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Verbal Nouns by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D.

You can use the gerund as a neuter noun. Nouns such as die Schlafenden (“the sleeping people”) are called verbal nouns because the gerund and the infinitive are derived from verbs but used as nouns.

With a few exceptions, you derive nouns from the infinitive that are used solely in the singular. An exception is das Leben (“the life”), which has the plural die Leben (“the lives”).

When you attach the suffix -d to the infinitive, you create the present participle. This form is used in German solely as an adverb or adjective (not in verb formation) and is inflected like any additional adjective. The past participle, along with its use in the conjugation of the perfect tenses and the passive mood, can be used as an adjective too.

Exercise 33

Translate the following.

<tgroup cols="2" align="center"> <colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. <emphasis>das gehende Kind</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. <emphasis>die geliebte Mutter</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. <emphasis>der singende Vogel</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. <emphasis>singend</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. <emphasis>ein gehendes Kind</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. <emphasis>das Kommen und Gehen</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. <emphasis>das Singen</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. <emphasis>das Tanzen</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>9. <emphasis>liebend</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>10. <emphasis>die liebende Mutter</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>11. <emphasis>gehend</emphasis></p> <p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>12. <emphasis>das Sehen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p><emphasis>Exercise 34</emphasis> When you use the past participle as an adjective, you use passive voice. In <emphasis>die liebende Mutter</emphasis>, the mother is the one doing the loving, but in <emphasis>die geli-ebte Mutter</emphasis>, the mother is the one being loved. Also note that with proper article and adjective endings, you can use present and past participles as nouns.</p> <p>Circle the correct translation for each of the following.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>geschrieben</emphasis> (lived, written, loved)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>das Geschriebene</emphasis> (the lover, the written matter, the lighthouse)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>geliebt</emphasis> (cooked, beloved, traveled)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>der Geliebte</emphasis> (the chefs, the runner, the beloved one)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>die Liebenden</emphasis> (beloved, joyous, the lovers)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>lieben</emphasis> (to love, to write, to sign)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>reisen</emphasis> (to speak, to travel, to sign)</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>der Reisende</emphasis> (the traveler, the writer, the signer)</p></li> </ul> <h2>Exercise 35</h2> <p>Use the infinitive with <emphasis>zu</emphasis> (“to”) following specific prepositions such as <emphasis>anstatt</emphasis> (“instead of”), <emphasis>um</emphasis> (“in order to”), and <emphasis>ohne</emphasis> (“without”) in infinitive phrases, and following <emphasis>sein</emphasis> with a passive translation.</p> <p>Translate the following infinitive phrases.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>Das ist leicht zu lernen</emphasis>.</p> <p>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Hier ist viel zu sehen</emphasis>.</p> <p>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Sie kam in das Esszimmer, ohne mich zu sehen</emphasis>.</p> <p>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Sie geht zur Bank, um Geld zu wechseln</emphasis>.</p> <p>________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Sie blieb bis 10 Uhr, anstatt nach Hause zu gehen</emphasis>.</p> <p>________________</p></li> </ul> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/verbs-section-a/two-kinds-of-prefixes.htm" title="Two Kinds of Prefixes">Two Kinds of Prefixes</a></li><li class="next"><a 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