German grammar: umlauting
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languages >> German >> German grammar / German issues
The term "umlauting" refers to a particular feature of German that can happen with the stressed vowel in a word.
The changes are quite simple:
- a becomes ä
- au becomes äu
- o becomes ö
- u becomes ü
Umlauting can occur in four cases, depending on the part of speech:
- An adjective or adverb can receive an umlaut in comparative and superlative:
- warm, wärmer, am wärmsten
- A noun can receive an umlaut in plural:
- ein Haus, zwei Häuser
- A verb can sometimes receive an umlaut in 2nd and 3rd person singular present tense:
- ich falle, du fällst, er/sie/es fällt
- To form the subjunctive II of a verb, the preterit form is usually umlauted:
- indicative past: ich konnte, subjunctive present: ich könnte
But it doesn't always happen:
- schlau, schlauer, am schlausten
- eine Nadel, zwei Nadeln
- ich sage, du sagst, er/sie/es sagt
- indicative past: ich sollte, subjunctive present: ich sollte
languages >> German >> German grammar / German issues
