German Essentials For Dummies E-Book

Wendy Foster

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 190

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

The core concepts you need to write and speak German

Learning a new language is a fun and challenging feat for students at every level. Perfect for those just starting out or returning to German after some time away, German Essentials For Dummies focuses on core concepts taught (and tested on!) in a typical introductory German course. From adjectives and adverbs to understanding tenses and asking questions, you'll skip the suffering and score high marks at exam time with the help of German Essentials For Dummies.

Designed for students (and parents) who want the key concepts and a few examples—without the review, ramp-up, and anecdotal content—German Essentials For Dummies is a perfect solution for exam-cramming, homework help, and reference.

• Focuses on everything from grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciations to verb forms and tenses
• Perfect for a refresher or a quick reference
• Aids you in writing assignments, tests, and conversational German

If you have some knowledge of German and want to polish your skills, German Essentials For Dummies focuses on just the core concepts you need to communicate effectively.

Leseprobe

German Essentials For Dummmies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Chapter 1: Laying the Foundations of German

Crunching the Numbers

1-2-3: Counting off with cardinal numbers

1st, 2nd, 3rd: Lining up with ordinal numbers

Expressing Dates

Looking at the week

Naming the months

Telling Time

Using the 12-hour clock

Using the 24-hour system

Talking about parts of the day

Identifying Parts of Speech

Naming with nouns and articles

Replacing with pronouns

Describing with adjectives

Conveying action with verbs

Modifying with adverbs

Connecting with prepositions

Building Sentences

Getting words in the right order

Putting the verb in second place

Placing the verb at the end

Chapter 2: Grasping Gender and Case

Getting a Grip on Word Gender

Using indefinite articles

Working without articles

Forming plurals

Cracking the Cases

Identifying the four cases

Understanding why cases matter

Pinch-Hitting with Pronouns

Personalizing with personal pronouns

Relating to relative pronouns

Demonstrating the demonstrative pronouns

Chapter 3: Handling the Present

Classifying Verbs

Selecting Subject Pronouns

Addressing someone formally or informally

Unraveling sie, sie, and Sie

Expressing Yourself in the Present Tense

Looking at regular verbs

Remembering verbs with spelling changes

Dealing with the irregulars

Mirroring with reflexive verbs

Sorting out prefix verbs

Chapter 4: Modifying with Modal Auxiliary Verbs

A Primer on Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Granting Permission with Dürfen

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Expressing Ability with Können

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Describing Likes with Mögen

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Talking about Preferences with Möchten

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Showing Obligation and Necessity with Müssen

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Giving Advice with Sollen

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Stating Intentions with Wollen

Forming the verb

Using the verb

Chapter 5: Describing and Connecting Your Thoughts

Forming Endings on Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives

Possessive adjectives

Using Adverbs to Modify Adjectives

Making Comparisons

Regular types of comparisons

Irregular types of comparisons

Comparisons between equals and nonequals

Your Personal Preposition Primer

Looking at the role of cases in prepositions

Tackling two-way prepositions

Mastering preposition combinations

Chapter 6: Asking and Answering Questions

Formulating Yes/No Questions

Responding to a Yes/No Question

The affirmative way

The negative way

Asking Informational Questions

Using question words

Calling the case in question

Formulating compound question words with wo-

Providing Information

Chapter 7: Stepping Back in the Past

Conversing with Present Perfect

Forming present perfect with weak verbs

Forming present perfect with strong verbs

Forming present perfect with the auxiliary verb sein

Forming present perfect with oddball verbs

Writing with the Simple Past

Creating the simple past with regular (weak) verbs

Creating the simple past with irregular (strong) verbs

Chapter 8: Focusing on the Future

Using the Present to Express the Future

Knowing when to use the present tense

Inserting future time expressions

Talking about the Future with Werden

Forming the future tense

Using the future tense properly

Remembering the Right Word Order

Chapter 9: Understanding Verb Moods

Giving Commands with the Imperative

Looking at the three imperative forms

Using the imperative

Grasping Present Subjunctive II

Forming Subjunctive II with würde

Forming Subjunctive II with other helping verbs

Using present Subjunctive II

Speculating with Past Subjunctive II

Dealing with Subjunctive I Used in Indirect Speech

Forming present Subjunctive I used in indirect speech

Forming past Subjunctive I used in indirect speech

Chapter 10: Ten Important Verb Distinctions

Bringen and Nehmen: To Bring and to Take

Zahlen and Zählen: To Pay and to Count

Heiß, Kalt, Satt, and Voll: To Feel Hot, Cold, Full, and Drunk

Lernen and Studieren: To Learn, Train, and Study

Machen and Tun: To Make and to Do

Wohnen and Leben: To Reside and to Live

Kennen and Wissen: To Know a Person, Place, and Information

Verbringen, Spendieren, and Ausgeben: To Spend Time and Money

Werden and Bekommen: To Become and to Get

Essen and Fressen: To Eat

Appendix: Verb Charts

Present perfect

Future

Subjunctive

Regular verbs (no stem change in the simple past)

Regular verbs (with stem ending in -d, -t, -fn or -gn)

Irregular weak verbs (stem change in the simple past)

Verbs with auxiliary haben

Verbs with auxiliary sein

Verbs with present-tense vowel change in 2nd- and 3rd-person singular

Verbs with a past participle ending in -t

Verbs with a past participle ending in -en

German Essentials For Dummies®

by Wendy Foster, Pauline Christensen, PhD, and Anne Fox

German Essentials For Dummies®

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012936850

ISBN 978-1-118-18422-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-22751-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-24038-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26510-9 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Wendy Foster has been working as a teacher, writer, editor, and translator for longer than she can remember. She holds a German language diploma from the Language and Interpreting Institute, Munich, Germany, an MA in French from Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, and a public school teaching certificate for German and French. She studied in France for two years before settling in Munich, Germany, where she worked in various teaching and writing capacities at several institutions, including Siemens, HypoVereinsbank, Munich Chamber of Commerce, and a number of publishers. She recently returned to her New England roots, where she works from her home overlooking a spectacular salt marsh that constantly beckons her to go kayaking, swimming, walking, and bird-watching.

Pauline Christensen has been working as a writer, editor, and translator for almost ten years. She holds a degree in English and German literature and has developed, written, and edited numerous German-language textbooks and teachers’ handbooks for Berlitz International. Her work as a translator ranges from new media art to science fiction (Starlog magazine). She occasionally works as a court interpreter and does consulting and interpreting at educational conferences, as well as voice-overs for educational videos and CD-ROMs. Dr. Christensen received her MA and PhD from Düsseldorf University, Germany, and has taught at Berlitz Language Schools, New York University, and Fordham University.

Anne Fox has been working as a translator, editor, and writer for the past twelve years. She studied at Interpreters’ School, Zurich, Switzerland, and holds a degree in translation. Her various assignments have taken her to outer space, hyperspace, and around the world. She has also taught at Berlitz Language Schools and worked as a legal and technical proofreader in the editorial departments of several law firms. Most recently she has been developing, writing, and editing student textbooks and teachers’ handbooks for Berlitz.

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Introduction

You may be taking a German course in high school or college, or perhaps you’re interested in refreshing your German because you’re planning to spend some time in German-speaking Europe. Using this practical reference book to help you advance your German is a great means of making measurable progress — fast. How? Well, this book offers you straight talk as it leads you through a review of the key material you need to understand the basic level of German.

German Essentials For Dummies provides you easy access to practical information that helps you communicate successfully in German. You find the basic grammar that you encounter in introductory German courses. You see clearly what you need to know in order to express yourself in spoken and written German. This book guides you down the path to conversing with confidence in the kinds of situations you encounter on a daily basis when interacting with German speakers. So get a head start and be ready to speak, write, and travel in Deutschland (in Germany).

About This Book

German Essentials For Dummies gives you straight talk, the nitty-gritty, and just enough detail to see you successfully through any major roadblocks to communicating in German. You find a good balance between important grammar points and useful, communicative language. Without even realizing it, your German vocabulary expands as you cruise through the book.

Each chapter is self-contained, making this a very user-friendly reference. You can go through it in any order you choose, zeroing in on your priorities. This book is practical and accessible, whether you’re looking for a clear overview of what you’ve covered in coursework or to reactivate the German you acquired a while back.

Conventions Used in This Book

I use a couple conventions in this book to help you spot essential elements in the text:

I boldface German words and example sentences. I also boldface word endings to make them easier to recognize.

I italicize English equivalents that accompany German words and sentences.

Foolish Assumptions

In writing German Essentials For Dummies, I made the following assumptions about who you are and what you aim to achieve from this book:

You’ve acquired at least a smattering of spoken and written German in high school or at the college level.

You want to do some review so you can pass a test or get to the next level of German by taking a placement exam.

You want to expand your knowledge of German so you feel comfortable in both speaking and writing the language. (Alternatively, you want to dream in German.)

You’re enthusiastic about honing your German skills because you use German in school, you do business with German speakers, or you intend to do some traveling in German-speaking countries.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, I include icons in the left-hand margin to draw your attention to valuable information. Here’s what each icon means.

Pay attention to these key points. By noticing how German differs from English, you see patterns that show you how to assemble German into meaningful statements.

This icon alerts you to key information that’s worth remembering. Stash this info in your mind because you’ll end up using it again and again.

Useful points that help you absorb German more easily and effectively await you when you see this icon.

Where to Go from Here

Wondering where to start? Try scanning the Table of Contents and selecting a chapter that piques your interest. Or use the index to look up a specific point you’re interested in reading about. Basically, you don’t need to follow the chapters in sequence because each chapter contains a discrete topic, so you can dig in to the information in any order you choose. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from going ahead in a linear fashion if that’s your style. Just make sure you’re enjoying the process of soaking up the core concepts of German.

Chapter 1 takes you through some fundamentals of German, so you may want to check it out first to make sure you’re familiar with the topics and basic vocabulary covered there. Other than that, feel free to go at your own pace, proceeding in any order you choose. Skip over sections you’re not ready to do yet or don’t need to read right away. Most important, wherever you go in this book, Viel Spaß! (Have a lot of fun!)

Chapter 1

Laying the Foundations of German