8.1 Sentence patterns

This chapter explains the common sentence patterns and complements – in particular those German constructions which differ from English – and also other uses of the cases: sentence patterns (8.1) reflexive verbs (8.2) the dative case (8.3–8.4) the genitive case (8.5–8.6) prepositional objects (8.7) other complements (8.8–8.10).

The VALENCY of the MAINVERB of a sentence determines the pattern of that sentence. There are a limited number of possible combinations of verbs and complements, and therefore a limited number of possible sentence patterns. Some verbs can be used with more than one sentence pattern (see 1.1).

It is useful to know the most common sentence patterns and to learn the valency of each verb, since this is what shapes the sentence – not knowing the possible uses of a verb is like working with a blunt tool. The meaning and the standard translation of a verb into English will sometimes give you an indication. For example, neither schwimmen nor ‘swim’ need an object, while both kaufen and ‘buy’ require ‘something’ to be bought (a direct object – in the accusative case in German). You should concentrate in particular on learning the valency of verbs that are used with complements other than an accusative object. Especially with the more complicated sentence patterns, it is best to learn the verb together with a sentence that shows how it is used.

The subject

The basis of all the sentence patterns is a verb and its subject. The SUBJECT always agrees with the FINITEVERB (see 1.2), but this may be an auxiliary or modal auxiliary verb rather than the main verb that conveys the action and determines the sentence pattern.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

All verbs which are used with an accusative object (often called the DIRECTOBJECT – sentence patterns B, D, F, H and L) are known as TRANSITIVEVERBS. Those which are not used with an accusative object (sentence patterns A, C, E, G, I, J, K and M) are INTRANSITIVEVERBS. Only the accusative object of transitive verbs can be turned into the subject of a verb in the passive (see section 7.4). The role of a subject or an object can be taken by a SUBORDINATECLAUSE as well as by a noun phrase (see section 10.3).

A subject verb

Der Mann schwimmt

B subject verb accusative object

Der Mann kauft den Fernseher

C subject verb dative object

Der Mann hilft seinem Bruder

D subject verb dative object accusative object

Der Mann gibt seinem Bruder den Fernseher

E subject verb genitive object

Der Mann bedarf der Ruhe

F subject verb accusative object genitive object

Der Mann würdigt seinen Kollegen keines Blickes

G subject verb prepositional object

Der Mann wartet auf seinen Bruder

H subject verb accusative object prepositional object

Der Mann hindert seinen Bruder an der Arbeit

I subject verb dative object prepositional object

Der Mann dankte seinem Bruder für seine Hilfe

J subject verb place complement

Der Mann wohnt in einem Hausboot

K subject verb direction complement

Der Mann fährt in die Stadt

L subject verb accusative object direction complement

Der Mann bringt seinen Bruder in die Stadt

M subject verb predicate complement

Der Mann ist nett/ein netter Mensch

NB Note that if a sentence with a transitive verb is in the passive, the accusative object of the active sentence acts as the subject of the passive sentence (see 7.4), e.g. Der Fernseher wird (von dem Mann) gekauft.

A:Subject verb As in English, some verbs can stand on their own, without any complements other than the subject, e.g. schwimmen, sterben, lachen. B:Subject verb accusative object This is the most common type of verb in German, with a DIRECTOBJECT, in the accusative case. Verbs with this sentence pattern are the commonest equivalent for English verbs that indicate an action being done to, or affecting, something or someone:

Sie küsst ihn. Ich baue ein Haus. She is kissing him. I am building a house.

C,D:Subject verb dative object There are two kinds of verbs with an object in the dative case (see 1.4 and 8.3): Some verbs have only a dativeobject (sentence pattern C), e.g. helfen and dienen. Other verbs have both a dativeobject (a so-called INDIRECTOBJECT) and an accusative object (DIRECTOBJECT, sentence pattern D). These are often similar to English:

Er gab dem Hund einen Knochen. He gave the dog a bone./He gave a bone to the dog. Die Sekretärin brachte ihm den Brief. The secretary brought him the letter.

E,F:Subject verb genitive object Very few verbs are used with a genitive object, and they are confined to formal registers and set phrases, e.g. Er bedarf der Ruhe (He needs peace and quiet), Er würdigte ihn (acc.) keines Blickes (gen.) (He did not deign to look at him). Most of those in general use are REFLEXIVEVERBS, e.g. Er rühmt sich (acc.) seiner Taten (gen.)(He prides himself on his deeds) (see 8.5).

G,H,I:Subject verb prepositional object Like English (e.g. ‘think of...’, ‘ask for...’), German has many verbs that are used with a specific PREPOSITION, as a set phrase (e.g. denken an..., bitten um...). The case of the following noun depends on the preposition. Verbs with a prepositional object may have an accusative or dative object with them as well (see sections 1.5 and 8.7).

J,K,L:Subject verb place/direction complement A few verbs indicating position need a place complement. Most verbs of motion can have a direction complement. These complements generally look like adverbials, but unlike adverbials they are closely linked to the action of the verb, and in some cases they are required to make the clause or sentence grammatically complete:

Anja lebt jetzt in der Stadt/auf dem Anja now lives in the city/in the

Land/zu Hause. country/at home. Lutz ging gestern in die Stadt/zum Yesterday Lutz went into town/to the

Friseur/nach Hause. hairdresser’s/home.

Some verbs with a direction complement have an accusative object as well (see section 8.8).

M:Subject verb predicate complement A very small number of important verbs – notably sein and werden – have a predicate complement consisting of a NOUNPHRASE or an ADJECTIVE. If the predicate complement is a noun phrase, this is in the NOMINATIVE case, i.e. in the same case as the subject. These are called COPULAR (‘linking’) verbs (see 1.6 and 8.10).