Learn Hardcore German: Ich schätze meine Familie.

In German, every noun is always written with an initial capital letter. That’s why Familie (family) begins with an uppercase F, regardless of where it appears in the sentence.

What grammatical case is meine Familie in?

meine Familie is in the accusative case because it’s the direct object of the verb schätzen. In German, transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) require the object to be in the accusative.

Why is it meine instead of mein or meinen Familie?

The noun Familie is feminine. The possessive pronoun mein- must match gender, number and case. In the accusative singular feminine form, mein becomes meine.

Nominative fem. singular: meine Familie
Accusative fem. singular: meine Familie
(If it were masculine, “my friend” for example, you’d see meinen.)

What is schätze in terms of grammar?

schätze is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb schätzen. In English we’d say “I appreciate” or “I value.” It tells you who is doing the action (ich) and when (present).

Is schätzen a regular or irregular verb?

It’s a regular (weak) verb. Its principal parts are:

Infinitive: schätzen
3rd person singular Präsens: schätzt
Präteritum: schätzte
Partizip II: geschätzt
Despite the umlaut (ä), it doesn’t undergo a stem-vowel change like strong verbs.

Where does the umlaut in schätzen come from?

The umlaut (ä) is simply part of the verb’s standard spelling and root (related historically to Schatz, “treasure”). It’s not a present-tense stem change; you’ll see ä in every form (ich schätze, du schätzt, wir schätzen, etc.).

Does schätzen only mean “to appreciate”?

No, schätzen also means “to estimate” or “to guess” in contexts like den Wert schätzen (“to estimate the value”) or ich schätze mal (“I’d guess”). Here, however, it expresses emotional appreciation or high regard.

How do you pronounce schätze?

In IPA you’ll see /ˈʃɛt͡sə/. Breakdown:

“sch” = [ʃ], like English “sh” in “ship”
“ä” = [ɛ], like “e” in “bed”
“tz” = [t͡s], like “ts” in “cats”
final “e” = [ə], a quick “uh” sound
Put it together: SHEH-tsuh.

What’s the difference between schätzen and lieben when talking about family?

lieben (“to love”) expresses a strong emotional bond or affection. schätzen (“to appreciate/cherish”) highlights respect, gratitude or valuing someone’s qualities. So Ich liebe meine Familie = “I love my family,” while Ich schätze meine Familie = “I appreciate/cherish my family.”

What is the plural form of Familie?

The plural is Familien. For example:

Eine Familie (one family)
Zwei Familien (two families)

Can you say Ich schätze Familie without meine?

No—singular, countable German nouns generally need a determiner (article or possessive). You’d have to use something like Ich schätze die Familie (“I appreciate the family” in a general or specific sense) or keep the possessive Ich schätze meine Familie.