CHAPTER III. THE VERB. I. Agreement of the Verb with the Subject. § 133. The verb must agree with its subject in number 134. The verb must be in the plural when it belongs to several subjects of the singular number; as Bescheidenheit, Wahrheit und Wohl thätigkeit sind Tugenden, denen. wir alle nachstreben sollten. Modesty, truthfulness, and charity are virtues which we all should strive after. § 135. The first person has priority over the second, the second over the third; as Du, deine Schwester und ich wollen heute ins Concert gehen. Du und er seid meine besten Freunde. Thou, thy sister, and I will go into the concert to-day. Thou and he are my best friends. He and the children have gone into the garden. § 136. The verb must be in the singular after a collective substantive in the singular; as— Das deutsche Volk ist noch sehr in seiner Freiheit beschränkt. The German people are still very limited in their freedom. II. The use of the Tenses of the Indicative Mood. 1. The Present. § 137. The Present is frequently used in German instead of the Imperfect for making a narration of past events more lively; as— Denken Sie sich meinen Schrecken ! Ich gehe gestern am Flusse spazieren, als ich plößlich bemerke, daß ein kleines Kind, welches am Ufer spielte, ins Wasser fällt. Im Nu springe ich ihm nach, erfasse es beim Rock und ziehe es ans Ufer. Imagine my terror! Yesterday I was walking by the river, when suddenly I noticed that a little child, which was playing on the bank, fell into the water. In a moment I jumped after it, took hold of it by its dress,, and drew it to the bank. § 138. As in English, so in German, the Present is often used instead of the first Future, especially when futurity is indicated by an adverb or adverbial clause of time, or when the action is considered as certain; as Wir reisen morgen nach Hamburg ab. In vierzehn Tagen kommen wir wieder. § 139. To-morrow we leave for Hamburgh. We return in a fortnight. The Present is often used in German where the English use the Perfect, to express duration, especially after the adverbs of time-feit, since, and schon, already; as Ich kenne ihn seit zehn Jahren. Unsere Familie wohnt schon zwanzig Jahre in dieser Stadt. § 140. I have known him for ten years. Our family has been living in this town for the last twenty years. The English compound forms of the verb with the auxiliary and the present participle, and of the verb 'to do' with the infinitive, are unknown in German, which has only the corresponding simple tenses for translating them. To form a question we put the subject after the predicate, and in compound tenses after the auxiliary; as Ich lese. Question: Lese ich schlecht? Ich habe gelesen.-Question: Habe ich gelesen? Ich hatte gelesen. Ich werde lesen. I am reading. Do I read badly? I have been reading.- Have I been reading? I had been reading.—I am going to read. 2. The Imperfect. § 141. The Imperfect is chiefly used as a historical tense, and to express a past action or occurrence with reference to another; as— Friedrich II war ein großer König. Ich schrieb eben einen Brief, als er plöglich ins Zimmer trat und mich zu einem Spaziergange aufforderte. Frederick II was a great king. I was writing a letter, when he suddenly entered the room and asked me to take a walk with him. 3. The Perfect. § 142. The Perfect is more extensively used in German than in English. 1. It is used to express an action or occurrence both perfect and past, without reference to any other action or occurrence; as— 2. It is used in familiar conversation speaking of recent § 143. The use of the Pluperfect is the same in German as in English, but it may be observed here, that in subordinate sentences the auxiliary hatte or war is often omitted, and must be understood; as 5. The First and Second Future. § 144. The First Future is used instead of the Present, and the Second Future instead of the Perfect in sentences suggesting the probability of an action or event; Das kann nicht sein, Sie werden fich irren. (First Future.) Es ist schon spät, und man wird zu Hause auf uns gewartet haben. (Second Future.) as— That cannot be, you are probably mistaken. (Present with an expression of supposition.) It is getting late, and very likely they have been waiting for us at home. (Perfect with an expression of supposition.) § 145. The First Future is used instead of the Imperative to express command; as Sie werden sogleich gehen! § 146. The English 'I am going,' Go directly! followed by an infinitive, must be translated either by ich bin im Begriff, or by the simple Future; as Ich bin im Begriff an ihn zu schreiben. Ich werde an ihn schreiben. I am going to write to him. (I am about to write to him.) I am going to write to him. Im Begriff sein, however, answers often to the English to be about!' III. The Moods. 1. The Indicative Mood. § 147. 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. (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 Mini ster ernannt sei (see § 150, III). 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.') 2. The Subjunctive (or Conjunctive) Mood. (See § 147.) 148. 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 § 150, II). (Uncertainty.) Plato glaubte, daß nur ein Gott fei. (Supposition.) People say (i. e. it is rumoured) he is dead. Plato thought that there was only one God, (but that it was a matter of doubt). |