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A verb is that part of
speech that describes an action. Verbs come in an almost bewildering array of tenses, aspects, and types. For now, we will limit
our discussion to verbs used in the present tense — i.e., describing an action occuring in the present. You should start
to recognize that the form a verb takes is related to the subject of that verb: the verb form must match the person of
the subject. This requirement is sometimes evident in English, but always so in German. Consider the following English and
German sentences (the verb is studieren in every case): Several things are illustrated by these sentence pairs. First, all verbs in German follow the rule just stated that a verb
form must agree with its subject. Starting in Lektion 5 we will learn the verb forms associated with each person in
German. Second, this rule in English applies mostly to the verb 'to be' (e.g., I am, you are, he is, etc.). In some English
verbs, the 3rd person singular form is unique, often taking an 's' or 'es' ending: "I give at the office", but "He
gives at the office" (and "She studies..." above). Finally, some German verbs are best translated with an English 'to be'
verb form added. This is called the progressive form in English ('What are you studying?'), but it does not exist in
German. Thus, a verb like nennen can best be translated as "is/are named" or "is/are called". The following example may
make this clearer. In the present tense, the following statements in English: are all expressed in German in only one way: Sie nennen die Firma, "Trans-Global". And the question statement: 'Do they
call the corporation, "Trans-Global"?' becomes, in German: Nennen sie die Firma, "Trans-Global"? Most of the personal pronouns introduced in Lektion 1 are used
as subjects of their verbs. These represent the nominative case in German (as in English). We will shortly learn three
other cases in German: the accusative for direct objects, the dative for indirect objects, and the genitive
for expressing possession. For now, remember that the singular personal pronouns in English (nominative case) are "I",
"you", and "he/she/it" (1st, 2nd, and 3rd persons) and the nominative case is used as the subject of a verb. In German,
these pronouns are rendered as ich, du, and er/sie/es. In these example sentences, the subject of the
verb is underlined: There are, of course, plural personal pronouns in the English nominative case: "we", "you", and "they"; and in German, these
nominative case pronouns are wir, ihr, and sie. These appear in the following examples (again, subject
underlined): In both English and German, the 3rd person singular also has gender. As you will next learn, the 2nd person (person
being addressed) in German has both familiar and polite (formal) forms. Further, it is worth repeating here —
although introduced in Grammatik 2-1 above and to be covered in detail in future lessons — that the verb form changes when
the subject changes. That is, in German the verb form must match the subject of a sentence.
Here are some examples;
compare with the previous three example sentences above and note how
the verb form changed to match the sentence subject (subject
and verb underlined): In the last example, the English verb form ('have') also changed based upon the subject of the sentence. In this conversation, although the subject matter is basically casual, a more formal form of German is being used intoning
respect between coworkers in an office setting. The polite form is expressed by the pronouns as explained below (Grammatik
2-3). Many pronouns were introduced in Lesson 1. In Grammatik 2-1 and Gespräch 2-1 we have been presented with the
following additional pronouns: In the conversations between friends presented in Gespräche 1-1 and 1-2 (Lektion 1) the familiar form of the personal pronouns (e.g., du, dir) was used.
However, German also has a polite or formal form of some of these personal pronouns. The polite form is used in
conversations between strangers and more formal situations, as illustrated in the Gespräch 2-1: greetings between business
associates. The polite form is always first-letter capitalized in German, which can be helpful in differentiating Sie (you) from
sie (she and they); Ihnen (you) from ihnen (them). However, you will soon learn that the form of the
verb (see Grammatik 2-3 below) is most telling, as shown by these example pairs using the verb, haben
(have): Because the first letter in a sentence is always capitalized, we cannot determine (without the verb form) whether the second
and third examples begin with sie ('she' or 'they') or with Sie (polite 'you'); a problem that would also exist in
conversation. The fourth example, where subject and verb are reversed in a question, demonstrates the pronoun 'they'; compare it
with the polite 'you' in the first example. It is relatively easy for an English speaker to appreciate how context, especially in conversation, overcomes confusion
considering that English has fewer forms for these pronouns than German. However, this fact does present some difficulty when
learning German, since improper use of a pronoun may just create confusion in speaking or writing German. In both English and German the 3rd person personal pronouns have gender (Grammatik 1-3). However, in
English, the pronoun "it" is used for most inanimate or non-living things. There are a few exceptions: a ship might be referred
to as "she". However, in German, the 3rd person personal pronoun reflects the gender of the noun (antecedent)
refered to by the pronoun. For examples: The following table summarizes these gender relationships: You may, at this point, try the flash cards developed for Level I German. This set has a few words and concepts not yet
presented in Level II, but for the most part can be very helpful in enhancing your vocabulary. Go to FlashcardExchange.com
(http://www.flashcardexchange.com/card_set.php?id=248162). Translate the following sentences into German. Pay attention to whether familiar or polite form of the pronoun is
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