German Grammar

Personal pronouns in the nominative case used as sentence subjects: ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie, Sie.

The definite articles der, die, das in nominative case, agreeing with noun gender.

The indefinite articles ein, eine in nominative case, and the negative kein, keine.

Present tense conjugation of sein (to be): bin, bist, ist, sind, seid, sind.

Present tense conjugation of haben (to have): habe, hast, hat, haben, habt, haben.

Present tense conjugation of regular verbs following the standard pattern: machen, spielen, lernen, arbeiten.

Verbs with vowel changes in du/er/sie/es forms: e→i (sprechen), e→ie (lesen), a→ä (fahren).

Articles in the accusative case for direct objects. Only masculine changes: der→den, ein→einen.

Personal pronouns in the accusative case: mich, dich, ihn, sie, es, uns, euch, sie, Sie.

Negation using nicht (for verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and kein (for nouns with indefinite articles).

Basic word order with verb in second position (V2 rule). Subject-Verb-Object as default.

Yes/no questions formed by placing the verb first (verb-subject inversion).

Questions with interrogative words: wer, was, wo, wann, warum, wie, woher, wohin.

Modal verbs können (can) and müssen (must) with infinitive at clause end.

Modal verbs wollen (want) and mögen/möchten (like/would like).

Possessive determiners: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, ihr, Ihr. Agreement with noun gender.

Adjectives after sein/werden without endings (predicate position).

Basic prepositions indicating location: in, an, auf, bei, nach, zu, aus, von.

Prepositions for time expressions: um, am, im, von...bis, seit, vor, nach.

Cardinal numbers, telling time, days of the week, months, and dates.

Verbs with separable prefixes: prefix moves to end of main clause in present tense.

Command forms for du, ihr, and Sie. Du-form often drops ending; separable prefix at end.

Basic conjunctions that don't affect word order: und, aber, oder, denn, sondern.

The construction 'es gibt' + accusative to express existence or availability.

Using gern, lieber, am liebsten with verbs to express likes and preferences.

Reflexive pronouns in accusative: mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich for verbs like sich waschen.

Common adverbs of time: heute, morgen, gestern, jetzt, dann, immer, manchmal, oft, nie.

Forming noun plurals: various patterns (-e, -en, -er, -s, umlaut changes, no change).

Modal verbs dürfen (may/allowed to) and sollen (should/supposed to).

Demonstrative pronouns dieser, diese, dieses and jener, jene, jenes (this/that).

German nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter). Common patterns and memorization strategies.

Verbs with inseparable prefixes (be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-) that stay attached.

Adverbs of place: hier, dort, da, oben, unten, links, rechts, vorne, hinten, draußen, drinnen.

The formal pronoun Sie (always capitalized) for polite address with strangers, superiors, elders.

Present tense of werden (to become): werde, wirst, wird, werden, werdet, werden.

Present tense of wissen (to know facts): weiß, weißt, weiß, wissen, wisst, wissen.

Forming the perfect tense with haben + past participle for most verbs.

Perfect tense with sein for motion and state-change verbs: gehen, fahren, bleiben, werden.

Forming past participles: ge-...-t (regular), ge-...-en (irregular), and exceptions.

Articles in the dative case for indirect objects: dem, der, dem; einem, einer, einem.

Personal pronouns in the dative case: mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm, uns, euch, ihnen, Ihnen.

Verbs that require dative objects: helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören, schmecken, passen.

Prepositions taking accusative (motion) or dative (location): in, an, auf, über, unter, vor, hinter, neben, zwischen.

Adjective endings after definite articles: weak endings (-e, -en).

Adjective endings after indefinite articles: mixed endings showing gender/case.

Subordinate clauses with verb at end. weil (because) for reasons, dass (that) for statements.

wenn (when/if) for conditions and time, ob (whether) for indirect yes/no questions.

Comparative adjectives and adverbs: -er ending, als for comparisons, irregulars (gut→besser).

Superlative adjectives: am ...-sten (predicate) or der/die/das ...-ste (attributive).

Prepositions always taking accusative: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, bis, entlang.

Prepositions always taking dative: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, gegenüber, außer.

Ordinal numbers: erste, zweite, dritte... Used with adjective endings.

Simple past (Präteritum) of sein and haben, commonly used in spoken and written German.

Simple past of modal verbs: konnte, musste, wollte, durfte, sollte, mochte.

Simple past of regular verbs with -te endings. Used mainly in written German and narration.

Simple past of irregular (strong) verbs with stem vowel changes.

Future tense formed with werden + infinitive. Also used for assumptions about present.

The genitive case for possession and with certain prepositions (wegen, trotz, während, statt).

Relative clauses with der, die, das; relative pronoun matches antecedent gender, case from clause function.

Subjunctive mood using würde + infinitive for hypotheticals and polite requests.

Common subjunctive II forms: wäre (would be) and hätte (would have) for hypotheticals.

Passive voice formed with werden + past participle. Agent with von + dative.

Infinitive constructions with zu after certain verbs, adjectives, and nouns.

Dative reflexive pronouns: mir, dir, sich, uns, euch, sich. Used when there's also an accusative object.

Basic reported speech using Konjunktiv I: er sei, er habe, er komme. Formal register.

Expressing contrast: obwohl (although) in subordinate clauses, trotzdem (nevertheless) as adverb.

Time clauses with als, wenn, bevor, nachdem, während, bis, seit, sobald.

Expressing purpose: um...zu (same subject) and damit (different subjects).

Masculine nouns adding -n/-en in all cases except nominative: der Junge, Herr, Student, Mensch.

Past perfect tense for actions before another past action: hatte/war + past participle.

Passive in past tenses: wurde + participle (Präteritum), ist... worden (Perfekt).

Past subjunctive for unreal past conditions: hätte/wäre + past participle.

Unreal conditionals: Type 2 (present unreal), Type 3 (past unreal) with Konjunktiv II.

Future perfect for completed future actions or past assumptions: werden + participle + haben/sein.

Present participle (Partizip I) used as adjective: infinitive + d + adjective endings.

Past participle used as adjective before nouns with adjective endings.

Complex participial constructions with modifiers placed before the noun.

Using lassen to express having something done or allowing: ich lasse... machen.

Converting verbs and adjectives to nouns: das Lesen, das Schöne, der/die Reisende.

The sein-passive describes states resulting from actions: Das Fenster ist geöffnet.

Unreal comparison clauses with als ob, als wenn, or als + inverted verb, using Konjunktiv II.

Full Konjunktiv I conjugation for all persons, including Ersatzformen when identical to indicative.

Alternatives to passive: man, sich lassen, sein + zu + infinitive, -bar/-lich adjectives.

Modal verbs expressing probability or inference: Er muss krank sein (He must be sick).

Extended use of Präteritum in written narratives, including all verb types consistently.

Formal verb-noun combinations: in Betracht ziehen, zur Verfügung stellen, in Anspruch nehmen.

Fixed noun-verb combinations: einen Beschluss fassen, eine Entscheidung treffen, Kritik üben.

Complex connectors: indem, infolgedessen, zumal, sofern, insofern als, anstatt dass.

Adjective endings when no article is present (strong endings showing gender/case).

Nominalized verbs retaining their verbal complements: das Lesen des Buches, beim Warten auf.

Modal and perception verbs use infinitive instead of past participle in perfect: hat ... machen können.

Formal and literary constructions: genitive objects, archaic verb forms, poetic word order.

Formal bureaucratic and legal German: nominalized style, passive, complex compounds.

Academic German: hedging, impersonal constructions, nominalized arguments, citation style.

Nuanced use of modal particles: doch, ja, wohl, eben, halt, schon, mal, eigentlich and combinations.

Marked word order variations for emphasis, topic, and focus: fronting, extraposition.

Multi-level embedded clauses, relative clause stacking, and sophisticated hypotaxis.

Recognizing and using different registers: formal, informal, colloquial, dialectal features.

Complex idiomatic expressions and their appropriate use in context.