german grammar_ weak masculine -n nouns, adjectival nouns, infinitive nouns - grammatik der...

8/3/2019 German Grammar_ Weak Masculine -n Nouns, Adjectival Nouns, Infinitive Nouns - Grammatik Der Deutschen Sprac

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Weak nouns existed in

Old English as well. Noticehow closely the declensionof the OE word nama (name )

resembles the modernGerman weak noun Name :

sing. pl.

nom. nama naman

acc. naman naman

dat. naman namum

gen. naman namena

sing. pl.

nom. Name Namen

acc. Namen Namen

dat. Namen Namen

gen. Namen Namen

In fact, both German andEnglish, as many of the other Germanic languages, had a

system of noun inflection. In both languages, the inflectionswere eventually lost, absorbed

into the noun root, or transferred to the article.

The weak nouns are henceamong the last remnants of the older system of usage.

German nouns

Weak nouns & nouns from adjectives and verb innitives

Identifying nouns | Nouns and gender | Gender patterns | Nouns with 2 genders | Compoundnouns

Plural forms | Plural patterns | Weak nouns | Adjectival nouns | Infinitive nouns |GRAMMAR INDEX

Weak nouns / Masculine -n nouns

Weak nouns , also called masculine n-nouns , are a group of masculinenouns in German that have a special declension. In addition to inflectingtheir article, these nouns themselves add an - en or - n ending ( -n if the nounalready ends in - e) in every case and number except the nominativesingular.

singular plural singular plural

Nominative der Neffe

die Neffe n

der Held dieHeld en

Accusative den Neffe n

die Neffe n

denHeld en

dieHeld en

Dative dem Neffe n

den Neffe n

demHeld en

denHeld en

Genitive des Neffe n

der Neffe n

desHeld en

der Held en

Many of the weak nouns refer to people or animals: der Student , derJunge, der Herr , der Nachbar , der Franzose , der Elephant , der Hase ,der Affe . Weak nouns that do not refer to people or animals, add an

additional - s suffix in the genitive singular.


Nominative der Name

die Name n

der Fels dieFels en

Accusative den Name n

die Name n

denFels en

dieFels en

Dative dem Name n

den Name n

demFels en

denFels en

Genitive des Name n s

der Name n

desFels en s

der Fels en

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Some adjectival nouns areformed from the past participlesof verbs, which are sometimesused as adjectives in German.

For example:

fangen = to catch

Most masculine - n nouns are easily identifiable. They are:

1. Masculine nouns that end in an unstressed -e :EX: der Jude , der Lwe , der Erbe .

2. Nouns of foreign origin that have their accent

on the final syllable. The foreign origin isoften evident in the word suffixes ( -ant, -ast,-ent, -et, -ist, -nom, -oph, -ot , etc.): EX: derPolizist , der Assistent , der Philosoph , derDespot , der Astronom , der Gymnasiast .

3. A handful of additional one-syllablemasculine nouns that designate male beings,including animals: EX: der Br , der Christ ,der Mensch , der Prinz , der Narr , derBauer .

Within these rules, there are two anomalies, der Herr , which takes an -nending in the singular declension forms and an -en in the plural forms, anddas Herz , which is a neuter noun that takes on the masculine - n nounsuffixes, except for in the accusative singular.

der Herr das Herz


Nominative der Herr dieHerr en

das Herz dieHerz en

Accusative denHerr n

dieHerr en

das Herz dieHerz en

Dative demHerr n

denHerr en

demHerz en

denHerz en

Genitive desHerr n

der Herr en

desHerz en s

der Herz en



Adjectival nouns

Some masculine and feminine nouns that designate people are sometimesformed from adjectives or participles used as adjectives. While it is

possible to spontaneously create an adjectival noun as needed, some suchnouns have become preferred designations for specific people or things.

adjective definition adjectival noun definition

angestellt employed der / dieAngestellte

employee

arm poor der / die Arme poor person

bekannt known der / dieBekannte

acquaintance

blind blind der / dieBlinde

blind person


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gefangen = caught der /die Gefangene = prisoner

anstellen = to hire, employangestellt = employed

der /die Angestellte = employee

The same is true of present

participles, which are formedin German by adding a -d

suffix to the verb infinitive.For example:

reisen = to travelreisend = traveling

der/die Reisende = traveler

stehen = to standstehend = standing

der/die Stehende = person who is standing

Alles Gute!is a common

adjectival noun phrasethat is used to wish

someone well. Itessentially means

Best wishes!

The convention of

deutsch German der / dieDeutsche

German person

erwachsen grown der / dieErwachsene

adult

fremd foreign der / dieFremde

foreigner

gefangen captive der / dieGefangene

prisoner

gelehrt educated der / dieGelehrte

scholar

geliebt loved der / dieGeliebte

lover

jugendlich youthful der / dieJugendliche

adolescent

krank sick der / dieKranke

sick person

reisend traveling der / dieReisende

traveler

tot dead der / die Tote dead person

verletzt hurt der / dieVerletzte

injured person

verlobt engaged der / dieVerlobte

fianc(e)

verwandt related der / dieVerwandte

relative

Neuter nouns formed from adjectives refer to ideas, concepts, or abstractions.

adjective definition adjec tivalnoun

definition

best- best das Beste the best (thing)

ganz whole das Ganze the whole (thing)

gut good das Gute that which is good

mglich possible dasMgliche

that which is possible

neu new das Neue that which is new

richtig right dasRichtige

that which is right

schn beautiful das Schne that which is

beautiful

teuer expensive das Teure that which isexpensive

wichtig important dasWichtige

that which isimportant

Adjective nouns are always capitalized and take the same endings that theywould have as adjectives.

der / die Bekannte, -nacquaintance

dasBekannte the known

masculine feminine plural neuter


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capitalizing nouns in German became standardized in the

mid-18th century with JohannChristoph Gottscheds

Grundlegung einer deutschenSprachkunst (1748).

Nom der Bekannt eeinBekannt er

dieBekannt eeineBekannt e

dieBekannt enkeineBekannt enBekannt e

dasBekannt eeinBekannt esBekannt es

Acc denBekannt en

einenBekannt en

dieBekannt e

eineBekannt e

dieBekannt en

keineBekannt enBekannt e

dasBekannt e

einBekannt esBekannt es

Dat demBekannt eneinemBekannt en

der Bekannt eneiner Bekannt en

denBekannt enkeinenBekannt enBekannt en

demBekannt eneinemBekannt enBekannt em

Gen desBekannt eneinesBekannt en

der Bekannt eneiner Bekannt en

der Bekannt enkeiner Bekannt enBekannt er

desBekannt en

Remember that adjective endings are determined by the case, gender, andnumber of the noun they describe. The same applies to adjective nouns,except that the gender of the adjectival noun depends on whether it refers toa male or female person or people or whether it refers to an abstractconcept or idea.

Die Verletzt en wurdenins Krankenhausgebracht.

The injured people werebrought to the hospital.

In New York haben wir zwei nett e Deutsch ekennen gelernt.

In New York we met twonice Germans.

Die Namen derJugendlich en hat er vergessen.

He forgot the names of the teenagers.

Als er ankam, hat er dasNeust e erzhlt.

When he arrived, hereported the latest.

Ich tue immer meinBest es .

I always do my best.

When neuter adjective nouns follow the undeclinable indefinite pronounsetwas, nichts, viel, and wenig, they must take the strong adjective endings

because these pronouns do not carry any case information. When the

adjectival nouns follow the declinable pronoun alles , they take weak adjective endings because the pronoun alles is declined to carry the

pertinent case information.

Sie schenkt mir immer etwas Teur es zumGeburtstag.

She always gives me something expensive for my birthday.

Er hat nicht viel Wichtig eszu sagen.

He doesn't have muchof importance to say.

Heute muss ich mich mitviel Neu em beschftigen.

Today I have to occupymyself with lots of newthings.


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Wir haben alles Mglich eschon probiert.

We have tried everything possible.



Innitive nouns

Just about any verb can be made into a noun by capitalizing the infinitive.Such nouns are always neuter and they usually correspond to the gerund(-ing ) form in English.

verb definition infinitivenoun

definition

einkaufen to shop dasEinkaufen

shopping

flstern to whisper dasFlstern

whispering

gehen to go das Gehen going, walking

jammern to whine dasJammern

whining

lachen to laugh das Lachen laughing

schwimmen to swim dasSchwimmen

swimming

trinken to drink das Trinken drinking

Whereas English typically uses such gerunds without an article, Germannoun gerunds are often accompanied by the definite article.

Das Gehen fllt mir schwer.

Walking is difficult for me.

In meinen freien Stundengeniee ich das Lesenspannender Kriminalromane.

In my free time I enjoyreading suspenseful mysteries.

Wann fangen wir mit demKochen an?

When will we start cooking?



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