Intermediate German For Dummies (For Dummies (Language & Literature))

322 Pages·2008·2.65 MB·german

by  Wendy Foster

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I n t e r m e d i a t e
G e r m a n
FOR
DUMmIES‰
by Wendy Foster
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I n t e r m e d i a t e
G e r m a n
FOR
DUMmIES‰
by Wendy Foster
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Intermediate German For Dummies®
Published by
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Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
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About the Author
Wendy Fosterwas born in Connecticut and grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts.
While studying in France, she traveled around Europe, and became curious about
the German language and culture. After graduating with a teaching certificate and a
degree in French, she decided to return to Europe to study German. Her love of the
Alps inspired her to live in Munich, where she spent 30 years. During that time, she
studied German, completed her MA in French at Middlebury College in Paris, and
later learned Spanish in Spain. Her professional experience includes teaching
Business English, German, French, and intercultural communication skills, as well as
writing and translating. She recently returned to her New England roots, where she
works from her home overlooking a spectacular salt marsh that constantly beckons
her to go kayaking, walking, bird watching, and swimming.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the marsh, its wildlife, Wingaersheek Beach, the Annisquam
River, and the man I share it with, Phil Kehoe.
Author’s Acknowledgments
I must thank several people for their unwavering encouragement and support as I
worked on this project. I thank my international friends Sandra Waller, Peter
Hirschmann, Crista Zecher, Adrienne Clark-Ott, Ludwig Ott, and Udo Alter. I thank my
American friends Barb and Neil Murphy, Holly and Franck Fleury, and Willie and
Darrell Wickman.
In addition, I would like to thank the editorial staff at Wiley for their insight, patience,
and expertise, especially my project editor Chad Sievers, copy editor Danielle Voirol,
acquisitions editor Michael Lewis, and technical editor Brian Tucker at Wabash
College. A special thanks to my literary agent Marilyn Allen.
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments
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Joni Heredia
Technical Editor: Brian Tucker, PhD
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction.................................................................................1
Part I: The Basic Building Blocks of German..................................5
Chapter 1: Assembling the Basic Tools for German Sentences..............................................................7
Chapter 2: Sorting Out Word Gender and Case......................................................................................19
Chapter 3: Laying the Foundations of German.......................................................................................37
Chapter 4: Building Your Word Power.....................................................................................................51
Part II: Getting Started Now: Writing in the Present.....................67
Chapter 5: Grasping the Present Tense...................................................................................................69
Chapter 6: Are You Asking or Telling Me? Questions and Commands................................................85
Chapter 7: Answering Intelligently with Yes, No, and Maybe.............................................................101
Chapter 8: Describing Your Mood: Summing Up the Subjunctive......................................................119
Chapter 9: In the Mood: Combining Verbs with Modal Auxiliaries....................................................133
Chapter 10: Sorting Out Separable- and Inseparable- Prefix Verbs....................................................149
Part III: Fine Tuning Your Writing with Flair..............................165
Chapter 11: Sounding More Like a Native with Verb Combinations..................................................167
Chapter 12: Adding Adjectives for Description....................................................................................179
Chapter 13: Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs.........................................................................193
Chapter 14: Connecting with Conjunctions..........................................................................................207
Chapter 15: Your Preposition Primer.....................................................................................................217
Part IV: Looking Back and Ahead: Writing in the
Past and the Future..................................................................231
Chapter 16: Conversing about the Past: Perfecting the Present Perfect...........................................233
Chapter 17: Narrating the (Simple) Past: Fact and Fiction.................................................................249
Chapter 18: Looking to the Future (and Avoiding It)...........................................................................265
Part V: The Part of Tens............................................................275
Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Optimizing Your German..............................................................................277
Chapter 20: Ten Pitfalls to Avoid in German.........................................................................................281
Part VI: Appendixes..................................................................287
Appendix A: Verb Charts.........................................................................................................................289
Appendix B: Case Charts.........................................................................................................................299
Appendix C: English-German Dictionary...............................................................................................307
Appendix D: German-English Dictionary...............................................................................................311
Index.......................................................................................315
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Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................1
About This Book.........................................................................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book...............................................................................................1
Foolish Assumptions.................................................................................................................2
How This Book Is Organized.....................................................................................................2
Part I: The Building Blocks of German...........................................................................3
Part II: Getting Started Now: Writing in the Present....................................................3
Part III: Fine Tuning Your Writing with Flair..................................................................3
Part IV: Looking Back and Ahead: Writing in the Past and the Future......................3
Part V: The Part of Tens...................................................................................................3
Part VI: Appendixes..........................................................................................................3
Icons Used in This Book............................................................................................................4
Where to Go from Here..............................................................................................................4
Part I: The Basic Building Blocks of German...................................5
Chapter 1: Assembling the Basic Tools for German Sentences....................................7
Grasping German Grammar Terms..........................................................................................7
Conjugating verbs and understanding tenses..............................................................8
Getting gender, number, and case..................................................................................9
Understanding word order............................................................................................10
Grammar terms that describe words, parts of words, and word groupings..........10
Identifying Parts of Speech.....................................................................................................11
Finding Meaning through Context.........................................................................................13
Using a Bilingual Dictionary...................................................................................................14
Making the right choice (at the bookstore)................................................................14
Performing a word search.............................................................................................15
Answer Key...............................................................................................................................17
Chapter 2: Sorting Out Word Gender and Case...............................................................19
Rounding Up Grammatical Genders......................................................................................19
Identifying German genders and figuring out which one to use..............................20
Corralling plurals............................................................................................................22
Lassoing indefinite articles...........................................................................................24
Missing absentee articles..............................................................................................25
Calling All Cases: The Roles Nouns and Pronouns Play......................................................26
Identifying the four cases..............................................................................................26
Eyeing the similarities and differences........................................................................27
Putting Pronouns in Place.......................................................................................................29
Personal pronouns.........................................................................................................29
Relating to relative pronouns.......................................................................................30
Demonstrating demonstrative pronouns....................................................................32
Answer Key...............................................................................................................................34
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Intermediate German For Dummies
Chapter 3: Laying the Foundations of German.................................................................37
Doing the Numbers..................................................................................................................37
Counting off with cardinal numbers............................................................................37
Getting in line with ordinal numbers...........................................................................40
Was Ist das Datum? Expressing Dates...................................................................................42
On the Clock: Expressing Time..............................................................................................44
Naming Countries, Nationalities, and Languages................................................................46
Eyeing German-speaking countries..............................................................................46
Grammatically speaking about countries, nationalities, and languages.................47
German neighbors and trading partners.....................................................................48
Answer Key...............................................................................................................................50
Chapter 4: Building Your Word Power..............................................................................51
Working With Word Combinations.........................................................................................51
Spotting compound nouns............................................................................................52
Describing picture compound nouns..........................................................................54
Checking out verb combinations.................................................................................55
Grasping Word Families and Word Categories.....................................................................56
Working with word families...........................................................................................56
Picture that! Working with word categories...............................................................58
Streamlining Word Storage.....................................................................................................60
Recognizing cognates and near cognates...................................................................60
False friends: Bad buddies............................................................................................62
Answer Key...............................................................................................................................64
Part II: Getting Started Now: Writing in the Present......................67
Chapter 5: Grasping the Present Tense............................................................................69
Simplifying Subject Pronouns and Their Relationship to Verbs........................................69
Making sure “you” dresses for the occasion: The formality of du/ihr and Sie.......70
Distinguishing among sie, sie, and Sie.........................................................................71
Getting Your Verbs in Shape: Present-Tense Conjugations................................................73
Agreeing with the regulars............................................................................................73
Conjugating verbs with spelling changes....................................................................75
Conjugating the irregulars haben and sein: To have and to be................................78
Using the Very Versatile Present Tense.................................................................................81
Answer Key...............................................................................................................................83
Chapter 6: Are You Asking or Telling Me? Questions and Commands.......................85
Inverting Word Order for Yes/No Questions.........................................................................85
Gathering Information with Question Words: Who, What, Why, and More......................87
Checking Information: Tag! You’re It, Aren’t You?................................................................90
Combining Question Words: Compounds with Wo-.............................................................91
Making Choices: Asking What Kind of . . .?...........................................................................93
Using the Imperative: Do It!....................................................................................................95
Giving orders...................................................................................................................95
Requests and suggestions: Looking at question-command hybrids.......................96
Answer Key...............................................................................................................................98