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<title xmlns:ng="http://docbook.org/docbook-ng">Notes on grammar</title><meta xmlns:ng="http://docbook.org/docbook-ng" name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.79.2"><link rel="home" href="index.html" title="GERMAN Basic Course"><link rel="up" href="ch01.html" title="Chapter 1. Unit 1"><link rel="prev" href="ch01s02.html" title="Notes on pronunciation"><link rel="next" href="ch01s04.html" title="Substitution drill."></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Notes on grammar</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ch01s02.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 1. Unit 1</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ch01s04.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="section"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="d5e1085"></a>Notes on grammar</h2></div><div><h3 class="subtitle">(For home study)</h3></div></div></div><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="A"><li class="listitem"><p>The German Noun-Classification ('Gender') System.</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="I"><li class="listitem"><p>The three classes of nouns.</p><p><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Der</strong></span> Wein
ist nicht gut.</em></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>The</strong></span> wine isn't good.</p><p><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Das</strong></span> Bier
ist gut.</em></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>The</strong></span> beer is good.</p><p><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">
<span class="bold"><strong>Die</strong></span> Milch ist auch gut.</em></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>The</strong></span> milk is good too.</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p>German has three words for 'the': <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der</em></span></strong></span>, <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span> and
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die</em></span></strong></span>; and German nouns can be divided into three
classes according to which of the three words for 'the* they go with.
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wein</em></span></strong></span> goes only with <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der</em></span></strong></span>, never
with <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span>, never with <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die</em></span></strong></span>. Bier
goes only with <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span>, and so on.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>We will refer to these three classes of nouns, for obvious reasons, as
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der</em></span>-</strong></span>nouns, <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span>-nouns and <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die</em></span>-</strong></span>nouns. (1 <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wein</em></span></em></span></strong></span> is <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der</em></span>-</strong></span>noun-' '<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Hotel</em></span></em></span></strong></span> is a <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span>-</strong></span>noun.1)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>The traditional statement about this phenomenon is: 'German nouns have
three genders—masculine, feminine, and neuter.' we will not use this
terminology because it tends to mislead English-speaking students by
suggesting that the German noun classification has something to do with sex
differentiation. It doesn't. See paragraph III.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Insofar as the <span class="bold"><strong>basic stock</strong></span> of German
nouns is concerned (nouns like house, grass, sky, wine, beer, milk), there is
absolutely no sense or rationale to the classification system; there is no way
at all of anticipating which class any given noun belongs to. You must simply
learn the word for 'the' as a part of the noun: the German word for 'wine1 is
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der
Wein</em></span></strong></span>. And you must practice saying <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der
Wein</em></span></strong></span> often enough so that <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das Wein</em></span></strong></span> or
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die
Wein</em></span></strong></span> sounds as wrong to you as 'The father of
his country — Henry Washington.'</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Now, Henry Washington is a perfectly good name; but it's wrong, and every^
American knows it's wrong. By the same token, <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das Wein</em></span></strong></span> is
a perfectly good form; but it's wrong, and every German knows it's
wrong.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>With <span class="bold"><strong>derivative</strong></span> nouns (that is, nouns
made from other words, like our happiness, brother-hood) your problem is
easier. The classification of German derivative nouns is fairly orderly and
consistent. Nouns ending in -<span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">ung</em></span>, for example, are always <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die</em></span></strong></span>-nouns:
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die
Verzeihung</em></span></strong></span> 'the forgiveness, the pardon. And
nouns ending with the diminutive suffixes -<span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">lein</em></span> and -<span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>chen</strong></span></em></span> are always <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das-</em></span></strong></span>nouns: <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das Fräulein</em></span></strong></span> 'the miss,
waitress,'</p><p><span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das
Mädchen</em></span></strong></span> 'the little girl.' We will deal with
the formation of the various kinds of derivative nouns as we go along through
the units.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>But if the classification of derivative nouns is orderly and consistent,
the classification of the basic stock of German nouns remains virtually
chaotic. There really is no system at all for guessing Which class a noun
belongs to; it's not something you can reason out or get the knack of. It is
not the same as our <span class="bold"><strong>he-she-it</strong></span> system, as
we'll see in. a minute. There is absolutely nothing in English like it. Your
only solution is to use the nouns until you know them as well as you know
'George Washington.'</p></li></ol></div></li><li class="listitem"><p>Pronouns Corresponding to the Three Classes of Nouns.</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" border="1"><colgroup><col class="c1"><col class="c2"><col class="c3"><col class="c4"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist der
Bahnof?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Er ist
dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is the station?</td><td>It's there.</td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist das
Hotel?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Es ist
dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is the hotel?</td><td>It's there.</td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist die
Botshaft?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Sie ist
dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is the embassy?</td><td>It's there.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>As these examples show, there is a special <span class="bold"><strong>pronoun</strong></span> for each of the three classes of nouns. Notice the
correspondence in the final sounds of the pairs <span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">der<span class="bold"><strong>-</strong></span>er</em></span>, <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das-es</em></span></strong></span>,
and <span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>die-sie</strong></span></em></span>. This is no coincidence.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Contrast between German and English Pronoun Usage.</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" border="1"><colgroup><col class="c1"><col class="c2"><col class="c3"><col class="c4"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist <span class="bold"><strong>der</strong></span> Bahnhof?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Er</strong></span>
ist dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is <span class="bold"><strong>the</strong></span> station?</td><td><span class="bold"><strong>It's</strong></span> there.</td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist <span class="bold"><strong>der</strong></span> Mann?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Er</strong></span>
ist dort.</em></span></td><td>Where's <span class="bold"><strong>the</strong></span> man?</td><td><span class="bold"><strong>He's</strong></span> here.</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"> </td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist <span class="bold"><strong>das</strong></span> Hotel?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Es</strong></span>
ist dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is <span class="bold"><strong>the</strong></span> hotel?</td><td><span class="bold"><strong>It's</strong></span> there.</td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist <span class="bold"><strong>das</strong></span> Kind?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Es</strong></span>
ist dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is <span class="bold"><strong>the</strong></span> child?</td><td><p><span class="bold"><strong>He's</strong></span> here.</p>
<p><span class="bold"><strong>She's</strong></span> here</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="4"> </td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist <span class="bold"><strong>die</strong></span> Botschaft?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Sie</strong></span> ist dort.</em></span></td><td>Where is <span class="bold"><strong>the</strong></span> embassy?</td><td><span class="bold"><strong>It's</strong></span> there.</td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist <span class="bold"><strong>die</strong></span> Frau?</em></span></td><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>Sie</strong></span> ist dort.</em></span></td><td>Where's <span class="bold"><strong>the</strong></span> woman?</td><td><span class="bold"><strong>She's</strong></span> here.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>These examples show that the German pronouns <span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">er</em></span>, <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">sie</em></span></strong></span>, and es do not match up with the English
pronouns 'he', 'she', and 'it'. The English <span class="bold"><strong>he-she-it</strong></span> system has an entirely different foundation from the
German noun-classification ('gender') system. In the English system, the choice of
pronoun depends upon the sex (male, female, or sexless) of some non-linguistic
entity—a man ('he'), a woman ('she'), or a table ('it'). In the German system, on
the other hand, the choice of pronoun depends upon the linguistic classification
of the noun you are replacing, except in reference to human beings.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Pronouns Referring to People.</p><div class="informaltable"><table class="informaltable" border="1"><colgroup><col class="c1"><col class="c2"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Wo ist das
Fraülein?</em></span></td><td>Where is the waitress?</td></tr><tr><td><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">Sie ist
dort.</em></span></td><td>She's there.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p> Since all German nouns referring to men are <span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><span class="bold"><strong>der</strong></span></em></span><span class="bold"><strong>-nouns</strong></span> and virtually all German nouns referring to women
are <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die</em></span></strong></span>-nouns. <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">er</em></span></strong></span> and <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">sie</em></span></strong></span> correspond
to 'he' and 'she' — when they refer to <span class="bold"><strong>human
beings</strong></span>. Consequently, one says <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">sie</em></span></strong></span> when referring to <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das
Fräulein</em></span></strong></span>. Who is, after all, die lunge Dame 'the
young lady',<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> die
Tochte</em></span></strong></span>r 'the daughter', <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">die Schwester</em></span></strong></span>
'the sister', and so on, as well as <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das Fräulein</em></span></strong></span>.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>No classification in the Plural.</p><div class="informaltable"><table><col width="25%"><col width="25%"><col width="25%"><col width="25%"><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Wo
sind die Bahnhöfe? </em></span></td>
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Sie
sind hier. </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Where are the stations?</td>
<td align="left">They're here.</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Wo
sind die Hotels? </em></span></td>
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Sie
sind hier. </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Where are the hotels?</td>
<td align="justify">They're here.</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Wo
sind die Frauen? </em></span></td>
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Sie
sind hier. </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Where are the women?</td>
<td align="justify">They're here.</td>
</tr></table></div><p>As these examples show, the three-fold classification we've been discussing
applies only to nouns in the singular. In the plural, there is only one word for
'the', and only one pronoun.</p></li></ol></div></li><li class="listitem"><p>The pointing-Word <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span>.</p><div class="informaltable"><table><col width="50%"><col width="50%"><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Das ist
der Bahnhof, nicht wahr? </em></span></td>
<td align="left">This is the station, isn't it?</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Ja, das
ist er. </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Yes, that's it.</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Ist das
die Milch? </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Is that the milk?</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Das ist
Wasser. </em></span></td>
<td align="left">This is water.</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Sind das
die Streichhölzer? </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Are these the matches?</td>
</tr><tr valign="top">
<td align="left"><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"> Das sind
die Zigarren. </em></span></td>
<td align="left">Those are the cigars.</td>
</tr></table></div><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="I"><li class="listitem"><p>The pointing-word <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span> (often accompanied by a pointing gesture) is
used to call any <span class="bold"><strong>object</strong></span> or <span class="bold"><strong>group of objects</strong></span> to the hearer's attention, without any reference to
noun classification or to the number of objects.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>The pointing-word <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span> is an entirely different entity from the
<span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span> of <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das Hotel</em></span></strong></span>. The English equivalents
of the pointing-word <span class="bold"><strong><span lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase"><em lang="de-1901" class="foreignphrase">das</em></span></strong></span> are 'this', <span class="bold"><strong>'that',
'these', and 'those'.</strong></span></p></li></ol></div></li></ol></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="ch01s02.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="ch01.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="ch01s04.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Notes on pronunciation </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Substitution drill.</td></tr></table></div></body></html>