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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
Particles
N10
Words like the following are called particles.
bloß, halt, ja, mal, überhaupt, wohl, eben, gerade, aber, ganz, nur, denn, selbst
Particles are not sentence constituents, are not inflected and have no comparative forms.
On a communicative level, particles clarify the intention of the speaker ; on another level, they contribute to the clarification, emphasis, intensification or attenuation of an utterance and the expression of the speaker’s thoughts and feelings (e.g. inner sympathy, impatience, doubt etc.).
The various shades of meaning that can be given to an utterance through the use of the particle doch are presented below.
Examples | |
Giving emphasis on requests |
Pass doch auf! |
Giving emphasis on approval |
Ja doch! |
Giving emphasis on impatience |
Komm doch mal her! |
Giving emphasis on a wish |
Wäre sie doch da! |
Reminder of something known that seems to be forgotten |
Sie ist doch kein Kind mehr. |
Expression of indignation |
Das ist doch nicht mehr zum Aushalten! |
Expression of hope for approval |
Du hast mich doch nicht betrogen? |
Question on a familiar subject, which seems to be momentarily forgotten. |
Wie war das doch? |
The form of the particles is identical to that of adverbs, adjectives and conjunctions.
Examples | ||
gerade | Particle | Gerade Kinder brauchen viel Zuneigung. |
Adverb | Er ist gerade gekommen. | |
ganz | Particle | Die Pizza schmeckt ganz gut. |
Adjective | Er hat die ganze Pizza gegessen. | |
aber | Particle | Die ist aber dick! |
Conjunction | Er ist intelligent, aber faul. |