BERKEIEY\ LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of I CALIFORNIA J EDUCAIIOI JOHN S. PRELL CM & Mechanical Engineer. SAN FRAN CISCO, CAL. GRAMMAR GERMAN LANGUAGE, A NEW AND IMPROVED PRINCIPLE. BY L. A. DONATTI, PROFESSOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES. lEiution. LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY W. H. COX, 5, GREAT QUEEN STREET, AND J. CHIDLEY, 124, ALDERSGATE STREET. M.DCCC.XXXVI1I. ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL. GIFT \f LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS! Copies. The Duchess Countess of Sutherland 1 Lady Catherine Boileau 1 Lady Wicklow 1 Lady Anna Maria Donkin 5 Countess Dalpozzo I General Sir William Clinton .' 2 Sir Woodbine Parish 2 Captain Bowles, Royal Navy I Honourable Mrs. Bowles 1 Honourable Mrs. Sullivan 1 Miss Ashton 1 Miss Herries 1 Miss Creed 1 Miss Bridge 2 Miss Mead 2 Mrs. E. Lake 3 Mrs. C. Jervis 2 Mrs. M. Tupper 9 Mrs. Fitter 1 Mrs. Gaily Knight. 1 Miss Homer 2 Mrs. Rogers 2 Miss Charlton 1 Miss Nichols - ..." 1 Miss Mackenzie 1 Miss Pawson 1 Miss Dunlop 1 Miss Lea 1 Miss Brownrig 2 Miss Adam 1 P. Colquhoun, Esq 1 739 IV LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Copies. Wm. Harding, Esq 1 Benjamin Bond Cabbell, Esq., F.R.S 1 J. Henderson, Esq. ... 2 C. Keightly, Esq 2 Captain F. Clinton, Grenadier Guards 2 G. L. Engelbach, Esq , 1 J. Schmidt, Esq 2 Mark Boyd, Esq 1 Geo. Webster, Esq 2 George Bailey, Esq 1 E. Kater, Esq 1 J. Maude, Esq 1 Deputy-Commissary General Gumming 1 Deputy-Assistant-Commissary General Petrie 1 E Worlledge, Esq 1 Charles Young, Esq 4 M. Milward, Esq 1 Robert Whitworth, Esq I H. Vise, Esq. Royal Horse Guards 1 W. Tyrrel, Esq. Royal Horse Guards 1 Colonel Taylor 2 Mr. Arnold 1 Mr. Carpenter 1 G. Horner, Esq 1 Mr. Wacey 6 Mr. Hailes 12 Mrs. Rogers 1 Thos. Ashton, Esq 1 Charles W. Willis, Esq 1 Messrs. Richter and Co 1 Mr. Schloss , 2 Albert Tropanegger, Esq. Professor of the German Language and Literature, Royal Military College, Woolwich 3 Charles Crosbie, Esq 4 Charles Grote, Esq : 1 Captain Dannadieu 1 John Wood, Esq 1 LIST OP SUBSCRIBERS. V Copies. Colonel Kennah 2 His Highness Prince Esterhazy 1 Honourable Lady Murray 1 Mrs. Bedford 1 Miss E. Cotes 1 Miss A. Cielovich 1 Miss Stevens 1 Mrs. R. Matthews 2 A. Y. Spearman, Esq 1 Thomas Archer, Esq -. 1 F. Lindsay, Esq 1 Colonel I. Burke .' 8 Colonel Reeves 2 I. Scovell, Esq 2 Dr. Gelliespie 1 T. Maitland, Esq 1 George Phillips, Esq 1 George Meaden, Esq I Joseph Limn, Esq 1 William Hoys, Esq 1 E. Lawrence, Esq 1 C. M. Willich, Esq 1 Mr. Rolandi 4 Mr. Tritschler I William Barren, Esq I Mr. Schweitzer , 1 P. Falkenhagen Zaleski, Esq 1 Captain Bansemer 1 Dr. Rigby 1 Col. Angelo I Sir George Hoste, R.E ... 4 Lt. D. W. Bailey, R.N. 2 Major Gen. Sir John Jones 2 Col. W. D. Jones, R.A 2 Dr. Yates 1 James Pattison, Esq., M.P. 1 Chevalier J. Colquhoun, Minister and Consul-general for Hanse Towns, and Consul General for Saxony 2 Vi LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Copies. T. R. Auldjo, Esq 1 M. M. Bowling, Esq 1 Captain Amey, K.G.L 1 T. Dunlevie, Esq 1 W. Gallaway, Esq I M. Robinson, Esq 1 Joseph Lachlan, Esq 1 Mrs. Morgan 1 Messrs. Thomas and Chapman 1 Major Bowers 1 Charles Hamilton, Esq 1 Sir John Whale 1 2 Mrs. Layton 1 Lieut. Gen. Sir Frederick Adam 12 Commissary General W. Petrie 2 Mrs. Powis , 1 Rev. J. W. Worthington 1 Rev. Charles Boothby 4 Jos. Brereton, Esq 1 N. Lutwich, Esq. 1 N. Smith, Esq 1 Commissary General Sir John Bisset 2 Rev. J. D. Glennie 1 T. D. Lloyd, Esq ] C. P. Leslie, Esq 1 Miss C. Leslie 1 - Shuttleworth, Esq 1 Mrs. Ridout 1 James Hallet, Esq 2 Lieutenant General Sir Hudson Lowe 1 Miss Creswell 2 Mrs. T. Smith 1 George Heath, Esq. ..... ~ 1 George Gibson, Esq 1 Miss Steers ] H. Rushworth, Esq ; 1 Sir Andrew Green, Captain, R.N 1 PREFACE. THE chief reason why German is not more studied is, that the student is deterred first by the idea that he has not only to learn to pronounce and to construe a foreign language, but that he is to do that in characters totally different from those of all modern languages ; and secondly, when he wishes to write, he must resort to letters differing entirely from those of print, which difficulties are in themselves sufficient to dishearten many who would otherwise study this language. Fortunately, however, these difficulties are now overcome by the adoption of the Roman characters, both in writing and printing, a method which the English, the Poles, the Bohe- mians, the Swedes, the Dutch, and the Danes, have very wisely adopted many centuries ago. German will thus be written and read with much more ease and precision ; the acquisition of the German language will also be wonderfully facilitated, as has been proved by many pupils who have learnt German upon this new principle ; and it cannot fail of rendering it also more general. The Germans would also greatly profit by it their commercial intercourse would receive a still greater energy. The eminent German writers would become more known to the foreign nations, they would finally still more endear the German literature to the same. It is to be hoped that all Germans who have the interests and Vlll PREFACE. welfare of their country truly at heart, will be convinced of the great advantages that must accrue from the above plan, since twelve consecutive lessons insure success to any learner, who is anxious to learn German with expedition. The old Gothic characters, both in printing and writing, are subse- quently learnt with the greatest facility. In this Grammar the inflection of the articles, adjectives, pronouns, and numerical adnouns, have been incorporated and simplified ; the number of declensions has been entirely discarded, the conjugation of the verbs has also been ren- dered more easy, and the auxiliary verbs have been assigned to the irregular verbs. CONTENTS. Page List of Subscribers iii Preface vii CHAPTER I. Aussprache und Rechtschreibung Pronunciation and Orthography 1 CHAPTER II. Geschlechtsworter. Upon Articles 4 CHAPTER III Beschaffenheitsworter. On Adjectives and Pronominal Adnouns 7 CHAPTER IV. In continuation on Adjectives 9 CHAPTER V. Fiirworter. On Pronouns 13 CHAPTER VI. Zahlen, Zahlworter. Of Numbers ... 17 CHAPTER VII. Bildung der Nennworter. Of the Formation of German Nouns and their Genders 22 CHAPTER VIII. Abanderung der Nennworter. On the Declension of Substan- tives 27 X CONTENTS. Page. CHAPTER IX. Hiilfszeitworter. Upon the Auxiliary Verbs 35 CHAPTER X. Regelmassige Zeitworter. On Regular Verbs 47 CHAPTER XI. Unregelmassige Zeitworter. On the Irregular Verbs 57 CHAPTER XII. Bindeworter. On Conjunctions 72 CHAPTER XIII. Vorw5rter On Prepositions 75 CHAPTER XIV. Nebenworter. On Adverbs 77 CHAPTER XV. Empfindungsworter. On Interjections 79 CHAPTER XVI. Wortfiigung. Syntax 80 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. CHAPTER I. PRONUNCIATION AND ORTHOGRAPHY. German Characters. Capital Letters. Small Letters. 9f. A. ST. N. a. a. n. n. 25. B. >. O. b. b. o. o. <&. C. % P. c. c. P- P- >. D. a. Q. b. & d- q- <. E. ot R. c. e. r. r. 5- F. 6. S. f. f. f.f s. . G. 2. T. 9- g- t. t. *. H. u. U. I)- h. u. u. 3- I. . V. i. i. . V. 3- J. 2 w. i- J- tt>. w. -ft. K. S. X. f. k. y- X. . L. 3). Y. I. 1. 9- y- 9fr. M. 3- Z. m. m. I- Z. Double Letters. ff. ff. f*. f. ft. J. 6 fF. ss. sch. ss. st. ck. tz fj supplies at the end of the words the place of ff (ss), and is pro- perly called the final double s. 2 DONATTl'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. The vowels have but one sound, with some slight difference which must be learned from a master or a native. a, e, i, o, it, as in far, get, give, no, full. ai, Dip thongs are ei, oi, , o, aw, au, sounds like ow, in now; auf, on, haus, house. ai, sounds like y, in my ; waise, orphan. e/, sounds like i, in ice ; eis, ice. oi, sounds like uoy, in buoy, Alois, Lewis. eu, and au, have a peculiar sound which must be learnt from a native: heute, to-day ; haute, skins. , sounds like a, in gave, hate ; ich hatte, I had. o, must be learnt from a native, but it comes near ou, in enough ; ich hore, I hear, ii, must also be learnt from a native, which sounds between ee, and the French u; funf.jflue. ie, sounds like ie in grief, as in poesie, poetry ; but when ie make two syllables, both letters must be distinctly sounded, as poesien, poetries, &c. The single consonants mostly sound as in English ; but ce, ci, and za, ze. zi, zo, zu, wherein the c and z sound like ts. Cicero ; zu, to ; zehn, ten ; zwolf, twelve zum, to the. T also sounds like ts or 2 in the syllables tia, tie, tio, tium, in words of Latin and Greek origin ; as Constantly Dalmatien, nation, Latium, fyc, g, properly speaking, sounds like the English g; and I should advise beginners to pronounce it accordingly, till they find out them- selves when g sounds at the end in the syllable ig like h in hide, hind; which generally takes place in the final syllables in ig of the cardinal numbers, as zwanzig, twenty; dreissig, thirty; vierzig, forty ; fiinfzig, fifty; sechzig, sixty, &c. But it is by no means an error to pronounce the final ig, like ig, in g*- h, at the beginning of words, sounds like h, in hard, hart, halt ; h DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 3 between two vowels is not sounded, nor is it pronounced at the end of words, as froh, joyful ; froher, more joyful. c/i, always sounds somewhat stronger than h t in hard, hew, as hauch, breath; but I advise to avoid all overstraining oneself to pro- nounce the h, for one is apt to fall from one extreme into the other. chs, sounds like x, as ochs, ox ; fuchs, fox ; ochsen, oxen, &c. sch, sounds like the English sh, as Englisch, English. tsch, sounds like c/i, English, zwitschern, to chirp. s, generally sounds at the beginning of words, and between two vowels, like z, in English, as sand, sand; senden, to send; s t at the end always sounds sharp, like ce, in English ; as in ice eis, ice. ss, sounds as in English ; the final double s, is erroneously called ~N by old grammarians sz, since it always sounds like ss. ap, st, at the beginning of words, sound like shp, sht, English, which V sounds ought to be learnt from a native ; at the end, and in the % middle of words, sp, st, sound as in English, stehen, to stand ; stechen, to thrust; erst, first; ernst, earnest; sprache, speech; sprechen Sie Deutsch ? do you speak German? Some of the northern Germans, where the platt Deutsch is spoken, pro- nounce sp and st as in English, but that sound does not seem powerful enough to a correct German ear. y, is now substituted byj or i. r Except in Latin words, v, sounds like the English/; vater, /a/7ier. < where it sounds as in w, sounds like the English v ; wein, wine. ^English. The final syllable in en, sounds nearly like en, in harken, horen. The final er, sounds like er, in father, vater. To succeed soon in the German pronunciation, teachers are recommended at once to begin by teaching to read the defi- nite article, der, die, das ; the cardinal numbers, and the aux- iliary verbs, sein, to be, and haben, to have; then Crabtfs English and German Dialogues, corrected by Dr. Bernays. The students ought to begin to translate Porquet's English Exercises into German, or the French and German Exercises of Meidinger. The next reading book, I strongly recommend 4 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. is Klattowsky's Manual, on account of the happy choice of the best German writers contained therein. Orthography. With the Gothic old German characters, both in print and writing, all nouns must be written with capital letters, as also the pronouns, Sie, you, Ihre, Ihrige, your, Ihnen, to you; used in addressing a person politely ; to distinguish them from the prononus sie, she, or they, ihre, ihrige, her, their, ihnen, to them. But by making use of the Roman characters, the English orthography may be followed with respect to the use of the capital letters, with the exception of the above pro- nouns, which must be written with capital letters. CHAPTER II. UBER GESCHLECHTSWORTER UPON ARTICLES. They agree with their respective noun in gender, number, and case; they are always placed before the adjectives and nouns. ?7i. /. n. The definite article, der, die, das, the. The indefinite arti- 7/1. /. n. cle, ein, eine, ein, a or an. The declension of these two articles ought to be immediately learnt by heart, because the declension of the nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, is greatly facilitated by it. When these two articles stand by themselves they become pronominal adjectives, as will be seen hereafter. Declension of the Definite Article. Singular. Plural, tn. /. n. m. f. n. N. der, die, das, the die, the G. des, der/des, of the der, of the. D. dem der, dera, to the. den, to the. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. . 5 Singular. Plural, m. f. n. m. /. n. A. den, die, das, the. die, the. V. o der ! o die ! o das ! o the ! o die ! o the ! Ab. von dem, von der, von dem,/ro??i the.- von den, jrom the. When the definite article der, die, das, stands alone, it may be then used as a relative or demonstrative pronoun, or pro- nominal adjective, this, that, who, and which. It is then sounded much stronger. It is declined as above, with the exception, that it makes in the genitive singular for the masculine and neuter dessert, and der en for the feminine ; in the plural it makes derer for the genitive m. /.'and n., and deren in the dative. Der vater dessen sohn, the father whose son. Der vater der uns liebt, the father who loves us. Das kind dessen mutter, the child whose mother. Die mutter deren kind, the mother whose child. Die eltern derer kinder, the parents whose children. Die eltern deren kindern, the parents to whose children. Declension of the Indefinite Article. Singular. m. f. n. N.Ein, eine, ein, a or an. G. Eines, einer, eines, of a. D. Einem, einer, einem, to a. A. Einen, eine, ein, a. V. O ein ! o eine ! o ein ! o a! Ab. Von einem, von einer, von einem, from a. When the indefinite article ein, eine, ein, stands alone, it then becomes a pronominal adjective, and signifies in English the one ; it must have the definite article der, die, das before it, and is declined like all the other adjectives with der, die, das before them, namely, they add e in the nom. singular, and en in all the other cases both singular and plural for all three genders ; in the same manner are declined all the adjectives having ein, eine, ein before them, with the only exception, that they take the termination of der, die, das, whenever ein, 6 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. eine, ein does not take that termination, which proves that ein, eine, ein takes the termination of der, die, das in all the cases except the nominative of the masculine and neuter genders. It is well to observe, that 1. The dative and ablative always terminate the same, both in the singular and plural, and in all three genders. 2. The nominative and vocative always terminate alike. 3. The nominative and accusative terminate always the same in the feminine and neuter genders, both in the singular and plural, viz: Singular. f. 71. m. N. der eine, G. des einen, D. dem einen, A. den einen, V. o der eine ! Ab. von dem einen, m. f. n. N. die eiuen, the ones. G. der einen, of the ones. D. den einen, to the ones. die eine, der einen, der einen, die eine, o die eine ! von der einen, Plural. m.f. n. A die einen, the ones. V. o die einen ! o the ones ! Ab. von den einen, from the ones. das eine, the one. des einen, of the one. dem einen, to the one. das eine, the one. o das eine ! o the one ! von dem einen, from the one. The following pronominal adnouns are declined in the sin- gular like ein, eine, ein. They are placed before their respec- tive adjectives and nouns without any other article ; in the plural they take the respective terminations of the definite article, der, die, das. m. f. n. mein, meine, mein, my. dein, deine, dein, thy. sein, seine, sein, his, its. ihr, ihre, ihr, her and their. Ihr, Ihre, Ihr, your, speaking politely to a person, unser, unsre, unser, our. euer, eure, euer, your, speaking to one or more persons in a familiar style, kein, keine, kein, no, none. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 7 When the preceding first seven pronominal adjectives stand by themseves, they are declined with the definite article before them as der, die, das eine, &c. I have begun to treat of adjectives and pronominal adjectives immediately after the articles ; 1. Because the same are always placed before their respective nouns, and agree with them, of course, in case, gender, and number. 2. Because their declension is so very much connected with those articles. CHAPTER III. UBER BESCHAFFENHEITSWORTER, OR BEIWORTER. ON ADJEC- TIVES AND PRONOMINAL ADNOUNS. THE radical adnoun, as it is originally found in all diction- aries, may be considered as an adverb, it being generally in- variable, when^standing alone, or after its noun ; for it is only declined when it is placed immediately before its respective noun. It must then agree with it, in gender, number, and case, and is inflected in three different ways, as already said. 1. With the definite article der, die, das, before it, it adds e, in the nominative singular, and en, in all the other cases, both in the singular and plural, for all three genders, as already pointed out in the second chapter. Whenever there are two or more adnouns following each other before a noun, with the definite article der, die, das, or with the pronouns, dieser, jener, derjenige, derselbe, welcher, mancher, or jeder before them, they are inflected pursuant to the preceding form ; but, it must be remarked, that dieser, this ; jener, that, yonder ; mancher, some ; welcher, which ; jeder, every, each ; must take the termination of der, die, das ; and that in derselbe, and derjenige, der is declined as der, 8 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. die, das, and selbe and jenige are inflected like all the adjec- tives with der, die, das, before them. Note, that if mehre, several; wenige, few ; viele, many ; beide, both ; zvvei, two ; drei, three ; or any other word of quantity, precede one or more adnouns, all such adnouns add e in the nominative, accusative, and vocative plural, for all three genders, and en in the other cases. 2, With ein, eine, em, before the adnouns. In those cases in which ein, eine, ein, does not take the termination of the definite article, der, die, das, the adjectives must take that termination ; but in all those cases in which ein, eine, ein, takes the termination of der, die, das, the adjectives are inflected in the same manner as if they had actually der, die, das, before them, as already stated. In the plural, the adjec- tives take the termination of der, die, das. The adnoun keeps, in fact, always the additional e, and adds the final letter of the definite article, whenever that article does not stand before it, or whenever ein, eine, ein does not take the termination of der, die, das. in. Ein guter mann, in. Eines guten marines, /. Eine gute frau, /. Einer guten frau, n. Ein gutes kind, n. Eines guten kindes, &c. "Whenever any of the possessive pronouns, mein, dein, sein, &c. stand before an adjective, then the said adjective is in- flected in the singular as above. In the plural, the possessive pronouns taking the termination of the definite article, der, die, das, the adjectives following take, of course, en in all the cases. 3. Adjectives without any article or pronoun before them, take the termination of the definite article, der, die, das, both in the singular and plural, except in the genitive singular of the masculine and neuter genders, which takes en in pre- ference to es, and the adjectives ending in m, add en in pre- ference to em, in the dative singular, for harmony's sake ; for that reason all adnouns that follow add en in the dative, if the first ends in m. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. When two or more adjectives follow each other, they all take the same termination. 7/1. /. n. N. guter wein, gute milch, gutes bier. G. guten weines, guter milch, guten bieres. D. gutem weine, guter milch, gutem biere. m. n. N. warmer wein, warmes brod. G. warmen, &c. warmen brodes. D. warmen, &c. warmen brode. If the adnoun is preceded by a cardinal number, beginning from two upwards, and not having the definite article, der, die, das, before the cardinal number, it then takes the termi- nation of der, die, das fiinf fette ochsen, Jive fat oxen ; gen : fiinf fetter ochsen, of Jive fat oxen. CHAPTER IV. In Continuation on Adjectives. As it has been already observed, adjectives and adverbs are always found in dictionaries in their radical termination, say positive degree ; and it is from the radical termination that all inflections, either of case or comparison, are made. For the comparative, relative, or second degree, add eror r, to the radical termination, and st, or est, for the relative superlative, as schon, schoner, schonst. miide, milder, mildest. pretty, prettier, prettiest. tired, more tired, most tired. warm, warmer, warmest. griin, griiner, griinest. warm, warmer, warmest. green, greener, greenest. Adnouns and adverbs ending in el, drop the e of el, and add rr for the comparative, as edel, edler, iibel, iibler, noble, nobler, bad, worse ; 10 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. in the superlative, they do not drop the e of el, but only add st to the radical termination; as, edel, edelst, c. Gross, great, makes in the superlative grosst, much better than grossest; hoch, hoher, hochst, high, &c. The following are irregular : bald, soon, eher, sooner, ehest, the soonest. gut, good, besser, better, best, the best. nahe, nigh, naher, nachst, near, &c. viel, much, raehr, more, meist, the most. After the comparative or superlative is formed as above stated, the adjective is inflected pursuant to the forms of de- clensions of adjectives pointed out in the second and third chapters. Some adjectives have no positive : as der aussere, the exterior, der ausserste, the extreme, der innere, the interior, der innerste, the innermost, der hintere, the hinder, der hinterste, the hindmost, der mindere, the lesser, der mindeste, the least, der obere, the upper, der oberste, the uppermost, der untere, the lower, der unterste, the lowest, der vordere, the farther, der vorderste, the foremost, being actually derivations from aussen, out; innen, within; hinter, behind; mitten, middle; wenig, little; oben, tip; unter, under ; vorne, before. Observations on Adjectives. Whenever the radical adnoun is to receive an additional syllable, either in comparisons, or compounding, and having a, o, u, change these vowels in o w, as has been seen in the formation of the comparatives and superlatives. The following adnouns do not change the vowels, but keep their radical sound. 1. Those which have in the radical syllable a dipthong, as faul, lazy ; lau, lukewarm ; ranch, rough, &c., make lauer, laulich, &c. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 11 2. Those ending in bar, haft, ig, lick, licht, and sam, as furchtsam, lasterhaft,/ear/W, vicious; artig, polite ; gehorsam, obedient. 3. All participles. 4. All adnouns derived from the Latin. 5. Also, the following ones : abgeschmackt, insipid, lose, perverse, starr, stiff, blass, 2>a/, matt, tired, stolz, proud, bunt, variegated, morsch, putrified, stumm, dumb, f alsch , false, platt , jiat, toll , mad, froh, glad, plump, plump, verhasst, odious, gemach, gentle, roh, raw, \o\\,full, gerade, direct, rund, round, zahrn, tame, glatt, smooth, sacht, gentle, hohl, hollow, sanft, soft, hold, favorable, satt, satiated, kahl, bald, schlaff, relaxed, karg, shabby, schlank, tall and easy, knapp, close, lahm, lame, and a few more blass, blasser, blassest, falsch, falscher, falschest, plump, plumper, plumpest, &c. Remark, that immediately after the relative comparative, the word compared is to follow with the comparative particle als, than, as in English : Peter ist weiser als Joseph. Lon- don ist grosser als Berlin und Wien. The relative superlative degree is followed by von, of, in, in, aus, out of, zwischen, unter, between, amongst, or by the genitive of the person or thing compared : der beste freund von alien, zwischen alien, unter alien, or, der beste aller freunde. With participles, or when the addition of er would not sound well, or when the comparative is made with two adjectives, the comparative is then formed by putting mehr, more, before the adnoun, when we wish to augment, and weniger, minder, when we wish to diminish, as is also the case in English* as : Die mutter ist mehr geachtet als die tochter, the mother is more respected than the daughter. Der ochs ist mehr werth 12 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. als der fuchs, the ox is worth more than the fox. Paris 1st weniger bevolkert als London. Paris is less peopled than London. Brutus war minder an edelmuth als Caesar. Brutus ivas less noble-minded than C&sar. We have hitherto been speaking of the relative comparative, and superlative, but there is in German as well as in English and other languages, a comparative implying equality ; it is formed by placing im- mediately before the comparing adnoun or adverb, the words so, eben so, as, and the words als or wie, immediately after the word compared, as, der vater ist eben so gut als, or, wie die mutter. Gleich means equally, and compares equality, as, Alexander und Csesar waren gleich tapfer. Alexander and Ccesar were equally brave, i. e. Alexander was as brave as Ccesar. The comparative particles, so, eben so, can be omitted, when wie is employed instead of als, before the second word com - pared : Diana ist roth wie eine rose. Diana is as red as a rose. The Germans enforce the relative comparative by prefixing to the comparative some particles and words, such as &esto,still more ; weit, by far ; viel, much ; ungleich, bey ond comparison ; iibermassig, beyond measure ; ein wenig, a little, as : desto zufriedener, the more content ; weit grosser, greater by far ; viel armer, much poorer ; ungleich starker, stronger beyond comparison ; ein wenig theurer, a little dearer. The superlative absolute is formed in German, by placing before the adnoun the following words, viz. ; sehr, very ; recht, right, very ; ungemein, beyond measure ; iiberaus, extremely ; ausserodentlich, extraordinary ; hochst, highly ; vorziiglich, particularly; ausserst, beyond measure; ganz, quite; erz, arch j aller, all, most. It is peculiar to the genius of the German language, to form a great number of compound words more than equivalent to the superlative absolute, prefixing and uniting those words and particles to the adjectives which they want to place in the superlative absolute, such as : DONATTl'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 13 baumstark, as strong as a tree. bettelarm , as poor as a beggar. blutfremd, quite unknown. blutjung, quite young. blutsauer, very painful. essigsauer, very acid. eiskalt, as cold as ice. federleicht, as light as a feather. i'euerroth, as red as fire. gallbitter, as bitter as gall. grasgrun, as green as grass. grundfalsch,/ase/ro??i the bottom, very false. grundehrlich, very honest. himmelhoch, as high as heaven. himmelweit, as distant as heaven. kohlschwarz, as black as a coal. nagelneu, quite new. pechschwarz, very black. rabenschwarz, very black. schneeweiss, snow white. steinalt, very old, as old asa stone. speckfett, very fat, as fat as lard. steinhart, as hard as stone. uralt, very old. steinreich, very rich. stockblind, very blind. stocktaub, quite deaf. strohdiirr, quite dry, as dry as a herring. weltbekannt, known to the world. \vunderselten, as rare as a wonder, very rare. wunderschon, wonderfully pretty. 1st person. N. Ich, I, CHAPTER V. USER DIE FURWORTER ON PRONOUNS. Declension of Personal Pronouns. Singular. 2nd. 3rd m. 3d/. 3d n. 3d indeter- minate, du, er, sie, es, man. thou, he, she, it, one. G. meiner,mein, deiner,dein, seiner, sein, ibrer,ihr, seiner, sein- of me, of thee, of him, of her, ofit, D. mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm, to me, to thee, to him, to her t to it, A. mich, dich, ihn, sie, es, me, thee, him, her, it, V. o ich! o du ! o er! o sie ! ol! o thou ! ohe! o she ! Ab . von mir, von dir, \on ihm, von ihr, von ihm, from me, from thee, from him. from her, from it. C 14 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Plural. N. wir, ihr, G. we. unser, you. euer, D. of us. uns, of you. euch, A. to us. uns, to you. euch, V. MS. o wir! you. o ihr ! Ab o we! , von uns, o you ! von euch, from us. from you. m. f. n. sie,* they. ihe rr, of them. ihnen, to them. sie, them. o sie ! o they ! von ihnen, from them. RECIPROCAL PRONOUN. Singular and Plural. N. None. G. seiner, of oneself , &c. D. sich, to oneself, &c. A. sich, oneself, &c. Observe that the possessive pronouns, mein, dein, sein, un- ser, euer, ihr, are derived from the above : they are declined in the singular, like ein, eine, ein, and take in the plural the ter- mination of the definite article, as already said. The following are derived from the preceding der, die, das meinige, deinige, seinige, ihrige, unsrige, eurige, seinige, and are declined like adjectives with der, die, das, before them. Vide Chapter II. Sie, written with a capital letter, means you> and is then always used and declined the same it is in this third person plural that the Germans address others in all polite circles, in letters. Between father, mother, brother, sister, and children, and between most intimate friends, the second person singular * Sie, as already said, written with a capital S, means politely you, and is inflected just the same. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 15 du, is generally used in the best circles, and it then implies great cordiality. Masters generally address their male ser- vants in this person ; female servants of a better cast are ad- dressed in the third person plural, Sie, as are also all male and female servants belonging to others. In order to find the nominative we say, wer, for persons, was, for animals and things } who ? which ? or what ? for the Gen., wessen, whose, of whom, of what, of which. Dat., wem, to whom, to what, to which. Ace., wen, for persons, whom, what, which. was, for animals and things. Abl. von wem, from whom, from ivhat, &c. The answer to wer is the nominative ; to wessen, the geni- tive ; to wem the dative ; to wen the accusative ; von wem the ablative ; this rule will be particularly clear to classical scholars, and it will be of great advantage to them. The Germans also ask, by putting before any substantive for the masculine and neuter, was fur ein; for the feminine, was fur eine : viz. Was fur ein wetter haben wir ? What kind of weather have we ? Was fur eine neuigkeit haben Sie ? What kind of news have you ? Was fur ein mann ist er ? What kind of man is he ?- &c. In the plural ein falls off, of course, and we ask Was fiir neuigkeiten haben Sie ? was fiir leute sind das ? What folks are those? &c. Inflection of Reciprocal Pronouns before a Verb governing the Accusative. Singular. 1st person, Ich wasche mich, I wash myself. 2d. ,, du waschest dich, thou washest thyself. 3d. ?7i. er wascht sich, he washes himself. 3d. /. sic wascht sich, she washes herself. 3d. n. es wascht sich, it washes itself. 3d. indeter. man wascht sich, one washes oneself. 16 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Plural. 1st person, wir washen ans, we wash ourselves. 2d. ,, ihr waschet euch, you wash yourselves, or yourself. 3d. ,, sie waschen sich, they wash themselves. 3d. Sie waschen sich, you wash yourself, speaking politely to a person. Before a Verb governing the Dative. Ich bilde mir ein, I imagine to mystlf. du bildest dir ein, thou imaginest to thyself. er bildet sich ein, he imagines to himself. sie bildet sich ein, she imagines to herself. es bildet sich ein, it imagines to itself. man bildet sich ein, one imagines to oneself. wir bilden uns ein, we imagine to ourselves. ihr bildet euch ein, you imagine to yourselves, or yourself. Sie bilden sich ein, they imagine to themselves From what has been said, it is evident, that pronouns in general (except the personal and reciprocal ones) are mere ad- jectives without a comparative degree, and that they are de- clined like adjectives ; and it is for that reason that I have brought them under the head of adjectives immediately after the articles, and before the declension of nouns, because by that means the road to the acquisition of the German grammar has been greatly shortened, which 1 trust will be approved of by all unbiassed and cultivated grammarians. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. CHAPTER VI. ZAHLWORTER OF NUMBERS. Grundzahlen Cardinal Numbers. 17 Bins,* 1. Vierzig .. 40 - Zwei, 2. Ein und vierzig, 41. Drei, 3. Fiinfzig, . . 50. Vier, 4. Ein und fiinfzig, . . 51, Fiinf, 5. Sechzig, 60. Sechs, 6. Ein und sechzig, .. 61. Sieben, 7. Siebenzig, siebzig, . . 70. Acht, 8. Ein und siebzig, 71. Neun, 9. Achtzig, .. .80. Zehn, .. 10. Ein und achtzig, .. 81. Eilf-elf, 11. Neunzig, . . 90. Zwolf, 12. Ein und neunzig, . . 91. Dreizehn, 13. Hundert, .. 100. Vierzehn, .. 14. Hundert und eins, .. 101. Fiinfzehn, 15. Hundert und zwei, . . 102. Sechszehn, 16. Zwei hundert, . . 200- Siebzehn, 17. Drei hundert, . . 300. Achtzehn, 18. Tausend, ein tausend, . . 1000. Neunzehn, 19. Tausend und eins, .. 1001. Zwanzig, 20. Zwei tausend und zwei, 2002. Ein und zwanzig, 21. Zwanzig tausend, .. 20,000. Zwei und zwanzig, 22. Hundert tausend, or ein- Drei und zwanzig, .. 23. mal hundert tausend, 100,000. Vier und zwanzig, 24. Zweirnal hundert taus- Fiinf und zwanzig, 25. end, .. .. 200,000. Sechs und zwanzig, 26. Fiinf mal hundert acht Sieben und zwanzig, . 27. und achtzig tausend, Acht und zwanzig, 28. acht hundert acht und Neun und zwanzig, 29. achtzig . . 588,888 Dreissig, 30. Eine million . 1,000,000 Ein und dreissig, 31. * The s of eins is dropped before a masculine or neuter noun ; before a feminine noun it makes eine. c 2 18 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR, Ordnungszahlen Ordinal Numbers. derl die VErste, ..... The 1st. dasj , Zweite, ...*.,, 2d. Dritte, ...... 3d. . . Vierte, . . . . . 4th. Fiinfte, ....,,, 5th. ,, Sechste, >, 6th. Siebente, 1th. ,, Achte, ....,,, 8/fc. ,, Neunte, . . . ,, 9th. Zehnte, .....,, IQth. Eilfte, ....,, llth. ,, Zwolfte, . . . . . 12th. ,, Dreizehnte, 13th. ,, Vierzehnte, IMh. ,, Fiinfzehnte, . . . ,, 15ffc. ,, Seehszehnte, ....,, I6ih. ,, Siebzehnte, 11th. ,, Achtzehnte, . . . ' 18th. Neunzehnte, ....,, 19//1. ,, Zwanzigste, ....,, 20^. ,, Ein und zwanzigste, ,, 21st. ,, Zwei und zwanzigste, ,, 22d. ,, Drei und zwanzigste, . . . ,, 23d. >, Vier und zwanzigste, ,, 24th. ,, Fiinf und zwanzigste, ,, 25th. ,, Sechs und zwanzigste, ,, 26th. ,, Sieben und zwanzigste, . . ,, 21th. ,, Acht und zwanzigste, . . . ,, 28/^. ,, Neun und zwanzigste, . . _ ,, 29lh. Dreissigste, . . . . 30M. , Vierzigste, . ,, 40M. ,, Fiinfzigste, . . ,, 5Qth. ,, Sechszigste, ... 60iA. ,, Siebzigste, . . . . Wth ,, Achtzigste, ... SQth. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 19 Ordinal Numbers (continued). der") die VNeunzigste, .... The Wlh. dasj ,, Hundertste, . IQOth. ,, Htmdert und erste, ,, IQlst. . ,, Tausendste, IQOQth. 1. When the cardinal numbers denote the number, i.e., the quantity of things, articles, &c. they are invariable, and are used as in English, ein mann, zwei husaren, drei dragoner, except ein, which makes eine in the feminine gender : eine frau. 2. When the cardinal numbers have the definite article, der, die, das before them, and an adjective immediately after them, they are also indeclinable, except ein, as above. Vide Chap. II. 3. When the cardinal numbers stand quite alone, but still referring to some nouns understood, having before them a preposition, which governs the dative or ablative, they add then en, if they do not already terminate in en ; as, mit sechsen fahren, to drive with six in hand ; mit vieren aus- fahren, to go out a driving with four in hand ; von zwolfen bleiben nur fiinf, out of twelve, five only remain. 4. Zwei and drei, when alone, or when they stand as numeri- cal adnouns before a noun, take the termination of the definite article, der, die, das, in the genitive er, and dative plural en. 5. By adding cr to the end of any cardinal number, they become numerical nouns, viz. der fiinfer, der einser, der zweier, der vierer, the numbers five, one, two, four. Collective Numbers. Ein dutzend, a dozen. Ein zentner, a quintal. Das zehend, the tenth. Ein zwilling, a twin. Ein dreiling, one born with two others at a time. Ein vierling, one born with three others at a lime. Ein viertel, a quarter. Ein halb, an half. Ein cfrittel, a third part. Die halfte, the half. Zehn stuck, half a score. Zwanzig stuck, a score. Das tausend, the thousand. Das hundert, the hundred. 20 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. The Germans have numbers of quality and division. They are formed from the cardinal numbers by adding erlei to them; as, einerlei, zwei erlei, dreierlei, &c. of one kind, sort ; of two kinds, sorts ; of three lands or qualities; hunderterlei, of hundred kinds or qualities ; allerlei, of all kinds ; man- cherlei, of various sorts ; and they are invariable. Numbers of Repetition. The numbers of repetition are formed from the cardinal numbers, by adding to their final syllable the word of re- petition mal, times ; as, einmal, zweimal, dreimal, once, twice, three times, &c. N.B. 1. The word mal can be added to the last syllable of an adverb, adding s at the end ; as, damals, then; jemals, ever; mehrmals, various times; nachmals, after; niemals, never; nochmals, another time; oftmals, often limes ; vielmals, often; vormals, formerly ; if you add to the above adverbs, and to similar ones, the syllable ig, you have the adnouns of repeti- tion; as, einmalig, of one time ; zweimalig, that is done twice; damalig, at that time; gestrig, that of yesterday; heutig, of to-day; ein dreimaliger angriff, an attack repeated three times ; they are inflected as adjectives. N.B. 2. When the word mal is preceded by a preposition, which governs the dative or ablative, it is employed substan- tively, and must terminate in en ; as, zu mehr malen, in various times ; von sechs malen, of six times, &c. ISI.B. To denote a progressive augmentation, the Germans place fach after the cardinal numbers, as einfach, single ; zweifach, dreifach, &c. ; they may then be used as adverbs, or adnouns, according to circumstances. Distributive Adnouns are : je eins und eins, one by one. je zwei und zwei, two by two. je drei und drei, three by three. die halfte, the half. | ein halbes, an half, ein drittel, one third, J. ein viertel, one fourth, ^. ein achtzehntel, one eighteen th, DONATlTS GERMAN GRAMMAR. 21 em zwanzigstel, one twentieth, 2 \j. anderthalb, one and a half. dritthalb, two and a half. vierthalb, three and a half. fii nfth alb, four and a half. sechsthalb, five and a half. The fractional numbers are formed by adding tel to the cardinal numbers till 19, and stel beginning from 20 ; ein neunzehntel, 19; ein zwanzigstel, 2 V The distributives are formed by adding, first, t, and then halb, to the radical number, forming but one word ; i.e., halb means the half of one unity less than the cardinal numbers expressed, as fiinfthalb, i.e., five less one-half of one unity, which is four and a half, &c. It is for that reason that we say halb fiinf uhr, half past four o'clock; halb ein uhr, half -past twelve o'clock, &c. Nouns denoting weight, measure, such as stuck, piece ; buch, quire; centner, quintal; pfund, pound; paar, pair; mal, times; zoll, inch; fuss, foot; schuh, foot; klafter, chord ; mass, measure ; dutzend, dozen; loth, half an ounce; schritt, yard ; monath, month ; mann, man, when they are preceded by a cardinal number, are not put in the plural, but remain in the singular, though the number signify more than one, as, 1000 mann, 3 pfund, 10 mass, 10 quarts, &c. From this rule are excepted: 1. The feminine nouns, and the words glas, tag, day; jahrhundert, century ; and kopf, head. 2, All names of monies, &c. the same being placed in the plural : as, drei wochen, three weeks ; fiinf stunden,^g hours ; vier meilen, four miles ; acht tage, zwei jahrhunderte, sechs hundert kopfe, zwei gulden, zwei pfennige, &c. The approximative words in German are: ungefahr, etwa, gegen, thereabout ; circa, about ; beinahe, almost. The days of the month are marked by the ordinal numbers, as in English, in the accusative masculine singular number, with the definite article before them: den, lsten ? 2 ten , 12 ten , 19'en, 20sten, 2isten ? 30sten y Slsten, May 1837, or with the con- tracted preposition am., am ll ten , mai, &c. i.e., an denu The 22 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. age of a person is expressed as in English. Albert ist 17 jahre alt. Albert is 17 years old. Remark, all ordinal numbers are declined with the definite article, der, die, das. Vide Chapters II and III. CHAPTER VII. BILDUNG DER DEUTSCHEN NENNWORTER, IHR GESCHLECHT UNO DIE VIELFACHE ZAHL. OF THE FORMATION OF GERMAN NOUNS, THEIR GENDER, AND THEIR PLURAL. Out of any substantive, masculine, feminine, or neuter, one may form in German diminutives by adding to them the syl- lables lein, or chen, and then they are all of the neuter gender. The syllables erl and el mark also the diminutives, but are seldom used, biindel, bundle ; miindel, minor ; fassel, the little cask ; Gott gab das haserl, wird auch das graserl geben, God gave the hare, he will also give the grass. Out of all the infinitives, we can make a substantive of the neuter gender by placing before it the definite article das. Out of the infinitives, we can make masculine nouns by changing the final n in r, and by adding to them in they be- come feminine nouns : lehren, to teach ; das lehren teach- ing ; der lehrer, teacher ; die lehrerin, female teacher. Out of the infinitives we make also the feminine nouns in ung, or Hung, by changing the final 'syllable en into ung or nung, and often by changing the final n of the infinitive into rei, or, erei, which the delicacy of the ear must decide : reiten, to ride, reiterei ; sprechen, to speak, sprecherei. Out of all masculine nouns, denoting men, their offices, dignities, and occupations, we can make feminine nouns by adding in to the last syllable. Names of men are masculine, and names of females are DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 23 feminine : except, das weib, the woman ; das mensch, the com- mon young woman. Of the masculine gender are the names of winds, days, sea- sons, and months. Out of all cardinal numbers we make masculine nouns by adding to them the syllable erj eins, der einser, zwei, der zweier ; they are of the feminine gender if used as nouns, without adding er at the end ; die fiinf, the number five, &c. All nouns in ing are masculine. Of the neuter gender are the names of metals, countries, places, cities, and diminutives in erl, el, lein, and chen, as also the letters of the alphabet, and any part of speech in grammar, except der stahl, the steel ; dertomback, the pinch- beck ; der zink, the spelter, and all the names of countries ter- minated in rei, and au, also, die Lausitz, Lusatia ; die Pfalz, the Palatinate ; Das harz, the rosin on trees; der Harz, Her- cynean forest, or mountain. All nouns ending in ei, eit, heit, keit, schaft, ung, and many in e, denoting things, not men, are feminine, and add en in the nominative plural. All nouns in thum are neuter, except der irrthum, the error; der reichthum, the riches. The following nouns have two plurals, and two significa- tions, viz. : Singular. Plural. f the fetter, die bande, the fetters. das band, < ., .,, {the ribbon. die Dander, the ribbons. der band, the volume. die bande, the volumes. die bank, the bench. die banke, thebenches. die bank, the bank. die banken, the banks. der bar, the bear. die baren, the bears. der bar, the dam. die bare, the dams. der bauer, the peasant. die bauern, the peasants. das bauer, the cage. die bauer, the cages. der bogen, the arch. die bogen, the arches. der bogen, the sheet of paper. die bogen, the sheets of paper, 24 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Singular. Plural. die ecke, the corner. die ecken, the corners. das eck, the angle. die ecke, the angles* das gesicht, the face. die gesichter, the faces. das gesicht, the vision. die gesichte, the visions. der laden, the shop. die laden, the shops. der fensterladen , tfie shutter. die fensterladen, /Tie shutters. der mensch, ??ian, mankind. die menschen, men, mankind. das mensch, a common female. die menscher, common females. die sau, i/ie sow. die saue, /Tie sows, die sau, the female wild boar. die sauen,/e??iae wiZd boars. der stab, 2/ie sta^f. die stabe, the staves. der buchstab, the alphabetical letter die buchstaben, letters. das ding, the thing. dinge, things. Alle diese gute dinge, all these good things. Contemptibly: wie heissen die kleinen dinger? how do you call these little things ? Der dorn, the thorn j die dome, in an elevated style. Keine rose ohne dome, no rose without thorns. In a familiar style, dorner ; also, die dorner in den schnallen, the tongues of the buckles. Das horn, the horn; die home, collectively, as der kammacher hatte viele home, the combmaker had many horns. Distributively, horner: die ziegen haben horner, goats have horns. Das mal, the mole ; die male, moles. Das mal, the mark, signpost ; die maler, signs, marks. Der ort, the place ; collectively, orte, places ; distinctively, orter. Dieses wort kommt in vielen orten vor, this word occurs in several places. Wir sahen vom berge viele orter, we saw from the moun- tain many places. Das wort, the word; die worte, words uttered ; in the plural worter, speaking of the words in the grammar. Das land, the land; die lande, collectively; lander, distinctively. In alien landen, in all countries. Er hat viele lander gesehen, he has seen many countries. Der chor, the singing ; das chor, the choir. Der bund, union, union amongst nations and men. Das bund, a bundle of straw or hay. Der erb, the heir ; das erbe, the inheritance. DONATTl'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 25 Der geissel, the pledge ; diegeissel, the scourge. Der haft, the holdfast on a thing ; die haft, arrest. Der hut, the hat ; die hut, the heed, chCtrge. Der kunde, the customer; die kunde, the information. Der leiter, the leader ; die leiter, the ladder. Das mandel, the male, or fifteen pieces. Die mandel, the almond. Die mark, the weight, the land. Das mark, the marrow. Der mast, the mast. Die mast, the fattening of animals. Der schield, the weapon. Das shield, the ensigns on shops, Add e. under the preceding rules ... j F. Most neuter nouns which do not fall under i J. Add er. the preceding rule J CHAPTER VIII. UBER DIE ABANDERUNG DER NENNWORTER. ON THE DECLEN- SION OF SUBSTANTIVES. Almost all German grammarians give a certain number of declensions for G erman nouns ; some give four, some five, some six, some eight, which is very discouraging to students. I have therefore endeavoured to facilitate the above branch of the grammar by doing away with the number of declensions, and giving a few rules, by means of which all German nouns may be easily declined, their gender and their plural ascer- tained. In order to decline a German noun, its nominative plural must be known, and for this reason it is given in all modern German dictionaries. 1. In the plural all the cases are like the nominative, except the datives and ablatives, which must add ?z, if they do not already end in n, except the pronouns, uns to us; euch, to you ; and sick, to themselves. 2. Nouns feminine never vary in the singular. 28 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 3. In the feminine and neuter gender all nouns and adjec- tives have the nominative and accusative alike. 4. All masculine and neuter nouns ending in the nomina- tive singular in el, en, er t erl, chen, and lein, as also the neuter nouns which terminate in the nominative singular in e, ter- minate alike in the nominative plural ; they add s in the genitive singular, and have the other cases like the nomina- tive ; in the plural all the cases end like the nominative, except the dative, which adds n. Fide General Table of De- clensions, column No. 1, or letters A. and B. of Chapter VII. Exception A. Except the following, which add n in the nominative plu- ral, they add s in the genitive singular, and have the other cases like the nominative singular; as for the plural, they follow the general rule 1. Singular. Plural. Der gevater, the godfather. die gevatern, the godfathers. der bauer, the peasant. die bauern, the peasants. der nachbar, the neighbour. die nachbarn, the neighbours. der pantoffel, the slipper. die pantoffeln, the slippers. der stachel, the sting. die stacheln, the stings. der vetter, the cousin. die vettern, the cousins. der Ungar, the Hungarian. die Ungaren, the Hungarians. der Bulgar, the Bulgarian. die Bulgaren, the Bulgarians. der consul. die consuln. der lorber, the laurel. die lorbern, laurels. der muskel. die'muskeln. der Baier, the Bavarian. die Baiern, the Bavarians. der Pommer, die Pommern, Pomeranians. der Tartar, the Tartar. die Tartaren, the Tartars. 5. As already said, the feminine nouns are invariable in the singular. Many feminine nouns of one syllable, and the greater part of those of more than one syllable, add in the nominative plural n, or en ; those terminated in the singular in el, or er, add n (vide Chapter VII. letter D.), except : DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 29 Tochter, daughter ; mutter, mother, which make in the plural, tdchter and mutter : see further Exception B. Exception B. The following monosyllabic feminine nouns, add e in the nominative plural, and change a, o, u, into a, 6, ii. Die axt, the axe ; die braut, the bride; die brust, the breast ; die faust, the fist ; die feuersbrunst, the conflagration : die frucht, the fruit; die gans, the goose: die graft, the tomb; die hand, the hand; die haut, the skin ; die kluft, the gap; die kraft, the' strength ; die kuh, the cow ; die kunst, the art; die luft, the air ; die macht, the power; die maus, the mouse; die nacht, the night; die nath, the seam; die nuss, the nut; die sau, the sow ; die schnur, the string ; die stadt, the town; die wand, the wall; die wurst, the sausage ; die zunft, the guild, corporation. Die burg, the castle; die burge, the castles; die leinwand, die leinwande, the linen. When the feminine noun has no article, the genitive and dative singular, either in composition or alone, is expressed in plural, as : auf erden, on earth ; erdensohn, son of the earth ; sonnenuhr, sun-dial ; sonnenglanz, the brightness of the sun ; kutschentasche, coach-pocket. All feminine nouns in niss, or ss, add e, in the nominative plural, as, die kenntniss, knowledge, pi. kenntnisse ; fmsterniss, darkness or eclipse, pi. fmsternisse ; f aulniss, putrefaction, f aulnisse, &c. ; as also, die bedrangniss, grievance ; die emp- fangniss, the conception ; die erkenntniss, the cognizance ; die befugniss, the right ; die wildniss, the wilderness; dieverdam- niss, the damnation; die betriibniss, the affliction; die be- kummerniss, the grief ; the neuter nouns in niss I have given under Exception D (vide Chapter VII. letter C), not to con- found them with the above of the feminine gender. Die triibsal, the affliction, die triibsale. 6. Masculine nouns ending in the nominative singular in e, add n in the nominative plural, and all adjectives when taken D 2 30 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR as substantives add en in the nominative plural ; as also all foreign masculine nouns in ant, ar, arch, ast, at, ent, et, ik, or, ist, it, oss, ot, ur ; all nouns which add thus n or en in the nominative plural, add n or en in all the other cases, both in the singular and the plural. Vide Exception C, and column 3, General Table of Declensions. 7- Masculine nouns not comprised in the preceding rules 4 and 6, add e in the nominative plural, except Gott, God ; leib, body; mann, man; rand, brim; wald, forest ; irrthum, error; reichthum, riches, which add er. Neuter nouns not comprised in the preceding rule 4, add er in the nominative plural. Both the masculine and neuter nouns adding e, or er, in the nominative plural, add es in the genitive singular, and e in the dative ; in the plural, as already said, all the cases are like the nominative, except the dative, which adds n, if the nominative does not already end in n. Fide Exception D. and General Table of Declensions, column No. 2. Exception C to Rule 6, and Chapter VII., E. and F. The following nouns terminating in en, in the nominative plural, follow entirely the above general rule, with the only exception, that they must terminate in the genitive singular in ens, as, der name, des namens ; der buchstabe, des buchsta- bens, as also : Der friede, peace ; der gedanke, the thought ; der glaube, the be- lief; der haufe, the heap ; der same, the seed; der sehade, the da- mage ; der wille, the will. Der schmerz, the pain ; das herz, the heart, in a general sense, besides that they end in the genitive singular in ens, des schmerzens, des herzens, have the accusative and vocative like the nominative, viz. den schmerz, das herz, &c. ; but when das herz means really the heart of any living being, it makes in the plural die herze, and is inflected accordingly. The following masculine nouns, though adding en in the DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 31 nominative plural, add es in the genitive, and e in the dative, singular; the other cases are like the nominative. Der pfau, the peacock; der sporn, the spur; der strahl, the ray ; der see, the lake ; der staat, the state der thron, the throne ; der unterthan, the subject der zierath, the ornament ; der affect, the affection, der diamant, the diamond. Nouns ending in al, ar, ium, derived from the Latin, add s in the genitive singular, and have the other cases like the nominative ; they change al andar in ien for the plural, as : capital, capitalien, capital stock, stocks ; formular, formu- larien. Exception D to Rule 7- Except the following, which add e in the nominative plural : Das beil, the hatchet ; das bein, the leg; das blech, the tin; das brod, the bread ; das camel, the camel ; das fell, the skin; das garn, the yarn; das jahr, the year ; das kreuz, the cross; das metall, the metal; das oxhoft, the hogshead; das pferd, the horse; das pfund, the pound ; das rohr, the cane, the reed; dass ross, the steed; das schaf, the sheep; das schwein, the hog, swine; das schiff, the ship ; das sell, the cord; das stuck, the piece; das tau, the hawser, the cable; das thier, the animal ; which make beile, beine, &c., as also all neuter nouns in niss, which also add e in the nominative plural : das geheim- niss, the secret; die geheimnisse, secrets; das argerniss, the scandal; das gleichniss, the parable; das hinderniss, the impediment, hin- drance ; das begebniss, the occurrence ; das begrabniss, the burial ; das ereigniss, the chance ; das erkenntniss, the adjudgment ; das ersch- werniss, the aggravation ; das schreckniss, the terror ; das geliibde, gelobniss, the vow ; das bekenntniss, the confession; das gestiindniss, the acknowledgment; das verstandniss, the intelligence ; das bild- niss, the picture ; das vermiichtniss, the legacy ; das erforderniss, the requisite ; das gediichtniss, the memory ; das verhangniss, the fate; das zeugniss, the testimony ; das verzeichniss, the catalogue. The feminine nouns in niss also add e in the nominative plural, which I have given in Exception B., treating on feminine nouns, in order not to confound them with the above of the neuter gender. 32 DONATTl'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 8. Neuter nouns which add n, or en, in the nominative plural, and es in the genitive, and e in the dative singular, and have all the other cases alike ; in the plural all the cases add n or en. 9. The datives and ablatives terminate in the same manner, the latter being preceded by the preposition von ; the nomin- ative and vocative terminate alike, the latter having o ! before it both the ablative and vocative will be omitted hereafter. 10. Most German nouns having a, o, u, in the singular, change in the plural the above vowels into , o, a. The same change takes place in adjectives in the comparatives and su- perlatives. This change also takes place in the Imperfect of the Subjunctive mood of the irregular verbs. 11. In compound words the last noun determines its gen- der and plural termination, and is inflected accordingly, N.B. It is said all compound nouns keep the gender of the last noun, but the following are excepted: Der abscheu. the abhorrence; der Mitt woch, the Wednesday; die antwort, the answer; der verhaft, the arrest ; die neunauge, the lamprey ; die anmuth, the grace; die derauth, humility ; die gross- muth, magnanimity; die schwermuth, the heaviness of mind ; die wehmuth, the melancholy ; die sanftmuth, the mildness; die armuth, poverty, the other words compound of muth follow the gender of muth, as der edelmuth, der hochmuth. Latin nouns in urn, and Greek nouns in on, come also under the 1st General Rule for the singular, and change in the plural um in a, for the nominative, accusative, and vocative, and in is, for the dative and ablative, Latin inflection. Nouns of French origin ending in ier in the nominative singular, come under the 4th General Rule for the singular ; in the plural they add e. Fide General Rule 1. N. Der tapfere officier. die tapferen officiere. G. des tapferen officiers. der tapferen officiere. D. dem tapferen officier. den. tapferen officieren. A. den tapferen officier. die tapferen officiere. DONATTl'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. In the same manner are declined das papier, the paper; der accord, the agreement ; das concert, the concert ; das por- trait, the portrait; das billet, the billet; der bankerott, the bankrupt. Some masculine nouns of French origin come under the 4th general rule for the singular, and take s in the plural ; Acteur, mineur, friseur, portier, cordon, souverain, gouverne- ment, detail, mano3uvre, corps, chef, tambour. It is to be observed, that many masculine nouns taking es in the genitive singular, take s only when the German idiom requires it. General Table of the Declension of Nouns. 1 . The nominative plural must be known in order to be able to decline a German noun, for which reason all modern dictionaries have the nominative plural marked. 1. 2. 3. Masculine and Neuter Masculine and Neuter All Masculine Nouns Nouns in el, en, er,chen, Nouns which add e or in e, and all foreign lein, and the Neuter er in the Nominative Nouns in ant, ar, arch. Nouns in e, terminate Plural, and the few ast, at, ent, et. ik, oss, the same in the Nomi- Neuter Nouns which or, ot, ur, add n or en in native Plural, as in the add en in the Nomin- the Nominative Plural, Nominative Singular. ative Plural. Fide and also all Adjectives Vide rule 4. rules 7 and 8. taken substantively. Fide rule 6. THEY ARE DECLINED. Singular. Singular. Singular. Dat e Voc Abl e As for the plural, all the cases are like the nominative, 34 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. except the dative and ablative, which add n, if the nominative has not already an n. The feminine nouns never vary in the singular. Eigene Namen Proper Names. Nouns proper of all three genders are invariable in the sin- gular, when they have the definite article before them ; but whenever they are declined without the definite article, or also with the indefinite article, ein, erne, em, before them, they add s or ens, for the genitive singular j n, or en, in the other cases singular; for the plural, they come under the first pre- paratory rule, and add en in general, or 71, which the German ear must decide. Singular. Plural. N. Der Anton die Antonen. G. des Anton der Antonen. D. dem Anton den Antonen. A. den Anton die Antonen. Without the Article. N. Anton. Antonen, &c. G. Antons. D. Anton. A. Anton. Feminine and neuter proper names add ens for the genitive, and en for the dative and accusative singular, and for all the cases in the plural also. Singular. Plural. N. Diana, Europa. Dianen, &c, G. Dianens, Europens. Europen, &c. D. Dianen, Europen. Some take the Latin termination, as, die Geburt Christi. The names of towns, in singular and plural, are invariable through all the cases. Proper names of men terminated in the singular in el, al, art, er, and or add generally s in the genitive singular, and n in other cases both singular and plural. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 35 Some proper names of men and towns add e, in the nomina- tive plural, as, Hans, Hanse, Huss, Husse, Athen, Athene, Jacobi, Jacobie, Augustin, Augustine, which a German ear can only decide upon; but which attentive and intelligent learners get soon familiar with. CHAPTER IX. UBER DIE HILFSZEITWORTER UPON THE AUXILIARY VERBS. Werden, to become, to get, fyc. Present Indicative. Singular. Plural. (1) Ich werde reich, I become rich. Wir werden gesund, we become du wirst arm, thou becomest poor. healthy. er wird bettelarra, he becomes very ihr werdet ungesund, you become poor. unhealthy, sie wird blind, she becomes blind, sie werden kriinklich, they become man wird stockblind, one becomes sickly. stone blind. Sie werden gut, youbecome good, es wird krank, it gets ill. speaking politely. Imperfect Indicative. Ich wurde geduldig, I became pa- Wir wurden grob, we became tient. rough. du wurdest ungeduldig, thou be- ihr wurdet blass, you became earnest impatient. pale. er wurde artig, he became polite, sie wurden roth, they became red. Present Subjunctive. Ich werde gerecht, I may become Wir werden furchtsam, we may just. become fearful. du werdest ungerecht, thou may- ihr werdet stark, you may become est become unjust. strong. er werde edel, he may become sie werden schwach, they may noble. become weak. (1) The Germans make use of this tense to form the future by placing it immediately before the infinitive of any verb, as : Ich werde kommen, / shall come, &c. ; it answers to the English, I shall or will, as Ich werde reich werden. 36 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Imperfect Subjunctive. Singular. Plural. (2) Ich wiirde alt, / might, should Wir wiirden klein, we might, or would become old. should, or would become small. du wiirdest Jung, thou mightesl, ihr wiirdet fett, youmight become and should&t become young, tui i/, he is honoured. sie wird, she becomes. gehen, she will go. geachtet, she is esteemed. es wird, it becomes. lernen, it will learn. gelehrt, it is taught. man wird, lehren, gelobt, one becomes. wir werden, we become. one will teach. singen, we shall sing. one is praised. gesehen, we are seen. ihr werdet, you become, sie werden, they become. tanzen, you will dance. lachen, they or you will laugh. gefunden, you are found. ausgelacht, they are laughed at. Imperfect. Ich wurde, / became. gefragt, I was asked. du wurdest, belohnt thou becamest, thou wast rewarded. er wurde, verrathen he became. wir warden, we became. he was betrayed. gefangen, we vjere taken. ihr wurdet, befreiet, you became. sie wurden, they became. you were liberated. gestiirket. they were strengthened 44 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Past. Passive. Ich bin geworden, Ich bin gewk'rmt worden,* I am become, I have become. I have been warmed. du bist geworden, du bist gewarnet worden, thou art become. thou hast been warned, er ist geworden, er 1st gewaschen worden, he is become. he has been washed. wir sind geworden, wir sind geschlagen worden, we are become. we have been beaten. ihr seid geworden, ihr seid eingeladen worden, you are become. you have been invited. sie sind geworden, sie sind unterrichtet worden, they are become. they have been instructed. Preterpluperfect. Ich war geworden, Ich war ausgefragt worden, J was become, I had become. I had been interrogated. du warst geworden, da warst verklagt worden, thou wast become, thou hadst be- thou hadst been accused. come. er war geworden, er war verworfen worden, he was become, he had become. he had been rejected. wir waren geworden, wir waren vergessen worden, we had become. we had been forgotten. ihr waret geworden, ihr waret getroffen worden, you were become, you had become, you had been hit. sie waren geworden, sie waren getadelt worden, they were become, they had become, they had been blamed. Future. Future Passive. Ich werde werden, Ich werde getragen werden, I shall become. I shall be carried. du wirst werden, du wirst verfiihrt werden, thou wilt become. thou wilt be seduced. er wird werden, er wird belohnt werden, he will become. he will be rewarded. * In the passive the initial syllable ge of geworden is dropped, and instead of geworden, the Germans use worden. DONATTl'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 45 Future. Future Passive. wir werden werden, wir werden geschittzt werden, we shall become. we shall be esteemed. ihr werdet werden, ihr werdet verachtet werden, you willbecome. you will be despised. sie werden werden, sie werden verstanden werden, they will become. they will be understood. Future Compound. Ich werde geworden sein, Ich werde verfolgt'worden sein, I shall have become. I shall have been persecuted. du wirst geworden sein, du wirst geplaget worden sein, thou wilt have become. thou wilt have been plagued. er wird geworden sein, er wird bemitleidet worden sein, he will have become. he will have been compassionated. wir werden geworden sein, wir werden bereichert worden we shall have become, 8[C. sein, we shall have been enriched, fyc. Imperative. Werde du, werde du gerichtet, become thou. be thou judged. werde er, werde er hingerichtet, let him become. let him be executed. werden wir, lasset uns werden, lasset uns geachtet werden, let us become. let us be esteemed. werdet ihr, werdet ihr abgedankt, become you. be you dismissed. werden sie, lasst sie werden, lasst sie ermahnt werden, let them become. let them be admonished. Subjunctive Present. Subjunctive Passive Present. Dass ich werde, Dass ich verlassen werde, that I may become. that I may be abandoned. dass du werdest, dass du aufgeopfert werdest, thai thou mayst become. that ihou mayst be sacrificed. class er werde, dass er iiberzeugt werde, that he may become. that he may be convinced. 46 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Subjunctive Present. dass wir werden, that we may become. dass ihr werdet, that you may become. dass sie werden, that they may become. Imperfect Subjunctive. The Conditional of all German Verbs is thus formed, as already stated. Ich wiirde, Ich wiirde fragen. I might, should, I should ask. would become. Subjunctive Passive Present. dass wir besucht werden, that we may be visiled(receive visits) dass ihr versucht werdet, that you may be tempted. dass sie gezwungen werden, that they may be forced. The Conditional Passive. du wiirdest, thou wouldst become. er wiirde, he would become. wir wiirden, we should become. du wiirdest tragen, thou wouldst carry. er wiirde sagen, he would say. wir wiirden fangen, we should catch. Ich wiirde aufgehalten, I shall be detained. du wiirdest gestossen. thou wouldst be pushed. er wiirde gesegnet, he would be blessed. wir wiirden verliium- det, we should be calum- niated. ihr vviirdet versehen, you would be provided. sie wiirden zerrissen, they would be torn. Passive. ihr wiirdet, ihr wiirdet essen, you would become. you would eat. sie wiirden, sie wiirden reisen, they would become. they would travel. Conditional Com- Active. pound. Ich wiirde geworden Ich wiirde gelobt ha- Ich wiirde gelobt wor- seiii. ben. den sein, I should have become. I should have praised. I should have been praised. du wiirdest geworden du wiirdest geachtet du wiirdest geachtet sein, haben, worden sein, thou wouldst have be- thou wouldst have thou wouldst have been come. esteemed. esteemed. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 47 Conditional Com- Active. Passive. pound. er wiirde geworden er wiirde gesegnet ha- er wiirde gesegnot sein, ben, worden sein, he would have become, he would have blessed, he would have been blessed. wir wiirden geworden wir wiirden gesehen wir wiirden gesehen sein, baben, worden sein, we shouldhave become, we should have seen. we should have been seen. ihr wiirdet geworden ihr wiirdet angeklagt ihr wiirdet angeklagt sein. haben, worden sein, you would have be- you would have ac- you would have been come. cused. accused. sie wiirden geworden sie wiirden gelobt ha- sie wiirden gelobtwor- sein, ben, den sein, they would have be- they would have prais- they would have been come. ed. praised. CHAPTER X. ON REGULAR VERBS. General Rules. 1. All German verbs end in en, in the infinitive mood, and but very few in n. 2. The participle present of all the German verbs is formed by adding d to the infinitive, as haben, habend; loben, lobend ; and it is then declined like the adnouns. 3. The participle past of regular verbs is formed from the infinitive, by prefixing the particle ge to the infinitive, and by changing the last n of the infinitive into , as loben, gelobet ; lieben, geliebet. 4. The first person singular ends in e, and is formed from the infinitive by cutting off the final n. 48 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 5. The second person singular ends in st, and is formed by adding st to the first person du lobest, du liebest. 6. The third person of the present indicative is formed from the infinitive by changing the final n into t er lobet, er liebet. 7. In the plural, the first and third persons are alike, and always end in n; the second person ends in et wir loben, ihr lobet, sie loben. 8. The imperfect of the regular verbs is formed from the infinitive, by changing the final n into te, as loben, ich lobete, or lobte. The contraction is preferred in the indicative mood . in the subjunctive the contraction is not often used. 9. In the imperfect, the first and third persons singular end the same : the second adds st. In the plural, as already said, the first and third end in en, and the second in et, in all verbs. Ich lobte, du lobtest, er lobte. wir lobten, ihr lobtet, sie lobten. 10. The verbs in ern and eln elegantly drop the middle e whenever the last syllable adds an e, as sameln, to collect, ich samle ; / collect ; wandern, ich wandre ; handeln, to deal, ich handle; er samle, he may collect, samle er, let him collect, &c. Conjugation of the Regular Verb, Enden, to end. Indicative Present. Subjunctive Present. Ich ende, J end. Dass ich ende. du endest, thou endest. dass du endest. er endet, he ends. dass er ende. wir enden, we end. dass wir enden. ihr endet, you end. dass ihr endet. sie enden, they end. dass sie enden. Sie enden, you end. dass Sie enden. Indicative Imperfect. Subjunctive Imperfect. Ich endete, I ended, &c. Dass ich endete, that I ended, &c, du endetest. dass du endetest. er endete. dass er endete. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 49 Indicative Imperfect. Subjunctive Imperfect. wir endeten. dass wir endeten. ihr endetet. dass ihr endetet. sie endeten. dass sie endeten. Past Compound. Ich habe geendet, I have ended, Dass ich geendet habe, that I &c. have ended. du hast geendet. dass du geendet habest. er hat geendet. dass er geendet habe. wir haben geendet. dass wir geendet haben. ihr habet geendet. dass ihr geendet habet. sie haben geendet. dass sie geendet haben. Preterpluperfect. Ich hatte geendet, I have ended. Dass ich geendet hatte. du hattest geendet. dass du geendet hattest. er hatte geendet. dass er geendet hatte. wir batten geendet. dass wir geendet batten, ihr hattet geendet. das ihr geendet hattet. sie batten geendet. dass sie geendet batten. Future. Ich werde enden, / shall or will Dass ich enden werde. end. du wirst enden. dass du enden werdest, er wird enden. dass er enden werde. wir werden enden. dass wir enden werden. ihr werdet enden. dass ihr enden werdet. sie werden enden. dass sie enden werden. Future Past, or Compound. Ich werde geendet haben, I shall Dass ich geendet haben werde. or will have ended. du wirst geendet haben. dass du geendet haben werdest. er wird geendet haben. dass er geendet haben werde. 50 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Future Compound. wir werden geendet haben, dass wir geendet haben werden. ihr werdet geendet haben. dass ihr geendet haben werdet. sic werden geendet haben. dass sie geendet haben werden. Conditional. Ich wiirde enden, or dass ich en- Dass wir enden wiirden. den wiirde, that I should end, &c. dass du enden wiirdest. dass ihr enden wiirdet. dass er enden wiirde. dass sie enden wiirden. Conditional Compound. Ich wiirde geendet haben, I should dass wir geendet haben wiirden. have ended, or, dass ich geendet haben wiirde. dass du geendet haben wiirdest. dass ihr geendet haben wiirdet. dass er geendet haben wiirde. dass sie geendet haben wiirden. Imperative. Ende du, end thou. ende er, sie, es, let him, her, it, end. enden wir, or lasset uns enden, let us end. endet ihr, end you. enden sie, or lasset sie enden, let them end. enden Sie, end you t speaking politely. Reciprocal verbs are conjugated upon the same principle as in English; they take haben for their auxiliary verb. Sich Warmen, to warm oneself. Indicative Present. Ich warme mich, I warm myself, wir wurmen uns, we warm our- selves. du warmest dich, thou warmest ihr warmet euch, you warmyour- thyself. selves, or Yourself. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 51 Indicative Present. er Wtirmt sich, lie warms himself, sie warmen sich, they warm themselves. sie wiirmt sich, she warms herself. Sie wiirmen sich, you warm your- es warmt sich, it warms itself. self. man wiirmt Sich, one warms one- self. Imperfect. Ich warmte mich, / warmed myself, &c. Past Compound. Ich habe mich gewarmet, I have warmed myself, &c. Preterpluperfect. Ich hatte mich gewarmet, I had warmed myself, &c. Future. Ich werde mich warmen, I shall warm myself, &c. Future Compound. Ich werde mich gewarmet haben, I shall have warmed myself, &c- Present Subjunctive. Dass ich mieh warme, that I may warm myself, &c. Imperfect Subjunctive. Dass ieh mich warmte, that I might warm myself, &c. Past Compound. Dass ieh mich gewarmet habe, that I may have warmed myself, &c. Preterpluperfect. Dass ich mich gewarmet hatte, that I might have warmed myself , &c> Conditional. Ich wiirde mich warmen , I should warm myself, &c. 52 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Conditional Compound. Ich wiirde mich gewarmet haben, or dass ich mich gewarmet haben wiirde, / should have warmed myself, &c. Imperative. Warme du dich, 01* warme dich, warm thyself. \viirme er sich, or lasst ihn sich warmen, let him warm himself. warme sie sich, or lasst sie sich warmen, let her warm herself. warme es sich, or lasst es sich warmen, let it warm itself. warmen wir uns, let us warm ourselves. wiirmet euch, warm yourself, or yourselves. warmen sie sich, or lasset sie sich warmen, let them warm themselves. warmen Sie sich, warm yourself. Compound verb with a separable particle, the accent falling on the separable particle. Auswandern, to wander abroad, to go abroad. Indicative Present. Ich wandre aus, I wander out, Wir wandern aus, we wander or abroad^. out. du wanderst aus, thou wanderest ihr wandert aus, you wandei' out. out. er wandert aus, he wanders out. sie wandern aus, they wander out. Imperfect. Ich wanderte aus, J wandered out, though. ,, dennoch, yet, notwith- Obwohl, J standing. Wenn schon,} ./. so demungeachtet, Wenn auch, > A 'I* ,, so nicht destoweniger, Wiewohl. > tnougn. nevertheless, still. Wenn Sie auch nicht meiner raeinung sind, so sind sie doch gute leute, though they are not of my opinion, they are nevertheless good people. Je mehr der mensch seinen nfichsten liebt, desto mehr wird er von Gott gesegnet, the more man loves his neighbour, the more he is blessed by God. Besides the preceding conjunctions, the following also throw the finite verb to the end of the sentence Ausser wenn, except; bevor, ehe, bis, till; dafern, provided; falls, in case ; indem, since ; in so fern, as far as; je nachdem, ac- cording; ohne dass, without; seit dem, since that time ; wenn im- mer, whenever. As also the simple or compound relative pronominal ad- verbs Wo, when; wie, how ; der, this; welcher, which ; woriiber, about ivhich ; worauf, whereupon, upon which ; worunter, amongst which; wofiir,/or which; wozu, to which ; was fur, what kind; in a relative sense. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 75 CHAPTER XIII. UBER VORWORTER. ON PREPOSITIONS. The following prepositions govern the genitive : Anstatt, or, statt, instead of ; ausserhalb, outside, without ; dies- seits, diesseit, on this side ; halben, halber, for the sake of; jenseit, jenseits, yonder; innerhalb, within; kraft, by virtue of ', according to; laut, according to, pursuant ; mittels, vermittelst, by means of; oberhalb, at the upper part; unterhalb, at the lower part; un- geachtet, notwithstanding; unweit, unfern, not far from; um vvillen, for the sake of ; um friedens willen, for the sake of peace; vermoge pursuant, by dint of; trotz, notwithstanding ; wahrend, during ; wegen must be placed after its nouns, von rechtswegen,/or the sake of right. The dative govern : Aus, out of , from ; ausser, except; bei, with; binnen, within; entgegen, against ; gegeniiber, over against; gemiiss, according to ; mit, with dative and ablative, nach, to, after; niichst, next; nebst, with; ob, over, on account of; sammt, with; seit, since; von, ablative, from, by ; zu, to ; zuwider, contrary to. Also: Auf, upon; zwischen, between; unter, under; vor, before; iiber, over; hinter, behind; in, in; an, on, at; not implying a movement ; but whenever a movement is implied, either in reality or imagination, these prepositions govern the accusative. Those who know Latin, will soon understand this rule. The e, is often dropped in the singular, in the masculine and neuter nouns, when they are preceded by the above pre- positions. The accusative govern: Durch, through; entlang, along; fur, for; gegen, towards, against ; ohne, without ; sender, without (poetical) ; um, /or, about ; wider, against. The following prepositions are often contracted with the article : Ans, for an das ; aufs, for auf das; zum, for zu dem ; am, for 76 DONATTt'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. an dem, on the ; zur,/or zu der; im, /or in dem ; ins, for in das, in the ; iibers, for iiber das, ouer the. Aus, mit, von, are classed by the modern grammarians to govern the dative ; but those who know Latin will clearly see that they actually govern the ablative, which case, in fact, terminates like the dative. It may, however, be better to know that mit, aus, and von, govern in reality the ablative, as ex and cum do in Latin. As already observed in the treatise on verbs, many of the prepositions are prefixed and united to the infinitives of verbs, which generally take the accent and stress from the verb thus united, and are always separated from the verb, and placed at the end of the sentence, whenever the verb itself does not come to stand at the end; but whenever the verb is placed at the end of the sentence, then the preposition is not separated from it: umgehen, to associate ; ich gehe mit ihm um, / associate with him. These prepositions are never separated from their verbs, whenever they do not take away the stress or accent from the verb, as umgehen, to ivalk round; ich umgehe die stadt, / walk round the town; hintergehen, to go behind; ich gehe hinter, I go behind; hintergehen, to deceive; er hinterge'ht ihn, he deceives him. Ubersehen, to look over; Ich sehe iiber den garten, I look over the garden. Ubersehen, to overlook ; ich iibersehe den fehler, I overlook the error. Some prepositions are united to the adverbs, da, there ; hier, here; wo, where; which adverbs often stand for the relative pronouns, welcher and was. Da, dar, often stands in composition for dieser, der, derselbe Dabei, with it, thereby; daran, on it, thereon; darauf, thereupon daraus,/row it, therefrom; darein, into it, thereinto; darin, therein in it, within; darnach, thereafter, after it, about it ; darum, there fore, for it ; dariiber, on that account, on that point ; darunter, under DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 77 it, under that ; dafiir,/or that, for it ; dagegen, against it ; damit, with it, therewith; davon, thereof, of it, from it ; daneben, near it; tlawider, against that, against it ; dazu, thereto, to it ; davor, before that; dazwischen, between that ; woran, whereon, on which; worauf, whereupon, upon which; wodurch, wherewith, through which; warum, why ; wogegen, whereas, against which; wovon, whereof; wozu, to which, whereto; worin, wherein; womit, wherewith; worneben, besides which; woriiber, about which, upon which, whereupon; wofur, for which; worunter, amongst whom, or which, under which ; hinterher, in the rear, behind; hinter drein, after; umher, round, about, fyc. CHAPTER XIV. UBER NEBENWORTER. ON ADVERBS. All adjectives may be considered as adverbs when they are not placed immediately before their respective substantives ; their comparatives and superlatives are made in the same manner as those of adjectives, with the only difference that they are indeclinable. The following adverbs have an irregular comparison: nahe, near. miher, nearer. am niichsten, next, nearest. bald, soon. eher, sooner. am ehesten, the soonest. hoch, high. gern, willingly. oft, often. aussen, outward. hoher, higher. lieber, rather. ofter, oftener. ausser, more outward, am hochsten, highest. am liebsten, the dearest. am oftesten, oftenest. am {iussersten,ou?ftos. innen, inward. inner, interior, more innerst, inmost. inward. vorn, before, viel, much. vorder, more before. mehr, ?nore. vorder st, foremost. am meisten, most. Adverbs of Place. allhier, here. abwiirts, downwards. dabei, at it. auf warts, upwards. n 2 78 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Adverbs of Place. da, there. seitwarts, sideways. daselbst, in that very place. hiniiber, on the other side, yonder. dort, there. heniber* over here. druber, iiben, yonder. dorthin, thither, thence. darunten, dortunten, therebeloiv. nirgends, no where. hierher, hither. umher, about. herum, round about. jenseits, yonder. diesseits, on this side. heim, home. daheim, at home. fern,/ar. dicht, close. entfernt, distant. Adverbs of Time. nun, now. spat, late. heute, to-day. zeitig, early. jezt, now. friih, early. eben nun, just now. vorher, before. morgen, to-morrow. lange, long ago. iibermorgen, the day after to- immer stets, always. morrow. gestern , yesterday. vorgestern, ehegestern, yesterday. neulich, not long ago. letzthin, lately. heuer, during the year. bisweilen, now and then. schon, bereits, already. Adverbs of Quantity. besonders, particularly. sammtlich, altogether. allerseits, on all sides. allezeit, always, before ewig, ever. nie, never. niemals, never. keinmal, at no time. zuweilen, now and then. bisher, hitherto. Einmal, once. besonders, particularly. allein, alone. einfach, single. sammtlich, altogether. haufig, frequently. einzeln, single. Miscellaneous Adverbs. bestimmt, positively. unendlich, infinitely. gewiss, surely. ungemein, uncommonly. so, so. vorziiglich, particularly. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Miscellaneous Adverbs. sehr, very much. beinahe, fast, almost. iiberaus, extremely. dann, then. so, eben so, just so. warum ? why ? als, as. wohin, whereto. nicht, not. woher ? from whence ? nicht mehr, no more. ja, yes, weit,/ar. ja wohl, yes (politely). noch, yet. nicht doch ! you do not say so ! doch, yet. nie, never. hoch, high. niemals, never. hold, amiable. nein, no. hasslich, plain. keines weges, by no means. wie, how. wie so ! how ! wo, where. zwar ! indeed ! warm, when. As already said, out of every adjective we can make an adverb when it stands alone, and not immediately before a noun, or immediately after a pronoun personal. CHAPTER XV. UBER EMPFJNDUNGSWORTER. ON INTERJECTIONS. Auf, auf ! up, up! Ach ! Au weh ! oh woe! Hurtig! quick! Pfui ! fy! Frisch auf ! cheer up ! Schande ! shame ! Brav, trefflich, schon ! bravo! Hu ! fy ! Gottlieb ! capital ! Weh dir 1 woe to thee ! Fort ! off! away ! Heil, dir ! hail to thee ! Halt! halt! hold! Leider! alas! Ah ! ha ! hoho ! ay ! O armer mann ! oh the poor man ! Y ! Ei ! 0! O Himmel ! oh Heaven! Ha, hei, juhei ! huzzah! bravo! Paff, piff, paff, puff ! Hurrah ; Hurrah ! 80 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Zur arbeit, zum werke ! to the work ! -' O sohauderhaft ! oh horrid ! O schrecklich ! oh dreadful ! O wie furchterlich ! oh how dreadful I Dormer wetter ! thunder and lightning ! Potz tausend ! zounds ! Gliick zu ! good luck ! (Frisch gewagt, ist halb gewonnen.) Stille, sachte ! hush, gently ! Pardon ! quarters ! kein pardon ! no quarters ! Habt acht, achtung ! attention! Fertig! ready! Schlagt an ! present! Feuer! fire! Gott bewahre ! God forbid ! In Gottes namen ! in the name of God! Was ist ? was gibt's ? what is the matter ? O wunder ! wie herrlich ! o wonderful ! Fort ! away ! Weg mit euch ! away with you ! Willkommen ! welcome ! Wer da ? who is there ? ivho comes there ? Vorgesehen, achtung ! take care! Weg da ! stand off! Sapperment, der geier, kreuzwetter ! zounds and odds! Allerliebst! very fine! Nieder zu boden ! down ! CHAPTER XVI. WORTFUGUNG. SYNTAX. From the preceding rudiments of the German grammar, every well informed mind will soon feel convinced of the affinity which exists between the English and German lan- guages, since most of the English monosyllables are of the old DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 81 German origin, with very few exceptions ; and, of course, those words which the Germans themselves have derived, either from the Greek, Latin, or Hebrew. The conjugation of the verbs, the comparatives and superlatives of the ad- nouns and adverbs, as also the cardinal numbers, the pro- nouns, the articles, the prepositions, and interjections, speak at once for themselves, that the greater part of the gram- matical inflections have a considerable resemblance between the English and German languages. The great difficulty in translating or writing German, is that the participles past and the infinitives are generally placed at the end of every sentence, and often by virtue of some con- junctions and relative pronouns, pointed out in the preceding grammar, the finite verb is placed at the end of the sentence, even after the past participles and the infinitive, which diffi- culty is soon overcome by referring to the chapter on the con- junctions; and, for which reason, I should recommend to all students of the German language, to commit those conjunc- tions and relative pronouns to memory, which is, in fact, a matter of few moments, that they might then be prepared whenever they meet with any of the said conjunctive and relative pronouns, to place the finite verb at the end of the sentence in writing German, and to look for the finite verb at the end of a sentence, when they translate from the German. As to the use of articles, they are employed nearly in the same manner as in English; but beginners had better not omit the article in German before the nouns, except they are fully convinced the same is to be omitted ; for, if they place even the article before a noun in German, it is not a very great error, when it would be quite the reverse in the English language. I shall however give some rules on that subject. The definite article is placed in German 1. Before all nouns when not taken in a general sense; but when only an indeterminate part of it is named, then it is omitted as in English : 82 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Die guten mutter sind das schatzbarste gut der menschheit: 2. Before all words taken substantively : Das lehren, der lehrer, das gehen. 3. Before nouns of dignities, situations. 4. Before all proper names, when we wish to particularise them : Er ist der Titus unseres Zeit alters. Or before proper names which have an adjective before them. Der edle redliche Blucher. 5. Before proper names of authors, when we do not name the writings of the same : Ich habe den Uhland gelesen. / have read the tvorks of Uhland. We put the definite article before proper names, speaking of one either in a confidential or disrespectful manner : Der Heinrich ist gestern abwesend gewesen. Henry was absent yesterday. 6. Before proper names of rivers, woods, lakes, seas, moun- tains, constellations, months, and some countries : Die Donau, der Rhein, die Themse, der Etna, der Vesuvius, der Stromboli, der Brenner, der Cirknizer See, der Ocean, der Mai, der December. 7. It is not necessary to repeat the article before every noun if they are all of the same gender and number, but the article must be placed before every noun if they are not of the same gender and number. Should there be, however, any particu- lar stress or difference between the names thus expressed, then the article is by all means placed before them. 8. The indefinite article, ein, eine, ein, is used as in English : Ein Gott, ein Vater, ein Himmel, ein Gut, ein Wohl, ein Glaube. The third person plural being used in addressing a person (see personal pronouns) instead of the second person, you, as in English, it cannot therefore be employed in relating of third DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. persons, what they may have said or done. To avoid con- fnsion, this is better expressed by man they say, man sagt ; they told it me, man hat es mir gesagt. The present is often employed instead of the future. For example : Ich komme morgen wieder, instead of Ich werde morgen wieder kommen. / shall return to-morrow. In elevated compositions, and animated historical narrations, the present is frequently used instead of the imperfect, in order to give vivacity to the action, and to place it as if it were before the eyes of the reader or auditor. The subjunctive is employed in German 1. When an uncertain result is to be denoted, which is often the case after the conjunctions, dass, damit, that ; wenn, if; als wenn, as if; ob, if. Ich sagte es ihm, damit er sich gut auff iihre. / told it him, that he may behave well. 2. After the verbs which denote a wish, request, admo- nition, counsel, appearance, order, will, condition, hope, belief: Er rathet ihm dass er es mir sage. He advises him to tell it me. In which case the conjunctions wenn, obschon, dass, obgleich, generally precede the sentence. 3. When we cite our own words or those of another : Er sagte er ware hier gewesen. He said he had been here. Remark. But when the thing spoken of is simply declared the indicative must be employed, as in English. The participle has all the qualities of an adjective, for it is declined and compared like it, with the definite and indefinite articles : Der betagte mann. The old man. The present participle is employed as well with verbs active as neuter, but it has always an active signification. There- fore one can say : Das erfrischende wasser. The refreshing water. Only the participles past of such neuter verbs, which are conjugated with sein, can be used as adjectives. Those con- jugated with haben cannot be employed. The infinitive is used without zu 84 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. When it is the subject of the phrase, and precedes. For example : Viel sprechen ist wahrlich keine tugend. Much speaking is indeed no virtue. But when it is put after the predicate it receives zu: Es ist wahrlich keine tugend viel zu sprechen. It is indeed no virtue to speak much. After the verbs, heissen, to order ; helfen, to help; horen, to hear ; lehren, to teach ; lernen, to learn ; sehen, to see ; fiihlen, to feel. Ich sehe das schiffin die see stechen. / see the vessel put to sea. In some other verbs, however, only in particular phrases After bleiben, to remain. Er blieb da hangen, liegen, sitzen, stocken, stehen, wohnen, &c. He remained there, hanging, lying, sitting, stammering, standing, dwelling, fyc. After finden, to find: Er fand ihn im busche schlafen, lie- gen. He found him sleeping, lying in the bush. Fahren, with spazieren fahren, to drive out. Gehen, spazieren, betteln, schlafen, wallfahrten gehen. To take a walk, to go a begging, to go to sleep, to go on pilgri- mage, fyc. But it is not allowed to say : Ich gehe ihn holen suchen, but Ich gehe ihn zu holen, zu suchen. I go to fetch, or to seek him. Er hat gut lachen, he may well laugh. Er hat viel geld liegen, he is moneyed. Er hat geld auf zinsen stehen, lie has money out on interest. In other combinations zu is required. For example : Er hat viel zu thun, he has much to do. Er hat viel geld zu verzehren, he has much money to spend. Legen. Er wollte sich schon schlafen legen, he would al- ready go to sleep. Machen. Er machte mich lachen, weinen, he made me laugh, weep. Nennen. Das nenne ich geschickt, that I call being skilful. Das nenne ich laufen, prahlen, schlafen, trinken, &c., that I call running, boasting, sleeping, drinking, fyc. Reiten with spazieren reiten, to take a ride. Sein. Hier ist gut fahren, gehen, reisen, here is good driv- DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 85 ing, walking, travelling. Gclehrien ist gut predigen, a word to the wise. Heute ist schlecht saen, to-day it u bad sowing. Hier ist gut sein, it is good to be here. In other combinations zu must be retained. For example : Der brief ist gut zu lesen, the letter is good to read. Thun, only in combination with nichts als, nothing but. Er thut nichts als essen, trinken, und schlafen, he does nothing but eat, drink, and sleep. The infinitive receives always zu When it forms the relation which is expressed by a noun in the genitive or accusative. For example: Die begierde zu gefallen, i. e. des gefallens, the desire to please, or of pleasing. After the excluding preposition ohne without. But ohne does not govern the accusative in this case. For example : Er ging weg ohne mir zu antworten, he went away without answering me. Er erzahlte alles ohne mich zu verrathen, he told all without betraying me. The dative and accusative are governed in these examples by the verbs antworten and verrathen. When'a purpose was denoted. For example : Ich reisete weg mich zu zerstreuen, / set out to divert my mind. By adding the conjunction urn, the purpose is strengthened. Er kam, um mit mir liber die sache zu sprechen, he came in order to speak with me about the matter. But the conjunction um is indispensible, when the purpose is expressed before the action. For example : Um meinen freunden zu dienen, habe ich diesen schritt gewagt, in order to serve my friends , / have ventured this step. The verbs bleiben, to remain ; scheinen, to appear ; sein, to be; werden, to become; require a double nominative. The first is the subject, the second the predicate. For example : Er wird unser richler sein, he will be our judge. When the person or thing spoken of is compared with another by means of the conjunctions also or wie, a double nominative is required, as is the case in English. i 86 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Idiomatical Expressions. Des morgens, des mittags, des abends, des nachts, instead of am morgen, am mittage, am abend, in der nacht, in the morn- ing, noon, evening, night ; but not heute abends, but heute, abend, this evening. Gestern mittag, yeslerday noon, fyc. So also with the days of the week: Sonntags gehen sie in die kirche, montags aber auf den jahrmarkt, or am sonntage, am montage, on Sunday they go to church, but on Monday to the fair. The genitive in the following phrases must be re- marked : die zietungen hiesigen orts erwahnen nichts davon, the newspapers of this place do not mention any thing of it. Wir wollen stehenden fusses dahin gehen, we will go there while on our feet. Ich meines theils habe nichts daran aus- zusetzen, as for me I find no fault with it. Wir mussten unver- richteter sache wieder weggehen, we must go away without having performed any thing. Meines wissens ist es nicht geschehen, as far as I know, it is not done. The genitive is governed by some adjectives. To them belong: bediirftig, wanting of beflissen, studious of; befugt, entitled to ; benothigt, to be in want of ; bewusst, conscious of; unbewusst, unconscious of; eingedenk, mindful of; un- eingedenk, not mindful of; fahig, capable of; unfahig, inca- pable of ; froh, enjoying; gewahr, aware of; gewartig, ex- pecting of ; gewiss, certain of ; gewohnt, used; habhaft, get' ting possession of ; kundig, knowing ; ledig, freed, single ; los, rid of- 9 machtig, master of; miide, weary of; quitt, rid of; satt, satiated; sehuldig, guilty of ; sicher, sure; theil- haft, participating ; uberdriissig, disgusted ; verdachtig, sus- pect ed of ; verlustig, forfeiting, losing; voll, full of; werth, wiirdig, ivorthy of ; unwerth, unwiirdig, unworthy of. The genitive require also the following verbs : Anklagen, to accuse ; belehren, to inform ; berauben, to de- prive ; beschuldigen, to charge; entladen, to disburthe?i; entlassen, to dismiss entledigen, to free ; entsetzen, to re- move ; gewahren, to grant ; iiberheben, to free from ; iibcr- zeugen, to convict / wiirdigen, to deign. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 87 Reciprocal verbs: Sich anmassen, to assume; sich annehmen, to take care of; sich bedienen, to make use of; sich befleissigen, to apply to; sich begeben, to renounce ; sich bemachtigen, to take posses- sion of; sich bemeistern, to master; sich bescheiden, to ac- knowledge ; sich besinnen, to recollect ; sich entaussern, to abstain from; sich enthal then, or entbrechen, to forbear; sich entschlagen, to get rid of; sich entsirmen, to call to remem- brance ; sich entziehen, to forsake ; sich erbarmen, to have commiseration ; sich erinnern, to remember ; sich erwehren, to defend from ; sich getrosten, to trust in ; sich riihmen, to boast of; sich schamen, to be ashamed of; sich iiberheben, to value one-self upon j sich unterfangen, or sich unterstehen, to dare or venture ; sich unterwinden, to dare ; sich versehen, to grow aware ; sich weigern, to refuse. Remark. Anmassen, to assume; sich versehen, to grow aware ; and erinnern, to call to mind, are often joined with the dative of the person, and the accusative of the thing : Ich masse mir dieses vorrecht nicht an, / do not assume this prerogative. Ich hatte mir das nicht von ihm versehen, that I had not expected from him. The dative answers to the question wem ? to whom ? and denotes the person, or thing, to which an action passes over, or is applied. For example : Ich gebe dir, Ich sage dir, &c. The dative govern the following adnouns : Abtriinnig, faithless ; ahnlich, resembling ; angelegen, careful ; angenehm, agreeable ; anstandig, decent ; anstossig, offensive; argerlich, vexatious ; bange, afraid; bedenklich, doubtful; behiilflich, serviceable; bekannt, known; beliebig, pleasing ; bequem, convenient ; beschwerlich, troublesome ; deutlich, clear ; dienlich, useful ; dunkel, dark ; entsetzlich, shocking; erbaulich, edifying; erfreulich, rejoicing; erge- ben, addicted; ergotzlich, delightful; erquickend, refresh- ing; ertra'glich, tolerable; erwiinscht, wished; fremd, strange ; furchtbar, formidable ; fiirchterlich, terrible ; ge- 88 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. fahrlich, dangerous ; gefallig, acceptable; gehassig, odious; gehorsam, obedient ; gelaufig, easy, fluent ; gelegen, conve- nient ; geneigt, inclined ; gesund, healthy ; gewachsen, able ; gewogen, affectionate; glaublich, credible ; gleich, equal; gleichgiiltig, indifferent ; gnadig, merciful; gimstig, favour- able ; gut, good ; heilsam, wholesome ; hinderlich, impeding ; hold, kind ; naclitheilig, disadvantageous ; nahe, near ; no- thig, necessary ; niitzlich, useful; offenbar, manifest; recht, right; riihmlich, laudable; schadlich, hurtful; schmerzlich, painful; schwer, difficult ; sichtbar, visible ; theuer, dear; trea, faithful ; trostlich, comforting; iibrig, left; iiberlegen, superior ; verderblich, corruptible ; verdriesslich, peevish ; verhasst, odious ; vortheilhaft, advantageous ; warscheinlich, probable; werth, worth ; wichtig, important; wohl, well; zu- gethan, addicted ; zutraglich, useful ; zweifelhaft, dubious. The German idiom requires that the person is put with all adjectives in the dative, when the same are joined with zu, too. Er ist mir zu gross, zu alt, zu arm, he is too great, old, poor, for me, fyc. The dative is often employed instead of the preposition fur, with nouns, chiefly when they have before them, zu, zur, zum. The dative is put with all verbs which denote that any thing tends to the advantage or disadvantage of a person. The reciprocal verbs require likewise the dative of the per- son, when the object follows. For example : Ich bilde mir das ein, I fancy it to myself; which is also the case in English. The following verbs, which have no passive, govern the dative : Angehoren, to belong; anhangen, to adhere ; ankleben, to adhere; anstehen, to suit; ausbleiben, to lie out; beifallen, to approve ; beikommen, to get ; beiwohnen, to be present ; entfliegen, to fly away ; entfliehen, to run away ; entgehen, to escape ; entkommen, to get off; entlaufen, to run away ; ent- sagen, to renounce ; entsprechen, to answer ; entspringen, to spring from; entwachsen, to outgrow; entweichen, to escape; DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 89 cntwischen, to slip; erscheinen, to appear; fehlen, to fail ; fehlschlagen, to disappoint; gefallen, to please ; gehoren, to belong; gelingen, to succeed ; gleichen, to resemble ; glucken, to be successful ; mangeln, to want ; missfallen, to displease; missgllicken, to fail ; misslingen, to miscarry ; nacharten, to take after; nachhangen, to indulge; nachkommen, to per- form; nachstehen, to be inferior; nutzen, to be useful; ob- liegen, to apply to ; passen, to suit ; scheinen, to appear ; verungliicken, to miscarry ; vorkommen, to occur ; wieder- fahrcn, to happen; zufallen, to fall to; zufliessen, to come to ; zugehoren, to belong to ; zustossen, to happen. To these verbs also belong the following : Abhelfen, to remove ; absagen, to counter-order; antworten, to answer ; auflauern, to lie in ambush ; aufwarten, to serve ; aushelfen, to assist; ausweichen, to give way; begegnen, to meet; beipflichten, to applaud; beistehen, to assist; beitreten, to assent ; danken, to thank ; dienen, to serve ; drohen, to threaten ; dafiir einstehen, to be answerable ; fluchen, to curse; folgen, to follow ; frohnen, to indulge ; gehorchen, to obey ; helfen, to help; heucheln, to dissimulate; huldigen, to ren- der homage; leuchten, to light; lohnen, to reward; nachaffen, to ape ; schaden, to hurt ; schmeicheln, to flatter ; steuern, to steer; trauen, to trust; trotzen, to brave; vorbauen, to obviate ; vorbeugen, to prevent ; voreilen, to outrun ; vorgehen, to go before; vorgreifen, to anticipate; vorleuchten, to be a pattern ; and other verbs with the preposition vor. Wahrsa- gen, to tell fortunes ; weichen, to give way / widersprechen, to contradict; widerstehen, to oppose; willfahren, to comply with; winken, to beckon; zuhb'ren, to listen; zujauchzen, to shout to ; zunicken, to nod to ; zusetzen, to urge upon ; zusprechen, to encourage ; zutrinken, to drink to ; zuvorkom- men, to out-do; and several others prefixed with zu and zuvor. Remarks. 1. Gelten governs only the dative in the signifi- cation of Es gilt mir gleich, it is indifferent to me. i2 90 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. The following verbs impersonal govern the dative : Es ah net mir, I forbode it. Es begegnet mir, it happens to me. Es beliebt mir, it pleases me. Es behagt mir, it is agreeable to me. Es bekommt mir gut, it agrees well with me. Es dauert (wiihrt) mir zu lange, it lasts too long for me. Es eignet ihm, it behoves him. Mir ekelt davor, I am disgusted with it. Es ist mir entfallen, it slipt out of my memory. Es fallt mir auf, it surprises me. Es. fallt mir ein, it enters into my mind, or it occurs to me. Es fallt mir leicht, or schwer, it is easy or difficult to me. Es fallt mir in die augen, it strikes my eyes. Es fehlt mir an, &c. I am in want of, &c. Es gebricht mir, I am in want of, &c. Es gefallt mir, it pleases me. Es geht mir gut, schlecht, &c., it goes well or ill with me. Es geht mir von statten, I succeed in it. Es gehort mir, it belongs to me. Es geniigt mir, it suffices me. Es gerath mir, / succeed. Es geziemet mir, it becomes me. Es gliickt mir, f succeed. Mir grauet, I am afraid. Furcht hangt mir an, fear hangs on me. Es kleidet mir, it suits me. Es kommt mir vor, it appears to me. Es lasst ihm gut, it is suitable to him. Es leuchtet mir ein, it is evident to me. Es liegt mir daran, it is important to me. Es liegt mir am herzen, it lies at my heart. Es liegt mir ob, it is my duty. Es mangelt mir an, I am in want of. Es scheint mir leicht, bedenklich, &c., it appears to me easy, doubtful. Es Bchimmert ihm vor, he has a glimpse of it. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 91 Es schiilgt mir ein, / succeed. Es schmeckt mir gut, it tastes well. Es schwebt mir vor den augen, it waves before my eyes. Es schwebt mir im sinne, it floats in my mind. Mir schwindet, my head swims or turns. Es steckt mir im kopfe, it sticks to my heart. Es steht mir an, it pleases me. Es thut mir leid, it pains me. Mir schaudert, I shudder. Mir traumt, I dream. Es verschliigt mir nichts, it is the same with me. Mir w assert der mund, my mouth waters. Es widersteht mir it revolts me. Es ziemt mir, it becomes me. The accusative is used with many impersonal verbs as far as they have an active signification. Es betrifft mich, it concerns me. Es juckt mich, it tickles me. Es dauert mich, I lament it. Es kiimmert mich nicht, it a/- Mich diinkt, it appears to me. flicts me not. Mich durstet, I am thirsty. Es nimmt mich wunder, it sur- Mich friert, I freeze. prises me. Es geht mich nicht an, it belongs Was schert mich das? what con- not to me. cerns that me ? Mich geliistet (liistet), I like it. Mich schlafert, J am drowsy. Es gereuet, or reuet mich, I re- Es schmerzt mich, it grieves me. pent it. Mich schwitzt, I perspire. Mich hungert, I am hungry. Es verdriesst raich, it vexes me. Mich jammert das volk (des vol- Mich verlangt nach, I long for. kes, Luther,) I pity the people. Es wundert mich, I wonder at it. Mich diinkt, or mich daucht, it appears to me. Klopstock, Schiller, Wieland, and many renowned authors join these im- personals sometimes with the dative, sometimes with the accusative. It must be remarked here, that the verb impersonal es gibt, there is, is to be joined with the accusative. For example : Es gibt viele menschen, there are many people. Es gibt einen Gott, there is one God. 92 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 1. When a male or female is denoted by a word, which in the language is neuter, the following pronoun must be of the gender of the person spoken of. For example : Das madchen hat mir gesagt, dass ihr ihre mutter sehr gute lehren gegeben hat. The girl told me y that her mother has given her very good- instructions. 2 When an adjective or pronoun refers at the same time to a male and female, the masculine has the preference to the feminine ; as is the case in all modern languages. 3. But it is both an English and German idiom, to say: Das ist rneine tochter, that is my daughter. Diess sind meine tochter, these are my daughters. Es ist mein kind; es ist meine tochter; es ist mein sohn; it is my child ; it is my daughter ; it is my son. Ein mal eins ist eins, zwei mal zwei ist vier, drei mal vier ist zwolf, &c. and not sind, being too pedantic, nor is it ever said so at any Ger- man school, where the German multiplication table is taught. I have been particularly careful to introduce the principal points of syntax in the respective chapters of the different parts of speech, in order to render the study of the German lan- guage easier and less perplexing. Since this grammar has been written for students, who know some language or other, either theoretically or practically, and who will, of course, be acquainted with the general syntax, for which reason I have omitted all such rules of syntax which are common to all modern languages, and which have been repeated often enough. To become well acquainted with the German idiom, I should recommend scholars to begin learning by heart the declension of the articles, the cardinal and ordinal numbers, the conju- gation of the auxiliary verbs, werden, sein, and haben; then the German and English phrases and dialogues of Crabb. To use K. Klatowsky's Manual as a reading book, and to learn by heart some of the beautiful passages therein contained. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 93 Then to begin to read and copy occasionally Goethe's letters, lately published, and to write often by dictation. I most earnestly recommend to learn well at the very first the pronunciation of the parts of speech above mentioned from a steady master, who has a good ear; but to avoid by all means overstraining it, since it is more difficult to unlearn the bad pronunciation than to acquire a good one. List of regular and irregular verbs which take either sein or haben for their auxiliary: Abfallen, to fall off; die friichte sind abt/efallen t/ Z/ie/ruis are fallen off. Abfiirben, to fade ; das band hat abgefarbt, the ribbon has faded. Abgleiten, to slide from; ich bin von felsen abgeglitten, J have slid from the rock. Abglimmen ; to cease to glow ; die kohlen sind abgeglimmt, the coals have ceased to glow. Abkommen; wir sind davon abgekomraen, we have deviated from it. Ablassen nachlassen; der teich 1st abgelassen, the pond is let off; die krankheit hat abgelassen, oder, nachgelassen, the malady has abated. Ablaufen, to run down ; die uhr 1st abgelaufen, the watch has run down, er hat mir die stelle abgelaufen, he has attained my situation. Abprallen, to rebound ; die kugel is abgeprallt, the ball has re- bounded. Abscheiden, to depart; er ist abgeschieden. Abscheiden, to separate; ich habe das gold abgescheidet, I have separated the gold. Abschlagen, to lower in price; der zucker ist abgeschlagen, the sugar has lowered in price. Teh habe die birnen abgeschlagen, J have knocked off the pears. Abschnappen, to snip, with sein. Absitzen, to dismount, with sein. Abstehen, to desist, with sein. Abstehen, to stand off ; with haben. Abtreten, absteigen, to alight, sein. Abtreten, to cede, haben. 94 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Abweichen, to deviate, sein. Abweichen, to soften, haben. Abzehren, to pine away, sein. Altern, to grow old, haben. Angehen, to begin, sein. Angehen, to concern, haben. Anlangen, to arrive, sein. Anlangen, to concern, haben. Anwachsen, grow to, sein, Arten, sein and haben. Aufbliihen, to blossom, sein. Aufbrausen, to fly into a passion, haben. Aufbrechen, to march off, to decamp, sein ; also die wunde ist aufgebrochen, the wound is opened* Aufbrechen, to break open, haben. Aufleben, to return to life again, sein. Aufschlagen, to grow dearer, sein. Aufschlagen, to strike upon, haben. Aufstehen, to get up, sein. Aufthauen, to thaw, sein. Aufwachsen, to grow up, sein. Ausarten, to degenerate, sein. Ausbrennen, to burn out, sein. Ausbrennen, fas an active verb), haben, Ausdunsten, to evaporate, sein. Auslaufen, to run out, to sail, sein. Auslaufen, to run out, or to cease, haben. Ausschwiefen, revel, haben. Ausschweifen, to deviate, sein. Begegnen, to meet, sein. Begegnen (with the dat.), to treat one, haben. Bekommen, to receive, haben. Bekommen, to suit, sein ; das ist mir gut bekommen, that has suited me well. Bestehen, to consist, haben. Bestehen, to exist, to last, sein. Beifallen, to come into one's memory, sein. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 95 Durchschliipfcn, to creep through, sein. Eilen, to hasten; Ich habe mit der sache gceilet, I have hastened with the thing. Eilen, to hasten ; Ich bin zu meinem freunde gceilet, I have has- tened to my friend. Einschlafen, to fall asleep, sein. Einkehren, to put up, to stop at a place, sein. Einreissen, to root in, sein. Einschlagen, to strike, haben. Einschlagen, to take after, to go in, sein. Eintreffen, to arrive, sein. / Einwurzeln, to take root, sein. Entstehen, to arise, originate, sein. Entstehen, to fail, haben ; das gliick hat ihm entstanden, fortune has failed him. Erben, to inherit, haben. Erben, to devolve, sein ; der garten ist auf ihn geerbt, the garden has devolved upon him. Erblassen, to expire, sein. Erfolgen, to follow; die strafe ist rich tig erfolgt, the punishment has followed duly* Erkiilten, to grow cool, sein. Ermiiden, to get tired, sein. Ermiiden, to tire, haben. Errothen, to Uush, sein. Ersaufen, to get drowned, sein. Erstaunen, to be surprised, sein. Erstaunen, to cause a surprise, haben. Gallopiren, to gallop, haben. Gelangen, to come to, sein. Herstammen, to be descended, sein. Hinken, to be lame ; haben, er hat gehinkt, he was lame. Hinken, to walk lame, sein ; er ist hin gehinkt, he has limped there. Hinknien, to kneel before one, sein. Hiipfen, to hop, to jump, haben ; but sein, when the place is men- tioned; er ist hin gehupft, he has jumped thither. Irren, to err, to be mistaken, haben. 96 DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. Irren, to err about, sein. Jagen, to hunt, haben. Jagen, to depart in great haste, sein. Klettern, to climb, haben ; but if the spot is named, sein ; ich bin auf den baum geklettert, I have climbed on the tree. Klimmen, to climb, sein. Niederknien, to kneel down, sein. Passiren, to pass, sein. Reisen, to travel, haben; but sein, when the place is mentioned ; ich bin von Wien nach Laibach gereiset, / travelled from Vienna to Laybach. Reissen, to get torn, sein. Rosten, to rust, sein. Rucken, to advance, sein. Riicken, to move any thing, haben. Scheitern, to get wrecked, to wreck, sein. Schiffen, to navigate, sein. Schwiirmen, to revel, haben. Sehwarnien, to ramble, move about, sein. Segeln, to sail, haben ; but when the place is mentioned, sein. Ubersetzen, to translate, haben. Ubersetzen, to leap over, to pass over, sein. Ubersetzen, to pass one over in a boat, haben. Spaziren, to walk, sein. Stechen, to thrust, to prick, haben, In die see stechen, to put to sea, sein. Stolpern, to stumble, sein. Stranden, to strand, sein. Straucheln, to stumble over any thing, sein. Streichen, to pass, as the birds of passage do, sein. Streichen, to pass the hand over any thing, to caress, haben. Streifen, to make inroad, sein. Streifen, to touch, or graze, haben. Sturzen, to fall suddenly, sein. Stiirzen, to throw one down, haben. Taumeln, to reel backward and forward, haben ; but if the place is mentioned, sein. Traufeln, to drop, haben ; but the spot being mentioned, it takes sein. DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR. 97 Traben, to trot, as horses do; but to trot on horseback, suiii. Treten, to enter, to step in, to tread along, sein. Treten, to tread any thing, or, upon any thing, haben. Trocknen, to get dry, sein. Trocknen, to dry any thing, haben, Verbliihen, to fade, sein. Verdursten, to die of thirst, sein. Verhungern, aushungern, to die of hunger, sein. Verschiessen, to fade, to lose its colour, sein. Versiegen, to dry up, sein. Verunglucken, to perish, sein. Verwaisen, to become an orphan, sein. Vordringen, to advance, sein. Voreilen, to hasten before one, sein ; with the dative. Waten, to wade, haben ; but if the spot is mentioned, sein. Wandeln, to act, haben. Wandeln, to wander, sein. Wiederfahren, to occur, to happen, sein, Das 1st ihm heute wiederfahren, that happened to him to-day. Zueilen, to hasten towards any thing, sein. Zufahren, to drive on to a place, sein. Zufrieren, to freeze up, sein. Zutreffen, impersonal, to happen, to occur, sein. In the table of the irregular verbs I have added sein to all the verbs which do not take haben for their auxiliary verb. Most of the compound verbs take the same auxiliary verb as the single ones. K 2 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. Extract from " Blackwood's Lady's Magazine" for August, 1837. " DONATTI'S GERMAN GRAMMAR, ON A NEW AND IMPROVED PRIN- CIPLE. On glancing over this Grammar, we find so many excellent points, that to notice all would only puzzle the reader, and take up too much space in our already crowded columns : for quick learning this Grammar will be found invaluable ; its facilities to the pupil are easily seen, and the manner in which it is put together shows a skilful hand. The inflection of the articles, adjectives, pronouns, and numeral adnouns, have been incorporated and simplified, and the number of declensions has been discarded ; with several other excellent improvements, rendering it a very useful book for schools in general." Extract from the "Lady's Magazine and Museum" for October, 1837- Page 305. " Those who wish to master the difficulties of the German Lan- guage, without the assistance of an instructor, cannot do better than provide themselves with Donatti's German Grammar ; from the perusal of it, we are convinced, that an industrious student may translate German readily, in the short space of six months. The mode of instruction is simple and perspicuous, and does great credit to Mr. Donatti, who, himself the teacher of a large circle, has dis- played great attention to those difficulties, which are most likely to retard the progress of zealous beginners. PROFESSOR L. A. DONATTPS Terms for Private Instruction in the German, Italian, Spa- nish, and French Languages. s. d. Occasional Lessons 7 per hour. Three Lessons per Week 50,, No. 29, Great Marlborough Street, Near Argyle Place , Regent Streot. YA 04335