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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>
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