![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So here's the thing. I need German reading proficiency for classics reasons, but getting an Only Reading Comprehension class isn't an option right now, nor has it been for some time. (Yes. I looked. Yes. I know about the theoretical For Reading classes for grad students at UT. Yes. I CHECKED. I may be getting a wee bit tired of having people helpfully tell me to take a thing I cannot, for reasons too boring to go into here.) And god knows I have the self-study skills of someone who...well, loves figuring out how languages are put together, but is maybe not the best at drilling vocabulary without a quiz and prof's approval on the other end, or at least an interesting text to work towards.
Thus, German 101 over at the community college. And I like the professor quite a lot! She keeps assuring us that we should all be glad we're taking German and not her native language, Polish, as German is rigidly logical, and Polish apparently is...not. But I gotta say, the rules for German still drive me to bafflement at times, as I'm still trying to internalize them.
Let's take word order. And we are still on very very simple word order rules, very early on. We just started chapter two. So here's the thing:
1) The verb is always in the second place in the sentence. ("Place" means it's the second "element", which can get a bit confusing at times, but generally an element is a noun or verb or negation or prepositional phrase or adjective or what not.)
2) The subject always wants to be directly adjacent to the verb; ideally before it, but after will suffice (and is sometimes necessary).
3) Negation wants to be directly before whatever it's negating.
3a) ...but can't be the first word in a sentence.
3b) ...and is overruled by any of the rules above.
Which means that if I want to say "It's raining today", it's simple:
Heute regnet es.
Es regnet heute.
"Today" or "it" can come first, and the verb, "regnet", goes second. Easy! But if I want to say "It's not raining today"...
Nicht heute regnet es-- Nope, negation can't be first.
Heute nicht regnet es-- Nope, verb has to be second.
Heute regnet nicht es-- Nope, subject has to be adjacent to verb.
Heute regnet es nicht. Success! And thus the negation, which has to go before what it negates, has found itself shuffled all the way to the end of the sentence.
You know what doesn't explain any of these rules? Duolingo. You know what dings you for having words in the wrong order, and simply tells you they can't be in that order, without telling you why? Duolingo. And THIS is why I am taking a class on German, rather than just following handy free online tools that will helpfully hold me accountable to regular vocab practice.
Thus, German 101 over at the community college. And I like the professor quite a lot! She keeps assuring us that we should all be glad we're taking German and not her native language, Polish, as German is rigidly logical, and Polish apparently is...not. But I gotta say, the rules for German still drive me to bafflement at times, as I'm still trying to internalize them.
Let's take word order. And we are still on very very simple word order rules, very early on. We just started chapter two. So here's the thing:
1) The verb is always in the second place in the sentence. ("Place" means it's the second "element", which can get a bit confusing at times, but generally an element is a noun or verb or negation or prepositional phrase or adjective or what not.)
2) The subject always wants to be directly adjacent to the verb; ideally before it, but after will suffice (and is sometimes necessary).
3) Negation wants to be directly before whatever it's negating.
3a) ...but can't be the first word in a sentence.
3b) ...and is overruled by any of the rules above.
Which means that if I want to say "It's raining today", it's simple:
Heute regnet es.
Es regnet heute.
"Today" or "it" can come first, and the verb, "regnet", goes second. Easy! But if I want to say "It's not raining today"...
Nicht heute regnet es-- Nope, negation can't be first.
Heute nicht regnet es-- Nope, verb has to be second.
Heute regnet nicht es-- Nope, subject has to be adjacent to verb.
Heute regnet es nicht. Success! And thus the negation, which has to go before what it negates, has found itself shuffled all the way to the end of the sentence.
You know what doesn't explain any of these rules? Duolingo. You know what dings you for having words in the wrong order, and simply tells you they can't be in that order, without telling you why? Duolingo. And THIS is why I am taking a class on German, rather than just following handy free online tools that will helpfully hold me accountable to regular vocab practice.