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
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
Chapter 7: Answering Intelligently with Yes, No, and Maybe 101
Getting to Yes: Variations on Ja 102
Responding with No: The Difference between Kein and Nicht 104
Negating with nicht 104
Negating with kein 106
Avoiding blunt negative replies 108
Explaining Answers Using Da- Compounds 110
Sounding Diplomatic: Using Maybe, Suggesting, and Refusing Politely 112
Answer Key 116
Chapter 8: Describing Your Mood: Summing Up the Subjunctive 119
Terms and Conditions: Unraveling Subjunctive Terminology 119
Getting in the mood 119
Comparing subjunctive types and the conditional 120
Selecting the Present Subjunctive II: How and When to Use It 121
Creating the present Subjunctive II with würde 121
Forming the Subjunctive II of haben, sein, and modal verbs 123
Using the present Subjunctive II 124
Forming and Using the Past Subjunctive II 126
Forming the past Subjunctive II 126
Using the past Subjunctive II 127
Two-timing the past subjunctive: Using double infinitives 128
Subjunctive I: Used in Indirect Discourse 128
Recognizing the present Subjunctive I 129
Recognizing the Past Subjunctive I 130
Answer Key 131
Chapter 9: In the Mood: Combining Verbs with Modal Auxiliaries 133
The 4-1-1 on Modal Verbs 133
Identifying modals: Assistants with attitude 134
Understanding word order and modals 135
May I? Dürfen, the Permission Verb 135
You Can Do It! Können, the Ability Verb 136
I Like That: Mögen, the Likeable Verb 139
What Would You Like? Möchten, the Preference Verb 141
Do I Have To? Müssen, the Verb of Necessity 142
Should I or Shouldn’t I? Sollen, the Duty Verb 143
I Want to Be Famous: Wollen, the Intention Verb 144
Answer Key 147
Chapter 10: Sorting Out Separable- and Inseparable- Prefix Verbs 149
Looking at the Prefix 149
Simplifying Separable-Prefix Verbs 150
Using verbs in the present tense 152
Using verbs in the simple past 153
Using verbs in present perfect tense 154
Investigating Inseparable-Prefix Verbs 155
Dealing with Dual-Prefix Verbs: To Separate or Not to Separate? 159
Answer Key 162
Part III: Fine Tuning Your Writing with Flair 165
Chapter 11: Sounding More Like a Native with Verb Combinations 167
Set in Their Ways: Grasping Idiomatic Verb Expressions 167
In the Looking Glass: Reflecting on Reflexive Verbs 168
Self-ish concerns: Meeting the reflexive pronouns 168
Identifying which verbs need to be reflexive 170
Combining Verbs with Prepositions 172
ID-ing common combos in the accusative case 174
Eyeing common combos in the dative case 175
Answer Key 177
Chapter 12: Adding Adjectives for Description 179
Organizing Adjectives: Opposites, Cognates, and Collocations 179
Letting opposites attract 180
A family resemblance: Describing with cognates 182
Traveling companions: Describing with collocations 183
Helping Adjectives Meet a Satisfying End 185
Forming endings on adjectives not preceded by der- or ein- words 185
Preceded adjectives: Forming the endings 187
Using Possessive Adjectives: My Place or Your Place? 188
Answer Key 190
Chapter 13: Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs 193
Comparing Regular Adjectives and Adverbs: Fast, Faster, Fastest 193
Comparing two things 194
Absolutely the most! Discussing superlatives 195
Considering common comparisons 195
Adding the umlaut in regular comparisons 198
Using Irregular Comparison Forms 199
Comparing Equals and Nonequals 200
Identifying Unique Adjective and Adverb Groups 202
Adjectives that act as nouns 202
Participles that function as adjectives or adverbs 203
Adverbs that modify adjectives 204
Answer Key 205
Chapter 14: Connecting with Conjunctions 207
Conjunctions and Clauses: Terminating Terminology Tangles 207
Connecting with Coordinating Conjunctions 208
Working on word order: Coordinating conjunctions 209
Using coordinating conjunctions 211
Connecting with Subordinating Conjunctions 212
Using subordinating conjunctions 213
Using the correct word order 214
Answer Key 216
Chapter 15: Your Preposition Primer 217
Prepping for Prepositions: Basic Guidelines 217
Getting the importance of case 218
Understanding what it all means 219
Accusative, Dative, and Genitive Cases: How the Rest of the Phrase Shapes Up 219
No finger pointing: Accusative prepositions 220
Dative prepositions 221
Genitive prepositions 224
Tackling Two-Way Prepositions: Accusative/Dative 225
Understanding Quirky Combinations 227
Answer Key 229
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
Forming the Present Perfect with Haben 233
Forming the present perfect with regular weak verbs 234
Forming the present perfect with irregular weak verbs 236
Forming the present perfect with strong verbs 237
Forming the Present Perfect with Sein 239
Eyeing the Present Perfect: German versus English 241
One for all: Representing three English tenses 241
Opting for the German present 242
Outing the Oddball Verbs 242
Separable-prefix verbs 242
Inseparable prefix verbs 244
Verbs ending in -ieren 245
Answer Key 247
Chapter 17: Narrating the (Simple) Past: Fact and Fiction 249
Conjugating the Simple Past 249
Forming regular (weak) verbs in simple past 251
Forming irregular (strong) verbs in simple past 252
Forming haben and sein in simple past 256
Forming modals in simple past 258
Contrasting Tenses 259
Answer Key 261
Chapter 18: Looking to the Future (and Avoiding It) 265
The Future is Now: Using the Present Tense Instead 265
Seeing when German present works perfectly 266
Saying when: Using future time expressions with the present tense 267
Facing the Future with Werden 269
Forming the future: Werden + infinitive verb 269
Using the future: Assuming, hoping, and emphasizing intentions 270
Using the future to express probability 272
Answer Key 273
Part V: The Part of Tens 275
Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Optimizing Your German 277
Think Like a Native Speaker 277
Break Down Word Combinations 278
Use What You Know 278
Get Going on Grammar 278
Read and Listen Actively 279
Experiment with What Works Best 279
Germanify Your Home 279
Integrate German into Your Routine 280
Embrace the Culture 280
Set Goals and Reward Yourself 280
Chapter 20: Ten Pitfalls to Avoid in German 281
Attempting Word-for-Word Translations 281
Downplaying Gender and Case 282
Wondering Which Word Order 282
Think, Thought, Thunk: (Mis)handling Verbs 283
(Mis)Placing Prepositions and Prefixes 283
Skipping Capitalization and Umlauts 284
Slipping on Super Slick Sentences 284
Being Informal on the Wrong Occasion 285
Rejecting Review 285
Giving Up 286
Part VI: Appendixes 287
Appendix A: Verb Charts 289
Conjugating Verbs in Present and Simple Past Tenses 289
Conjugating Verbs in the Present Perfect, Future, and Subjunctive 290
Present perfect 290
Future 290
Subjunctive 290
Weak Verbs 291
Regular verbs (no stem change in the simple past) 291
Regular verbs (with stem ending in -d, -t, -fn or -gn) 291
Irregular weak verbs (stem change in the simple past) 292
Strong Verbs 292
Verbs with auxiliary haben 292
Verbs with auxiliary sein 292
Verbs with present-tense vowel change in second- and third-person singular 293
Separable-Prefix Verbs 293
Inseparable-Prefix Verbs (without ge- prefix in the past participle) 294
Verbs with a past participle ending in -t 294
Verbs with a past participle ending in -en 294
Auxiliary Verbs Haben, Sein, and Werden 294
Modal Auxiliary Verbs 295
Principal Parts of Weak Verbs 296
Appendix B: Case Charts 299
Articles 299
Definite articles (the) 299
Indefinite articles (a, an) and ein- words 299
Pronouns 300
Personal pronouns 300
Relative and demonstrative pronouns 301
Der- words 301
Reflexive pronouns 302
Interrogative pronoun who 302
Adjectives 302
Adjectives without der- or ein- words (not preceded) 303
Preceded adjectives 303
Irregular comparison (adjectives and adverbs) 304
Prepositions 304
Accusative, dative, and genitive prepositions 305
Two-way prepositions: Accusative/dative 306
Appendix C: English-German Dictionary 307
Appendix D: German-English Dictionary 311
Index 315
