A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

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12/8/2017
Like all adverbs, and as with English adverbs, nicht modifies the sentence’s main
verb unless it appears within a particular phrase, such as within a prepositional
phrase, a noun phrase, etc. Also, like in English, adverbs in German placed before
a word or phrase are thereby given emphasis that they modify that following word
or phrase. Thus you can generally rely on your English-language sensibilities to
interpret the role of German adverbs.
In German we do encounter a few uses of multiple, neighboring adverbs which we
aren’t familiar with in English. When you do, keep the above word-order rule in
mind. This can be particularly crucial with the adverb nicht when it precedes another
adverb.
Die Stadt fühlt sich nicht besonders für Radfahrer verantwortlich.
The city does not feel particularly responsible for bicyclists.
In the above example, nicht is placed to emphasize that it modifies besonders. That
leaves the meaning "not particularly" as the adverbial modifier of "for bicyclists."
Compare when the order of nicht and besonders is reversed, so that besonders now
modifies nicht, which in turn modifies für Radfahrer:
Die Stadt fühlt sich besonders nicht für Radfahrer verantwortlich.
The city feels not responsible for bicyclists in particular.
(Literally: "especially not for bicyclists," a phrase which would be clumsy in
English in the context of this whole sentence.)
In summary: Remember to first determine what an adverb is modifying, by using
this word-order rule, before translating. Adverbs modify their following word or
phrase, if there is one and if that’s possible. Otherwise, it modifies the main verb of
the entire sentence.
Unit: 5: Prepositions, reflexives
8. Noun Formation
WORD FORMATION
These sections of the textbook help improve your speed during the skimming phase
of reading and help you gradually build vocabulary.
Knowing how words are formed is most helpful in learning vocabulary and preparing
yourself to be able to determine the meaning of new vocabulary. It is very useful to