The Secret of the German Language

The Secret of the German Language

• Lesson 2:• Can you handle the truth?• This is going to get pretty intense today.• Maybe we ought to hold hands and singKum-ba-ya first.• But how do you say Kum-ba-ya in German?• Okay. Back to business.


• We had written a chart and looked at the first row called “nominative” (which is basically the subject of the sentence).

• Today we’ll expand that and even venture carefully into the next row.

• We might even pick up a few more tricks . . .• If I’m in the mood.


• There are several other words that function like der, die and das.

• I’m going to call these “der words.”• Write these down in your notes under the

heading “der words.”


• Dies- (this/these)• Jed- (each/every)• Welch- (which)• Solch- (such/such a)• Manch- (many/many a/some/several)• Jen- (that/that one)

R E S Emasculine feminine neuter plural

Nominative(Subject)

So if you have a sentence like:

Der Mann ist hier

You can use these other der words as long as the ending is still –r.


Nominative(Subject)

Dieser Mann ist hier.Jeder Mann ist hier.Welcher Mann ist hier?Solcher Mann ist hier.Mancher Mann ist hier.Jener Mann ist hier.


Nominative(Subject)

So how would you say:

These children are nice.


Nominative(Subject)

Did you get:

Diese Kinder sind nett.


Nominative(Subject)

How would you say:

Which woman is tall?


Nominative(Subject)

Did you get:

Welche Frau ist groß.


Nominative(Subject)

What about this one?

This school is cool.


Nominative(Subject)

Did you get:

Diese Schule ist cool.


Nominative(Subject)

How about:

Every boy is awesome.


Nominative(Subject)

Did you get:

Jeder Junge ist toll.


Nominative(Subject)

How about:

This chicken is delicious.


Nominative(Subject)

Did you get:

Dieses Hähnchen (or Huhn) ist lecker.


Nominative(Subject)

One more:

Such a teacher (f) ist wonderful.


Nominative(Subject)

The (f) meant feminine. Did you get:

Solche Lehrerin ist wunderbar.

R E S EN E S E

masculine feminine neuter plural

Nominative(Subject)

Accusative(Direct Object)

So now that you have mastered the nominative, young grasshopper, it is time to move to the next row.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


The next row says Accusative, which is mostly the direct object (although it goes beyond that). So you know what a direct object is, right?

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


No, it’s not a baton an orchestra conductor uses. That’s not a direct object. Anyone know the definition?

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Here’s my take:A direct object receives the direct action of the verb.Or put more simply:It’s what’s being verbed.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


So in a sentence like:

I see the man

I ask what is being verbed? (seen?)

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


The man is being verbed. He’s being seen. He is receiving the direct action of the verb.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


So when this happens in German, you follow the second row in the same way you did the Nominative.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


So from the subject:

Der Mann ist hier.

Now you have:

Ich sehe den Mann.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Similarly you would have:

Ich sehe die Frau.Ich sehe das Kind.Ich sehe die Kinder.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


The other der words work here, too.

Ich sehe diesen Mann.Ich sehe jede Frau.Ich sehe dieses Kind.Ich sehe solche Kinder.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


So what endings would go here?

Welch__ Junge schaut d__ Frau an?

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Did you get:

Welcher Junge schaut die Frau an?

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


How about:

Dies__ Hund grüßt jed__ Katze.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Did you get:

Dieser Hund grüßt jede Katze.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


How about this one:

Jed__ Junge schaut dies__ Mädchen an.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Did you get:

Jeder Junge schaut dieses Mädchen an.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


So try some of these translations:

The man kisses the woman.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Did you get:

Der Mann küsst die Frau.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


How about this one:

This teacher (m) buys such a pen!

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Did you get:

Dieser Lehrer kauft solchen Kuli!

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Careful! Potential Pitfall!Although es gibt means there is/are and es gab means there was/were, they literally mean “it gives” and “it gave”!

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Careful! Potential Pitfall!Therefore, whatever “es gibt”, is “given”, making it the direct object of the verb gibt (accusative), while es functions as the subject (nominative), the giver.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


So how would you say, “There is man”?

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Did you get:

Es gibt einen Mann.

R E S EN E S E


Nominative(Subject)


Okay. One more gem: Most nouns that end in –er are masculine. Eimer, Verkäufer, Computer, etc.

R E S EN E S EM R M N+n

S+s R S+s R

-e

-en


adjectiveEndings

Nominative(Subject)


Dative(Indirect Object)

Genitive(Possessive)

Documents

The Secret of the German Language