It’s interesting how studying German on my own has forced me to learn about English grammar.
For instance, I was telling a friend earlier that if she had asked me last week what an auxiliary verb was, I wouldn’t have a clue. But in order to learn – and by learn, I mean truly understand – what an auxiliary verb in German was, I had to decipher the English auxiliary verb.
It turns out it’s a “helper” verb, one that works with a second word in a sentence. English’s most used auxiliary verbs are to be, to have and to do (I am working, he has sung, we do eat) whereas German has sein (to be) and haben (to have) but does not use tun (to do) as an auxiliary.
This is all information I could write up charts and make notes on and ponder day after day until I memorize it. But I took the easy route, which is figuring out what this all means in English and finding a way to quickly relate it to German. In the end, it was painless and beneficial. Knowing what they do and how they work helps me apply them to German grammar without second guessing myself.
I grew up with the double edged sword of easily grasping concepts of the English language. Without learning what type of word something is or what a part of a sentence structure is called, I’ve been able to create lingual works of art that have been published and won awards. Yet, roughly two months ago when I decided to take on German, I found myself looking up the definition of “pronoun.”
I can pat myself on the back for my accomplishments all I’d like but the fact is there’s a lot of basic stuff I don’t know. I’m finding myself learning all the information I somehow bypassed in elementary school. However, I’m finding myself having an easier time comprehending my German lessons once I’ve dissected the ideas presented.
Ultimately, the extra time I spend learning English grammar definitions and rules allows me to learn their German counterparts in less time and with less difficulty.
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