Download Key terms for A level German

Key terms for A level German
Ensure that you know and understand these key terms for September:
Verb
Is a doing word such as play, watch, sing, go,
return, do.
Conjugate
Means to change the full verb into the tense or
person you want by finding the stem and applying
the correct endings.
Is the verb in its purest form that you will find in
a dictionary. You use the infinitive to conjugate
difference tenses. It will have ‘to’ in front of it in
English ‘to play, to watch and to go’. In German the
infinitives will always end in N or EN.
Infinitive
Stem
You must find the stem of the verb each time you
want to conjugate an infinitive into a specific
tense. To do this, take off the EN. Then you
simply apply the endings for that tense.
E.g infinitive = spielen
stem = spiel
Add the endings = e, st, t, en, t
Endings
Are the verb endings that you must add to the
stem of the verb. The verb endings in the present
tense are e, st, t, en, t
Tense
Is the tense you would like to use e.g present,
past, future, conditional, imperfect etc.
Pronoun
I = ich, you = du, he/she/one = er/sie/es/man,
we = wir, you (formal) = Sie they = sie
you (plural familiar) = ihr
In German there are three ways to say you; du, Sie
and ihr. Du is used to one person (singular) or to
someone you know well or a child (informal). Sie is
used to address people (plural) or a person that
you don’t know (formal).
Auxiliary
Auxiliary verbs sein and haben are used in the past
tense (perfect tense) They are an extra verb
needed. eg ich habe gespielt: habe is the auxiliary
(m) (f) (ne)
m = masculine
f = feminine
n = neuter
Nouns
Nouns are objects, places or names. In French
they are grouped into two groups which are called
masculine and feminine nouns.
Adjectives
Adjectives are words which describing words such
as big or small. Adjectives describe the noun e.g a
big table. In French adjectives must agree with
the noun therefore as nouns are masculine,
feminine, singular or plural, the adjective must
agree e.g une table noire, les tables noires, un livre
noir, les livres noirs.