Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
How This Book Is Organized 3
Part 1 The Basic Building Blocks of German 3
Part 2 Focusing on the Present 3
Part 3 Adding Flair to Your Conversations 3
Part 4 Talking about the Past and the Future 3
Part 5 The Part of Tens 3
Part 6 Appendixes 4
Icons Used in This Book 4
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 5
Part 1 The Basic Building Blocks of German 7
Chapter 1 Laying the Foundations of German 9
Saying Hello and Goodbye 9
Introducing yourself and others 11
Keeping the conversational ball rolling 12
Figuring Out How Subject Pronouns Fit with Verbs 13
Making sure "you" dress properly for the occasion: The formality of du/ihr and Sie 14
Distinguishing among sie, sie, and Sie 15
Using gender-neutral pronouns 17
Doing the Numbers 17
Counting off with cardinal numbers 17
Getting in line with ordinal numbers 19
Was Ist das Datum?: Expressing Dates 20
On the Clock: Expressing Time 23
Answers to "Laying the Foundations of German" Practice Questions 26
Chapter 2 Assembling the Basic Tools for German Sentences 29
Grasping German Grammar Terms 30
Conjugating verbs and understanding tenses 30
Getting gender, number, and case 32
Understanding word order 32
Describing words, parts of words, and word groupings 33
Identifying Parts of Speech 34
Finding Meaning through Context 36
Using a Bilingual Dictionary 37
Making the right choice 37
Performing a word search 39
Answers to "Assembling the Basic Tools for German Sentences" Practice Questions 41
Chapter 3 Sorting Out Word Gender and Case 45
Rounding Up Grammatical Genders 45
Identifying German genders and figuring out which one to use 45
Corralling plurals 48
Lassoing indefinite articles 51
Missing articles 51
Calling All Cases: The Roles That Nouns and Pronouns Play 53
Identifying the four cases 53
Putting Pronouns in Place 55
Using personal pronouns 55
Answers to "Sorting Out Word Gender and Case" Practice Questions 58
Chapter 4 Building Your Word Power 61
Working with Word Combinations 62
Spotting compound nouns 62
Describing picture compound nouns 64
Checking out verb combinations 65
Grasping Word Families and Word Categories 66
Working with word families 67
Picture that!: Working with word categories 69
Streamlining Word Storage 71
Recognizing cognates and near cognates 71
False friends: Bad buddies 72
Answers to "Building Your Word Power" Practice Questions 74
Part 2 Focusing on the Present 77
Chapter 5 Grasping the Present Tense 79
Getting Your Verbs in Shape: Present-Tense Conjugations 80
Agreeing with the regulars 80
Conjugating verbs with spelling changes 82
Conjugating the irregulars haben and sein: To have and to be 86
Using the Very Versatile Present Tense 91
Answers to "Grasping the Present Tense" Practice Questions 94
Chapter 6 Asking and Answering Intelligently; Giving Orders 97
Inverting Word Order for Yes/No Questions 98
Gathering Information with Question Words: Who, What, Why, and More 100
Checking Information: Tag! You're It, Aren't You? 104
Using the Imperative: Do It! 105
Giving orders 105
Requests and suggestions: Looking at question-command hybrids 108
Responding with No: The Difference between Kein and Nicht 109
Negating with nicht 109
Negating with kein 111
Answers to "Asking and Answering Intelligently: Giving Orders" Practice Questions 115
Chapter 7 In the Mood: Combining Verbs with Modal Auxiliaries 121
The 4-1-1 on Modal Verbs 122
Identifying modals: Assistants with attitude 122
Understanding word order and modals 123
May I?: Dürfen, the Permission Verb 123
You Can Do It!: Können, the Ability Verb 125
I Like That: Mögen, the Likeable Verb 127
What Would You Like?: Möchten, the Preference Verb 129
Do I Have To?: Müssen, the Verb of Necessity 131
Should I or Shouldn't I?: Sollen, the Duty Verb 132
I Want to Be Famous: Wollen, the Intention Verb 133
Answers to "In the Mood: Combining Verbs with Modal Auxiliaries" Practice Questions 137
Chapter 8 Sorting Out Separable- and Inseparable-Prefix Verbs 141
Looking at the Prefix 142
Simplifying Separable-Prefix Verbs 142
Using separable-prefix verbs in the present tense 145
Using separable-prefix verbs in the past tense 148
Using separable-prefix verbs in present perfect tense 149
Investigating Inseparable-Prefix Verbs 151
Answers to "Sorting Out Separable- and Inseparable-Prefix Verbs" Practice Questions 156
Part 3 Adding Flair to Your Conversations 159
Chapter 9 Sounding More Like a Native with Verb Combinations 161
Set in Their Ways: Grasping Idiomatic Verb Expressions 161
In the Looking Glass: Reflecting on Reflexive Verbs 162
Self-ish concerns: Meeting the reflexive pronouns 163
Identifying which verbs need to be reflexive 164
Combining Verbs with Prepositions 167
Identifying common combos in the accusative case 168
Eyeing common combos in the dative case 169
Answers to "Sounding More Like a Native with Verb Combinations" Practice Questions 172
Chapter 10 Adding Adjectives for Description 175
Organizing Adjectives: Opposites, Cognates, and Collocations 176
Letting opposites attract 176
A family resemblance: Describing with cognates 179
Traveling companions: Describing with collocations 181
Helping Adjectives Meet a Satisfying End 183
Forming endings on adjectives not preceded by der- or ein- words 184
Preceded adjectives: Forming the Endings 186
Using Possessive Adjectives: My Place or Your Place? 188
Answers to "Adding Adjectives for Description" Practice Questions 190
Chapter 11 Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs 197
Comparing Regular Adjectives and Adverbs: Fast, Faster, Fastest 198
Comparing two things 198
Absolutely the most!: Discussing superlatives 199
Considering common comparisons 200
Adding the umlaut in regular comparisons 202
Using Irregular Comparison Forms 204
Identifying Unique Adjective and Adverb Groups 206
Adjectives that act as nouns 206
Participles that function as adjectives or adverbs 208
Adverbs that modify adjectives 210
Answers to "Comparing with Adjectives and Adverbs" Practice Questions 212
Chapter 12 Connecting with Conjunctions 217
Conjunctions and Clauses: Terminating Terminology Tangles 217
Connecting with Coordinating Conjunctions 219
Working on word order: Coordinating conjunctions 219
Using coordinating conjunctions 221
Connecting with Subordinating Conjunctions 223
Using subordinating conjunctions 224
Using the correct word order 225
Answers to "Connecting with Conjunctions" Practice Questions 228
Chapter 13 Your Preposition Primer 231
Prepping for Prepositions: Basic Guidelines 232
Getting the importance of case 232
Understanding what it all means 233
Accusative, Dative, and Genitive Cases: How the Rest of the Phrase Shapes Up 233
No finger-pointing: Accusative prepositions 234
Dative prepositions 236
Genitive prepositions 239
Tackling Two-Way Prepositions: Accusative/Dative 240
Answers to "Your Preposition Primer" Practice Questions 243
Part 4 Looking Back and Ahead: Talking about the Past and the Future 247
Chapter 14 Conversing about the Past: Perfecting the Present Perfect 249
Forming the Present Perfect with Haben 250
Forming the present perfect with regular weak verbs 250
Forming the present perfect with irregular weak verbs 253
Forming the present perfect with strong verbs 254
Forming the Present Perfect with Sein 256
Eyeing the Present Perfect: German versus English 258
One for all: Representing three English tenses 259
Opting for the German present 259
Answers to "Conversing about the Past: Perfecting the Present Perfect" Practice Questions 260
Chapter 15 Narrating the (Simple) Past: Fact and Fiction 263
Conjugating the Simple Past 264
Forming regular (weak) verbs in simple past 264
Forming irregular (strong) verbs in simple past 266
Forming haben and sein in simple past 270
Forming modals in simple past 272
Contrasting Tenses 274
Answers to "Narrating the (Simple) Past: Fact and Fiction" Practice Questions 276
Chapter 16 Looking to the Future (And Avoiding It) 281
The Future Is Now: Using the Present Tense Instead 282
Seeing when German present works perfectly 282
Saying when: Using future time expressions with the present tense 283
Facing the Future with Werden 287
Forming the future: Werden + infinitive verb 287
Using the future: Assuming, hoping, and emphasizing intentions 288
Answers to "Looking to the Future (And Avoiding It)" Practice Questions 291
Part 5 The Part of Tens 293
Chapter 17 Ten Tips for Optimizing Your German 295
Think Like a Native Speaker 295
Break Down Word Combinations 296
Use What You Know 296
Get Going on Grammar 297
Read and Listen Actively 297
Experiment with What Works Best 297
Germanify Your Home 298
Integrate German into Your Routine 298
Embrace the Culture 299
Set Goals and Reward Yourself 299
Chapter 18 Ten Pitfalls to Avoid in German 301
Attempting Word-for-Word Translations 301
Downplaying Gender and Case 302
Wondering Which Word Order 302
Think, Thought, Thunk: (Mis)handling Verbs 303
(Mis)Placing Prepositions and Prefixes 303
Skipping Capitalization and Umlauts 304
Slipping on Super-Slick Sentences 304
Being Informal on the Wrong Occasion 304
Rejecting Review 305
Giving Up 305
Part 6 Appendixes 307
Appendix A Verb Charts 309
Conjugating Verbs in Present and Simple Past Tenses 309
Conjugating Verbs in the Present Perfect and Future 310
Present perfect 310
Future 311
Weak Verbs 311
Regular verbs (no stem change in the simple past) 311
Regular verbs (with stem ending in -d, -t, -fn or -gn) 311
Irregular weak verbs (stem change in the simple past) 312
Strong Verbs 312
Verbs with auxiliary haben 312
Verbs with auxiliary sein 312
Verbs with present-tense vowel change in second- and third-person singular 313
Separable-Prefix Verbs 313
Inseparable-Prefix Verbs (without Ge- Prefix in the Past Participle) 314
Verbs with a past participle ending in -t 314
Verbs with a past participle ending in -en 314
Auxiliary Verbs Haben, Sein, and Werden 314
Modal Auxiliary Verbs 315
Principal Parts of Weak Verbs 316
Appendix B English-German Dictionary 319
Appendix C German-English Dictionary 323
Index 327
