Basic course IIGerman words

*What a wunderschön world!* Adjectives are used to describe or characterize things or people. They are necessary to make the meanings of sentences more exact or clearer. First, let's look at some adjectives to describe an emotion or feeling.

*I'm taller than you!* To compare things in German is actually pretty easy! *The comparative* is the first form of comparison. The ending *-er* is added to the adjective and the sentences is constructed with "als" (than). e. g. "Sie ist schöner als du." *The superlative* is the highest form of comparison. We put "am" or *the definite article* in front of the adjective, and add *-ste(n)* to the end. The formation is the same for all adjectives regardless of how many syllables they have. e. g. "Sie ist am schönsten." Adjectives that end with *-d/-t or -s/-ß/-x/-z* usually form the superlative with *-este(n).* e. g. "interessant" - "am interessantesten"

*Irregular comparative forms.* As in English, some German adjectives have *irregular comparative forms.* *Here are some examples:* "gut" - "besser" - "am besten / der/die/das beste" "viel" - "mehr" - "am meisten / der/die/das meiste" "hoch" - "höher" - "am höchsten / der/die/das höchste"

*Have you already finished? Not yet!* Let's learn how to use words "noch" and "schon"! In German, the adverb "noch" has the meaning of *still*, *even* and *more*. "Ich bin noch zu Hause." - I'm still at home. "Möchtest du noch Kaffee?" - Would you like some more coffee? "Mein Haus ist noch näher." - My house is even closer. In contrast to "noch" where something is still going on, "schon" means *already* or *yet* in English. "Bist du schon fertig?" - Are you already finished? "Ich war schon mal hier." - I was already here.

*Doch, doch!* "Doch" is one of those wonderful words in German that people who speak German wish existed in English. You use "doch" to convey mood or emphasis. It has no specific grammatical purpose, but the feeling of a sentence changes when you add or remove it. Because "doch" has no specific meaning that can be translated to an English word, you have to learn it in context, through examples. There are *five main uses* of the word "doch" in German: To counter a negative "Hast du keine Zeit?" / "Doch! Ich habe Zeit." - Don't you have time? / I *do* have time! To say *actually*, *and yet*, *after all*, or *but* "Ich habe morgen doch Zeit." - I have time tomorrow *after all.* (I originally thought I didn’t) To tone down statements "Gehen Sie doch vorbei!" - *Why don’t you* go by? To seek confirmation "Du hast doch meine Email bekommen?" - You *did* get my email, *right*?

*Reflexive Verbs* In a reflexive clause, *the action is done to the person carrying out that same action*. Reflexive clauses only can be formed by certain verbs. These verbs are called *reflexive verbs*. In English, these verbs are characterized by using *oneself*, *yourself*, *ourselves*, etc. In German, the infinitive of these verbs is preceded by the pronoun "sich". Reflexive verbs in German can be reflexive in the accusative or in the dative. Most reflexive verbs are accusative. *Reflexive pronouns in the accusative*: "ich" - "mich" "du" - "dich" "er/sie/es" - "sich" "wir" - "uns" "ihr" - "euch" "sie/Sie" - "sich"

*What do you need this für?* You've already learned how to use the accusative in the Basic Course I. Now let's learn something more to it. There're certain prepositions in German, which *always* go with the *accusative*. For example "für". "Das ist für dich." - That's for you. "Ich habe die Jacke für zehn Euro gekauft." - I bought the jacket for ten euros.

*Say something!* There are three main forms of *the imperative* that are used to give *instructions or orders* to someone. These correspond to the three different ways of saying you: "du", "ihr" and "Sie". However, it is only in the "Sie" form of the imperative that *the pronoun usually appears* – in the "du" and "ihr" forms, *the pronoun is generally dropped*, leaving only the verb. "Du sagst etwas." "Sag etwas!" "Ihr sagt etwas." "Sagt etwas!" "Sie sagen etwas." "Sagen Sie etwas!" Note that the *-e* of the "du" form is often dropped, but *NOT where the verb stem ends*, for example, in *chn-, fn-, or tm-*. In such cases, the -e is kept to make the imperative easier to pronounce. e. g. "öffnen" "Öffne die Tür!"

*Please, be quiet!* Note also that the verb "sein" (to be) is a *strong, irregular verb*. Its imperative forms are also irregular! "Du bist böse." "Sei nicht böse!" Don't be mean/angry! "Ihr seid böse." "Seid nicht böse!" Don't be mean/angry! (plural) "Sie sind böse." "Seien Sie nicht böse!" Don't be mean/angry! (polite)

*Tell mir!* The dative case ("der Dativ") describes the *indirect object* of a sentence in German and English and answers the question, "wem?" (whom), or "was?" (what). In the dativ case, "ich" becomes "mir" and "du" becomes "dir". Some verbs in German only go with the dativ case, e. g. "sagen", "schenken", "gehören", "helfen", "geben", etc. "Sag mir etwas." Tell me something. "Ich schenke dir Blumen." I give you flowers.

*Ich und du* Coordinating conjunctions are connecting words that don’t disturb the word order of the German sentence. "und" *and* "Ich habe eine Katze und einen Hund." "oder" *or* "Ich gehe ins Restaurant oder ich bleibe zu Hause." "aber" *but* "Er verdient nicht viel, aber kauft ein neues Auto." "denn" *because* "Ich arbeite jeden Tag, denn ich brauche Geld."

*We're splitting up again!* You already know, that there are some verbs in German that get split up. The first part runs off to the end of the sentence. Let's learn some more! "vorhaben" *to have plans* "Hast du schon was vor?" *Do you have plans yet?* "anrufen" *to call (someone)* "Ruf mich bitte an!" *Please, call me.* "losgehen" *to go off* "Wann gehen wir denn los?" *When are we leaving?*

*Prepositions + Accusative* Remember that in German there are four groups of prepositions? Let's take a look at the prepositions that always go with the accusative case. "für" - for "um" - round, around "durch" - through "gegen" - against "ohne" - without You already know that only *der* changes its form in accusative. It becoms *den*. The articles *die* and *das* don't change their form.

*Two-Way Prepositions* There are several prepositions that can go *either with the dative or the accusative case*, and it depends solely on what the question is. The so called local prepositiones are: "in", "auf", "an", "unter", "über", "neben", "hinter", "vor", "zwischen" When the question is "Wo?", use the dative case. When the question is "Wohin?", use the accusative case. "Wo ist die Maus?" – "Die Maus ist unter dem Sofa." (dative) "Wohin läuft die Maus?" – "Die Maus läuft unter das Sofa." (accusative)

*Positional and directional verbs* You already know that the case changes depending on the question. We use tha dative case when the question is "Wo?" and the accusative case when it's "Wohin?". Positional verbs go with the dative case: "stehen", "sitzen", "liegen", "hängen" Directional verbs go with the accusative case: "(sich) stellen", "(sich) setzen", "(sich) legen", "hängen" The verbs "hängen" has the same form in both cases, however, the past participle differes!

*Inside or outside?* When someone or something is *inside*, it's "drinnen" and "draußen" means *outside.* But it's not that simple! We use "herein" and "heraus" to indicate movement into or out of a place. "Herein" means *in* or *into here*, and "heraus" means *out* or *out of here*. "Rein" and "raus" are used to describe movement towards or away from a place.

*Verbs with fixed prepositions* There are many different prepositions that can belong to verbs. It is very important that you learn prepositional verbs always in *verb + preposition* pairs. Some verbs can make pairs with more prepositions and then the meaning changes! Let's look at the verb "sich freuen": "sich freuen auf" = to look forward to "sich freuen über" = to be happy about "sich freuen für" = to be happy for

*Can you close the window?* Did you know that the verb "machen" can have multiple meanings when you add different prefixes to it? For example, the German verb "machen" with the prefix *auf* means *to open* and adding the prefix *zu* means *to close*.

*Ordinal numbers* You have already learned the German numbers from 1 to 10. Just like in English, the German numbers change their form when they are ordinal. The numbers 1, 3 and 7 are irregular but the rest is simple - just add an ending *-te*, for example: 2 - "zwei" - *der/die/das* "zweite" 1 - "eins" - *der/die/das* "erste" 3 - "drei" - *der/die/das* "dritte" 7 - "sieben" - *der/die/das* "siebte" When you want to say *when* something happens, use the preposition "am" and add *-n* to the ordinal number: "Mein Geburtstag ist am zehnten April."

*I like your new dress!* When you want to express that you like or disslike something, use the verb "gefallen". It goes with the Dativ so if you want to say that you like it, say: "Es gefällt mir." "Gefällt dir das Kleid?" - "Ja, es gefällt mir sehr!" "Geffalen dir die Bücher?" - "Nein, sie gefallen mir nicht."

*What do you think about that?* Now you know that you can use the verb "gefallen" to express that you like or disslike something. You can also use the word "gern" after a verb or the verb "mögen" (we've learned that in the first course). The verb "finden" can also be used to say what you think about something: "Wie findest du den Film?" "Ich finde ihn sehr gut." Another expression is "halten von": "Was hältst du von dem Film?" "Er gefällt mir nich to gut."