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1 Deutsch Grammar The Guide Copyright 2017

2 Cases The Nominative Case: Used for the person/thing doing the action. The Accusative Case: Used for the person/thing being acted upon. The Dative Case: The beneficiary of the action, also after some prepositions. Some of these prepositions include mit (with), bei (at the place of), von (from, by) and zu (at, to). The Genitive Case: Used for saying of a, or of the etc and also after some prepositions. Some of these prepositions include trotz (in spite of), statt (instead of), während (during) and wegen(because of). What happens to the definite articles: The cases change like this when you want to say the : Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural Nominative der die das die Accusative den die das die Dative dem der dem den Genitive des +es der des +s der Please note: Where it says +es or +s in the table, that means that it is necessary to add this to the following noun. E.g des Tages.

3 What happens to the indefinite articles: The cases change like this when you want to say a : Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural Nominative ein eine ein keine Accusative einen eine ein keine Dative einem einer einem keinen Genitive eines +es einer eines +s keiner Please note: Where it says +es or +s in the table, that means that it is necessary to add this to the following noun. E.g eines Tages. Also, keine is used as the plural as there is no plural of a. The words mein, meine, dein, deine, sein and seine all change in the same way as above, only with the appropriate letter added on the front.

4 Cases and Prepositions Some cases are triggered when certain prepositions are used in a clause. Different prepositions trigger different cases. Prepositions that always trigger the Accusative Case The prepositions that require the accusative case to be used are: bis (until) durch (through) entlang (along) -für (for) gegen (against) ohne (without) um (at, around) wieder (against) Prepositions that always trigger the Dative Case The following prepositions are all ones that require the use of the dative case: aus (from) ausser (except) bei (at the place of, while) entgegen (towards) gegenüber (opposite) mit (with) nach (after)

5 seit (since) von (from) zu (to) Prepositions that trigger the Genitive Case The prepositions below require the genitive case to be used: statt (instead of) ausserhalb (outside of) innerhalb (inside of) diesseits (on this side of) jenseits (on that side of) trotz (in spite of) wegen (because of) während (during)

6 Pronouns A pronoun is: a word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g. I, you ) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g.she, it, this ). They are the words I, you, he, she, one, it, we, they in English. In German, it s a bit different: English German I ich You du He/She/It/One er/sie/es/man We wir You (Familiar plural E.g talking to a group of friends) ihr You (Formal singular, E.g talking to a teacher or the Queen) Sie (Always with capital letter) They sie You may wondering when you use some of the above pronouns. For example: When do I use du/ihr/sie? You use du if: You are talking to one person whom you are familiar with, e.g a friend

7 You use ihr if you are talking to more than one person whom you are familiar with, e.g a group of friends You use Sie if you are talking to one or more people whom you are not familiar with, or who are in a position of authority compared to you, e.g a teacher, a boss etc. Sie is always written with a capital letter, compared to sie, which means either she or they. How do I know whether someone is talking about She/They/You? You can tell if someone is saying she due to the conjugation of the following verb. If someone says she, the following verb will end in a -t You can tell if someone is saying you or they as saying you in a formal way always begins with capital letter, whereas they only has a capital letter at the start of a sentence, like English. Do Germans actually say man? Well, yes. You should use man if the pronoun you wish to use could be one in the sentence in English. E.g Is one allowed to do that? In the above sentence, the German translation would include the pronoun man : Darf man das machen? would be the correct term.

8 Pronouns and Cases Like nouns, pronouns change depending on the case needed. Pronouns and the Nominative Case The nominative case is the one as you would find it in the dictionary. It is used for the subject of a clause. Pronouns in the nominative case are as follows: English German I ich you du he/she/it er/sie/es we wir you (plural familiar) ihr you (singular formal) Sie they sie Some examples of pronouns in the nominative case are below. The pronouns in the nominative case are underlined. Ich spiele Tennis Du magst Sport Er hat es gemacht Wir haben Kinder I play tennis You like sport He has done it We have children

9 Pronouns and the Accusative Case The accusative case is used for the object of a clause. Pronouns in the accusative case change as follows: English German I mich you dich he/she/it ihn/sie/es we uns you (plural familiar) euch you (singular formal) Sie they sie Some examples of pronouns in the accusative case are below. The pronouns in the accusative case are underlined. Sie gehen ohne mich Es ist für dich Wir sind gegen euch Ich habe etwas für ihn They go without me It is for you We are against you I have something for him

10 Pronouns and the Dative Case The dative case is used for the indirect object. Pronouns in the dative case change as follows: English German I mir you dir he/she/it ihm/ihr/ihm we uns you (plural familiar) euch you (singular formal) Ihnen they ihnen Some examples of pronouns in the dative case are below. The pronouns in the dative case are underlined. Er ist entgegen mir Ich bin mit ihr Du spielst nach uns Wir sind gegenüber ihm He is towards me I am with her You play after us We are opposite him/it

11 Pronouns and the Genitive Case The genitive case is used to show possession. Pronouns in the genitive case change as follows: English German I meiner you deiner he/she/it seiner/ihrer/seiner we unser you (plural familiar) euer you (singular formal) Ihrer they ihrer Some examples of pronouns in the genitive case are below. The pronouns in the genitive case are underlined: Sie ist statt meiner Ich bin hier wegen deiner Wir spielen trotz euer Sie gehen statt ihrer She is instead of me I am here because of you We play despite you They go instead of you

12 The Present Tense The present tense is used for something that you are doing at the moment you are speaking. E.g I am playing football To form the present tense, take the -en from the verb in its infinitive form and add the following endings: Let s use the example of spielen (to play). Spielen en = Spiel. Spiel is the stem Pronoun Ending Example ich -e ich spiele du -st du spielst er/sie/es/man -t er/sie/es/man spielt wir -en wir spielen ihr -t ihr spielt Sie/sie -en Sie/sie spielen

13 The Perfect Tense The perfect tense is used to talk about something that you have done. E.g I have played football To form the perfect tense, you need the past participle. To form most past participles, add ge to the start of the verb in the infinitive form, and replace the -en at the end with a -t. Let s use the example of spielen (to play). Spielen -> gespielt. So, gespielt is the past participle. Pronoun Present conjugation of haben Past participle (formed by adding ge to start of verb and replacing - en with -t) Example ich habe gespielt ich habe gespielt du hast gespielt du hast gespielt er/sie/es/man hat gespielt er/sie/es/man hat gespielt wir haben gespielt wir haben gespielt ihr habt gespielt ihr habt gespielt Sie/sie haben gespielt Sie/sie haben gespielt

14 You also need the correct part of haben (to have) because you are describing something you have done. Haben is called the auxiliary verb. However, for actions that imply movement, e.g travel, run or walk, the auxiliary verb used is sein. The past participle is formed by simply adding ge to the start of the verb in its infinitive form: Pronoun Present conjugation of haben Past participle (formed by adding ge to start of verb) Example ich bin gefahren ich bin gefahren du bist gefahren du bist gefahren er/sie/es/man ist gefahren er/sie/es/man ist gefahren wir sind gefahren wir sind gefahren ihr seid gefahren ihr seid gefahren Sie/sie sind gefahren Sie/sie sind gefahren

15 The Imperfect Tense The imperfect tense is used to say what you did. E.g I played football To form it, you need the stem of the verb. This is formed by removing the -en at the end of a verb. Let s use the example of spielen -> spiel The conjugations are as follows Pronoun Ending Example ich -te ich spielte du -test du spieltest er/sie/es/man -te er/sie/es/man spielte wir -ten wir spielten ihr -tet ihr spieltet Sie/sie -ten Sie/sie spielten Of course, there are some irregular (strong) verbs, where the conjugations simply have to be learnt

16 The Pluperfect Tense The pluperfect tense is used to describe something that you had done. E.g I had played football To form the pluperfect tense, you need the correct imperfect conjugation of haben(to have). You then need the past participle of the verb, formed by adding a ge to the start of the verb and replacing the -en with a -t. Pronoun Imperfect conjugation of haben Past participle (formed by adding ge to the start and replacing -en with -t) Example ich hatte gespielt ich hatte gespielt du hattest gespielt du hattest gespielt er/sie/es/man hatte gespielt er/sie/es/man hatte gespielt wir hatten gespielt wir hatten gespielt ihr hattet gespielt ihr hattet gespielt Sie/sie hatten gespielt Sie/sie hatten gespielt

17 However, as with the perfect tense, if movement is implied, e.g travel, run or walk, the auxiliary verb changes to sein. The past participle is formed by adding a ge to the beginning of the verb in its infinitive form: Pronoun Imperfect conjugation of sein Past participle (formed by adding ge to the start) Example ich war gefahren ich war gefahren du warst gefahren du warst gefahren er/sie/es/man war gefahren er/sie/es/man war gefahren wir waren gefahren wir waren gefahren ihr wart gefahren ihr wart gefahren Sie/sie waren gefahren Sie/sie waren gefahren

18 The Future Tense The future tense is used to describe something you will do E.g I will play football To form it, you need the correct present tense conjugation of werden (to become) You also need the verb in the infinitive form, put at the end of the clause or sentence. Pronoun Present conjugation of werden Infinitive Example ich werde spielen ich werde spielen du wirst spielen du wirst spielen er/sie/es/man wird spielen er/sie/es/man wird spielen wir werden spielen wir werden spielen ihr werdet spielen ihr werdet spielen Sie/sie werden spielen Sie/sie werden spielen

19 The Conditional Tense The conditional tense is used to describe something you would do. E.g I would play football To form it, you need the conditional conjugation of werden (to become) You also need the verb in its infinitive form, put at the end of the clause or sentence. Pronoun Conditional conjugation of werden Infinitive Example ich würde spielen ich würde spielen du würdest spielen du würdest spielen er/sie/es/man würde spielen er/sie/es/man würde spielen wir würden spielen wir würden spielen ihr würdet spielen ihr würdet spielen Sie/sie würden spielen Sie/sie würden spielen

20 Frequently asked questions about tenses What tense should I use? It depends on what you are trying to say. If the event being described happened in the past, then either the perfect, imperfect or pluperfect tense is used. If the event being described is happening, then the present tense is used. Or, if the event being described will or would happen in the future, the future or conditional tense is used. What auxiliary verb do I need for the past tense? If the action that happened implied movement, for example running, walking, cycling, driving etc, the auxiliary verb used should be the present tense conjugation of sein (to be). Otherwise, the present tense conjugation of haben (to have) should be used. Remember to include the past participle at the end! What are irregular verbs? Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the regular pattern that most verbs follow. In German, irregular verbs are known as strong verbs, whereas regular verbs are known as weak verbs. Some examples of strong verbs are: sein (to be), essen (to eat), fahren (to travel) and nehmen (to take). Unfortunately, strong verb conjugations must simply be learnt as there is not pattern to follow. What is a separable verb? A separable verb is a type of verb whereby a small section of the verb is sent to the end of the clause when conjugated. For example, eingehen (to enter) is a separable verb, so saying I enter into the cinema would be written: Ich gehe ins Kino ein. It is normally the first section of the verb that is sent to the end.

21 Glossary Here you can find out what all of the grammatical terms mean. Noun: A noun, generally speaking, is a person, place or thing. Pronoun: A pronoun is the word that takes the place of a noun. Normally, they are I, you, he, she, one, it, we, they. Case: A case shows the role of a noun, adjective or pronoun. The case changes depending upon who is doing the action, being acted upon, amongst other things, such as after some prepositions. Verb: A verb is known as the doing word ie. that it describes an action or movement. Auxiliary verb: Also known as a helping verb, the auxiliary verb assists in the forming of a tense, e.g in the past tense. Past participle: A past participle is the verb in the perfect tense, and is the same for all pronouns that have completed the action. In english, it could be likened to the -ed on the end of a verb in the past tense. Infinitive: An infinitive is the verb in its pure form, before any conjugations have been made, as it would be found in the dictionary. Conjugation: A verb is considered to be conjugated when it is adapted for the pronoun doing the action. Clause: A clause is a group of words which together contain a subject and a verb.