Foreword

The purpose of this book is to provide an accessible text-based reference grammar of the German language for English-speaking students of German and to help consolidate their knowledge through practical  exercises on a whole range of grammatical topics. It is aimed at first- and second-year undergraduate students, although more advanced students wishing to revise particular grammatical points may also benefit  from this book. As one of the main aims of the book is accessibility, grammatical terminology is kept to a minimum and only traditional terms are used. There is also a list of grammatical terms and their definitions at  the beginning of the book.
The book is based on the premise that grammatical issues are more easily explained and understood within the wider context in which they appear, i.e. within whole texts, rather than in terms of isolated rules and  fabricated examples. Thus, in each chapter an authentic German text is chosen which illustrates a particular grammatical feature, e.g. the past tense, the subjunctive or personal pronouns, and the necessary rules  are set out in relation to the occurrence of the grammatical forms within the text. Later in the chapter supplementary rules are given which are not illustrated in the text, for the sake of completeness. Each  grammatical point is explained as concisely as possible and is illustrated, if not by directly referring to the text, by the use of everyday German examples of the kind likely to be encountered and used by the  student. Some of the larger chapters contain charts and tables to help the student focus on the main points in question. These usually follow the principle of ‘grammar in context’ in that they rarely consist of lists of isolated words but usually of words co-occurring with other forms in the language, e.g.prepositions listed with a following definite article and noun to show the case that they take.Unpredictable exceptions to rules  and more complicated issues, which may be of interest to more advanced learners, are usually dealt with in footnotes.
The chosen German texts are extremely varied both in style and in subject matter, yet they have in common that they are all authentic and are examples of modern standard German. The styles range from  journalistic writings to literary excerpts, from prose to poetry, from scientific writings to song lyrics, from transcripts of dialogue from TV shows to excerpts from blogs and internet forums. The subject matter ranges  from discussions on study abroad and career choice to humorous texts on dating and relationships, from technical developments in web-based media to recipes for sausage and sauerkraut. In particular, many of  the texts chosen reflect German or Austrian life and culture.
Each chapter ends with a set of exercises designed to practise the particular grammatical topic under discussion. Some of these exercises are organised according to complexity: e.g. 1a) deals with regular forms  while 1b) deals with irregularities and more complicated issues. The exercises are varied in style: from reformulation and gap-filling exercises, many of which are based on authentic texts themselves, to translation  exercises and crosswords. In addition, the exercises in each chapter are based on a particular vocabulary topic in order to build up students’ vocabulary at the same time as practising their grammar. These are  useful everyday topics which students should be familiar with: e.g. food, transport, holidays, school and university subjects, careers,garden and household, hobbies and entertainment etc. There is a key to the  exercises towards the back of the book.
At the end of the main part of the book are four revision texts, each of which deals with a number of key grammatical issues together so that students can revise the grammatical topics which they have learned  earlier in the book. Each of the revision texts is followed by two sets of exercises, the first of which deals with recognising particular forms and explaining why they are used, while the second requires the students  to practise using the forms themselves. These are also followed by a key.
At the end of the book there is a comprehensive index covering both the main issues and the more specific grammatical problems and particular forms dealt with in the book. In the appendices are also included an  alphabetical list of common irregular verbs and a set of article adjective-noun paradigms for students to learn. A selection of recommended reading is also given, which covers both print and web-based material.