73. Accusative & Dative Prepositions

73.  Accusative / Dative Prepositions - 2 Way Prepositions  (See Quiztests 218-219)

Last time we looked at Prepositions that require the (pro)noun to take the Dative Case. Now we should look at prepositions that can take both Accusative & Dative Cases depending on the circumstances. They are more than a little tricky but basically, we use the Accusative when Movement is involved and we use the Dative when No Movement is involved.

In this sense then, it is useful to think of Accusative = Alive = Movement. If you can say 'into'  or 'onto' there will be movement.

Equally we use the Dative = Dead = No Movement

First let's look at the prepositions themselves and how they are used.

an            =           at,  on (vertical and with time), onto  (am = an dem,  ans = an das)
auf           =           on (horizontal), to, onto  (aufs = auf das),  in (languages)
in             =           in,  into (im = in den,  ins  = in das)
neben      =           next to
entlang    =           along
vor           =           in front of,  before,  ago (time)
hinter       =           behind
über         =           over,  via
unter        =           under,  below
zwischen  =           between

Beispiele

Wir fahren morgen ans Meer.  Am Rhein ist ein Standbild der Lorelei.
Am Montag gehen wir schwimmen. Bitte schreib nicht an die Tafel!
Auf der Kommode ist ein Wecker. Leg das Schachbrett auf den Tisch.
Wir fahren morgen aufs Land. Auf dem Lande gibt's viel zu tun.
Er spricht oft auf Deutsch.  Auf dem Ast kriecht eine kleine Raupe. (Not 'onto')
In diesem Karton ist ein Fernseher.  Tu die Sachen in diese Tasche!
Bitte übersetze diese Erzählung ins Englische!  Der Haifisch schwimmt im Fluß.
Neben dem Fenster ist ein Schrank. Stell den Stuhl neben den Tisch!
Bitte gehen Sie diese Straße entlang. (Note position often after noun).
Am Rhein entlang sind viele schöne Dörfer.
Vor der Eiszeit waren mehr Hügel in diesem Gebiet.
Vor zehn Jahren war er sehr krank. Bitte leg den Teppich vor das Feuer!
Hinter dem Haus ist ein schöner Garten.  Anna, versteck dich hinter die Tür!
Ein Düsenflugzeug fliegt sehr schnell über die Stadt.
Über dem Haus fliegt ein roter Papierdrachen. (It is sitting over / above the house)
Unter dem Baum sitzt ein Eichhörnchen.
Ein Frosch taucht schnell unter eine Teichrose.
Zwischen dem Haus und der Kirche ist ein schöner alter Tannenbaum.
Lauf mal mit dem Ball zwischen die Stöcke!

*** One final note .... Choosing which case to use can be a little tricky particularly with in(to)  and on(to).  You need to go with the Dative if you cannot say 'into'  or  'onto'.  For example, in the sentence above:  auf dem Ast kriecht eine Raupe  the caterpillar is actually on the branch but although there is movement, he is not creeping onto the branch. Equally in the sentence where the Haifisch schwimmt im Fluß ... there is movement but the shark is in the river already and not swimming into the river. If the shark were to swim from the river into the sea, then we would have  der Haifisch schwimmt in die See.

Titisee Black Forest

72 Dative Prepositions

72.  Dative Prepositions  (See Quiztests 216-217)

Previously we have seen 2 sets of prepositions that require the Accusative and Genitive Cases for the nouns / pronouns that follow. In this post, we will look at Prepositions that take the Dative Case. These prepositions are used frequently and sometimes change their meaning in different situations. They are:

mit        =        with,  by (transport)

aus        =        out of,   from (countries)

von       =        from,  of  (von dem = vom)

bei        =         at the place of,  near, in (weather) (bei dem = beim)

nach     =         after,   to (cities, countries),   according to

zu         =         to  (within city), for  (zu dem = zum; zu der = zur)

gegenüber =   opposite, towards

seit       =         since (time)

außer    =        except for,  out of

Beispiele

Meine Brüder kommen heute mit ihren Kindern zum Fußballspiel.

Wir fahren jeden Tag mit dem Bus in die Stadt.

Klaus steigt jetzt aus dem Taxi.

Inge kommt aus Dänemark.

Frau Müller kommt gleich vom (von dem) Marktplatz.

Die Werke von Goethe sind weltbekannt.

Bei mir zu Hause wohnen jetzt meine Familie und all meine Brüder.

Er wohnt in Strub bei Berchtesgaden.

Bei diesem Wetter ist es sehr gefährlich,  auf der Autobahn zu fahren.

Nach dem Spiel gehen wir in die Stadt.

Morgen fährt meine Schwester mit dem Zug nach Nürnberg.

Meiner Meinung nach ist diese Idee wahnsinnig.

Zuerst fahren wir zum (zu dem) Rathaus.

Glückwünsche zum Geburtstag!

Gegenüber dem Bahnhof ist die Post.

Mir gegenüber kann er ganz gemein sein. (Position sometimes found after (pro)noun)

Seit der Party fühle ich mich krank.

Außer mit seinen Freunden geht er heutzutage selten aus.

Der Skilift ist außer Betrieb.

Titisee - Black Forest

71. Dieser + Other Demonstrative Adjectives

71.  Demonstrative Adjectives  (See Quiztests 214-215)

So far we have seen the full tables with the Definite Article ('the') and the Indefinite Article ('a', 'an', 'one') in all cases ... Nominative (Subject), Accusative (Object), Genitive (Possession ...'s, s' and 'of) and the Dative (Indirect Object - 'to'  and  'for').

In this post we can look at the use of the Demonstrative Adjectives in front of nouns and we will see that they are fairly similar to the der, die, das table where there are only a couple of changes to the endings on the stem ('dies').

              Masculine     Feminine    Neuter     Plural   

Nom.           der                die             das            die     (Subject)

Acc.            den                die             das            die     (Object - direct)

Gen             des                der            des             der      (Possession - 'of'  's  s' )      

Dat              dem              der            dem            den     (Object - indirect - 'to'  'for' )

                Masculine    Feminine      Neuter       Plural  

Nom          ein*               eine              ein*          keine         ( * Note no ending )

Acc            einen             eine              ein*          keine         ( * Note no ending )

Gen           eines              einer             eines         keiner 

Dat            einem            einer             einem        keinen 


                  Masculine      Feminine       Neuter          Plural   
Nom.          dieser                diese             dieses            diese     (Subject)

Acc.            diesen               diese             dieses            diese     (Object - direct)

Gen             dieses               dieser            dieses            dieser    (Possession - 'of'  's  s')
Dat              diesem             dieser            diesem           diesen    (Object - indirect - 'to'  'for' )

We can see here that the Nominative and Accusative Cases of Neuter nouns have an 'es' instead of 'as'. The other demonstrative adjectives that work in similar fashion are:

welcher      =      which
jener           =      that, those
mancher     =      many
jeder           =      each, every (used in singular)
solcher       =      such (usually in plural only)

Beispiele

1    Welcher Student hat kein Textbuch?
2.   Welche Gerichte essen Sie am liebsten?
3    Diese Dame ist elegant, aber jene Dame ist sehr unelegant. (Note diese / jene contrast)
4    Für diese Kinder machen wir nichts, aber für jene Kinder machen wir alles.
5    Mancher Fußballspieler weiß, es ist sehr wichtig, fit zu sein.
6    Manche Frauen verstehen viel über die Mode.
7    Jedes Baby schläft rund 14 Stunden pro Tag.
8    Jeder Wagen hat Lenkhilfesteuerung (power steering).
9    Solche Geschäfte haben Ende Februar Sonderangebote für Skier.
10  Ein solches Mädchen wird sicher auf die Uni gehen. (in sing. used mostly with 'ein')

Outdoor restaurant setting Freiburg

70. My, Your, His, her, Its, Our, Your, Their ....

70.  Possessive Adjectives  (See Quiztests 212-213)

Now that we have looked at all the cases, this opens up several possibilities for us. Having seen the Indefinite Article in particular, we can also expand our horizons to the Possessive Adjectives. These are: my, your, his, her, its etc. First we should look at the previous table with 'ein'  / 'kein'

                   Masculine    Feminine     Neuter       Plural  

Nom           ein                eine              ein*           keine         ( * Note no ending )

Acc             einen            eine              ein*           keine         ( * Note no ending )

Gen            eines             einer            eines          keiner 

Dat             einem            einer           einem         keinen 

The good news here is that the Possessive Adjectives take exactly the same endings as the above table in all cases. They are then:

mein  =  my,   dein  =  your (from 'du'),   sein  =  his,   ihr  =  her,   sein  =  its
unser =  our,   euer  =  your ( from 'ihr'),  Ihr   =  your (from 'Sie'),  ihr  =  their

Now all we have to do is substitute any of these words into the above table to see how they work and we add the same endings.

                  Masculine           Feminine          Neuter            Plural  

Nom          1  mein                5  seine             9  mein           13 seine         

Acc            2  deinen             6  unsere          10 dein           14 unsere       

Gen           3  seines               7  eurer *         11 seines         15 eurer      (*  'e' drops out)

Dat            4  ihrem               8  Ihrer            12 ihrem        16 Ihren 

Now we can look at some examples in a few sentences.

1   Meine (5) Schwester mag mein (10) Fahrrad.
2   Hat dein (1) Bruder seine (14) Bücher dabei?
3   Ich bringe immer mein (10) Handy mit.
4   Die Kinder unserer (7)  Schwester sind unsere (13)  Neffen und Nichten.
5   Herr und Frau Thomas verkaufen meinem (4) Freund Klaus  ihren (2) Wagen.
6   Schenken Sie Ihren (16) Söhnen und Töchtern nur Bücher und keine Spielzeuge???
     (Remember,  in the Dative Plural, nouns also get an extra 'n')

Freiburg Crocodile

69. Indefinite Article in all Cases

69.  Indefinite Articles - 'a'  'an'  'one'  and 'no'  / 'not any'  (See Quiztests 210-211)

Having now seen the Definite Article ('the') in all cases we should look at the Indefinite Article ('a', 'an' 'one', 'no' , 'not any') in all 4 cases as well. There are a couple of differences to note but basically the endings are very similar ....  

               Masculine     Feminine    Neuter     Plural   
     
Nom.           der                die             das            die     (Subject)
Acc.            den                die             das            die     (Object - direct)
Gen             des                der            des            der     (Possession - 'of'  's  s' )      
Dat              dem              der            dem           den     (Object - indirect - 'to'  'for' )

               Masculine    Feminine     Neuter       Plural  

Nom           ein*               eine              ein*          keine         ( * Note no ending )

Acc            einen              eine              ein*          keine         (

Gen            eines              einer             eines         keiner 

Dat             einem             einer            einem        keinen 

It is important to notice that in the plural you can't have 'one' books,  however,  we can have 'no' books and so 'kein' replaces 'ein' in the table. In fact 'kein' can replace any of the 'ein' forms in any of the cases but of course this will change the meaning from 'a' book  to 'no' book. The endings always remain the same. Here are some examples ...

Die Schülerin gibt dem Lehrer eine Aufgabe.
Ein Polizist zeigt einem Touristen einen Stadtplan.
Keine Leute dürfen hier eine Zigarette rauchen.
Gestern hat ein Student seiner Schwester eine CD geschenkt.
Der Trainer gibt oft seinen Fußballspielern einen Trainingsplan für die Woche.

Freiburg City Centre

68. The Last of the Cases - the Dative Case

68.  The Dative Case  (See Quiztests 208-209)

Today we see the last of the cases in German. It is called the Dative Case and is used for Indirect Objects. I need to explain the difference here between a direct object (of the verb) and an indirect object and as such the difference between the Accusative Case and the Dative Case.

First, with the Accusative Case, a noun or pronoun has the action happen to it directly For example:

The students are learning German - & we ask: What are they learning? - German!

My brother loves music - What does he love? - Music!

I bought him a CD for his birthday - What did I buy him? - A CD!

The teacher showed the class a map - what did he show the class? - A map!

In the above sentences, German, music, a CD and a map are all objects of the verb where the action of the verb happens directly to them. These nouns are all in the Accusative Case.

If we look at the last two sentences, however, you will have noticed two different kinds of objects. I gave him a CD for his birthday.....The teacher showed the class a map. Here him and the class are NOT direct objects but indirect objects. You didn't buy him and the teacher didn't show the class, but you bought the CD for him and the teacher showed the map to the class. If you can put  to  or  for in front of an object and it makes sense, then you have an indirect object and this is where the Dative Case kicks in. Let's look at the Dative Case for the Definite Article added to the table we saw previously.

                             Masc        Fem         Neut         Plural

Nominative        der               die           das            die        (Subject - providing action))

Accusative         den              die            das            die        (Direct Object)

Genitive             des               der            des            der        (Possession)
Dative                dem             der           dem          den      (Indirect Object)

So now for some sentences with the Dative Case ....

Der Lehrer zeigt oft den Schülern die Karten. ( Note the 'n' on Dative Plural nouns!)
Die Mutter kauft heute der Tochter die CD.
Der Osterhase bringt den Kindern viele Ostereier.
Die Kinder schenken jetzt den Eltern die Weihnachtsgeschenke.
Die Schülerin gibt dem Lehrer das Buch.

Note here also that when you have 2 objects together, the Indirect Object precedes the Direct, i.e. the Dative goes before the Accusative Object.

Strasburg - just over the Rhine but very similar to German houses

67. Prepositions with the Genitive Case

Prepositions with the Genitive Case  (See Quiztests 206-207)

From the last post, here are the answers to the quiz

1  Die Marke  des Biers ist weltbekannt.

2  Die  Telefonnummer  des  neuen Schülers ist mir unbekannt.

3  Das  Dach der Kirche ist sehr hoch.

4  Wir mögen die  Sitze  des  Autos.

5  Die Wärme  der Wolldecke gefällt mir gut.

6  Die Seiten des Buchs sind alle zerrissen.

Having now seen the Genitive Case and its basic function indicating possession, we should now look at a few prepositions that always take the Genitive Case. They are usually linked with the word 'of ' in English and are:

wegen         =        because of

anstatt         =        instead of

trotz            =        in spite of

innerhalb    =        inside of

außerhalb   =        outside of 

infolge       =         as a result of

während     =        during

Applying these prepositions to our table from previous posts, we should look at some examples of how they are used....

                    Masc           Fem         Neut         Plural

Nom            der               die            das            die           (Subject)

Acc             den               die            das            die           (Object)

Gen             des              der           des            der          (Possession)

Beispiele
1      Wegen des Wetters können wir nicht ausgehen.
2      Anstatt meiner Mutter kommt mein Vater immer mit.
3      Trotz des Gewitters gehen wir heute segeln.
4      Wir gehen oft innerhalb der Städte spazieren.
5      Außerhalb des Dorfs fließt ein kleiner Strom.
6      Infolge seines Erfolgs ist er jetzt sehr berühmt.
7      Wir fahren immer während des Winters ins Ausland.

Just over the border  in France - Strasburg - the name and architecture  are very German like

66. More on Genitive Case Ownership

67.  More on the Genitive Case  (See Quiztests 204-205)

We saw in the last post the introduction to the Genitive Case which is used in German to show 'ownership'. This is indicated in English by  's,  s'  and  'of '. We saw how the definite article ('the') changed as well  - Masculine and Neuter words have  'des'  and Feminine plus Plurals have 'der'. Masculine and Neuter nouns also are written adding either an 's' or 'es' (shorter words).

Below is a table with the definite article for each of the cases with the respective genders and some examples of sentences using the Genitive.

                   Masc           Fem         Neut         Plural

Nom            der               die            das            die           (Subject)

Acc             den               die            das            die           (Object)

Gen            des               der           des            der          (Possession)

Beispiele

*  the pupil's teacher .....  der Lehrer des Schülers (m)  /  der Schülerin (f) ist nett.

*  the babies' parents  ....  the parents of the babies ... die Eltern der Babys sind alt.

*  the name of the book .... der Name des Buchs ist unbekannt.  (Note Eng. here - 'of' is used more
    often than the 's when objects are being spoken of).

Further Examples  

Der Preis der Bluse ist nicht teuer.

Ich mag die Farbe des Vogels.

Ich weiß nicht die Nummer des Hauses.

Der Schnabel des Beuteltiers ist ganz flach.

Die Länge der Gebäude ist gar nicht groß.

Try these ones for yourself ... use the correct form of the definite articles and put '(e)s' on nouns requiring it.

1  ....... Marke  d.... Bier.....  ist weltbekannt.

2  D.....  Telefonnummer  d.....  neuen Schüler....  ist mir unbekannt.

3  D.....  Dach  d.... Kirche ist sehr hoch.

4  Wir mögen d......  Sitze  d......  Auto....  .

5  D.....  Wärme  d..... Wolldecke gefällt mir gut.

6  D..... Seiten d..... Buch..... sind alle zerrissen.

Statue on Neckar Bridge

65. Owning The Genitive Case

65.  The Genitive Case (See Quiztests 204-205)

The third of the cases in German is called the Genitive Case. This case tends to be used less in conversation and more in literary situations. So, the Genitive Case is found more in novels, books, newspaper articles and is probably the least used of the cases.

Basically, this case is used to indicate ownership or possession. In English, this is shown whenever we use  's,  s'  or 'of'. The pupil's teacher, the babies' parents, the name of the book are examples when German may well use the Genitive Case. In these examples notice that we are using two nouns / names in combination. In German we usually have to turn these phrases around and translate them literally as:  the teacher of the pupil,  the parents of the babies,  the name of the book.

We should look at each of these phrases in a sentence ..

The teacher of the pupil is very nice   ....  the teacher is the subject, therefore in the Nominative Case and the pupil 'owns' the teacher and as such is in the Genitive Case.

The parents of the babies are old .... the parents provide the action & are in the Nominative Case and the babies 'own' the parents and as such are used in the Genitive Case.

The name of the book is unknown ..... The name is Nominative & the book is Genitive

Now we will see a change in the definite article with the new case...

For Masculine & Neuter words, it is  'des' and for Feminine Nouns & Plurals it is 'der'.

To complicate this a little further, the masculine and neuter nouns add an 's'  or 'es' (shorter words).

Let's set up a table now for our definite articles showing each case with the genders

                    Masc           Fem         Neut         Plural

Nom            der               die            das            die           (Subject)

Acc             den               die            das            die           (Object)

Gen             des               der           des            der          (Possession)

Beispiele

*  the pupil's teacher .....  der Lehrer des Schülers (m)  /  der Schülerin (f) ist nett.
*  the babies' parents  ....  the parents of the babies ... die Eltern der Babys sind alt.
* the name of the book .... der Name des Buchs ist unbekannt.  (Note Eng. here - 'of' is used more       often than the 's when objects are being spoken of.)

More samples of the Genitive shortly!

Bronze statue by the Neckar Bridge - I think it is a monkey!

64. Accusative Prepositions

64.  Accusative Case Prepositions  (See Quiztest 202-203)

We have recently seen the Accusative Case used when we have an object of the verb. Today we will look at a group of prepositions that always use the Accusative Case with their (pro)nouns that follow. First, however, we should take a quick look at what prepositions are …. Basically, a preposition is one of the those short words you find in front of a noun. In this sense then, they are in a 'pre - position'.

In most cases they are used in situations similar to those we saw with Adverbs (See Blog Post 50) on Word Order and will relate to TIME, MANNER, and PLACE.  For example words like after, before, by, with, in, under and between are all prepositions.

Prepositions in German have nouns that follow just as in English but they must be used in the case required. The following prepositions are used with the Accusative Case:

durch         =        through, by (sometimes)

für              =        for, on behalf of

gegen         =        against, towards, about (time)

ohne           =        without

um              =        around, at (time), for

wider          =        against, contrary to

Beispiele (Examples)

1    Ich schicke das Geschenk durch die Post.

2    Sie schwimmt sehr schnell durch das Wasser.

3    Das ganze Jahr durch kann es hier schneien.

4    Kannst du es für mich machen?

5    Dieses Buch ist nicht für kleine Kinder.

6    Er arbeitet für eine Zeitung in München.

7    Wir spielen bald gegen die beste Mannschaft in der Liga.

8    Bitte stell den Tisch gegen das Fenster!

9    Wir kommen gegen neun Uhr nach Hause.

10  Ohne deine Hilfe kann ich nichts tun.

11  Ohne uns kann es nicht gelingen (succeed).

12  Wir kommen immer ohne unsere Schlüssel (keys).

13  Wir gehen oft um die Stadt spazieren.

14  Um sieben Uhr beginnt das Fest.

15  Der Bettler bittet nur um Geld.

16  Wider meinen Willen reist er ins Ausland.

17  Er hat wider mein Erwarten eine tolle Arbeit gefunden.

Neckar Sunset

63. German Noun Plurals

63.  German Noun Plurals  (See Quiztests 200-201)

German noun plurals are a little on the tricky side, which for an English speaker can be somewhat confusing. However, just as with noun genders where we saw it is important to learn the der, die or das with each noun, the same applies with the plurals. You simply just have to learn them! Notice that all nouns in the plural, whether feminine, masculine or neuter get 'die' 

A  Feminine Noun Plurals:  

1  For noun ending in 'e' add 'n': die Dame,Tasche, Lampe = Damen,Taschen, Lampen

2  If it doesn't end in 'e', add 'en':  die Frau, Tür, Uhr =  Frauen, Türen, Uhren

3  If it ends in 'in', add 'nen': die Studentin, Lehrerin = Studentinnen, Lehrerinnen

4 A handful of feminine nouns change to the plural like masculine nouns " + 'e' 

   e.g.  die Stadt  -  Städte,  die Maus  -  Mäuse,  die Hand  -  Hände,  die Wand  -  Wände

B  Masculine Nouns

1  Usually these nouns add Umlaut (if possible) and 'e' to the singular form.... 

    e.g.  der Sohn,  Stuhl,  Arzt  =   die  Söhne,  Stühle,  Ärzte

2  If the noun has 'e'  or 'i' in the stem, it can't take an Umlaut so it just adds 'e' ... e.g.

    der Tisch,  Berg,  Wein  =  Tische,  Berge,  Weine

3  Nouns ending in 'er', 'el', or 'en' only add an Umlaut if possible and no 'e'... e.g.

    der Vater, Finger, Sessel, Garten =  Väter,  Finger,  Sessel,  Gärten

4  Some masculine nouns add 'n' or 'en' like feminine nouns .... 

    eg.  der Junge, Name, Mensch =  die  Jungen, Namen, Menschen

5  Some masculine nouns add Umlaut +  'er' like neuter nouns .... 

    e.g. der Mann, Wurm, Wald  =  die Männer,  Würmer,  Wälder

C   Neuter Nouns

1.  Usually neuter nouns add Umlaut (for a, o, u) and 'er' to the stem ... 

     e.g. das Buch, Land, Bild, Ei, Kind  =  die Bücher, Länder, Bilder, Eier, Kinder

2   Nouns ending in 'er', 'el' or 'en'  only add an Umlaut if possible and no 'er' ... 

     e.g. das Leben, Drittel, Fenster -  die Leben,  Drittel,  Fenster

3   Some neuter nouns just add an 'e' to the stem like masculine nouns ... 

     e.g. das Bein,  Pedal,  Papier  =  die  Beine,  Pedale,  Papiere

4   Foreign words, usually neuter, mostly add 's' like their foreign forms .... 

     e.g. das Cafe,  Kino,  Radio  =  die Cafes,  Kinos,  Radios.

***  2 things ….

a)  there are many irregular forms, and so you just have to learn each word's plural.

b)  when a noun is written in a dictionary, the convention is, after the noun,  to use a bracket with a dash indicating the basic word. This dash may have an Umlaut over it (it will take an Umlaut in the plural) and then the ending is given. It will look like this:  der Sohn ("e) -  Söhne is the plural;  die Mutter (") - Mütter is plural;  der Finger (-)  -  Finger is both plural and singular (it can't take an ending as it ends in 'er')

Heidelberg Castle bust of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Germany's most famous poet, writer

62. Verb Quiz Answers

62.  Verb Quiz Answers 

German into English,  Correct Answers either A or B

1    Klaus isst oft im Cafe Wagner

      B  Klaus often eats in the Wagner Cafe.

2    Sprichst du Englisch und Deutsch?

      A  Do you speak English and German?  

3    Ben nimmt heute die Gulaschsuppe. 

      B   Ben is having the goulash soup today

4    Stehlen Diebe immer Handys?

      A   Do thieves always steal mobile / cell phones? 

5    Mein Bruder schläft jetzt im Dachboden.

      A  My brother is sleeping in the attic now   

6    Wirst du Wurst essen?

      B  Will you eat sausage?

1    Ilse  schläft  gern auf dem Sofa.   [ schlafen ]

2    Isst  du oft Eisbein?  [ essen ]

3    Thomas und Inge  werden  bald nach Hause kommen [ werden ]

4    Mama  bäckt  manchmal Käsekuchen.  [ backen ]

5    Spricht  Erich Spanisch?  [ sprechen ]

6    Der Kellner  empfiehlt  den Weißwein.  [ empfehlen ]

7    Im Hotel  stiehlt  man oft die Badetücher.  [ stehlen ]

8    Hans  wäscht  jeden Tag seine Socken.  [ waschen ].

9    Silke  trägt  gern fesche Klamotten [ tragen ] 

10  Vergisst  du oft deine Brille?  [ vergessen ]

Matterhorn near Zermatt Switzerland

61. Verb Quiz

61.  German Verb Quiz

OK, so let's put our new found verb knowledge to the test and at the same time consolidate our understanding of how German irregular verbs work.

German into English,  choose the correct translation, either A or B

1    Klaus isst oft im Cafe Wagner

      A  Klaus is often in the Wagner Cafe.   B  Klaus often eats in the Wagner Cafe.

2    Sprichst du Englisch und Deutsch?

      A  Do you speak English and German?    B  Do you speak English and Dutch?

3    Ben nimmt heute die Gulaschsuppe. 

      A  Ben is making the goulash soup today.  B   Ben is having the goulash soup today

4    Stehlen Diebe immer Handys?

      A   Do thieves always steal mobile / cell phones?  B  Do thieves never steal mobiles?

5    Mein Bruder schläft jetzt im Dachboden.

      A  My brother is sleeping in the attic now   B  My brother slept in the attic then.

6    Wirst du Wurst essen?

      A   Is sausage the worst food?    B  Will you eat sausage?

And now complete each sentence with the correct form of the verb in brackets at the end.

1    Ilse ............. gern auf dem Sofa.   [ schlafen ]

2    ............. du oft Eisbein?  [ essen ]

3    Thomas und Inge .............. bald nach Hause kommen [ werden ]

4    Mama ............ manchmal Käsekuchen.  [ backen ]

5    ............. Erich Spanisch?  [ sprechen ]

6    Der Kellner ............... den Weißwein.  [ empfehlen ]

7    Im Hotel ........... man oft die Badetücher.  [ stehlen ]

8    Hans ............ jeden Tag seine Socken.  [ waschen ].

9    Silke ........... gern fesche Klamotten [ tragen ] 

10  ........... du oft deine  Brille?  [ vergessen ]

Answers soon!

View of Heidelberg Castle from Side

60. And now for the Future ...

60.  German Future Tense  (See Quiztests 198-199)

Having looked at the last of the Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense, we can now move on and use that knowledge to show you how easy it is to make statements in the Future Tense. First let's look at that change we saw last time with the verbs that change the stem vowel from e  to  i in the du and er, sie  and es forms.

Ich gebe    du  gibst     er,sie, es gibt     wir geben     ihr gebt     Sie geben     sie geben

The verb  werden  becomes pivotal here. It is very similar to  geben  as well as being the third most important verb in the language after   sein   and  haben.  It works like this ....

ich   werde

du    wirst  (note no 'd' plus vowel change)

er     wird  (vowel change plus 'd' ending and no 'et' ending ... cf badet,  findet)

wir   werden

ihr    werdet

Sie   werden

sie    werden

Now, just like the Modal Verbs we have seen previously, the formation for the Future Tense is the same. We use a part of  werden +  the Infinitive at the end of the clause.

Ich muss      nach Hause     gehen.

Ich werde    nach Hause     gehen.

Kannst  du     zur Party     kommen?

Wirst     du     zur Party     kommen?

Tina und Alex   wollen     nächstes Jahr    nach Deutschland    reisen.

Tina und Alex   werden   nächstes Jahr    nach Deutschland    reisen.

How easy is that?  The future of the language is now squarely in your hands!

View of Heidelberg Castle section