Table Of Content

JONATHAN CONANT B. COCHRAN'S GERMAN GRÄMMÄR REVIEW 9 \ ^^^ v^^ b>^ v^-o --\v^^-o^\tK*L-<:'^^\0>CN> • ^.^ES^.i-Ä^^^rl^^^^-"^^^ V'^\' - v:<X\>RNo^:^^^;^i;-Q^ "^ X Xx^^x^\^^^^ ^-^^ v:i\^ V^QNs\Cfep^\^^\.^ .^v^»' pj Cochran's German Review Grammar \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 http://www.archive.org/details/cochransgermanreOOcoch Cochran's German Review Grammar THIRD EDITION Revised and edited by JONATHAN CONANT B. Brown University PRENTICE-HALL, INC., En^lewood Cliffs, New Jersey LibraryofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data Cochran,EmoryEllsworth. Cochran'sGermanreviewgrammar. SUMMARY: AreferenceandreviewgrammarofGerman forsecondyearstudents. Publishedin1934and1963undertitle: Apractical Germanreviewgrammar. — — 1. G—ermanlanguage Grammar 1950- [1. German language Grammar] I. Conant,JonathanB.,date II. Title. PF3111.C57 1974 438'.2'421 73-21535 ISBN 0-13-139501-7 © 1974, 1963, 1934 by PRENTICE-HALL, INC. BnglewoodCliffs, NewJersey All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. 15 14 13 12 11 Printed in the United States ofAmerica PRENTICE-HALL INTERNATIONAL, INC., 'Lotldon PRENTICE-HALL OF AUSTRALIA, PTY. LTD., Sjdmj PRENTICE-HALL OF CANADA, LTD., ToTOntO PRENTICE-HALL OF INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, NeW Delhi PRENTICE-HALL OF JAPAN, INC., TokjO Preface This new edition ofCochran's grammar is intended principally for students of German who have advanced beyond their first year of study but are not expert enough, or whose needs are not sophisticated enough, for them to use the Duden Grammatik and similar tools. Language is always changing, and any grammar is necessarily an imperfect snapshot, recording as much ofwhat it sees as it can. The grammar can never be more than a guide, for the language it seeks to describe has already changed by the time the book is published. So the first practice the user should adopt is: allow the language itself to update the grammar. Always seek the advice of native speakers of German, read magazines and newspapers, watch motion pictures, listen to the radio. While the basic statements of the grammar will changeverylittle, matters ofidiomand syntax canbe only sketchilyrepresented in these pages, and are subject to wide variation in the living language. Theauthorofabooklikethis tries to answertheneeds ofhis audience. When Emory Cochran first wrote the book from which this third edition derives, English-speaking students of German needed both a reference and a review grammar. NowtheneedforareviewgrammarofGermanis less acute,forthere are many available; but good reference grammars for the non-specialist do not exist. Accordingly, w^hile the present edition is as useful as ever as a review grammar, it emphasizes by its organization its function as a reference work. Professor Cochran relied heavily on cross-references and footnotes; I have largely removed these and instead expanded the index. The second practice the user should adopt is: use the index. It may be at the end ofthe book, but it is the real door to what lies within. Those who have used the earlier editions of this book will find that the exercises, somewhat reduced in number, have been moved from the body of the text to a separate section at the back where they will not interfere with the grammar presentation. I hope their new position will prove advantageous to the student. As for the organizational revision of the grammar itself, I have integratedtheillustrativeexamples andtheexplanatorynotes, strivingwherever possible to begin each section with fundamental statements and to follow the vi Preface examples with more detailed comment, as required. Most of the words are Cochran's, most of the organization mine. A word on terminology. Most users will come to this book from an ele- mentary text. It is impossible to eliminate the traumawhich new and unfamiliar terms for old grammatical acquaintances can cause, but attempts have been made to minimize it. Although the terms "strong" and "weak" cannot be defended scientifically, they are retained because they are still in general use and are mnemonically useful for the student, if not for the professional Unguist. Wherever possible, alternatives to this terminology have been provided in the explanations. Because of their convenience, the terms Subjunctive I and Sub- junctive II, which are now used by the more detailed grammars, have been adopted here. Similarly, it is expedient to call sich amüsieren a "reflexive verb" 2.ndfahrenan"intransitiveverb." Ultimately, however, thesystematicdifferentia- tion that we make between parts of speech will give way to a deeper under- standing ofhow grammar elements function in the living language. I wishto thankmy colleagues atBrown University, who have never objected to late-night queries on points ofgrammar and usage. But, for better or worse, what appears here is my responsibility. B. C. J.