DU IHR SIE - Which German form of YOU is correct? 1.

Talking to an adult you only know casually or have just met. Sie 2. Talking to several family members or relatives. ihr COMMENT: More than one! Addressing one person would be du. 3. Talking to Frau Schmidt on the phone. Sie 4. Writing a business letter. Sie 5. Talking to your neighbor's dog. du COMMENT: "Man's best friend" or any pet is always du. 6. Addressing God, as in a prayer. du COMMENT: Students often question this answer, but they need to remember that English (and most languages) addresses God with THOU and THY, words that are related to German du. "Hallowed be Thy name..." 7. Talking with two good friends of yours. ihr COMMENT: More than one! 8. Talking to a colleague at work. Sie COMMENT: A German working relationship, even a long one, does NOT mean you can use "du"! Some Germans work together for years without ever using "du." English-speakers should not transfer their own ideas of cultural correctness onto Germans. What works in the US, Britain, or Canada may not be suitable in Germany. Germans make a more clear distinction between a "colleague" (SIE) and a close "friend" (DU). 9. Talking to the children of a co-worker. ihr COMMENT: More than one child! 10.Writing a letter to a good friend. du

Answer Key - German Gender Quiz 1

1. das Mdchen (girl) - RULE: -chen ending is always neuter, even if it's a girl. Could also be plural die (girls), but the translation wasn't plural. 2. das Bro (office) - RULE: Words ending in o (from Latin) are almost always neuter, but there are some exceptions: der Euro, die Avocado. 3. die Tr (door) - RULE: None. Just have to know it. 4. der Kommunismus (communism) - RULE: -ismus words are masculine. 5. der Sonntag (Sunday) - RULE: Days of the week are all masculine. 6. der Schnee (snow) - RULE: Precipitation words are masculine. 7. der Wein (wine) - RULE: Alcoholic beverages are masc. (except das Bier). 8. die Musik - RULE: -ik ending is almost always fem. Very few exceptions (der Atlantik). 9. die Freundschaft (friendship) - RULE: -schaft suffix is always feminine. 10. der Rhein (the Rhine) - RULE: Rivers are either masc. or fem. 11. die Universitt (university) - RULE: -tt ending is always feminine. 12. die Huser (houses) - RULE: Plurals are always die. 13. der Film (film, movie) - RULE: None. Just have to know this one. 14. das Radio - RULE: Words ending in o (from Latin) are usually neuter. 15. der Frhling (spring) - RULE: Seasons are masculine. 16. die Verkuferin (sales person) - RULE: -in ending is always fem. 17. die Gefahr (danger) - RULE: One of the exceptions to the rule that most words starting with Ge- are neuter. 18. das Schreiben (writing) - RULE: Nominalized verbs (gerunds in English) are always neuter. 19. die Ecke (corner) - RULE: 95% of words ending in -e are fem. This is one. 20. der Irrtum (error) - RULE: One of the exceptions to the rule that most words ending in -tum are neuter.

Nominative The nominative casein German and in Englishis the subject of a sentence. The term nominative is from Latin and means to name (think of "nominate"). All German nouns have one of three possible genders: masculine (der), feminine (die) or neuter (das). The nominative plural of any gender is always die (pron. DEE). These gender words are also called definite articles ("the").

Definite Articles (the) Fall Case Nom Masc. der the Fem. die the Neu. das the Plur. die the

Third Person Pronouns (he, she, it, they) Nom er he sie she Interrogative Pronouns (questions) Nom (people) Nom (things) wer? who? was? what? wer? was? Indefinite Articles (a, an) Fall Case Nom Masc. ein a/an Fem. eine a/an Neu. ein a/an keine* no/none wer? was? wer? was? es it sie they

Notice that each pronoun ends in the same letter as its corresponding definite article? (der/er, r/e/s/e)

In the examples below, the nominative word or expression is in red: Der Hund beit den Mann. The dog bites the man. Dieser Gedanke ist bld. This thought is stupid. Meine Mutter ist Architektin. My mother is an architect. The nominative case can also be found in the predicate, as in the last example. The verb "is" acts like an equal sign (my mother = architect). But the nominative is most often the subject of a sentence.

Accusative In English the accusative case is known as the objective case (direct object). In German you can tell that a noun is in the accusative case by the masculine article, which changes from der/ein to den/einen. (Since the accusative only changes in the masculine gender, you don't need to worry about the feminine, neuter or plural.) The masculine pronoun er (he) changes to ihn (him), in much the same way as English Definite Article (the) Fall Case Nom Akk Masc. der den den Bleistift den Mann den Wagen den Prsidenten* den Jungen* *Note: Some masc. nouns add an -en or -n ending in the accusative and in all other cases besides the nominative. Interrogative Pronoun (who? - whom?) Nom (people) Acc (people) wer? who? wen? whom? wer? who? wen? whom? Indefinite Article (a/an) Fall Case Nom Akk Masc. ein einen einen Bleistift einen Mann einen Wagen einen Prsidenten** einen Jungen** Fem. eine eine Neu. ein ein Plur. keine* keine* wer? who? wen? whom? wer? who? wen? whom? Fem. die die Neu. das das Plur. die die

In the examples below, the accusative (direct object) word is in red: Der Hund beit den Mann. The dog bites the man. Er beit ihn. He (the dog) bites him (the man). Den Mann beit der Hund. The dog bites the man.

Beit der Hund den Mann? Is the dog biting the man? Beit den Mann der Hund? Is the dog biting the man Dative The dative case in German is a vital element of communicating in German. In English the dative case is known as the indirect object. Unlike the accusative, which only changes in the masculine gender, the dative changes in all genders and in the plural. The pronouns also change correspondingly.
Definite Article (the) Fall Case Nom Dat Masc. der dem dem Bleistift dem Mann dem Wagen dem Prsidenten* dem Jungen* *Note: Some masc. nouns add an -en or -n ending in the dative and in all other cases besides the nominative. Fall Case Nom Dat Neu. das dem dem Mdchen dem Haus Plur. die den den Leuten den Autos Fem. die der der Frau der Verkuferin

Note: In the dative, plural nouns add an -en or -n if the plural does not already end in -n, except for plurals ending in -s. Indefinite Article (ein, eine, keine) Fall Case Nom Dat Masc. ein einem einem Bleistift einem Mann einem Wagen einem Prsidenten* einem Jungen* *Note: Some masc. nouns add an -en or -n ending in the dative and in all other cases besides the nominative. Fall Case Nom Dat Neu. ein einem einem Mdchen Plur. keine keinen keinen Leuten Fem. eine einer einer Frau einer Verkuferin

einem Haus

keinen Autos

Note: In the dative, plural nouns add an -en or -n if the plural does not already end in -n, except for plurals ending in -s.

In addition to its function as the indirect object, the dative is also used after certain dative verbs and with dative prepositions. In the examples below, the dative word or expression is in red: Der Polizist gibt dem Fahrer einen Strafzettel. The policeman is giving the driver a ticket. Ich danke Ihnen. I thank you. Wir machen das mit einem Computer. We do that with a computer

Genetive
The genitive case in German shows possession and is expressed in English by the possessive "of" or an apostrophe-s ('s). The genitive case is also used with some verb idioms and with the genitive prepositions. The genitive is used more in written German than in spoken form. In spoken, everyday German, von plus the dative often replaces the genitive: Das Auto von meinem Bruder = My brother's car. Definite Articles (the) Fall Case Nom Gen Masc. der des (-es/s)* Indefinite Article (a/an) Nom Gen ein eines (-es/s)* ein eine (k)einer keine Neu. das Fem. die der Plur. die

*Note: Some masc. nouns add an -en or -n ending in the genitive and in all other cases besides the nominative. Adjective endings: In the genitive case, adjectives almost always have an -en ending. Examples: des neuen Autos, der hohen Kosten The Germanic word for the genitive case is der Wesfall. The question word in the genitive is wessen (whose): Wessen Buch hast du? (Whose book do you have?) You can tell that a noun is in the genitive case by the article, which changes to des/eines (masculine and neuter) or der/einer (feminine and plural). Since the genitive only has two forms (des or der), you only need to learn those two. However, in the masculine and neuter, there is also an additional noun ending, either -es or -s: das Auto meines Bruders my brother's car (the car of my brother) die Bluse des Mdchens

the girl's blouse (the blouse of the girl) der Titel des Filmes (Films) the title of the film