Those changes (usually the ending, but sometimes a stem change) are called “ conjugations” (like in English: I eat, he eat s). The form of the verb changes according to who’s at it! I (first person singular), you (second person singular or plural), he/she/it (third person singular), we (second person plural) or they (third person plural). ![]() The infinitive is a fixed form and doesn’t change to show you who or what is doing the action or experiencing the state or when. In German, infinitives all end in -en (nearly all in -en). It’s the “dictionary” form that we can usually put “to” in front of in English (to eat). The verb can be in the infinitive (die Nennform) which names an action or state (so it’s really a kind of noun: a verbal noun). ![]() For example: to be (sein), to love (lieben), to make (machen), to forget (vergessen). Verbs (der Zeitwort, -wörter das Verb, -en) are words that express a state or an action. Superlative adjectives (der Superlativ der Höchststufe).Comparative adjectives (der der Steigerungsstufe der Komparativ).Possessive adjectives (Possessive Adjektive)Ĭomparison of adjectives (die Steigerung der Adjektive) “Old” and “alt” are adjectives. A key feature of German is that adjectives have case endings, depending on the role of the noun that they’re describing.Īdjective endings (declension)(die Deklination der Adjektive) German the sentence “The man is old” would be “Der Mann ist alt”. AdjectivesĪdjectives (das Eigenschaftswort, -wörter / Wie-Wörter / das Adjektiv, -e) are words that describe what somebody or something is like, for example old, young, intelligent, red, tired. same: die Artikel) and other “determiners” before nouns. Fall, der Wen-Fall, der Akkusativ)Īrticles (der, die das, ein, eine etc) (das Geschlechtswort, -wörter der Artikel, pl. Dative case (der dritte Fall, der Wem-Fall, der Dativ).Genitive case (der zweiter Fall, der Wes-Fall, der Genitiv).Nominative case (der ester Fall, der Wer Fall, der Nominative).Noun Plurals (der Mehrzahl, -en der Plural, -e)Ĭases (der Fall, pl: die Fälle der Kasus, pl. Noun Gender (das grammatisches Geschlecht, pl: Geschlechter das Genus, pl: die Genera) A key feature of German is that each noun will be in a particular case (“case” indicates the relationship of the noun to other nouns or pronouns in the sentence or phrase: who’s doing what to whom and so on). Nouns (der Hauptwort, -wörter das Nomen, same plural / der Substantiv, -e) are words that denote a person, place, a thing – whether animal, vegetable or mineral or a more abstract feeling or concept: a dog (ein Hund), the weather (das Wetter), life (das Leben). In this overview German grammar guide, I’ve added the “pure” and the Latin-derived German terms. That gets the meaning of “adjective” across rather well, I’d say. “Eigenschaftswort” literally means “Quality word”. The German is either das Adjektiv or das Eigenschaftswort. For example, an “adjective” is a word that describes what someone or something is like: a fluffy cat, a thrilling experience. These are usually pretty literal and really help get the meaning clear. ![]() Unlike English, German also has its own “pure” Germanic coinages. German often has two words for each idea: like in English, there’s often a word derived from Latin. It doesn’t take much effort to demystify grammar terms in English and German. It makes it possible to talk about a topic more quickly and accurately than otherwise would be the case. Now, I’ve no time for people who use jargon to exclude and confuse people but here’s the thing: every field of knowledge has its specialist vocabulary, whether we’re talking car maintenance, astrophysics or embroidery. So, I understand why many people are intimidated by grammatical jargon. I still have bad memories from high school German lessons of not understanding the difference between a subject and an object).
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