By

Martin L. Loeffl er

Sentence Components

A sentence is made up of only two things. A subject (Nominative) One conjugated verb based on the subject

It may contain two other sentence structure items. A direct object (Accusative)An indirect object (Dative)

It may contain other additional structures that are not part of the sentence.

One or more prepositional phrases. It may contain other items like helping verbs, past

participles or adverbs. Can, Must, Eaten, Gone, Sideways etc.

Sentence Structure

I giveYou walkHe talksShe ridesIt holdsWe workYou swimThey buy

Basic Sentence Structure

Singular Conjugation

Plural Conjugation

Who or What is doing the action generally will find you the subject.

It is located either before or after the conjugated verb with three exceptions.

1. Genitive Case2. Relative Clause3. Subordinate Clause

Subject Description

I give the / cake. sub. verb def. art. / direct obj.

There is only one subject, one verb and one direct object. Each one is part of the basic sentence structure.

She rides the / horse.Who? does what? Whom? / What?

Basic Sentence adding Direct Object

A direct object may by found by asking whom or what. However I have found that by asking this question. What is the “action verb” force on or what does it impact.

She plays the guitar. “Plays impacts or is forced on the guitar or

she?” It is forced or impacts the guitar otherwise we would be playing she.

Direct Object Description

She gives the mother the cake. sub. verb Indirect obj. direct obj.

You may not add anything else to this structure. Items like “for the mother” or “to the mother” make the indirect object a prepositional phrase. Is the meaning the same? Yes, but it is not an indirect object.

They buy the boy a game.Who? does what? To/for Whom? Whom? / What?

Basic Sentence adding Indirect Object

An indirect Object may by found by asking to/for whom is the action happening. The verb does not impact it.

She buys the daughter a car.

Indirect Obj.: To/For Whom is the car bought?

Indirect Object Description

You bought my mother the flowers with your money.

Sub. Verb. Ind. Obj. Dir. Obj. Prep. Phrase (Dative)

You may add as many prepositional phrases as you would like. They will not impact the basic four components (Subject, Verb, Dir. Obj., Ind. Obj.) of a sentence. In German, each will have its own case based on the preposition preceding it and or meaning of the sentence.

Basic Sentence adding a Prepositional Phrase

I buyI buy the carI buy the mother the carAnything else added to these three sentences

and its maximum four components is additional material not necessarily needed to convey the meaning but supports or emphasizes the meaning.

Basic Sentences

I buy the mother the car with moneyI buy the old mother the red car with her

money from the sale of the house. I buy the old mother, who lives with me, the

red car, which is her favorite, with her money from the sale of the beautiful house.

All of this is what I like to call fluff but the basic sentence is still…….

I buy the old mother, who lives with me, the red car, which is her favorite, with her money from the sale of the beautiful house.

Extended Sentence

Each one of the slides could be converted to German and would make sense. The sentence structure stays the same. There are some rules to abide by that do impact the word order. If the direct object (Accusative) is a noun, it follows the indirect object. If the direct object is a personal pronoun, it precedes the indirect object (Dative). However the meaning of the sentence will still be conveyed regardless of position.

Correlation to German