Practice Makes Perfect German Verb Tenses 2/E: With 200 Exercises + Free Flashcard App

By Astrid Henschel

Go Beyond Conjugation and Learn the Correct Verb Tenses for Speaking and Writing in German

If you're looking for help memorizing German verb conjugations, any German verb book will do. But if you are interested in becoming fl uent, you'll need to learn how these building blocks are used in everyday, natural language. That's where Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses comes in.

You will, of course, get plenty of practice, practice, practice using your new verb selection and conjugation skills. Whether you are learning on your own or taking a beginning German class, Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses will help you master German in no time at all.

Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses will help you:

• Learn when and why to use different verb tenses
• Reinforce your knowledge with everyday examples covering a wide range of topics
• Build your verb skills using more than 200 engaging exercises

• Language: English
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Release date: Jun 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9780071805100

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McGraw-Hill’s Language Lab App

Twenty-five Progress Checks are available via app to test your understanding of key tenses covered in this book. Go to www.mhlanguagelab.com to access the online version of this application, or locate links to the free mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

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Contents

Introduction

Basic Terminology

PART I

The Present Tense

Unit 1 Conjugation of Verbs in the Present Tense

Usage of the Present Tense

Formation of the Present Tense

Unit 2 The Present Tense of haben, sein, and werden

Unit 3 Verbs with a Vowel Change in the Stem

Verbs with Stem-Vowel Changes from a to ä and au to äu

Verbs with a Stem-Vowel Change from e to i or to ie

Unit 4 Verbs with Inseparable and Separable Prefixes

Inseparable Prefixes

Separable Prefixes

Prefixes That Can Be Separable or Inseparable

Unit 5 Modal Auxiliaries

Conjugation of the Modal Auxiliaries

Modals Used with Infinitives

Modal Position in a Subordinate Clause

Omission of the Infinitive

Unit 6 wissen and kennen

Conjugation of wissen

Meanings of wissen and kennen

Unit 7 legen/liegen and stellen/stehen

Unit 8 Imperative Verbs

Formal Commands

Familiar Commands

The Command Forms of sein and werden

Unit 9 Impersonal Verbs

Impersonal Weather Verbs

Impersonal Sensory Verbs

Impersonal Verbs That Take the Dative

es gibt or es ist, es sind

Unit 10 Review Exercises in the Present Tense

PART II

The Future and Past Tenses, lassen, Reflexive Verbs, and Infinitives

Unit 11 The Future Tense

Adverbs of Time

Position and Form of Modals

Expressing Probability

Unit 12 The Past Tense

Usage of the Past Tense

Weak Verbs

Strong Verbs

Mixed Verbs

haben, sein, and werden

Modal Auxiliaries

Unit 13 The Present Perfect Tense

Usage of the Present Perfect Tense

Formation of the Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Tense of Weak Verbs

haben or sein as the Auxiliary Verb in Perfect Tenses

Present Perfect Tense of Strong Verbs

Present Perfect Tense of Mixed Verbs

Present Perfect Tense with Separable Prefixes

Present Perfect Tense with Inseparable Prefixes

Present Perfect Tense with Verbs Ending in -ieren

Present Perfect Tense of Modal Auxiliaries and of sein and haben

Subordinate Clauses and the Present Perfect Tense

Unit 14 The Past Perfect Tense

Unit 15 The Future Perfect Tense

Unit 16 lassen

Unit 17 Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive Verbs with Accusative Pronouns

Reflexive Verbs with Dative Pronouns

Reflexive Constructions to Show Personal Interest

Each Other

Reflexive Commands

Perfect Tenses of Reflexive Verbs

Unit 18 Infinitives

Infinitives Without zu

Infinitives with zu

Unit 19 Review Exercises in the Future and Past Tenses, lassen, Reflexive Verbs, and Infinitives

PART III

The Passive Voice, Subjunctive Mood, and Conditional Tense

Unit 20 The Passive Voice

Active Voice Versus Passive Voice

von or durch

Impersonal Passive Constructions

sein and the Passive Voice

Substitutes for the Passive Voice

Unit 21 Subjunctive I

Mood: Indicative and Subjunctive

Use and Formation of the Subjunctive I

Unit 22 Subjunctive II and würdeConstructions

Use and Formation of the Subjunctive II

The würde Construction

Unit 23 Conditional Sentences

Conditions of Fact

Unreal Conditions

Speculation About the Past

Omitting wenn

Unit 24 Review Exercises in the Passive Voice, Subjunctive Mood, and Conditional Tense

Final Review

Appendix A: Verb Summary

Appendix B: Principal Parts of Verbs

Appendix C: Verbs with Prepositions

Answer Key

Introduction

Practice makes perfect is an old proverb that carries a lot of truth. Practice and more practice bring about mastery. This truth also applies to the learning of German verbs, which can be quite challenging to the student of German. Seeking to lead the student down the road to mastery of German verbs, Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses presents complete and clear explanations followed by numerous exercises in a systematic and logical manner. The scope of the material covered includes all conjugations for every tense. Through the contents of this book, the student will come to a clear understanding of how German verbs are formed and used.

Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses is perfect for beginning and intermediate students, promoting confident use of verbs. It should be an invaluable aid for students who want to advance more quickly, as well as for those who need additional practice and understanding in order to master classroom assignments. This book is also of particular value for individualized instruction and practice.

The book is divided into three main parts:

• Part I: The Present Tense: The first part, divided into ten units, covers the conjugation of regular and vowel-change verbs and of verbs with inseparable and separable prefixes, followed by the treatment of modal auxiliaries, imperative verbs, and impersonal verbs. You will also find exercises dealing with the problematic verb pairs wissen/kennen, legen/liegen, and stellen/stehen.

• Part II: The Future and Past Tenses, lassen, Reflexive Verbs, and Infinitives: The second part, in nine units, deals with the five indicative tenses: future, past, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. The verb lassen is dealt with in the present and present perfect tenses. In addition, the reflexive verbs and infinitives are studied.

• Part III: The Passive Voice, Subjunctive Mood, and Conditional Tense: The third part, in five units, deals with the passive voice, the subjunctive I and II, and the würde constructions, followed by the conditional.

Each part provides concise but complete explanations, ample exercises within each unit, and a comprehensive review section unit to end each part. A new Final Review for even more practice has been added to this edition.

Additional valuable information is included in three appendixes: a detailed verb summary, a table of the principal parts of verbs with their English meanings, and a list of verbs with their proper prepositions.

An answer key is also provided. This is especially useful for the student who undertakes the study of German on his or her own.

Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses will be helpful for students who are starting the study of German or are returning to studying German and are in need of a good review workbook. Practice Makes Perfect: German Verb Tenses is the answer to these needs. It would also be an excellent companion workbook to any basic text of German. Furthermore, it can be used as a reference source by both teachers and students of German.

It is my sincere hope that this book will be a valuable tool for those studying German and that its use will bring about greater competence and confidence in speaking, reading, and writing the German language. Lernen macht Spaß!

Basic Terminology

In the following section you will find a brief explanation of some of the more common grammatical terms found in this text.

Verb: A word describing an action or state of being: schlafen (to sleep), er isst (he eats), ich spiele (I play), wir kamen (we came).

Finite Verb: The verb in the sentence that changes to agree with the subject. The verb forms tanzt (dances) and kann (can) are finite verbs in the following sentences:

The verb form tanzen in the second sentence is not finite. It did not change; it is an infinitive.

Infinitive: A verb in its basic form. It has not been changed or conjugated. It does not agree with a subject and is not in a tense. It is the basic form found in dictionaries: gehen (to go), kommen (to come). In English, all infinitives include the word to (to go, to come). In German, all infinitives end in either -en or -n: spielen (to play), lächeln (to smile).

Conjugation: Changing the verb from its infinitive form (basic form) to agree with the subject: from to dance to The girl dances. Dances is the conjugated verb.

Verb Stem: In German, infinitives end in either -en or -n (spielen, lächeln). When you drop these endings, you are left with the verb stem. The stem of spielen is spiel; the stem of lächeln is lächel. In order to conjugate a verb, you need the verb stem and the proper ending that agrees with the subject.

Verb Ending: What you add to the verb stem to get the proper conjugation (ich: -e; er: -t; wir: -en). The verb endings are determined by the person and whether it is singular or plural. There are three persons:

Tense: The tense of the verb tells you when the action takes place: in the present, the past, or the future.

Past Tense: A verb form that shows that something has happened in the past.

Future Tense: A verb form that shows that something will happen in the future.

Strong Verb: A verb that changes its stem vowel, and sometimes its consonants, in the formation of the past tenses. Examples:

This change also occurs sometimes in the second- and third-person singular of the present tense (ich lese, du liest, er liest).

Weak Verb: A verb that does not have the strength to change its stem vowel in the past tenses and in the second- or third-person singular of the present tense, and therefore stays the same.

kaufen, gekauft, du kaufst, er kauft

machen, gemacht, du machst, er macht

Auxiliary Verb: The German auxiliaries are haben, sein, and werden. They are used to form tenses and the passive voice.

Modal Auxiliaries: Helping verbs usually used with other verbs to modify the action. They can also be used by themselves if the meaning is obvious. The modal verb is conjugated; the action verb is left in the infinitive.

Past Participle: The participle, or verb form, that indicates a former action or condition.

Separable Verb: A verb that has a prefix that is separated from the conjugated part of the verb.

Inseparable Verb: A verb that has a prefix that does not separate from the verb. The past participle does not have a ge-.

Reflexive Verb: The verb pattern of these verbs has a pronoun because the subject does the action to him- or herself. The reflexive construction is found much more frequently in German than in English.

The pronoun used with this verb pattern is called a reflexive pronoun.

Indicative Mood: This form of the verb expresses or denotes a state, act, or happening as actual. It is not conditional. Most verbs are in this mood.

Imperative Mood: This form of the verb expresses commands.

Subjunctive Mood: This form of the verb expresses an act, event, or state as possible or conditional rather than actual.

PART I

THE PRESENT TENSE

Unit 1

Conjugation of Verbs in the Present Tense

Usage of the Present Tense

In German the present tense is used when stating something that is taking place now, takes place often, or will take place in the near future. Therefore, Wir essen Sauerkraut. may mean:

We are eating sauerkraut now.

We eat sauerkraut often or regularly.

We are/will be eating sauerkraut soon.

(Let’s hope there is some good pork with all this sauerkraut!)

The present tense is also used with seit and the dative to express actions, conditions, or states that are still continuing but began in the past. In English, the present perfect tense is used in this case:

There are no progressive forms in German as there are in English (am, are, or is followed by the present participle ending in -ing) or emphatic forms (do or does). Thus:

he is coming = er kommt

he does come = er kommt

he comes = er kommt

Personal Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of a person or thing. The book is replaced by it; the man is replaced by he. The following is a chart of personal pronouns in German:

Du, ihr, and Sie all mean you. The familiar form du is used in speaking to a child