Graf von Anderson's College German Grammar and Culture

Christian Anderson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000366518
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Idiomas

Graf von Anderson's College German Grammar and Culture is a beginners' textbook (CEFR A1-B2, ACTFL novice low – intermediate low) for the German language for college students and for those engaged in self-study with popular software programs and apps.

In addition to illuminating profiles of key places and individuals who helped shape German history from Roman times to the present day, the textbook also includes important cultural briefings. Chapter by chapter the book delineates the scope of the German language, beginning with "ich", and moving on to subjects and verbs. Later chapters introduce cases, indirect and direct objects, prepositions, tenses, moods, and adjectives. Each chapter includes challenging exercises, and an answer key is provided. The rich cultural component in each chapter includes a travel guide, a historical snapshot, several musical selections, and a German text to read.

This book is a straightforward and thorough introduction to the basic structures of German grammar and provides an overview of selected highlights of German culture to engage and enthuse.

1
Basic structures of reality

ich / nicht ich

This chapter begins with the fundamental distinction between self and other developed by the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte in 1794.

This basic distinction, a sort of first principle, is made in the following manner:

• Point at yourself and say ich.
• Then, point at anything else and say nicht ich.

Remember that unlike the English “I”, ich is not capitalized, unless it stands at the beginning of a sentence. Nicht means “not” – you should think of it like the negation sign in symbolic logic.

Point at yourself once again and say ich, and then point at the wall and say nicht ich. Then point at yourself again and say ich. Then point at the ceiling, the floor, and the window, saying nicht ich each time. For extra practice, you could wander around your dorm, neighborhood, or even New York City, pointing at yourself and saying ich and then pointing at objects and at other people while saying nicht ich.

Congratulations. You are essentially fluent.

ich / nicht ich 2.0

The next step is to name all of the nicht ich things – this is called “vocabulary” in English and Wortschatz (literally: word treasure) in German. Many students find the acquisition and expansion of Wortschatz difficult, as there are, indeed, many, many words to learn.

Let’s begin with the rest of the basic pronouns. So far, we have learned that ich means “I”. Now, let’s learn the German words for we, you, he, she, it, and they, and then we can learn the nouns in the next section.

Moving beyond the simple ich / nicht ich dichotomy, we discover a world with SIX MAJOR CATEGORIES OF BEING, three singular and three plural.

	Singular	Plural
1st person	ich	wir
2nd person	du	ihr
3rd person	er, sie, es	sie

Compare these pronouns to English:

	Singular	Plural
1st person	I	we
2nd person	you	you
3rd person	he, she, it	they

Note that the second person has a singular form and a plural form. The pronoun du looks and sounds very much like “you”, as in “Hey, you!” The pronoun ihr is the plural of du, and it rhymes with wir, which is the plural of ich. Perhaps you have heard someone say, “Hey, y’all!” or even “Hey, youse guys!” That’s ihr: “you, plural”.

Notice also that the third person singular has three genders: er, sie, and es. There is only one third person plural, sie.

Students often ask at this point, with a mixture of disbelief and anxiety, how sie can possibly mean “she” and also “they”. You will simply have to have faith that it works.

Why? Because Sie also means “you”. German, like many other languages, but unlike modern English, has a form of the second person used to maintain appropriate social distance with those with whom one is not on familiar terms. This formal Sie is always capitalized, and, like the English “you”, it is used in the singular and plural.

Here’s the complete table:

	Singular	Plural
1st person	I = ich	we = wir
2nd person	you = du or Sie	you = ihr or Sie
3rd person	he, she, it = er, sie, es	they = sie

Undoubtedly, you will need to re-read this section several times as you begin your German studies. Perhaps read the following explanations now, and then re-read from the beginning before moving on from the pronouns to the nouns.

The FIRST PERSON exists in German exactly as it exists in English.

Singular	Ichbinallein.	I am alone.
Plural	Wir sind allein.	We are alone.

The FAMILIAR SECOND PESON exists in a singular and a plural form, unlike standard English.

Singular	Du bist mein Freund.	You are my friend.
Plural	Ihr seid meine Freunde.	You are my friends.

If you are having trouble with du and ihr, think of it this way: Imagine your two best friends, and then point to them, one at a time, and each time say: Du bist mein Freund. I see good old Bob and I say: Bob, du bist mein Freund! And then I see dear old Fred. Fred, du bist mein Freund! Back to Bob: Du bist mein Freund! And then back to Fred again: Du bist mein Freund. Now point at them both simultaneously, maybe using two hands, or maybe moving your pointer finger rapidly from Fred to Bob and then back again: Bob und Fred, ihr seid meine Freunde!

You can and must use the FAMILIAR SECOND PERSON with your family, friends, and classmates. As a general rule, you should use du and ihr when speaking with other college students. In some workplaces, the members of a team or department will use du and ihr with each other, but will use the formal second person with colleagues from other departments and teams, and almost certainly with those from other firms.

The FORMAL SECOND PERSON is very much like standard English.

Singular	Sie sind ein Baron.	You are a baron.
Plural	Sie sind Barone.	You are barons.

The FORMAL SECOND PERSON is used with EVERYONE outside of family members, friends, fellow students, and in some cases, colleagues. The postman, the police officer, the supermarket cashier, your professors (unless they are trying to be young and hip), random panhandlers, and the neighbors should each be addressed with Sie until and unless other arrangements are made.

You will notice that the FORMAL SECOND PERSON is the same for singular and plural, just like the English “you”. This second person Sie is always capitalized, regardless of its location in the sentence.

The THIRD PERSON exists in three singular forms, er, sie, and es, and one plural form, sie.

Singular	Er ist mein Bruder.	He is my brother.
	Sie ist meine Schwester.	She is my sister.
	Es ist mein Kind.	It is my child.
Plural	Sie sind meine Brüder.	They are my brothers.
	Sie sind meine Schwestern.	They are my sisters.
	Sie sind meine Kinder.	They are my children.

German pronouns exist in three genders: masculine er, feminine sie, and neuter es.

The plural pronoun sie is used for all third person plurals regardless of gender. This sie is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

Naming the nicht ichs: nouns

Just like the pronouns, each German noun is assigned one of three genders and a plural form. To learn a German noun involves learning three parts: the word, its gender, and the plural form.

Here are three nouns to begin with:

der Mann, die Männer	the man, the men
die Frau, die Frauen	the woman, the women
das Kind, die Kinder	the child, the children

Notice that each noun has a definite article,¹ der, die, or das, that shows its gender, as well as a plural form. Each of the plurals uses the same definite article, die.

Let’s take a closer look at the German word for “man”.

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