What this seminar will cover
• Important factors to bear in mind when choosing a bilingual dictionary
• How to use the dictionary navigation tools to get to the right answer
quickly and efficiently
• Abbreviations and symbols used in the dictionary
• How the dictionary can help you with:
•
•
•
irregular plurals
gender
case
•
•
•
compound words
the position of adjectives
idioms
• How the dictionary can help you with verbs:
•
•
•
•
tense, subject and object
transitive and intransitive verbs
reflexive, impersonal, separable & phrasal verbs
verb lists & verb complementation
• Avoiding mistakes
• Extra features
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© Oxford University Press 2005
What any good dictionary should offer
• Range of vocabulary
• Up-to-date vocabulary
• Ease of use
• Clarity of design
• Clear entry structure
• Large number of examples
• Pointers towards the right translation
• Help with forming sentences in German
• Model letters, verb lists, and other helpful material
• And – only with the Oxford-Duden German Dictionary – a free
pronunciation CD-ROM that lets you type in any German word,
phrase, or sentence and hear it spoken back so you can practise
speaking German for presentations or exams
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What your dictionary can help you with
translation of since
and the correct
tense in German?
finding wait for
quickly at wait ?
She’s been waiting since
three o’clock for the train to London.
warning that the 24
hour clock is much
more likely in German?
warning that for =
auf + accusative
in this context?
zu/nach?
Sie wartet seit fünfzehn Uhr auf den Zug nach London.
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Navigating the dictionary
• German-English section first, then English-German
• blue-edged section in the middle separates the two sides
• printed thumb tabs on the outside margin of every page show
which letter appears on that page
• ‘running heads’ at the top of the page show the first and last
words on that page
NB: All this applies to the Oxford-Duden German Dictionary.
Other dictionaries may have different conventions.
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Navigating a German-English entry
swung dash
represents
first element
nouns listed with gender
dots and
underlines
indicate stress
position and
length of vowel
irregular verbs marked
plural of nouns
older spellings
marked with
asterisk
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genitive of nouns
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Navigating an English-German entry (I)
headword, in bold
same spelling,
different meaning
phonetic symbols
using the IPA
noun translations
with gender
signposts to meaning in parentheses
swung dash
represents
headword
grammatical
categories
indicated
by letters
senses indicated
by numbers
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guidance on
register and usage
freely interchangeable translations
are separated by a semi-colon
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Navigating an English-German entry (II)
narrow the
meaning by
using context
to brew beer
brew: transitive
verb, intransitive
verb, or noun?
Bier brauen
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der Tee zieht
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Common Grammatical Categories
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Adj.
adjective
describes a noun
sad, traurig
Adv.
adverb
tells you how sth is done
quickly, schnell
Art., art.
article
definite article = the
indefinite article = a
the, der, die, das
a, ein, eine, ein
Hilfsv.
auxiliary verb
used with main verb to show
tense
I have made
ich habe gemacht
Konj.
conjunction
links two phrases or two words
and, und
Demonstrativpron.
determiner
defines which noun
the, those, das, diese
n.
noun
thing, person or idea
life, Leben
2. Part.
past participle
forms perfect tense with aux
verb
I have travelled
ich bin gereist
Präp.
preposition
used with noun to show position
near, nahe
Pron., pron.
pronoun
stands instead of a noun
he, er
Possessivpron.
possessive
pronoun
word used to show who sth
belongs to
my, mein
refl.
reflexive verb
verb requiring a reflexive
pronoun
to wash oneself,
sich waschen
© Oxford University Press 2005
Grammatical Categories Exercise
Match these words with the correct part of speech
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blau
Art.
gern
Adj.
der
Possessivpron.
bin
unr. refl. V.
aber
Präp.
dieses
Adv.
gestohlen
2. Part.
bei
Demonstrativpron.
ihr
Hilfsverb
sich denken
Konj.
Swung Dash (or Tilde) ~ and Hyphen • The swung dash stands for the whole headword so the ending is added:
Frau, die woman
~en women
•
In compounds the swung dash replaces the first word in the compound:
Koch-: ~schinken der boiled ham
Subject Field Labels
(Zool.) = Zoological
(Jägerspr.) = Jägersprache (i.e. to do with hunting)
• Check the list of subject field labels in the abbreviations
list inside the front cover of the dictionary to see whether
it covers areas you are interested in
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Regional Usage
(Brit.) = British usage
(Amer.) = American usage
(österr.) = Austrian usage
(schweiz.) = Swiss usage
(südd.) = southern German
(schwäb.) = Swabian, e.g. Stuttgart
(nordd.) = northern German
(hess ) = Hessen, e.g. Frankfurt-am-Main
(DDR ) = term used in former GDR
Register
derb (crude, coarse)
dichter. = dichterisch (poetical)
fam. = familiär (informal)
fig. = figurativ (figurative)
geh. = gehoben (elevated, refined)
Kinderspr. = Kindersprache (used by small
children)
Papierdt. = Papierdeutsch (stilted)
figurative = metaphorical
rather than literal, e.g.
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salopp (slang)
scherzh. = scherzhaft (humorous)
spött. = spöttisch (derogatory)
ugs. = umgangssprachlich (colloquial)
veralt. = veraltet (old-fashioned)
volkst. = volkstümlich (vernacular term)
vulg. = vulgär (vulgar)
Gürtel der belt; den ~ enger schnallen (fig. ugs.)
tighten one’s belt (fig.)
Sentence patterns
• abbreviations are used to illustrate the order of elements in a sentence:
jmd. (jemand – Nominative)
somebody
jmdn. (jemanden – Accusative) somebody
jmdm. (jemandem – Dative)
somebody
jmds. (jemands – Genitive)
somebody’s
sb.
somebody
etw. (etwas)
something
sth.
something
• example sentences are given within entries to show where
prepositions are needed:
ask sb.’s name nach jmds. Namen fragen
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Phonetics
• = short vowel
_ = long vowel
/ = stress on 1st syllable
dot shows that the word
erweise does not form part
of betrüblicherweise
| = separable verb
stress pattern given, so
stress on ge- of gehen
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no stress pattern given, so stress
on hin- of hinter as usual
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Irregular Plurals
lice
lice = Läuse
Torverhältnis
Torverhältnisse
plural form same
as plural adjective
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Gender
1
4
2
5
3
6
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© Oxford University Press 2005
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Case
Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, or Dative? Read the examples:
jmdn. = jemanden
jmdm. = jemandem
use the Accusative
use the Dative
I help my friends =
Ich helfe meinen Freunden
dich shows the accusative is used here
ihm shows the dative is needed here
I fell in love with my Julia =
Ich verliebte mich in meine Julia
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Compound Words
Hinterziehung
hintereinander
Hintergrund
hinterher
Hinterlegung
Hintern
Hinterziehung
The position of adjectives
attr. = precedes a noun
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präd. = follows a verb
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Idioms
An idiom is a saying or expression whose meaning has evolved
so that it is now different from the original literal meaning of the
key words within it.
be out of the wood = über den Berg sein
Finding Idioms
Ich muss zugeben,
dass mein Bruder
mir manchmal auf
den Keks geht.
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Verb Basics
Types of verbs:
• Transitive and Intransitive
• Reflexive
• Separable
• English phrasal verbs
Other help with verbs:
• Verb tables
• Verb complementation
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Quick refresher on grammatical verb terms (I)
• Tense = present, future, past, conditional, imperfect etc.
• Subject = the noun or pronoun that causes the action indicated by
the verb
– Gertrude loves Eric = Gertrude liebt Eric
– The dog ate the meat = der Hund hat das Fleisch gefressen
• Object = the word or group of words which is affected by the
action indicated by the verb
– Gertrude loves Eric = Gertrude liebt Eric
– The dog ate the meat = der Hund hat das Fleisch gefressen
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Quick refresher on grammatical verb terms (II)
•
Direct object = the noun or pronoun directly affected by the verb
- Gertrude liebt Eric = Gertrude loves Eric
- Gertrude liebt ihn = Gertrude loves him
- der Hund hat das Fleisch gefressen = The dog ate the meat
- der Hund hat es gefressen = The dog ate it
•
Indirect object = the noun or pronoun indirectly affected by the verb.
In English, indirect objects are usually preceded by a preposition
(from, to, at, etc.)
- Gertrude gab ihrem Bruder das Buch =
Gertrude gave the book to her brother
- Gertrude gab ihm das Buch = Gertrude gave the book to him
- Eric lächelt Gertrude an = Eric smiles at Gertrude
- Eric lächelt sie an = Eric smiles at her
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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs (I)
• Transitive verb = tr. V. (transitives Verb) = verb used with direct object
• I wrote the letter = ich habe den Brief geschrieben
• Gertrude loves Eric and Wilhelmina = Gertrude liebt Eric und
Wilhelmina
• she loves them = sie liebt sie
• Intransitive verb = itr. V. (intransitives Verb) = verb that doesn’t have
an object
• he died yesterday = er ist gestern gestorben
• she ran very fast = sie ist sehr schnell gelaufen
• Eric and Wilhelmina arrived yesterday = Eric und Wilhelmina sind
gestern angekommen
• Transitive verbs do something to the object that follows them.
• Intransitive verbs stand on their own without an object following them.
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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs (II)
The same verb can be used both transitively and intransitively:
burn
• burn coal in the stove = den Ofen mit Kohle feuern (transitive use)
• her skin burns easily = sie bekommt leicht einen Sonnenbrand
(intransitive use)
fahren
• links/rechts fahren = drive on the left/right (intransitive use)
• jmdn. über den Fluss fahren = ferry sb. across the river (transitive use)
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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Exercise
transitive
(v.t.) and
intransitive
(v.i.)
auseinander
treiben: Die
Polizei trieb
die Menge
auseinander.
sich
zerstreute:
Die Menge
zerstreute sich.
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Reflexive Verbs (I)
English-German: v. refl. = reflexive verb
German-English: refl. V. = reflexives Verb
• German reflexive verbs can be identified by the pronoun sich in front
of the infinitive.
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1st pers. sing.
ich
mich
Ich freue mich auf... I’m looking forward to...
2nd pers. sing.
du
dich
Beeile dich! Hurry up!
3rd pers. sing.
er / sie / es
sich
Sie setzte sich. She sat down.
1st pers. pl.
wir
uns
Wann treffen wir uns? When shall we meet?
2nd pers. pl.
ihr
euch
Beeilt euch! Hurry up!
3rd pers. pl.
sie / Sie
sich
Sie legen sich hin. They’re having a rest.
Versetzen Sie sich in meine Lage.
Put yourself in my position.
© Oxford University Press 2005
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Reflexive Verbs (II)
•
Many verbs can be used both reflexively and not reflexively:
- I really enjoyed myself. (‘enjoy’ is used here as a reflexive verb)
- I really enjoyed that party. (here, ‘enjoy’ is not a reflexive verb in English)
• Remember: just because a verb is reflexive in the source language, it doesn’t
mean it’s reflexive in the target language. None of the examples in the table
on the previous slide were translated by a reflexive verb in English.
• You may have to adapt the given translation, changing sich to mich, dich etc.
make fun of sb.
I make fun of him
sich über jmdn. lustig machen
Ich mache mich über ihn lustig
• A similar pattern of dative pronouns is used with verbs which have a direct object:
•
•
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ich wasche mich
zieh dich an!
© Oxford University Press 2005
but
but
ich wasche mir die Haare
zieh dir die Jacke an!
Impersonal Usage of a Verb
• Impersonal usage of a German verb is marked unpers.
• Impersonal usage of an English verb is marked impers.
• When used impersonally, verbs take the impersonal pronoun es in German
and it in English:
es regnet = it is raining
es schneit = it is snowing
es fehlt an Lehrern = there is a lack of teachers
es gibt ein Problem = there is a problem
es gibt Probleme = there are problems
• A few German verbs hardly ever occur without the impersonal ‘es’:
• hapern: es hapert an etw. (Dat.) = there is a shortage of sth.
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Separable and Inseparable Verbs
Listed alphabetically according to the particle:
fing…an
brachte…hinunter
kreuzte…durch
durchkreuzte
under A:
under H:
under D:
under D:
an|fangen
hinunter|bringen
durch|kreuzen
durch kreuzen
Phrasal verbs English
are at the Phrasal
end of theVerbs
entry, marked
• Phrasal verbs are at the end of the entry, marked
• verb + preposition or adverb e.g. run away
• Other examples: give up, take off, let down
• There are no phrasal verbs in German
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Phrasal verbs
Verb Tables
•
Verbs are listed under their infinitive form.
•
Common forms of some irregular verbs are cross-referenced to the
infinitive:
• German irregular verbs (marked unr. (unregelmäßig)) are listed in
a section at the back of the dictionary, with the infinitive, preterite
(with preterite subjunctive in parentheses) and past participle.
• For compound verbs (e.g. herunterreißen), look up the simple
verb – in this case reißen.
• Look up a German verb to see whether you need sein.
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Verb Complementation
= the range of structures that can be used after any given verb
I want Matt to leave.
You won’t find exactly this phrase in the dictionary,
but you will find a similar construction, e.g.:
I don’t want you to get the idea…
ich möchte nicht, dass Sie den Eindruck gewinnen…
So the translation is:
Ich möchte, dass Matt weggeht.
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Adapting Examples
Careful! Sometimes you may need to adapt a given translation:
Nouns:
• may have irregular plurals
• may require modifications to definite and indefinite articles or
possessive adjectives (e.g. mein ► meine or meinen)
• if you refer back to nouns in a following sentence, you need to use
the correct masculine, feminine or neuter pronoun
Verbs:
• need to be in the correct form, unless the sentence uses the infinitive
• need the appropriate reflexive pronoun, if they are reflexive
(e.g. I had my hair cut = ich habe mir die Haare schneiden lassen)
• need to use the right prepositions (e.g. send down to the store for
sth. = etw. aus dem Lager holen lassen)
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© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Cross-checking
Cross-checking in the other side of the dictionary helps when:
• a German word has several meanings
• you are unsure which German translation to choose
• you don’t know if the German word you know can
be used in a certain context
• you want to check the genitive or plural form
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What else can a good dictionary offer you?
1 Information about life and culture
2 Thematic boxes explaining
grammatical points and giving
extra vocabulary, crossreferenced from the headword
3 Correspondence – letter, CV, and
email templates; useful phrases
when using the telephone, and an
SMS glossary
4 Supplement on the German
5 Free pronunciation CD-ROM to help
you practise your spoken German
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spelling reforms and outline of
basic German grammar,
irregular verb tables, glossary
of grammatical terms
© Oxford Duden German Dictionary 3rd edition 0-19-860974-4
Review (I)
34
•
Important factors to bear in mind when choosing a bilingual dictionary
•
Navigating through an entry – German-English, then English-German
•
Explaining abbreviations and symbols:
• common grammatical categories
• swung dash (or tilde) and hyphen
• subject field labels
• regional labels
• register labels
• sentence patterns
• phonetics
• How the dictionary can help you with:
• irregular plurals
• gender
• case
• compound words
• the position of adjectives
• idioms
© Oxford University Press 2005
Review (II)
• How the dictionary can help you with verbs:
• tense, subject, and object
• separable and inseparable
• direct and indirect objects
• English phrasal verbs
• transitive and intransitive
• verb tables
• reflexive
• verb complementation
• impersonal
• Avoiding mistakes:
• adapting examples
• cross-checking
• Extra features
Questions
A chance to discuss any ideas or points raised in the seminar
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© Oxford University Press 2005