German A-Level Grammar (Cloze Test)

Reply 20

TheWolf

OP

15

sorry for bombarding you with questions, but heres the next one :tongue:

Man/Mann/Sie behauptet, dass viele Eltern ihre Kinder/Ihren Kinder/ihren Kindern helfen, das Internet zu benutzen

answer: Man and ihren Kindern

why Man not Mann?

Reply 21

TheWolf

OP

15

and word-oder :

Interestingly, this is in stark contrast to ...

is it : Interessanterweise, steht dies in starkem kontrast zu...
or : Interessanterweise, dies in startkem kontrast zu....steht?

Reply 22

mongoose

5

TheWolf

sorry for bombarding you with questions, but heres the next one :tongue:

Man/Mann/Sie behauptet, dass viele Eltern ihre Kinder/Ihren Kinder/ihren Kindern helfen, das Internet zu benutzen

answer: Man and ihren Kindern

why Man not Mann?

No problem...this is kinda helping with my German revision too.

Translate it into English. 'People say that...', 'The man says that...' - the latter doesn't sound right. Man is the general 3rd person pronoun, like 'one' in English, or how 'they' or 'people' are sometimes used in English. 'Mann' could be used in the sentence, but it's very unlikely as it isn't preceded by an article, and even if it were, it'd only make sense in the context of some sort of report or survey, but even then it'd be sound odd to be quoting some random man.

As for the word-order: the first is correct. Remember that subject-verb inversion (verb placed before subject) always occurs if the subject isn't the first idea of the sentence. Compare with "dies steht interessanterweise in starkem Kontrast zu..." - in the other sentence, the adverb takes position as the first idea, so S-V inversion occurs. The latter is clearly wrong as there is no subordinating conjunction; the verb only goes to the end of the sentence where there's a sub. conjunction, and 'dies' in that sentence functions as a demonstrative article.

Reply 23

TheWolf

OP

15

mongoose

No problem...this is kinda helping with my German revision too.

Translate it into English. 'People say that...', 'The man says that...' - the latter doesn't sound right. Man is the general 3rd person pronoun, like 'one' in English, or how 'they' or 'people' are sometimes used in English. 'Mann' could be used in the sentence, but it's very unlikely as it isn't preceded by an article, and even if it were, it'd only make sense in the context of some sort of report or survey, but even then it'd be sound odd to be quoting some random man.

As for the word-order: the first is correct. Remember that subject-verb inversion (verb placed before subject) always occurs if the subject isn't the first idea of the sentence. Compare with "dies steht interessanterweise in starkem Kontrast zu..." - in the other sentence, the adverb takes position as the first idea, so S-V inversion occurs. The latter is clearly wrong as there is no subordinating conjunction; the verb only goes to the end of the sentence where there's a sub. conjunction, and 'dies' in that sentence functions as a demonstrative article.

ahh ok can you give me an example when there is an sv inversion and another which hasnt? because im abit muddled up with the 'first idea' etc.. :eek:

Reply 24

TheWolf

OP

15

Das Thema, dem ich mich jetzt widmen will ist der Erfolgdes Titanic in Deutschland. In ersten Halbjahr 1998 hatte es ein Umsatzrekord erlebt. Ausserdem, erhoette Titanic sich die Zahl der Besucher in dieser Periode um acht Millionen auf 74 Millionen. Diese Rekord erzahler eine erforderliche Geschichte.

Is this correct?

Reply 25

mongoose

5

TheWolf

ahh ok can you give me an example when there is an sv inversion and another which hasnt? because im abit muddled up with the 'first idea' etc.. :eek:

Ok.. let's see.. Compare the pairs below:

1. Wir(s) fahren(v) zum ersten Mal mit dem Eurostar nach Paris
2. Mit dem Eurostar fahren(v) wir(s) zum ersten Mal nach Paris

3. Ich konnte nicht kommen, weil ich krank war
4. Weil ich krank war, konnte ich nicht kommen

5. Das Meerschweinchen ist leider gestorben
6. Leider ist das Meerschweinchen gestorben

There is S-V inversion in (2) because the subject (wir) doesn't come first in the sentence. In (3) there is no inversion because the subject (ich) comes first. When the dependent clause is placed in the initial position in (4), S-V inversion does occur because the subject is no longer the first idea. In (6) the adverb 'leider' takes the first idea, so S-V inversion occurs. I wouldn't concern myself too much with this, you probably already subconsciously change the word order when the subject isn't first, as it sounds odd otherwise.

German A-Level Grammar (Cloze Test)

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