METHOD GASPEY-OTTO-SAUER.

GERMAN
CONVERSATION-GRAMMAR

A

PRACTICAL METHOD OF LEARNING THE
GERMAN LANGUAGE

BY

EMIL OTTO, PH.D.

REVISED

BY

FRANZ LANGE, PH.D.

LATE EXAMINER IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT THE VICTORIA
UNIVERSITY, MANCHESTER.

TWENTY-EIGHTH EDITION.

1804

LONDON.

DAVID NUTT, 57-59 Long Acre.

DULAU & CO., 37 Soho Square.
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., 100 Southwark Street.
NEW YORK: BRENTANO'8, Fifth Avenue and 27th Street.
DYRSEN & PFEIFFER (CHRISTERN'S), 16 West 33rd Street.
G. E. STECHERT & CO, 129-183 West 20th Street.
E. STEIGER & CO., 25 Park Place.

BOSTON: C. A. KOHLER & CO., 149 a, Tremont Street.
HEIDELBERG.

JULIUS GROOS.

1901.

HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

The Gaspey-Otto-Sauer Method has become my sole property by right of purchase. These books are continually revised. All rights, especially those of adaptation and translation into any language, are reserved. Imitations and copies are forbidden by law. Suitable communications always thankfully received.

London, Paris, Rome, St. Petersburg, Heidelberg.

Julius Groos.

FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The present 'German Grammar' is based on the so-called Conversational Method, first applied by the author of this book in his 'French Conversation-Grammar.' This work has met with much approval in Germany, and has distinctly shown that the method followed in it is the easiest, quickest, and best calculated to assist the pupil in overcoming the difficulties of a language.

The 'German Conversation-Grammar' likewise combines the grammatical and logical exposition of the German language with the constant application of the different forms and rules to writing and speaking.

The book is divided into Lessons, each complete in itself, and containing, in a methodical arrangement, a portion of the grammar followed by a German Reading Exercise in which the different grammatical forms are applied to whole sentences. An Exercise for Translation into German comes next: the lesson being concluded by an easy Conversation re-embodying the matter introduced in the previous exercises.

The most practical method of acquiring and developing the faculty of speaking German is for the student to be questioned in German on subjects already familiar to him by translation. In a short time the ear becomes familiarised to the foreign accent, the teacher is understood, and the tongue at the same time acquires a fluency that cannot be attained by any other method. This success is solely due to the conversational exercises, the advantage of which is evident.

In respect of the mode of employing this Grammar, the author begs to be allowed to offer teachers and pupils a few suggestions: The rules with their examples and the 'Words' should be first learned by heart, and the German 'Reading Exercise' read and translated into English. This done, the Exercise for Translation (Aufgabe) into German should at first be translated vivá voce and then be written down and corrected vivâ voce. For the next lesson a fair copy of it should be written out.

IV

PREFACE TO THE NEWEST EDITION.

Finally the 'Conversation' should be carefully read out
and the pupils be questioned in German on its contents.
The Reading Lessons and the easier poems in the
'Appendix' should be done when the student has gone
through about one half of the First Part.

PREFACE TO THE NEWEST EDITION.

The method adopted in this grammar, and the
improvements effected in each succeeding edition of the
work, have so commended themselves to the public as
to ensure its popular use both in schools and private
families. The Publisher has spared no pains to make
this new edition as perfect as possible and to keep it
up to date. In compliance with the request of many
teachers, a vocabulary has been added to the English-
German exercises. As a rule, numerals, pronouns, prepo-
sitions, adverbs, and conjunctions have not been in-
cluded in the vocabulary, as the words belonging to
these parts of speech can easily be found by the pupil
under their respective headings in the grammar.

The orthography used in the book is that adopted
by all the German Governments and generally used
now in Germany.

The second part of the book has, to a great extent,
been rewritten, and German reading passages have
throughout been substituted for the former exercises.
For a number of the reading passages the editor is in-
debted to Prof. BUCHHEIM's 'Modern German Reader' Part I.

The 'Key' to this new edition has been entirely
rewritten by Dr. LANGE and has been adapted to Self-
Instruction, so that OTTO's Conversation-Grammar may
now be also used by those students of German who
have to dispense with a master.

As to the other German books, published after the
Method of GASPEY-OTTO-SAUER, the Publisher begs to
refer the reader to the prospectus annexed, which will
give all the requisite information.

Note. The numbers of the lessons of the former editions are
now given in the 'Contents' in brackets after each lesson.

12. (11) Declension of Proper (Personal) Names .

13. (12) Proper Names of Countries, Cities, etc.

49

55

59

64

15. (14) Auxiliary Verbs: Haben. The Construction of a