using german a guide to contemporary usage secondedition

Using GermanA Guide to Contemporary UsageSecond edition

This is a new, thoroughly revised edition of the acclaimed Using German, firstpublished in 1992. It provides guidance for those who have already acquiredthe basics of German and wish to extend their fluency and confidence.Focusing on the particular needs of the English-speaking user, it incorporatesimportant information on recent trends and changes in the German language,including the 1998 spelling reforms, and on style, register and regionalvariation which are often ignored by conventional textbooks.

� Designed to promote the fluency and accuracy vital to effectivecommunication

� Tailored to the needs of the English-speaking user� Clear format for ease of reference� Reflects the current state of the German language� Provides information on regional variation� Highlights problems of register and style� Important section on vocabulary extension, with index for efficient access� Invaluable to intermediate–advanced learners and anyone requiring

up-to-date guidance on points of grammar and vocabulary

is Henry Simon Professor of German at the University ofManchester. He has published widely on the German language and is amember of the International Academic Council of the Institut fur deutscheSprache, Mannheim.

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Using GermanA guide tocontemporary usageSecond edition

MARTIN DURRELL






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Contents

Introduction page xiAcknowledgements xiiiReferences xvGlossary of linguistic terms xxiAbbreviations and conventions xxix

1 Varieties of language 1

1.1 Varieties according to use: register 31.1.1 Medium 41.1.2 Subject matter 51.1.3 Situation 51.1.4 Register and regionalism 71.1.5 Indicating register 7

1.2 Varieties according to user: regionalism 101.2.1 Regionalism and standard German 111.2.2 Regionalism and spoken German 111.2.3 Indicating regional variation 12

1.3 Examples of variation: pronunciation 131.3.1 Regional variation in pronunciation 151.3.2 Register variation in pronunciation 16

1.4 Examples of variation: grammar 181.4.1 Regional variation in grammar 191.4.2 Register variation in grammar 20

1.5 Examples of variation: vocabulary 231.5.1 Regional variation in vocabulary 231.5.2 Austrian and Swiss words 261.5.3 Register variation in vocabulary 29

1.6 Passages illustrating levels of register 351.6.1 Telephone conversation (informal colloquial speech) 351.6.2 Radio discussion (unprepared speech in a formal

context) 381.6.3 Literary prose (Gunter Grass, Die Blechtrommel) 411.6.4 Non-literary prose (Fachsprache) 431.6.5 Serious newspaper report (Die Welt) 451.6.6 Tabloid newspaper report (Bild) 48

v






vi Contents

2 Words and meanings 52

2.1 Problems of meaning 522.1.1 Problems of meaning: English–German examples 522.1.2 Problems of meaning: German–English examples 88

2.2 Easily confused words 932.2.1 Easily confused words: similar form – different meaning 932.2.2 Easily confused words: different gender – different

meaning 1022.2.3 Easily confused words: different plural – different

meaning 1042.2.4 Easily confused words: different form – same meaning 105

2.3 Word formation 1072.3.1 Forming nouns 1072.3.2 Forming adjectives 1092.3.3 Forming verbs – prefixes 1112.3.4 Inseparable verb prefixes 1112.3.5 Separable verb prefixes 1142.3.6 Verb prefixes which can be separable or inseparable 115

2.4 Idioms 119

2.5 Prepositions 1232.5.1 German prepositions with the accusative case 1242.5.2 German prepositions with the dative case 1272.5.3 German prepositions with the dative or the accusative

cases 1322.5.4 German prepositions with the genitive case 1392.5.5 English prepositions 140

2.6 Modal particles 1552.6.1 Modal particles in statements 1562.6.2 Modal particles in questions 1602.6.3 Modal particles in commands 1612.6.4 Modal particles in exclamations 163

2.7 Greetings and forms of address 1642.7.1 Greetings 1642.7.2 du and Sie 166

2.8 Letters 168

3 Words and forms 171

3.1 Nouns: genders and plurals 1713.1.1 Suffixes as indicators of gender and plural 1713.1.2 Suffixes or prefixes as clues to gender and plural 1733.1.3 Plurals in -s 176






Contents vii

3.1.4 Nouns with alternative plurals 1773.1.5 Foreign words with unusual plurals 1783.1.6 Differences in plural usage between German

and English 1783.1.7 Nouns with variable gender 180

3.2 Nouns: case 1813.2.1 ‘Weak’ masculine nouns 1823.2.2 ‘Mixed’ nouns 1833.2.3 The dative ending -e 1843.2.4 The genitive singular ending -(e)s 184

3.3 Verbs: strong and weak 1863.3.1 Strong verb classes 1863.3.2 Deceptive weak verbs 1893.3.3 Irregular weak verbs 1903.3.4 Verbs with strong and weak forms 190

3.4 Determiners and adjectives 1923.4.1 Basic determiner endings 1923.4.2 Basic adjective endings 1933.4.3 Uncertainties and variation in current usage 1943.4.4 Adjectives as nouns 196

3.5 Other words that decline: forms and uses 1983.5.1 Demonstratives 1983.5.2 Relative pronouns 2003.5.3 Possessive pronouns 2023.5.4 Interrogatives 2023.5.5 man, einer, jemand 2033.5.6 Some indefinites 204

4 Grammar: cases, tenses and moods 207

4.1 Verbs and cases: valency 2074.1.1 Verbs governing the dative case 2094.1.2 Verbs governing the dative and the accusative cases 2114.1.3 Verbs governing the genitive case 2134.1.4 Verbs governing a prepositional object 2144.1.5 Infinitive clauses and dass-clauses with verbs governing a

prepositional object 2194.1.6 Verbs with varying constructions 220

4.2 Cases: dative and genitive 2244.2.1 Possessive dative 2244.2.2 Genitive or von? 2254.2.3 The position of genitive phrases 2274.2.4 Measurement phrases 228






viii Contents

4.3 Tenses 2294.3.1 Present and future 2294.3.2 Past and perfect 2304.3.3 haben or sein in the perfect? 231

4.4 The passive 2334.4.1 werden- or sein-passive? 2344.4.2 The impersonal (‘subjectless’) passive 2354.4.3 The passive with dative objects 2364.4.4 von or durch with the passive? 2364.4.5 Alternative passive constructions 237

4.5 The subjunctive 2394.5.1 Forms of the subjunctive 2394.5.2 The use of the past subjunctive and conditional forms 2404.5.3 Indirect speech 2424.5.4 Conditional sentences 2454.5.5 Other uses of the subjunctive 246

4.6 The modal auxiliaries 2484.6.1 The German modal auxiliaries 2494.6.2 The English modal auxiliaries 253

5 Syntax and word order 262

5.1 Word order 2625.1.1 The verbal bracket 2625.1.2 The closing bracket 2635.1.3 The initial element in a main clause 2645.1.4 The use of initial position in German 2655.1.5 The central section of German clauses 2675.1.6 Can anything follow the closing bracket? 271

5.2 Alternatives to subordinate clauses 2745.2.1 Alternatives to relative clauses 2745.2.2 Alternatives to noun clauses with dass or wie and infinitive

clauses 2755.2.3 Alternatives to other subordinate clauses 2765.2.4 Adverbials rather than clauses 2795.2.5 Other alternatives to subordinate clauses 281

5.3 The present participle in German and English 2825.3.1 The use of the German present participle 2825.3.2 German equivalents of English ing-form constructions 284

6 Spelling and punctuation 289

6.1 Spelling 2906.1.1 Capital letters 2906.1.2 One word or two? 292






Contents ix

6.1.3 The use of ß and ss 2966.1.4 Miscellaneous spelling changes 296

6.2 Punctuation 2976.2.1 The use of the comma 2976.2.2 Other punctuation marks 299

Index 300






Introduction

The primary intention of this book is to provide information onGerman as it is actually used nowadays, especially on points whereconventional grammars and surveys of vocabulary are silent. It aims tohelp English-speaking learners to communicate effectively andaccurately by developing an awareness of the subtleties of the language.It is thus directed at those who have mastered the basics of German,typically after three or four years at school or an intensive introductorycourse and are venturing into the complexities and subtleties of thelanguage. It is not a comprehensive grammar, but it deals with thoseaspects of German grammar and usage about which such advancedlearners may have questions, and it attempts to answer as many of thosequestions as possible.

The areas treated in this book can be grouped under two headings.First, there are those which result from variation within the Germanlanguage itself. Learners can often be confused because everydayconversational German is often quite different from written Germanand from what they have been taught. German, just like English, hasmany alternatives and varieties – in pronunciation, grammar andvocabulary. One purpose of this book is to explain for theEnglish-speaking learner how modern German usage can differ widely,depending, for instance, on the formality or informality of the situationor on where the speaker or writer comes from. This kind of variation inusage can be puzzling for foreign learners, and standard referenceworks often give insufficient detail or contradictory (or evenmisleading) information on such points. In this book, the mostcommon variations in current usage which stem from regionaldifferences or differences depending on the degree of formality areshown as fully as possible. It will be made clear, for example, that theuse of the present subjunctive is not a matter of grammatical rule, butof register (see 4.5.3). Chapter 1 provides an introduction, withexamples and commented texts, to the range of variation in modernGerman. The reader is advised to study this chapter closely beforeconsulting the other chapters, which are intended to be used forreference and give extensive detail on selected points concerningvocabulary (chapter 2), declensions (chapter 3), grammar(chapter 4), syntax and word order (chapter 5), and spelling andpunctuation (chapter 6), where the changes in German spelling and

xi






xii Introduction

punctuation rules which were introduced in the late 1990s areexplained in detail.

Secondly, the book covers those aspects of German which for onereason or another seem to be difficult for English-speaking learners,although the difficulties are often more apparent than real. This may bebecause German expresses things in a different way to English, as whenEnglish uses present participles and German does not (see 5.3), wherethere is a lack of one-to-one correspondence between the vocabulary ofthe two languages (see 2.1) or in the various uses of prepositions (see2.5). In such cases the differences between the languages are shown inas much detail as possible. There are other aspects of German, such asgender and plural of nouns (see 3.1), which have to be coped with intheir own terms, as there is little comparable in English.

Second edition

In this second edition the major change is that the revised spelling ofGerman has been implemented throughout, with the exception of onetext (1.6.3) which was originally published before the introduction ofthe new spelling and whose author is a well-known opponent of thechanges (indeed, he has insisted on his most recent books beingpublished using the old spellings). This is in itself a reflection of thecurrent situation, since, as explained in more detail in chapter 6, itnow seems likely that the two spelling systems will continue to co-existin the German-speaking countries for some considerable time beyond2005, despite the fact that the old spellings are supposed to cease to beused after this date.

Apart from this, the opportunity has been taken to revise the wholetext and the language material of the book, eliminating errors,inconsistencies and ambiguities as far as possible. In particular, all theexplanatory material has been recast with the aim of making it clearerand more explicit. For example, German words in lists are nowsystematically glossed in English, and the account of the modalparticles in 2.6 has been reshaped to show how they are used instatements, questions, commands and exclamations, with the intentionof helping the learner to see how they are used in actual communicativesituations. More than half the texts in 1.6 have been replaced to bringthem up to date and to reflect the variety of register in modern Germanmore consistently and systematically. In particular, contrastiveexamples are now given from the ‘serious’ and ‘popular’ press.






Acknowledgements

No book such as this can be the unaided work of a single individual,and I must acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Wini Davies, Dr KarenHerrmann, Professor R. E. Keller and Paul Webster for their manyhelpful suggestions which have been incorporated in the text. Theremaining inadequacies are my own, especially where I have beenfoolish enough to ignore their sound advice. I am also grateful for muchinformation, advice and encouragement to Stephen Barbour, FriedrichDehmel, Julie Flynn, Anna Hochsieder, Derek McCulloch, HerbertMeyer, Manfred Prokop, Margaret Rogers, Jon West and EllenWilhelmi, all of whom provided me with data or were kind enough toread particular chapters. My thanks are due, too, to all colleagues at theInstitut fur Deutsche Sprache in Mannheim, especially Dr Karl-HeinzBausch, Tobias Bruckner, Professor Alan Kirkness, Professor GerhardStickel and Eva Teubert. I was able to collect or check much of thematerial in the book during a stay in Mannheim which was generouslyfunded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. The greatbulk of the initial work for the first edition was completed in theacademic year 1983/84, which I spent as an exchange professor at theUniversity of Alberta, and I must give special thanks to all mycolleagues in Edmonton for their help and encouragement during athoroughly enjoyable and productive stay in Canada. Particularmention must be made of the superb library facilities at the Universityof Alberta. I should also like to thank Rosemary Davidson, AmandaOgden, Annie Cave and Julia Harding for their invaluable editorialadvice and much encouragement, Debbie Carlisle for her skill in copingwith a difficult manuscript and, last but not least, all my past andpresent students in London, Manchester and Edmonton, whosequeries and problems furnished much of the raw material.

For the second edition I must acknowledge a special debt ofgratitude to all those who have been kind enough since the appearanceof the first edition to write to me with questions and suggestions forimprovement. I hope that I have been able to incorporate the mostimportant of these. I continue to be immensely grateful to mycolleagues in Manchester, in particular Dr Wiebke Brockhaus, for theircontinued help, assistance and support, and to the English and Germanstudents in Manchester whose questions have provided constantstimulation. I must again thank all colleagues at the Institut fur

xiii






xiv Acknowledgements

Deutsche Sprache in Mannheim where in the course of several visitsover the years I have been able to check the material and verify thelinguistic data on the basis of their incomparable collections of modernGerman usage. Dr Kate Brett at Cambridge University Press deservesespecial thanks for her continued patience, encouragement andpractical advice whilst this edition was in preparation.






References

General reference books

The following reference works were consulted at all stages of preparingthis book.

Agricola, E. et al. (eds.). 1977. Worter und Wendungen. Worterbuch zum deutschenSprachgebrauch. 8th edn. Leipzig.

Barbour, J. S. and P. Stevenson. 1990. Variation in German. A Critical Approach toGerman Sociolinguistics. Cambridge.

Beaton, K. B. 1996. A Practical Dictionary of German Usage. Oxford.Braun, P. 1993. Tendenzen in der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. Sprachvarietaten. 3rd

edn. Stuttgart.Clyne, M. 1995. The German Language in a Changing Europe. Cambridge.Duckert, J. and G. Kempcke (eds.). 1984. Worterbuch der Sprachschwierigkeiten.

Zweifelsfalle, Normen und Varianten. Leipzig.Duden. 1998. Grammatik der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. 6th edn. Mannheim,

etc.Duden. 2000a. Das große Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache. 3rd edn. 10 vols on

CD-ROM. Mannheim, etc.Duden. 2000b. Rechtschreibung der deutschen Sprache und Fremdworter. 22nd edn.

Mannheim, etc.Durrell, M. 2000. Using German Synonyms. Cambridge.Eisenberg, P. 1998–9. Grundriß der deutschen Grammatik. 2 vols. Stuttgart/Weimar.Engel, U. 1991. Deutsche Grammatik. 2nd edn. Heidelberg.Farrell, R. B. 1977. Dictionary of German Synonyms. 3rd edn. Cambridge.Freund, F. and B. Sundqvist. 1988. Tysk grammatik. Stockholm.Gluck, H. and W. Sauer. 1997. Gegenwartsdeutsch. 2nd edn. Stuttgart.Gotz, D. et al. (eds.). 2000. Langenscheidts Großworterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache.

3rd edn. Berlin, etc.Fox, A. 1990. The Structure of German. Oxford.Heidolph, K. E. et al. (eds.). 1981. Grundzuge einer deutschen Grammatik. Berlin.Helbig, G. and J. Buscha. 1995. Deutsche Grammatik. Ein Handbuch fur den

Auslanderunterricht. 13th edn. Leipzig.Helbig, G. and W. Schenkel. 1991. Worterbuch zur Valenz und Distribution deutscher

Verben. 8th edn. Tubingen.Hermann, U. 1996. Die () deutsche Rechtschreibung. Revised by L. Gotze with

an introduction by K. Heller. Gutersloh.Keller, R. E. 1978. The German Language. London.Lamprecht, A. 1977. Grammatik der englischen Sprache. 5th edn. Berlin.Quirk, R. et al. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.

London/New York.

xv






xvi References

Schanen, F. and J.-P. Confais. 1986. Grammaire de l’allemand. Formes et fonctions.Paris.

Schwitalla, J. 1997. Gesprochenes Deutsch. Eine Einfuhrung. Berlin.Sommerfeldt, K.-E. (ed.). 1988. Entwicklungstendenzen in der deutschen

Gegenwartssprache. Tubingen.Stevenson, P. 1997. The German-speaking World. A Practical Introduction to

Sociolinguistic Issues. London/New York.Terrell, P. et al. (eds.). 1999. Collins German–English English–German Dictionary.

4th edn. Glasgow.Wahrig, G. 2000. Deutsches Worterbuch. 2nd edn. Gutersloh.West, J. 1992–4. Progressive Grammar of German. 6 vols. Dublin.Zifonun, G. et al. 1997. Grammatik der Deutschen Sprache. 3 vols. Berlin/New

York.

Specific references

Where the books listed above give more information than could beencompassed in this book, or where I have made particular use of theirmaterial or presentation, they are listed below in abbreviated form,giving the author and the year of publication. Specialized worksrelevant to individual sections are also listed below.

1.3 Examples of variation: pronunciation

This section was prepared with reference to C. Hall, Modern GermanPronunciation. An Introduction for Speakers of English(Manchester/New York, 1992) and the following standard works ofreference: Duden, Band 6: Ausspracheworterbuch, 3rd edn (Mannheim,etc., 1990) and T. Siebs, Reine und gemaßigte Hochlautung mitAusspracheworterbuch, 19th edn, revised by H. de Boor, H. Moser andC. Winkler (Berlin, 1969). The latter both give details on acceptable(and unacceptable) colloquial and regional usage as well as on thereceived standard pronunciation of German.

1.5.1 Regional variation in vocabulary

The major sources for the material in this section were: J. Eichhoff,Wortatlas der deutschen Umgangssprachen, vols. 1–2 (Bern/Munich,1977–8), vols. 3–4 (Munich, 1998–2000) and W. Seibicke, Wie sagt mananderswo? Landschaftliche Unterschiede im deutschen Wortgebrauch(Mannheim, 1972).






References xvii

1.5.2 Austrian and Swiss words

This section was compiled with assistance from the following works,which give much more detail on Austrian and Swiss lexicalpeculiarities: J. Ebner, Wie sagt man in Osterreich? Worterbuch derosterreichischen Besonderheiten, 2nd edn (Mannheim, etc., 1980) and K.Meyer, Wie sagt man in der Schweiz? Worterbuch der schweizerischenBesonderheiten (Mannheim, etc., 1989).

2.1 Problems of meaning

Much more detail on English–German lexical correspondences is to befound in Beaton (1996) and Farrell (1977), to which this section isindebted at many points, and I also consulted E. Leisi, Der Wortinhalt.Seine Struktur im Deutschen und Englischen, 5th edn (Heidelberg, 1975),which is still unequalled as a comparative study of the vocabulary of thetwo languages. Much of the new and revised material in this section isbased on the work undertaken in the preparation of Durrell (2000),which contains more information on word-fields in German.

2.3 Word formation

For this section the following standard textbooks provided muchinformation: L. M Eichinger, Deutsche Wortbildung. Eine Einfuhrung(Tubingen, 1999), W. Fleischer and I. Barz, Wortbildung der deutschenGegenwartssprache, 2nd rev. edn (Tubingen, 1995) and B. Naumann,Einfuhrung in die Wortbildungslehre des Deutschen, 3rd edn (Tubingen,2000).

2.5 Prepositions

The compilation of this section was particularly assisted by reference toLamprecht (1977), pp. 309–31, W. Schmitz, Der Gebrauch der deutschenPrapositionen, 9th edn (Munich, 1981) and J. Schroder, Lexikondeutscher Prapositionen, 2nd edn (Leipzig, 1990).






xviii References

2.6 Modal particles

This section has benefited greatly from the account of the Germanparticles in G. Helbig and A. Helbig, Deutsche Partikeln – Richtiggebraucht? (Leipzig, etc., 1995) and H. Weydt et al., Kleine deutschePartikellehre (Stuttgart, 1983).

3.1 Nouns: genders and plurals

The statistics in 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 are taken from G. Augst,Untersuchungen zum Morpheminventar der deutschen Gegenwartssprache(Tubingen, 1975), pp. 5–70.

4.1 Verbs and cases

Duden (1998), pp. 650–81, and Helbig and Schenkel (1991) giveextensive surveys of verb government and sentence patterns in Germanand were of considerable assistance in the compilation of this chapter.

4.3.2 Past and perfect

K. Dieling and F. Kempter, Die Tempora, 2nd edn (Leipzig, 1989) andR. Thieroff, Das finite Verb im Deutschen. Tempus – Modus – Distanz(Tubingen, 1992) give good accounts of tense usage in modernGerman. The use of the past and perfect tenses is comprehensivelydocumented in S. Latzel, Die deutschen Tempora Perfekt und Prateritum(Munich, 1977).

4.4 The passive

This section draws in particular on the account of German passiveconstructions in Zifonun et al. (1997), pp. 1788–858.

4.5 The subjunctive

This account of the subjunctive in modern German is based in largemeasure on the survey by K.-H. Bausch, Modalitat undKonjunktivgebrauch in der gesprochenen deutschen Standardsprache, Teil I






References xix

(Munich, 1979). I am most grateful to Dr Bausch for allowing me toconsult the unpublished second part of his work. S. Jager, Empfehlungenzum Gebrauch des Konjunktivs (Dusseldorf, 1970) can still berecommended as a very sane survey of the uses of the subjunctive inmodern German.

4.6 The modal auxiliaries

The following works were particularly valuable in the compilation ofthis section: G. Diewald, Die Modalverben im Deutschen.Grammatikalisierung und Polyfunktionalitat (Tubingen, 1999),Lamprecht (1977), pp. 163–75, and F. R. Palmer, Modality and theEnglish Modals (London, 1979).

5.1 Word order

This explanation of German word order draws in particular on theaccounts in Engel (1991), pp. 303–44, Heidolph et al. (1981),pp. 702–64; U. Hoberg, Die Wortstellung in der geschriebenen deutschenGegenwartssprache (Munich, 1981), H. W. Kirkwood, ‘Aspects of WordOrder and its Communicative Function in English and German’,Journal of Linguistics 5 (1969), pp. 85–106, and Zifonun et al. (1997),pp. 1495–680.

5.2 Spelling and punctuation

I am grateful to my colleague Dr Sally Johnson of LancasterUniversity, and to colleagues at the Institut fur Deutsche Sprache forinformation about the controversies surrounding the introduction ofthe revised orthography. G. Augst et al., Zur Neuregelung der DeutschenOrthographie. Begrundung und Kritik (Tubingen, 1997) contains auseful selection of critical articles, although the debate hassubsequently progressed further. Hermann (1996) includes full detailson the new rules, and the account here is based on this.

In addition, occasional examples and data were drawn from manysources, in particular from the Mannheim corpus of modern spokenand written German at the Institut fur Deutsche Sprache, from theworks of Alfred Andersch, Thomas Bernhard, Heinrich Boll, FriedrichDurrenmatt, Max Frisch, Max von der Grun, Herrmann Kant,Siegfried Lenz, Bernhard Schlink, Erwin Strittmatter, Patrick Suskind






xx References

and from the following newspapers and periodicals: Bild, FrankfurterAllgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Neues Deutschland, NeueZurcher Zeitung, Die Presse, Der Spiegel, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit.In order not to overburden the text unnecessarily, specific sources forsuch occasional data are only given where the source is particularlyrelevant or in the case of longer extracts.






Glossary of linguistic terms

In order to talk about language we need to use some special terms.Although I have tried in this book not to introduce a large number oftechnical terms, some are necessary both for the sake of clarity and toavoid lengthy and tedious repetitions. As far as possible, I have kept tothe more usual grammatical terms. Some, such as ‘noun’, ‘verb’ and‘adjective’, need no explanation, but the less familiar ones commonlyused for German and English are explained below. Not all of them arefound in this book, but are included to help the reader consult otherworks. For similar reasons German equivalents are given where theyexist. Terms used in these definitions which are themselves explainedin the glossary have been given an asterisk.

Ablaut The vowel changes in the ∗past tense and ∗past participleof German ∗strong verbs, e.g. singen, sang, gesungen, see 3.3.1.

accusative (der Akkusativ) see case.adverbial (die Adverbiale) A word or phrase used to indicate, forinstance, how, where, why or when something happens or isdone, e.g. heute, aus diesem Grunde, in der Stadt, see 5.1.5.

apposition (die Apposition) A descriptive phrase added to anoun phrase without any connecting preposition, e.g. KaiserWilhelm II, der letzte deutsche Kaiser, starb im Exil in Holland.

article (der Artikel) ∗Determiners which give a noun specificreference. German has a ‘definite’ article (der, die, das, etc.) andan ‘indefinite’ article (ein, eine, einem, etc.), see 3.4.

assimilation (die Assimilation) The pronunciation of aparticular sound may be affected by (‘assimilated to’)neighbouring sounds, e.g. in colloquial German gebm, er hap mir(for geben, er hat mir).Ausklammerung Excluding a phrase from the verbal ∗bracket,i.e. putting it after the ∗past participle, ∗separable prefix, etc.which is usually last in the clause, e.g. Ich rufe an aus London,see 5.1.6.

auxiliary verb (das Hilfsverb) A verb used with another verb tomake tenses, the passive voice, etc. The main German auxiliariesare haben, sein, werden and the ∗modal auxiliaries durfen, mussen,etc., see 4.6.

xxi






xxii Glossary of linguistic terms

(verbal) bracket (die Klammer) The characteristic sentenceconstruction of German whereby most elements of the sentence(or clause) are enclosed between the two parts of the verb, e.g. Ichhabe sie gestern in Ulm gesehen, see 5.1.1.

case (der Fall) The indication of the role played by a noun in thesentence by ∗inflection, i.e. by changing its form or the form ofthe ∗determiners or adjectives used with it. German has fourcases: the nominative (mainly for the ∗subject of the verb), theaccusative (mainly for the ∗direct object), the dative (mainly forthe ∗indirect object) and the genitive (mainly to show possessionor to link nouns together), see 3.2, 4.1 and 4.2.

cleft sentence A typically English construction, little used inGerman, by which part of the sentence is emphasized by placingit at the beginning in a clause introduced by it, e.g. It wasyesterday that she came, see 5.1.4.

(adjective) comparison (die Steigerung) The relative qualitiesof persons or things may be compared by using the comparativeor superlative ‘degree’ of adjectives, usually formed in Germanby the suffixes -er and -(e)st respectively, e.g. schnell – schneller(comparative degree) – (der) schnellste (superlative degree).

complement (die Erganzung) A part of the sentence which isclosely linked to the verb and ‘completes’ its meaning in someway, e.g. the ∗direct and ∗indirect objects, ∗prepositional objects,direction phrases with verbs of motion, etc., see 5.1.5.

compound (die Zusammensetzung) A word formed by joiningtwo (or more) words together, e.g. das Rathaus, dieAktiengesellschaft, brustschwimmen.

conditional A conditional sentence (der Konditionalsatz) isone which contains or implies a condition. In German, they oftencontain the conjunctions wenn or falls and the verb is often in thepast or pluperfect ∗subjunctive (Konjunktiv II, see 4.5.4), e.g.Wenn ich das Fenster aufmachte, wurden wir alle frieren. The wurdeform of Konjunktiv II is often called ‘the conditional tense’ inEnglish grammars of German.

conjugation (die Konjugation) see inflection.conjunction (die Konjunktion) A word used to join clausestogether, e.g. und, aber, wenn, nachdem.

dative (der Dativ) see case.declension (die Deklination) see inflection.demonstrative (das Demonstrative) A word used to point tosomething specific, e.g. English this, that, German dieser, jener.Demonstratives can appear as ∗determiners or pronouns, see3.5.1.

derivation (die Wortbildung) Forming a word on the basis ofanother, usually with the help of ∗prefixes and/or ∗suffixes, e.g.verbessern (‘derived’ from besser), Bildung (‘derived’ from bilden),see 2.3.






Glossary of linguistic terms xxiii

determiner (das Artikelwort, das Determinativ) One of a smallgroup of function words used at the beginning of a noun phrase.They include the definite and indefinite ∗articles, ∗demonstrativeadjectives, possessive adjectives (mein, sein, etc.), the indefinites(einige, jeder, mancher, etc.), and so on; see 3.4 and 3.5. With a fewexceptions, only one determiner can be used in a single nounphrase, see 3.4.3.

dialect (der Dialekt, die Mundart) A language ∗variety restrictedto a particular geographical area, see 1.2. In the German speecharea they are often strikingly different from ∗Hochdeutsch inphonetics and grammar. Compare Zurich German Er isch i mysHuus choo, or Westphalian (Munster) He is in mien Huus kuemmenfor standard German Er ist in mein Haus gekommen.

direct object (das direkte Objekt) The person or thing directlyaffected by the action of the verb. In German it is in theaccusative case, e.g. Er stellte den Stuhl in die Ecke.

doublet (die Dublette, die Formvariante) An alternative form ofthe same word, e.g. benutzen/benutzen, see 2.2.4.

elision (die Elision) The omission of a sound, ascharacteristically occurs in rapid colloquial speech. For example,in a word like Hauptbahnhof the t is often ‘elided’ in spokenGerman so that it sounds like Haupbahnhof .

ellipsis (die Ellipse) Omitting words, typically in colloquialspeech where their meaning can be deduced from the context. Inspoken German, for instance, we often find ellipsis of pronouns,e.g. Geht nicht for Das geht nicht, or Komm gleich for Ich kommegleich.

extended epithet (das erweiterte Attribut) An adjective,particularly a ∗participle, which is expanded into a clause-likeconstruction, e.g. die in dem Park spielenden Kinder. Suchconstructions are characteristic of formal written German.

figurative meaning (die ubertragene Bedeutung) A word mayhave an ‘extended’ or ‘figurative’ meaning besides its ‘literal’meaning. For example, blass, besides its literal meaning ‘pale’, canhave a figurative sense ‘vague, faint’, e.g. eine blasse Ahnung, ‘avague suspicion’.

filler A conventionalized word or phrase used in conversation togive the speaker time to think or express a reaction, e.g.selbstverstandlich, das gibt’s doch gar nicht.

finite verb (das finite Verb) A verb form used with a subject andagreeing with it through the ending, e.g. er machte, ihr kommtan, er hat es gesagt. Finite forms of the verb are distinguished inthis way from the ‘non-finite’ forms, i.e. the ∗participles and the∗infinitive.

gender (das Genus) A grammatical classification system ofnouns indicated in German by the different forms of the∗determiners used with a particular noun, e.g. der Tisch, die Luft,






xxiv Glossary of linguistic terms

das Heft. German has three genders: masculine, feminine andneuter, see 3.1.

genitive (der Genitiv) see case.government (die Rektion) The requirement that a particularverb or preposition should be followed by a noun phrase in aparticular case. Thus, in German, we say that ohne ‘governs’ anoun phrase in the accusative and helfen ‘governs’ a noun phrasein the dative.Hochdeutsch The codified, official ∗variety of German as usedin all the German-speaking countries, see 1.2.

idiom (die Redewendung) A set phrase with a special meaningwhich cannot be understood by taking the words individually,e.g. schwer auf Draht (‘on the ball’), see 2.4.

imperative mood (der Imperativ) The form of the verb used togive commands, e.g. Bleib da! Stellen Sie sich das vor!

imperfect tense see past tense.indicative mood (der Indikativ) The form of the verb used tomake statements, ask questions, etc., e.g. Sie kam aus dem Haus,Bringen Sie es mir morgen?

indirect object (das indirekte Objekt) A verb ∗complementwhich typically refers to a person indirectly affected by the actionof the verb in some way, for instance by receiving the directobject, e.g. Ich gab ihrem Bruder das Geld. In German theindirect object is in the dative case, whilst in English it eitherprecedes the direct object or is in a phrase introduced by to, e.g. Igave her brother the money or I gave the money to her brother.

indirect speech (die indirekte Rede) Also called ‘reportedspeech’: a construction in which what someone said isincorporated into our own sentence rather than quoted directly.Compare ‘direct speech’ Er sagte: ,,Ich bin krank“ with ‘indirectspeech’ Er sagte, dass er krank sei, see 4.5.3.

infinitive (der Infinitiv) The base form of a verb (as typicallylisted in dictionaries). In German it ends in -en or -n, e.g.schlagen, ziehen, verhandeln. When used with another verb it isusually preceded by zu in the so-called ‘infinitive clause’ (derInfinitivsatz), e.g. Er hat mir empfohlen, den Wagen in dieWerkstatt zu bringen.

inflection (die Flexion) Changing the form of a word to showdifferent grammatical categories, e.g. for case and plural withnouns, or tense, mood, person and number with verbs.Traditionally the ‘inflection’ of nouns and adjectives is referredto as ‘declension’, the ‘inflection’ of verbs as ‘conjugation’.

inseparable verb (das untrennbare Verb) A prefixed verb whose∗prefix is not stressed and remains attached to the verb in all typesof sentence construction. The main inseparable verb prefixes ofGerman are: be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, ver- and zer-, see 2.3.4.






Glossary of linguistic terms xxv

interjection (die Interjektion) A part of speech such as ah! oh!ach! etc. expressing a reaction or response.

intransitive verb (das intransitive Verb) A verb which does notgovern a ∗direct object in the accusative case, e.g. bleiben, fallen,see 4.1.

inversion (die Inversion) We speak of ‘inversion’ or ‘invertedword order’ in German if the verb precedes the subject, forinstance in a question, or in a statement where something otherthan the subject occupies the initial position, e.g. Gestern habeich ihn nicht gesehen, see 5.1.Konjunktiv see subjunctive.modal auxiliary verb (das Modalverb) In German, the sixverbs durfen, konnen, mogen, mussen, sollen and wollen are knownas ‘modal auxiliary verbs’. They are used to express possibility,permission, obligation, etc., see 4.6.

modal particle (die Modalpartikel) Short words such as aber,auch, doch, ja, nur, etc. which are very characteristic of spokenGerman and express the speaker’s attitude to what is being said,see 2.6.

nominative (der Nominativ) see case.number (der Numerus) A grammatical category for indicatingthe difference between singular and plural. The differencebetween Haus and Hauser or between ich komme and wir kommenis one of ‘number’.

object (das Objekt) see direct object and indirect object.participle (das Partizip) see past participle and presentparticiple.

partitive (der Partitiv) An expression of measurement orquantity, e.g. ein Stuck Brot, zwei FlaschenWein, see 4.2.4.

passive voice (das Passiv) A verb form using the ∗auxiliaryverbs werden or sein with the ∗past participle. The subject of theverb in the passive voice is normally the ∗direct object of theequivalent active construction, e.g. active: Sie lobte mich ∼passive: Ich wurde (von ihr) gelobt, see 4.4.

past participle (das zweite Partizip) A non-finite verb formused as an adjective or with an ∗auxiliary verb to form the∗perfect tense or the ∗passive, e.g. gemacht, gestanden, zerbrochen.

past tense (das Prateritum) A simple tense (i.e. one formedwithout an ∗auxiliary verb) mainly used to relate events whichoccurred before the present moment, e.g. es machte, es brach, eszerfiel, see 4.3.2. This tense is sometimes called the ‘imperfecttense’ in English grammars of German, but this is a misleadingterm which is best avoided.

perfect tense (das Perfekt) A tense formed with the presenttense of the ∗auxiliary verbs haben or sein and the ∗past participle,e.g. Ich habe gegessen, Sie ist angekommen. It is used to relate past






xxvi Glossary of linguistic terms

events to the moment of speaking and, especially in spokenGerman, to report past events, see 4.3.2.

person (die Person) A grammatical category of the verb bywhich we show the difference between the person(s) speaking(‘first’ person, i.e. ich, wir), the person(s) spoken to (‘second’person, i.e. du, ihr, Sie) and other person(s) or thing(s) spokenabout (‘third’ person, i.e. er, sie, es).

personal pronoun (das Personalpronomen) Simple wordsreferring to persons or things such as ich, du, ihm.

phrasal verb (das Funktionsverbgefuge) A combination of a nounderived from a verb and a common verb such as bringen, kommenor nehmen, e.g. etw zum Abschluss bringen (‘to finish sth’), inBetracht kommen (‘to be considered’).

pluperfect tense (das Plusquamperfekt) A tense formed with the∗past tense of the ∗auxiliaries haben or sein and the ∗pastparticiple, e.g. Ich hatte geschlafen, Ich war gegangen.

prefix (das Prafix) An element added to the beginning of a wordor root, e.g. Anfall, gestanden, unglaublich.

prepositional adverb (das Prapositionaladverb) Words formedby the combination of da(r)- with a preposition, e.g. dabei, darin,damit, see 4.1.5.

prepositional object (das Prapositionalobjekt) A ∗complementof the verb, linked to it by means of a preposition, e.g. Ich warteauf dich, Er glaubt an ein Wunder, see 4.1.4.

present participle (das erste Partizip) A non-finite verb formmade by suffixing -d to the form of the ∗infinitive, e.g. spielend,verbessernd. Unlike the corresponding English ing-form (e.g.playing), the German present participle is mainly used as anadjective, see 5.3.

principal parts (die Stammformen des Verbs) The three maininflectional forms of each verb, i.e. the form of the ∗infinitive, the∗past tense (first person singular) and the ∗past participle, e.g.machen – machte – gemacht; sinken – sank – gesunken, see 3.3.

progressive tenses In English, the tenses formed with the∗auxiliary verb to be and the ing-form of the verb, e.g. She is going,We shall be sailing. There are no direct equivalents to these inGerman.

reflexive verb (das reflexive Verb) A verb used in combinationwith the reflexive pronoun, i.e. sich in the third person and thepronoun corresponding to the subject in the first and secondpersons, e.g. sich verabreden.

register (die Textsorte) A language ∗variety determined by useand influenced by such factors as medium (i.e. speech orwriting), subject matter and situation, see 1.1.

relative pronoun (das Relativpronomen) A word whichintroduces a subordinate clause describing a noun, for instance






Glossary of linguistic terms xxvii

English who, which, that, German der, die, das, etc., e.g. Die Frau,die einen Hut tragt, kenne ich nicht, see 3.5.2.

rhetorical question (die rhetorische Frage) A question which isreally a statement, as the answer is assumed to be obvious, e.g.Wer kennt ihn nicht?Schachtelsatz A German sentence construction where anumber of clauses are contained within each other, e.g. Der Autor,der ein Buch, das dieses Problem behandelt, geschrieben hat, hat inder Nazizeit sehr gelitten. As such sentences can be confusing,they tend to be avoided in modern German, see 5.1.6.

semantic (semantisch) Having to do with meaning.separable verb (das trennbare Verb) A verb with a stressed

∗prefix which is detached from the verb in some sentence types(e.g. in statements) and forms the second part of the verbal∗bracket, e.g. ankommen: Wir kommen heute um funf Uhr an, see2.3.5.

stress (die Betonung) In all words of more than one syllable inEnglish and German, one syllable, known as the ‘stressed’syllable, is pronounced with more force than the others. This isindicated in this book by the symbol � before the stressed syllable,e.g. Be�tonung, �Anfang, le�bendig.

strong verb (das starke Verb) A verb whose ∗principal parts aremade by altering the vowel (i.e. by ∗Ablaut) and which has thesuffix -en in the ∗past participle, e.g. schwimmen – schwamm –geschwommen, see 3.3.

subject (das Subjekt) The noun or pronoun (in the nominativecase) which determines the ending of the verb, i.e. with whichthe verb ‘agrees’ in ∗person and ∗number. In statements in theactive voice the subject is typically the person or thingperforming an action, e.g. Der Stein fiel mir auf den Kopf .

subjunctive mood (der Konjunktiv) A verb category mainlyused in German to show ∗indirect speech or in ∗conditionalsentences, see 4.5.

subordinate clause (der Nebensatz) Also called ‘dependentclause’. A clause, usually introduced by a ∗conjunction, whichfunctions as part of another clause (e.g. as subject, object,adjective, adverbial) on which it depends. In German subordinateclauses the ∗finite verb is typically the second part of the verbal∗bracket, e.g. Die Frau, die sehr klein war, konnte es nichterreichen (the subordinate clause has the function of an adjectivequalifying Frau); Als er ankam, waren ihre Bruder schon fort (thesubordinate clause plays the role of an ∗adverbial of time).

suffix (das Suffix) An element added to the end of a word orroot, e.g. Bedeutung, gelblich, machte. A grammatical suffix, as inmachte, is often termed an ‘ending’.

superlative (der Superlativ) see comparison.






xxviii Glossary of linguistic terms

tag question In English, the short questions with an auxiliaryverb at the end of the sentence, e.g. He’s coming, isn’t he?

topic (das Thema) Also called ‘theme’. The first stressedelement in a sentence typically refers to something ‘given’(having been mentioned previously) or ‘known’ to both speakerand listener. This is the ‘topic’ of the sentence and some ‘new’ or‘unknown’ information (known as the ‘comment’ or ‘rheme’) isgiven about it. In German main clause statements the topictypically occurs in first position before the ∗finite verb, see 5.1.Thus the sentence Dieses Buch hat sie in Ulm gekauft starts withan element (dieses Buch) which has just been referred to (the‘topic’), and says something about it.

transitive verb (das transitive Verb) A verb ∗governing a ∗directobject (in the accusative case), e.g. schlagen, verbessern, see 4.1.Umgangssprache The ∗register of everyday speech in modernGerman, often coloured with regionalisms, see 1.1 and 1.2.

variant (die Variante) A word, sound or grammatical formtypical of a particular ∗variety, see chapter 1.

variety (die Varietat) A particular form of language withdifferences characteristic of a particular region, social group,speech situation or medium, etc. ∗Hochdeutsch, ∗dialects,∗Umgangssprache, ∗registers are all ‘varieties’ of German, seechapter 1.

valency/valence (die Valenz) A term often used to refer to thetypes of ∗complement found with a particular verb or the kindsof object it ∗governs, see 4.1.

verbal noun (das Verbalsubstantiv) A noun formed from a verb,either the ∗infinitive used as a noun, e.g. das Kommen, or someother form of ∗derivation, e.g. die Bedeutung (from bedeuten) order Bruch (from brechen).

weak masculine noun (das schwache Maskulinum) A masculinenoun which forms its genitive case with the ending -en, e.g. desMenschen, des Franzosen, see 3.2.1.

weak verb (das schwache Verb) A verb which forms its ∗pasttense and ∗past participle with the ending -t, e.g. machen –machte – gemacht, see 3.3.






Abbreviations and conventions

acc accusative caseadj adjectiveAU Austrian usage, see 1.2.3CH Swiss usage, see 1.2.3conj conjunctiondat dative casedemon demonstrativeEngl Englishesp especiallyetw etwasfem feminine genderFr Frenchfut future tensegen genitive caseGer Germanintr intransitive verbjd jemandjdn jemandenjdm jemandemjds jemandesmasc masculine genderN North German, see 1.2.3NE Northeast German, see 1.2.3NW Northwest German, see 1.2.3neut neuter gendernom nominative caseocc occasionallyperf perfect tensepl pluralpluperf pluperfect tenseprep prepositionpres present tensepron pronounced; pronounR1 spoken colloquial register, see 1.1.5R1∗ vulgar, see 1.1.5R2 neutral register, see 1.1.5R3 formal written register, see 1.1.5R3a literary register, see 1.1.5

xxix






xxx Abbreviations and conventions

R3b non-literary written register, see 1.1.5S South German, see 1.2.3sb somebodySE Southeast German, see 1.2.3sing singularsth somethingsubj subjectSW Southwest German, see 1.2.3tr transitive verb/ or

Where necessary, a stressed syllable is indicated by � before thesyllable, e.g. der Maj�or, das Konti�nent, uber�setzen, �umziehen.

Where appropriate the plural of a noun is indicated in bracketsafter the noun, e.g. der Vater ( ), die Frau (-en), der Lehrer (–),der Stuhl ( e).

If the genitive singular of a noun does not end in -(e)s it is givenwith the plural in the following way (see 3.2): der Bube (-n,-n),der Mensch (-en, -en), der Name (-ns, n).

Adjectives used as nouns (see 3.4.4) are indicated in the followingway: der Beamte(r), der Fremde(r), das Außere(s).






using german a guide to contemporary usage secondedition

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