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Using German

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Using German

A guide to

contemporary usage

Second edition

M A R T I N D U R R E L L

H CAMBRIDGE

UNIVERSITY PRESS

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P U B L I S H E D B Y T H E P R E S S S Y N D I C A T E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A M B R I D G E

Th e Pitt Building, Trump ington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP, Un ited Kingd om

C A M B R I D G E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S

Th e Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 2RU, U K

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Dock House, T he W aterfront, Cape Town 8001, So uth Africa

http:/ /www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press 199 2,200 3

Th is book is in copyright. Subject to statutory ex ception

and to the p rovisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,

no reprodu ction of any part may take place without

the written permission of Cam bridge University Press.

First published 1992

Second edition 2003

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

Typeface

Ehrhardt 10 .5/1 2 pt.

System

fflfcX

2

S

[TB]

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of ongressCataloguing in Publication data

Durrell, Martin.

Us ing G erman: a guide to contemporary usage / Ma rtin Durrell. - 2nd ed ition

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and ind ex.

ISBN 0 521 53000 8 (paperback)

1. Germa n language - Grammar. 2. Germa n language - Textboo ks for foreign

speakers - Eng lish. I. Title .

PF3112.D78 2003

438.2 421 - dc21 20020416 92

ISBN 0 521 53000 8 paperback

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Contents

Introduction

page

xi

Acknowledgements

xiii

References

xv

Glossaryo flinguistic terms

xxi

Abbreviations and conventions xxix

1 V arieties of langu age 1

1.1 Varieties according to use: register 3

1.1.1 Medium 4

1.1.2 Sub ject ma tter 5

1.1.3 Situation 5

1.1.4 Register and regionalism 7

1.1.5 Indicating register 7

1.2 Varieties according to user: regionalism 10

1.2.1 Regionalism and standard German 11

1.2.2 Regionalism and spoken German 11

1.2.3 Indica ting regional variation 12

1.3 Examples of variation: pronunciation 13

1.3.1 Regional variation in pronunciation 15

1.3.2 Register variation in pronunc iation 16

1.4 Examples of variation: gramm ar 18

1.4.1 Regional variation in gramm ar 19

1.4.2 Register variation in gramm ar 20

1.5 Exam ples of variation: vocabulary 23

1.5.1 Regional variation in vocabulary 23

1.5.2 Austrian and Swiss words 26

1.5.3 Register variation in vocabulary 29

1.6 Passages illust rating levels of register 35

1.6.1 Telep hone conversation (informal colloquial speech) 35

1.6.2 Radio discussion (unprepared speech in a formal

context) 38

1.6.3 Literary prose (Gn ter Grass,

Die Blechtrommel)

41

1.6.4 No n-literary prose{Fachsprache) 43

1.6.5 Serious newspaper repo rt (DieWelt) 45

1.6.6 Tabloid newspaper repo rt{Bild) 48

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2 W ords and m ea nin gs 52

2.1 Problems of meaning 52

2.1.1 Problems of meaning: Eng lish-Germ an examples 52

2.1.2 Problems of meaning: Germ an-Eng lish examples 88

2.2 Easily confused words 93

2.2.1 Easily confused words: similar form -

different

meaning 93

2.2.2 Easily confused words: diffe rent gender - differen t

meaning 102

2.2.3 Easily confused words: diffe rent plural - diffe rent

meaning 104

2.2.4 Easily confused words: diffe rent form - same meaning 105

2.3 Word formation 107

2.3.1 Form ing nouns 107

2.3.2 Forming adjectives 109

2.3.3 Form ing verbs -

prefixes

111

2.3.4 Inseparable verb prefixes 111

2.3.5 Separable verb prefixes 114

2.3.6 Verb prefixes which can be separable or inseparable 115

2.4 Idiom s 119

2.5 Prepositions 123

2.5.1 Germ an prepositions with the accusative case 124

2.5.2 Germ an prepositions with the dative case 127

2.5.3 Germ an prepositions with the dative or the accusative

cases 132

2.5.4 Germ an prepositions with the genitive case 139

2.5.5 English prepositions 140

2.6 Modal particles 155

2.6.1 Modal particles in statemen ts 156

2.6.2 Modal particles in questions 160

2.6.3 Modal particles in comm ands 161

2.6.4 Modal particles in exclamations 163

2.7 Gree tings and form s of address 164

2.7.1 Greetings 164

2.7.2 duandS ie 166

2.8 Le tters 168

3 Words and fo rm s 171

3.1 No uns: genders and plurals 171

3.1.1

Suffixes

as indicators of gender and plural 171

3.1.2

Suffixes

or prefixes as clues to gender and plural 173

3.1.3 Plurals in -5 176

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3.1.4 No uns with alternative plurals 177

3.1.5 Foreign words with unusual plurals 178

3.1.6

Differences

in plural usage between German

and English 178

3.1.7 No uns with variable gender 180

3.2 No uns: case 181

3.2.1 'Weak' masculine nouns 182

3.2.2 'M ixed' nouns 183

3.2.3 T he dative ending -e 184

3.2.4 T he genitive singular ending

~ e)s

184

3.3 Verbs: strong and weak 186

3.3.1 Strong verb classes 186

3.3.2 Deceptive weak verbs 189

3.3.3 Irregular weak verbs 190

3.3.4 Verbs with strong and weak form s 190

3.4 De term iners and adjectives 192

3.4.1 Basic determ iner endings 192

3.4.2 Basic adjective endings 193

3.4.3 Uncertainties and variation in current usage 194

3.4.4 Adjectives as nouns 196

3.5 Other words that decline: forms and uses 198

3.5.1 Dem onstratives 198

3.5.2 Relative pronouns 200

3.5.3 Possessive pronouns 202

3.5.4 Interrogatives 202

3.5.5 man, einer jemand 203

3.5.6 Some indefinites 204

4 G ra m m ar : cases, tenses and m ood s 207

4.1 Verbs and cases: valency 207

4.1.1 Verbs governing the dative case 209

4.1.2 Verbs governing the dative and the accusative cases 211

4.1.3 Verbs governing the genitive case 213

4.1.4 Verbs governing a prepositional object 214

4.1.5 Infinitive clauses and idtfs-clauses with verbs governing a

prepositional object 219

4.1.6 Verbs with varying constructions 220

4.2 Cases: dative and genitive 224

4.2.1 Possessive dative 224

4.2.2 Genitive or

von} 225

4.2.3 T he position of genitive phrases 227

4.2.4 Measurement phrases 228

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4.3 Tenses 229

4.3.1 Present and futu re 229

4.3.2 Past and perfect 230

4.3.3

haben

or

sein

in the perfect? 231

4.4 The passive 233

4.4.1

werden

or m-passive? 234

4.4.2 The impersonal ('subjectless') passive 235

4.4.3 The passive with dative objects 236

4.4.4

von

or

durch

with the passive? 236

4.4.5 Alternative passive construc tions 237

4.5 The subjunctive 239

4.5.1 Form s of the subjunctive 239

4.5.2 The use of the past subjunctive and conditional form s 240

4.5.3 Indirect speech 242

4.5.4 Conditional sentences 245

4.5.5 Other uses of the subjunctive 246

4.6 The modal auxiliaries 248

4.6.1 The Germ an modal auxiliaries 249

4.6.2 The English modal auxiliaries 253

5 Syn tax and word orde r 262

5.1 Word order 262

5.1.1 The verbal bracket 262

5.1.2 The closing bracket 263

5.1.3 The initial element in a main clause 264

5.1.4 The use of initial position in German 265

5.1.5 The central section of Germ an clauses 267

5.1.6 Can anything follow the closing bracket? 271

5.2 Alternatives to subordinate clauses 274

5.2.1 Alternatives to relative clauses 274

5.2.2 Alternatives to noun clauses withdassorwieand infinitive

clauses 275

5.2.3 Alternatives to other subordinate clauses 276

5.2.4 Adverbials rathe r than clauses 279

5.2.5 Other alternatives to subordinate clauses 281

5.3 The present participle in Germ an and English 282

5.3.1 The use of the Germ an present participle 282

5.3.2 Germ an equivalents of Englishing-

form

constructions 284

6 Spelling and pu nc tua tio n 289

6.1 Spelling 290

6.1.1 Capital letters 290

6.1.2 One word or two? 292

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6.1.3 T he use

o f

and

ss

296

6.1A Miscellaneous spelling changes

Punctuation 297

6.2.1 T he use of the comma 297

6.2.2 Othe r punctuation marks 299

Index 300

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Introduction

T he primary intention of this book is to provide information on

Germ an as it is actually used nowadays, especially on points where

conventional grammars and surveys of vocabulary are silent. It aims to

help English-speaking learners to communicateeffectivelyand

accurately by developing an awareness of the subtleties of the language.

It is thus directed at those who have mastered the basics of Germ an,

typically after three or four years at school or an intensive introductory

course and are venturing in to the complexities and subtleties of the

language. It is not a comprehensive grammar, but it deals with those

aspects of German grammar and usage about which such advanced

learners may have questions, and it attem pts to answer as many of those

questions as possible.

T he areas treated in this book can be grouped under two headings.

First, there are those which result from variation within the German

language itself. Learners can o ften be confused because everyday

conversational German is often quite different from written Germ an

and from what they have been taught. German, just like English, has

many alternatives and varieties - in pronunciation, gram mar and

vocabulary. On e pu rpose of this book is to explain for the

English-speaking learner how modern German usage can differ widely,

depend ing, for instance, on the formality or informality of the situation

or on where the speaker or writer comesfrom.T his kind of variation in

usage can be puzzling fo r foreign learners, and standard reference

works often give insufficient detail or contradictory (or even

misleading) information on such points. In this book, the most

common variations in current usage which stem from regional

differences

or

differences

depending on the degree of formality are

shown as

fully

as possible. It will be made clear, for example, that the

use of the presen t subjunctive is not a matter of grammatical rule, but

of register (see 4.5.3). C h a p te r

1

provides an introduction, with

examples and commented texts, to the range of variation in m odern

German. T he reader is advised to study this chapter closely before

consulting the other chapters, which are intended to be used for

reference and give extensive detail on selected poin ts concerning

vocabulary (chapter 2), declensions (chapter 3), grammar

(c ha pt er 4), syntax and word order (c ha pt er 5), and spelling and

punctuation (c ha pt er 6), where the changes in German spelling and

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punctuation rules which were introduced in the late 1990s are

explained in detail.

Secondly, the book covers those aspects of German which for one

reason or another seem to be difficult for English-speaking learners,

although the

difficulties

are often more apparent than real. Th is may be

because German expresses things in a

different

way to English, as when

English uses present participles and Germ an does not (see 5.3), where

there is a lack of one-to-on e correspondence between the vocabulary of

the two languages (see 2.1) or in the various uses of prepositions (see

2.5). In such cases the

differences

between the languages are shown in

as much detail as possible. The re are other aspects of German, such as

gender and plural of nou ns (see 3.1), which have to be coped with in

their own term s, as there is little comparable in English.

Second edition

In this second edition the m ajor change is that the revised spelling of

German has been implemented throughout, with the exception of one

text (1.6.3) which was originally published before the introd uction of

the new spelling and whose author is a well-known opponent of the

changes (indeed, he has insisted on his most recent books being

published using the old spellings). Th is is in itself a reflection of the

current situation, since, as explained in more detail in ch ap te r 6, it

now seems likely that the two spelling systems will continue to co-exist

in the German-speaking countries for some considerable time beyond

2005, despite the fact that the old spellings are supposed to cease to be

used after this date.

Apart fro m this, the op portu nity has been taken to revise the whole

text and the language material of the book, eliminating errors,

inconsistencies and ambiguities as far as possible. In particular, all the

explanatory material has been recast with the aim of making it clearer

and more explicit. For example, German words in lists are now

systematically glossed in Eng lish, and th e account of the m odal

particles in 2.6 has been reshaped to show how they are used in

statements, questions, commands and exclamations, with the intention

of helping the learner to see how they are used in actual com municative

situations. More than half the texts in 1.6 have been replaced to bring

them up to date and to reflect the variety of register in m odern German

more consistently and systematically. In particular, contrastive

examples are now given from the 'serious' and 'popular' press.

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cknowledgements

No book such as this can be the unaided work of a single individual,

and I must acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Wini Davies, Dr Karen

He rrm ann, Professor R. E. Keller and Paul Webster for their many

helpful suggestions which have been incorporated in the text. The

remaining inadequacies are my own, especially where I have been

foolish enough to ignore their sound advice. I am also grateful for much

information, advice and encouragement to Stephen Barbour, Friedrich

Dehm el, Julie Flynn, Anna Hochsieder, Derek M cCulloch, Herber t

Meyer, Manfre d Prokop, Margaret

Rogers,

Jon W est and Ellen

Wilhelmi, all of whom provided me with data or were kind enough to

read particu lar chapters. My thanks are due, too, to all colleagues at the

Institut f ur Deutsche Sprache in Man nheim, especially Dr Karl-He inz

Bausch, Tobias Bruckner, Professor Alan Kirkness, Professor Gerhard

Stickel and Eva Teube rt. I was able to collect or check much of the

material in the book during a stay in Mannheim which was generously

funded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. Th e great

bulk of the initial work for the first edition was completed in the

academic year 1983/84, which I spent as an exchange professor at the

University of Alberta, and I must give special thanks to all my

colleagues in Ed mon ton for their help and encouragement during a

thoroughly enjoyable and productive stay in Canada. Particular

mention m ust be made of the superb library facilities at the U niversity

of Alberta. I should also like to thank Rosemary Dav idson, Amanda

Ogden, Annie Cave and Julia Harding fo r their invaluable editorial

advice and much encouragement, Debbie C arlisle for her skill in coping

with a

difficultmanuscript and, last but no t least, all my past and

present students in London, Manchester and Edmonton, whose

queries and problems furnished m uch of the raw material.

For th e second edition I must acknowledge a special debt of

gratitude to all those who have been kind enough since the appearance

of the first edition to write to me with questions and suggestions for

improvement. I hope that I have been able to incorporate the most

imp ortant of these. I continue to be immensely gratefu l to my

colleagues in Manchester, in particular Dr W iebke Brockhaus, for their

continued help, assistance and support, and to the English and German

students in Manchester whose questions have provided constant

stimulation. I must again thank all colleagues at the Ins titut fu r

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Deutsche Sprache in Mannheim where in the course of several visits

over the years I have been able to check the material and verify the

linguistic data on the basis of their incomparable collections of modern

German usage. Dr Kate Brett at Cambridge University Press deserves

especial thanks for her continued patience, encouragement and

practical advice whilst this edition was in p repara tion.

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References

General reference books

T he following reference works were consulted at all stages of preparing

this book.

Agr icola, E. et al. eds.). 1977. Wrter und Wendungen. Wrterbuch zum deutschen

Sprachgebrauch. 8 th edn. Leip zig.

Barbour, J. S. and P. Ste ven son . 1990. Variation in German. A Critical Approach to

German Sociolinguistics.

Cambridge.

Beaton, K. B. 1996.A Practical Dictionary of German Usage. Oxford.

Braun, P. 1993. Tendenzen in derdeutschenGegenwartssprache. Sprachvarietten. 3rd

edn. Stuttgart.

Clyne, M. 1995. The German Language in a Changing Europe. Cambridge.

Du cker t, J. and G. Kem pcke eds.) . 1984.

W rterbuch der Sprachschwierigkeiten.

Zweifelslle, Normen und Varianten.

Leipzig .

Duden. 1998. Gram matik der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. 6th edn. Mann heim,

etc.

Duden. 2000a.Das groe Wrterbuch der deutschen Sprache. 3rd edn . 10 vols on

CD-RO M . M an n h e i m, e tc .

Duden. 2000b.

Rechtschreibung der deutschen Sprache und Fremdwrter.

22nd edn.

Mannheim, etc .

Durrei l , M. 2000. Using German Synonyms. Cambridge.

Eisenberg, P. 1998-9. Grundri der deutschen Grammatik. 2 vols. Stuttg art/W eima r.

Engel , U. 1991. Deutsche Grammatik. 2nd edn. Heidelberg.

Farrell, R. B. 1977.Dictionary of German Synonyms. 3rd edn. Cambridge.

Freund , F. and B. Sundqvist. 1988. Tysk grammatik. Stockholm.

Glck, H. and W. Sauer. 1997.

Gegenwartsdeutsch.

2nd edn. Stuttgart.

G tz, D. et al . eds.) . 2000. Langenscheidts Growrterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache.

3rd edn. Berlin, etc.

Fox, A. 1990.

The Structure of German.

Oxford.

He idolp h, K. E. et al . eds.) . 1981. Grundzge einer deutschen Grammatik. Berlin.

Heibig , G. and J. Buscha. 1995. Deutsche Grammatik. Ein Handbuch fur den

Auslnderunterricht.

13th edn. Leipz ig.

Heibig, G. and W. Schenkel . 1991. W rterbuch zur Valenz und Distribution deutscher

Verben.8th edn. T bingen .

Hermann, U. 1996.Die NEUE) deutsche Rechtschreibung.Revised by L. G tze wi th

an introduction by K. Heller. G tersloh.

Keller, R. E. 1978. The German Language. L on d on .

Lamprecht, A. 1977.

Gramm atik der

englischenSprache. 5th edn . Berlin.

Quirk, R. et al. 1985.A Comprehensive Gram mar of the English Language.

L o n d o n / N e w Y ork .

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Schanen, F. and J.-P. Confais. 1986.

Grammaire deVallemand Formeset fonctions.

Paris.

Schwitalla,J 1997.

Gesprochenes Deutsch EineEinfuhrung

Berlin.

Som merfeldt, K.- E. ed.). 1988.Entwicklungstendenzen in derdeutschen

Gegenwartssprache

. Tbingen.

Stevenson, P. 1997. The German-speaking World A Practical Introduction to

SociolinguisticIssues London/New York.

Terrell, P. et al. eds.). 1999.

Collins German -English English-German Dictionary.

4th edn. Glasgow.

Wahrig, G. 2000.

Deutsches Wrterbuch.

2nd edn. Gtersloh.

West, J. 1992-4. Progressive Grammar of German.6 vols. D ublin.

Zifonun , G. et al. 1997.

Grammatik der

Deutschen

Sprache.

3 vols. Berlin/New

York.

Specific references

Where the books listed above give more information than could be

encompassed in this book, or where I have made particular use of their

material or presentation , they are listed below in abbreviated form ,

giving the autho r and the year of publication. Specialized works

relevant to individual sections are also listed below.

1.3 Ex am ples of variation: pronu nciation

Th is section was prepared with reference to C. Hall,

Modern German

Pronunciation.

An Introduction for

Speakers

of English

(M anches ter/N ew York, 1992) and the following standard works of

reference: Duden ,Band

6: Aussprachewrterbuch

,3rd edn (Mannheim,

etc., 1990) and T . Siebs,Reineundgemigte Hochlautungmit

Aussprachewrterbuch, 19th edn, revised by H. de Boor, H. M oser and

C. Winkler (Berlin, 1969). Th e latter both give details on acceptable

(and unacceptable) colloquial and regional usage as well as on the

received standard pronunciation of German.

1.5.1 Regional var iation in vocabulary

The major sources for the material in this sectionwere: J.Eichhoff,

Wortatlas der deutschen Umgangssprachen

,

vols. 1-2 (Bern /Mu nich,

1977-8), vols. 3 -4 (M unic h, 1998-2000) and

W.

Seibicke,Wie sagt man

anderswo? Landschaftliche Unterschiede im deutschen Wortgebrauch

(Mannheim, 1972).

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1.5.2 Austrian and Sw iss words

This section was compiled with assistance from the following works,

which give much more detail on Austrian and Swiss lexical

peculiarities: J. E bner,

Wie sagt man

in

Osterreich? Wrterbuch der

sterreichischen Besonderheiten

,

2nd edn (M annheim , etc., 1980) and K .

Meyer,

Wie sagt man

in

der Schweiz? Wrterbuch der schweizerischen

Besonderheiten

(Mannheim, etc., 1989).

2.1 Problem s of m ean ing

Much more detail on English-German lexical correspondences is to be

found in Beaton (1996) and Farrell (1977), to which this section is

indebted at many points, and I also consulted E. Leisi,

Der Wortinhalt.

Seine Struktur imDeutschenundEnglischen 5th edn (Heidelberg, 1975),

which is still unequalled as a comparative stud y of the vocabulary of the

two languages. Much of the new and revised material in this section is

based on the work undertak en in the prepa ration of Du rrell (2000),

which contains more information on word-fields in German.

2.3 Word form ation

For this section the following standard textbooks provided muc h

information: L. M Eichinger,Deutsche Wortbildung. EineEinfiihrung

(Tbingen, 1999),W.Fleischer and I. Barz, Wortbildung der deutschen

Gegenwartssprache,2nd rev. edn (T binge n, 1995) and B. Nau m ann,

Einfiihrungindie Wortbildungslehre des Deutschen,3rd edn (T bingen,

2000).

2.5 Prepositions

T he compilation of this section was particularly assisted by reference to

Lamprecht (1977), pp. 309-31, W. Schmitz,DerGebrauch der deutschen

Prpositionen

,9 th edn (Mu nich, 1981) andJ.Schrder,Lexikon

deutscher Prpositionen,

2nd edn (Leipzig, 1990).

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2.6 M odal particles

This section has benefited greatly from the account of the German

particles in G. Helbig and A. Helbig,Deutsche Partikeln

-

Richtig

gebraucht?

(Leipzig, etc., 1995) and H. Weydt et al.,

Kleine deutsche

Partikellehre

(Stuttgart, 1983).

3.1 Noun s: genders and plurals

The statistics in

3.1.1

and 3.1.2 are taken from G . Augst,

Untersuchungen

zum

Morpheminventar der deutschen Gegenwartssprache

(Tbingen, 1975), pp. 5-70.

4.1 Verbs and cases

Du den (1998), pp. 650-81, and H elbig and Schenkel (1991) give

extensive surveys of verb government and sentence pattern s in German

and were of considerable assistance in the compilation of this chapter.

4.3.2 Pas t and per fect

K. Dieling andF.Kempter,D ieTempora,2nd edn (Leipzig, 1989) and

R. Thieroff,Dasinit Verb im Deutschen. Tempus- Modus-Distanz

(Tbingen, 1992) give good accounts of tense usage in m odern

German. The use of the past and perfect tenses is comprehensively

documented in S. Latzel,Die deutschen Tempora Perfekt und Prteritum

(Munich, 1977).

4.4 Th e passive

This section draws in particular on the account of German passive

construc tions in Zifonun et al. (1997), pp. 1788-858.

4.5 T he subjunctive

Th is account of the subjunctive in modern German is based in large

measure on the survey by K.-H . Bausch,

Modalitt

und

Konjunktivgebrauch

in der

gesprochenen deutschen Standardsprache

,Teil I

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(M unich, 1979). I am most gra teful to D r Bausch for allowing me to

consult the unpublished second part of his work.

S.

Jger,Empfehlungen

zum

Gebrauch des Konjunktivs(Dsseldorf, 1970) can still be

recommended as a very sane survey of the uses of the subjunctive in

modern German.

4.6 The m oda l auxiliaries

The following works were particularly valuable in th e compilation of

this section: G. Diewald,Die Modalverben im Deutschen.

Grammatikalisierung und Polyfunktionalitt(Tbingen, 1999),

Lamprecht (1977), pp. 163-75, and

F.

R. Palmer,

Modality

and the

English Modais(London, 1979).

5.1 Word order

This explanation of German word order draws in particular on the

accounts in Engel (1991), pp. 3 0 3 ^ 4 , H eidolph et al. (1981),

pp. 702-64; U. Hoberg,

Die Wortstellung in

der

geschriebenen deutschen

Gegenwartssprache

(M unich , 1981), H . W. Kirkwood, 'Aspects of Word

Order and its Communicative Function in English and G erm an',

Journal of

Linguistics5

(1969), pp. 85-106, and Zifonun et al. (1997),

pp. 1495-680.

5.2 Spe lling and punc tuation

I am g rateful to my colleague Dr Sally Johnson of Lancaster

University, and to colleagues at the Ins titut f r Deutsche Sprache for

information about the controversies surroun ding the introduction of

the revised orthography. G. ugst et al.,

Zur

Neuregelung der Deutschen

Orthographie. Begrndung und

Kritik

(Tbin gen , 1997) contains a

usefu l selection of critical articles, although the debate has

subsequently progressed further. Hermann (1996) includes full details

on the new rules, and the account here is based on this.

In add ition, occasional examples and data were drawn from many

sources, in particular from the Man nheim corpus of modern spoken

and written German at the Institut fur Deutsche Sprache, from the

works of Alfred Andersch, Tho mas Bernhard, Heinrich Boll, Friedrich

D rrenm att, Max Frisch, Max von der Grn , Herrmann Kant,

Siegfried Lenz, Bernhard Schlink, Erwin Strittmatter, Patrick Sskind

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and from the following newspapers and periodicals:

Bild, Frankfurter

Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Neues Deutschland,

Neue

Zrcher Zeitung, Die Presse, Der Spiegel, Sddeutsche Zeitung, Die

Zeit.

In o rder no t to overburden the text unnecessarily, specific sources for

such occasional data are only given where the source is particularly

relevant or in the case of longer extracts.

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lossary of linguistic terms

In order to talk about language we need to use some special terms.

Although I have tried in this book not to introduce a large number of

technical terms , some are necessary both for the sake of clarity and to

avoid lengthy and tedious repetitions. As far as possible, I have kept to

the more usual grammatical terms. Some, such as 'noun ', 'verb' and

'adjective', need no explanation, bu t the less familiar ones commonly

used for Ge rma n and E nglish are explained below. No t all of them are

found in this book, but are included to help the reader consult other

works. For similar reasons German equivalents are given where they

exist. Terms used in these definitions which are themselves explained

in the glossary have been given an asterisk.

Ablaut

The vowel changes in the *past tense and *past participle

of Germ an * strong verbs, e.g.singen, sang, gesungen,

see 3.3.1.

accusative{der Akkusativ) see cas e.

adverbia l

{die Adverbiale) A

word or phrase used to indicate, for

instance, how, where, why or when something happens or is

done, e.g.heute, aus diesem Grunde,

in

der

Stadt,

see 5.1.5.

apposi t ion

{die Apposition)

A descriptive phrase added to a

noun phrase without any connecting preposition, e.g.

Kaiser

WilhelmII, der letzte deutsche Kaiser,starb imExilinHolland.

ar t ic le{der Artikel) *Determiners which give a noun specific

reference. Germ an has a 'definite' article{der, die, das,etc.) and

an 'indefinite' article{ein, eine, einem, etc.), see 3.4.

ass imi la t ion{die Assimilation) The pronunciation of a

particular sound may be affected by ('assimilated to ')

neighbou ring sounds, e.g. in colloquial Germ an

gebm, er hap

mir

for

geben, er

hat m ir).

Ausklammerung

Excluding a phrase from the verbal bracket,

i.e. pu tting it after the *past participle, * separable prefix, etc.

which is usually last in the clause, e.g.

Ich

rufe

an aus London,

see 5.1.6.

auxi l iary verb{das Hilfsverb) A verb used with another verb to

make tenses, the passive voice, etc. Th e main Germ an auxiliaries

arehaben, sein, werdenand the * modal auxiliariesdrfen, mssen,

etc., see 4.6.

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(verbal) bracke t(die Klammer) The characteristic sentence

construction of German whereby most elements of the sentence

(or clause) are enclosed between the two parts of the verb, e.g.

Ich

habe

sie gestern

in

Ulm gesehen,see 5.1.1.

case(der Fall) The indication of the role played by a noun in the

sentence by * inflection, i.e. by changing its form or the form of

the *determiners or adjectives used with it. German has four

cases: the nom inative (mainly for the *subject of the verb), the

accusative (mainly for th e * direct object), the dative (mainly for

the *indirect object) and the genitive (mainly to show possession

or to link noun s together), see 3.2,4 .1 and 4.2.

cl ef t se nt en ce A typically English construction, little used in

Germ an, by which pa rt of the sentence is emphasized by placing

it at the beginning in a clause introduced byit,e.g.Itwas

yesterday thatshe came

,

see 5.1.4.

(adject ive) comp ariso n

(die Steigerung)

The relative qualities

of persons or thing s may be compared by using the comparative

or superlative 'de gree' of adjectives, usually formed in G erman

by the

suffixes-e r

and-(e)strespectively, e.g.

schnell -

schneller

(comparative degree) -(der) schnellste(superlative degree),

c o m p l e m e n t(die Ergnzung) A part of the sentence which is

closely linked to the verb and 'comple tes' its meaning in some

way, e.g. the *direct and *indirect objects, *prepositional ob jects,

direction phrases w ith verbs of motion, etc., see 5.1.5.

c o mp o u n d(die Zusammensetzung) A word formed by joining

two (or more) words together, e.g.

das Rathaus,

die

Aktiengesellschaft, brustschwimmen.

co nd iti on al A conditional sentence(der Konditionalsatz) is

one which contains or implies a condition. In Germ an, they often

contain the conjunctionswennor

falls

and the verb is often in the

past or pluperfect *subjunctive(Konjunktiv/ / , see 4.5.4), e.g.

Wenn ich das Fenster aufmachte, wrden wir

alle

frieren. T hewrde

form ofKonjunktiv II is often called 'the conditional tense' in

English gramm ars of German,

con juga t ion(die Konjugation) see inflec tion,

con junc t ion

(die Konjunktion)

A word used to join clauses

together, e.g.und, aber, wenn, nachdem.

dative(derDativ) see cas e,

declension(die Deklination) see inf lec tion ,

demons t ra t ive(das Demonstrative) A word used to point to

somethingspecific,e.g. Eng lishthis, that, Germandieser, jener.

Demonstratives can appear as *determiners or pronouns, see

3.5.1.

der ivat ion(die Wortbildung) Form ing a word on the basis of

another, usually with the help of ^prefixes an d/ or *suffixes,e.g.

verbessern

('derived' from

besser), Bildung

('derived' from

bilden),

see 2.3.

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d e te rmin e r (das Artikelwort, das Determinativ) On e of a small

group of function words used at the beginning of a noun phrase.

Th ey include the definite and indefinite * articles, dem ons trat ive

adjectives, possessive adjectives(mein, sein

,

etc.), the indefinites

(einige,

jeder, mancher,

;

etc.), and so on; see 3.4 and 3.5. With a few

exceptions, only one determ iner can be used in a single noun

phrase, see 3.4.3.

d ia lec t(der Dialekt, die Mundart) A language * variety restricted

to a particular geographical area, see 1.2. In th e German speech

area they are often strikingly dif feren t from *Hochdeutschin

phonetics and grammar. Compare Zrich GermanErischimys

Huuschoo,or Westphalian (Mnster)H eis in mien Huus kuemmen

for standard Germ anErist in meinHaus gekommen.

direct object(das direkte Objekt) The person or thing directly

affected by the action of the verb. In Germ an it is in the

accusative case, e.g.

Er

stellte

den Stuhl

in die

Ecke.

double t(die Dublette, die Formvariante) An alternative form of

the same word, e.g.benutzen/bentzen,see 2.2.4.

elision(die Elision) The omission of a sound, as

characteristically occurs in rapid colloquial speech. For example,

in a word like

Hauptbahnhof

the

t

is often 'elided

5

in spoken

German so that it sounds like

Haupbahnhof.

ellipsis

(die Ellipse)

Om itting words, typically in colloquial

speech where their m eaning can be deduced fro m the context. In

spoken G erman, for instance, we often find ellipsis of pronouns,

e.g.

Geht nicht

for

Das geht nicht,

or

Komm gleich

for

Ich komme

gleich.

extended epi thet(das erweiterte Attribut) An adjective,

particularly a *participle, which is expanded into a clause-like

construction, e.g.die

in dem Park spielenden

Kinder. Such

constructions are characteristic of formal written German,

figurative meaning(die bertragene Bedeutung) A word may

have an 'exten ded ' or 'figurative' meaning besides its 'literal'

meaning.

For

example,

blass,

besides its literal meaning 'pa le', can

have afigur tivesense 'vague, faint', e.g.eine blasse Ahnung, 'a

vague suspicion',

filler A conventionalized word or phrase used in conversation to

give the speaker time to think or express a reaction, e.g.

selbstverstndlich,dasgibt's doch gar nicht.

finite verb(dasinit

Verb)

A verb form used with a subject and

agreeing with it through th e ending, e.g.er

machte,

ihr

kommt

an,

er

hat

es gesagt.

F inite fo rms of the verb are distinguished in

this way from the 'non- finite' forms, i.e. the *participles and the

infinitive.

gender(das Genus) A gramm atical classification system of

nouns indicated in German by the d ifferent forms of the

* determ iners used with a particular nou n, e.g.derTisch, die Luft,

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das Heft.

German has three genders: masculine, feminine and

neuter, see 3.1.

genitive{der Genitiv) see ca se.

government{die Rektion) The requirement that a particular

verb or preposition should be followed by a noun phrase in a

particular case. Thus, in German, we say that

ohne

'governs' a

noun phrase in the accusative andhelfen'governs' a noun phrase

in the dative.

Hochdeutsch The codified,

official

*variety of German as used

in all the G erman-speaking countries, see 1.2.

i d io m{die Redewendung) A set phrase with a special meaning

which cannot be understood by taking the words individually,

e.g.schwer

auf Draht

('on the ball'), see 2.4.

impera t ive mo od{der Imperativ) The form of the verb used to

give commands, e.g.

Bleib da Stellen Sie

sich dasvor

impe r fec t t ense

see

pa st ten se.

indicative moo d{derIndikativ) The form of the verb used to

make statements, ask questions, etc., e.g.

Sie kam

aus dem

Haus,

Bringen Sie

es mir morgen?

indirect object{das indirekte Objekt) A verb Com plement

which typically refers to a person indirectly

affected

by the action

of the verb in some way, for instance by receiving the direct

objec t, e.g.Ich gab

ihrem Bruder

das Geld.In German the

indirect ob ject is in the dative case, whilst in English it either

precedes the direct object or is in a phrase introduced byto, e.g. /

gave

her brother

the money

or

I

gave the money

to her brother.

indirect speech{die indirekte Rede) Also called 'repo rted

speech': a construction in which what someone said is

incorporated into our own sentence rather than quoted directly.

Compare 'direct speech'Ersagte: Ich binkrank with 'indirec t

speech'Ersagte, dass erkranksei,see 4.5.3.

infinitive{derInfinitiv) The base form of a verb (as typically

listed in dictionaries). In German it ends in -en or -n,e.g.

schlagen,ziehen,verhandeln.When used with another verb it is

usually preceded byzuin the so-called 'infinitive clause'{der

Infinitivsatz

), e.g.

Er hat

mir empfohlen,

den

Wagen

in die

Werkstatt zu bringen.

inflection{die Flexion) Changing the form of a word to show

different grammatical categories, e.g. for case and plu ral with

nouns, or tense, mood, person and number with verbs.

Traditionally the 'in flection ' of nouns and adjectives is referred

to as 'declens ion', the 'inflection' of verbs as 'conjug ation',

inseparable verb{das untrennbare Verb) A prefixed verb whose

*prefix isnot stressed and rem ains attached to the verb in all types

of sentence construction. The main inseparable verb prefixes of

German are:

be-, emp-,

ent-,

er-, ge-,

ver-

and

zer-

y

see 2.3.4.

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in te r jec t ion(die Interjektion)

A

part of speech such as

ah oh

ach

etc.

expressing a reaction or response,

in transi t ive verb(das intransitive Verb) A verb which does not

govern a direc t object in the accusative case, e.g.bleiben , fallen,

see 4.1.

inversion

(die Inversion)

We speak of 'inversion ' or 'inverted

word order' in G erman if the verb precedes the subject, for

instance in a question, or in a statement w here something o ther

than the su bject occupies the initial position, e.g.Gestern

habe

ich ihn nicht

gesehen,see 5.1.

Konjunktiv see sub junc tive .

modal auxi l iary verb(das Modalverb) In Germ an, the six

verbsdrfen, knnen, mgen, mssen, sollenandwollenare known

as 'modal auxiliary verbs'. T hey are used to express possibility,

permission, obligation, etc., see 4.6.

moda l pa r t ic le

(die Modalpartikel)

Short words such as

aber,

auch,

doch, ja,

nur, etc. which are very characteristic of spoken

German and express the speaker's attitude to what is being said,

see 2.6.

nomina t ive(der Nominativ) see cas e,

n u m b e r (der Numerus) A grammatical category for indicating

th e

difference

between singular and plural. The difference

between

Haus

andHuseror betweenich kommeandwir kommen

is one of'num ber' ,

object(das Objekt) see dir ect ob ject and in dir ec t obje ct,

pa r t ic ip le

(das Partizip)

see pa st par ticip le and pres ent

par t ic ip le .

par t i t ive(der Partitiv) An expression of measurem ent or

quantity, e.g.

ein Stck

Brot,

zwei Flaschen

Wein, see 4.2.4.

passive voice(das Passiv) A verb form using the auxiliary

verbswerden or seinwith the *past participle. T he subject of the

verb in the passive voice is normally the direct object of the

equivalent active construction, e.g. active:Sie

lobte mich

~

passive:Ich

wurde (von ihr) gelobt,

see 4.4.

past par t ic ip le(das zweite Partizip) A non-finite verb form

used as an adjective or with an auxiliary verb to form the

perfec t tense or the passive,e.g.gemacht, gestanden, zerbrochen.

past tense(das Prteritum) A simple tense (i.e. one formed

without an auxiliary verb) mainly used to relate events which

occurred before the present mom ent, e.g.es machte, es brach,

es

zerfiel, see 4.3.2. This tense is sometimes called the 'imp erfect

tense' in English grammars of Germ an, bu t this is a misleading

term which is best avoided,

perfect tense(das Perfekt) A tense formed with the present

tense of the auxiliary verbshaben or seinand the past participle,

e.g.

Ich

habe gegessen,

Sie

ist angekommen.

It is used to relate past

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events to the m oment of speaking and, especially in spoken

Germa n, to repo rt past events, see 4.3.2.

person(die Person) A gramm atical category of the verb by

which we show thedifferencebetween the person(s) speaking

('first' person, i.e.

ich,

wir),the person(s) spoken to ('second'

person , i.e.

du, ihr,;

Sie)

and other person(s) or thing(s) spoken

about ('third ' person, i.e.er, sie,es).

personal pronoun(das Personalpronomen) Simple words

referring to persons or things such asich, du,

ihm.

phrasal verb(das Funktionsverbgefiige) A combination of a noun

derived fro m a verb and a common verb such asbringen, kommen

ornehmen, e.g.etrv

zum

Abschluss bringen('to finish sth'),

in

Betracht kommen

('to be considered'),

p luperfe ct tense

(das Plusquamperfekt)

A tense formed with the

*past tense of the *auxiliarieshabenorseinand the *past

participle, e.g.

Ich

hatte geschlafen,

Ich war gegangen.

pref ix(das Prfix) An element added to the beginning of a word

or root, e.g.

Anfall,

gestanden, unglaublich.

preposi t ional adverb(das Prpositionaladverb)Words formed

by the combination ofda(r)~with a preposition, e.g.dabei,

darin,

damit

,

see 4.1.5.

preposi t ional object(das Prpositionalobjekt)A * complement

of the verb, linked to it by m eans of a preposition, e.g.

Ich

warte

auf dich, Er

glaubt

an ein Wunder,

see 4.1.4.

present par t ic ip le(das erste Partizip) A non-finite verb form

made by

suffixing

-d

to th e form of the *infinitive, e.g.

spielend,

verbessernd

.

Unlike the corresponding Englishing-

form

(e.g.

playing),

the German present participle is mainly used as an

adjective, see 5.3.

p r inc ipa l pa r t s(die Stammformen des Verbs) Th e three main

inflectional forms of each verb, i.e. the form of the Infinitive, the

*past tense (first person singular) and th e *past participle, e.g.

machen- machte-gemacht', sinken- sank-gesunken,see 3.3.

pro gre ssiv e ten se s In English, the tenses formed with the

*auxiliary verbto beand theing-

form

of the verb, e.g.She is going,

We shall be sailing.

There are no direct equivalents to these in

German.

reflexive ver b(das reflexive Verb) A verb used in combination

with the reflexive pron oun , i.e.

sich

in the third person and the

pronoun corresponding to the subject in the first and second

persons, e.g.sich verabreden.

regis ter(die Textsorte) A language * variety determined by use

and influenced by such factors as medium (i.e. speech or

writing), subject matte r and situation, see 1.1.

re la tive pronou n(das Relativpronomen) A word which

introduces a subordinate clause describing a noun, for instance

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Englishwho,, which,

that,

Germander, die, das

,

etc., e.g.

Die Frau,

Hut

trgt, kenne ich nicht,see 3.5.2.

rhetor ica l quest ion

dfe

rhetorische Frage) A question which is

really a statem ent, as the answer is assumed to be obvious, e.g.

kennt ihn nicht?

Schachtelsatz

A German sentence construction where a

number of clauses are contained within each other, e.g.

D er Autor,

der ein Buch, das dieses Problem behandelt, geschrieben hat,

hat in

der

Nazizeit sehr

gelitten.

As such sentences can be confusing ,

they tend to be avoided in modern G erman, see 5.1.6.

s e ma n t i c(semantisch) Having to do with meaning,

separable verb(das trennbare Verb) A verb with a stressed

prefix which is detached from the verb in some sentence types

(e.g. in statements) and fo rms the second part of the verbal

bracket, e.g.ankommen: Wirkommenheuteum fnf Uhran, see

2.3.5.

s t ress(die Betonung) In all words of more than one syllable in

English and German, one syllable, known as the 'stressed'

syllable, is pronounced with more force than the others. T his is

indicated in this book by the sym bol

1

before the stressed syllable,

e.g.Be

l

tonung, 'Anfang,,

lebendig.

s trong verb(das starke Verb) A verb whose principal parts are

made by altering the vowel (i.e. by

* Ablaut)

and which has the

suffix

-en

in the past participle , e.g.

schwimmen

-

schwamm

-

geschwommen

,see 3.3.

sub jec t

(das Subjekt)

The noun or pronoun (in the nominative

case) which determines th e ending of the verb, i.e. with which

the verb 'agrees' in person and number. In statements in the

active voice the subject is typically the person or thing

perform ing an action, e.g.Der

Stein fiel

mir

aufden Kopf.

sub junc tive moo d (der Konjunktiv) A verb category mainly

used in German to show indirect speech or in conditional

sentences, see 4.5.

subordinate c lause

(der Nebensatz)

Also called 'dependent

clause'. A clause, usually introduced by a conjun ction, which

func tions as part of another clause (e.g. as subject, object,

adjective, adverbial) on which it depends. In German subordinate

clauses the finite verb is typically the second p art of the verbal

bracket, e.g.Die Frau, die sehr kleinwar,; konnte es nicht

erreichen(the subordinate clause has the func tion of an adjective

qualifyingFrau);

Als er ankam,

waren ihre Brder

schon fort

(the

subordinate clause plays the role of an adverbial of time),

suf fix (das

Suffix)

An element added to the end of a word or

root, e.g.Bedeutung, gelblich, machte

.

A grammatical

suffix,

as in

machte

,

is often termed an 'ending ',

superlative

(der Superlativ)

see com par ison .

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ta g qu es ti on In English, the short questions with an auxiliary

verb at the end of the sentence, e.g.

He's

coming,

isn't he?

topic(das Thema) Also called 'theme'. The first stressed

element in a sentence typically refe rs to something 'giv en'

(having been mentioned previously) or 'known ' to both speaker

and listener. This is the 'topic' of the sentence and some 'new' or

'unknown' information (known as the 'comm ent' or 'rhem e') is

given about it. In German main clause statements the topic

typically occurs in first position befo re the finite verb, see 5.1.

Thus the sentenceDieses BuchhatsieinUlm gekauftstarts with

an element(dieses Buch)which has just been referred to (the

'topic'), and says something about it.

transitive verb(das transitive Verb) A verb governing a direct

object (in th e accusative case), e.g.schlagen, verbessern,see 4.1.

UmgangsspracheThe register of everyday speech in modern

German, often coloured with regionalisms, see 1.1 and 1.2.

va r ian t(die Variante) A word, sound or grammatical form

typical of a particular variety, see chap te r 1.

var ie ty(die Variett) A particular form of language with

differences

characteristic of a particular region, social group,

speech situation or medium, etc. *Hochdeutsch, dialects,

*Umgangssprache

,

registers are all 'varieties' of Ge rman, see

chapter 1.

valency/valence(dieValenz) A term often used to refer to the

types of complem ent found with a particular verb or the kinds

of object it governs, see 4.1.

verbal nou n(das Verbalsubstantiv)A noun formed from a verb,

either the infinitive used as a noun, e.g.das Kommen,or some

other form of derivation, e.g.die Bedeutung(frombedeuten)or

der Bruch(frombrechen).

weak mascu l ine no un(das schwache Maskulinum) A masculine

noun which fo rms its genitive case with the ending-en, e.g.des

Menschen, des Franzosen,see 3.2.1.

weak verb(das schwache Verb) A verb which forms its past

tense and past participle with the ending-t ,e.g.

machen

-

machte

-

gemacht,

see 3.3.

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bbreviations and conventions

acc

accusative case

adj

adjective

AU Austrian usage, see 1.2.3

CH

Swiss usage, see 1.2.3

conj

conjunction

dat

dative case

demon

demonstrative

Engl English

esp

especially

etw

etwas

fem

feminine gender

Fr

French

fut

future tense

gen

genitive case

Ger German

intr

intransitive verb

id

jemand

jdn

jemanden

jdm

jemandem

jds

jemandes

masc

masculine gender

N

No rth Germ an, see 1.2.3

NE

Northeast Germ an, see 1.2.3

NW

Northwest Germ an, see 1.2.3

neut neuter gender

nom

nominative case

occ occasionally

perf

perfect tense

pi

plural

pluperf

pluperfect tense

prep

preposition

pres presen t tense

pron

pronounced; pronoun

R1

spoken colloquial register, see 1.1.5

Rl*

vulgar, see 1.1.5

R2

neutral register, see 1.1.5

R3 formal written register, see 1.1.5

R3a

literary register, see 1.1.5

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R3b

non-literary written register, see 1.1.5

S

South Germ an, see 1.2.3

sb

somebody

SE

Southeast German, see 1.2.3

sing

singular

sth something

subj

subject

SW

Southwest German, see 1.2.3

tr

transitive verb

or

Where necessary, a stressed syllable is indicated by

1

before the

syllable, e.g.derMafor, dasKontinent, bersetzen,'umziehen.

Where appropriate the plural of a noun is indicated in brackets

after the noun, e.g.derVater ("), die Frau(-en),der Lehrer (-),

der

Stuhl (

"e).

If the genitive singular of a noun does not end in~(e)sit is given

with th e p lural in the following way (see 3.2):der Bube (-n-n),

der Mensch (-en, -en),derName (-ns, n).

Adjectives used as nouns (see 3.4.4) are indicated in the following

way:der

Beamte(r),

der Fremde(r),

dasAu ere(s).

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Varieties of language

Germ an is spoken as a native language by about 100 million people in

at least fifteen European countries. Th is constitutes by far the largest

speech community in Western and Central Europe. It is anofficialstate

language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and

Luxembourg. It has recognized regional status in areas of Belgium,

Denmark, Italy and Romania and, even after the expulsion and

resettlement of large numbers of German speakers after the Second

World War, it still accounts for sizeable long-established minorities in

France, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. It

also has a vast range in te rms of possible uses: for everyday

conversation, formal speech, technical writing, journalism, literature

(in the widest sense), and so on.

Given this broad geographic spread and the num ber of uses to which

it is pu t, it is quite natural that it is subject to considerable variation.

Different words, grammatical constructions and sentence types are

used depending o n who is speaking or writing, to whom, on what topic,

in what circumstances, in what region. Most people can choose to

speak formally or informally as they feel appropria te in a given

situation. S tuden ts, for instance, express themselves in very differen t

ways when discussing politics or sport with f riend s in a

cafe,

talking to

their parents or a lecturer, writing a seminar paper or a letter of

application for a job. Th e spoken language also

differs

markedly from

Berlin to Cologne, Mu nich, Z rich or Vienna. The re can be substantial

differences

between the written Germ an of a modern novel, a serious

newspaper, a history book and a travel guide. All these differen t form s

arevarietiesof German, and we can identify those characteristic

features, thevariants

,

w hich go to make up each variety.

In the process of learning their own language native speakers

develop an awareness of the variants available to them and a degree of

competence in using those w hich are appropriate to a given situation.

Th ey also develop a keen sensitivity towards such variation, so that

when they hear or read a particular variant in an inappropriate context

it will sound out of place, and possibly comical,

affected,

pompous,

slipshod - or even rude . Clearly, this presents problems, and potential

traps, for foreign learners. In order to communicate

effectively

in

German they have to go through a much more conscious process of

acquiring the ability to recognize and use those form s which are right

for each particular situation. T his is not always straightforward because

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there are no hard and fast rules - it is not a matter of grammar - and

the language is most

often

presented to foreign learners, certainly in the

early stages, in a unifo rm variety which can be rathe r artificial and

removed fro m actual everyday usage. Initial confro ntation w ith

Germ an as it is used in day-to-day situations, with all its variation, can

be confusing or

frustrating

- for example when learners find that

laboriously learn t grammatical constructions amuse native speakers if

they are used in everyday conversation, or w hen they are told that a

particular word or expression is 'not used h ere ', possibly with th e

implication that it is not very good German. But developing

competence in handling variation appropriately is an essential aspect of

mastering the languagefully,as much for the foreign learner as for the

native speaker.

Within the scope of this book it would be impossible to give a

detailed account of all the varieties of modern German. T hey are in any

case not clearly defined; distinctions between individual varieties are

not clear-cut and each one tends to shade into the next. This book

identifies some of the most freq uen t variants which native speakers

have at their com mand and which the advanced foreign learner is most

likely to encoun ter. Th is is done by explaining in detail the major

factors which

affect

choice between variants. These factors can be

usefully divided into two categories: those relating to the

uses

which the

language serves and those relating to the

users

of the language, in

particular to th e social groups to which they belong.

N O T E

:

More extensive information on variation in Germ an can be

found in Barbour

Stevenson (1990), Clyne (1995) and Stevenson

(1997). T he account he re draws on these w orks and has also benefited

from the analysis of register in French in R. E. Batchelor and M . H .

Offord,

Using French,

3rd edn (Cambridge 2000), on which the

num bering in 1.1.5 is based.

1.1 Var ieties accord ing to use: reg ister

The form s used by native speakers are influenced by factors like subject

matter (i.e. what they are talking about), medium (i.e. are they speaking

or writing?) and situation (i.e. where they are saying it and who they are

talking to). Variation of this kind, which depends on the use to which

the language is being pu t, is commonly known asregister variation. A

registeris a type, or stylistic level of language (e.g. colloquial, informal,

formal, technical, etc.), which is influenced by factors of this kind.

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1.1.1 Medium

The first crucial distinction

affecting

register is that between spoken

and w ritten language. When we are writing we have more time to

consider w hat we are saying and how we are saying it, to be precise in

expression, and to formulate more carefully than in the flow of speech.

As a result written language tends to be more elaborate and complex

than spoken language. And because there is no direct contact with the

person being addressed, more detailed explanation and more formal

coherence are necessary than , for example, in a conversation with a

close frien d, when we can leave words out, break sentences o ff and be

less precise in ou r use of w ords and still be perfectly well unders tood.

As a result, written language is structured more formally and precisely

and exhibits a greater deg ree of organization in every aspect. I t has a

more extensive vocabulary, with distinctions of m eaning which are

often ignored in the spoken language. There are grammatical forms,

such as, in German, the presen t subjunctive, the genitive case and the

past tense, which are used more sparingly (if at all) in everyday spoken

German than in writing. Sentences tend to be longer, with a more

complex struc ture. Regionalisms are very limited and are largely

restricted to a few items of vocabulary, principally those characteristic

of the different German-speaking countries.

Spoken German, on the other hand, is characterized in general by

considerable deviation from the formal norms of sentence construction

which are adhered to in writing. Sentences are often incomplete (often

just nouns or phrases withou t a verb), there are many broken or

elliptical construc tions, repe titions and phrases added or inserted as

afterthoughts without linking them properly to the rest of the sentence.

There are fewer subordinate clauses, and main-clause constructions are

the ru le. Filler words, like the modal particles(aber, doch, denn

,

etc., see

2.6), hesitation m arkers(h, mhm,etc.), interjections and comment

clauses

(sehen

Sie,

weit du,

etc.), are very comm on. Regionalisms are

almost inevitably present to some degree, and these become more

marked the fu rth er south one goes (see 1.2.2).

Despite the app arent paradox, not all writing is in the 'written '

register as described above, and not all speech is in the 'spoken'

register. We can imitate natura l speech in writing, and many modern

popular novelists and the popular press use a variety which is close to

it. However, in practice this is restricted to certain characteristic w ords

and expressions, and possibly some phonetic con tractions such as

sehenseforsehen Sie.T he lax sentence constructions which are typical

of spontaneous in formal speech (see the examples in 1.4.2) are rarely

found in any form of writing, no t least because they are conventionally

felt to be 'inco rrec t'. Similarly, characteristic written forms may be

spoken, often in the m ost form al situations, e.g. a sermon, a public

lecture, a parliamentary speech or a news broadcast; as often as not

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these are given from a prepared text. It is also broadly true that written

Germ an has been moving closer to speech in m any ways over the last

fifty

years. Th is is a development which is typical of English and other

languages, too, and it is generally seen as a result of the increasing

importance of the spoken medium in the m odern world, especially in

radio and television. In G erman, tho ugh, it is also probably due in part

to the more widespread use of standard German

(Hochdeutsch),

rather

than the dialects, in the everyday speech of most Germ an speakers (see

1.2.2 .

1.1.2 Subject m att er

W hat is being talked or w ritten abou t can influence the way it is

expressed. A discussion of politics calls for a whole range of vocabulary

and fo rms which would be inappropriate in other areas. Every activity

and field of study has its own special terminology and expressions, and

these are used irrespective of situation: the same characteristic forms

may be used by a politician in a television interview, in a newspaper

article or between

friends.

But this is not always so: an electric light

bulb is, in the everyday spoken register of Germ an,

die (Glh)birne,

but

in the specialist register of electricians it is

die (Glh)lampe.

Similarly,

doctors regularly use differen t terms for diseases or conditions w hen

talking to other doctors from those they use to their patients. A lthough

subject m atter most obviously influences the choice of vocabulary, it is

important to realize that, in modern German, it also

affects

grammar

and sentence construction. Much non-literary w riting in Germ an

favours form s and constructions which are found lessoften,for

instance, in a modern novel. T he passage in 1.6.4 gives many

characteristic examples of these. Thu s, there areformswhich are

generally regarded as more appropriate to talk or (especially) write

about a particular range of subject ma tter.

1.1.3 Situation

Th e term situationrefer s to the whole context in w hich the language is

being used - especially in speech, as there is naturally little inherent

variation in written situations. With the important exception of

letter-writing, which is a special case, a writer does not have a personal

relationship to the reader. As a consequence, the m ost formal register

variants are typically selected in writing, as was shown in 1.1.1. On the

other hand, situation is the most important factor underlying register

variation in speech, and it appears typically in the degree of formality

in the words, expressions and constructions used.

This variation depends, first, on the context in which people are

speaking. Some contexts are inherently more structured and formal

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than others and may be taken as requiring a correspondingly high

register level. Some typical cases were mentioned at the end of 1.1.2,

but colleagues in an

office,

fo r example, often employ a greater degree

of formality in a meeting with set procedures than they w ould in the

normal course of everyday business. However, the notion of 'sp ee ch

situation' is usually defined more widely, to include the relationship

between the people talking, and this plays a crucial part in the selection

of a particular register.

In general, the use of more formal language when we speak is

considered a mark of deference to the person addressed, and this forms

part of social conventions of politeness. Conversely, the use of an

inappropriately casual form may be interpreted as showing a lack of

respect. Mo st of the factors which

affectthe choice of register are

linked to norm s of social behaviour in th isway.T his is certainly the

case with genderdifferences.For example, many German m en feel it

appropriate to adopt a more form al mode of speech when addressing a

woman than a man. A lthough this is less true than it was a hun dred

years ago, it is by no means unusual, particularly in the higher social

classes, when the m an in question does not know the w oman personally,

or among older people or in certain areas, like in Austria. M ore

generally, though, there are num erous form s (especially vulgarisms

such

asArschloch, Scheie, vgeln,

see 1.1.5) which are avoided by many

Germans in mixed company, although they can be used fairly freely in

exclusively male or female gatherings.

The role of age is similar. It is still taken as a mark of respect to use a

more form al register when speaking to people older than oneself. Th is

is perhaps m ore widely expected by adults from children and young

people in the Germ an-speaking countries than is the case in Britain or

the USA , and failure to observe these conventions may be resented. On

the other hand, a different form of speech, with simpler grammar and

special words, is often used towards young (especially pre-school age)

children. In general, too, a less formal tone is adopted towards all

children up to the age of fourteen or so, with the universal use ofdu

towards them, although this may be determined less by theirageper se

than by their social status as dependants.

In conversations between adults, the relative social status of the

participants is often the crucial factor in setting the register level.

People in a subordinate social situation, such as a shopkeeper to a

customer, an employee to a boss, a studen t to a professor, often signal

this more deferential relationship by the use of a more formal speech

style than is normal between equals. Failure to do so may indeed have

serious social consequences, e.g.Ich kaufe nicht mehr bei Meyer, der redet

einen so grob an,as with the transgression of any other social

conventions.

How someone wishes to be seen by the person he or she is addressing

is also relevant here. People in a subordinate position, like those just

mentioned, sometimes express themselves in a particular manner in

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order to confirm the ir position to the person they are speaking to.

Alternatively, by using

different,

m ore casual form s, they may assert a

measure of equality, like an employee to a boss in the course of an

industrial dispute. In this way, we can adopt roles and presen t ourselves

in a particular manner through our speech. It has been noticed that

some G erman politicians choose an especially earthy or racy casual

register, very marked by regionalisms, when talking to ru ral

constituents in o rder to appeal to them as equals. Thi s is likely to be

very diffe rent from the one they habitually use in the Bundestag. Some

people signal their contem pt for all social conventions by ignoring

linguistic ones as well. They deliberately use the least formal register to

everybody, including those who might be seen as their superiors. T his

attitud e was particularly noticeable after 1968 among radical studen t

groups in West Germany, and it may still be encountered . In general,

thoug h, the use of a less formal register most often marks a measure of

equality and intimacy with the pe rson addressed. O ne clear indicator of

this in German is the switch from S ie todu.

1 1 4 Register and regiona lism

There is a strong correlation between these varieties which depend on

variations in usage and varieties which depend on variation in the users,

which are explained in 1.2. As a rule, the extent of regionalisms in a

German native speaker's speech increases in proportion to the degree

of informality in the register. The most formal register, especially w hen

written , is fairly unifo rm over the whole of the Germ an speech area,

with regional variation limited to a few items of vocabulary. The casual

register of everyday speech, on the oth er ha nd, is widely characterized

by regionalisms in pronunciation, gramm ar and vocabulary.

1 1 5 Indica ting register

The re are no absolute, clear-cut divisions between different registers of

German. However, for the practical purposes of giving inform ation

about register in this book it is usefu l to divide up the scale of register

into three main types. We can describe these roughly as 'inform al

colloquial', 'neutral' and 'formal written', although the latter needs to

be subdivided into 'literary' and 'non-literary'. In the rest of the book

words and form s whose use is typically restricted to one of these

registers are marked by using the labels R l , R2 and R3 (if necessary

split into R3a and R3b) to indicate these restrictions in

register-dependent usage:

R l : The typical register of everyday colloquial speech, usually

referred to as

Umgangssprache

or

Alltagssprache

in German. It is used

between equals in informal situations to discuss everyday topics, and it

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is the natural mode of speech for most native speakers of Germ an,

irrespective of the d egree of education . A rticulation is rathe r careless,

and unstressed syllables and words tend to be reduced or elided. Some

grammatical forms, like the genitive case or the present subjunctive, are

not found in this register, and th ere is some simplification in

inflectional forms, as with the -

en

ending of weak masculine nouns,

which is often dropped in this register (e.g.

dem Polizist

rather than

dem

Polizisten).Sentence co nstruction is typically rather loose compared

with the form al struc tures of writing. In spontaneous speech we

hesitate, correct ourselves, have afterthoughts, repeat ourselves and

break off sentences to go off along another track. Sentences are very

often incomplete because much is understood by implication; we can

rely on the person we are talking to to supply what is not said. In

matters of vocabulary there is a fondness for exaggeration, and m any

words, likekriegenorklappen,are

effectively

restricted to th is register

because they are considered too 'casual' or 'colloquial' for writing.

There may also be a lack of precision in the vocabulary, with

all-purpose w ords being used when the speaker cannot think of an exact

term . Inform al speech usually has substantial regional colouring. In its

characteristic form it is rarely w ritten, although some writing (e.g.

mod ern novels and th e popular press) may imitate certain features of it.

This register has a wide range, from a normal conversational style

which is socially quite acceptable to gross vulgarisms. The latter mainly

concern items of vocabulary which correspond to the notorious

four-le tter words of English and which are indicated here by the label

R l* . Words designated like this are generally thought of as offensive.

Th ey tend to sound particularly objectionable when used with a foreign

accent, and the foreign learner is best advised simply to note them and

to avoid using them.

R2: T his label indicates words, forms and expressions which are

neutra l in respect of register, i.e. those which are not specific to either

informal colloquial speech or form al writing, and which can be used

equally in all registers. In practice, most words, forms and expressions

of Germ an fall into this category, so that any form no t specifically

marked for register in th is book is to be taken as belonging to it. M ost

modern in troducto ry m aterial for foreign learners tends to use a type of

language which falls und er this heading and is neither colloquial nor

formal.

However, there are a fair number of words, forms and expressions

whose use is best defined negatively, i.e. they are typically used over a

range of register

exceptin colloquial speech, orexceptin formal writing.

Such usage is indicated in this book by the labels R 2 /3 or R l / 2

respectively. Other form s may be not absolutely restricted in the ir

usage to a single register, bu t if they are particularly comm on in Rl or

R3 this is indicated as 'esp. R l ' or 'esp. R 3 \

R3 : By this label we indicate the register of mo dern written German,

with the complex sentence struc tures and elaborate vocabulary typical

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of the written m edium . Regionalism is minimal and is usually limited

to a few items of vocabulary. It is spoken only in th e most formal

situations, and then typically fro m a prepared text. In this case, the

pronunciation is much m ore careful and clear than in R l. In grammar,

the formal requirements of standardHochdeutsch,as set out in the

recognized au thorities, is adhered to w ith very little deviation. T he

choice of words is more carefu l (because we have time to th ink about

the best word for the context), and fine distinctions of meaning are

observed which m ay be ignored in everyday usage. It is usefu l to

distinguish two major types of this register, basically differentiated in

terms of subject matter, as follows.

R3 a: T he literary language as established and codified from the late

eighteenth century on, and still used in much formal writing, especially

works of literature and the serious press. It may have a rather archaic or

scholarly ring to it, bu t it

enjoysgreat prestige through formal

education, and it is still widely regarded as the only 'goo d' or 'corre ct'

form of Germ an, w ith deviations from it in other registers (even R3b)

considered as deficiencies.

R3b: Modern non-literary prose of all kinds, as found in business

letters,

official

documents, instruction manuals, popular scholarship,

writing in science, philosophy, economics, etc. Its most striking feature

is the preference for noun constructions over verb constructions; main

clauses prevail as contrasted to the complex sentences with dependent

clauses characteristic of R3a. Such features of R3b have been widely

criticized by pu rists (who think th at old-fashioned R3a is the only kind

of German which ought to be used in writing) as

Papierdeutsch

or

Beamtendeutsch, and at its worst this register can be ludicrously

pom pous and impenetrable. However, at its best it has a notable

conciseness, and most Germans consider it appropriate for

non-fictional w riting of all kinds.

It m ust be stressed that these categories are a considerable

simplification. The scale of register is continuous, and there are no

natural divisions. Each of the categories above covers a wide range of

often very different types of G erman. R l, for example, ranges from

wholly acceptable conversational language, as used every day by most

Germ an speakers, to the kind of gross vulgarisms indicated by Rl* in

this book which are avoided except in very special cases. The other

registers have no less wide a range: R3b includes, fo r instance, the very

precise and considered expression of an editorial in

Die

Zeitand the

unnecessary verbosity of an

official

pronou ncement. But there is still

enough similarity in some essential features to make these broad

categorizations

useful,

w hilst to try to identify a larger number of

categories would simply be confusing.

Equally, these labels are only a very rough guide to usage. T he scale

of register is continuous; there are no na tural divisions and language

users are rarely consistent. However, the labels are handy and easy to

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operate w ith, and they are usefu l in giving an initial indication of the

restrictions on the use of particularforms.M uch speech or writing

cannot be assigned as a whole to one of the above categories, and more

than anything it is a question of the greater or lesser use of those

variants which are typical of one register or another. For example, a

political discussion between f riend s in a

cafe

might d rift between R2

and

R1

(with m ore of the latter as the evening wears on), but with

certain features of R3b if they use words and phrasing typical of the

way their sub ject matter is treated in newspapers and in television

broadcasts by practising politicians. Some m odern novelists, like

G nter Grass, use the lexical and syntactic elaborateness which is

typical of R3a, but w ith a fair leavening of Rl , often vulgar, variants.

Oth er recent writers try to avoid the complexity of R3a and aim at a

more inform al register level, using variants which are p redom inantly

neutral R2.

1.2 Varieties accord ing to user: reg iona lism

Oth er varieties of language relate to the social group(s) to which people

belong. We can freq uently observe people, quite unconsciously, using

form s and expressions which indicate their m embership of a particular

group. Small groups of young people, say, at a particular school or

college, often have a range of slang form s and expressions w hich are

peculiar to the group; th e use of these excludes outsiders and signals

mem bership of this 'in ' group.

Variation according to user is equally typical of very much larger

social groups. Within the G erm an speech area we come across

linguistic variation which is related to the social class of a speaker and

to the region which he or she comesfrom.Sometimes the two factors

are linked, as is typically the case in Eng land: Eliza Doolittle, in George

Bernard Shaw'sPygmalion, is marked by her speech as a lower-class

Londoner. Th is is less freq uen t in Germany, where, especially in the

South, regional variants are used by members ofallsocial classes. In

fact, in the G erman-speaking countries th e influence of social class is

most often seen in the ability (or willingness) to use a particular register,

as we saw earlier, and less educated speakers may characteristically be

less competent in m ore formal registers. Given the correlation between

more colloquial registers and the degree of regionalism, this m ay have

the secondary

effect

tha t such speakers use more regional varieties.

However, it is imp ortan t fo r English learners of Germ an to be aware

that , as a general rule, such local varieties, accents or dialects may be

widely accepted and used by all sections of society in a way that is not

found in England or some of the other English-speaking countries.The

kind of social stigmatism which in England is commonly attached to

broad accents like Eliza Doolittle's is much less usual in the German

Rl = spoken

colloquial

Rl* = vulgar

R2 = neutral

R3 = formal

R3a = literary

R3b = non-literary

(see 1.1.5)

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speech area, although it is not unknown and may be increasing,

especially in the large nor thern industrial conurbations like the

Ruhrgebiet

or Berlin. On the other hand, a standard Germ an

pronunc iation lacks the clear association with p restigious social groups

which is so characteristic of

Received Pronunciation

in Britain.

1.2.1 Reg ionalism and standard Ger ma n

Regional variation is an important feature of German and the learner

will encounter it at a much earlier stage and to a much greater degree

than , say, in Fre nch . We need first to look at it in relation to th e

standard German which is taught to foreign learners. This variety

(Hochdeutsch, die deutsche Hochsprache)

arose from the time of Luthe r

onwards as a

written

standard language for the whole of the Germ an

speech area. In the te rms we are using, it was restricted to R3; even

nowadays, it is still frequently referred to as

Schriftdeutsch.

In its

mo dern form , which is labelled R3 in this book, it has a unifo rm

spelling, which has been recently revised (see 6.1) and fo r which the

DudenRechtschreibung(2000) is regarded as authoritative. Its gramm ar

also has a unifo rm codification of what is considered to be 'correct'

German, and the Duden Grammat

using german.pdf

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