Easy German step-by-step: master high-frequency grammar for German proficiency--fast!

402 Pages·2015·16.529 MB·English

by  Swick, Edward

Easy German
STEP-BY-STEP
Master High-Frequency Grammar
for German Proficiency—FAST!
Ed Swick
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I should like to thank my dear friend Stefan Feyen for
all his help and suggestions.
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Contents
Preface ix
1 Pronunciation and Cognates 1
The Alphabet 1
Step 1: Consonants 4
Step 2: Vowels 10
Letter Combinations 13
Consonants 14
Vowels 15
Step 3: Cognates 18
2 Gender and heißen 21
German Gender 22
Step 1: Masculine 22
Step 2: Feminine 28
Step 3: Neuter 31
Heißen 33
3 Nominative Pronouns, der-Words, and the Verb sein 39
German Personal Pronouns 40
Step 1: Third Person Pronouns and Gender 40
Step 2: Der-Words 44
The Verb sein 48
4 Ein-Words, haben, and the Present Tense 55
Ein-Words 55
Kein 58
Step 1: Possessive Adjectives 58
Step 2: The Verb haben 61
Present Tense 64
v
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vi Contents
5 Irregular Present Tense and werden 73
Irregular Present Tense 73
Step 1: Irregularities Formed with an Umlaut 75
Step 2: Irregularities Formed with a Shift from -e- to -i- 78
Step 3: Irregularities Formed with a Shift from -e- to -ie- 80
Conjugation of werden 82
The Impersonal es 84
6 Accusative Case: Direct Objects and Prepositions 91
Accusative Case 91
Step 1: Direct Object Nouns 92
Step 2: Direct Object Pronouns 96
Step 3: Prepositions 98
Masculine Plurals 101
Mastery Check 1 108
7 Regular Past Tense and Interrogative Words 111
The Past Tense 111
Step 1: The Past Tense Suffix -te 112
Step 2: Adverbs for the Past Tense 115
Forming Questions 117
Step 3: Feminine Plurals 121
8 Irregular Past Tense and Neuter Plurals 127
Irregular Past Tense 127
Step 1: German Irregular Past Tense 128
Step 2: Numbers, the Year, and Age 132
Using fragen 138
Neuter Plurals 139
9 Dative Case and More Irregular Past Tense 145
Dative Case 145
Step 1: Dative Case in German 146
Haben, sein, werden in the Past Tense 154
Step 2: Wissen and kennen 156
10 Dative Expressions and Conjunctions
aber, oder, und, and sondern 163
The Dative Case 163
Step 1: More Dative Verbs and Dative Expressions 164
Conjunctions 168
Step 2: Können und müssen 171
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Contents vii
11 Regular Present Perfect Tense 181
The Present Perfect Tense 181
Step 1: Haben and Regular Past Participles 182
Step 2: Sein and the Present Perfect Tense 186
Ordinal Numbers and Prefixes 190
Step 3: Ordinal Numbers 190
Step 4: Inseparable Prefixes 192
12 Adjective Endings and Separable Prefixes 199
Adjectives 199
Step 1: Adjective Endings 200
Nominative Case Adjectives 201
Accusative Case Adjectives 204
Step 2: Separable Prefixes 207
13 Irregular Present Perfect Tense and Prefixes 217
The Irregular Present Perfect Tense 217
Step 1: German Irregular Past Participles 218
Step 2: Haben, sein, werden, sterben 223
Step 3: Prefixes 227
Mastery Check 2 233
14 Genitive Case and Antonyms 237
Genitive Case 237
Step 1: German Possessives 238
Step 2: Containers 242
Step 3: Genitive Prepositions 244
Antonyms 246
Step 4: Opposites in German 246
Gehen 249
Step 5: Gehen and Infinitives 249
15 Future Tense and Modal Auxiliaries 255
The Future Tense 255
Step 1: German Future Tense 256
Modal Auxiliaries 263
Step 2: German Modal Auxiliaries 263
16 Dependent Clauses and Conjunctions 271
Dependent Clauses 271
Step 1: German Clauses 272
Subordinating Conjunctions 274
Step 2: Dass and ob 279
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viii Contents
17 Dative-Accusative Prepositions 283
Prepositions with More Than One Function 283
Step 1: Dative Case 284
Step 2: Inanimate Pronouns 287
Step 3: Accusative Case 289
Geography 293
Step 4: Die Welt (The World) 293
18 Comparative and Superlative 299
Comparative 299
Step 1: German Comparative Adverbs and Adjectives 301
Step 2: Irregular Comparatives 304
Superlative 306
Step 3: German Superlative Adverbs and Adjectives 307
Step 4: Irregular Superlatives 309
19 Imperatives and Double Infinitives 315
Commands 315
Step 1: The German Imperative 316
Double Infinitives 321
Step 2: Present Perfect and Future Tenses 321
Step 3: Helfen, hören, lassen, and sehen 324
20 Using All the Cases and All the Tenses 331
Cases and Declensions 331
Step 1: German Declensions of Nouns and Pronouns 332
Tenses 340
Step 2: Varieties in the German Tenses 340
Mastery Check 3 350
Appendix A: Fraktur Alphabet (1600–1940) 353
Appendix B: The Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs 355
Answer Key 369
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Preface
This book is intentionally called Easy German Step-by-Step. It provides two
important approaches for learning the German language. The first approach
is to explain the makeup of the German language in as simple a form as pos-
sible. Learning German or any new language does not have to be an arduous
task. That is why this book is designed so the reader can move through the
chapters at a comfortable rate and with ease.
The second approach, which works perfectly with the first one, is to pro-
vide small amounts of structure and vocabulary at a time. The reader is not
burdened with long lists of words to memorize or complicated explanations
of grammar. Instead, small doses are provided, which gradually develop into
a broader knowledge of a topic. The reader goes through a chapter step by step
and in time can forge the skills of a competent user of the German language.
The topics of each chapter are initially explained as they relate to English.
It is wise to understand a concept in one’s native language before attempting
to learn and use it in a new language. It makes little sense to learn German
past participles if one does not know what a past participle is in his or her
own language.
After a concept has been described, German examples of the concept are
introduced. They are given in the context of simple sentences, and these sen-
tences are always accompanied by their English translation. The reader needs
to know what he or she is saying in German.
Practice comes in two major ways: oral practice by reading sample sen-
tences out loud and written exercises for applying one’s new knowledge with
a bit of personal creativity. In addition, special explanations of some material
will accompany practice. These explanations are meant to clarify concepts
that are potentially confusing. An example in English would be the word few.
ix
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