The above pattern is varied to shift emphasis as shown below:

Take the simple declarative sentence Der Mann gibt dem Kind den Brief. (The man gives the child the letter.) This sentence can be varied as follows:

The finite verb is move to the first position in simple imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences. When it is expressed, the subject follows the verb. When interrogative adverbs or adverbial expressions are used, they precede the finite verb. Typical interrogative adverbs and adverbial expression are as follows:

Interrogative pronouns are used in the same way as adverbs but they are inflected to indicate declension:

Interrogative adjectives are used somewhat differently:

Compound and complex sentences usually joined clauses with conjunctions.

Conjunctions: There are two types of conjunctions; coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions join two main clauses of equal grammatical value. Subordinating conjunctions joins a dependent clause to another clause. Coordinating conjunctions do not affect the regular word order of either clause. Subordinating conjunctions change the word order of the dependent clause. The coordinating conjunctions are as follows:

Several coordinating conjunctions come in pairs. Each term in the pair may be followed by a single word or a clause. The word order in these clauses may vary to change emphasis. The word order is not changed if the two terms of the coordinate pair occur in the same clause. If neither clause is emphasized or if emphasis is on the objects of the verbs, these conjunctions (except oder) are treated as adverbs and come after the finite verb. If the subjects are emphasized, they are placed first in each clause. If the verbs are emphasized, they are placed first. These conjunction pairs are:

Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses which are separated from the main clause by a comma. The verb of a dependent clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction is found at the end of the dependent clause. When the dependent clause is the first element in the sentence, the subject of the main clause follows its finite verb. The most common subordinating conjunctions follow:

When is expressed three ways in German.

Als refers to events in the past. Als ich jung war... (When I was young..)
Wann as a question. Wann kommst du zurück? (When do you return?)
Wenn is used for future events or means "whenever." Wir essen, wenn er kommt. (We eat when he comes.)
Wenn can also mean "if," especially when used with the conditional. Wir werden ihn ja sehen, wenn er kommt. (We will see him if he comes.)

The complex sentence follows the following pattern when the main clause comes first:

Complex Sentences [Main Clause First]
Main Clause			Dependent Clause
Subject	Finite Verb	Other Elements	Conjunction	Subject plus Other elements	Verb
Ich	gehe	nicht	weil	ich hier	bleiben muß
I'm not going because I must stay here.
Sie	brachte	das Buch mit	als	sie ins Zimmer	kam
She brought the book with [her] when she came into the room.
Ich	weiß	nicht	ob	er heute	kommt*
I don't know if (whether) he will come today. *Germans usually use present tense in such sentences.

If the dependent clause precedes the main clause, the subject and verb in the main clause are reversed:

Complex Sentences [Dependent Clause First]
Dependent Clause			Main Clause
Conjunction	Subject plus Other elements	Verb	Finite Verb	Subject	Other Elements
Weil	ich hier	bleiben muß	gehe	ich	nicht
Because I must stay here, I'm not going .
Als	sie ins Zimmer	kam	brachte	sie	das Buch mit
When she came into the room, she brought the book with [her].
Ob	er heute	kommen wird	weiß	ich	nicht
If (whether) he will come today, I don't know .

The subordinating conjunction daß (that) can be omitted in German as it can in English. For example, one can say; "I know that he will come" or one can say "I know he will come." When the subordinating conjunction is omitted in German, the dependent clause becomes a main clause, and the word order is changed appropriately. The subject is followed immediately by the (inflected) verb. Examine the following:

Ich weiß, daß er kommen wird.	(I know that he will come.)
Ich weiß,        er wird kommen.	(I know         he will come.)

Direct and indirect objects have an order of precedence although there is some freedom allowed for emphasis. This order of precedence is as follows. If both the direct and indirect objects are nouns, the indirect object comes first:

     Der Kellner brachte dem Gast[indirect object] das Bier[direct object]. (The waiter brought the guest the beer.)

If either the direct object of the indirect object is a pronoun, it will precede the noun:

     Der Kellner brachte ihm[indirect object] das Bier[direct object]. (The waiter brought him the beer.)
     Der Kellner brachte es[direct object] dem Gast[indirect object]. (The waiter brought it [to] the guest.)

If both the direct and indirect objects are pronouns, the accusative (direct object) precedes the dative (indirect):

     Der Kellner brachte es[direct object] ihm[indirect object]. (The waiter brought it [to] him.)

Pronoun objects may precede or follow a noun subject if the subject is not in the first position:

     Ich weiß, daß ihm[indirect object] der Kellner[subject] ein Glas Bier[direct object] gebracht hatte.
     Ich weiß, daß der Kellner[subject] ihm[indirect object] ein Glas Bier[direct object] gebracht hatte.
     (I know that the waiter had brought him a glass of beer.)



Glossary

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accent: stress laid by the voice on a particular syllable. A peculiarity of speech in a district or from a foreigner land.
accusative case SEE case
adjective: a part of speech used to modify a noun or pronoun.
     from nouns: usually a present or past participle
     possessive: genitive of personal pronoun. (my, our, etc.)
adverb: a part of aspeech used to modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
     of manner and attitude: examples are good, kindly, quickly, naturally.
     of place: examples are here, there, everywhere.
     of time: examples are today, mornings, early.
alphabet: the letters of a language arranged in a customary order.
article: the, a, or an used adjectively before a noun.
     definite: the is the definite article in English.
     indefinite: a, or an is the indefinite article in English. There is no plural indefinite article.
auxiliary verbs SEE verb:
capitalization: to start a word with a capital letter.
case: the form (or position) of a noun or pronoun that shows it use in a sentence.
     accusative: the case of direct objects or verbs or prepositions.
     dative: the case of indirect objects.
     genitive: the possessive case.
     nominative: the case of subjects of the clauses.
clause: a sequence of related words have both subject and predicate.
     adjective: a subordinate clause which modifies a noun or pronoun. Example ("A man who lies ...
     adverbial: a subordinate clause used as an adverb. Example ("I arrived, as soon as I could.
     conditional: an adverbial clause beginning with such conjuntions as if, unless, whether, etc.
     dependent: a subordinate clause.
     main: an independent clause that can stand alone as a sentence.
     relative clause: a subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun.
     subordinate clause: a clause that can not stand alone as a sentence and introduced by a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun.
comparison: the inflection or modification of an adjective or adverb to indicate degree in quality, quantity, or manner. There are three degrees:positive, comparitive, and superlative.
comparitive SEE comparison:
complex sentence SEE sentence:
compound noun SEE noun:
compound sentence SEE sentence:
compound-complex sentence SEE sentence:
compound verb SEE verb:
conditional mood SEE mood:
conjunction: a part of speech used to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
     coordinating: used to connect and relate words and word groups of equal grammatical rank.
     subordinating: used to connect asubordinate clause to a main clause.
conjugation SEE inflection:
consonant: a letter other than a vowel. A speech sound made without releasing air from the lungs.
construction SEE word order:
dative case SEE case
declension SEE inflection:
decline SEE inflection:
demonstratives SEE pronoun:
dependent clause SEE clause:
dependent infinitive SEE infinitive:
diaeresis SEE umlaut:
diphthong: two vowel sounds pronounced as one syllable.
double infinitives SEE infinitive:
eszett: the German ligature of s and z pronounces like a double s. Also called Scharfes-S.
feminine SEE gender:
Fraktur: the German black-letter print used up to 1941.
gender: the grammatical distinction of nouns and pronouns into three subclasses; namely: masculine, feminine,and neuter.
genitive case SEE case
gerund: a verb form used as a noun.
grammar: the way we can put words together to make sense.
idiom: a locution having a meaning not derivable from its elements.
imperative mood SEE mood:
indicative mood SEE mood:
indirect discourse: a report of the statement of another without using the exact words often introduced by the subordinate conjunction that.
infinitive: the name of a verb used vchiefly as a noun and in certain verbal tense forms.
     dependent: infinitives used with certain German verbs (helfen, hören, lassen, sehen) in the same grammatical structure as those used with modals.
     double: modal past participles converted to infinnitives used with another infinitive.
     word order: grammatical structure. Sequence of words in sentences and clauses
inflection: the change in the form of a word to show change of meaning or grammatical relationship.
     adjectives SEE adjective:
     articles SEE article:
     cases SEE case:
     conjugation SEE tense:
     declension SEE noun and pronoun:
     nouns SEE noun:
     verbs SEE tense:
interjection: a part of speech (word) expressing a simple exclamation.
masculine SEE gender:
modal verbs SEE verb:
mood: the verb form indicating a statement is a declaration or question, a command or request, or a supposition, hypothesis, recommendation, or condition contrary to fact.
     imperative: the verb mood indicating command or request.
     indicative: the verb mood indicating a declarative statement or question.
     subjunctive: the verb mood indicating supposition, hypothesis, recommendation, or condition contrary to fact. Optionally used in German for indirect discourse.
negative: a word or term or phrase that expresses negation or denial. Usually an adverb or adjective. For example not or no.
neuter SEE gender:
nominal: a clause, phrase, or word (pronouns, gerunds, etc.) used as a noun.
nominative case SEE case
noun: a part of speech that names a person, place, thing, idea, animal, quality, or action.
     compound : a noun comprising two or more nouns joined. Examples are snowball, ballpark, windmill.
     irregular noun: a German noun made plural in an irregular manner.
     mixed noun: a German noun that is neither strong nor weak.
     plural noun: a noun inflected to indicate more than one.
     strong noun: a German noun which adds -n in the dative plural and often has a vowel change when made plural.
     vowel change: in German when a, o, u, or au acquires an umlaut and is pronounced accordingly.
     weak noun: a German noun which doesn't have a vowel change but adds -(e)n to form all plural cases.
number SEE noun:/plural noun
object: a noun or noun substitute governed by a transitive active verb, by a nonfinite verb, or by a preposition.
     direct object: a noun or nominal being acted upon by a transitive active verb or preposition. Usually the direct object can be made the subject of the verb in passive voice.
     indirect object: a noun or nominal that state to whom/what or for whom/what the action of a transitive verb occur.
     object of a preposition a noun or nominal which the preposition relatesto another word or word group.
parse: to resolve a sentence or clause by grammatical analysis into its component parts showing the form and relationship or each part.
participle: a verb form that may function as a part of a verb phrase or as an adjective.
     past participle: the verb form used in the perfect tenses or as adjectives. Examples are he was confused or that poor confused man.
     present: the verb form used in the progressive tenses in English but only as an adjective in German. Examples are he is walking or the walking man.
parts of speech: the eight classes into which most grammarians group words. These are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
person SEE pronoun:
phrase: a sequence or grammatically related words without a subject or a predicate. <444BR> plurality SEE noun:
plurals SEE noun:
predicate: the part of a sentence or clause comprising what is said about the subject. It includes the main verb with its auxiliaries, complements and modifiers.
preposition: a part of speech that links and relates a noun or nominal to some other part of a sentence or clause.
present participles SEE participle:
pronoun: a part of speech which takes the position and function of a noun.
     demonstrative: those, these
     indefinite: each, someone, anyone, etc.
     intensive: an example is I myself saw him. Do not confuse with the reflexive pronoun.
     interrogative: who, whom, whose, what
     personal: I, me, we, us, they, them, etc.
     reflexive: an example is I blame myself.
     relative: example are He said that I was wrong. or I am the one who was there. Do not confuse this who with interrogative pronouns.
Sütterlin script: a hand writing script used in Germany up to 1941.
sentence: A grammatically independent unit of expression containing a subject (sometimes understood) and predicate.
     complex sentence: a sentence comprising a main clause and a dependent clause introduced by a subordinate conjunction or relative pronoun.
     compound: a sentence comprising two or more main clauses.
     compound/complex: a sentence with two or more main clauses and a subordinate clause.
     simple: a sentence composed of onnly onne main clause.
standard: describes the vocabulary, grammar, spelling etc. which are generally regarded as correct or acceptable in a given place. Standard British English is not identical to standard American English. This course is written in standard American.
stress: the accent of a syllable.
subject complement: a word or words that completes the meaning or a linking verb and modifies or refers to its subject.
subject: a noun or nominal about which something is asserted or asked in the predicate.
subjunctive mood SEE mood:
superlative SEE comparison
syllable: a word or part of a word that can be uttered distinctly with a single effort of the voice.
tense: the form of the verb that denotes time shown by inflection.
     future tense: a form of the verb indicating time to come.
     imperfect tense: a form of the verb indicating past action or state that is continuous or incomplete.
     past tense: a form of the verb indicating a time, condition, or action gone by. The imperfect tense.
     perfect tense: a form of the verb indicating a completed action or state.
     present tense: a form of the verb indicating the time that is now.
     progressive: a form of the verb indicating an action or state in the prcess of occurring. Not used in German.
umlaut: the two dots placed over a vowel to indicate a change in pronunciation brought about by another vowel. In German it indicates an a, o, or u is pronounced as if it were a diphthong followed by an e.
verb: a part of speech denoting action, occurrence, or state of being.
     auxiliary verb: a finite verb used with other verbs to indicate tense, voice, or mood. Modal verbs are also auxiliary verbs.
     compound verb: a German verb composed of two different verbs. For example spazierengehen or kennenlernen.
     dependent infinitive SEE infinitive:
     separable: a German verb composed of two parts (a verb proper and usually an prepositional particle). In a simple sentence in the present tense the particle is separated from the inflected verb and falls at the end of the clause.
     intransitive: a verb that does not have an object to complete its meaning. The action of the verb affects the subject. Verbs that take subject complements are intransitive.
     modal: an auxiliary verb (dürfen [to be allowed], müßen [to have to], können [to be able to], mögen [to want to], wollen [to want to], and sollen [to be suppose to].
     phrasal verb: a multi-word verb which is followed by an adverb particle. For example he went astray, they sat up.
     pepositional verb: a verb that occurs only with a prepositional particle. For example they get on with each other.
     reflexive verb: a verb expresses that the action is both executed and received by the subject and isused with a reflexive pronoun either in the accusative or dative case.
     stem: that part of an infinitive which is inflected.
     tenses SEE tense:
     transitive: a verb that can have a direct object. Transitive verbs can be changed from active to passive voice.
     vowel change: in German when a, o, u, or au acquires an umlaut and is pronounced accordingly.
verbal: a nonfinite verb used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
voice: the form of a transitive verb that indicates whether the subject performs or receives the action of the verb.
     active voice: a transitive verb with a direct object is in the active voice.
     passive voice: a transitive verb which the direct object of the action is converted to the subject.
vowel: a single speech sound uttered without much constriction of the vocal cords. The letters a, e, i, o, and u and their diphthongs.
     changes / shifts: in German when a, o, u, or au acquires an umlaut and is pronounced accordingly.
     long vowel: a vowel pronounced for a longer duration, in a tense, stead voice (like the a in "made").
     short: a vowel pronounced for a short duration (like the e in "get").
word classes: the current term for parts of speech, e.g. verb, noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
word order: the arrangement of words in a clause or sentence in a grammatically acceptable order.







Index

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A
accent   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] adjective   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]	adverb   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] alphabet   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] article   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
BC
capitalization   [DEF] [1] case   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] clause   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]	comparison   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] conjunction   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] consonant   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] contraction [1] [2]
DEF
dictionary [1] Dionysius Thrax [1] diphthong   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] doch [1] [2]	eszett   [DEF] [1] [2] Fraktur   [DEF] [1] [2] function [1] [2]
GHI
gender   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] gerund   [DEF] [1] [2] idiom   [DEF] [1] [2] indirect discourse   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]	infinitive   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] inflection   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] interjection   [DEF] [1] [2]
JKLM
ja [1] [2] kein [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]	Mark Twain [1] [2] [3] mood   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
NO
negative   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] noun   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52]	numbers [1] object   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
P
parse   [DEF] [1] [2] participle   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] phrase   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] preposition   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]	pronoun   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] pronunciation [1] [2] [3]
RS
Sütterlin   [DEF] [1] sentence   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] signal [1] [2] stress   [DEF] [1] [2] [3]	subject complement   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] superlative   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] syllable   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
TUVWXYZ
tense   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] umlaut   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] verb   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60]	verbal   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] voice   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] vowel   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] week [1] werewolf [1] word order   [DEF] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]



Greetings, Sayings and Set Expressions

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[ CONTENTS | NOUNS | VERBS | CONSTRUCTION | SAYINGS ]

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