Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition

key

S The subject of the sentence, typically a noun, noun phrase or pronoun in the

nominative case (e.g. der Computer, mein Computer).

= The verbs sein, bleiben, werden.

These verbs are followed by a complement which has the form of a noun,

noun phrase, or pronoun in the nominative case, or an adjective. The

complement characterizes the subject, hence this kind of sentence is like an

equation: Mein neuer Computer ist mein bester Freund ‘My new computer

is my best friend’, Mein neuer Computer ist klasse ‘My new computer is

super’.

V The verb.

Vp A prepositional verb (see 38 ), like warten auf + acc. ‘to wait for’, bestehen auf

+ dat. ‘to insist on’. Here it is necessary to specify which case is used after the

preposition.

O Object of the verb, in one of the three non-subject cases:

Oa A noun, noun phrase, or noun in the accusative case, e.g. den Computer,

einen Computer.

Od A noun, noun phrase, or noun in the dative case, e.g. dem Computer, einem

Computer.

Og A noun, noun phrase, or noun in the genitive case, e.g. des Computers, eines

Computers.

loc A word or phrase denoting a location in time or space, e.g. auf dem Tisch ‘on

the table’, nach dem Vortrag ‘after the lecture’, dort ‘there’, dann ‘then’.

dir A word or phrase denoting direction through time or space, e.g. auf den

Tisch ‘onto the table’, zum Bahnhof ‘to the station’, in den nächsten

Vortrag ‘into the next lecture’, dorthin/dahin ‘to there’.

ext A word or phrase denoting extent in time or space, e.g. einen Monat ‘for a

month’, einen Kilometer ‘for a kilometre’.

42.1 It is useful to learn the whole of the basic pattern needed to use a verb properly in
order to make a simple statement. Nearly all simple sentences consist of a subject (S)
and a verb (V). For some verbs this is all that is needed to produce a simple sentence:

SV

Sie schläft.

She is sleeping.

Sie ruht.

She is resting.

42.2 Most verbs require some kind of element apart from S and V in order to complete the
sense. The verbs sein, bleiben, werden equate two things or persons and so each side of
the equation is in the subject case, nominative (see 19 ). Or the completion may be an
adjective ( 43 ):

S = S

Sie ist Wirtschaftsprüferin.

She is a chartered accountant.

Er bleibt ein guter Freund.

He remains a good friend.

42

VERBS