Re: Liking German

This is an answer to a message inadvertantly (?) sent to me alone rather
than the list.

DigitalScream@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 9/30/01 2:37:32 AM, cinga@GMX.NET writes:
>
> <<  its freedom of sentence structure thanks to cases, >>
>
>     Uhh...wasn't that one of the weird things about German?  That it still
> has cases yet has an extremely strict word order?  Verb always comes second,
> so if subject doesn't come first it must come directly after the verb, and if
> there's a second or third verb they must come at the end of the sentence.
That's a lot less strict than English or French, for example.  Also, all
of the above rules can be broken in lyrical language.  For example, in a
pivotal battle in Swiss history, the Swiss appeared to be losing against
the impermeable ranks of enemy lance carriers.  Finally, a guy called
Winkelried stormed forth and embraced half a dozen lances and wrought
them to the ground, thereby allowing the Swiss to charge into the enemy
army and vanquish them.  Before his sacrifice, Winkelried is alleged to
have said "Sorget für mein Weib und Kind.  Der Freiheit eine Bresche
will ich schlagen!"  [lit. "Care for my wife and child.  To freedom a
breech shall I strike"]

Other historians, however, consider his last words to have been "Who the
f*ck pushed me?" or just "Arrrrgh!"


> And would it really be acceptable to say:
>
> "Ich sehe ins Kino den Hund."  (My German is very basic.)  as opposed to the
> normal
> "Ich sehe den Hund ins Kino."?
"I see the dog into the cinema?"

Let's try something else: "I give the dog a bone yesterday."

Unmarked:
Ich gab dem Hund gestern einen Knochen.

Emphasized:
Einen Knochen gab ich gestern dem Hund.
Dem Hund gab ich gestern einen Knochen.
Gestern gab ich dem Hund einen Knochen.

Acceptable in lyrical German only (you'd be looked at somewhat weirdly
if you'd use that in colloquial speech... but note the flowing rhythm!):
Dem Hunde einen Knochen gab ich gestern!
Einen Knochen gab dem Hund ich gestern!

["Dem Hunde" is an older but still correct Dative of "der Hund", though
everyone says "dem Hund" nowadays.]

Inacceptable (though unambiguous):
Dem Hund gab einen Knochen ich gestern.
Einen Knochen gab dem Hund gestern ich.
etc...


-- Christian Thalmann