A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Offline Textbook | A Foundation Course in Reading German https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/readinggerman/print-entire-textbook/ Page 13 of 151 12/8/2017 The various forms of the articles, both definite and indefinite, are important indicators of the function a noun plays in a given sentence. Consider that in English we use only one form for all cases (“a”, “an”, “the”). This allows German to have a more flexible word order (syntax) than English. In English we usually begin sentences with the subject, e.g. “The dog has the ball,” and that English word-order rule is necessary for us to understand that “the dog” is the subject and “the ball” is what is being hit. However, in German, there is no expectation at all that the subject must come first (although it often does). These two German sentences share the same meaning: Der Hund hat den Ball. Den Ball hat der Hund. The reader (and listener) does notice the word order, but first pays attention to the articles in order to understand the sentence. In this case the article der for Mann indicates that der Mann must be the subject, and likewise the article den for Ball indicates that den Ball must be the direct object. Changing the word order in English fundamentally changes the meaning, but not so in German. Take another example: “Erst die Frau, dann den Mann beißt der böse Hund.” If you ignore the case signals given to you by the definite articles and rely on standard English word order, then you come up with the amusingly ridiculous meaning: “First the woman, then the man bites the bad dog.” In fact the sentence means “The bad dog bites the woman first, then the man.” Side note: A subtle difference in emphasis is expressed between the two variants of the first example above: Der Hund hat den Ball. The dog has the ball. [without a particular emphasis] Den Ball hat der Hund. The ball is what the dog has. [or:] The dog has the ball. [or:] The dog has this ball. Any of those four translations could be acceptable for the above two German sentences, given no further context, but once you begin working with longer passages that provide more context, your sensitivity to differences like this can help you make better sense of a text.
Offline Textbook | A Foundation Course in Reading German https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/readinggerman/print-entire-textbook/ Page 14 of 151 12/8/2017 Verb in Second Position In German, the main verb in a statement is always in second position, no matter how we begin the sentence: Morgen früh lande ich in Frankfurt (Tomorrow morning I will land in Frankfurt). This absolute rule becomes a very powerful tool for you once you begin encountering longer sentences. Practice the skill of marking up German sentences you encounter to recognize 1) the part before the verb, which therefore must be a single unit of meaning, 2) the verb, which – also usefully for you – will always be a verb form appropriately conjugated to match the sentence subject, and 3) the part after the verb, which may include several units of meaning. Yes / No Questions Yes / no questions always begin with the verb: Sind Sie gesund? (Are you healthy?) Remember that sometimes English uses the verb “do”: Hat er Fieber? (Does he have a fever?) Hatte er Fieber? (Did he have a fever?) English also complicates matters by using “do” to negate simple statements and questions. German’s straightforward “Haben Sie keine Schuhe?” is expressed in English as “Do you not have any shoes?” or “Don’t you have any shoes?” or “Do you have no shoes?” Unit: 1: Basics 10. Question Words Important question words are wer – who, wen – whom (accusative) and was – what. More on such pronouns will come in the next unit. Note that some books refer to question words as “interrogative pronouns.” Examples: Wer kennt den Hund? Wen beißt der Hund? Who knows this dog? Whom is the dog biting?
Page 2 and 3: Offline Textbook | A Foundation Cou
Page 64 and 65:
Offline Textbook | A Foundation Cou
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152:
show all

A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?