German, Part 2: The Case System and Basic Syntax

Description

What is this course about?

Start with another satisfying Zungenbrecher. In this second course in the series, James Pfrehm—an Associate Professor of German and Linguistics at Ithaca College—acquaints you with the different ways of asking questions, both open-ended and close-ended questions. Survey the interrogative pronouns, focusing on the special uses of wo, wohin, and woher, which all mean “where”, but with distinct implications regarding motion and place. Finally, learn to count to a billion! (Without saying every single number on the way.)

This course was created by The Great Courses. We are pleased to host this training in our library.

Objectives

What will I be able to do by the end of this course?

• Formulate open-ended questions using appropriate interrogative pronouns in German.
• Formulate closed-ended questions in German by inverting the subject and verb.
• Count to one billion in German, using correct spacing and capitalization for large numbers.
• Translate and interpret numbers in written and spoken German.
• Practice using the nominative and accusative cases in German sentences.
• Use the correct form of the verb "haben" in German to express possession.
• Differentiate between the nominative and accusative articles in German.
• Apply the negating word "kein" to negate nouns in German sentences.
• Formulate complete sentences using subject-verb inversion to express time.
• Distinguish between different possessive pronouns based on context.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the different ways to ask and respond to questions about time in German.
• Describe family members and their hobbies using possessive pronouns in German.
• Identify and use coordinating conjunctions to connect multiple clauses in German sentences.
• Construct complex sentences in German by combining independent clauses using coordinating conjunctions.
• Apply appropriate der-word endings to modify nouns in German sentences.
• Differentiate between the various der-words (all-, dies-, jed-, manch-, solch-, and welch-) based on their contextual meanings and grammatical functions.
• Interpret and interpret passages in German by understanding the word order and usage of coordinating conjunctions and der-words.
• Exhibit proficiency in using the accusative case with phrases of time and after accusative prepositions.
• Create sentences expressing durations of time using the accusative case.
• Construct dialogues using modal verbs and accusative prepositions in native-speaker conversational situations.
• Recall and explain the significance of cultural events and traditions in German-speaking countries, such as the Oktoberfest.
• Demonstrate the correct conjugation of the stem-vowel changing verbs in different subjects
• Compare and contrast the stem-vowel changing verbs with regular verbs in German.
• Apply the stem-vowel changing verb conjugations to create grammatically correct sentences.
• Construct a dialogue using stem-vowel changing verbs to describe activities and preferences.

Audience

Who is this course for?

• Anyone interested in learning German
• Anyone who works as part of a global team or who travels to Germany for work