Language Phrase Books
German Germanic LanguageGerman III74. Colloquial Expressions and Idioms In informal speech and writing, es is commonly contracted with the preceding word by 's. Geht es = geht'sEs is also used as an impersonal pronoun (es regnet, it's raining), but it can also be used as an introductory word for emphasis or stylistic reasons. Es begins the sentence, and the true subject follows the verb.Es ist niemand zu Hause. No one is at home. Es kommen heute drei Kinder. Three children are coming today.Es can also be used to anticipate a dependent clause or infinitive phrase. This is almost like in English when we say I hate it when that happens instead of I hate when that happens. "It" has no real meaning in the first sentence, but it is not incorrect to say it.Ich kann es nicht glauben, daß er sich vor nichts fürchtet. I can't believe that he's not afraid of anything. Er haßt es, nichts davon zu wissen. He hates not knowing anything about it.Other idioms: Sie ist mit ihrem Urteil immer sehr schnell bei der Hand . She makes her judgments rather quickly. (Literally: She is quick at hand with her judgments.)Alles ist in Butter. Everything is fine. (Literally: Everything is in butter.)Er geht mit dem kopf durch die Wand. He does as he pleases. (Literally: He goes with his head through the wall.)75. Word Formation Noun compounds German uses compounds more often than English and they are formed by simply putting the two words together (sometimes adding an -n or -s in between), and using the gender of the last word. Die Woche (week) + der Tag (day) = der Wochentag (Days of the week)The prefix un- As in English, the prefix un- gives a word a negative or opposite meaning. klar (clear) - unklar (unclear)
The suffix -los This suffix is often the equivalent of the English suffix -less, and is used to form adjectives and adverbs from nouns. das Ende (the end) - endlos (endless)The suffix -haft The suffix -haft is used to form adjectives from nouns so as to designate related qualities. das Kind (the child) - kindhaft (childlike)The suffix -ung This suffix may be added to the stem of a verb to form a noun. All nouns ending in -ung are feminine. wandern (to hike) - die Wanderung (the hike)The suffix -er This suffix designates a person is from a certain place. Frankfurt (a city) - Frankfurter (a person from Frankfurt)The suffix -in This suffix designates a female person and is added to the male counterpart. Architekt (male architect) - Architektin (female architect)76. Adjectival Nouns When referring to people, adjectives can sometimes be used as nouns. The definite article precedes the adjective, which is now capitalized because it is functioning as a noun. The adjectival nouns take the regular adjective endings for adjectives preceded by a der word as well. der Alte - the old man die Alte - the old woman das Alte - everything that is old die Alten - the old people 77. Ordinal Numbers To form the ordinal numbers, just add -te to the cardinal numbers for 1-19, and -ste for 20 and up. The exceptions are erste, dritte, siebte, and achte.
In writing dates, German uses the number followed by a period. On February 2nd would be am 2. Februar. However, when saying this out loud, you would say am zweiten Februar. You must use the construction am + -en to answer a question beginning with Wann? But you use the construction der + -e to answer the question Welches Datum?Wann sind Sie geboren? When were you born? Am achzehnten Mai. On May 18th.Welches Datum is heute? What is today's date? Heute ist der neunte Oktober. Today is October ninth.78. Passive Voice To change a sentence from the active to the passive, change three things: 1. accusative object of active sentence to nominative subject of passive sentence 2. active verb to a tense of werden plus the past participle of verb in active sentence 3. subject to von + dative object in the passive sentence, if agent is mentionedPresent Tense Viele Studenten lesen diesen Roman. = Dieser Roman wird von vielen Studenten gelesen. Many students read this novel. = This novel is read by many students.Imperfect Tense Viele Studenten lasen diesen Roman. = Dieser Roman wurde von vielen Studenten gelesen. Many students read this novel. = This novel was read by many students.Future Tense Viele Studenten werden diesen Roman lesen. = Dieser Roman wird von vielen Studenten gelesen werden. Many students will read this novel. = This novel will be read by many students.Present Perfect Tense Viele Studenten haben diesen Roman gelesen. = Dieser Roman ist von vielen Studenten gelesen worden. Many students have read this novel. = This novel has been read by many students.Past Perfect Tense Viele Studenten hatten diesen Roman gelesen. = Dieser Roman war von vielen Studenten gelesen worden. Many students had read this novel. = This novel had been read by many students.*Notice that in the passive voice, the past participle of werden is worden and not geworden.Durch can replace von when the agent is an impersonal force (fire, wind, etc.); but it cannot be used if preceded by a limiting word (such as an article or adjective.)Passive with modals Shifts in tense will only affect the modal part of the sentence. The infinitive forms of the past participles are used with modals in the passive voice as well. And where you might expect something like Das Haus hat werden müssen verkauft, the actual construction is Das Haus hat verkauft werden müssen because of the double infinitive construction. Double infinitives always go to the end of the sentence, but you only need to worry about these in the present perfect and past perfect tenses.
79. Problems with the Passive False Passive Grammatically, the false passive is the same as sein + an adjective. This construction describes a condition rather than an action. Das Haus ist verkauft is the false passive, while das Haus wird verkauft is the true passive. The false passive sentence indicates that the house is already sold (condition), while the true passive indicates the house is in the process of being sold (action).Passive with Absentee Subjects Passive forms may have a definite or indefinite subject, or no apparent subject at all. The accusative object of an active sentence becomes the nominative subject of the passive sentence. But sometimes there is no accusative object. Since a verb cannot be in the first position of sentence without turning the sentence into a question, es is used as the subject.Man antwortet ihnen nicht is an active sentence, but if it were turned into the passive, there would be no accusative object. The passive would have to be es wird ihnen nicht geantwortet. (Here werden agrees with the apparent subject, es.)But if another element, such as a dative object or time expression, can be put in the first position, then es is omitted. Ihnen wird nicht geantwortet can also be used as the passive. There is no apparent subject, only an implied es, so the form of werden remains wird to agree with es.80. Avoiding the Passive 1. The construction man + an active verb can be used instead of the passive voice. Man translates to one, you, we, they, people and constitutes the subject. Diese Bluse wird gereinigt. This blouse is being dry-cleaned Man reinigt diese Bluse. They are dry-cleaning this blouse.Der Dieb wurde gefunden. The thief was caught Man fand den Dieb. They caught the thief.2. Man + modal + an infinitive is frequently used with müssen or können. Der Flecken kann nicht entfernt werden. The stain cannot be removed. Den Flecken kann man nicht entfernen. We can't remove the stain.3. Sein + zu + an infinitive can be used with können or müssen to express the possibility or necessity of an action. Das kann schnell gemacht werden. That can be done quickly. Das ist schnell zu machen. That is quickly done.4. Sich lassen + an infinitive can replace können and a passive infinitive. Das kann gemacht werden. That can be done. Das läßt sich machen. That can be done.
81. Showing Purpose Weil (because) + a dependent clause shows the reason for an action; however, damit and um…zu (so that, in order to) show the goal of an action. Damit is also followed by a dependent clause, whereas um…zu introduces an infinitive.Sie macht das Fenster zu, damit sie nicht friert. = Sie macht das Fenster zu, um nicht zu frieren. She closes the window, so that she won't freeze . = She closes the window, in order to not freeze.Commonly, you use damit when the subject of the main clause is different from the subject of the dependent clause, and um…zu when the understood subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main clause. 82. Shopping
83. Post Office and Bank
The information contained on this site cannot be reproduced without strict permission and an active link must always be added to www.foreign-languages-school.com
|
Contact Us Language School Links Site Map