for Frenchie?
What do you think are the natural causes of crime?
Make suggestions as to how the police can prevent robbery.
| 41 D Use of singular and plural | Verwendung von Singular und Plural |
a) English singular for German plural
| He gave me some advice. | einige Ratschläge |
| She has made some progress. | einige Fortschritte |
| The furniture was damaged. | die Möbel |
| Your knowledge of English is excellent. | Ihre Englischkenntnisse |
| Thank you for all the information. | für alle Auskünfte |
Dem englischen Singular entspricht hier ein deutscher Plural. Einige dieser Substantive können durch Zusätze wie “a pair of”, “a bit of”, “a piece of”, “some” zählbar gemacht werden: Let me give you a piece of advice, einen Rat.
b) English plural for German singular
| I’ll change my trousers. | meine Hose |
| I’ll put on this pair of spectacles. | diese Brille |
| I’d like to see the contents of the bag. | den Inhalt |
| He fell down the stairs. | die Treppe |
Zu den englischen Pluralwörtern, denen ein deutscher Singular entspricht, gehören: contents, glasses, jeans, pants, pliers, scissors, shorts, spectacles, stairs, trousers. Durch den Zusatz von “a pair of” können die Substantive glasses, jeans, pants, pliers, scissors, shorts, spectacles und trousers zählbar gemacht werden.
c) Nouns which occur only in the plural
| The police are here. | Die Polizei ist da. |
| The people were investigating the case. | Die Leute untersuchten den Fall (gingen der Sache nach). |
| The district of the poor. | Das Viertel der Armen, das Armenviertel. |
Bei Sammelbegriffen, die als Vielfalt aufgefaßt werden, wie police, people, steht das Verb im Plural. Beachten Sie: the poor, die Armen. Aber: the blacks, die Schwarzen, mit Plural -s.
d) Nouns which occur only in the singular
| Here is the local news. | Hier sind die Lokalnachrichten. |
| The United States is a big country. | Die Vereinigten Staaten sind ein großes Land. |
Pluralwörter wie “news” oder “the United States” werden als Einheit aufgefaßt. Das Verb steht deshalb im Singular.
41 E Translate:
Das ist eine interessante Information.
Könnten Sie mir bitte eine Schere geben?
Diese Brille ist altmodisch.
Die Vereinigten Staaten haben viele Arbeitslose.
Ich werde Ihnen einen nützlichen Rat geben.
Können Sie die Möbel morgen bringen?
Vielen Dank für die Auskünfte.
Er hat sich gestern bei Bloomingdale drei Jeans gekauft.
Ich möchte den Inhalt Ihrer Brieftasche sehen.
Es sind große Fortschritte gemacht worden auf dem Gebiet (in the field of) der Technik.
41 F Put in the correct tense – simple past or present perfect:
I … you here before. (not see)
The police are looking for a man who … a liquor store last night and … $5,000. (hold up, take)
The police … the following description. (issue)
Humphrey … the Empire State Building. (never climb)
Fast food chains … Europe now. (reach)
She … to the Metropolitan Museum last Friday. (go)
In our last programme Jane … a Senator. (interview)
There … an excellent performance of “The Magic Flute” yesterday evening in the Metropolitan Opera House. (be)
41 G Vocabulary Practice
What do these words or expressions mean?
counter – terms – to split – to take somebody in – mistake – to issue
41 H Phonetics
Write down the words that are pronounced as follows:
41 I What would you say if …
– you wanted to introduce your boy-friend (girl-friend) to some other friends of yours?
– you were in New York and you wanted to know how to get to the Guggenheim Museum?
– you wanted to know the time?
– you wanted to change a dollar bill?
– somebody said to you he was sorry? (Say it in American English.)
41 J Invent an ending to this letter
Dear David,
When I was in New York last week, I went shopping at Bloomingdale’s. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon and there were a lot of people in the leather goods department. And guess what happened! I watched a young woman who shoplifted an expensive bag. I was so surprised that I couldn’t say anything ……..
41 K A taste of America
Fast food is now found all over the world. Not only hamburgers, but fried chicken and hot dogs are eaten everywhere. People are in a hurry, they want a quick snack.
In big American cities you can eat the national dishes of every country in the world. Where you eat depends on how much money you want to spend. You can get excellent steaks or seafood in more expensive restaurants. If you don’t want to spend too much, you can go to a snack bar, a coffee shop, a deli-restaurant, a sidewalk café, or to one of the fast food chains. A typical dish is a Pastrami – a kind of spiced smoked beef served on black rye bread.
41 L Some American slang expressions from our story
| no kidding | kein Scherz, echt |
| gee | du liebe Güte! du lieber Himmel! |
| five grand | fünftausend Dollar |
| you gotta hand it to them | das muß man ihnen lassen |
| you crazy? | bist du wahnsinnig? |
| you got it? | hast du verstanden? |
| cut it
|