Resources for Biblical Studies

THEOLOGICAL GERMAN GRAMMAR
Walter Bense

Updated by H. Daniel Zacharias

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2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRONUNCIATION AND WORD RECOGNITION

1. Pronunciation

    Vowels

    Consonants

2. Word Recognition

NOUNS AND RELATED WORDS

3. Article and Cases

    Definite and Indefinite Article

    Case

4. Prepositions and Postpositions

5. The Declension of the Noun

6. Pronouns

7. Pronominal Adjectives

8. Adjectives and Adverbs

THE VERB

9. The Tenses

10. Perfect Tense(s) and Conditionals

11. Active and Passive Voice; the Reflexive Verb

12. Subjunctive Forms and the Imperative Mode

13. The Position of the Verb in the Sentence

14. Participles and Infinitives

15. The Modal Auxiliaries

16. Extended Adjective Construction

17. Summary of German Verb Tenses

PRONUNCIATION AND WORD RECOGNITION

Chapter 1:

Pronunciation

Learning how to pronounce German is not entirely necessary for reading it, but it is a good idea to try and sound moderately intelligent when saying German words in the midst of your colleagues or especially native German speakers. Plus, if you tell someone you know how to read German, they are going to want to hear you say a few gutterly-tuned words. So here is a snapshot on German pronunciation.

Vowels

1. Vowels are long when:

a. When just a single consonant follows the vowel (and often ends the word). Gut (good) is “goot”

b. when they are followed by an h. Sehen(to see) is like “see hen”

c. they are doubled. Haar(hair) is like “hair”

2. Vowels are short when:

a. when followed by more than one consonant. Mensche(man) is “men -s- che”

b. they are followed by a double consonant. Mann(man) is “man”

3. a long like awww (eg. father). Vater(father)

4. a short is more like english short o (eg. hot). alt(old)

5. e long sounds more like the proverbial Canadian “Ay”. Geben(to give) is “gay-bin”.

6. e short is the standard English short e, like get. Ende is “end-e”.

7. i long AND ie is like an English double e like green. Tiger(take a wild guess) is “tee-ger”, or Bier(Beer).

8. i short is like the standard short , like hit. Mitte(in the middle of) is “mit-te”.

9. o long is like the standard English long o, like open. Brot(bread) is “broh-t”.

10. o short is much like the short German a, hot. Sommer(Summer) is “somm-er”.

11. u long is like an English double o, like hoot. Pudel(dog) is “poo-dl”.

12. u short is much like short u in English, like bush. Mutter(mother) is “mut-ter”.

13. Umlauted Vowels: (note: sometimes ä, ö, or ü can be written as ae, oe, or ue)

a. ä long like hair. Often, but not always, followed by a single consonant. Mädchen(girl) is “maid-chen”.

b. ä short is like the short German e, usually followed by more than one consonant. Männer(men) is “men-ner”.

c. ö long. Okay, there is a bit of a trick to this one. Round your lips then stick them out like you are going to say “ooooo”. But instead of the “ooo” say “ay” (Almost like the “oi” in oil). That’s what this sounds like. östlich(east) is “oyst-lik”.

d. ö short. Do the same lip arrangement as the previous one, but say a short e sound. öffnen(open) is “eff-nen”.

e. ü long. Do the same lip trick but say “eee”. grün(green) is “green (but with your lips out)”.

f. ü short Do the same lip trick but say a short i sound. Küssen(kisses) is “kiss-en (but with your lips out)”.

14. Diphthongs:

a. ei, ai, ey, and ay are all like “I” (or eye). Wein(wine).

b. au is like English ou, as in house. Haus (take a guess!)

c. äu and eu are like oy or oi, as in oil. Feuer(fire) is “foy-er”.

Consonants

1. Many German consonants are the same as English. f (and ph), h, k, m, n, p, t, ck, nk.

2. b is a normal b sound except when it ends a word—then it is like a p. Halb(half) is “halp”.

3. c:

a. Before a, e, i is a “ts” sound. Cäsar is “tsa-sar”.

b. Before a, o, u is like K. Café.

4. ch:

a. When following a, o, u is pronounced in the back of the mouth as a k sound. Nacht(night) is “knock-t”.

b. Pronounced like K when beginning words of Greek origin. Christus(Christ).

c. Pronounced like “sh” when heading words of French origin, like the French word Chauvinist.

d. chs is like “ks” or X sound. Sechs(six).

5. d is as you would expect, except when at the end of the word when it takes on a T sound. Hund(dog) is “hoont”.

6. g is as you would expect, except when at the end of the word when it takes on a K sound. Weg(away) is “wek”.

a. ig frequently ends a word and makes and “eech” sound. König(king) is “kon-eek”.

7. j is like the english Y. This is an important one to note. Jung(young).

8. qu is prnounced like KV. Qualität(Quality) is “kval-i-tat”.

9. s is as you would expect, except when beginning a word it is like an English Z. Senden(send) is “zen-den”.

10. ss and ß are just like double S in English.

11. sp and st are a little tricky. They both sound like the English “SH”. Staat(state) is “shay-t”.

12. th is like the English T. Luther is “loo-ter”.

13. v makes an F sound if it is a German word. But if it is a loanword of another language, it is like an English V. Volk(People) is “Folk”.

14. w is like the English V. Wort(word) is “vor-t”.

15. x is like KS.

16. z is pronounced like TS, like hats. Zoo(zoo) is “tsoo”.

Chapter 2:
Word Recognition¹

Because of the relationship between German and English, you will be able to recognize quite a few words. Here are a few tips for recognizing cognates with English.

NOUNS AND RELATED WORDS

Chapter 3:

Article and Cases

Definite and Indefinite Article

The article, both definite and indefinite, has case, gender, and number (singular or plural). There are three genders in the singular: masculine, feminine, and neuter. The plural is common to the case regardless of gender.

Case

1. German has four cases: the nominative, the genitive, the dative, and the accusative. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles have case; i.e. they can be declined. The case of a word indicates its function in the sentence.

2. The nominative is the case of the subject and of the subjective complement (predicate nominative).

• Die Theologie ist eine Wissenschaft.
Theology is a science (or discipline).

– “Die Theologie” is in the nominative because it is the subject; “eine Wissenschaft” is in the nominative because it is the subjective complement (predicate nominative) , i.e. it complements the subject. Verbs of being--e.g. to be, to become--take subjective complements instead of the objective case.

3. The genitive is the case of possession.

• Die Frömmigkeit ist das Gefühl der Abhängigkeit.
Piety is the feeling of dependence.

a. A genitival noun is often prefixed to another noun, and can be translated either by an English genitive (often using “of”) or by an adjective. This illustrates the close connection of the genitive to the adjective. The following three expressions convey essentially the same thought.

• die Geschichte der Menschheit
the history of mankind

• die Menschheitsgeschichte
the history of mankind (or human history)

• die Geschichte
human history

4. The dative is the case of the indirect object, or, more generally, of reference or respect. It expresses to whom something is given, from whom something is taken, or for whom an action is intended.

• Der Herr gibt seiner Gemeinde Licht.
The Lord gives light to his congregation.

• Der christliche Theologe entnimmt seine Wissenschaft der Bibel.
The Christian theologian draws his knowledge from the Bible.

• Wir sehen der Freiheit ein Ende.
We see an end for freedom.

a. Verbs that require the accusative in English sometimes require the dative in German.

• Das Wort Gottes begegnete dem Paulus.
The Word of God encountered Paul.

– “begegnen” (“to encounter”) is here understood, not as a transitive verb requiring a direct object, but as intransitive: the Word of God took a contrary position to (with respect to) Paul, i.e. it stood over against (confronted) him.

5. The accusative is the case of the direct object. The case of the substantive, not its position in the sentence, determines its function. Do not expect the object to come after the verb as in English, because it usually doesn’t.

• Wir machen das Mass voll.
We fill up (make full) the measure.

• Das Mass machen wir voll.

• We fill up (make full) the measure.

Chapter 4:
Prepositions and Postpositions

1. Prepositions and postpositions indicate a relationship between a substantive (a noun or pronoun) and other parts of the sentence. The preposition precedes the substantive, while the postposition follows it.

• Nach Luther steht das in der Bibel.
According to Luther this stands (written) in the Bible.

• Seiner Meinung nach steht das in der Bibel.
According to his opinion this stands (written) in the Bible.

2. Some prepositions and postpositions require the genitive case.

• Das Transzendente liegt jenseits der Zeit.
The transcendent lies beyond (on the other side of) time.

3. Some prepositions and postpositions require the dative case.

• Mit diesem Satz endete er.
With this sentence he ended.

4. Some prepositions and postpositions require the accusative case.

• Christus schreitet durch die Zeit.
Christ strides through time.

5. Some prepositions and postpositions can take either the dative or the accusative case. Here the dative indicates position, the accusative direction (movement).

• Dative: Der historische Jesus lebte in der Zeit.
The historical Jesus lived in time.

• Accusative: Der ewige Logos kam in die Zeit.
The eternal Logos came into time.

• Dative: Er orientiert sich an der Religion.
He orients himself to (by reference to) religion.

• Accusative: Er denkt an die Religion.
He thinks of (directs his thought towards) religion.

Chapter 5:
The Declension of the Noun

1. The masculine noun is generally declined in one of two patterns, while the feminine noun does not undergo any change in declension. The neuter noun follows the first pattern of the masculine noun.

3. Some masculine and neuter nouns have an optional final e in the dative singular:

5. Nouns can form their plural in a variety of ways:

7. Plural nouns can add an (e)n in the dative, unless they end in n or s.

Chapter 6:
Pronouns

1. The Personal Pronoun

4. The Interrogative Pronoun

Chapter 7:
Pronominal Adjectives

1. Pronominal adjectives follow two patterns, dies-type words and kein-type words.

2. Dies-type words have adjectival endings on all forms. Know your definite articles, and these types become easily recognizable. Common words that follow this pattern are:

a. dieser (this)

b. jener (that)

c. jeder (every)

d. mancher (many)

e. welcher (which)

3. Kein-type words have no adjectival ending in the masculine nominative singular or in the neuter nominative and accusative singular, like the indefinite article of chapter 1. Common kein-type words are:

a. indefinite article ein (a)

b. kein (no)

c. mein (my)

d. dein (thy)

e. sein (his)

f. ihr (her, their)

g. unser (our)

h. euer (your)

Chapter 8:
Adjectives and Adverbs

1. Adjectives and adverbs differ structurally — adjectives have “adjectival endings”, adverbs don’t. Predicate adjectives also lack adjectival endings, and are therefore indistinguishable from adverbs.

a. Adjective in attributive position:

• Der gläubige Mensch betet.
The believing man (i.e. believer) prays.

b. Adjective in predicate position:

• Der betende Mensch ist gläubig.
The praying man is a believer (believing).

c. Adverb modifying the verb:

• Der Mensch betet gläubig.
the man prays believingly.

2. There are two sets of adjectival endings. Weak adjectival endings are attached to the adjectival stem only if the adjective is preceded by some other modifier with a “strong” ending (e.g. the definite article). In other words, the adjective will often be “weak” if it can rely on something else to determine the case.

1. Regular comparison of adverbs:

3. Regular comparison of adjectives:

5. Important irregular comparisons that you need to learn:

THE VERB

Chapter 9:
The Tenses

1. German has four main indicative verb forms.:

a. Present

• Er führt den man
He leads a man

b. Past

• Er führte den man
He led a man

c. Present Perfect

• er hat den man geführt
he has led the man

d. Past Perfect

• er hatte den man geführt
he had led the man

2. The first two forms will be discussed this chapter, and the perfects in the next chapter.

3. Verbs are usually divided into weak and strong verbs. The weak verbs conform generally to the pattern of führen (to lead). Finden (to find) represents the strong verbs only in the sense that it illustrates the kind of change that takes place in the past tense and the past participle. Haben (to have), sein (to be), and werden (to become) are important irregular verbs that also function as tense auxiliaries.

4. The Present tense may generally be translated by the English ordinary present (I lead, etc.), the progressive present (I am leading, etc.), or the emphatic present (I do lead, etc.).

a. The present tense of the regular verb is formed by dropping the infinitival ending (-en) from the present infinitive and adding the present endings to this stem.

b. To remember the endings for the present regular verb, just remember that according to Eastern Standard Time, it is 10:10 — EST 10 10, or e/st t/en t/en.

d. An unaccented e may be added in the second person (singular and plural) for ease of pronunciation or to add a certain solemnity (the e in “Hirte” is also optional):

• Du, guter Hirte, führest deine Herde neben den stillen Wassern.
Thou, good shepherd, leadest thy flock beside the still waters.

5. The past tense of the weak verb is formed by adding -te to the present stem,· plus personal endings in the second person singular and all three plurals. The past stem of the strong verb must be memorized; it normally involves a vowel change from the present stem; to this past stem are added endings corresponding to the personal endings of the weak verb.
To remember the endings of the past tense weak verb, just imagine that someone with a stutter is telling you that they have a test at 10:10: tetest teten teten. (te/test/te/ten/tet/ten)

6. The future tense is formed (as in English) by conjugating the tense auxiliary (werden) with the infinitive of the main verb.

Chapter 10:
Perfect Tense(s) and Conditionals

1. The perfect tenses are formed (as in English) by conjugating the tense auxiliary (haben or sein) with the past participle of the main verb. The past participle of the weak verb is formed by adding t to the present stem and prefixing ge. The past participle of the strong verb must be memorized; it normally begins with ge and ends with -en.

a. The present perfect tense should be translated by the English present perfect or the ordinary past, depending on the content and context ("I have led" or "I led", etc.).

c. The past perfect (pluperfect) tense should be translated by the English past perfect (I had led, etc.). It is formed by taking the past tense of haben or werden + the past participle of the verb.

e. The future perfect tense is not used too often. It should be translated by the English future perfect (I will have led, etc.). It is formed with an auxiliary werden (the “will” part), the past participle of the verb, and the infinitive form of either haben or sein (the “have” part).

2. The present conditional is formed by adding the conditional endings to the past stem, and often changing the vowel to an umlaut. The results are very similar to the past forms of the verb, with the exception of the umlaut in many verbs.

3. The conditional tenses (akin to the Subjunctive mood in Greek) closely correspond to their English counterparts.

a. Present conditional is formed with just the conditional form.

b. Present Perfect conditional is formed with the auxiliary verb haben or werden in the conditional form + the past participle form of the verb.

c. Future conditional is formed with the auxiliary verb werden in the conditional form + the infinitive form of the verb.

d. Future Perfect conditional is formed with the auxiliarty verb werden in the conditional form + the past participle form of the verb + the infinitive haben or sein.

4. The conditional is used in indirect statements when the writer does not mean to imply that he agrees with the statement he is reporting.

• Er sagte, ich hätte kein System.
He said I had no system.

• Er sagte, ich hätte kein System gehabt.
He said I had had no system.

• Er sagte, ich würde kein System haben.
He said I would have no system.

• Er sagte, ich würde kein System gehabt haben.
He said I would have had no system.

5. The conditional is also used in hypothetical statements.

• Das wäre möglich.
This would be possible.

• Zu diesem Gott könnte man beten.

• One could pray to this god.

• Wäre der Mensch anders konstituiert, dann würde er auch anders handeln.
Were man constituted differently, he would also act differently.

• Man könnte sagen, dass das eine neue Theorie ist.
One could say that this is a new theory.

Chapter 11:
Active and Passive Voice; the Reflexive Verb

1. The paradigms in the previous chapter represent the active voice— the grammatical subject (ich, du, etc.) is also the logical subject performing the action of the verb. In the passive voice the grammatical subject is logically the object— it receives the action of the verb. Accordingly, intransitive verbs and verbs of being and having cannot be put in the passive voice.

a. The Present passive is formed with the present tense auxiliary werden + the past participle of the main verb.

b. The Past passive is formed with the past tense auxiliary werden + the past participle of the main verb.

c. The Future passive is formed with the present tense auxiliary werden + the past participle of the main verb + the infinitive werden.

d. The Present Perfect passive is formed with the present tense auxiliary sein + the past participle of the main verb + the infinitive werden.

e. The Past Perfect passive is formed with

f. The Future Perfect passive is formed with

1. The reflexive construction indicates that the grammatical subject is logically both the subject and the (direct or indirect) object of the sentence. As in English, a reflexive pronoun is employed. In the third person (both singular and plural, dative and accusative), the reflexive pronoun is sich. Everywhere else, the reflexive pronoun is identical with the corresponding personal pronoun.

Chapter 12:
Subjunctive Forms and the Imperative Mode

1. The subjunctive is generally formed by adding the subjunctive endings (-e, -est, -e, -en, -et, -en) to the present stem of the verb.

2. Verbs always correspond to “actions”. Basically, there are three modes in which· the verb may be related to the action. The verb may describe the action, it may request a description of the action, or it may request the action itself. The descriptive level is represented in grammar by the indicative and interrogative modes. The action-itself level is represented by the imperative mode.

3. When action is requested of the first person (plural), the imperative is expressed by putting the verb in the subjunctive and making it the first element in the sentence.

a. Indicative

• Wir lesen.
We read.

• Wir sind geduldig.
We are patient.

b. Imperative

• Lesen wir.
Let us read.

• Seien wir geduldig
Let us be patient.

4. There are three ways of requesting action of the second person:

a. The ordinary imperative singular is generally formed by dropping the -n of the infinitive.

c. The ordinary imperative plural uses the same form as the indicative, omitting the pronoun.

a. The polite imperative (singular and plural) uses the subjunctive and makes the verb the first element in the sentence.

1. When action is requested of the third person singular, the imperative is expressed by putting the verb in the subjunctive.

• Gott sei Dank!
Thanks be to God. (Thank God!)

• Der Herr segne euch.
The Lord bless you.

• Geheiligt werde dein Name.
Hallowed (sanctified) be thy name.

• Dein Reich komme.
Thy kingdom come.

• Dein Wille geschehe.
Thy will be done.

• Der Leser denke an Niemoeller.
Let the reader think of Niemoeller.

a. Action is seldom requested of the third person plural; such an imperative may be expressed by putting the verb in the subjunctive and making it the first element in the sentence.

• Denken die Leser an Niemoeller.
Let the readers think of Niemoeller.

2. The subjunctive (like the indicative and the conditional) may be used in indirect statements.

a. Indicative:

• Die Behauptung, dass er ein Christ ist, ist gerechtfertigt.
The assertion that he is a Christian is justified.

b. Conditional:

• Die Behauptung, dass er ein Christ wäre, ist Unsinn.
The assertion that he would be a Christian is nonsense.

c. Subjunctive:

• Die Behauptung, dass er ein Christ sei, ist unerwiesen.
The assertion· that he be a Christia;-is unproven.

3. The use of the indicative tends to suggest that the speaker agrees with the statement he is reporting; the conditional (whose basic use is to describe a contrary-to-fact condition) tends to suggest that the speaker disagrees with the statement he is reporting; the subjunctive tends to suggest that the speaker regards the statement he is reporting as purely hypothetical—it is particularly appropriate, therefore, in describing the breach of an imperative. (The subjunctive's relationship to the imperative is here analogous to the conditional's relationship to the indicative: contrariety to what is described or requested.) These distinctions are not very carefully observed, however, and all three verb forms can therefore generally be translated by an English indicative.

Chapter 13:
The Position of the Verb in the Sentence

1. The verb is the only part of a German sentence that has a definite place. In a main clause, it is the second element. It may be preceded by the subject (with its modifiers), the object (with its modifiers), a prepositional phrase, an adverb, etc. Co-ordinate conjunctions and interjections do not count as elements.

• Der Mensch macht seinen eigenen Himmel.
Man makes his own heaven.

• Seinen eigenen Himmel macht der Mensch.
Man makes his own heaven.

• Ja, in seiner Brust existiert der Himmel.
Yes, Heaven exists in his breast.

• Aber ausserhalb des Weltalls existiert er nicht.
But outside of the universe it does not exist.

2. If the verb consists of more than one part, only the conjugated part takes the second position. The other parts go to the end of the clause.

• Die Lerche hat ihr Lied gesungen.
The lark has sung her song.

a. Some verbs (e.g. aufgehen, niedergehen) have separable prefixes. This means that in a main clause the prefix is separated from the conjugated verb and goes to the end of the clause.

• Die Sonne geht im Osten auf.
The sun rises (goes up) in the East.

• Sie wird im Westen niedergehen.
It will set (go down) in the West.

3. Infinitival constructions end with the infinitive (in English, the infinitive begins the infinitival construction). The infinitival construction Counts as one element.

• Den Anfang machen ist mir leicht.
To make a beginning is easy for me.

4. In a dependent clause, the entire verb comes at the end. The parts of the verb should be translated in reverse order. (Dependent clauses are introduced by subordinate conjunctions or relative pronouns.)

• Er sagte, dass die Zeit gekommen wäre.
He said that the time had come.

• Der Student, der die Theologie noch nicht stüdiert haben wird, wird das nicht leicht finden.
The student who will not have studied theology as yet will not find this easy.

5. There are five types of main clauses in which the verb begins the clause. Some types of imperatives begin with the verb (cf. Section C). These are often punctuated with an exclamation mark.

• Konzentrieren wir uns auf Kant.
Let us concentrate on Kant.

• Denkt an seine erste Kritik!
Think of his first Critique.

a. Questions (interrogatives) begin with the verb, unless they begin with an interrogative pronoun or an interrogative adverb.

• Vergibt er jede Sünde?
Does he forgive every sin?

• Und ist das wirklich wahr?
And is that actually true?

• Wo lesen wir etwas darüber?
Where do we read anything about this?

• Woher wissen wir das?
Whence do we know this?

• Wohin führt uns das?
Where does this lead us?

• Wann wird das Ende kommen?
When will the end come?

• Warum heisst es das Ende?
Why is it called the end?

• Wie stehen die Toten auf?
How do the dead rise?

b. The protasis of a conditional sentence begins with a verb, unless it begins with a conditional adverb (e.g. wenn, falls). The protasis is regarded as the first element in the sentence, and is therefore followed by the conjugated verb of the apodosis. The apodosis is normally introduced by so or dann.

• Wenn er noch lebt, (dann) wird er kommen.
If he is still living, he will come.

• Lebt er noch, so wird er kommen.
If he is still living, he will come.

c. The fourth kind of sentence beginning with the verb is marked by the presence of the adverb doch near the beginning of the sentence. It is best translated by a sentence beginning with the conjunction “for”.

• Hängt doch so viel davon ab.
For so much depends on it.

d. The fifth kind usually begins with mag (from mögen). Its meaning is concessive.

• Mag Gott auch tot sein, die Theologie ist nicht tot.
Even though God may be dead (i.e., Granted that God may be dead), theology is not dead.

6. To Sum up:

a. A one-verb clause will have the verb in second place

b. If the clause begins with a verb:

• It may be a question (questions can have the auxiliary of the main verb in first spot, with the verb being at the end)

• It may be a command

• It may be signaling an “if....then” construction

c. If the verb is at the end, it is a subordinate clause.

d. If an auxiliary (sein, haben, werden) or a modal is in second place, the verb (infinitive or participle) will be at the end of the clause.

e. In a dependent clause, the auxiliary will be last, and the main verb (participle or infinitive) will be second last.

f. When you see three or more verbs, translated the conjugated verb first, the verb sitting at the end second, and the second last verb third. Any more verbs would be translated after the final one.