A. ein-Type Specifiers: ein, kein, mein, sein, ihr, Ihr, unser
I. Forms
1. With der-nouns
| German |
English |
| Hier ist mein Pass. |
Here's my passport. |
| Ich habe meinen Tabak hier. |
I have my tobacco here. |
| Ich fahre mit meinem Wagen. |
I'm going in my car. |
With das-nouns
| German |
English |
| Das ist mein Hotel. |
That's my hotel. |
| Haben Sie mein Gepäck? |
Do you have my luggage? |
| Er wohnt in meinem Hotel. |
He lives at my hotel. |
With die-nouns
| German |
English |
| Meine Heimatstadt ist Berlin. |
My home town is Berlin. |
| Sie kennt meine Frau. |
She knows my wife. |
| Sie kommen aus meiner Heimatstadt. |
They come from my home town. |
With plural nouns
| German |
English |
| Meine Eltern kommen aus New York. |
My parents come from New York. |
| Ich habe meine Zigaretten hier. |
I have my cigarettes here. |
| Er wohnt in der Nähe von meinen Eltern. |
He lives near my parents. |
2. Summary table for mein
|
before der-nouns |
before das-nouns |
before die-nouns |
before plural nouns |
| Nominative |
mein |
mein |
meine |
meine |
| Accusative |
meinen |
mein |
meine |
meine |
| Dative |
meinem |
meinem |
meiner |
meinen (−n) |
3. The ein-type specifiers
The ein-type specifiers include the words ein 'a, an, one' and its negative converse kein 'not a, not an, not any, not one, no' as well as the possessive words mein 'my', sein 'his', ihr 'her, their', Ihr 'your' (the capital is a convention of the writing system), and unser 'our'. Two other possessive words will be introduced in Unit 11.
|
with der-nouns |
with das-nouns |
with die-nouns |
with plural nouns |
| Nominative |
ein |
ein |
eine |
— |
| Accusative |
einen |
ein |
eine |
— |
| Dative |
einem |
einem |
einer |
— |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nominative |
kein |
kein |
keine |
keine |
| Accusative |
keinen |
kein |
keine |
keine |
| Dative |
keinem |
keinem |
keiner |
keinen (−n) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nominative |
sein |
sein |
seine |
seine |
| Accusative |
seinen |
sein |
seine |
seine |
| Dative |
seinem |
seinem |
seiner |
seinen (−n) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nominative |
ihr |
ihr |
ihre |
ihre |
| Accusative |
ihren |
ihr |
ihre |
ihre |
| Dative |
ihrem |
ihrem |
ihrer |
ihren (−n) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nominative |
unser |
unser |
unsere |
unsere |
| Accusative |
unseren |
unser |
unsere |
unsere |
| Dative |
unserem |
unserem |
unserer |
unseren (−n) |
4. Note
Remember that ein occurs only in the singular, but all other ein-type specifiers have a complete set of forms.
II. Uses
1. ein means 'a, an' when unstressed. With slightly increased stress it means 'one'.
2. kein means 'not a, not an, not any, not one, no'.
| German |
English |
| Ich habe keinen Ausweis. |
I haven't any identification card. |
| Er ist kein Deutscher. |
He isn't German. / He's no German. |
| Haben Sie kein Visum? |
Don't you have a visa? / Have you no visa? |
| Wir kennen hier keine Amerikaner. |
We don't know any Americans here. |
3. Any of the ein-type specifiers can also occur without a following noun, and here they have the meanings 'one, not one, not any, mine, his, hers, theirs, yours, ours'.
| German |
English |
| Ich habe Zigarren. Darf ich Ihnen eine anbieten? |
I have some cigars. May I offer you one? |
| Haben Sie Ihren Wagen hier? Nein, haben Sie Ihren auch nicht hier? |
Do you have your car here? No, don't you have yours here either? |
III. Special ein-type specifier forms
1. Standalone forms
The endingless ein-type specifier forms add an ending when their noun is understood: Ihr Stadtplan – Ihrer; ein Zigarrengeschäft – eins. The endings added are those of the corresponding der-type specifier forms, except that the ending −s is added directly to the stem of the monosyllabic ein-type specifiers: kein-s, for instance, as compared with unser-es, dies-es and welch-es.
2. These special ein-type specifier forms occur only with der- and das-nouns:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| With der-nouns |
einer |
keiner |
meiner |
seiner |
ihrer |
Ihrer |
unserer |
| With das-nouns |
eins |
keins |
meins |
seins |
ihrs |
Ihrs |
unseres |
B. Verb Phrases and Word Order
I. Types of verb phrases
We have already spoken about verb phrases composed of a FINITE verb form and an INFINITIVE form. They have also occurred in this unit:
| Pattern |
Example |
| FINITE VERB ... INFINITIVE |
will ... beantragen |
| FINITE VERB ... ACCENTED ADVERB |
stellt ... vor |
| FINITE VERB ... ACCENTED ADVERB plus INFINITIVE |
muss ... abheben |
In these sentences another kind of verb phrase occurs: a FINITE verb (stellt, füllen, hebt) and an ACCENTED ADVERB (vor, aus, ab). In one of the above sentences we have a three-part verb phrase consisting of a FINITE verb (muss), ACCENTED ADVERB (ab-), and INFINITIVE (-heben). Note that in the writing system, the accented adverb and the infinitive are written as one unit (abheben).
C. The words gern, lieber, am liebsten
I. gern
1. By itself, gern signifies polite and willing acquiescence in a suggestion, command or question.
| German |
English |
| Wollen Sie nicht mitkommen? Sehr gern. |
Don't you want to come along? I'd be very glad to. |
| Können Sie mir seine Adresse geben? Gerne. |
Can you give me his address? Gladly. |
| Wollen wir heute zusammen in die Stadt fahren? Gerne. |
Shall we go down town today? Glad to. |
Note that in these examples the alternate form gerne frequently occurs, varying freely with gern.
2. With an inflected verb form, gern signifies pleasure in or enjoyment of the action or state expressed.
| German |
English |
| Ich bin sehr gern hier. |
I'm very glad to be here. |
| Wein trinke ich nicht gern. |
I don't like to drink wine. |
| Da komme ich gern. |
I'd be glad to come then. |
| Gehen Sie gern ins Kino? |
Do you enjoy going to the movies? |
| Er trinkt gern Bier. |
He likes (to drink) beer. |
This is the usual way to say you like doing something in German, describing general attitudes or habits.
3. The verb phrase with möchte(n) expresses a polite request or question. The word gern may or may not occur with it.
| German |
English |
| Ich möchte gern Zigarren haben. |
I'd like to have some cigars. |
| Was möchten Sie essen? |
What would you like to eat? |
| Ich möchte ein Visum haben. |
I want to get a visa. |
II. lieber and am liebsten
The words lieber and am liebsten do not occur alone but only with an inflected verb form or as part of the verb phrase with möchte(n).
1. With an inflected verb form, lieber and am liebsten express preference or increasing degrees of pleasure or enjoyment.
| German |
English |
| Ich trinke lieber Würzburger als Pilsner. |
I like Würzburger better than Pilsner. |
| Am liebsten trinke ich ja Löwenbräu. |
I like Löwenbräu best of course. |
| Er raucht lieber Zigarren als Pfeife. |
He likes cigars better than a pipe. |
| Ich gehe am liebsten ins Theater. |
I enjoy going to the theater best of all. |
2. As part of the verb phrase with möchte(n), the words lieber and am liebsten express preference or intensification in a specific request or question.
| German |
English |
| Ich möchte lieber Zigarren haben. |
I'd rather have some cigars. |
| Was möchten Sie am liebsten essen? |
What would you most like to eat? |
| Möchten Sie lieber Wein oder Bier trinken? |
Would you rather have wine or beer to drink? |
| Er möchte am liebsten nach Deutschland fahren. |
He'd like nothing better than to go to Germany. |