Grammar Slides kapitel 1

Gender of German Nouns Gender Article Masculine der der Mann (the man), der Student (the student), der Tisch (the table), der Stuhl (the chair) Feminine die Die Frau (the woman), die Studentin (the student), die Universität (the university), die Lampe (the lamp) Neuter das das Haus (the house), das Bett (the bed), das Kind (the child), das Buch (the book) Plural, all genders (textbook page 1) Unlike English, which has only one form of the definite article (the, which does not differentiate gender or number), German has four forms of the definite article: three singular and one plural. Dictionaries and the vocabulary lists in this book indicate nouns as m. (masculine), f. (feminine), n. (neuter), or pl. (plural). German nouns are masculine, feminine, or neuter. Because of the synthetic nature of German, it is essential to learn each noun together with its gender-specific article.

Masculine Nouns (textbook page 1-2) Nouns denoting male beings, such as der Vater (the father), der Hahn (the rooster), or der Gott (the god), are always masculine, and most nouns ending in –er that are agents of a specific activity are likewise masculine: der Arbeiter (the worker), der Wissenschaftler (the scientist), or der Computer. Nouns ending in –er are discussed in more detail under 2.1D.

Feminine Nouns (textbook page 2) Nouns denoting female beings, such as die Mutter (the mother), die Henne (the hen), or die Tante (the aunt), are always feminine. Nouns ending with the suffix –in, like die Göttin (the goddess), die Königin (the queen), or die Schauspielerin (the actress) are likewise always feminine (see also below under 2.1D).

Neuter Nouns (textbook page 2-3) The following nouns are always neuter:

The suffix -er (textbook page 3) The suffix -er may also denote a male inhabitant (of a continent, state, or city); for example: ein Amerikaner, ein Schweizer, ein Berliner. Occasionally, the -er suffix denotes an instrument, as in: der Computer, der Hammer, der [Telefon-] Hörer ([telephone] receiver). Singular and plural forms (Kapitel 3.3) of these nouns are identical. The plural article die is key to identifying plural forms in the nominative or accusative cases. A plural subject also possesses a plural verb ending in -n or -en.

The suffix -in The –in suffix is always feminine and frequently denotes an occupation or title; for example: (textbook page 3-4) For an inhabitant or a person engaged in an activity indicated by the verb stem, the suffix -in indicates a female person in that category: die Berlinerin, die Philosophin philosopher, die Nobelpreisträgerin Nobel Laureate. Plurals of these feminine nouns add -nen. The resulting plural ending, -innen, is clearly identifiable and occurs in all cases. You can also recognize the plural subject by the plural verb ending, -n or -en.

Present Tense of the Verb sein (to be) (textbook page 4) The verb sein is one of the most frequently used words in the German language. Memorizing its forms from the very start will facilitate all your future reading and translating endeavors. Note that the forms of the verb sein are irregular in both the present and the past tense; no other verb follows the pattern of sein in the present tense.

Past Tenses of the Verb sein (to be) (textbook page 5) The lack of endings in the first and third person singular forms in the past tense of sein is common only to irregular verbs; a different set of endings is to be found with regular verbs.

Interrogatives (textbook page 6)

Interrogatives (textbook page 6) Interrogatives seek information specifically related to the question word that initiates the question. The main verb of the sentence follows the interrogative in second position. In the case of such questions as was für ein?, welcher?, wie viel?, and wie viele?, qualifiers accompany the interrogative and also precede the verb. Note the position of each interrogative and verb in the following questions.