German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily (48 page)
Read German Made Simple: Learn to Speak and Understand German Quickly and Easily Online
Authors: Ph.d. Arnold Leitner
Tags: #German Language
| 1. Mr. Clark was sitting in his office and was about to write a letter which he wanted to send to Germany. |
| 2. Suddenly someone knocked at his door, which was closed as usual. When Mr. Clark called “Come in!” his wife and his four children stepped into the office. |
| 3. The children greeted their father, who embraced them at once. |
| 4. In the office the children admired all the things which they saw for the first time: the big desk, on which many letters and files were lying; the computer which was state-of-the-art, and the beautiful painting which was hanging on the wall over their father’s desk. |
| 5. Charles pointed at a picture postcard that was lying on the desk and asked: “Where does the card come from, dad?” |
| 6. “This card, which I received just now, is from Germany. It is from Mr. Schiller, whom I visit in Germany this summer.” |
| 7. Little Anne, who is only five years old, looked out of the window of the office, which was on the thirty-first story of a skyscraper. “Look, Mom, the cars which ride past on the street, are very small!” |
| 8. “Yes, Anne, and the people who walk down there look like ants.” |
| 9. When the visit was at an end, all went to a restaurant which was located not far from Mr. Clark’s office. Thus the day which had begun with a pleasant surprise for Mr. Clark ended pleasantly for everyone. |
Wortschatz
die Überráschung
pl
. -
en
surprise
der Wolkenkratzer
pl
. - skyscraper
der Stock
pl
.
¨-e
floor (story of building); stick
der Besuch
pl
. -
e
visit
das Gemälde
pl
. - painting
die Akte
pl
. -
n
file
die Ansichtskarte
pl
. -
n
picture postcard
liegen
(
past
lag
) to lie
essen
(
past
ass
) to eat
vorbéi-fahren
(
past
fuhr … vorbei
) to ride past
klopfen
to knock
bewúndern
to admire
hängen
to hang
hináus-schauen, hinaus-blicken
to look out
geschlossen
closed
unten
below, down there
angenehm
pleasant
weit
far
Wichtige Redemittel
im Begriff sein
to be about to
Ich war im Begriff, einen Brief zu schreiben
. I was about to write a letter.
Ich habe Appetít
. I have an appetite.
Ich habe Hunger (Ich bin hungrig
). I am hungry.
Ich habe Durst (Ich bin durstig
). I am thirsty.
Das macht mir Freude
. That gives me pleasure.
sich befinden
to be located
Wo befindet sich das Büro?
Where is the office located?
Es befindet sich in einem Wolkenkratzer
. It is (located) in a skyscraper.
Sprichwörter
| Der Appetit kommt mit dem Essen . | Appetite comes with eating. |
| Der Mensch ist, was er isst . | Man is what he eats. |
1. PRESENT AND PAST OF
essen
to eat
Imperative
:
iss! esst! essen Sie!
2. THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS
der, welcher
| Der Mann , der dort steht, ist mein Bruder . | The man who stands there is my brother. |
| Die Frau , die dort steht, ist meine Schwester . | The woman who stands there is my sister. |
| Das Bild , das dort hängt, ist sehr alt . | The picture which hangs there is very old. |
| Der Mann , den Sie dort sehen, ist ein Arzt . | The man whom you see there is a doctor. |
| Die Frau , die Sie dort sehen, ist Lehrerin . | The woman whom you see there is a teacher. |
| Das Bild , das Sie dort sehen, ist teuer . | The picture that you see there is expensive. |
| Die Füllfeder, mit der ich schrieb, war nicht gut . | The pen with which I wrote was not good. |
| Das Kind , dessen Mutter aus Österreich kommt, heißt Sophie . | The child whose mother is from Austria is called Sophie. |
The relative pronouns in English are:
who (whom), that, which
.
The relative pronouns in German are
der
and
welcher
. The forms of
der
are preferable.
The antecedent of a relative pronoun is the noun (or pronoun) to which it refers.
The relative pronoun agrees in number and gender with its antecedent, but it gets its case from its use in the relative clause; if it is the subject of the clause, it is nominative; if it is the object it is accusative; if it is the indirect object it is dative; if it shows possession it is genitive; if it is after a preposition it has the case the preposition requires.
All relative clauses are subordinate clauses, and therefore they must have subordinate word order, i.e. the verb stands at the end of the clause. A relative pronoun may never be omitted in German. A relative clause must be set off by commas.
Forms of the Relative Pronoun
der
The Relative Pronoun
welcher
The relative pronoun
der
is like the definite article
der
, except in the genitive case singular and plural, and in the dative plural—these cases add a syllable.
The relative pronoun
welcher
(who, that, which) is like the
der
-word
welcher
, except that it is never used in the genitive case.
Exercise 104
Complete these sentences with the correct form of the relative pronoun (
der, die, das
).
Beispiel: 1
. Wo ist der Student,
dessen
Bücher und Hefte hier liegen?
1. Wo ist der Student
, (whose)
Bücher und Hefte hier liegen?
2. Die kleine Anna
, (who)
erst fünf Jahre alt ist, bewunderte alles
.
3. Hier ist der Bleistift
, (which)
Sie suchten
.
4. Wo sind die Leute, mit
(whom)
Sie sprachen?
5. Die Kinder sahen den blauen Himmel
, (that)
wolkenlos war
.
6. Das Restaurant
, (which)
sie besuchten, war nicht weit vom Büro
.
