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Best way to master correct conjugation?

  Tags: Morphology
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies Post Reply
41 messages over 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>
ProfesorRich
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Spain
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Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: German

 
 Message 1 of 41
21 October 2012 at 11:54pm | IP Logged 
I've learnt fluent Spanish in two years from not knowing a word through self-study so
obviously I know a little on the subject my self. However I'm not asking how to learn
conjugations, I want to know how to quickly internalise them...

I am currently learning German and I'd like to get the "noun conjugation" ingrained
successfully right from the word go. What's a good what to do this? How do you quickly
train the feeling of "guy recognition" that Die, Das or Der should be used with a certain
noun, for example? Is there a good method and internal strategy for this?
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tarvos
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 Message 2 of 41
22 October 2012 at 12:18am | IP Logged 
Well, gender is not predictable (verb conjugation is). You're just going to have to
memorise gender of the nouns that are not directly obvious: -chen is always das, -keit, -
ung are always die, etc.

PS: Nouns are declined, not conjugated

Edited by tarvos on 22 October 2012 at 12:19am

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viedums
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Thailand
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 Message 3 of 41
22 October 2012 at 2:14am | IP Logged 
Gender is an arbitrary category as Tarvos has noted. You may find that Spanish interferes here, because certain nouns will take a different gender in German (bridge, for example.) Having the third gender can also be annoying for people who are used to just two.

A couple of pointers for German: First, note that the most complicated declension is the masculine. For feminine, there are only two possibilities (basically –e and –er), and the neuter endings are identical to masculine in the oblique cases, genitive and dative. (Oblique is a useful term meaning cases peripheral to the basic subject – object relationship. In fact you can organize the feminine endings according to the oblique/non-oblique distinction too.) Masculine being more complicated, it’s likely to cause you the most trouble speaking, when you have to form the endings on the fly. So, when you are learning nouns, have two mental ‘boxes,’ the ‘easy box’ for feminine and neuter nouns, and the ‘hard box’ for masculine nouns. Drill the use of masculine endings more, but vary the gender during such drills so that the contrast between genders sticks as well.

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billclewis2
Newbie
United States
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1 posts - 1 votes
Studies: German

 
 Message 4 of 41
22 October 2012 at 2:45am | IP Logged 
Der...deer, daring person, loved ones
Die...death related, skeletons, dying colors
Das...marvelous looking bottoms, toddlers muddling about, talking bass

Use anything that is similar to help visualize the person, place or thing in association.

A "dear" dog you had in your childhood...a deer describing how dogs are so slow...
die brucke...a bridge falling down causing many deaths or bridge collapsing onto a barge filled with dyes which discolor the river water.
das madchen...a fish talking to a girl or bass dressed in a girls dress.

Anything to visualize your chosen word that associates to the gender.
As in die Rinne, the groove, found on a crossbow...people laid out in a groove (burial site).

May be silly, but a talking deer is both amusing and unusual enough to spur the association.
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Arekkusu
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 Message 5 of 41
22 October 2012 at 2:56am | IP Logged 
You can use such mnemonics when a specific word's gender won't stick, but for every word?
I can't imagine that would actually help.

Personally, I would try to use the words and decline them accordingly in a few sentences.
I think you are more likely to remember the word, its gender and how it's used in a
sentence if you try to use it in a meaningful context.
4 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
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 Message 6 of 41
22 October 2012 at 9:08pm | IP Logged 
I find it easier to learn the words in accusative phrases.
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Arekkusu
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 Message 7 of 41
22 October 2012 at 9:24pm | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
I find it easier to learn the words in accusative phrases.

Such as "You stole my book"?
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Serpent
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 Message 8 of 41
23 October 2012 at 1:27am | IP Logged 
Or just "to steal a book".


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