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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
Reflexive/reciprocal verbs
CA118
Reflexive Verben are verbs that are combined with a reflexive pronoun. The reflexive pronoun refers to the subject, is identical to it and is either in the accusative or the dative case.
Reciprocal verbs are verbs that are connected to a reflexive or reciprocal pronoun. These pronouns express a mutual relation between more than one subjects and objects. Reciprocal verbs are always in the plural number.
Examples | |
reflexive verbs | Er hat sich erkältet. |
Sie werden sich eine Woche in Köln aufhalten. | |
Ich muss mich nur noch schnell anziehen. | |
reciprocal verbs | Die beiden haben sich (miteinander) rasch angefreundet. |
Sie haben sich (miteinander) über den Preis geeinigt. | |
Ihr helft euch (gegenseitig) / einander immer. |
In the following example, the reflexive and the reciprocal use of the verb "waschen" is presented.
Examples | ||
non reflexive/reciprocal use | Paul wäscht das Auto. | |
reflexive use | Paul wäscht sich. | Paul und Petra waschen sich (selbst). |
reciprocal use | Paul und Petra waschen sich (gegenseitig) / einander. |
CA118A
Reflexive pronouns in accusative or dative
The reflexive pronoun can be an accusative object, a dative object or a prepositional object. The valency of the verb determines the case of the reflexive pronoun.
Examples | |
waschen + accusative object | Ich wasche mich. |
helfen + dative object | Ich kann mir nicht helfen. |
aufpassen + auf + accusative | Ich passe auf mich auf. |
When a verb that has a reflexive use has an accusative object, the reflexive pronoun is in the dative case.
Example | |
sich waschen + accusative object | Ich wasche mir die Hände. |