Appendix

A. Essentials of Construction

I. Principal and Co-Ordinate Clauses

§ 1. Infinitives, Participles, and that form of the Infinitive preceded by zu which is called Supine, stand at the end of the clause; as—

Er war ärmlich, aber doch sauber gekleidet.	He was poorly, but yet neatly dressed.
Sein zürnender Oheim hatte ihn zu sich gerufen.	His angry uncle had bid him come to him.
Seine Tante wird morgen zu uns kommen.	His aunt will come to us to-morrow.
Sie hat uns versprochen, morgen zu kommen.	She has promised us to come to-morrow.

§ 2. In a clause containing both an infinitive and a participle, the infinitive stands last; as—

Der Diener würde es nicht gethan haben, wenn er ihn nicht freundlich darum gebeten hätte.	The servant would not have done it, if he had not kindly asked him to do it.
Der Brief muß gut geschrieben werden, denn er enthält wichtige Mitteilungen.	The letter must be well written, for it contains important communications.

§ 3. In a clause containing two infinitives, the one governing the other stands last; as—

Er mag mit einem solchen Menschen nichts zu thun haben. He does not like to have anything to do with such a man.

§ 4. Separable prefixes of compound verbs are placed at the end of the clause when the verb is used in a simple tense; as—

Der König ging jeden Morgen um elf Uhr aus und kam gegen zwölf Uhr zurück. The king went out every morning at eleven o’clock and returned towards twelve o’clock.

§ 5. In a clause containing two objects, both expressed by nouns, that of the person stands before that of the thing; as—

Am nächsten Abend gab er dem Manne das Geld zurück. The next evening he returned the money to the man.

§ 6. When both objects represent persons, the accusative generally stands first; as—

Man hat den Verbrecher dem Richter überliefert. They have delivered the criminal to the judge.

§ 7. In clauses containing two objects, one being a personal pronoun and the other a noun, the pronoun stands first; as—

Der fremde Herr gab mir einige Äpfel und Birnen. The stranger gave me some apples and pears.

§ 8. When both objects are personal pronouns, the accusative generally stands first; as—

Sie hat es mir gesagt.	She has said it to me.
Man hat sie ihm genommen.	They have taken her away from him.

§ 9. A. Adverbial expressions of time generally stand before the object (except it is a pronoun) and always before adverbial expressions of manner and place; as—

Wir haben gestern drei Briefe erhalten.	Yesterday we received three letters.
Er ist heute plötzlich nach London abgereist.	He has suddenly left for London to-day.

But we must say—

Wir haben Sie heute mit Ungeduld erwartet. (Sie pers. pron.) We have been expecting you to-day with impatience.

B. Adverbial expressions of manner and place generally stand before the Infinitive or Participle when the verb is in a compound tense, but take the last place in the clause when the verb is in a simple tense; as—

Die Schüler haben ihre Aufgaben sehr gut gemacht.	The pupils have done their lessons very well.
Sie machen ihre Aufgaben immer sehr gut.	They do their lessons always very well.
Sind Sie gestern im Theater gewesen?	Were you at the theatre yesterday?
Ich gehe nie ins Theater.	I never go to the theatre.

When the subject, which may be preceded by its attributes, occupies the first place in a principal clause, either the copula or the verb must follow immediately.

§ 10. The negation nicht stands after the accusative; as—

Er schreibt den Brief nicht, sondern sein Bruder.	He is not writing the letter, but his brother is.
Er hat den Brief nicht geschrieben.	He has not written the letter.

§ 11. In questions nicht sometimes stands before the accusative; as—

Haben Sie nicht meinen Brief erhalten? Have you not received my letter?

§ 12. In general the negation nicht stands before that part of the sentence which it affects; as—

Ich bin nicht krank gewesen.	I have not been ill.
Wir sprechen nicht von ihm, sondern von seinem Vetter.	We do not speak of him, but of his cousin.
Die Natur hatte sie nicht mit Schönheit ausgestattet.	Nature had not endowed her with beauty.

II. Inverted Construction

§ 13. The ordinary way of arranging the words is to place the subject and its adjuncts first, and the predicate with its adjuncts after; as—

Der gute Vater (subj.) ist heute Morgen mit seinen drei Töchtern nach London abgereist (predicate with adjuncts). The good father has left this morning for London with his three daughters.

But this construction is sometimes inverted, so as to place the predicate, or a part of the predicate, before the subject. This is the case:

(a) In interrogative clauses; as—

Kommt der Mann heute?	Does the man come to-day?
Ist der Vater nach London abgereist?	Has the father left for London?
Hat er kein Geld bei sich?	Has he no money about him?

(b) In imperative clauses; as—

Senden Sie diesen Brief zur Post! Send this letter to the post-office!

Hätte er auf mich gehört! Would he had listened to me!

(d) In subordinate clauses beginning with an adverbial conjunction. (See § 124 of Lange’s German Grammar.)

§ 14. The ordinary way of arranging the words is often departed from for the sake of emphasizing a part of the predicate. In this case the part to be emphasized is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and the construction must be inverted, that is to say the subject must be placed after the verb; as—

Die letzten Worte hatte der junge Mensch mit gehobener Stimme gesprochen.	The last words the young man had spoken with an elevated tone of voice.
Heute kann er nicht abreisen, sondern morgen.	He cannot depart to-day, but to-morrow.
Mit dem zwölf Uhr Zuge kann er nicht mehr fahren, denn es ist zu spät.	He cannot go by the twelve o’clock train, for it is too late.

These sentences would read in the ordinary construction: Der junge Mensch hatte die letzten Worte mit gehobener Stimme gesprochen. Er kann nicht heute abreisen, sondern morgen. Er kann nicht mehr mit dem zwölf Uhr Zuge fahren, denn es ist zu spät. The words »Die letzten Worte,« »heute,« »mit dem zwölf Uhr Zuge,« have been made emphatic by being placed at the beginning of the sentence, which required the verb and the subject to interchange places.

§ 15. Sometimes a subordinate clause (that is to say a clause dependent on another clause, without which it would not be understood) is made emphatic by being placed before the principal clause. Then also the subject of the principal clause must be placed after the verb; as—

Als er in die Stube kam, fand er mich am Schreibtische. When he came into the room, he found me at the desk.

In this example the principal clause is »er fand mich am Schreibtische,« and the subordinate clause is contained in the words »Als er in die Stube kam;« this latter clause has been emphasized by being placed before the principal clause, but it required the principal clause to be inverted, so as to place the subject (er) after the verb (fand).

Here are some more examples of the same class:

Weil er ein guter Junge ist, will ich ihm seine Bitte gewähren.	Because he is a good fellow, I will grant his request.
Nachdem er gegessen und getrunken hatte, ging er nach Hause.	After having eaten and drunk, he went home.

III. Subordinate Clauses

(See § 24.)

§ 16. In subordinate clauses beginning with a relative pronoun, a relative conjunction, or a subordinative conjunction, the verb stands at the end; as—

Man zeigte mir ein Buch, das viele schöne Bilder enthielt.	They showed me a book which contained many beautiful pictures.
Wir waren im Zimmer, als er eintrat.	We were in the room when he entered.

§ 17. When the verb is in a compound tense, the auxiliary verb stands last; as—

Nachdem sie ihn begrüßt hatte, kam sie schnell auf mich zu. After she had welcomed him, she approached me quickly.

§ 18. When there are two verbs, one of which is a verb of mood, the verb of mood stands last; as—

Er sagte, daß er nicht kommen könne. He said that he could not come.

§ 19. When there are two verbs, the one being an infinitive, and the other an inflected verb, the inflected verb stands last; as—

Der Sohn starb gerade zu der Stunde, in welcher sein Vater ihn wiederzusehen hoffte. The son died the very hour his father hoped to see him again.

§ 20. When there are two infinitives and an auxiliary verb, the auxiliary verb has the first place, whilst the governing infinitive stands last; as—

Er überlegte, wie er es werde vermeiden können. (können is the governing verb.)	He considered how he might be able to avoid it.
Er sagte, daß er es nicht habe thun mögen. (mögen is the governing verb.)	He said that he did not like to do it.

§ 21. Sometimes the conjunction, which generally connects the subordinate clause with the principal clause, is omitted and understood. In this case the construction is like that of a principal clause; as—

Er fürchtete, ich könne mich erkälten. (Er fürchtete, daß ich mich erkälten könne.) He was afraid I might catch cold.

§ 22. Sometimes the auxiliary verb is omitted and understood; as—

Daß er mir genommen (wurde), ist mein größtes Leid. That he was taken from me is my greatest sorrow.

§ 23. In subordinate clauses the prefixes of separable compound verbs are not separated from the verb; as—

Er war so beschäftigt, daß er in vierzehn Tagen nicht ausging. He was so busy that he did not go out for a fortnight.

§ 24. A. The co-ordinative conjunctions—aber, allein, denn, nämlich, oder, sondern, sowohl — als, and und—serve to connect two or more independent statements with each other, which have either one common subject or predicate, or have each a subject and predicate of their own (co-ordinate clauses). Co-ordinative conjunctions do not affect the regular order of construction explained in §§ 1-12, and generally stand at the beginning of the co-ordinate clauses which they introduce; but aber and nämlich are often placed after the verb, and sometimes even stand in the middle of the clause; as—

Die Frau war dem Manne früh gestorben; dieser ließ dem hinterlassenen Kinde aber jede mögliche Sorgfalt angedeihen.

A subordinate clause, i.e. a clause dependent on another clause, without which it would not be understood, is joined to a principal clause by means of a relative pronoun, or a conjunction, which latter may be either a relative, a subordinative, or an adverbial conjunction. (See § 124 of Lange’s German Grammar.) The effect produced upon the construction by relative pronouns, relative conjunctions, and subordinative conjunctions has been explained in §§ 16-23.

B. Adverbial conjunctions, like all other adverbial expressions commencing a clause, require the verb to stand before the subject, as has been pointed out in § 124 of Lange’s German Grammar.

B. the Indicative Mood

§ 25. The Indicative Mood is the Mood of Actuality, whilst the Subjunctive Mood is the Mood of Possibility. The nature of the Indicative may be said to be objective, because it is used to express positive facts. The nature of the Subjunctive may be said to be subjective, because it represents the statement made as a mere subjective supposition, or as resting on the mere hearsay evidence of other persons.

The Indicative Mood denotes Positiveness and Certainty.

Conjunctions never determine the mood in which a verb is to be used. The mood is always determined by the nature of the statement we wish to make. So one and the same verb may be followed, in the dependent clause, either by the Indicative or the Subjunctive Mood.

Examples.

Der Gefangene ist tot; er ist heute Morgen gestorben. (Positive statement.)	The prisoner is dead; he died this morning.
Ich bin überzeugt, daß er es gesagt hat. (Certainty.)	I am convinced that he has said it.
Der Mensch ist sterblich. (A fact.)	Man is mortal.
Ich habe gehört, daß er zum Minister ernannt ist.	I have heard that he has been appointed a minister, (and I do not doubt it).

(Here the Indicative Mood is used, because I wish to imply that I have no doubt about the accuracy of the statement.)

Ich habe gehört, daß er zum Minister ernannt sei (see § 30). I have heard that he has been appointed a minister, (but I rather doubt it).

(Here the Subjunctive Mood is used because I wish to express a doubt about the accuracy of the statement, which is expressed in English by the words ‘but I rather doubt it.’)

C. The Subjunctive (Or Conjunctive) Mood

(See § 25.)

§ 26. Since, in the best modern works of English Literature, we frequently find the Indicative employed instead of the Subjunctive in clauses of uncertainty and supposition, and since, with the exception of the verb to be, it is evidently the tendency of the English language to reject the distinction of the Subjunctive Mood, the student will encounter no small difficulty in learning the right use of the German Subjunctive, which is most extensively used, and gives often great power, conciseness, and elegance to the mode of speaking.

The Subjunctive Mood is used both in principal and subordinate clauses, and denotes Uncertainty and Supposition.

Examples.

Man sagt er sei gestorben (see § 29). (Uncertainty.)	People say (i.e. it is rumoured) he is dead.
Plato glaubte, daß nur ein Gott sei. (Supposition.)	Plato thought that there was only one God, (but that it was a matter of doubt).

§ 27. The Subjunctive expresses Command, Wish, and Concession.

Examples.

Er nehme seine Weite, wie’s Brauch ist! (Schiller.) (Command.)	Let him take his distance as it is customary!
Gott sei mit dir! (Wish.)	God be with you!
Er gehe, wohin er Lust hat. (Concession.)	He may go wherever he pleases.

§ 28. The Subjunctive is used in Indirect Speech (oratio obliqua), i.e. when words which have been actually spoken are quoted not as they were spoken, but in substance only; it stands especially after the verbs sagen, to say; erzählen, to relate; melden, to report; berichten, to relate, to report; hören, to hear; as—

Er sagte ihm, er sei ein Verschwender.	He told him he was a spendthrift.
Sie behauptete, sie habe den Brief nicht erhalten.	She asserted that she had not got the letter.
Sein Freund meldete, daß er nicht kommen könne, mich zu besuchen.	His friend reported that he could not come to see me.

§ 29. The Subjunctive is used when the statement made in the subordinate clause is intended to be represented not as a fact, but as a mere idea, as a mere conception of the person speaking. We find it, therefore, especially after verbs denoting a request, a wish, a hope, an apprehension, a permission, an advice, and a command; as—

meinen, to mean.

glauben, to believe.

vermuten, to presume.

zweifeln, to doubt.

scheinen, to seem.

hoffen, to hope.

fürchten, to fear.

wollen, to be willing.

bitten, to ask.

befehlen, to command.

verlangen, to demand.

ermahnen, to admonish.

raten, to advise.

bestehen, to insist upon,

And others of a like meaning.

Examples.

Lassen Sie uns hoffen, daß unser Streben von Erfolg sein werde.	Let us hope that our endeavours may be successful.
Ich bat ihn, daß er mir helfen möge.	I asked him to help me.
Ich fürchtete, daß er ein Bein gebrochen habe.	I was afraid that he had broken a leg.
Wir bitten, daß der Gefangene frei gelassen werde.	We request that the prisoner be released.
Er zweifelt daran, daß man ihn für unschuldig erklären werde.	He doubts if he will be declared innocent.
Wir werden stets verlangen, daß man uns unsere Rechte gewähre.	We shall always demand that our rights be given to us.
Ich rate dir, daß du fleißiger werdest.	I advise you to become more industrious.
Ich bestehe darauf, daß sich der Lord entferne. (Schiller.)	I insist upon the Lord’s retiring.

§ 30. With regard to the Tense in which the Subjunctive ought to stand in subordinate clauses of the character mentioned above, the general rule is, that—

We use the same tense of the Subjunctive Mood which, in direct speech, or in a principal clause, would be used in the Indicative Mood,

except that

the Perfect of the Subjunctive is used instead of the Imperfect of the Indicative, and that the Pluperfect of the Indicative is changed into the Perfect of the Subjunctive, with the help of one of the conjunctions ehe, bevor, and nachdem.

The following table will make this clear:—

Direct Speech.	Indirect Speech.
Er sagte: »Ich lese.« (Present.)	Er sagte, er lese. (Present Subj.)
Er sagte: »Ich habe gelesen.« (Perfect.)	Er sagte, er habe gelesen. (Perfect Subj.)
Er sagte: »Ich werde lesen.« (First Future.)	Er sagte, er werde lesen. (First Future Subjunctive.)
Er sagte: »Ich werde gelesen haben (Second Future), wenn mein Freund mich abholen wird.« (First Future.)	Er sagte, er werde gelesen haben (Second Future Subj.), wenn sein Freund ihn abholen werde (First Future Subjunctive).
But—	But—
Er sagte: »Ich las, als sein Freund schrieb.« (Imperfect.)	Er sagte, er habe gelesen, als sein Freund geschrieben habe. (Perfect Subjunctive.)
Er sagte: »Ich hatte gelesen (Pluperfect), als mein Freund schrieb.« (Imperfect.)	Er sagte, er habe gelesen (Perfect Subjunctive), ehe sein Freund geschrieben habe. (Perfect Subjunctive.)

It will be seen, therefore, that the verb in the subordinate clause stands either in the Present, in the Perfect, or in the Future.

Examples.

Der Diener antwortete, er sei nicht imstande die Arbeit zu thun, denn er sei zu schwach. (Present Subj.)	The servant answered that he was unable to do the work, for he was too weak.
Er erzählte mir, er habe ein Unglück gehabt. (Perfect Subj.)	He told me he had met with a misfortune.
Sie behauptete, daß sie nie in ihrem Leben krank gewesen sei. (Perfect Subj.)	She affirmed that she had never been ill in all her life.
Er sagte, daß er sich um eine Stelle bewerben werde. (First Future.)	He said that he was going to apply for a situation.

§ 31. The Imperfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive, however, must be used instead of the Present and Perfect Subjunctive, and the Conditional instead of the Future Subjunctive, when any ambiguity might arise as to the mood employed, that is to say in cases where the form of the Present, of the Perfect, or of the Future is identical both in the Indicative and the Subjunctive Mood. For example, in the sentence—

»Sie sagte mir, ihre Töchter gingen niemals auf Bälle;« ‘She said to me that her daughters never went to balls;’

the verb gingen stands in the Imperfect Subjunctive and not in the Present, because the third person plural of the Present Indicative and the corresponding person of the Present Subjunctive are identical in the conjugation of this verb. Both are »sie gehen,« the verb, therefore, must be put in the Imperfect Subjunctive to show clearly the mood employed.

§ 32. The Subjunctive is employed in adverbial clauses of purpose and of manner, when the subordinate clause generally begins with the conjunctions daß, auf daß, damit, and als ob; as—

Du sollst deinen Vater und deine Mutter ehren, auf daß dir’s wohlgehe und du lange lebest auf Erden.	Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest prosper and thy days be long on earth.
Ist es nicht, als ob dies Volk mich zum Gott mache? (Schiller.)	Does it not seem as if the people meant to make a God of me?

§ 33. The Imperfect Subjunctive and the Pluperfect Subjunctive are used to express something possible, or something capable of being done, also to denote a mere supposition on the part of the speaker, or for the purpose of stating an opinion with caution or modesty; as—

Es könnte sein, daß er nicht zu Hause wäre.	Literally: It might be possible that he were not at home, i.e. He may possibly not be at home.
Ich hätte wohl Lust, ihm einen Besuch zu machen.	I should like indeed to pay him a visit.
Ich wüßte wohl, was zu thun wäre.	I fancy I know what ought to be done.
Es wäre vielleicht besser, das Unternehmen aufzugeben.	Perhaps it would be better to give up the undertaking.

§ 34. To express a wish we use the Present Subjunctive, when we believe in the fulfilment of the wish, but the Imperfect Subjunctive, when we want to indicate that the fulfilment of the wish is unlikely, and even impossible; as—

Gott sei mit dir!	God be with you!
Möge er bald gesund werden!	May he soon recover his health!
Lang lebe der König!	Long live the king!
Gott helfe mir! (Luther.)	May God help me!

But with the Imperfect Subjunctive:

Möchte er bald gesund werden!	Would he might soon recover his health!
Wenn er doch noch lebte!	I would he were still alive!
Möchte er bald kommen!	Would he might soon come!

§ 35. It must always be remembered that both moods (the Indicative and the Subjunctive) may stand in Principal Clauses as well as in Subordinate Clauses, since their use depends alone on the nature of the statement we wish to make (see § 25). Nor has the notion connected with the verb standing in the principal clause an absolute influence on the mood to be used in the subordinate clause. The Indicative stands in subordinate clauses not merely after verbs expressing Certainty, but also after such as denote Belief, Supposition, and Doubt, when the statement contained in the subordinate clause is represented objectively, i.e. as being based upon a fact, or as being, in the speaker’s opinion, not open to any doubt. So we say—

Ich glaube, daß er in der Schlacht geblieben ist (not sei).	I believe that he was killed in battle.
Ich weiß nicht, ob er lebt, oder ob er tot ist.	I do not know whether he is alive, or whether he is dead.
Ich zweifle, daß der Kranke genesen wird.	I doubt if the patient will recover.
Ich hoffe, daß er sich wohl befindet.	I hope that he is well.

But when the statement contained in the subordinate clause is represented subjectively, i.e. as being based upon a mere idea or belief, the correctness of which is still open to doubt, the Subjunctive must be used; as—

Man glaubt, man sagt, etc., er sei in der Schlacht geblieben.	People believe, people say, etc., that he was killed in battle, (but it is still doubtful).
Er fürchtet, daß man ihn verraten habe.	He is afraid that they have betrayed him, (yet he does not know).

D. The Conditional Mood

§ 36. The Conditional is the mood for representing a state or an event as dependent on another, which other, however, is not based upon a real fact, but is a mere hypothesis or supposition. As such we use not only the First and Second Conditional (ich würde, etc.), as given in the tables of verbs, but also the Imperfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive. The latter two, in fact, may be called the simple forms of the Conditional Mood, and the former (ich würde, etc.) the compound forms. Every true conditional statement consists of two clauses: (a) the hypothetical clause, which contains the supposition, (b) the conditioning clause, which contains the inference drawn from that supposition; as—

If I had money (hypothetical clause),
I should like to travel (conditioning clause).

The Imperfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive may be used in both clauses, but the First and Second Conditional (ich würde, etc.—see the tables of verbs) can only be used in conditioning clauses.

The conditioning clause is often introduced by »so.«

Examples.

Wenn ich Geld hätte, ginge ich gern auf Reisen (or würde ich gern auf Reisen gehen).	If I had money, I should like to travel.
Wenn es heute schönes Wetter gewesen wäre, so würden wir ausgegangen sein.	If the weather had been fine to-day, we should have gone out.
Dieser Mann könnte glücklicher sein, wenn er das Spiel nicht zu sehr liebte.	This man might be happier, if he were not too fond of gambling.
Er würde gesund sein (or er wäre gesund), wenn er mäßiger lebte.	He would be healthy, if he were more temperate.

§ 37. The Conditional is sometimes used elliptically; as—

Ja, ich würde gekommen sein!	Yes, I should have come! (i.e. if I had been able to do so, understood).
Unter den Umständen hätte ich es gewiß gethan.	I am sure, under the circumstances I should have done it (i.e. if I had been placed in the same situation).
Wäre ich reich, würde ich Sie sofort bezahlen.	Were I rich, I should pay you directly.

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