apartment building. |
C. SUMMARY OF TWO-WAY PREPOSITIONS
I. In Lesson 3 it was noted that certain prepositions when followed by a dative form indicate where someone or something is to be found and when followed by an accusative form indicate where someone or something that is in motion is going to end up. We have now encountered the total inventory of TWO-WAY PREPOSITIONS, nine in all. Let us review some of the sentences in which they have occurred:
Das Sofa können wir dort an die
Wand stellen. |
We can place the sofa over against the wall there. |
Die Steppdecken liegen auf
unseren Betten. |
The quilts are on our beds. |
Wir haben einen grossen Garten hinter
dem Haus. |
We have a big yard behind the house. |
Den Teppich legen wir in die
Mitte des Zimmers. |
We'll lay the carpet in the middle of the room. |
Rechts neben dem Schloss ist
die Universität. |
Next to the palace on the right is the university. |
Das grosse Bild könnten wir über
das Sofa hängen. |
We could hang the big picture above the sofa. |
Das Telephonbuch liegt dort unter
den Zeitungen. |
The telephone book is there under the newspapers. |
Stellen wir den Schreibtisch vor
das grosse Fenster. |
Let's put the desk in front of the big window. |
Stellen Sie die Lampe zwischen den
Rauchtisch und den Bücherschrank. |
Put the lamp between the smoking table and the bookcase. |
1. Note that there is a close link
between the TWO-WAY
PREPOSITION and the verbs in these sentences. In the sentences where a
dative
form follows the preposition verbs which indicate or describe a static
situation occur: liegen, haben, ist. In the
sentences where an
accusative form follows the preposition verbs indicating action or
motion
occur: stellen, legen, hängen.
2. It is important to note however that two-way prepositions may be followed by an accusative form in a sentence where the verb by itself does not necessarily indicate motion. In association WITH THE ACCUSATIVE object of a two-way preposition the verb ALWAYS IMPLIES MOTION.
Der Tisch passt gut vor die beiden Sessel. |
The table fits the picture in front of the two easy-chairs (and therefore should end up in that location). |
3. Likewise a DATIVE FORM following a two-way preposition ALWAYS IMPLIES A STATIC RELATIONSHIP, nonchanging, even when the verb is a verb of action or motion:
Das grosse Bild hängt dort über dem Sofa. |
The big picture is hanging there above the sofa. |
Das grosse Bild können wir über das Sofa hängen. |
We can hang the big picture above the sofa. |
D.
VERBS - legen,
liegen, stehen and stellen
I. In English we generally use the forms "is" and "are" to describe the location of a person or an object, and a form of the verb "to put" in describing the act of placing an object in a certain location. We can, however, make implicit reference to the shape of the object and to the position it is in:
My briefcase is there on the table. You can put your briefcase on the table there. |
OR |
My briefcase is lying there on the table. You can lay your briefcase on the table there. |
His gun is over against the wall there. He puts his gun over against the wall there. |
His gun is standing over against the wall there. He stands his gun up against the wall there. |
II. German usually makes more frequent reference to position than English. The verbs liegen and stehen, like English "to lie" and "to stand", besides giving the location of an object or a person, clearly imply his, or its position. In German also, however, the verb forms ist and sind occur with a location:
Die Steppdecken liegen auf unseren Betten. |
The quilts are (lying) on our beds. |
Der neue Schreibtisch steht vor dem Fenster. |
The new desk is (standing) in front of the window. |
but |
|
Das Buch ist auf dem Tisch. |
The book is on the table. |
Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. |
The book is located on the table and is lying flat. |
Das Bild ist auf dem Schreibtisch. |
The picture is on the desk. |
Das Bild steht auf dem Schreibtisch. |
The picture is located on the desk but is in a standing frame or propped up against something. |
III. German has no non-specifying verb corresponding to the English verb "to put" and always describes the act of placing some object in a certain location in terms of its final position there, whether lying or standing, by using the verbs legen and stellen.
Wir können das Sofa an die Wand stellen. |
We can put the sofa up against the wall, where it is to stand. |
Wo soll ich die Wolldecken hinlegen? |
Where shall I put the woolen blankets, i.e., where shall I leave them lying? |
E. VERBS - REVIEW OF PRESENT
We have added more than fifty verbs to the inventory since the outline of the present tense was given in Lesson 2. At that time two main patterns and one subsidiary pattern were noted, those of kommen, geben and arbeiten, as well as the irregular verb patterns. By way of review we present here a reference list of the verbs added in Lessons 3 - 7.
1. These verbs follow the pattern
illustrated by komm-e,
komm-t, komm-en:
brauchen |
hoffen |
liegen |
sitzen |
bringen |
ge,;:,öhnen |
machen |
stehen |
buchstabieren |
<:]russen |
(packen) |
stellen |
danken |
(heben) |
auspacken |
stören |
erreichen |
abheben |
parken |
suchen |
fragen |
holen |
passen |
trinken |
freuen |
hören |
rauchen |
wählen |
( füllen) |
leben |
rufen |
wiederholen |
ausfüllen |
legen |
schreiben |
zählen |
hängen |
leihen |
setzen |
ziehen |
2. These verbs follow the pattern illustrated by geb-e, gib-t, geb-en, in which a different stem occurs in the er-form.
anfangen |
fängt ... an |
nehmen |
nimmt |
helfen |
hilft |
sehen |
sieht |
lesen |
liest |
tragen |
trägt |
3. These verbs follow the subsidiary pattern illustrated by arbeit-e, arbeit-e-t, arbeit-en, in which a connecting vowel -e- occurs before the er-form ending. Note that all have sterns ending in -t- or -d-.
anbieten |
bietet ... an |
vermieten |
vermietet |
finden |
findet |
melden |
meldet |
fürchten |
fürchtet |
ausrichten |
richtet … aus |
mieten |
mietet |
einrichten |
richtet … ein |
4. A few verbs follow a second subsidiary pattern. An example is auswander-n, in which the wir-form ending is -n instead of -en. We have encountered only four other verbs which follow this pattern.
klingel-n |
kümmer-n |
tu-n |
wechsel-n |
5· Please note that a number of verbs which differ from the above only in having additional accented adverbs associated with them have not been listed separately, since their forms and endings remain the same.