The noun phrase: determiners and pronouns
3
A NOUN PHRASE may simply consist of one noun on its own, e.g. Rache ist süß, or of a PRONOUN, which ‘stands for’ a noun, e.g. Sie ist süß. As in English, it is usual for a noun to be preceded by a DETERMINER such as the following:
an ARTICLE – der (the) or ein (a) a DEMONSTRATIVE such as dieser (this) a POSSESSIVE such as mein (my) or dein (your) an INTERROGATIVE such as welcher (which) or wie viele (how many).
Between the determiner and the noun you may find one or more ADJECTIVES (see chapter 4) or even – unlike English – long adjectival phrases that give additional information about the noun: dieser tolle neue Film
this brilliant new film
Der 1867 von dem schwedischen Chemiker Alfred Nobel erfundene und kurz darauf für die Erbauung des Gotthard-Tunnels benutzte Sprengstoff heißt Dynamit.
The explosive invented in 1867 by the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel and used shortly afterwards for the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel is called dynamite.
Determiners play an important part in indicating the role of the noun phrase in the sentence. To do this they have endings that indicate GENDER, NUMBER and CASE. Similarly, the form of pronouns changes depending on their grammatical role. In order to understand German well and produce comprehensible sentences, you need to learn these forms and pay attention to the endings in their context. This chapter gives you details about the following:
definite and indefinite ARTICLES (3.1–3.3) other DETERMINERS (3.4–3.6) PRONOUNS,
notably PERSONAL PRONOUNS and REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS (3.7–3.9).
