conjunctions These words usually link clauses. Some of them connect
main clauses such as und‘and’ or aber‘but’. Others, like weil‘because’
orobwohl‘although’ introduce a subordinate clause.
declension Declension is the variable form of a determiner, adjective,
noun or pronoun according to gender, number or case.
In German, an article such as ein‘a’ therefore has several forms such
aseinen,eines, etc.
determiner A general term to describe all words such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘this’,
‘my’, ‘every’. They usually precede a noun.
direct object This is a noun or pronoun at the receiving end of an action:
‘The mother praises the child’. Here, the mother is the subject and the
child the ‘receiver’ of the action, i.e. the praising. In German, the direct
object is always in the accusative.
double infinitive This a combination of two verbs appearing in the infini-
tive form. Usually one of them is a modal verb.
finite verb The form of the verb whose personal ending is linked to a
noun or pronoun and takes the appropriate ending: der Junge spielt,
du kommst.
future perfect tense It refers to events that will be completed in the
future: ‘We will have finishedthe project by next Thursday’.
future tense This tense refers to events in the future: ‘Peter will come
at eight’.
gender Gender indicates whether a noun is masculine,feminineorneuter.
indefinites They are determiners such as ‘some’, ‘every’, ‘many’, which
do not refer to specific people or things.
indicative A form of the verb that represents a simple statement of fact.
It stands in contrast to the subjunctive.
imperative A verb form used for instructions or commands: ‘Openthe
window, please!’.
imperfect tense Seesimple past tense.
indirect object This is an object linked to the verb which expresses to
whom or what the action is being done. In English, this object is often
preceded by ‘to’: ‘He wrote an e-mail to his friend’. In German, the
indirect object is always in the dative case.
infinitive The basic verb form without a personal ending as listed in the
dictionary: ‘(to) write’ schreiben.
infinitive clause This is a clause which does not have a finite verb but
ends with a construction of zu+ infinitive.
irregular verbs These are verbs that change their personal endings and
tense forms in a different way toregular verbs. See also mixed verbs.
inseparable verbs These verbs have a prefix such as be-, ver- or
ent-, which cannot be separated from the main part of the verb. See
alsoseparable verbs.
Glossary of grammatical terms 211
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