A fine grammar point: fallen lassen

A question arose in class on Monday as to why the following fill in the blank phrase: vor dem Loch was in the dative and not the accusative.  

Sie trägt es zu d Loch in d Wand und läßt es vor de klein Loch fallen.

Here's the reason:  While one might argue that there is a change in location for the object (der Käse), "fallen lassen" is not part of a placement verb such as legen, stellen, setzen, etc. (see Kapitel 6, pp. 190-191).  And the cheese is not the agent doing the placement but rather the cat is.  Therefore, this is a case of location (vor dem Loch) rather than placement.  On the other hand, if the cat had itself fallen (for example), "vor das kleine Loch" (accusative), would be correct.  

Hope this is clear!  (as mud?)  

German 2A and 10C: General topics for final exam (2A) and the Topic for Final Presentation (10C)

Here are the general topics for the final exam for 2A students: 

This exam will cover material from Kapitel 8-10:

1.  Listening section on the topic of Freizeit

2.  Vocabulary identification

3.  Giving Directions (3 out of 4 options)  Review especially the vocabulary and phrases on pp. 268 and 269.  Don't try to be creative with this section, stay within the lines!  Otherwise, you could get into trouble crossing the street!  

4.  Expressing comparisons: the superlative form

5.  Attributive adjectives in the comparative and superlative.

6.  Conjunctions:  subordinating.  Combine two sentences.  Study word order.  See pp. 244-246 for review and exercises to practice.  

7.  Simple past (imperfect)

           The strong verbs that you will need to memorize the simple past tense forms are:
                     a. kommen
                     b. essen
                     c.  fahren
                     d. gehen
                     e.  schreiben
                     f.  schlafen
                     g.  bleiben
                     h.  trinken
                     i.  laufen
                     j.  nehmen
                     k. sehen

also know the simple past of: haben, sein, and the modals.   To review simple past of modals, see the chart on page 196, Kapitel 6.  They are formed similarly to weak verbs, but lose the umlauts, where these have occurred in the present tense.  The "ich" and the "er,sie, es" form are identical.

8.  Attributive adjective endings !!  Review a similar section on the Kapitel 9 test.  Note the errors that you made there.  Here is what I noticed tripped some people up: 

a.  Not noticing that a prepositional phrase or verb required dative adjective endings. 

b.  Not recognizing which case a given two-way preposition required.  You can review two-way prepositions on p. 186.  

c.  
9.  Reflexive pronouns.  See pp. 248-249 for review. 

10.  Genitive case

11.  Genitive prepositions

13.  A reading passage with comprehension questions

There will not be a writing passage!

Here is the topic for the final 10C presentations: 

Here is the topic for 10C students for their final presentations.  These should be no less than 5 minutes but no more than 8 minutes in length.  Therefore, it is important that you practice this in advance and time yourself.  The questions below are by no means the only ones you can answer.  Please feel free to structure your own presentation as you think appropriate and communicative: 

1.   Go to this website:  

Plan a trip to Wittenberg for this month, December.   Why do you want to travel to Wittenberg.  Use "weil" in your answer and correct word order.  

Hover over "Tourismus" and choose: "Unterkünfte" to find a hotel.    Which hotel will you stay in?  Describe the hotel using 3 adjectives with adjective endings, as appropriate.  What amenities does it offer?  How much does it cost per night?  Of course, you can add whatever you think relevant.  Hover over "Tourismus" and choose: "Unterkünfte" to find a hotel.    

Hover over "Tourismus" on start page (right side) and click on "Sehenswürdigkeiten und Ausstellungen."  Choose one from either category and prepare a short presentation on your choice: possible topics could be: hours of operation, how old is this place or what is the exhibit about?  Why did you choose this topic?  Use "weil" in your statement.  

We will be able to access this website for the presentation, so we can see which hotel you have chosen, etc.  Have some fun with this!  

12/7 review - 8, 9, 10

Assignment for 12/7/15: Review of Kapitel 8-10. Adjective ending review. Select videos from the "Learn German" series: fun and informative

The assignment for 12/7 is as follows:

1.  Review grammar and vocabulary for Kapitel 8-10 and email Frau Pahl if there is a certain area you would like to have extra review on.

2.  We will do the Katze und Maus adjective ending review in class.  Those of you who already did this will still benefit from "crowd sourcing" the answers on a clean slate.

3.  Frau Pahl will have some selected videos from the "Learn German" series.  Hopefully, the internet access will work in the classroom, if not, we can always just go next door.  If you have a favorite one, bring that title to class and we can view that, as well.

4.  Bring any recommendations for German or German influenced restaurants and we will look at the websites and the menus.

Bis Montag.