A key factor in a book of this kind is the description of register. The term register
denotes the relationship between a speaker or writer and the person he or she is
speaking or writing to. The degree of formality or informality which characterizes their
communication is determined by their respective ages, by how intimately they are
acquainted and by their status, i.e. their respective professional or social standing.
While there are numerous gradations on the register scale between the two extremes of
formality and informality, in this book it is assumed that, unless otherwise stated, the
language being described belongs to a standard, neutral, educated and polite register
which is neither excessively formal nor excessively informal. Only those expressions
which clearly stand out from this general polite usage have been marked for register.
Expressions marked as ‘informal’ are examples of casual or colloquial usage; this can
include slang or vulgar terms, but the latter are always indicated separately. Language
marked as ‘formal’ denotes official or literary language which may have an archaic
ring to it or may be restricted to use in written German.This second edition incorporates all the recent changes made to German spelling and
punctuation. See 59.7 for further details.We have adopted the following conventions:- within an English sentence bold type is used for German text, and single speech
marks for English translations, e.g. ein*laden ‘to invite’ - as the above example shows, an asterisk indicates a separable prefix to a verb
- the slash symbol (/) indicates an alternative word or expression
- -r, -e, -s denote der, die, das, respectively; noun plurals are indicated via brackets,
e.g. (e) or (en).
The following abbreviations are used:etw. = etwas
jmd. = jemand
jmdn. = jemanden
jmdm. = jemandem
jmds. = jemandes
nom. = nominative
acc. = accusative
dat. = dative
gen. = genitive
sg. = singular
pl. = plural
sb. = somebody
sth. = something
adj. = adjective
adv. = adverb
usw. = undsoweiterx
INTRODUCTION