Chapter 8:- Grammar 1

THE SKELETON SENTENCE: Verbs 2 — Part 1

Well, there are four grammatical dimensions:

1. Person and Number (I or you, I or we...?)
2. Tense (now, yesterday, tomorrow...?)
3. Mood (fact, non-fact, order...?)
4. Voice (active, passive...?)

Let's have a closer look.

Person and Number

The endings of conjugated verbs answer the following questions:

Who or what performs the action, or in what state is the performer?
Is there more than one person involved in this action or state (singular or plural)?

The following table will give you detailed information about person and number:

	Singular	Plural
1. Person	ich (I)	wir (we)
2. Person	du (you)	ihr (you)
3. Person	er (he)	sie (they)
	sie (she)
	es (it)

You identify:	You check for:	You check for:
Verb form	Person	Number
spielt	1. 2. 3.	Singular Plural

Tense
	When does the action, or involvement in the state, occur?

Präsens /Present tense	Imperfekt/ Simple past tense
Die Commerzbank sucht Mitarbeiter mit Hochschulabschluss.	Ende Oktober stürzte die Apple-Aktie daramtisch ab.

Mood
	How does one speak of the action or state?

Indikativ (Indicative)	Konjunktiv (Subjunctive)	Imperativ (Imperative)
Express factual occurrence	Non-fact, indicates wish or possibility	Express an order or command
Der Kanzler spricht über die Probleme der deutschen Wirtschaft.(The chancellor is speaking about the problems of the German economy.)	Wenn der Euro im Verhältnis zum Dollar stärker wäre, würde es der deutschen Wirtschaft besser gehen. (If the Euro were stronger relative to the Dollar, the German economy would be better.)	Sing! (singular) Singt! (plural)

Voice
	Does the subject of the sentence carry out or undergo the action?

Aktiv (Active)	Passiv (Passive)
The subject of the sentence carries out the action.	The subject of the sentence undergoes the action.
Bayern-München schlägt Dynamo Dresden 2:0.	Dynamo Dresden wird von Bayern-München 0:2 geschlagen.

You identify:	You check for:
Verb form	Voice
spielt	Aktiv Passiv

You should understand that verb endings give you important information about these four features.
But don't worry about "mood" or "voice."

Most of the verbs you encounter will be in the "indicative voice" or the "active voice."
These are the most common forms, and you won't have to learn to identify the others until much later.

Don't worry!
	You should understand that verb endings give you important information about these four features. But don't worry about "mood" or "voice." Most of the verbs you encounter will be in the "indicative voice" or the "active voice." These are the most common forms, and you won't have to learn to identify the others until much later.