Ch 15: Sparks And Vail German Grammar - Special Topics: Nouns And Pronouns

Front 1

Noun gender rules: der Mann, der Bruder, der Arzt, der Lehrer, der Amerikaner, der Schweizer

Back 1

Nouns referring to male persons, including their nationalities and professions are predictable masc.

Front 2

Noun gender rules: der Sprecher, der Wecker

Back 2

Nouns with the suffix -er added to the stem of a verb are predictable masc.

Front 3

Noun gender rules: der Montag, der Abend, der September, der Fru:hling

Back 3

Nouns referring to days, parts of days, months, and season are predictably masc. [Note: exception - das Jahr (and der or *das* Fru:hjahr).]

Front 4

Noun gender rules: die Frau, die A:rztin, die Amerikanerin, die Schwester, die Lehrerin, die Schweizerin

Back 4

Nouns referring to female persons, including their nationalities and professions are predictably female.

Front 5

Noun gender rules: die Ba:ckerei, die Metzgerei, die Freiheit, die Gesundheit, die Philosophie, die Posie, die Grammatik, die Informatik, die Information, die Fraktion, die Freundlichkeit, die Einsamkeit, die Freundschaft, die Gesellschaft, die Universita:t, die Formalita:t, die Zeitung, die Wohnung

Back 5

Nouns with the following suffixes are predictably femine: ei, heit, ie, ik, ion, keit, schaft, ta:t, ung.

Front 6

Noun gender rules: die Suppe, die Liebe, die Garage

Back 6

Most nouns ending in -e are predictably feminine. Exceptions: der Junge, das Ende.

Front 7

Noun gender rules: das Ma:dchen, das Ma:rchen, das Fra:ulein, das Bu:chlein

Back 7

Nouns with the suffixes -chen, and -lein are predictably neuter. [Note: The vowel of the preceding syllable is umlauted if possible, that is, if it is a, o, u, or au.]

Front 8

Noun gender rules: das Essen, das Laufen, das Schwimmen

Back 8

Infinitives used as nouns are predictably neuter.

Front 9

Noun gender rules: das Berlin der zwanziger Jahre, das scho:ne Italien, das Europa von heute

Back 9

Proper names of towns and cities, and most states, countries and continents are predictably neuter. Note, however, that articles are normally used only when the place name is accompanied by a modifier such as the adjective scho:n or a prepositional phrase like "von heute".

Front 10

Plural noun patterns: der Brief, der Mantel, der Anzug, das Kleid, das Buch

Back 10

Briefe (-e), Ma:ntel (-:), Anzu:ge (-:, e), Kleider (-er), Bu:cher (-:, er) [Note: This last groupe (Kleider, Bu:cher) always takes an -er ending and takes an umlaut if possible, that is, if the stem vowel of the noun is a vowel that can take an umlaut: a, o, u, and au).

Front 11

Plural noun patterns: Wagen, Auto, Adresse, Hemd.

Back 11

Wagen (no change), Autos (-s), Adressen (-n), Hemden (-en) [Note this last group (Adressen, Hemden) always end in -en; if the singular form ends in an -e, then only an -n is added.]

Front 12

Weak nouns referring to persons or animals, e.g.: der Student, der Junge, der Herr, der Nachbar, der Franzose, der Elephant, der Hase, der Affe

Back 12

A few German nouns take endings in the singular as well as the plural. Almost all of these nouns are masculine and have an ending in -en (or -n if they already end in e) in all cases except the nominative singular (e.g. der Student, den Studenten, dem Studenten ...).

Front 13

Weak nouns not referring to persons or animals: e.g. der Name, der Fels, der Gedanke, der Glaube, der Wille

Back 13

Behave like weak nouns generally, but take -ens ending (rather than -en) in the genitive singular, e.g. des Namens.

Front 14

Weak noun special case: der Herr

Back 14

der Herr, den Herrn, dem Herrn, des Herrn; die Herren, die Herren, den Herren, der Herren

Front 15

trans: He is a young German.

Back 15

Er ist ein junger Deutscher. [Note: "Deutscher" is an adjectival noun - as such it is capitalized, and takes the same adjective endings as when functioning as an adjective.]

Front 16

Common adjectival nouns: der/die Angestellte, der/die Arme, der/die Bekannte, der/die Blonde, der/die Deutsche, der/die Fremde, der/die Tote, der/die Verwandte

Back 16

employee, poor man or woman, acquaintance, blond, German, stranger or tourist, dead man or woman, relative

Front 17

trans: I don't have a spoon. Here, take mine.

Back 17

Ich habe keinen Lo:ffel. Hier, nehmen Sie meinen. [ein words can function as pronouns; when they do they take strong endings even in masc and neut nom. sing, e.g. keiner, keines, and neut acc sing, e.g. keines.

Front 18

Sie erinnerte mich an die Party. trans: She reminded me of it.

Back 18

Sie erinnerte mich daran. [Note: If the object of a preposition is a *thing* (not a person), the entire preposition + noun phrase can be replaced by what is called a da(r)-compound. A da(r)-compound is a short form of a prepositional phrase.

Front 19

Sie erinnerte mich von dem Film. trans: She reminded me of it.

Back 19

Sie erinnerte mich davon. [Note: The choice between da- and dar- is easy. If the preposition begins with a vowel, dar- is used (e.g. darauf, daran, dau:ber). If the preposition begins with a consonant, da- is used (e.g. damit, danach, davon).

Front 20

trans: He can't remember where he read it.

Back 20

Er kann sich nicht daran erinnern, wo er es gelesen hat. [Note: Sometimes a da-compound is used to anticipate an entire clause.]

Front 21

trans: Who were you thinking of?

Back 21

An wen hast du gedacht? [Note: if the object of a preposition is an unknown person, the appropriate form of "wer" is used.]

Front 22

trans: What were you thinking of?

Back 22

Woran hast du gedacht? [Note: The question word "was" can't be used as the object of a preposition. Instead wo(r)-compounds are used, that is wo(r) + the appropriate preposition. If the prep begins with a consonant, wo- is used (e.g. wonach); if the preposition begins with a vowel, wor- is used (e.g. woran).