E I N H E I T 44Planet Germany 4.1 Infinitives with zu (Infinitive mit zu) 4.2 Present Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II, Prsens) 4.3 Present and Simple Past Tenses of Modal Verbs (Prsens und Prteritum von
Modalverben)
4.4 Bekommen versus werden (Bekommen versus werden) 4.5 Infinitives without zu (Infinitive ohne zu)
4.1 Infinitives with zu (Infinitive mit zu)The infinitive with zu is comparable to English to + VERB or VERB + -ing.
MeaningAn infinitive with zu is commonly used after the following expressions and verbs:
Expressions:
Es ist richtig/falsch, It is right/wrong . . .
Es ist leicht/einfach/schwierig/schwer, It is easy/simple/difficult/hard . . .
Es ist (nicht) notwendig/(un)ntig, It is (un)necessary . . .
Er ist erlaubt/verboten, . . . -ing is allowed/prohibited
Es ist gut/schlecht, It is good/bad . . .
Es ist zu spt/zu frh, It is too late/too early . . .
Es ist wichtig/unwichtig, It is important/not important . . .
Es ist mglich/unmglich, It is possible/impossible . . .
Es macht mir (keinen) Spa, It is (no) fun for me . . .
Es ist langweilig, It is boring . . .
Es ist gefhrlich, It is dangerous . . .
Es ist interessant/uninteressant, It is interesting/not interesting . . .
Es ist lustig/traurig, It is funny/sad . . .
Es ist furchtbar/schrecklich, It is terrible/horrible . . .
Es ist (nicht) schn, It is (not) nice . . .
Es ist angenehm/unangenehm, It is pleasant/unpleasant . . .
Es ist verstndlich/unverstndlich, It is (in)comprehensible . . .
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Ich finde es (nicht) schn, I (dont) think it is nice . . .
Ich liebe/hasse es, I love/hate . . .
Es freut mich, I am happy . . .
Ich habe die Absicht I have the intention . . .
Ich habe die Gelegenheit I have the opportunity . . .
Ich habe die Hoffnung I have the hope . . .
Ich habe Lust I feel like . . . -ing . . .
Ich habe den Wunsch I wish . . .
Ich habe (keine) Zeit I (dont) have time . . .
Ich habe die Erlaubnis I have permission . . .
Ich habe Probleme I have problems . . . -ing
Ich habe Angst I am afraid . . .
Ich freue mich darauf, I am looking forward to . . . -ing
Ich bitte dich darum, I am asking you . . .
Verbs:
anbieten to offer
anfangen to begin, to start
aufhren to stop
beabsichtigen to intend
befehlen to order
beginnen to begin, start
beschlieen to decide
bitten to request
empfehlen to recommend
entscheiden to decide
erlauben to allow, permit
erwarten to expect
fortfahren to continue
hoffen to hope
raten to advise
scheinen to seem
berzeugen to convince
verbieten to forbid, prohibit
vergessen to forget
verlangen to demand
vermuten = annehmen to assume, suppose, suspect
versprechen to promise
versuchen to try
vorhaben to intend
vorschlagen to suggest
wnschen to wish
zwingen to force
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348 Anders gedacht: Grammar Explanations
Examples1. 1947 schlug G.C. Marshall vor, Europa
finanziell zu helfen, da es durch den Krieg stark zerstrt war.
2. 1949 begannen die USA[,] Deutschland im Rahmen des Marshallplans finanziellzu untersttzen.
3. Es war wichtig, eine starke Wirtschaft inEuropa aufzubauen.
4. Sie hofften[,] die deutsche Wirtschaft stimulieren zu knnen.
In 1947 G. C. Marshall suggested helpingEurope financially, since it had suffered severedestruction in the war.
In 1949 the U.S. began supporting Germanyfinancially within the framework of theMarshall Plan.
It was important to establish a strong economy in Europe.
They hoped to be able to stimulate the Germaneconomy.
ExplanationThe construction zu + INFINITIVE is used if a main clause includes two verbs. It is dependentupon the expressions using Es ist ... listed above, the other expressions listed above, the verbslisted above, and haben and verbs with prepositional complements.
Infinitive constructions do not have their own subject; they refer to the person or object intro-duced in the main clause. Therefore the verb in the infinitive construction is not conjugated.
Unlike English, zu + INFINITIVE is located at the end of the clause.
1. zu is located before the infinitive, which is in final position.
2. zu is placed before the infinitive if the infinitive is a verb with an inseparable prefix.
3. If the infinitive is a separable prefix verb, zu is positioned between the prefix and the baseverb.
4. If the sentence includes a double infinitive, zu is placed between the two infinitives.
Note: After expressions with anticipatory es and da-compounds, the infinitive clause must beset off from the main clause by a comma (Example 3). Otherwise the comma is optional, but itshould be used if it makes the sentence more comprehensible (Example 1).
4.2 Present Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II, Prsens) The subjunctive II is used primarily to talk about unreal situations.
Forms
Regular verbs: lachen
ich lachte wir lachten
du lachtest ihr lachtet
er/sie/es/man lachte sie/Sie lachten
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Irregular verbs without -te in the simple past:
kommen
ich kme wir kmen
du km(e)st ihr km(e)t
er/sie/es/man kme sie/Sie kmen
Irregular verbs with -te in the simple past:
denken, bringen, mgen, wissen1
ich dchte wir dchten
du dchtest ihr dchtet
er/sie/es/man dchte sie/Sie dchten
4. haben
ich htte wir htten
du httest ihr httet
er/sie/es/man htte sie/Sie htten
5. sein
ich wre wir wren
du wr(e)st ihr wr(e)t
er/sie/es/man wre sie/Sie wren
6. werden
ich wrde wir wrden
du wrdest ihr wrdet
er/sie/es/man wrde sie/Sie wrden
7. knnen, mssen, drfen
ich knnte wir knnten
du knntest ihr knntet
er/sie/es/man knnte sie/Sie knnten
1Note: The irregular verbs (with -te in the simple past) brennen, kennen, nennen, rennen, senden, and wendenform the subjunctive II like regular verbs: brennte, kennte, nennte, rennte, sendete, and wendete. These forms are,however, very rarely used.
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8. wollen, sollen (no umlaut)
ich wollte wir wollten
du wolltest ihr wolltet
er/sie/es/man wollte sie/Sie wollten
Examples
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350 Anders gedacht: Grammar Explanations
1. Wenn ich in Deutschland lebte, wremein Leben ganz anders.
2. Wenn ich in Deutschland leben wrde,wre mein Leben ganz anders.
If I lived in Germany my life would be very different.
If I lived in Germany my life would be very different.
ExplanationThere are two ways of expressing the meaning of the subjunctive II:
the subjunctive II form of a verb the wrde + INFINITIVE construction
1. The subjunctive II form of a verb is formed by adding the following endings to the simplepast stem, e.g., lacht-, kam-, or dacht-.
Singular Plural
ich -e wir -en
du -est ihr -et
er/sie/es/man -e sie/Sie -en
The subjunctive II forms of regular verbs are thus the same as their simple past forms.Note, however, that for certain irregular verbs, an umlaut is added in the subjunctive II ifthe simple past stem vowel is a, o, or u. This applies to:
verbs without -te in the simple past (e.g., kommen kam, fahren fuhr) the modal verbs knnen, mssen, drfen the verbs denken, bringen, mgen, wissen the verbs haben, sein, and werdenThe subjunctive II forms of most verbs are used only in writing. Only the subjunctive IIforms of haben, sein, werden, the modal verbs and the verbs bleiben, brauchen, geben,gehen, kommen, lassen, nehmen, and wissen are used in both writing and in oral con-versation. The subjunctive II forms of the modal verbs and of haben, sein, and werden arepreferred over the wrde + INFINITIVE forms even in oral German.
2. In oral conversation, the subjunctive II forms are replaced by the wrde + INFINITIVEconstruction. This construction is formed by placing the conjugated form of wrde in second position and the infinitive of the main verb in final position. In dependent clauses,the form of wrde is in final position after the infinitive.
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Subjunctive II is used in the following five situations:
hypothetical conditionsWenn ich in Deutschland leben wrde,wre mein Leben ganz anders.
wishesWrde ich (doch) in der Schweiz leben!
adviceDu solltest nach dem Essen nicht schwimmen gehen.
polite requests Knnten Sie bitte die Musik etwas leiserdrehen?
after als (ob) or als (wenn)Er tut (so), als ob/wenn er allein im Haus wre.
Er tut (so), als wre er allein im Haus.
If I lived in Germany, my life would be very different.
If only I lived in Switzerland!
You shouldnt go swimming after a meal.
Could you please turn down the music a bit?
He acts as if he were all by himself in the house.
He acts as if he were all by himself in the house.
4.3 Present and Simple Past Tenses of Modal Verbs(Prsens und Prteritum von Modalverben)
Meaningdrfen to be allowed to
knnen to be able to
mchten would like to
mssen to have to
sollen to be supposed to
wollen to want to
Forms
PRESENT TENSEdrfen knnen mchten1 mssen sollen wollen
darf
darfstdarf
drfendrftdrfen
kann
kannstkann
knnenknntknnen
mchtemchtestmchte
mchtenmchtetmchten
muss
musstmuss
mssenmsstmssen
soll
sollstsoll
sollensolltsollen
will
willstwill
wollenwolltwollen
ichdu
er/sie/es/man
wirihr
sie/Sie
1The verb form mchten is historically derived from the subjunctive II form of the verb mgen; however, in modernGerman mchten is used as a present tense modal verb unto itself.
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SIMPLE PAST TENSEdrfen knnen mchten1 mssen sollen wollen
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352 Anders gedacht: Grammar Explanations
ichdu
er/sie/es/man
wirihr
sie/Sie
durfte
durftest
durfte
durften
durftet
durften
konnte
konntest
konnte
konnten
konntet
konnten
wolltewolltestwollte
wolltenwolltetwollten
musste
musstest
musste
mussten
musstet
mussten
sollte
solltest
sollte
sollten
solltet
sollten
wollte
wolltest
wollte
wollten
wolltet
wollten
Examples
1The modal verb mchten dos not have its own simple past form. The simple past form of wollen is used instead.
1. Aziza-A will mit ihrem Lied kritisieren.
2. Was drfen islamische Frauen nicht(machen)?
3. Aziza-A erzhlt, dass ihr Vater sie nichtverstehen kann.
Aziza-A wants to criticize with her song.
What are Islamic women not allowed (to do)?
Aziza-A says that her father cannot understand her.
Explanation1. A modal verb (which is in second position) almost always has a corresponding infinitive in
final position.
2. If the meaning of a sentence is comprehensible from the context, the infinitive can be leftout.
3. In dependent clauses, the conjugated modal verb moves to final position.
4.4 Bekommen versus werden (Bekommen versus werden)Meaning
bekommen to receive, get, obtain
werden to become, get, turn, turn into
Examples1. Ich habe zum Geburtstag schne
Geschenke bekommen.
In Deutsch bekomme ich sicher in diesem Semester ein A!
For my birthday I got nice presents.
I am sure Ill get an A in German this semester.
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Es ist nicht leicht, die deutscheStaatsangehrigkeit zu bekommen.
2. Meine kleine Schwester mchte rztinwerden.
Mchten Sie deutscher Staatsbrger werden?
Aua, mein Hals tut weh, ich glaube, ich werde krank.
Its not easy to obtain German citizenship.
My little sister would like to become a doctor.
Would you like to become a German citizen?
Ouch, my throat is hurting, I think Im getting sick.
Explanation1. The verb bekommen is used to express the notion of receiving physical or abstract things
(e.g., gifts, grades, punishment, citizenship, answers). It is also used to express physical ormental change in combination with nouns, e.g., fear, sunburn, or a headache.
2. The verb werden is used to express what someone wants to do for a living, to expresschange of state (e.g., cold, hot, rainy) or status (e.g., citizenship or membership), or toexpress physical or mental change in combination with adjectives (e.g., old, sick, fat).
4.5 Infinitives without zu (Infinitive ohne zu)Meaning
Infinitives used with the modal verbs drfen, knnen, mchten, mssen, sollen, and wollenare used without zu. (For the meaning of modal verbs, see Section 4.3.) Infinitives used withthe following verbs are also used without zu:
a. bleiben to stay
b. fahren to drive
c. fhlen to feel
d. gehen to go
e. hren to hear
f. kommen to come
g. lassen to have/let someone do something
h. legen to lay down
i. schicken to send
j. sehen to see, watch
k. spren to feel, sense
Infinitives that are used with the following verbs can be used with or without zu:
l. brauchen to need (to)
m. helfen to help
n. lehren to teach
o. lernen to learn
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354 Anders gedacht: Grammar Explanations
1. Kaminer geht seinen Freund Helmutbesuchen.
2. Kaminers Vater mchte den Sprachtestbestehen.
3. Helmut hilft ihm lernen.
4. Helmut hilft ihm fr den Test (zu) lernen.
Kaminer goes to visit his friend Helmut.
Kaminers father would like to pass the language exam.
Helmut is helping him study.
Helmut is helping him study for the exam.
Explanation1. The verbs a. k. use the infinitive without zu.
2. Modal verbs never use an infinitive with zu.
3. The verbs l. o. use the infinitive with or without zu.
When followed by a simple infinitive, the verbs helfen, lehren, and lernen do not usezu. In colloquial speech, brauchen is often used without zu.
4. Usage varies for helfen, lehren, and lernen when a verbal complement is added. In thiscase, it is acceptable to use zu or to omit it. In written German, brauchen is usually usedwith zu.
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