keiner, none; etlicher, a few; are declined like the definite article, and their declension will appear as adjectives and pronouns. RULE 6.-The indefinite article is declined: RULE 7.—All possessive pronouns are declined like the indefinite articles; and the following table will serve as a guide for their declension : Masc. * Observe that all these declensions must be done repeatedly and very carefully, so as to prepare the pupil for the declensions of nouns, which, according to all given authorities, form, as it were, a great difficulty for the beginner. The declensions of all adjectives and pronouns, and of a great part of nouns, will be made very much easier and more comprehensible. CHAPTER IV. OF SUBSTANTIVES. RULE 8.-Nouns have in addition to number, gender, and case, two other changes; viz., the direct formation of feminine nouns from masculine ones, and the formation of diminutives. RULE 9.-The application of the right gender in German nouns is a matter of considerable difficulty. There can be no fixed rules laid down; practice, dictionaries, and reading of good books are the only ways to find it out. REMARK 3.-How to find out the gender of some nouns: (a) Of the masculine gender are: Nouns denoting the male sex, names of the Deities, winds, seasons, months, days, and generally those ending in er and en. (b) Of the feminine gender are: Nouns denoting the female sex, names of fruits, trees, flowers, and generally those ending in ei, in, heit, keit, schaft, and ung. (c) of the neuter gender are: names of metals, countries, towns, letters, all diminutives, nouns ending in thum and sal, and those having the prefix ge. (d) There are also some nouns that have a different meaning according to the gender they take; as: der Band, the volume. der Bund, the league. das Band, the ribbon. das Bund, the bundle, &c., &c. RULE 10.-There are in German three declensions,* distinguished by the endings of the genitive: the first takes s or es; the second, n or en; and the third has no inflection at all. RULE 11.-The first declension comprises all neuter nouns without exception, and all masculine nouns that do not end in e. 4 As a rule this declension takes s in the genitive, and has the dative and accusative like the nominative; but if euphony demands it, the s may be preceded by an e, and in that case the dative retains the e. The accusative is always like the nominative. The following is the model of the first declension :— The father. Masculine. Neuter. REMARK 4.-There are a few nouns ending in e that belong by exception to this declension; they take ns in the genitive and n in the dative and accusative. They are declined as follows: In this way are declined the following masculine nouns :-Friede, peace; Funke, spark; Gedanke, thought; Haufe, heap; Name, name; Same, seed; Wille, will; Schade, damage. das Herz, the heart, takes: G. des Herzens; D. dem Herzen; A. das Herz. * This division into declensions only applies to the singular number. RULE 12.—The second declension comprises: (A) All masculine nouns ending in e; they take n in the genitive, and preserve it in the dative, accusative, and in the plural. (See (A) Rule 18). (B) Masculine nouns derived from foreign languages not ending in ers take en in the genitive, and preserve it in the dative, accusative, and in the plural. (See (A) Rule 19). The following is the model of the second declension : Genitive in n. The boy. N. given der Knabe. ·D. ......n dem Knaben. A. ......n den Knaben. Decline in the same way— der Affe, the ape. der Riese, the giant. der Löwe, the lion. der Jesuit, the Jesuit. Genitive in en. The student. given der Student. ......en des Studenten. ......en dem Studenten. ......en den Studenten. der Bothe, the messenger. der Hase, the hare. der Adjutant, the adjutant. der Ungar, the Hungarian. des Kosack, the Cossack. RULE 13.-The third declension comprises all feminine nouns without exception, and takes no inflection in the singular. REMARK 5.- All adjectives used as substantives end in e, and consequently belong to this declension. Decline der Gute, der Grosze. REMARK 6.-The following masculine nouns take en by exception: der Graf, the count; der Fürst, the prince; der Hirt, the shepherd; der Ochs, the ox; der Narr, fool; der Prinz, the prince; der Mensch, the man; der Held, the hero; der Fels, the rock; der Bär, the bear; der Ost, the east; der West, the west; der Nord, the north; der Süd, the south; der Pfau, the peacock; der Mohr, the negro; der Herr, the gentlemen. (We also say des Herrn instead of Herren.) The following is the model of the third declension : N. given die Stadt, the town. G. given der Stadt, of the town. D. given der Stadt, to the town. A. given die Stadt, the town. Decline in the same way— die Mutter, the mother. die Uhr, the watch. die Hand, the hand. der Hand, of the hand. der Hand, to the hand. die Hand, the hand. die Blume, the flower. RULE 14. The plural of German nouns is formed, independent of their gender or their declension, by adding to the singular e, er, n, en, and some nouns do not alter the singular. RULE 15.--The declension of the plural of German nouns is very easy, inasmuch as all the nouns that take n or en in the nominative plural keep the same endings in the genitive, dative, and accusative; and those that take e, er, or that remain unaltered (not ending in n) only take n in the dative, and have the genitive and accusative cases like the nominative. The following is the declension of the plural of nouns having : Same as the singular. given. given. ......N. A............e ..........er .........N .........en given. RULE 16.-Plural in e take: (A) All feminine monosyllables. (B) Almost all masculine monosyllables. 7 REMARK 7.-The following masculine monosyllables take er by exception: Gott, God; Geist, ghost; Ort, place; Leib, body ;Mann man; Wald, forest; Wurm, worm. |