FSI-German-csv/Unit4/Unit4.txt

  UNIT 4
  
  
  
  
     IM KONSULAT

     Basic Sentences


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Notes to the Basic Sentences


1	Many German nouns are formed as compounds of two or more other nouns. Sometimes the elements are just placed together and written as one word. Sometimes there is a special combining form of the noun which occurs in compounds. Very occasionally compound nouns are hyphenated in German. Note that in every case the specifier of the compound is the same as the specifier of its last element, i.e., Besuchsvisum is a das-word, just as Visum is a das-word. The following compounds occur in this unit:
             Besuchsvisum	with	the combining	form Besuchs-Visa-Abteilung	with	the combining	form VisaGeschäftsreise	with	the combining	form Geschäfts-Staatsangehöriger^	with	the combining	form Staats-
2	The normal position of the verb in a subordinate clause in German is at the end of the clause.
3	Note that many German nouns which classify people according to profession, nationality, or membership in a group occur without a specifier.
4	Some German der-nouns end in -e if preceded by the specifier der but end in -er if preceded by no specifier or the specifier ein: der Deutsche, ein Deutscher, Deutscher (nominative forms):der Angehörige, ein Angehöriger, Angehöriger (nominative forms).
5	Samstag is more common in Western and Southern Germany.
   Sonnabend is more common in Northern and Eastern Germany.
6	Ihre Frau Gemahlin is polite, formal usage. A German says 'meine Frau' in referring to his own wife, but 'Ihre Frau Gemahlin' in referring to the wife of the person he is speaking to, unless he is very well acquainted with the family. In that case he would just say 'Ihre Frau'. A lady would normally say 'Ihre Frau' in talking to a man, unless the latter is a considerably older person or one to whom she owes particular respect because of rank or position. In referring to her own husband she would just say 'mein Mann'.


Notes on Pronunciation


A.	The German ich-sound

   Whisper English "yes". Prolong the initial sound, as if you were stuttering:
" yyyes" . Whisper the name "Hugh" and prolong the initial sound in the sarae way : " Flhhhugh". Feel the air friction alone, like a long drawn out, whispered hy- combination. Now try the German words with your instructor. If you have difficulty with them whisper English "yyyes" and "Hhhhugh" again for a moment and try to get the air friction sound here distinctly. The same kind of air friction will occur in all of the following German words:
Practice 1.
    ich	König	Milch	leicht
    mich	wenig	welch	nicht
     weich	wichtig	solch	echt
     Pech	endlich	durch	recht
Practice 2.
      sicher	Fächer	weichen	München
       siechte	nächste	gezeichnet	Häschen
     Küche	Löcher	Seuche	Rippchen
      Tücher	höchste	leuchte	Söckchen

B.	The German ach-sound

   There is no sound in English similar to German -ch in ach. Pronounce English "knock" and ask your instructor to pronounce German nach. Notice the difference in the final sounds of the two words. In the English word the back of the tongue is pressed against the back part of the roof of the mouth stopping the flow of air. If you don't stop the flow of air entirely but let some of it through by lowering the >?ack part of your tongue just a little, you should approximate the German sound. This air friction, or spirant sound is not the same as the one described under A. It is a lower frequency sound, because it is produced farther back in the mouth cavity. Practice until your instructor is satisfied with your pronunciation of the following words.
Practice 3
     doch	Docht	kochen	Tochter
      auch	taucht	fauchen	hauchte
     nach	macht	lachen	dachte
     Tuch	sucht	buchen	suchte
    Bruch	Sucht	Buchten Practice 4 - the ich-sound and the ach-sound compared.
      Nacht	Nächte Loch	Löcher
        schwach	Schwäche Tochter	Töchter
     auch	euch Buch	Bücher
       fauchte	feuchte Sucht	süchtig

                                Notes on Grammar (For Home Study)

A. eIn-Type Specifiers: ein, kein, mein, sein, ihr. Ihr, unser

  I. Forms

     1. With der-nouns

Hier ist mein Pass.	Here's my passport.
           Ich habe meinen Tabak	i have my tobacco here,
              hier.
Ich fahre mit meinem	I'm going in m^ car.
              Wagen.
        With das-nouns
          Das ist mein Hotel.	That's m^. hotel.
           Haben Sie mein Gepäck?	Do you nave m^ luggage?
           Er wohnt in meinem Hotel.	He lives at hotel.
        With die-nouns
           Meine Heimatstadt ist	M^ home town is Berlin.
              Berlin.
Sie kennt meine Frau.	She knows m^ wife.
           Sie kommen aus meiner	They come from m^. home town.
             Heimatstadt.
        With plural nouns
Meine Eltern kommen aus	parents come from New York.
             New York.
            Ich habe meine Zigaretten	I have my cigarettes here,
              hier.
            Er wohnt in der Nähe von	He lives near my. parents.
             meinen Eltern.

     2.	By abstracting the underscored forms of the word mein from the German sentences above we can set up the following table:
 
          before	before	before	before
                der-nouns	das-nouns	die-nouns	plural nouns
NOMINATIVE forms	mein	mein	meine	meine
ACCUSATIVE forms	meinen	mein	meine	meine
DATIVE forms	meinem	meinem	meiner	meinen (-n)

     3.	The ein-type specifiers include the words ein 'a, an, one' and its negative converse kein 'not a, not an, not any, not one, no' as well as the possessive words mein 'my', sein 'his', ihr 'her,their', Ihr 'your' (the capital is a convention of the writing system), and unser 'our*.
 
       Two other possessive words will be introduced in Unit 11.
            Haben Sie einen Ausweis?	Do you have ari identification card?
            Gibt es hier in der Nahe	Is there a cigar store near here? ein Zigarrengeschäft?
Ihr Antrag wird dann	Your application will then be processed
         gleich bearbeitet.	right away.
           Unsere Adresse ist	Our address is 4 Schiller Street. Schillerstrasse 4.
            Herr Allen stellt seinem	Mr. Allen introduces Mr. Meyer to his
            Kollegen Bill Jones Herrn	colleague Bill Jones.
             Meyer vor.
            Meine Frau hat ihren Pass	My wife doesn't have her passport yet. noch nicht.

     4.	Remember that ein occurs only in the singular, but all other ein-type specifiers have a complete set of forms.

      with	with	with	with
            der-nouns	das-nouns	die-nouns	plural nouns
Nominative	ein	ein	eine
Accusative	einen	ein	eine
Dative	einem	einem	einer
Nominative	kein	kein	keine	keine
Accusative	keinen	kein	keine	keine
Dative	keinem	keinem	keiner	keinen (-n)
Nominative	sein	sein	seine	seine
Accusative	seinen	sein	seine	seine
Dative	seinem	seinem	seiner	seinen (-n)
Nominative	ihr	ihr	ihre	ihre
Accusative	ihren	ihr	ihre	ihre
Dative	ihrem	ihrem	ihrer	ihren (-n)
Nominative	unser	unser	unsere	unsere
Accusative	unseren	unser	unsere	unsere
Dative	unserem	unserem	unserer	unseren (-n)

     5.	Compare the underlined forms in the following pairs of sentences:

           Ich kenne diesen Mann.	I know this man.
           Ich kenne ihren Mann.	I know her husband.
  Wohnt er in diesem Hotel?	Does he live in this hotel?
            Wohnt er in meinem Hotel?	Does he live in my hotel?
          Welche Bank ist das?	Which bank is that?
           Unsere Bank ist neben	Our bank is next to the consulate,
             dem Konsulat.
     In Units 1 and 3 we mentioned the correspondence of final sounds in der-type specifiers and the various forms of the pronouns e_r, e.s and sie. In the above sentences we see the pattern continued with the ein-type specifiers. In most cases the similarity can be traced through both types of specifiers and the pronouns; keinen-diesen-ihn-den, ihrem-welchem-lhm-dem, unsere-dlese-welche, for instance.
 

 6. Compare the underlined forms in the following sentences:

Dieser Autobus fährt nach	This bus goes to Schwabing.
           Schwabing.
         Heute fährt kein Autobus	There's no bus going to Schwabing
      nach Schwabing.	today.
Unser Autobus fährt nach	Our bus goes to Schwabing.
           Schwabing.
        Das ist das Hotel.	That's the hotel.
        Ist das Ihr Hotel?	Is that your hotel?
          Nein» das ist mein Hotel.	No, that's my hotel.
Ich möchte heute das	I'd like to apply for the visa
       Visum beantragen.	today.
         Ich möchte heute mein	I'd like to apply for my visa today.
           Visum beantragen.
Möchte sie heute ihr	Would she like to apply for her visa
       Visum beantragen?	today?
     Note that there is no consistent similarity of final sounds in the underlined forms above. The patterns observed in paragraph 5 do not show up in dieser-kein-unser and das-me in-Ihr. There is then a form of the ein-type specifiers in which the final sound, or ending, found in the der-type specifiers and personal pronouns is lacking. This endingless form occurs as the Nominative form with der-nouns and as the Nominative and Accusative form with das-nouns. The pattern for ein-type specifiers can be summed up in the following pattern chart:
Pattern Chart 2
Nominative	- - E	E
Accusative	N - E	E
          Dative	M M R	N (-n)


II. Uses


     We have already noted that the	ein-type specifiers	include ein and kein and the possessives.
 
 1. ein means 'a, an' when unstressed. With slightly increased stress it means 'one'.

Er füllt ein Formular aus. He's filling out a form.
                                                    /
        Füllen Sie nur ein	Just fill out one form.
            Formular aus'.
      /	J
Muss man ein oder zwei	Does one have to fill out one
        Formulare ausfüllen?	or two forms?
 
 2- kein means ’not a, not an, not any, not one, no'. In English we have an option in many negative statements:
 
        I don't have an identification card. , . . , , >
I haven* t any identification card.	(Negation of verb)
I have no identification card.	(Negation of noun)
     In German there is no equivalent option. In such statements the noun is always negated.
            Ich habe keinen Ausweis.	I haven't any identification card.
           Er ist kein Deutscher.	uei'*’Sn ®erman*
                                           He’s no German.
          Haben Sie kein Visum?	°on'y°u have a visa?
                                           Have you no visa?
                      . .	We don't know any Americans here.
      Wir kennen hier keine	J
Amerikaner.	^now no Americans here.
    3. Any of the ein-type specifiers - like the der-type specifiers (noted in Unit 3) “ can also occur without a following noun, and here they have the meanings 'one, not one, not any, mine, his, hers, theirs, yours, ours'.
          Ich habe Zigarren.	I have some cigars.
          Darf ich Ihnen eine	May I offer you one?
             anbieten?
Haben Sie Ihren Wagen	Do you have your car here?
             hier?
           Nein, haben Sie Ihren	No, don't you have yours here either?
             auch nicht hier?


III. Special ein-type specifier forms

    
1.	MOST ein-type specifiers have the same form when their noun is understood as they do when it is present, as can be seen in the sentences above. Note the following examples, however:
           Gibt es hier in der Nahe	Is there a cigar store near here?
            ein Zigarrengeschäft?
Hier nebenan ist eins.	There's one next door here.
           Ist das Ihr Stadtplan	Is that your map of the city or mine?
             oder meiner?
        Das ist Ihrer.	That's yours.
       The endingless ein-type specifier forms add an ending when they stand alone: Ihr Stadtplan - Ihrer; ein Ziqarrengeschäft - eins. You will note that the endings added are those of the corresponding der-type specifier forms, except that the ending - s. is added directly to the stem of the monosyllabic ein-type specifiers; kein-s, for instance, as compared with unser-es, dies-es and welch-es■
   
 2.	These special ein-tvpe specifier forms occur only with der- and das-nouns and can be listed as follows:
With der-nouns einer keiner meiner seiner ihrer Ihrer unserer
With das-nouns eins keins meins seins ihrs Ihrs unseres
B. Verb Phrases and Word Order
I. We have already spoken about verb phrases which are composed of a FINITE verb
    form and an INFINITIVE form. They have also occurred in this unit:
           Herr Köhler will ein	fir. Kohler wants to apply for a
Besuchsvisum nach Amerika	visitor's visa for America.
             beantragen.
       Now look at the following examples:
          Herr Allen stellt die	Mr. Allen introduces the gentlemen
      Herren vor»	to each other.
Füllen Sie bitte dieses	Please fill out this form.
           Formular aus.
          Ich muss Geld abheben.	I have to get some money.
          Herr Köhler hebt gerade	Mr. Köhler is just getting some
         Geld von der Bank ab.	money from the bank.
       In these sentences another kind of verb phrase occurs of a FINITE verb (stellt, füllen, hebt) and an ACCENTED ADVERB (vor, aus, ab). In one of the above sentences we have a three-part verb phrase consisting of a FINITE verb (muss). ACCENTED ADVERB (a£-), and INFINITIVE (-heben).
       Notice that in the writing system, the accented adverb and the infinitive are written as one unit (abheben).
  
II. You will have seen that in the above sentences, as in earlier examples, the second part of the verb phrase comes at the end of the sentence. We can now summarize our observations about word order in verb phrases up to this point in the following patterns:
  
  1.	FINITE VERB ... INFINITIVE	(will ... beantragen
 

    2.	FINITE VERB ... ACCENTED ADVERB	(stellt., vor)

      3.	FINITE VERB ... ACCENTED ADVERB plus INFINITIVE (muss ... abheben)
  The words gern, lieber, am liebsten


  I. We have encountered the word gern several times now. It occurs by itself,
  with an inflected verb form, and as a part of the verb phrase with möchte Jnl-Let us examine these occurrences more closely.
 
 1.	By itself gern signifies polite and willing acquiescence in a suggestion, command or question.
Wollen Sie nicht mitkommen?	Don't you want to come along?
       Sehr gern.	I'd be very glad to.
         Können Sie mir seine	Can you give me his address? Gladly. Adresse geben? Gerne.
Wollen wir heute	Shall we go down town today?
        zusammen in die Stadt	Glad to. fahren? Gerne.
          Können wir diesen Stadt-	Can we keep this map of the city?
          plan behalten? Aber gerne.	Yes, indeed.
       Note that in these examples the alternate form gerne frequently occurs, varying freely with gern.
  
2.	With an inflected verb form gern signifies pleasure in or enjoyment of the action or state expressed.
          Ich bin sehr gern hier.	I'm very glad to be here.
           Wein trinke ich nicht gern.	I don't like to drink wine.
         Da komme ich gern.	I'd be glad to come then.
          Gehen Sie gern ins Kino?	Do you enjoy going to the movies?
         Er trinkt gern Bier.	He likes (to drink) beer.
      As well as expressing acquiescence in a specific suggestion, command or question this is the usual way to say you like doing something in German, describing general attitudes or habits.
   
3* The verb phrase with möchte(n) expresses a polite request or question.
      The word gern may or may not occur with it.
           Ich möchte gern Zigarren	I'd like to have some cigars,
             haben.
           Was möchten Sie essen?	What would you like to eat?
Vorher möchte ich noch	First I'd like to go to the bank,
             zur Bank gehen.
          Ich möchte ein Visum	I want to get a visa,
             haben.
            Möchten Sie gern ins Kino Would you like to go to the movies? gehen?
      Note that this is everywhere equivalent to the English courtesy formula "would like", and the request expressed is limited and specific.

II. The words lieber and am liebsten do not occur alone but only with an inflected verb form or as part of the verb phrase with möchte(n).
 
  1. With an inflected verb form lieber and am liebsten express preference or increasing degrees of pleasure or enjoyment.
    Ich trinke lieber Würz-	I like Würzburger better than
         burger als Pilsner.	Pilsner.
           Am liebsten trinke ich	I like Löwenbräu best of course, ja Löwenbräu.
            Er raucht lieber Zigarren He likes cigars better than a pipe, als Pfeife.
           Ich gehe am liebsten	I enjoy going to the theater best
       ins Theater.	of all.
 
     2. As part of the verb phrase with möchte(n) the words lieber and am liebsten express preference or intensification in a specific request or question.
            Ich möchte lieber Zigarren	I'd rather have some cigars, haben.
          Was möchten Sie am	What would you most like to eat? liebsten essen?
           Möchten Sie lieber Wein	Would you rather have wine or beer to
         oder Bier trinken?	drink?
           Er möchte am liebsten	He'd like nothing better than to go to
           nach Deutschland fahren.	Germany.