| German grammar | |
|---|---|
| Nouns | |
| Verbs | |
| Articles | |
| Adjectives | |
| Pronouns | |
| Adverbial phrases | |
| Conjugation | |
| Sentence structure | |
| Declension | |
| Modal Particle | |
German pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker; those of the second person refer to an addressed person. This page outlines the Grammar of the German language. Grammar Genders In German all of the three genders of the Proto-Indo-European A German noun has one of three specific grammatical genders (masculine feminine neuter and belongs to one of three declension classes only partly dependent of gender German verbs may be classified as either weak, with a Dental consonant inflection or strong, showing a Vowel gradation ( ablaut) German articles have a feature called "strength" which influences the declension of the adjectives In German grammar, the correct Inflection of Adjectives depends on the case number and gender of the Noun phrase, as well as what kind of determiner An Adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a Verb, and an Adverbial phrase is combination of words that perform the same function This is a paradigm of German Verbs that is a set of conjugation tables for the model Regular verbs and for some of the most common Irregular verbs German sentence structure is somewhat more complex than that of many other European languages with phrases regularly inverted for both questions and subordinate phrases German declension is the paradigm that German uses to define all the ways words can change shape to reflect their role in the sentence subject object etc In the German language, a modal particle (Modalpartikel or Abtönungspartikel is an Uninflected word used mainly in spontaneous spoken language in The pronouns of the third person may be used to replace nominal phrases. These have the same gender, number and case as the original nominal phrase. Gender comprises a range of differences between men and women extending from the biological to the social In linguistics grammatical number is a Grammatical category of nouns pronouns and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions (such as "one" In Grammar, the case of a Noun or Pronoun indicates its Grammatical function in a greater Phrase or Clause; such as the This goes for other pronouns, too.
pronoun position(s) selbst relative clause
In German, a pronoun may have a position under certain circumstances. A relative clause is a Subordinate clause that modifies a Noun. First and second person pronouns usually do not, except in poetical or informal contexts.
- "Das im Schrank" (the thing in the cupboard)
- "Das auf dem Tisch" (the thing on the table)
In today's German, pronouns are rarely used in the genitive case. Instead, a German user usually uses the corresponding possessive article (see German grammar#The genitive attribute). This page outlines the Grammar of the German language. Grammar Genders In German all of the three genders of the Proto-Indo-European
- "Der Knochen des Hundes" - "Sein Knochen" or "Dessen Knochen" (the dog's bone, its bone)
In formal, archaic German, there are genitive objects, just like accusative and dative objects. Since the personal pronoun does not have a genitive form, the third person genitive plural of the possessive pronoun is applied in those cases. These forms are bracketed.
- OLD: "Ich erinnere mich ihrer" (MODERN: "Ich erinnere mich an sie. ") (I remember her)
- OLD: "Ich erinnere mich seiner" (MODERN: "Ich erinnere mich an ihn. ")
- OLD: "Ich entsinne mich ihrer" (Don't use this) (I recall her)
The emphasizers "selber" and "selbst" have a slightly different meaning than if used with nominal phrases. They normally emphasize the pronoun, but if they are applied to a reflexive pronoun, they emphasize its reflexive meaning.
Contents |
Personal pronouns
| Singular | Plural | Formal | |||||||
| Case | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | (Singular and Plural) | ||
| (English subject pronoun) | "I" | "you/thou" | "he" | "she" | "it" | "we" | "you/ye" | "they" | "you" |
| Nominative | ich | du | er | sie | es | wir | ihr | sie | Sie |
| Accusative | mich | dich | ihn | sie | es | uns | euch | sie | Sie |
| Dative | mir | dir | ihm | ihr | ihm | uns | euch | ihnen | Ihnen |
| Genitive (possessive article) | meiner(mein-) | deiner(dein-) | seiner(sein-) | ihrer(ihr-) | seiner(sein-) | unser(unser-) | euer(eur-) | ihrer(ihr-) | Ihrer(Ihr-) |
Verbs following the formal "Sie" are conjugated in the 3rd person plural ("they")
- "Ich rufe den Hund" - "Ich rufe ihn" (I call the dog - I call it)
The third person plural is used for formal speaking; it can address a single person (then capitalized in written German) as well as multiple persons.
- "Ich grüße Sie" (Nice to see you (formal). Literally: I greet you)
Pronouns derived from articles
To replace a nominal by a pronoun that is derived from an article, you use the declined form corresponding to the gender, case and number of the nominal phrase. Note that instead of the genitive case, you often use a possessive article with the corresponding noun.
Although the pronoun form and the article form are the same in most cases, there are sometimes differences.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitive | des | der | des | der |
Reflexive pronouns
There are also reflexive pronouns for the dative case and the accusative case. In the first and second person, they are the same as the normal pronouns, but they only become visible in the third person singular and plural. The third person reflexive pronoun for both plural and singular is: "sich":
- "Er liebt sich" (He loves himself)
- "Sie verstecken sich" (They hide)
Reflexive pronouns can be used not only for personal pronouns:
- "Sie hat sich ein Bild gekauft" (She bought herself a picture)
- "Seiner ist schon kaputt" (His is already broken)
Relative clause
A pronoun contains, or rather, has a relative clause, if there is ever a further meaning to express behind the pronoun, that is to say, some more clarification necessary. The relative pronouns are as follows:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | denen |
| Genitive | dessen | deren | dessen | deren |
The relative pronoun is NEVER omitted within German. That is to say, in English, the phrase
The person coming around the corner is a thief.
completely neglects the use of a relative pronoun. To say such a thing in German, one would say
Die Person, die um die Ecke kommt, ist ein Dieb.
The use of die within the middle set of words, the relative clause, is the equivalent of saying "who" within a relative clause in English, so as to say "The person, who is coming around the corner, is a thief. " (See relative clauses). This page outlines the Grammar of the German language. Grammar Genders In German all of the three genders of the Proto-Indo-European
Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are used to refer to something already defined. Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference that indicate which entities a speaker refers to and distinguishes those entities from others
diese (this, the former) jene (that, the latter) erstere (the former)
- Use ersterer to refer to masculine nouns; erstere otherwise
letztere (the latter)
- Use letzterer to refer to masculine nouns; letztere otherwise
derjenige (the one)
- Declined like [def. art] + [jenig-] + weak adj. ending
- Used to identify a noun to be further identified in a relative clause.
derselbe (the same)
- Declined like [def. art] + [selb-] + weak adj. ending
- Used to indicate an identity stronger than der gleiche would.
External links
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic