German Grammar

German Grammar
Conjugation of verbs

In this lesson we will try to explain a little about how verb conjugation works in German. First of all, it is
important to know that the infinitive of verbs ends in -en or -n: heiben = to call, fragen = to ask, klingeln = to
ring the bell.

Also, the numbers and people are the same as in Spanish. However, the subject personal pronoun is not omitted,
since the verb form is not sufficient to identify it.

Let's see an example with the verb vivir = wohnen

Singular
Pronoun Root Ending

Ich = I wohn- and

Du = you wohn- st

Er, sie, es = he, she, it wohn- t

Plural

Wir=we wohn- in

Ihr= you/them wohn- t

Sie= they/them wohn- in

As we can see in this example, the form of the infinitive is the same in the first and third person plural.

Verbs ending in -den, -ten, -men and -nen (when the last two are not preceded by one of the consonants r, loh)
insert an e in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular and in the 2nd person plural. Let's look at four verbs that fit into
this group.

arbeiten = to work banden = to bathe atmen = to breathe rechnen =

the worker badest atmest calculate rechnest
is
you work badet atm et rechn et
is
your work badet atm et rechn et

Verbs whose root syllable ends in -s, -ss, -β, -z or -x have the same ending in the second and third persons
singular:

reisen = to lassen = to leave duzen = to address schätzen = to

travel
you are right läβt oneself
duzt informally appreciate
to hide
is
you resist läβt duz t to hide
is

2.Change of a to ä, of au to äu and of o to ö. If the radical vowel of the infinitive is a, au, or this transforms into ä,
äu and ö respectively:

tragen = to carry schlafen = to sleep lassen = to leave laufen = to

du suffer to sneeze läβt laugh
is
you are suffering slug l äβt the truth
is
Other verbs in this category are:

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blasen = to blow fangen = to take
braten = to roast, fry geraten = to get out
empfangen = to well graben = to dig,
receive fahren = to go, excavate halten = to
to travel hold laden = to load
fallen = fall

The verbs sein and haben

The verb sein is equivalent in Spanish to the verbs ser and estar. In German no distinction is made between
these two verbs.

I bin - I am / I am
du bist - You are / you are
You sind - You are / are
is ist - He is / is
sev ist - She is / is
en
is ist - He is / is
we sind - We are / we are
you seid - You are / you are
rs
sev sind - They are / are
en
The verb haben is equivalent in Spanish to the verbs haber and tener. No distinction is made between these two
verbs in German either.

ich habe - I have du hast - You have Sie haben - You have er hat - He has sie hat - She has es hat - He has
wir haben - We have ihr habt - You have sie haben - They have

The position of the verb in the main clause

In the main sentence the conjugated verb is always placed in position II. Almost all elements (subject, direct
object, indirect object, circumstantial complements and even subordinate clauses) can occupy position 1, but the
conjugated verb is always in position III:

Position I Position II

from
You come Barcelona
She comes from
Barcelona
It is ist Engineer
He is engineer

In general interrogative sentences (Ja-Nein-Fragen) and imperative sentences, position I is not occupied:

Hello, are you Schmitt?

Is your name Schmit?

Are you Mrs. Klein?

Are you Mrs. Klein?

Formation of the plural in nouns

The most common way to form the plural of nouns is by adding the ending -(e)n and -n to the singular form. If
we look at some German nouns we see that masculine nouns form the plural with the ending -e, while feminine
nouns do so by adding -(e)n.

1 Nouns ending in -er, -en, -el, -chen, -lein do not have any ending in the plural.
Example: der Kilometer die Kilometer

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2 .Most masculine nouns, monosyllabic feminine nouns, and neuter nouns.
Example: the course of the course

3 .Neutral monosyllabic nouns and some masculine ones.

Example: the King of Kinder

4 .Most feminine nouns and some masculine and neuter nouns, nouns declension in -n. Example: the woman
the women

5 .Nouns ending in -a, -i, -o, -u. Many foreign words.

Examples: the car the cars

The cases

To explain the cases we are first going to look at a text to assimilate it better. Here we will see how the word
Mann appears in two different ways and the article in four forms.

That is a man.
The man is big and dark
Man muss den Mann immer lieb haben.
Man muss dem Mann sagen, wie toll er ist.
Die Psyche des Mannes ist sehr sensibel.

In German there are four cases depending on the determiner of the noun, which would be four declensions.
Male I Masculine II (declension Female Neutral
in -n)
Nominative the man the youth the the house
Accusative the man of the young the the house
Dative the man the young woman the wife the house
Genitive of the Mannes of the young the wife of the
Houses
Functions of cases in the sentence.- Nouns can have different functions in a sentence. Let's see:

1 .Nominative (answers the question: Wer / Who?): it is a complement of the verb. All verbs need a
complement in the nominative.

Ex: Frau Lisa whnt in Seckenheim / Mrs. Lisa lives in Seckenheim

2 .Accusative (answers the question: Wen / What?): many verbs need an accusative complement. Ex:
Buchstabieren Sie bitte Ihren Namen / Please spell your names.

3 .Dative (answers the question: Wem / to whom?): certain verbs always need a dative complement to know to
whom an action applies.
Ex: Das Bild gefällt meinem Vater nicht. / My father doesn't like this painting.

4 .Genitive (answers the question of Wessen/whose?): There are few verbs that have to have complements in
the genitive. The genitive would be like the complement of the name in Spanish.
Ex: Die Opern Mozarts / Mozart's Opera

The declension of the article

As in Spanish, in German there are definite articles (der, das, die) and indefinite articles (ein, eine).

Singular Neutral Female

Masculine The Kind The
Nominative The Man Woman
Accusati The Man The Kind
ve The
The Man The Kind Woman
Dative
Des Mannes Des Kindes Der
Genitive Frau
Plural masculine Neuter Feminine
Nominative
Men/Children/Women
Accusative die Männer/Kinder/Frauen den Männern/Kindern/Frauen

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Dative derMänner/Kinder/Frauen
Genitive

Let's now look at the declension of the indefinite article ein, eine.

Singular Masculine Neuter Feminine

Nominative ein Mann a child a woman
Accusativ a man a child a woman
e
Dative a man a child a woman

Genitive
Plural a few manners a child of a woman
Nominativ Male Neutral Female
e
-Men/Women/Children
Accusative - Männer/Zinder/Frauen
- Men/Kids/Frauen
Dative
-Men/Women/Children
Genitive

The denial

The negation "no" is expressed in German by nein, nicht or kein, depending on the situation.

Nein: used as a negative response to any answer.

Example: How much time does it take today? / Do you have time today?
No / No

Nicht: is used when the negation refers directly to an adjective, adverb or verb. Examples:

Adjective: Der Platz ist nicht frei

Adverb: Er spricht noch nicht gut Deutsch
Verb: I don't come like that.

Kein: is used to negate nouns accompanied by the indefinite article or used without an article. In this case it is
equivalent to "none" or "nothing". Examples:

I have a car. I have no car

That's time. There is no time.

Modal verbs

Modal verbs are defined as such because they provide a subjective nuance to the sentence being enunciated. In
reality, they are auxiliary verbs that have as a complement the infinitive of another verb that is placed at the
end of the sentence. When a modal verb is used, the infinitive to which it refers is not preceded by the particle
zu. Below we will see which are the most important modal verbs in German.

Können = power
Dürfen = to be able to, to have permission

Wollen = want mögen = want, like sollen = duty

must = must, have to

Present indicative of modal verbs.-

I Can Darf Will Mag Soll Muβ

You can give willst most likely muβt

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Er, is Kann Darf Will Mag Soll muβ
sie,
Wir
Können Dürfen Wollen Mögen Must
Yours Sollen die
can be wollt may be
seven difficult
can endure solved
wool sometimes Musse
they are n
sometimes musse
You can endure wool
they are n

Meaning of modal verbs

Let's see what each of the modal verbs means.

Können = power
1)Possibility or opportunity: Konnen Sie das Fenster öffnen? - Can you open the window?
2) Ability (being able to): He can run very fast - He can run fast
3) Permission (power): You can smoke here - You may smoke here.

Dürfen = to be able to, to have permission

1) Prohibition: You must not smoke here

Wollen = to want
1) Desire or intention: Ich will ein Journalist sein - I want to be a journalist

Mögen = to like
1) Affection or aversion: Ich mag das nicht hören - I don't want to hear this.

Möchte = I would like, I would like

1)Desire: Ich will eine Eiscreme essen - I want to eat ice cream

Müssen = must, have to, be obliged to.

1) Obligation: we must pay the entrance fee - we have to pay the entrance fee

Sollen = duty
1) Tip from someone else: You should eat more vegetables - You should eat more vegetables

Position of modal verbs in the sentence.- In sentences that contain a modal verb and another main verb, the
modal verb moves to position II and the main verb is placed at the end of the sentence.

Let's look at some examples:

It is can nicht schwimmen - He doesn't know how to swim

Position I Position II: Infinitive

modal verb

Prepositions

Prepositions have the same function as any preposition in Spanish. Some indicate place (am Marktplatz),
address (nach Italien), time (um zwei Uhr), among many others. One thing that differentiates prepositions
from Spanish is that in German, depending on what you want to indicate, you need a word in the genitive, dative
or accusative after the preposition.

Below we will see the meaning and use of some prepositions.

Ab = from
Needs a word in dative

a)Local sense = beginning, starting point

b) Temporal sense = beginning of a period of time. E.g.: From next week the school will be closed (From
next week the school will be closed)

Auf = on, in, at, above

You need a word in dative or accusative

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Aus = of
It requires a word in the dative case

Für = for, by
Needs a word in accusative

Gegen = against
Needs a word in accusative

Hinter = behind, after

Needs accusative or dative

In = a, in, within
Needs accusative or dative

Nach = to, towards

Needs a dative

Neben = next to, next to

Needs accusative or dative

Über = above
Needs dative or accusative