German A-Level Grammar (Cloze Test)

OP

cmon you german enthusiasts :smile:

koko...i know ur reading this :cool:

Reply 2

Zaphod

Besucher and erstaunt?

Reply 3

OP

Zaphod

Besucher and erstaunt?

why is it besucher?

Reply 4

TheWolf

Manche Besucher/Besuchern/Besuchers wurden von der frischen Schokolade erstaunen/erstaunlich/erstaunt

which ones are correct?

die (pl.) Besucher - because it's the plural, and it's the subject of the verb so it's in the nominative case.

erstaunt - because it's a past passive construction, so requires the past participle.

Reply 5

OP

mongoose

die (pl.) Besucher - because it's the plural, and it's the subject of the verb so it's in the nominative case.

erstaunt - because it's a past passive construction, so requires the past participle.

ok - how about

In dem/den/der Zusammenstoss haben/sind/werden 71 Menschen ums Leben gekommen?

- i dont know the gender of Zusammenstoss but i know that after in - its either dative or accusative, so its dem or der. But how do you know which?

Reply 6

TheWolf

Manche Besucher/Besuchern/Besuchers wurden von der frischen Schokolade erstaunen/erstaunlich/erstaunt

which ones are correct?

... also, you could've deduced the right answer by elimination: Besuchern is wrong because it's in the dative case, and Besuchers isn't even German. The modal auxiliary 'wurden' should've alerted you to the need for a participle and nothing else (ie not an infinitive, not an adverb, adjective or anything else)

Reply 7

OP

mongoose

... also, you could've deduced the right answer by elimination: Besuchern is wrong because it's in the dative case, and Besuchers isn't even German. The modal auxiliary 'wurden' should've alerted you to the need for a participle and nothing else (ie not an infinitive, not an adverb, adjective or anything else)

ahh ofcourse :wink:

ta so how about the above one?

Reply 8

Zaphod

TheWolf

ok - how about

In dem/den/der Zusammenstoss haben/sind/werden 71 Menschen ums Leben gekommen?

- i dont know the gender of Zusammenstoss but i know that after in - its either dative or accusative, so its dem or der. But how do you know which?

It's den, in fact. Zusammenstoss is masculine, and because there's movement/change of state, the accusative case is used, and the masculine accusative definite article is den.

And it's "sind gekommen".

Reply 9

TheWolf

ok - how about

In dem/den/der Zusammenstoss haben/sind/werden 71 Menschen ums Leben gekommen?

- i dont know the gender of Zusammenstoss but i know that after in - its either dative or accusative, so its dem or der. But how do you know which?

Anthing ending -stoss/ß is masculine. Kommen (pp gekommen) takes sein, so it's SIND. The part following the preposition is quite difficult...there is no movement, so by that reasoning it should be dative. Also note that the expression 'ums leben kommen' can also be used with bei, which always takes the dative.

Reply 10

OP

mongoose

Anthing ending -stoss/ß is masculine. Kommen (pp gekommen) takes sein, so it's SIND. The part following the preposition is quite difficult...but because there's no explicit movement, and it isn't being used to describe something abstract, it should be dative. Also note that the expression 'ums leben kommen' can also be used with bei, which always takes the dative.

mm zaphod says its accusative -zusammenstoss is collision so thats surely a movement? can you remind me when to use accusative etc...

do you use accusative when theres movement and all other ones just follow their own rules eg nominative when its the subject of a sentence,dative when showing indirect object of sentence..etc?

Reply 11

I'm pretty sure it's dative... it just doesn't sound 'right' with the accusative.

Reply 12

Yes, it's most certainly dative. I mean, i've heard often enough in the news "...Soldaten sind im Irak ums Leben gekommen", otherwise the article is omitted completely for reasons of style.

Reply 13

TheWolf

mm zaphod says its accusative -zusammenstoss is collision so thats surely a movement? can you remind me when to use accusative etc...

do you use accusative when theres movement and all other ones just follow their own rules eg nominative when its the subject of a sentence,dative when showing indirect object of sentence..etc?

Zusammenstoss - aber keine Bewegung von A nach B.

Reply 14

OP

mongoose

Zusammenstoss - aber keine Bewegung von A nach B.

ahh ok

danke

Reply 15

Zaphod

mongoose is right. Sorry, I thought that changes of state caused the accusative case for 'in'. Obviously not.

Reply 16

OP

Zaphod

mongoose is right. Sorry, I thought that changes of state caused the accusative case for 'in'. Obviously not.

ahh ok - so movement or change of state use accusative - other things i need to know? eg when to use dative etc?

Reply 17

OP

right guys - when do i use nach, nachdem, and nachher? they all mean after

Reply 18

TheWolf

right guys - when do i use nach, nachdem, and nachher? they all mean after

Nachdem - is used like 'once' as in: 'once the exam is over', 'nachdem die Prüfung abgeschlossen ist'.

Nachher - is used like 'afterwards' or 'after it/something': 'The exam lasts an hour, afterwards we'll go home', 'die Prüfung dauert eine Stunde, nachher gehen wir zu Hause'.

Nach - can be used to mean 'after' amongst other things. Eg. 'wohin gehen wir nach dem Tod?', 'where do we go after death?'

Which one you choose depends on the style and context of the writing.

Reply 19

OP