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WORD GRAMMAR
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Verb
- Conjugation in indicative
- Person and number
- Tenses
- Voice
- Mood
- Verb categories
- Valency
- Semantic categories of verbs
- Finite / non-finite verb forms
- Noun
- Adjective
- Adverb
- Article
- Pronoun
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Particle
- Interjection
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Verb
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SENTENCE GRAMMAR
- Clause types
- Complex clauses
- Constituents of a sentence
- Sentence structure
- Word order in a sentence
- Negation
The object
The object is the target point of the action, process or state that is described in the predicate. An object can be in the accusative, dative or genitive case. The verb determines the case of the object.
A noun or a pronoun can be used as objects.
| object type | Examples | ||
| accusative object | Die Schüler schreiben einen Test. | noun | |
| Die Schüler schreiben ihn. | pronoun | ||
| dative object | Ich helfe meinen Freunden. | noun | |
| Ich helfe ihnen. | pronoun | ||
| genitive object | Peter bedarf unserer Unterstützung. | noun | |
| Peter bedarf ihrer. | pronoun | ||
| prepositional object | Wir warten auf Monika / auf den Bus. | noun | |
| Wir warten auf sie * / darauf. ** | pronoun |
* For animate things, a preposition and a pronoun are combined.
** For inanimate things, a pronominal adverb is used.
Object subordinate clauses can also function as objects.
| Examples | |
| Ich weiß, dass er nicht zu Haus ist. | |
| Er hat vor, in Deutschland zu studieren. | |
| Alle haben erfahren, wer es ihm verraten hat. |
Verbs have the property of determining the type of object they must or can take as a complement.
Example 1
The verb "schicken" requires two objects, the one is obligatory and the other optional.
| Example | ||
| Ich schicke meiner Frau das Paket. | ||
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object type
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obligatory object
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das Paket
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accusative object
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optional object
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meiner Frau
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dative object
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Example 2
The verb "brauchen" needs an object that is obligatory; otherwise, the sentence will have no meaning.
| Example | ||
| Ich brauche Geld. | ||
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object type
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obligatory object
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Geld
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accusative object
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Example 3
The verb "spielen" can take an accusative object, which is optional.
| Examplel | ||
| Die Kinder spielen Fußball. | ||
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object type
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optional object
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Fußball
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accusative object
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Adjectives can also take an object and determine its form.
Example 1
The adjective "angewiesen" requires an obligatory object.
| Example | ||
| Ich bin auf deine Hilfe angewiesen. | ||
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object type
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obligatory object
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auf deine Hilfe
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prepositional object
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Example 2
The adjective "zufrieden" requires an object, which is optional.
| Example | ||
| Ich bin mit dem Ergebnis zufrieden. | ||
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object type
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optional object
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mit dem Ergebnis
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prepositional object
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