Verb Context and Meaning

We have talked a lot about verbs, their forms and power within a sentence. We have reached the point where we are able to understand the most important aspects of the rules and regulations they lay down for the sentence, otherwise known as the:

Verb case-government

Below is a little slide-show for you, showing some of the big categories of verbs, the cases they demand or permit grammatically (blue arrows), and the parts of the sentence which "receive" the action of the verb (red arrows). Solid lines indicate required elements (by the definition of the kind of verb) while dotted lines indicate optional elements).

You may want to play it through a few times just to convince yourself that you have learned all this!

Is this a totally arbitrary form of government? Probably, but there is a method to this madness since the language uses these different 'rules' of the verb to give the verb different meanings.

You see, meaning is not attached to a verb like a label. Most verbs have many meanings. How does one find out what meaning the verb has in a given sentence?

The answer is: look at the whole sentence! See if the verb is followed by a direct object or by a reflexive pronoun or by prepositonal object and look what preposition is used. Then you can tell what meaning the verb has.

bringen

If you ask me what bringen means I will have to answer you that bringen has several meanings and that you will have to provide a context. For example, in the following:

Er bringt das Buch in die Bibliothek. - He takes the book to the library.
Andreas bringt mir den Brief. - Andreas brings me the letter.
Sie hat mich zur Tür gebracht. - She saw me to the door.
Es bringt nichts. - It won't get you anywhere.

Let's have a closer look at these sentences:

Bringen is transitive in all four sentences.
In the first two sentences, the direct objects are things; in the third a person.
In the first sentence there is no indirect object and the direction of bringen is toward a goal.
In the second sentence, you have an indirect object and the direction of bringen is toward the indirect object, in this case the speaker.
In the third sentence, the direction of bringen is toward a goal, but the sense is one of accompanying rather than acting directly on the object.
In the last sentence, the subject is an impersonal pronoun (es) and whole phrase is somewhat idiomatic.

All these differences are semantically relevant, that means they have an effect on the meaning or translation of bringen.

Du bringst mich um all mein Geld. - You deprive me of all my money.
Er bringt Unglück über die ganze Familie. - He makes his whole family miserable.
Er hat es zu etwas gebracht. - He went far in his life.
Er hat mich auf eine Idee gebracht. - He gave me an idea.

Let's look at these sentences. Bringen is in all these sentences also transitive, but besides the direct object you have prepositional complements with various prepositons. In the first sentence the preposition is um, in the second über, in the third zu, and in the fourth auf. These modifications of the verb case-government affect the meaning of bringen, too.

Sie hat alles Geld an sich gebracht. - She took possession of all the money.
Ich habe die Prüfung hinter mich gebracht. - I got the exam behind me.
Dieser Kurs bringt viel Arbeit mit sich. - This course requires a lot of work.
Er hat die Lüge nicht über sich gebracht. - He could not bring himself to lie.

Here, we have yet another situation: Bringen is still transitive and the direct object is still followed by a variety of prepostions whose objects are all reflexive pronouns. These modifications are also semantically relevant.

What does all this mean?

Well, it means that there is no meaning of a verb without syntax. You have to get used to looking at the whole sentence. You must learn to identify its subjects and objects before you can start a successful search for the meaning of the verb. Only after you identified the subject and the objects, you are able to look up the meaning of a verb in a dictionary.

The good thing is that dictionaries know that the meaning of a verb is determined by the verb-case-government. Therefore, a verb entry in a dictionary is usually organized in the following way (supposing the verb can be transitive, intransitive, and reflexive):

You usually find after the verb the roman letter for one: I. then v/t, meaning: verb (transitive). There you can expect to find all the meanings of the verb when it is transitive. If the verb allows you to add a prepositional object to the direct object the prepositions are arranged in alphabetical order.

Then they give you its intransitive meanings, if any, usually indicated by II. v/i. The different prepositions that the verb rules are in alphabetical order.

Finally, they give you its reflexive meanings, usually indicated by III. v/refl.

Now you know the reason why verb entries in dictionaries are organized this way. The verb is telling you: if you want to use me in this specific meaning you have to give me a direct object or a reflexive pronoun or a specific preposition as a link to my objects. If you do not follow my 'rules' I simply will not express the meaning you intend.

There is nothing you can do! Just admit that it is the verb and not you who rules the language. You are the 'subject', and you had to surrender your power to the verb. Besides, this is not a special feature of German and an indication of the submissiveness of the German mind. Everything we are telling you on this page is not only true for German, but for English as well. Just look up the meaning of 'to look' or 'to get'.