Swick - Practice Makes Perfect German Sentence Builder

Ed Swick

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ISBN: 978-0-07-159963-4

MHID: 0-07-159963-0

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To Riane, AJ, Jalyn, Tori, and Riley, my terrific grandkids.

I wish to extend my gratitude to Stefan Feyen for all his help and suggestions.

Writing skills are usually the most difficult skills to acquire in a language. This is particularly true in a foreign language. The goal of this book is to guide you through the various types of structures in the German language and to illustrate how those structures combine to make sentences.

Naturally, in order to acquire writing skills you have to write. Therefore, you will be provided with an abundance of writing exercises. Some will require a small variation in a given sentence. Others will provide you with a series of words that you form into an appropriate sentence. And you will have plenty of opportunity for coming up with original sentences of your own. This development of your German sentence writing moves gradually and with careful explanation from the least complex activity to the most complex.

In addition to the illustrations of how structures combine to form sentences, and the practice exercises, an answer key is provided at the end of the book. It includes not only the correct answers for the exercises but also sample sentences for you to use to compare to your original sentences.

Good sentence writing is not an impossible task. But it requires analysis and practice and a willingness to apply concepts and rules consistently. Let this book guide you, and you will discover a new confidence as you write more successfully in German.

Viel Glck!

Declarative sentences in both English and German consist of a subject and a predicate. In German, the subject is in the nominative case, and the verb in the predicate is conjugated appropriately for the subject and in a specific tense:

subject + verb + predicate

Karl + singt + gut.

Karl sings well.

In the example sentence above, the subject is Karl and the verb singt is conjugated in the present tense for the third person singular subject. This basic structure is used in great abundance in the language and can be modified in a variety of ways. Nonetheless, its simple formula is subject plus predicate. If one of those elements is missing, you dont have a sentence.

Lets look at a series of sentences composed in this way. Take note of the subjects, the variety of verb types in the predicate, and the various tenses that can be used in declarative sentences. Many sentences are composed of a present perfect tense verb and the auxiliary haben:

Many are composed of a present perfect tense verb and the auxiliary sein:

Many appear in the future tense with the auxiliary werden:

Others can be a combination of a modal auxiliary and an infinitive:

And still others can be written in the passive voice:

In other words, a declarative sentence can take many forms.