A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

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12/8/2017
The outermost extended adjective construction modifies Gebäude: das von . . .
Architekten entworfene Gebäude. The inner construction modifes Architekten: dem
in Frankfurt wohnenden Architekten. Then we begin to translate in the following
order:
das
Gebäude
entworfene
von dem Architekten wohnenden in Frankfurt
the +
building +
designed +
by the architect +
living +
in Frankfurt
In other words we do not read in a straight line but rather we move from beginning
to end and then backwards, quite the opposite of what we would do in English. And
when these constructions are nested inside each other, we read from the outermost
to the innermost.
Although you may find these constructions frustrating at first, as you gain comfort
via practice, you will come to appreciate how efficiently they allow complex
relationships to be communicated.
Unit: 14: Subjunctive I
1. Objectives
In this unit you will learn how to:
Identify and translate the subjunctive I verbal mood.
Unit: 14: Subjunctive I
2. Subjunctive Mood
Up to this point we have dealt with sentences in the indicative mood, which is the
verb mood used to communicate facts. Now we introduce the subjunctive mood of
verbs, which signals hypothetical or contingent actions. In German it is also used in
indirect discourse (reported speech), to reflect what someone thinks or feels about
something, and in conditional sentences (i.e., “if . . . then” sentences). German has
two forms of the subjunctive: Subjunctive I, which this unit covers and which
relates to indirect discourse and some special uses; and Subjunctive II, which deals
with conditional sentences and which is covered in Unit 15.
Unit: 14: Subjunctive I