Tag Archives: case
Mein, dein, sein, ihr, etc.: German possessive pronouns in the nominative case Posted by Sandra Rösner on Dec 6, 2012
The ability to change perspectives when we talk with one another is one of the most awesome characteristics of humans. That is, when a speaker uses the word “I” in his or her statements we automatically know that this person is talking of him- or herself and not of one of us. Memorizing German personal…
The Genitive Case: Showing Possession, part 2 Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 13, 2012
In my last post I gave you some sentences to practice your new acquired knowledge about the German genitive case. So, before I start a new discussion, here is the key. 1. A: Wessen Handy ist das? (Whose cellphone is that?) B: (Doreen) Das ist Doreens Handy. (That is Doreen’s cellphone.) 2. A…
The Genitive Case: Showing Possession, part 1 Posted by Sandra Rösner on Jun 11, 2012
Most learners of German seem to fall into despair when it comes to the language’s grammar cases. And when I read explanations in grammar books how to construct a German sentence with the correct cases, I can understand your discontent. The problem with grammar and its explanations is that they are just condensed information about…
German ordinal numbers in use: Choosing the proper gender, grammatical case, and number (pt. II) Posted by Sandra Rösner on Nov 11, 2011
In my last post I discussed what adjectival endings you have to use when you use a noun with a definite article. Remember that ordinal numbers are grammatically nothing else than adjectives. That is, when you embed an ordinal in your sentence you have to modify it like any other adjectives. In this post I…