German grammar
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Numbers
eins1, only used when nothing follows, otherwiseein,zwei2,drei3,vier4,fu=nf5,sechs6,sieben7,acht8,neun9,zehn10,elf11,zwo=lf12.um eins schwimme ichat one I swim.um ein Uhr schwimme ichat one o'clock I swim.ich habe eine TochterI have one daughter.
- Germans use a 24-hour clock.
Cases
- most words other than verbs have cases: nouns, pronouns, determiners, adjectives
- nominative - subject of a sentence
Accusative
- the thing or person directly receiving the action
der mann sieht den Ballthe man sees the ball.- only the
dermasculine forms different from nominative - there's a group of masculine nouns ends with
-elikeder Junge, der Nameadds an-nwhen in the accusative
- say something moving
hinter, zwischen, auf.sie legt das Buch auf den Tischshe lays the book onto the table.
Dative
- a group of verbs will change the receiver of the action into dative,
danken, folgen, geho=ren, helfen.ich danke der Frauihr helft ihm
gehen, seinsometimes make things dative when talking about how people feelmeinem Kind ist schlechtmy child is not feeling well.den Kindern geht es gutthe children are well.
- use dative after
aus, mit, zu. - the thing isn't going anywhere
das Buch liegt auf dem Tischthe book lies on the table.
| m | |
|---|---|
| n | ein |
| a | einen |
| d |
| the | m | f | n | pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | der |
die |
das |
die |
| a | den |
die |
das |
die |
| d | dem |
der |
dem |
den |
Nouns
- all capitalized
Genders
- nouns of 3 genders with indefinite and definite articles
- m nouns for people with
-e-Mann. - n
-chenmeaning little "-let" in English -Ma=dchengirl. - f words for concrete things,
-er-Frau, usually words ending with-e, -ung.
- m nouns for people with
- verb turned nouns -> stem
-ungf .die Wohnungthe apartment,die Reservierungthe reservation,die Rechnungthe bill, invoice.
- quantity can be added before the noun
eine Tasse Teeone cup of tea.ein Glas Milchone glass of milk.
- for people, the grammatical gender generally corresponds to the person's gender.
Freundmale friend.Freundinfemale friend.
Plurals
- Plural forms are irregular, with patterns like nouns ending in
-ealways have a plural ending in-en.- not depend on what gender the singular form is, and all take the definite article
diein nominative case - feminine nouns add
-nusually
- not depend on what gender the singular form is, and all take the definite article
gemu=seis used as a mass nouns, grammatically singular.
Compound words
- consist of 2 or more words, written as one words with no spaces in between, gender determined by the last element.
die Autobahnthe highway
- sometimes, a connecting sound between 2 elements
der Orangensaftthe orange juice.das Hundefutterthe dog food.die Liebesliedlove song.der Tagesgerichtdish of the day.
Articles
- definite articles matters
ich mag BrotI like bread, in general.ich mag das BrotI like the bread, specific.
| m | f, p | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| the | der |
die |
das |
| this | dieser |
diese |
dieses |
| which | welcher |
welche |
welches |
| mine | meiner |
meine |
meines |
| yours | deiner |
deine |
deines |
| his/its | seiner |
seine |
seines |
| hers/theirs | ihrer |
ihre |
ihres |
- generally, feminine and plural end in
-e, masculine in-er, neuter in-es. diese Tasche is deinethis bag is yours.die Lampen sind meinethese lamps are mine.Hier ist einerhere is one!Welcher Computer ist meinerwhich computer is mine?das Handy ist deinesthat cellphone is yours.der Computer is ihrerthe computer is hers/theirs.das Handy ist seines, iheresthe cellphone is his its, hers theirs.
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
ich;du;er[iir],sie, es;wir;ihr[air];sie.
Possessive pronoun
| nm, nn; an | nf, np; af, ap | am | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a/an | ein |
eine |
einen |
| no | kein |
keine |
keinen |
| my | mein |
meine |
meinen |
| your singular | dein |
deine |
deinen |
| his/its | sein |
seine |
seinen |
| her/their | ihr |
ihre |
ihren |
| our | unser |
unsere |
unseren |
| your plural | euer |
eure |
euren |
- different endings depend on the word they are paired with
meine Mutter ist hier.mein Mann ist hier.
Politeness
Sieupper case, polite you, for people you don't know well.HerrMr. orFrauMrs. can be used to show politenessguten Tag.
Man one, you as in mankind, and the grammar follows er he.
man kann hier tanzenone can dance here.man braucht ein Ticketone needs a ticket.
Verbs
Present Tense
ich; du; er, sie, es; wir; sie; ihr.wie, sieforms usually have the same endingihrform is "the stem same with the infinitive"-t, different from theer, sie, esform where stems change
- regular verb conjugation in present tense - identify the stem of the verb and add the ending corresponding to the grammatical personas
trinken{trinke, trinkst, trinkt, trinken}to drink.lernen{lerne, lernst, lernt, lernen, lernt}to learn.
- irregular conjugation
sein{bin, bist, ist, sind}to be.ko=nnen{kann, kannst, kann, ko=nnen}to be able to, can.mo=gen{mag, magst, mag, mo=gen}to like, may.
haben{habe, hast, hat, haben, habt}to have, only meaning possession.ich habe Hunger, Durst, Recht, AngstI am hungry, thirsty, right, afraid.
- vowel change in forms of
du; er, sie, esformslesen{lese liest, liest}to read.sprechen{spreche, sprichst, spricht}to speak.fahren{fahre, fa=hrst, fa=hrt, fahren, fahrt}to drive.sehen{sehe, siehst, sieht}to see.schlafen{schlafe, schla=fst, schla=ft}sleep.isst[ist], pronounced the same as "ist".
- no continuous aspect am doing something.
- can talk about future using present tense
ich gehe morgen ins TheaterI go to the theatre tomorrow.
- verbs like pick up or bring long, the two parts stay together as one word.
mein Bruder will Luftballons mitbringenbring along.wer bringt den Kuchen mitwho is bringing the cake along.
Past Tense
sein{war, warst, war, waren, wart}to be.ich war gestern im TheaterI were yesterday at the theater -> I went to the theater yesterday.
haben{hatte, hattest, hatte, hatten, hattet}to have.hattest du Spas=did you have fun?
Adjectives
su=s=sweet for food, cute for living beings.
Comparatives
- usually the
-erending - one-syllable adjectives get an umlaut
- if the adj ends in
-er, -el, -endrop the-ebefore adding-er.
The Most
- add
-steto the adjectives, or-esteif the letter before is a vowel; further match with the noun's gender and case.das ist der ho=chste Berg der Weltthe world's highest mountain.das sind die neuesten Datenthe newest dates.
Adverbs
gern~e~ like the attribute of oft.
ich gehe gern ins TheaterI like to go to the theater.
Sentence structure
ich (subject) trinke (verb) oft (everything else) Tee (complement).
- the complement rest of a verb goes to the very end of the sentence
- including the 2nd verb
nichtgoes before the 2nd verb
- everything else goes between the verb in position 2 and the complement.
- put the words describing when something happens right after the ver.
ich komme auch, nicht aus JapanI also don't come from Japan.- yes or no questions require the verb to be in front of the subject, and doesn't require the auxiliary verb "do" in German.
- flexible structure due to the case inflection.
das Ma=dchen hat den Apfelthe girl has the apple.den Apfel hat das Ma=dchen.
- the verb always has to be in position 2, if something other than the subject takes position 1, the subject will move after the verb.
normalerweise trinke ich Wasser.ich schwimme am Montag oftI swim often on Mondays.am Montag schwimme ich ofton Monday, I often swim.
Prepositions
im (in dem) used with m. and n. words; inside; used for months and seasons.
ich bin im TheaterI am inside the theater.im Juli, im Winter.
zum used with m. and n. words
ins (in das)
ich gehe ins TheaterI go into the theater.
am to say which day something is happening
Conjunction
das ist *kein Mann, sondern eine Frau*this is not a man, but a woman.ich komme aus China, *aber ich lebe in Japan*I come from China, but I live in Japan.ich komme nicht aus China, aber spreche Chinesisch.
Negation
keine, keinnot a, no; works likeeindas ist kein Hausthat is not a house.
nichtnot.das ist nicht mein Hausthat is not my house.
neinno.
Question
Yes or No Questions
Verstehst du dasdo you understand this?
Wer who, inflect based on 4 cases.
- nominative
wer sitzt dawho is sitting there?
- accusative
wen siehst duwhom do you see?ich sehe den SohnI see the son.
- dative
wem hast du den Apfel gegebento whom did you give the apple?dem Mannm,dem Kindn.
- genitive
wessen Schuhe sind daswhose shoes are these; likedes"of the"?das sind, die Schuhe, des Jungen
Was what.
- nominative & accusative
wer oder was?wem oder was?
- dative:
wo~r~+prep that verbs takean etwas denken:woran denkt erabout what is he thinking?hingehen:wohin geht sieto what place is she going?
- genitive:
wessen ist sie schuldigwhat is she guilty of?
Wo where, place, Wohin where, ask for a direction someone or something moves, can be separated.
wo ist mein Schuhwhere is my shoe?wohin kommt dieser Weinwhere does this wine go?wo ist mein Schuh hinwhere did my shoe go?
Wann - when, doesn't inflect; can be used in conjunction with seit since, or bis till.
seit wann haben Sie fu=r Herrn Mu=ller gearbeitetsince when have you been working for Mr. Mu=ller?bis wann geht der Filmtill when does the movie last?
why - warum, wieso, weshalb.
warum, wieso, weshalb ist das Auto so altwhy, why, why is that car so old?