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Learn German - Lesson 5 - Grammar:

Herr Allen klingelt bei Herrn Wilson

(photo by  Mikka Luster used under terms of Creative Commons license.)

 

A. NOUNS and SPECIFIERS

 

I. Plural Forms

 

1. It is very simple to form the plural of most English nouns; we simply "add an s". There are a few exceptional forms, like feet, and mice and sheep, but generally we have the s-plural.

 

2. German, unfortunately for the student, has half a dozen different noun plural forms. Here are some examples from the basic sentences you have memorized:

 

Die Zigarren kosten zwei Mark.	The cigars cost two marks.
Ich habe nur diese zwei Koffer.	I have only these two suitcases.
Herr Allen stellt die Herren vor.	Mr. Allen introduces the gentlemen.
Meine Bücher sind leider noch unterwegs.	My books are still on the way, unfortunately.
Ich muss einige Briefe schreiben.	I have to write some letters.

 

If we now compare the singular forms of the above nouns, we can show what is changed or added to distinguish the plural:

 

Singular	Plural
Zigarre	Zigarren	-n has been added to the singular.
Koffer	Koffer	Nothing has been added or changed.
Herr	Herren	-en has been added to the (nominative) singular. (We recall that· there is also a non-nominative singular form Herrn with the distinctive ending -n)
Buch	Bücher	-er has been added to the singular, and there is a change in the stem vowel.
Brief	Briefe	-e has been added to the singular.

 

An additional common plural form which has not occurred in the basic sentences is given below:

 

Auto

Autos

-s has been added to the singular.

 

3. Note that in some cases a change in the stem vowel has taken place. This is similar to the change in the stem vowel of some verbs noted in Lesson 2: ich fahre, but er fährt. Germans call this kind of sound change UMLAUT, and you will frequently hear it referred to by the German term.

 

4. Note also that there is no differentiation in the plural between der-nouns, das-nouns and die-nouns. The plural SPECIFIER forms are the same regardless of whether they occur with a der-noun, das-noun or die-noun (see Lessons 3 and 4).

 

5. We can now re-arrange and expand the list to include all the noun plural types of frequent occurrence. We shall add the specifiers and also show how the plural is usually indicated in vocabulary listings.

 

 

 

 

 

	Singular	Plural	Listed
a) No change from the singular:	der Koffer	die Koffer	der Koffer, --
(often with umlaut of stern vowel)	der Flughafen	die Flughäfen	der Flughafen, ̈--
b) Add -e to the singular:	der Brief	die Briefe	der Brief, -e
often with umlaut of stern vowel)	der Pass	die pässe	der Pass, ̈-e
c) Add -er to the singular:	das Geld	die Gelder	das Geld, -er
often with umlaut of stern vowel)	das Buch	die Bücher	das Buch, ̈-er
d) Add -en to the (nominative) sing:	die Frau	die Frauen	die Frau, -en
Some nouns also add -n or -en to form the non-nominative sing )	der Herr	die Herren	der Herr, -n, -en
e) Add -n to the (nominative) sing:	die Zigarre	die Zigarren	die Zigarre, -n
f) Add -s to the singular:	das Auto	die Autos	das Auto, -s

 

6. An -n is added to the dative plural form of all nouns in groups a), b) and c). Nouns in groups d) and e) already have a final -n and nouns in group f) do not add an -n.

 

7. Umlaut of the stern vowel occurs rather haphazardly, so that you are going to have to learn the plural for each noun as you encounter it. However, in group c) we can say that umlaut will occur with every noun whose stern vowel is -a-, -o- or -u-.

 

8. Nouns with the final syllable -in double the -n- before the plural ending -en in group d).

 

9· A very few foreign words have irregular plural endings. Das Museum drops the final -um and replaces it by the -en ending of group d): die Museen. Das Visum has the plural die Visen or die Visa. Der Neubau inserts a -t- before the -en ending of group d).

 

10. Here is a list of nouns which have occurred in the first five units grouped according to the way their plurals are formed:

 

 

 

 

a) plural --	plural ̈--	b) plural -e	plural ̈-e
der Amerikaner	der Flughafen	der Tag	der Pass
der Koffer	der Bruder	der Brief	der Bahnhof
der Füller	der vater	der Monat	der Platz
der Wagen		der Bleistift	der stadtplan
der Ober		der Besuch	der Sohn
der Morgen		der Omnibus (Omnibusse)	der Spaziergang
der Wachtmeister		der Wein	der Zoll
der Ratskeller		der Augenblick	der Parkplatz
der Fragebogen		der Autobus (Autobusse)	der Antrag
der Bremer		der Dom	der Papierkorb
der Raucher		der Abend	der Markt
der Schriftsteller		der Sonntag
		der Geschäftsbrief
		der Roman
		der Pfennig
		der Umweg
		der Ausweis
das Essen	die Mutter	das Geschäft	die Stadt
das Theater	die Tochter	das Jahr	die Hand
		das Konsulat
		das Brot
		das Bier
		das Formular
		das papiergeschäft
		das Generalkonsulat
c) plural -er	plural ̈-er	d) plural -en
das Geld	das Buch	der Diplomat	die Frau
	das Haus	der Herr	die Botschaft
	das Glas	der Polizist	die Wohnung
	das Rathaus	der Staat	die Strassenbahn
	das Schloss	der Neubau	die Bank
	das Streichholz	(die Neubauten)	die Zeitung
	das Etagenhaus	das Museum	die Abteilung
		(die Museen)	die Tür
		das Visum	die Bibliothek
	der Mann	(die Visen)*	die Amerikanerin
			die Universität
			die verabredung
			die Gemahlin
			die Sekretäri
e) plural -n		f) plural -s
der Konsul	die Minute	der Park
der Vizekonsul	die Stunde	der Portier
der Beamte	die Pfeife	das Auto
der Bekannte	die Deutsche	das Cafe
der Deutsche	die Zigarre	das Kino
der Kollege	die Zigarette	das Restaurant
der Angehörige	die Kontrolle	das Hotel
die Dame	die Taxe
die Strasse	die Seite
die Adresse	die aaltestelle
die Ecke	die Idee
die Briefmarke	die Tante
die Schreibmaschine	die Etage
die Reise			* or die Visa
die Woche

 

 

 

 
    

II. Genitive Forms.

 

1. In addition to the plural in this unit we have encountered some other new forms of nouns and specifiers:

 

a) Wilsons haben eine wohnung im ersten stock eines Etagenhauses in Frankfurt.	The Wilsons have an apartment on the second floor of an apartment house in Frankfurt.
b) Die Angehörigen meiner Frau leben hier.	My wife's family lives here.
c) Möchten Sie sich mal eins meiner Bücher leihen?	Would you like to borrow one of my books?
d) Hier ist ein Roman des französischen Schrifstellers Cocteau.	Here is a novel of the French author Cocteau.
e) Ist das nicht die neue Sekretärin unseres Kollegen Smith?	Isn't she our colleague Smith's new secretary?

 

The underlined forms of the noun and specifier in the above sentences are called GENITIVE forms. They indicate possessive relationships -- the kind of relationships that are designated in English by the -'s (or –s',) ending, and by the preposition of. The GENITIVE is the fourth form, along with Nominative. Accusative and Dative forms, which German nouns and specifiers can have. There are no other distinctive forms of nouns and specifiers.

 

2. Let us compare the Genitive forms in the above sentences with the corresponding Nominative forms and see what features distinguish them:

 

Genitive	Nominative
a) eines Etagenhauses	ein Etagenhaus	The specifier and the noun both have the ending -es added to the Nominative form.
b) meiner Frau	meine Frau	The specifier has the ending –er instead of -e; the noun has the same form as the Nominative.
c) meiner Bücher	meine Bücher	The specifier has the ending -er instead of -ei the noun has the same form as the Nominative.
d) des Schriftstellers	der Schriftsteller	the specifier ends in -s instead of –r; -s is added to the noun.
e) unseres Kollegen	der Kollege	The specifier has the ending -es added to the Nominative form; -n is added to the noun.

 

3· Note that in three cases - a). d) and e) above - the NOUN has a distinct Genitive form which differs from the Nominative form. In two cases - b) and c) above - the NOUN has the same form.

4. Note that in a), d) and e) the SPECIFIER has the ending -s (or es). In b) and c) the SPECIFIER has the ending -er.

5. Let us now summarize what we have observed about Genitive forms:

 

a) SPECIFIERS with der-nouns and das-nouns in the Genitive have the ending -s (or es). Both the der-type and the ein-type Specifiers have the same endings: des, dieses, eines, unseres.

b) der-NOUNS and das-NOUNS in the Genitive have the ending -s or –es: Hauses, Schriftstellers. A few der-nouns have the ending -n or -en: Kollegen, Herrn, Diplomaten, Polizisten, Beamten, Bekannten.

c) The SPECIFIERS of die-nouns and plural nouns have the ending –er in place of the Nominative ending -e (or -ie): der, dieser, meiner, ihrer.

d) die-NOUNS and plural NOUNS in the Genitive have the same form as in the Nominative: Frau, Bank, Banken, Bücher, Bleistifte.

 

6. Here for reference and comparison are some typical Genitive forms:

 

	Singular	Plural
a) Genitive of der-nouns	des Platzes	der Plätze
	des Omnibusses	der Omnibusse
	dieses Polizisten	dieser Polizisten
	meines Briefes	meiner Briefe
b) Genitive of das-nouns	des Jahres	der Jahre
	des Konsulats	der Konsulate
	dieses Hauses	dieser Häuser
	ihres Buches	ihrer Bücher
c) Genitive of die-nouns	der Dame	der Damen
	dieser Bank	dieser Banken
	unserer Schwester	unserer Schwestern

 

7. Note that der- and das-nouns ending in the sounds s  , ts, z  and š have the ending -es, as for example des Passes, des Platzes, des Hauses and des Tisches. Note also that the writing system requires the sound s to be written -ss- when non-final: Omnibusses, Omnibusse.

 

8. Otherwise, der- and das-nouns of more than one syllable have -s, as for example:  des Konsulats, while monosyllabic der- and das-nouns have either -s or -es, whichever the speaker prefers; you will hear both des Domes and des Doms, des staats and des Staates.

 

9. Proper names have an -s (or -es) ending: Peters Haus, Marias Tochter, Herrn Meyers Wagen.

 

10. You will note that the Genitive form of the specifier and noun generally follow the noun or pronoun with which a possessive relationship isindicated, as in the examples of paragraph 1:

 

im ersten stock eines Etagenhauses	on the second floor of an apartment house
die Angehörigen meiner Frau	my wife's family
ein Roman des französischen Schriftstellers	a novel of the French author

 

 

Proper names in the Genitive, however, usually precede the noun designating the thing possessed:

 

Kennen Sie Peters Frau?	Do you know Peter's wife?
Ist das Herrn Beckers Wagen?	Is that Mr. Becker's car?
Nein, das ist Marias Wagen.	No, that's Mary's car.

 

11. There is one personal pronoun which has a Genitive form: wer? "who" has the Genitive form wessen? "whose"

 

Wessen Auto ist das?	Whose car is that?
Wessen Sohn kennen Sie?	Whose son do you know?

 

 

 

 

III. Summary of Specifier Forms

 

1. We have now encountered all the Specifier forms, both the ein-type and  the der-type. The following gives a complete summary of the forms:

 

 

a) With der-type specifiers	Nom	der Sohn	die Söhne
	Acc	den Sohn	die Söhne
	Dat	dem Sohn	den Söhnen
	Gen	des Sohnes	der Söhne
	Nom	welches Theater	welche Theater
	Acc	welches Theater	welche Theater
	Dat	welchem Theater	welchen Theatern
	Gen	welches Theaters	welcher Theater
	Nom	diese Wohnung	diese Wohnungen
	Acc	diese Wohnung	diese Wohnungen
	Dat	dieser Wohnung	diesen Wohnungen
	Gen	dieser Wohnung	dieser Wohnungen
b) With ein-type specifiers	Nom	sein Brief	seine Briefe
	Acc	seinen Brief	seine Briefe
	Dat	seinem Brief	seinen Briefen
	Gen	seines Briefes	seiner Briefe
	Nom	seiner	seine	(Referring to der Brief)
	Acc	seinen	seine
	Dat	seinem	seinen
	Gen	seines	seiner
	Nom	ihr Auto	ihre Autos
	Acc	ihr Auto	ihre Autos
	Dat	ihrem Auto	ihren Autos
	Gen	ihres Autos	ihrer Autos
	Nom	ihrs	ihre	(Referring to das Auto)
	Acc	ihrs	ihre
	Dat	ihrem	ihren
	Gen	ihres	ihrer
	Nom	unsere Botschaft	unsere Botschaften
	Acc	unsere Botschaft	unsere Botschaften
	Dat	unserer Botschaft	unseren Botschaften
	Gen	unserer Botschaft	unserer Botschaften
	Nom	unsere	unsere	(Referring to die Botschaft)
	Acc	unsere	unsere
	Dat	unserer	unseren
	Gen	unserer	unserer

 

2. The ein-type specifiers are listed both with and without a following noun. The SPECIAL ein-type specifier forms which occur only when no noun follows the specifier are underlined.

 

B. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

 

I. In many sentences the object of the verb, the thing or person acted upon, is the same as the subject or actor. We say, for example, in English:

 

Mr. Wilson introduced himself. or She thinks a good deal of herself, doesn't she?

 

The identity of subject and object in English is indicated by adding the suffix -self to the pronoun designating the object. Pronouns of this kind are called REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS.

 

II. The German Reflexive Pronoun

 

1. In German, as in English, the subject and object of a verb may be the same. Note the following examples from your basic sentences:

 

a) Meine Frau kann sich nicht an das Klima gewöhnen.	My wife can't get ('herself') used to the climate.
b) Darf ich mir mal Ihre leihen?	May I borrow (' lend myself ' ) yours?
c) Möchten Sie sich mal eins meiner Bücher leihen?	Would you like to borrow one of my books?

 

In sentence a) the object of the verb refers to the same person as the subject and has the form sich. In sentence b) the interested bystander or indirect object of the verb is the same person as the subject and has the form mir. In sentence c) the indirect object of the verb is the same person as the subject and has the form sich.

 

2. German has only one REFLEXIVE PRONOUN, the form sich, meaning 'himself,

herself, itself, yourself, yourselves, themselves'. It occurs wherever the subject of the verb is er, sie, Sie, or es or is a noun which can be replaced by er, sie, Sie, or es.

 

Herr Allen kann sich nicht an das Klima gewöhnen.	Mr. Allen can' t get (' himself' ) used to the climate.
Herr Allen und seine Frau können sich nicht an das Klima gewöhnen.	Mr. Allen and his wife can't get ('themselves') used to the climate.
Können Sie sich nicht an das Klima gewöhnen?	can't you get ('yourself') used to the climate?

 

3. The REFLEXIVE PRONOUN sich may function either as the object or as the interested bystander in a sentence. We might say it can have either an Accusative or Dative function. Compare the sentences in 2 above with the following:

 

Möchten Sie sich ein Buch leihen?	Would you like to borrow ('lend yourself') a book?
Er möchte sich ein Buch leihen.	He would like to borrow ('lend himself') a book.

 

4. Wherever the subject of the sentence is ich or wir or is a noun which can be replaced ich or wir German uses the regular pronoun forms mich, mir and uns.

 

Ich kann mich nicht an das Klima gewöhnen.	I can't get ('myself') used to the climate.
Meine Frau und ich können uns nicht an das Klima gewöhnen.	My wife and I can't get ('ourselves') used to the climate.
Darf ich mir Ihre Zeitung leihen?	May I borrow (' lend myself ') your newspaper?
Wir möchten uns gern einige Bücher leihen.	We'd like to borrow ('lend ourselves') some books.

 

5· The object of a preposition can also refer to the same person as the subject in a sentence.

 

Er spricht immer nur von sich.	He always talks only about himself.
Ich spreche nicht gern von mir.	I don't like to talk about myself.

 

6. Whenever the subject of the sentence is er, sie, Sie or es or is a noun which can be replaced by er, sie, Sie or es the REFLEXIVE PRONOUN form sich occurs as a prepositional object referring to the same person as the subject.

 

7· Wherever the subject of the sentence is ich or wir or is a noun Which can be replaced by ich or wir German uses the regular pronoun forms mich, mir and uns after prepositions in order to refer to the same person as the subject.