BRÜNNHILDE
Siegmund, sieh auf
mich! Ich bin’s, der bald du folgst.
Siegmund, look upon me! I am the one, whom you will soon follow.
R. Wagner
GRAMMAR 5
5) STRONG VERBS -- PREPOSITIONS AND MOTION
a) Strong Verbs.
i) Principle Parts of Weak and Strong Verbs
|
|
Infinitive |
Simple Past |
Past Participle |
Special Present-tense Forms |
|
Weak Verb |
spielen |
spielte |
gespielt |
|
|
Strong Verb |
sprechen |
sprach |
gesprochen |
du sprichst, er spricht |
|
Strong Verb |
gehen |
ging |
gegangen |
|
ii)
Strong verbs have the following properties.
(1) The first-person singular of the simple past tense, which is the second principal part,
(a) has no ending: ich sprach,
(b) has a stem-vowel which differs from that of the infinitive.
(2) The past participle has the prefix ge- and ends in –en:
|
lesen |
las |
gelesen |
|
schlafen |
schlief |
geschlafen |
|
kommen |
kam |
gekommen |
(3)
Many verbs which are irregular in English, are strong or
irregular in German.
iii)
Present Tense endings.
Strong verb endings in the present tense are the same as those of
regular verbs.
iv)
Present Tense change of stem vowel. Additionally, some strong verbs have a vowel change which affects
the second and third-person singular forms of the present tense. Here are the frequent tendencies:
-a- becomes –ä-, long –e- becomes –ie-, short –e- becomes –i-
Examples: schlafen, lesen, sprechen
|
ich schlafe |
ich lese |
ich spreche |
|
du schläfst |
du lies(es)t |
du sprichst |
|
er schläft |
er liest |
er spricht |
|
wir schlafen |
wir lesen |
wir sprechen |
|
ihr schlaft |
ihr lest |
ihr sprecht |
|
sie schlafen |
sie lesen |
sie sprechen |
Exceptions:
1. gehen and stehen (do not change);
2. nehmen
and treten (long –e- becomes short -i-)
b) Prepositions and Motion.
i)
Single case prepositions.
Some prepositions are always used with the same case.
(1) Dative prepositions. For example, ‘bei’, ‘mit’, ’nach’, and ‘zu’ are dative-only prepositions.
(2)
Accusative prepositions.
Similarly, ‘gegen (against) and ‘wider’ (against)
are accusative-only prepositions.
ii)
Two-way prepositions --
Dative or Accusative.
These express either static location or dynamic motion toward a goal. Two-way prepositions are used to indicate
whether there is motion as follows:
.
(1) When no motion is involved, the dative case is used.
(2)
When motion toward at goal is involved, the accusative
case is used.
In upcoming lessons prepositions will be treated in detail. For now, note that ‘auf’ and ‘in’
are 2-way prepositions which appear in this lesson.
iii) Carefully memorize the common expressions in the table below. Some of them will be clarified by further study. Others are just idiomatic. ’Zur’ is a contraction of ‘zu der’.
|
Noun |
Meaning |
Static Location
-- Expressions not involving motion |
Motion-toward
-- Expressions involving a goal |
|
das Haus (¨-er) |
house |
zu Hause - at home |
nach Hause - home; toward home |
|
Deutschland |
Germany |
in Deutschland - in Germany |
nach Deutschland - to Germany |
|
das Land (¨-er) |
land, country |
auf dem Land - in the country (countryside) |
auf das Land - into/to the country (countryside) |
|
die Arbeit (-en) |
work, job |
bei der Arbeit - at work |
zur Arbeit gehen - go to work |
|
die Schule (-n) |
school |
in der Schule - in school |
in die Schule, zur Schule - into/to school |
|
die Stadt (¨-e) |
city, town |
in der Stadt - in the city |
in die Stadt - into/to the city |
VOCABULARY 5
|
(five of the nouns which appear in the table above. ‘Deutschland’ will be re-introduced later ) |
|
|
der Hund (-e) dog |
früh early |
|
das Leben (-) life |
spät late |
|
der Mann (¨-er) man, husband |
wie how |
|
das Tier (-e) animal |
wieder again |
|
das Haustier (-e) pet |
zwei two |
|
die Zeitung (-en) newspaper |
Gutrun (girl’s name) |
|
endlich finally |
Hellmut, Johann (boy’s names) |
essen (aß, gegessen) [isst, isst] eat
gehen (ging, gegangen) go [on foot], walk
fahren (fuhr, gefahren) [fährst, fährt] go [in a vehicle], ride, drive
heißen (hieß, geheißen) be called; Wie heißt sie? (What is her name?); Wie heißen Sie? (What is your name?); Ich heiße Friedrich. (My name is Friedrech.)
kommen (kam, gekommen) come
lesen (las, gelesen) [lies(es)t, liest] read
schlafen (schlief, geschlafen) [schläfst, schläft] sleep
sprechen (sprach, gesprochen) [sprichst, spricht] speak
wohnen (wohnte, gewohnt) dwell, live, reside (denoting specific location )
(In subsequent vocabularies, principal parts of weak verbs will no longer be
listed)
PRACTICE 5
Harry hat einen Lehrer. Wie heißt Harrys Lehrer? -- Er heißt Hellmut Moser. Hellmut Moser hat eine Frau. Wie heißt die Frau des Lehrers? -- Sie heißt Gutrun. Herr und Frau Moser haben zwei Kinder. Wie heißen die Kinder? -- Sie heißen Johann und Gritli. Wie viele Haustiere haben Herr und Frau Moser? -- Sie haben nur ein Haustier, und es ist ein Hund. Wie viele Hunde haben sie? --Sie haben nur einen Hund, und er ist ein Haustier.
Ist Herr Moser oft in der Stadt? --Nein. Wo ist Herr Moser gewöhnlich? -- Herr Moser hat ein Haus auf dem Land, und er wohnt da. Wo wohnt Frau Moser? --Sie wohnt auch auf dem Land. Sie wohnt zu Hause mit dem Mann, den Kindern und dem Hund. Das Haus ist nicht groß, aber es ist neu und schön. Es ist weiß.
Wo arbeitet Herr Moser? Er arbeitet in der Stadt. Jetzt ist Herr Moser bei der Arbeit in der Schule. Er kommt immer früh zur Schule. Er arbeitet viel in der Schule. Er übt und lehrt die Aufgaben. Er lehrt die Schüler Deutsch. Er spricht Deutsch mit den Schülern. Er liest die Hefte der Schüler.
Jetzt sind wir im Schulzimmer. Endlich geht Herr Moser an (to) die Tafel. Herr Moser schreibt (writes) etwas an (onto) die Tafel:
bohren (bohrte, gebohrt) drill; bore
der Bohrer (-) drill, hand-drill, drill-bit
die Bohrmaschine (-n) drill, electric-drill, drill-press
die Bohrung (-en) bore; drilling
schlagen (schlug, geschlagen, verb-stem = schlag-) hit
die Schlagbohrmaschine (-n) - percussion drill
Mit einer Schlagbohrmaschine in Beton zu bohren ist ein Kampf gegen die Wand. (To bore into concrete with a percussion drill is a struggle against the wall.)
Endlich wird der Lehrer müde, und er fährt wieder mit dem Johann und der Gritli nach Hause. Sie sind auch müde. Gelegentlich fahren sie spät nach Hause. Sie plaudern mit Frau Moser zu Hause.
Frau Moser isst nicht viel, aber sie isst alles, was sie wünscht (everything that she wants). Sie isst NutriSystem. Herr Moser und die zwei Kinder essen sehr viel. Herr und Frau Moser plaudern wieder zusammen (together) und lesen die Zeitung. Die Kinder üben die Aufgaben und lernen etwas zu Hause. Sie spielen mit dem Hund. Der Hund spielt mit den Kindern.
Endlich wird es spät. Die Eltern und die Kinder schlafen wieder. Frau Moser und die Kinder schlafen immer sehr gut. Herr Moser schläft gewöhnlich gut, aber oft schläft er nicht lang.
Das Leben von (of) Harrys Lehrer ist sehr interessant, nicht wahr?
Translate into German:
1. What is the teacher’s name? 2. His name is Hellmut Moser. 3. Are the children old or young? 4. Is Mrs. Moser at home today? 5. Does he speak German with the children? 6. I don’t read the newspapers. 7. Who reads the newspapers? 8. Are you going home now? 9. Why don’t you go home, Gritli? 10. It is getting late. 11. They go to school early. 12. We go home late. 13. Who lives in the country? 14. Is (the) life in the country interesting? 15. We are going to the country today. 16. The weather is getting beautiful. 17. Are you tired, Ms. Klein? 18. Where are the pupils’ ball-point pens and pencils? 19. Who is sleeping in the schoolroom? 20. Who eats NutriSystem here?
MANNI CALLS FOR ACTION.
Motion is a big item in German grammar. When Lola’s boyfriend Manni was robbing a
department store in the film Run, Lola, Run, (auf Deutsch Lola
rennt) he shouted to the clerks and customers “Auf den Boden!”. That is, he did not say “Auf dem Boden,”
which does not indicate motion and simply points out something at rest on the
floor or ground. He used ‘den’,
which, for a masculine noun, marks the accusative case, and means motion-toward
[in this instance, the floor]. Thus he
was commanding everyone to get themseves onto the floor, by using a single
terse phrase, rather than the whole sentence, “Legen Sie sich auf den Boden!”
-- Lie down on the floor!
Here is what [the fictitious] Herr Moser said to the class, after he
wrote his definitions on the blackboard:
“Notice that there is a verb, ‘bohren’, ‘to drill’. The agent, in this case ‘der Bohrer’, is the thing that does the drilling. Sometimes the agent will be a person, and that also makes sense for this verb. In either case, the agent is formed from the verb stem ’bohr-‘ plus -er. Such nouns, ending in –er and coming from verbs, are masculine and are unchanged in the plural.
“A compound, ‘die Bohrmaschine’ is made from the verb-stem plus a second word. Compounds take their gender and pluralization from the last component of the compound.
“Finally the product of the drilling, ‘die Bohrung’ is formed by adding the ending –ung. This ending is always feminine, and pluralizes by adding ‑en. I am not claiming that you can do this with just any verb, but word families such as this one are often found in the German language, and allow you to recognize several words from a single verb stem.“
Siegmund, a youthful wanderer, son of Wälse (Wotan), of the tribe of Wälsungs, has fled with --
Sieglinde, Hunding’s captive wife. Unknown to Siegmund, Wälse is an alias of Wotan, the God of War.
Brünnhilde is a daughter of the God of War, Wotan.
Brünnhilde is a Walküre. The job of a Walküre is to ride from the heavens to the battlefields of earth on a winged horse, and collect the bodies of selected, fallen heros. She returns them to Walhall, the Hall of the Gods (or Hall of the Slain), for service in the after-life.
Hidden in a cave at a rocky pass, she has been waiting for Siegmund and Sieglinde, . Now she comes forward, leading her horse. Sieglinde has been a bit crazed, and has fainted in guilt and exhaustion. She lies at the feet of Siegmund.
The dialog between Brünnhilde and Siegmund runs, like a thread, as a quotation before each lesson.
‘Siegmund’
– The man’s name is a compound of (der) Sieg (victory),
and Mund, which is an Indo-European root, and has a meaning other than
common word for mouth, der Mund. Etymology: Old Frisian mund ‘guardian,
guardianship’, Old Saxon mund ‘hand’, Old High German munt
‘hand, protection’ (German Mund, Munt ‘legal power of
protection’)
‘sieh auf mich!’ – A command addressed to the familiar ‘you’, look at me! The action predates the period in history when polite forms of ‘you’ came into use.
“Ich bin’s” – The German way to say “it is I” is to say “I am it”, ‘ich bin es’. That is, one uses the nominative personal pronoun, even if one does not start with it. Bist du Harry? Ja, [Harry] bin ich. -- Are you Harry. Yes, I am.
…, ‘der bald du folgst’ – The ‘der’ is feminine, singular, and dative, and is a relative pronoun, translated as ‘who’. If a man were speaking, he would have said ‘dem’, which is the masculine-singular-dative relative pronoun, thus: “Ich bin’s, dem bald du folgst.”
Tense.
As in English, a present tense verb can also be used to convey a future meaning. The future meaning is usually signaled by a key word or particle. We know that the future is meant here because of the word ‘bald’ – soon. Thus : …who[m] you will soon follow.
|
|
Nomi- |
|
|
Lesson |
native |
German Word and English
Meaning |
|
|
Article |
|
|
1 |
|
aber but;
however |
|
2 |
|
alt old |
|
5 |
die |
Arbeit
(-en) work; job |
|
3 |
|
arbeiten
(arbeitete, gearbeitet) work |
|
1 |
|
auch also, too |
|
2 |
die |
Aufgabe
(-n) lesson |
|
3 |
der |
Bleistift
(-e) pencil |
|
4 |
|
braun brown |
|
3 |
das |
Buch
(¨-er) book |
|
1 |
|
da there |
|
2 |
|
der,
die, das - the |
|
3 |
das |
Deutsch
(neut.) German (lang.) |
|
2 |
|
ein,
eine, ein - a, an; one |
|
2 |
die |
Eltern
(plur.) parents |
|
5 |
|
endlich finally |
|
5 |
|
essen
(aß, gegessen) [isst, isst] eat |
|
3 |
|
etwas something |
|
5 |
|
fahren
(fuhr, gefahren) [fährst, fährt] go
[in a vehicle], ride, drive |
|
4 |
das |
Fenster
(-) window |
|
2 |
|
Frau
Moser - Mrs. Moser |
|
5 |
|
früh early |
|
5 |
|
gehen
(ging, gegangen) go [on foot], walk |
|
3 |
|
gelegentlich occasionally |
|
3 |
|
gewöhnlich usually |
|
1 |
|
groß big |
|
4 |
|
grün green |
|
1 |
|
gut good |
|
3 |
|
haben
(hatte, gehabt) have |
|
5 |
das |
Haus
(¨-er) house |
|
5 |
das |
Haustier
(-e) pet |
|
3 |
das |
Heft
(-e) notebook |
|
2 |
|
heiß hot |
|
5 |
|
heißen
(hieß, geheißen) be called; Wie heißt sie? (What is her name?);
Wie heißen Sie? (What is your
name?); Ich heiße Friedrich. (My name is Friedreich.) |
|
2 |
|
heute today |
|
1 |
|
hier here |
|
5 |
der |
Hund
(-e) dog |
|
3 |
|
immer always |
|
4 |
|
in
(+ dat.) in; in dem
may contract to im |
|
2 |
|
interessant interesting |
|
1 |
|
ja yes |
|
2 |
|
jetzt now |
|
2 |
|
jung young |
|
2 |
die |
junge
Frau Moser - Miss Moser |
|
2 |
|
kalt cold |
|
4 |
|
kein
(keine, kein) not a, not any, no |
|
2 |
das |
Kind
(-er) child |
|
1 |
|
klein small |
|
5 |
|
kommen
(kam, gekommen) come |
|
3 |
der |
Kuli
(-s) ball-point pen |
|
4 |
|
kurz short |
|
5 |
das |
Land
(¨-er) land, country |
|
4 |
|
lang long |
|
5 |
das |
Leben
(-) life |
|
3 |
|
lehren
(lehrte, gelehrt) teach |
|
2 |
der |
Lehrer
(-) teacher |
|
4 |
der |
Lehrertisch
(-e) teacher's desk |
|
3 |
|
lernen
(lernte, gelernt) learn; study |
|
5 |
|
lesen
(las, gelesen) [lies(es)t, liest]
read |
|
5 |
der |
Mann
(¨-er) man, husband |
|
3 |
|
machen
(machte, gemacht) do, make |
|
4 |
|
mit
(+ dat.) with |
|
2 |
|
müde tired |
|
5 |
|
nach
Hause - home (motion toward) |
|
1 |
|
nein no |
|
4 |
|
neu new |
|
1 |
|
nicht not |
|
2 |
|
Nicht
wahr? - (literally) Not true? Isn't it?
Hasn't he? Don't they? Doesn't he? etc. |
|
3 |
|
nichts nothing |
|
4 |
|
nur only |
|
2 |
|
oder or |
|
3 |
|
oft often |
|
4 |
|
plaudern
(plauderte, geplaudert) talk, chat |
|
5 |
|
schlafen
(schlief, geschlafen) [schläfst, schläft]
sleep |
|
1 |
|
schön beautiful |
|
3 |
die |
Schularbeiten
(pl.) - homework, schoolwork |
|
3 |
die |
Schule
(-n) school; in der Schule - at school, in school |
|
2 |
der |
Schüler
(-) pupil |
|
3 |
die |
Schultasche
(-n) - school bag |
|
4 |
das |
Schulzimmer
(-) schoolroom |
|
4 |
|
schwarz black |
|
1 |
|
sehr very |
|
1 |
|
sein
(war, gewesen) - be (was, been) |
|
5 |
|
spät late |
|
3 |
|
spielen
(spielte, gespielt) play |
|
5 |
|
sprechen
(sprach, gesprochen) [sprichst, spricht]
speak |
|
5 |
die |
Stadt
(¨-e) city, town |
|
3 |
|
studieren
(studierte, studiert) study (at a
university); be a college student |
|
4 |
der |
Stuhl
(¨-e) chair |
|
4 |
die |
Tafel
(-n) blackboard |
|
5 |
das |
Tier
(-e) animal |
|
4 |
der |
Tisch
(-e) table, student-desk |
|
4 |
die |
Tür
(-en) door; (Swiss Türe, -n) |
|
4 |
|
üben
(übte, geübt) practice, study |
|
1 |
|
und and |
|
4 |
|
viel much;
viele many |
|
1 |
|
warum why |
|
3 |
|
was what |
|
4 |
|
weiß white |
|
3 |
|
wer who |
|
2 |
|
werden
(wurde, geworden) - become, get |
|
2 |
das |
Wetter
(no plural) weather |
|
5 |
|
wie how |
|
5 |
|
wieder again |
|
1 |
|
wo where |
|
5 |
|
wohnen (wohnte, gewohnt) dwell, live, reside (denoting specific
location ) |
|
5 |
die |
Zeitung
(-en) newspaper |
|
4 |
das |
Zimmer
(-) room |
|
1 |
|
zu
Hause - (at) home |
|
5 |
|
zwei two |
8/21/2009