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Irregular verbs in German
1. Auxiliary verbs
The 3 auxiliary verbs are irregular. The verb

sein is especially irregular.
Auxiliary verb +
Verb Person Präteritum Meaning Remarks
Partizip II
sein ist war ist gewesen to be very

irregular
haben hat hatte hat gehabt to have
werden wird wurde ist to
geworden/worden become
2. Modal verbs
All the modal verbs are irregular. Modal
verbs are especially irregular because the
1st person singular in the Präsens does not
have the "–e" ending.
1st Auxiliary
and verb +
Verb Präteritum Meaning Remarks
3rd Partizip
Per. II
dürfen darf durfte hat to be

gedurft allowed
to
können kann konnte hat to be able
gekonnt to
mögen mag mochte hat to like
gemocht
müssen muss musste hat to have to
gemusst
sollen soll sollte hat to be following a
gesollt supposed norm
to
wollen will wollte hat to want
gewollt
3. Irregular verbs for starters

The following irregular verbs are the most
common in German:
Auxiliary
3rd
Verb Präteritum verbs + Meaning Remarks
Person
Partizip II
bieten bot hat geboten to offer

bleiben blieb ist to stay, remember:
geblieben remain bleiben
with sein
denken dachte hat gedacht to think
empfehlen empfiehlt empfahl hat to
empfohlen suggest
essen isst aß hat to eat
gegessen
fahren fährt fuhr hat/ist to drive also: to
gefahren travel in a
car
fallen fällt fiel ist gefallen to fall
finden fand hat to find
gefunden
geben gibt gab hat gegeben to give
gehen ging ist to go, to
gegangen walk
helfen hilft half hat geholfen to help
kennen kannte hat gekannt to know
someone
kommen kam ist to come
gekommen
laden lädt lud hat geladen to load
lassen lässt ließ hat to let,
gelassen leave
lesen liest las hat gelesen to read
liegen lag hat gelegen to be
situated,
to be
lying
down
nehmen nimmt nahm hat to take
genommen
schließen schloss hat to close
geschlossen
schreiben schrieb hat to write
geschrieben
sehen sieht sah hat gesehen to see
senden sandte hat gesandt to send
sprechen spricht sprach hat to speak
gesprochen
stehen stand hat to stand
gestanden
tragen trägt trug hat getragen to carry
treffen trifft traf hat to meet
getroffen
vergessen vergisst vergaß hat to forget
vergessen
wissen weiß wusste hat gewusst to know Remember:
ich weiß
4. Irregular verbs for the

intermediate level
We are continuing with common irregular
verbs in German:
Auxiliary Verb
3rd
Verb Präteritum + Meaning Remarks
Person
Partizip II
beginnen begann hat begonnen to begin

bewegen bewog hat bewogen to induce Attention: It
also means
to move but
with the
meaning of
to move the
verb is
regular
bitten bat hat gebeten to order also: to beg
bringen brachte hat gebracht to bring

fliegen flog hat/ist to fly
geflogen
genießen genoss hat genossen to enjoy
geschehen geschieht geschah ist geschehen to
happen
gewinnen gewann hat gewonnen to earn,
win
gießen goss hat gegossen to
irrigate,
water,
pour
gleichen glich hat geglichen to
resemble
halten hält hielt hat gehalten to also: to stop
maintain,
hold
hängen hing hat gehangen to hang 2
conjugations
and
meanings
heißen hieß hat geheißen to be
named
laufen läuft lief ist gelaufen to run
leiden litt hat gelitten to suffer
messen misst maß hat gemessen to
measure
nennen nannte hat genannt to name
rufen rief hat gerufen to call
schaffen schuf hat geschaffen to create also: to work
schlagen schlägt schlug hat geschlagen to hit
schwimmen schwamm ist/hat to swim
geschwommen
singen sang hat gesungen to sing
sitzen saß hat gesessen to sit, be
seated
springen sprang ist gesprungen to jump
stoßen stößt stieß hat/ist to push sometimes
gestoßen with sein
treten tritt trat hat/ist to step also: to go

getreten on, kick
trinken trank hat getrunken to drink
tun tut tat hat getan to do irregular
Partizip I
verlieren verlor hat verloren to lose
weichen wich ist gewichen to give in sometimes
with haben
wenden wandte hat gewandt to turn
around
ziehen zog hat gezogen to pull,
drag
5. Irregular verbs for the advanced

level
Not so common irregular verbs:
3rd
Verb Präteritum Partizip II Meaning Remarks
Person
beißen biss hat gebissen to bite

bergen birgt barg hat geborgen to rescue
beweisen bewies hat bewiesen to prove also: to
demonstrate
bewerben bewarb hat beworben to apply for
something
binden band hat gebunden to tie
braten brät briet hat gebraten to fry
brechen bricht brach hat/ist to break
gebrochen
brennen brannte hat gebrannt to burn
dringen drang hat or ist to insist
gedrungen
fangen fängt fing hat gefangen to catch Also: to trap
fließen floss ist geflossen to flow

fressen frisst fraß hat gefressen to feed (animals)
gelingen gelang ist gelungen to

succeed
gelten gilt galt hat gegolten to be
valid
graben gräbt grub hat gegraben to dig
greifen griff hat gegriffen to grab
heben hob hat gehoben to lift also: to raise
klingen klang hat geklungen to ring

(bell)
leihen lieh hat geliehen to loan
lügen log hat gelogen to lie
meiden mied hat gemieden to avoid
pfeifen pfiff hat gepfiffen to whistle
preisen pries hat gepriesen to praise
quellen quillt quoll ist gequollen to well up
raten rät riet hat geraten to give
advice
reißen riss hat gerissen to rip
reiten ritt hat/ist to ride (a
geritten horse)
rennen rannte ist gerannt to run
ringen rang hat gerungen to wrestle
scheiden schied hat/ist to also: to
geschieden separate leave
scheinen schien hat to shine
geschienen
schieben schob hat to push
geschoben
schießen schoss hat to shoot
geschossen
schlafen schläft schlief hat to sleep
geschlafen
schleifen schliff hat to
geschliffen sharpen
schmeißen schmiss hat to throw
geschmissen
schmelzen schmilzt schmolz ist to merge also: to melt
geschmolzen
schneiden schnitt hat to cut also: break
geschnitten off
schreien schrie hat geschrien to

scream
schweigen schwieg hat to be
geschwiegen quiet
sinken sank ist gesunken to sink
sinnen sann hat gesonnen to
meditate
stehlen stiehlt stahl hat gestohlen to rob
steigen stieg ist gestiegen to climb also: to rise
sterben starb ist gestorben to die

streichen strich hat gestrichen to paint also: to
cross out
streiten stritt hat gestritten to fight
treiben trieb hat getrieben to also: to
practice operate
verderben verdirbt verdarb hat/ist to spoil
verdorben
verschwinden verschwand ist to
verschwunden disappear
wachsen wächst wuchs ist gewachsen to grow
waschen wäscht wusch hat to wash
gewaschen
werfen wirft warf hat geworfen to throw
wiegen wog hat gewogen to weigh
winden wand hat gewunden to twist
zwingen zwang hat to force
gezwungen
6. Irregular verbs for a very

advanced level
Less common irregular verbs:
Verb 3rd Präteritum Auxiliar verb Meaning Remarks

Person +
Partizip II
betrügen betrog hat betrogen to betray

biegen bog hat/ist to turn,
gebogen bend
erlöschen erlischt erlosch ist erloschen to turn off
erschrecken erschrickt erschrak hat/ist to scare It’s only
erschrocken irregular
when it is
intransitive
or reflexive
flechten flicht flocht hat to braid
geflochten
fliehen floh ist geflohen to escape
frieren fror hat o ist to be cold
gefroren
gären gor hat o ist to ferment
gegoren
gebären gebiert gebar hat geboren to give
birth
gedeihen gedieh ist gediehen to flower
genesen genas ist genesen to
convalesce
geraten gerät geriet ist geraten to turn out
well
gleiten glitt ist geglitten to slide
kneifen kniff hat gekniffen to pinch
kriechen kroch ist gekrochen to crawl
mahlen mahlte hat gemahlen to grind
melken molk hat gemolken to milk
reiben rieb hat gerieben to rub
riechen roch hat gerochen to smell
saufen säuft soff hat gesoffen to drink (for
animals)
saugen sog hat gesogen to suckle, also: to
to suck absorb
scheißen schiss hat to shit

geschissen
schlingen schlang hat to snare
geschlungen
schwellen schwillt schwoll ist to swell
geschwollen
schwinden schwand ist to dwindle
geschwunden
schwingen schwang hat to swing
geschwungen
schwören schwor hat to swear
geschworen
speien spie hat gespien to spit
spinnen spann hat to spin
gesponnen
sprießen spross ist to sprout
gesprossen
stechen stach hat to sting also: to
gestochen prick
stinken stank hat to stink

gestunken
verzeihen verzieh hat verziehen to forgive
weben wob hat gewoben to weave
wringen wrang hat to wring
gewrungen out, drain
7. Verbs with "haben" and "sein" as

auxiliary verbs
Some verbs use haben if they’re transitive
and sein if they are intransitive.
Among them are: fahren (to drive), biegen

(to turn), verderben (to spoil, go bad),
brechen (to break), fliegen (to fly), treten (to
step on, to go), scheiden (to separate, to
leave), reiten (to ride a horse)
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Impersonal verbs and the

German pronoun "es"
1. The personal pronoun "es"
Impersonal verbs in German use as subject

the pronoun "es".
The pronoun "es" usually means "it" but it

has no meaning in the context of impersonal
verbs but rather just a grammatical function
of a subject.
2. Verbs that deal with the weather

Verbs that deal with nature are impersonal
verbs:
Es dunkelt schon
It's getting dark
Heute kann es regnen

It might rain today
Gestern hat es geschneit

It snowed yesterday
Verb Meaning
blitzen to flash (lightning)
dämmern to dawn
donnern to thunder
dunkeln to get dark
frieren to freeze
gewittern to storm
hageln to hail
nieseln to drizzle
gießen to flood/downpour
regnen to rain
schneien to snow
tauen to melt
3. Impersonal verbs dealing with

noise
As you see in the following examples, verbs
dealing with noise can be impersonal:
Wo hat es geknallt?
Where was the bang?
Was tun, wenn es im Ohr pfeift?
What to do if there is a whistling (noise) in
your ear?
Verb Meaning
klingeln to ring
knallen to make a bang/explode
läuten to sound the bells
pfeifen to whistle
rauschen to whisper
These verbs don't necessarily have to always

be impersonal if you specify the origin of the
noise (that's why it doesn't have the pronoun
"es")
Nachts pfeift der Wind ums Haus

At night, the wind whistles around the
house
4. Impersonal verbs that deal with

the senses
Many verbs that deal with the senses in
German are impersonal:
Es tut mir leid

I'm sorry
Es hat mir geschmeckt
I liked the food/ It tasted very well
5. "Sein", "werden" and "bleiben" as

impersonal verbs
Copulative verbs, meaning "sein", "werden"
and "bleiben", can behave like impersonal
verbs if they are accompanied by adjective
or adverbs that:
Are meteorological events
Gestern war es sonnig

It was sunny yesterday
Are natural phenomena
Es ist zu heiß
It's too hot
Deal with time
Wie spät ist es?

What time is it?
6. Geben as an Impersonal Verb

It is very common to find the verb "geben"
acting as an impersonal verb:
Be careful with "geben" which means to give

but also behaves like an impersonal verb
meaning "there is/are"
Es gibt keine Lösung

There is no solution
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Verb

Reflexive Verbs in German
In German, the infinitive of these reflexive

verbs is preceded by the pronoun "sich" (sich
streiten, sich freuen, etc.)
Saying:
Wenn zwei sich streiten, freut
sich der dritte
When two fight, the third is happy
In a reflexive clause, the action is done to

the person carrying out that same action.
Reflexive clauses only can be formed by
certain verbs. These verbs are called
reflexive verbs and exist in German as well
as English though there are far less of them
in English.
In English, these verbs are characterized by

using "oneself", "yourself", "ourselves", etc. In
German, the infinitive of these verbs is
preceded by the pronoun sich (sich streiten,
sich freuen, etc.).
Reflexive verbs in German can be reflexive in

the accusative or in the dative. This is not
intuitive and needs to be memorized for
each verb even though most reflexive verbs
are accusative.
1. Reflexive pronouns
Depending on whether the verb is reflexive in
the accusative or dative, it will use the
corresponding reflexive pronouns:
Accusative Dative
1st mich mir

Person
Sing.
2nd dich dir
Person
Sing.
3 sich sich
Persona
Sing.
1st uns uns
Person
Plural
2nd euch euch
Person
Plural
2nd sich sich
Person
Plural
Ich freue mich auch für dich

I am also happy for you (accusative)
Ich kaufe mir eine Wohnung

I am buying myself an apartment (dative)
2. Accusative reflexive verbs

(Akkusativ)
The most important reflexive verbs in the
accusative are:
Verb Meaning
sich abkühlen to cool

down
sich abheben to stand
out
sich to have
amüsieren fun
sich ärgern to get
angry
sich bewegen to move
sich ergeben to give up
sich erholen to recover,

recuperate
sich freuen to be
happy
sich setzen to sit
down
sich sonnen to sun
sich treffen to meet
sich to turn
umwenden
sich to say
verabschieden goodbye
sich verfahren to get lost
3. Reflexive verbs with dative

The most common reflexive verbs in the
dative are:
Verb Meaning
sich to imagine
denken
sich to buy
kaufen
sich to put
etwas something
anziehen on
4. Peculiarities of reflexive verbs

Some reflexive verbs' behavior with parts of
the body and items of clothing is interesting:
If a part of the body or item of clothing is

named, they are reflexive in the dative:
Ich wasche mir die Haare

I wash my hair (dative)
But if a part of the body or item of clothing is

not named, they are reflexive in the
accusative:
Ich wasche mich

I wash myself (accusative)
The verb "kämmen" (to comb) is used the

same way:
Ich kämme mir die Haare

I comb my hair (dative)
Which in the third person would be:

Er kämmt sie sich
He combs (his hair)
But if we do not say hair:
Ich kämme mich

I comb myself (accusative)
5. Negation of reflexive verbs

The reflexive pronoun is placed, like all
pronouns, before the adverb nicht:
Du musst dich nicht kümmern

You don’t need to worry yourself
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Verb

Separable verbs in German

(Trennbare Verben)
One of the things that is the most surprising

(and exasperating) when you start learning
German is the idea of a separable verb.
We’re going to look at what they are and how
to conjugate them in more detail. They are
similar to phrasal verbs in English.
1. Introduction to Separable Verbs

For these verbs, the particle is separated
and placed at the end of the clause for
simple verb tenses (as long as the clause is
not subordinate or relative).
Let´s look at the separable verb "absagen"

(cancel) as an example.
The verb is formed by the particle ab and the

verb sagen.
"Sagen" alone means to say, but together

with the particle "ab" it means "cancel".
Er sagt ein Konzert ab
He cancelled the concert
As you can observe in this example, the

particle "ab" is placed at the end of the
clause.
This property of separating only takes place

in verb tenses that do not have an auxiliary
verb (helping verb). In German, they are:
Präsens
Präteritum
Imperativ
Präsens (present)
Person Conjugation Translation
ich sag-e [...] ab I cancel

du sag-st [...] ab you cancel
er/sie/es sag-t [...] ab he/she/it
cancels
wir sag-en [...] we cancel
ab
ihr sag-t [...] ab you cancel
(speaking
to a group)
sie sag-en [...] they cancel
ab
Präteritum (past simple)
ich sag-t-e [...] I cancelled

ab
du sag-te-st [...] you
ab cancelled
er/sie/es sag-t-e [...] he/she/it
ab cancelled
wir sag-t-en [...] we
ab cancelled
ihr sag-te-t [...] you
ab cancelled
sie sag-t-en [...] they
ab cancelled
Imperativ (Imperative)
2nd person sag [...] ab cancel

singular
1st person sag-en wir Let’s cancel
plural [...] ab
2nd person sag-t [...] ab cancel
plural
polite form sag-en Sie cancel
(Sie) [...] ab
The construction of the "Partizip
II"
To make the Partizip II for the separable

verb, you do the same as you would for the
"Partizip II" for verbs that are not separted
and add the particle as a prefix.
Infinitive Partizip II Translation
absagen abgesagt cancelled

aufmachen aufgemacht opened
umsteigen umgestiegen changed
zumachen zugemacht closed
Separable Verbs in Subordinate

Clauses
For subordinate clauses, separable verbs

behave like normal verbs, meaning that they
aren´t separate:
Sie hat erzählt, dass er ein Konzert

absagt
She said that he’s cancelling a concert
Separable Verbs in Relative

Clauses
In relative clauses the separable verbs do
not split:
Ich schickte dir eine SMS, die nie ankam

I sent you a text that never arrived
Separable verbs in Clauses "(um)"

+ "zu"
Compound clauses with "(um) + zu", the

separable verbs are split by placing the
preposition zu between the particle and the
verb:
Es ist schwer, das Spiel wegzulegen

It’s difficult to put down this game
2. Separable particles
Sometimes, particles change the meaning of
the verb they accompany just slightly, other
times drastically.
Separable particles are:
Separable particles
ab- durch- her- vor-
an- ein- herein- vorbei-
auf- entgegen- los- weg-

aus- entlang- mit- weiter-
auseinander- fehl- nach- wieder-
bei- fest- über- zu-
darum- zurück-
unter-
"ab-"
absagen [cancel]
abschrauben [unscrew]
absegeln [sail away]
abbiegen [turn]
"an-"
anleiten [guide]
anmelden [register]
anrufen [call]
anfangen [start]
anhalten [stop]
ankommen [arrive]
anbieten [offer]
anpassen [adapt]
anschließen [connect]
"auf-"
aufheizen [heat up]

aufhaben [wear]
aufstehen [to stand up]
"aus-"
aussteigen [to get off/to exit (the bus)]

aussehen [to look/to apear] (Ex: "She
looks beautiful" NOT "She looks at a
map)"
"auseinander-"
auseinandersetzen to deal with/to argue

with]
"bei-"
beitragen [contribute]
"dar-"
darstellen [to represent]
"durch-"
durchlesen [to read through]

durchgehen [to pass through]
The particle "durch-" is sometimes not

separable. For example: durchqueren[to
traverse]
"ein-"
einsteigen [to step into/to enter (on the

bus)]
einkaufen [to go shopping]
einschalten [to turn on]
einladen [to invite]
It is not always separable
"entgegen-"
entgegenstellen [to oppose]
"entlang-"
entlangfahren [to drive along]
"fehl-"
fehlschlagen [to backfire]
"fest-"
festlegen [to determine]
"her-"
herstellen [to manufacture]
"herein-"
hereintreten [to step in]
"los-"
losgehen [to get going]
"mit-"
mitmachen [to participate]
"nach-"
nacharbeiten [to rework]
"über-"
überstreifen [to shuffle on/slip over]
The particle "über" is normally not separable.

For example: überdenken [reconsider]
"um-"
umsteigen [change (trains)]
"unter-"
unterlegen [to place underneath]
The particle "unter-" is sometimes not

separable.
"vor-"
vorlesen [to read aloud]
vorsehen [to provide]
"vorbei-"
vorbeimarschieren [to march by]
"weg-"
wegnehmen [to take away]
"weiter-"
weiterentwickeln [to perfect/improve]
"wieder-"
wiedergeben [to return (something)]
It is not always separable:
wiederholen [to repeat] (not separable)
"zu-"
zumachen [to close]
"zurück-"
zurückkommen [to come back]
3. The special case of particle

placement
As we said, the separable particle of the verb
is placed at the end of the sentence:
Geht er ins Kino mit?

Is he also going to the movie theater?
But if a complement is taken for granted (it

doesn’t provide new information) in street
German (although this is not correct) is
placed at the end, leaving the particle inside
the sentence so that we hear:
Geht er mit ins Kino?

Is he also going to the movie theater?
4. Audiovisual Supplement
We will conclude with a nice song from an
amateur Austrian choir: Kurt Mikula. The
song is "Zünd ein Licht an" (turn on a light).
Webpage not
available
The webpage at
https://www youtube c
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Verb
The Modal Verbs in German (die

Modalverben)
Modal verbs require a verb in the infinitive

that complements its meaning and all of
them are irregular
1. Introduction
The modal verbs in German are:
dürfen (to be allowed)

können (to be able to)
mögen (to like)
müssen (must, to have to)
sollen (should, to be supposed to)
wollen (to want)
2. Conjugation
Präsens
dürfen können mögen müssen sollen wollen
ich darf kann mag muss soll will
du darfst kannst magst musst sollst willst
er/sie/es darf kann mag muss soll will
wir dürfen können mögen müssen sollen wollen
ihr dürft könnt mögt müsst sollt wollt
sie dürfen können mögen müssen sollen wollen
The 3rd person singular does not have

the "–t" ending.
The 3 singular forms do not have an
"Umlaut" ( ¨ ). The 3 plural forms always
have it if the infinitive has it.
Was wollen Sie trinken?

What do you want to drink?
Präteritum
The Präteritum is much more common with

modal verbs than the Perfekt.

ich durfte konnte mochte musste sollte wollte
du durftest konntest mochtest musstest solltest wolltest
er/sie/es durfte konnte mochte musste sollte wollte
wir durften konnten mochten mussten sollten wollten
ihr durftet konntet mochtet musstet solltet wolltet
sie durften konnten mochten mussten sollten wollten
No conjugation has an umlaut.

Careful with the verb "mögen". The verb
stem is not that same as that of the
Präteritum.
Perfekt
There are 2 ways to construct the Perfekt

with modal verbs:
When there is a full verb, the structure is:
verb "haben" + the infinitive of the full verb +

the infinitive of the modal verb
Ich habe essen wollen

I have wanted to eat
When there is no full verb, the structure

is:
verb "haben" + the "Partizip II" of the modal

verb:
Ich habe gewollt

I have wanted
Plusquamperfekt
The construction of the Plusquamperfekt
with modal verbs is:
verb "haben" in Präteritum + the infinitive of

the full verb + the infinitive of the modal
verb.
Ich hatte essen wollen

I had wanted to eat
Konjunktiv II

ich dürfte könnte möchte müsste sollte wollte
du dürftest könntest möchtest müsstest solltest wolltest
er/sie/es dürfte könnte möchte müsste sollte wollte
wir dürften könnten möchten müssten sollten wollten
ihr dürftet könntet möchtet müsstet solltet wolltet
sie dürften könnten möchten müssten sollten wollten
If the verb in the infinitive has an Umlaut,

the Konjunktiv II will have it.
Careful with the verb mögen. The verb
stem is not the same as the stem for
Konjunktive II.
wir möchten uns entschuldigen

We would like to apologize
Konjunktiv I

ich dürfe könne möge müsse solle wolle
du dürfest könnest mögest müssest sollest wollest
er/sie/es dürfe könne möge müsse solle wolle
wir dürfen können mögen müssen sollen wollen
ihr dürfet könnet möget müsset sollet wollet
sie dürfen können mögen müssen sollen wollen
Imperativ
Modal verbs do not have an imperative form.
Partizip II for modal verbs
The verbs sollen and wollen have regular

Partizip II form and the rest have irregular
forms.

gedurft gekonnt gemocht gemusst gesollt gewollt
Partizip I for modal verbs
Modal verbs have regular Partizip I forms:

dürfend könnend mögend müssend sollend wollend
Futur I for modal verbs

ich
werde
du wirst
er/sie/es dürfen können mögen müssen sollen wollen
wird
wir
werden
ihr
werdet
sie
werden
Ich werde daran denken müssen

I will have to think about it
Futur II

ich
werde
du wirst
gedurft
er/sie/es haben gekonnt gemocht gemusst gesollt gewollt
wird haben haben haben haben haben
wir
werden
ihr
werdet
sie
werden
The use of Futur II with modal verbs is quite

rare.
3. Use of modal verbs
Dürfen
It means to "be allowed to".
Du darfst mich Hans nennen

You can call me Hans
Man darf hier nicht rauchen

You can’t smoke here
Können
It means to "be able to".
Wir können Deutsch sprechen

We can speak German
Er konnte nicht schwimmen

He didn’t know how to swim
Mögen
It means to "like". The verb "Mögen" can be
accompanied by another verb in the infinitive
(behaving like a modal verb) or it can be the
only verb in the sentence.
Ich mag dieses Auto

I like this car
The verb "mögen" is used very often with the

Konjunktiv II when we ask for something
politely.
Ich möchte gern ein Bier trinken

I would like to drink a beer
Müssen
It means "to have to" / "must".
Ich muss heute zu Hause bleiben

I have to stay home today
Du musst nicht das Glas essen, sondern

das Bier trinken
You shouldn’t eat the glass but rather
drink the beer
Sollen
It means "to be supposed to"/"should" in the

context of complying with a task, a law or an
order. The difference in meaning between
"müssen" and "sollen" is slight and both can
be used in many cases.
Das Kind soll heute die erste Impfung

erhalten
The child should receive his first
vaccination today.
Wollen
It means to want. But be careful with saying

„Ich will" as it sounds impolite if you are
asking for something. It is more appropriate
to say "Ich möchte" or "Ich hätte gern".
Die Kinder wollen spielen

The children want to play
< HOME
Verb

The Participle in German

(Partizip I and Partizip II)
There are 2 participles in German:
Partizip I (Partizip Präsens)

Partizip II (Partizip Perfekt)
1. Partizip I
Participle I, also known in German as
"Partizip Präsens" (present participle).
Construction of Partizip I
Partizip I is constructed with:
(INFINITIVE OF THE VERB) + "d"
Verb Partizip I
haben habend
können könnend
singen singend
fähren fährend
There are 2 verbs that don’t follow this rule:

Verb Partizip I
sein seiend
tun tuend
sein and tun are the only verbs in German

that do not end with “en”, “ln” or with “rn” and
that is why they form the Partizip I
differently.
Use of the Partizip I
The Partizip I behaves, for all intents and

purposes, like an adjective. This means it is
not declined in non-attributive function and
is declined in attributive function due to :
Weak declension
Mixed declension
Strong declension
For more info about adjective declension.
Partizip I with a non-attributive function
The Partizip I can be isolated in the clause. If

this is the case, it is not declined:
Es ist dringend
It is urgent
Das sieht wirklich spannend aus

That looks really fascinating
Partizip I with weak declension
If the Partizip I is preceded by a definite

article or by other particles that are
characterized by weak declension, it is
declined:
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

Nominative der die dringende das die dringenden
dringende Entscheidung dringende Entscheidungen
Termin Thema
Accusative den die dringende das die dringenden
dringenden Entscheidung dringende Entscheidungen
Termin Thema
Dative dem der dem den dringenden
dringenden dringenden dringenden Entscheidungen
Termin Entscheidung Thema
Genitive des der des der dringenden
dringenden dringenden dringenden Entscheidungen
Termins Entscheidung Themas
Partizip I with mixed declension
If the Partizip I is preceded by an indefinite

article or by other particles that are
characterized by mixed declension, it is
declined in this way:

Nominative ein eine ein einige
dringender dringende dringendes dringenden
Termin Entscheidung Thema Entscheidungen
Accusative einen eine ein einige
dringenden dringende dringendes dringenden
Dative einem einer einem einigen
dringenden dringenden dringenden dringenden
Genitive eines einer eines einiger
dringenden dringenden dringenden dringenden
Termins Entscheidung Themas Entscheidungen
Partizip I with strong declension
If the Partizip I is not preceded by any other

article or is preceded by other particles that
are characterized by strong declension, it is
declined like this:

Nominative dringender dringende dringendes dringende
Accusative dringenden dringende dringendes dringende
Dative dringendem dringender dringendem dringenden
Genitive dringendes dringender dringendes dringender
Termins Entscheidung Themas Entscheidungen
2. Partizip II
Also known as “Partizip Perfekt” (past
participle).
Construction of the Partizip II
Its construction depends on the verb in

question:
Regular verbs without a prefix
Construction: ge - (VERB STEM) -(e)t
Infinitiv Partizip II Meaning

kauf-en ge-kauf-t to buy
regn-en ge-regn-e-t to rain
An "-e-" is added to some verbs between the

stem and the final "-t" (for more details, see
the present indicative)
Regular verbs with separable prefix
Construction: (SEPARABLE PREFIX) - ge -

(VERB STEM) -(e)t

auf-rund-en auf-ge-rund-e-t to round up
ein-kauf-en ein-ge-kauf-t to go shopping
Regular verbs with inseparable prefix
Construction : (inseparable prefix) - (verb

stem) -(e)t
be-nutz-en be-nutz-t to use
ent-wickel-n ent-wickel-t to develop
Verbs ending with "-ieren"
Construction: (verb stem) -t
Infinitiv Partizip Meaning

II
studier- studier-t to study (at the
en University)
rotier-en rotier-t (to rotate)
Strong verbs
Most strong verbs follow the structure: ge-

(VERB STEM) - en

komm-en ge-komm-en to come
fahr-en ge-fahr-en to drive
although a few other verbs do not follow this

rule:

sein gewesen to be
haben gehabt to have
werden geworden to become/to be
In this link you can see the participles of the
main irregular verbs.
Use of the Partizip II
1. The following verb tenses are used for its

construction in the indicative as well as
subjunctive:
Perfekt
Plusquamperfekt
Futur II
2. It is used for all of the tenses in the

passive voice
3. Audiovisual complement
To end this article, we have Disney song for
you which really touches us: "Die Schöne
und das Biest" (Beauty and the Beast).
Beauty and the Be…

Be…

The Imperative (Command

form) in German (Imperativ)
1. Introduction
The imperative is used for expressing an

order and it also exists in English, its use
being the same in both languages. In
German, it is called Befehlsform and the
imperative sentence: Aufforderungssatz.
Trink ein Bier mit mir!

Drink a beer with me!
Steh auf, wenn du am Boden bist

Stand up when you are on the ground
Lies den Text vor
Read the text aloud
The imperative is a grammar mood. There

are three grammar moods in German:
The indicative
The subjunctive
The imperative
The conjugation of the imperative is very

simple. There is no 1st person or 3rd person
form of the singular. Let's look at an
example for the complete conjugation of the
imperative with the verb trinken:
Person Conjugation Meaning

1st person singular ---
2nd person singular trink drink
3rd person singular ---
1st person plural trink-en wir let's drink
2nd person plural trink-t drink
Polite form (Sie) trink-en Sie drink
Note: The imperative does not exist for

modal verbs.
2. Original forms for the imperative

The original imperative only has 2nd person
singular and plural forms, the clause lacking
a subject.
Verbal person Conjugation Translation

2nd person trink drink
singular
2nd person plural trink - t drink
Conjugation of the second person

singular for the imperative
For most verbs, the imperative is

constructed with the 2nd person singular of
the Indikativpräsens and by taking off the "-
st" ending.
Infinitive Present Imperative Meaning

2nd 2nd
person person
singular singular
studieren studier - studier(e) to study
st
arbeiten arbeite - arbeite to work
st
nehmen nimm - nimm to take
st
empfehlen empfiehl empfiehl to
- st recommend
Pay close attention: Although there is no
vowel change of "e" to "i" or to "ie" in the
stem of the last two examples, the verbs
keep complying with the rule that has been
shown. In some cases and with some verbs,
an "-e" is added in the imperative. For the
imperative of studieren, it is not just valid to
say studier but also studiere.
In the case of the stem ending with "-s", "-z",

"-x" or "-ß"
Due to the union of the "-s" with the last

letter of the stem, only the final "-t" is
removed:

2nd person 2nd person
singular singular
lesen lies - t lies to read
sitzen sitz - t sitz to sit
In the case of strong verbs that acquire an

Umlaut
Verbs that acquire the "Umlaut" in the

second and third person singular lose it in
the imperative:
2nd person 2nd person
singular singular
fahren fähr - st fahr to drive
In the case of infinitives ending with "-rn" or

"-ln"
Verbs ending with "-rn" or "-ln" add an "-e" in

the imperative:
Infinitive Present Infinitive Meaning

2nd 2nd
person person
singular singular
ändern änder - st ändere to
change
radeln radel - st rad(e)le to cycle
In the case of auxiliary verbs
In the imperative, auxiliary verbs don't follow

any rule and you have to memorize them.
Fortunately, there are only 3.

2nd 2nd
person person
singular singular
sein bi - st sei to be
haben ha - st hab(e) to have
werden wir - st werde to
become
Conjugating the second person

plural of the imperative
The conjugation for the 2nd person plural is

very easy because it is the same as that of
the present indicative.

2nd 2nd
person person
plural plural
studieren studier - studiert to study
t
arbeiten arbeite - arbeitet to work
t
nehmen nehm - t nehmt to take
empfehlen empfehl- empfehlt to
t recommend
3. Forms added to the imperative

The conjugation of the imperative with
forms added on is very simple: You just have
to know the infinitive of the verb + to whom
the order is given (wir [we] o Sie [you
formal]).
1st person plural trinken wir let's drink
Polite form (Sie) trinken Sie drink
4. The Particles "bitte" and "doch

mal"
The imperative can sound very impolite in
German. To make a phrase that sounds
more polite, one of the following particles is
added:
bitte
It means "please"
Komm bitte!
Come please!
doch mal
It means "let's go" or "come on" in the sense

of encouraging your conversation partner to
carry out an action.
Komm doch mal!

Come on!
5. Negation with the imperative

To construct a phrase with negation in the
imperative, the particle "nicht" is simply
added.
Iss nicht so viel

Don't eat so much
< HOME
Grammar

The Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv

II) in German
The subjunctive is used to express: Desire,

dreams, fantasies or imaginary situations.
We want you to get in gear because this is

one of the most difficult subjects in German.
Our humble opinion is that Germans are
good at making cars but have not done a
good job with their Konjunktiv. Let's get
going:
1. Use of "Konjunktiv II"
It is used to express:
desire, dreams, fantasies, imaginary

situations
Was würden Sie machen, wenn Sie

Bundeskanzler von Deutschland wären?
What would you do if you were the
President of Germany?
polite form for asking for something
Ich hätte gern eine Cola

I'd like a Coca-Cola
indirect speech for when use of

Konjunktiv I is ambiguous
Er meint er würde gut singen

He thinks that he sings well
Recommendations or suggestions
Wenn ich an deiner Stelle wäre, würde ich

ein gutes Buch kaufen
If I were in your place, I'd buy a good book
With the German words "fast" or

"beinahe" (both mean "almost"). When a
situation is described that just barely did
not take place.
die Frau wäre fast vom Pferd gefallen

die Frau wäre beinahe vom Pferd
gefallen
The woman almost fell from the horse
2. Original form of the Subjunctive II

(Konjunktiv II)
The original "Konjunktiv II" form is used for
auxiliary verbs, for modal verbs and some
irregular verbs. The reason is that for regular
verbs the "Konjunktiv II" is the same as the
"Präteritum", which is why the construction
"würde" + infinitive is used to avoid
confusion (this construction is sometimes
called "Konjunktiv III").
sein haben werden

ich wäre hätte würde
du wärst hättest würdest
wärest
er/sie/es wäre hätte würde
wir wären hätten würden
ihr wärt hättet würdet
wäret
sie wären hätten würden
Konjunktiv II with modal verbs

ich dürfte könnte möchte müsste sollte wollte
du dürftest könntest möchtest müsstest solltest wolltest
er/sie/es dürfte könnte möchte müsste sollte wollte
wir dürften könnten möchten müssten sollten wollten
ihr dürftet könntet möchtet müsstet solltet wolltet
sie dürften könnten möchten müssten sollten wollten
Was möchtest du tun?

What would you like to do?
Other verbs that use the original

Konjunktiv II form
The original Konjunktiv II form is used with

very few verbs. The most important ones
are:
Important note: The Konjunktiv II expresses

the PRESENT.
Verb Konjunktiv II
brauchen (to need) ich bräuchte

bringen (to bring) ich brächte
denken (to think) ich dächte
finden (to find) ich fände
geben (to give) ich gäbe
gehen (to go) ich ginge
kommen (to come) ich käme
tun (to do) ich täte
wissen (to know) ich wüsste
3. Würde + Infinitive
Given that the original form of the Konjunktiv
II is the same as the Präteritum for most
verbs, the "würde" + infinitive construction is
used often, which is called Konjuntiv III by
some authors.
NOTE 1: Würde + Infinitive expresses the

present or future.
NOTE 2: It is interesting that the Würde +

Infinitive form is Futur I with the auxiliary
verb werden conjugated in Konjuntiv II
Wenn ich an deiner Stelle wäre, würde ich

Deutsch lernen
If I were in your place, I would learn
German
Pron. Conj. würde
ich würde singen

du würdest singen
er/sie/es würde singen
Futur I Konjunktiv II
It is formed by conjugating werden in

Konjunktiv II: würde + infinitive:
Ich würde in Zukunft gerne ein Auto

haben
In the future, I would like to have a car
Futur II Konjunktiv II
Just like Futur I, it is formed by conjugating

werden in Konjuntiv II: würde + participle II +
( sein or haben):
Ich würde dieses Haus gekauft haben

I would have bought this house
< HOME
Verb

The Konjunktiv I in German

"Wir Deutschen haben die Welt
beherrscht,
fremde Völker, die Nordsee und
die Natur - den Konjunktiv nie."
"We Germans have dominated the
world, foreign peoples, the North Sea
and Nature but never the
subjunctive"
Quote from the cabaret artist and German
writer Dieter Hildebrandt (1927-2013)
1. Use of "Konjunktiv I"
Indirect speech
Konjunktiv I is used primarily for indirect

speech. Indirect speech is when the narrator
communicates what has been said by
another person.
You can see this more clearly with a couple

of examples:
Hans: Ich bin 30 Jahre alt
Hans: "I am 30 years old" (Direct speech)
Hans sagt, er sei 30 Jahre alt

Hans says that he is 30 years old (Indirect
speech)
Hans: Ich habe Durst

Hans: "I'm thirsty" (Direct speech)
Hans sagt, dass er Durst habe

Hans says that he's thirsty (Indirect
speech)
You can see that the clause with Konkunktiv

I ("er habe Durst") is accompanied by a main
clause in the Indicative ("Hans sagt").
The verbs used most often with indirect

speech
erzählen (to narrate, to tell)

fragen (to ask)
hören (to hear)
lesen (to read)
sagen (to say, to tell)
vermuten (to assume, to suppose)
versprechen (to promise)
Indirect speech without "Konjunktiv I"

If you use the particle "dass", it is correct
if the subordinate clause is in the
indicative instead of Konjunktiv I:
Konjunktiv I Hans sagt, er

Correct sei 30 Jahre alt
Konjunktiv I + dass Hans sagt,
Correct dass er Durst
habe
Indikativ + dass Hans sagt,
Correct dass er Durst
hat
Indikativ sin dass
Incorrect
Even though you can hear
people speak this way
If the Konjunktiv I is the same in the

Indikativ (something that happens quite
often), usually the Konjunktiv II is used in
place of Konjunktiv I for indirect speech.
2. Conjugation of "Konjunktiv I"

Konjunktiv I exists in the following verb
tenses:
Präsens
Perfekt
Futur I
Futur II (rarely used)
Präsens
Conjugation of regular verbs
As an example, let's check out the verb

malen (to paint):
Konjunktiv
Indikativ
I
ich mal -e mal -e

du mal -st mal -est
er/sie/es mal -t mal -e
wir mal -en mal -en
ihr mal -t mal -et
sie mal -en mal -en
You can see that the persons ich, wir and sie
are the same as the Indikativ. Depending on
the verb stem (for example, if the stem ends
with -t, such as arbeiten), it is possible that
the forms du and ihr also are the same as
the indicative. For this reason, the only form
that is always different is the 3rd person
singular.
Conjugation of irregular verbs

Let's look at the verb lesen (to read):
Konjunktiv
Indikativ
I
ich les-e les-e

du lies -t les -est
er/sie/es lies -t les -e
wir les-en les-en
ihr les-t les-et
sie les-en les-en
As a reminder, strong verbs were the ones

that changed their stem in the 2nd and 3rd
person singular forms in the present
indicative. That stem change disappears in
the subjunctive.
Conjugation of auxiliary verbs "sein" and

"haben"
The conjugation of the Konjunktiv I of the

verb sein has many peculiarities in its
stem: Sei is the 1st and 3rd person
singular form (with the "-e" ending)
The conjugation of haben for Konjuktiv I
is regular.
sein haben
ich sei habe
du seist hab-
/ est
seiest
er/sie/es sei hab-e
wir sei- hab-en
en
ihr sei-et hab-et
sie sei- hab-en
en
Perfekt
The Perfekt of "Konjunktiv I" is constructed

like this:
Verb sein or haben in the present of

subjunctive I + Participle II.
Konjunktiv
Indikativ
I
ich habe habe

gemalt gemalt
du hast habest
gemalt gemalt
er/sie/es hat habe
gemalt gemalt
wir haben haben
gemalt gemalt
ihr habt habet
gemalt gemalt
sie haben haben
gemalt gemalt
Futur I
The conjugation of Futur I in "Konjunktiv I" is:
The verb werden in the subjunctive I present

+ the infinitive.
Konjunktiv
Indikativ
I
ich werde werde

malen malen
du wirst werdest
malen malen
er/sie/es wird werde
malen malen
wir werden werden
malen malen
ihr werdet werdet
malen malen
sie werden werden
malen malen
Futur II
The conjugation of Futur II in Konjunktiv I is:
Verb werden in subjunctive I present =
Partizip II + the verb sein or haben in the
infinitive.
Futur II of Konjunktiv I exists but is not used.
Konjunktiv
Indikativ
I
ich werde werde

gemalt gemalt
haben haben
du wirst werdest
gemalt gemalt
haben haben
er/sie/es wird werde
gemalt gemalt
haben haben
wir werden werden
gemalt gemalt
haben haben
ihr werdet werdet
gemalt gemalt
haben haben
sie werden werden
gemalt gemalt
haben haben
< HOME
Verb

The Future in German (Futur I

and Futur II)
1. Futur I
Use of Futur I
Futur I in German is the same as the simple

future in English, having 4 functions:
Expressing a future event
Es wird regnen
It will rain
Expressing an intention
In many cases when Futur I is used with the
first person (ich, wir), it reflects the intention
of carrying out some action.
Ich werde morgen fliegen

I will fly tomorrow
If we are sure that the action will be carried

out, it is more correct to use the Präsens.
Er fliegt morgen
He's flying tomorrow
Giving an order (equivalent of the

imperative)
Du wirst jetzt die Hausaufgaben machen

You will do the homework now
Expressing an assumption about a

present fact
Sie wird müde sein

She is probably tired
Conjugation of "Futur I"
The conjugation is very simple: Verb

"werden" in the present + verb infinitive.
Verb werden in Präsens

Conjugation Meaning
ich werde I will work

arbeiten
du wirst you will
arbeiten work
er/sie/es wird he will work
arbeiten
wir werden we will work
arbeiten
ihr werdet you will
arbeiten work
(speaking to
a group)
sie werden they will
arbeiten work
Examples
Sie wird ein Auto kaufen

She will buy a car
Wir werden unsterblich sein

We will be immortal
2. Futur II
Use of Futur II
Futur II is the equivalent of the future perfect

in English. It has 2 functions:
Related topics: Present, Introduction to Verb
Conjugation
< HOME
Verb

The Past Perfect in German

(Plusquamperfekt)
The construction of the past perfect in the

German language explained in English
Just like in English, the past perfect is used
to indicate that an action was already
completed in the past.
1. The use of the past perfect

Just like in English, the past perfect is used
to indicate that an action was already
completed in the past. Usually it is used
together with a phrase in Präteritum or in
Perfekt.
Ich hatte den ganzen Tag gearbeitet.

Danach habe ich eingekauft
I had worked all day. Afterwards, I went
shopping
2. Conjugation
If the conjugation used for the Perfekt is
known, the past perfect is quite simple. It is
constructed with the auxiliary verb sein or
haben in Präteritum plus the Partizip II (see
decision: "sein" or "haben" in the Perfekt
article)
Conjugation with the verb "sein"
ich war I had

gekommen come
du warst you had
gekommen come
er/sie/es war he/she/it
gekommen had
come
wir waren we had
gekommen come
ihr wart you had
gekommen come
sie waren they had
gekommen come
Conjugation with the verb "haben"
ich hatte I had

gearbeitet worked
du hattest you had
gearbeitet worked
er/sie/es hatte he/she/it
gearbeitet had
worked
wir hatten we had
gearbeitet worked
ihr hattet you had
gearbeitet worked
sie hatten they had
gearbeitet worked
Examples
Nachdem sie aufgestanden war, hat sie

gefrühstückt
She had breakfast after she had gotten up
Ich hatte gekocht

I had cooked
Er war gegangen
He had gone
3. The passive of the

"Plusquamperfekt"
Main Article: German passive
Its construction is:

[verb "sein" in Präteritum] + [Partizip II] +
[worden]
Example 1:
in the active voice:

Ich hatte ein Buch gelesen
I had read a book
in the passive:
Ein Buch war gelesen worden
A book had been read
Example 2:
in the active voice:

Jemand hatte das Grab von
Tutanchamun entdeckt
Someone had discovered the
Tutankhamun's tomb
in the passive:
Das Grab von Tutanchamun war 1922
entdeckt worden
The tomb of Tutankhamun had been
discovered in 1922
4. The Konjunktiv of the

"Plusquamperfekt"
Main Article: Konjunktiv II
Starting with the past perfect of the
indicative, the construction of the past
perfect subjunctive is very simple. You just
have to substitute the auxiliary verb forms
for their Konjuntiv II forms
Indicative forms:
Ich hatte gegessen / Ich war geflogen

I had eaten / I had flown
"Konjunktiv II" forms:
Ich hätte gegessen / ich wäre geflogen

I would have eaten / I would have flown
5. Audiovisual Complement
Because not everything is theoretical, we
present you a hit song “99 Luftballons” from
a famous German pop singer:
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The Preterite in German

(Präteritum)
The preterite is only used regularly in written

German (For example: In novels or stories),
although is it more common in northern
Germany than in the south.
1. Use of the "Präteritum"

For an action in the past, there are basically
2 options in German, the "Präteritum" and
the Perfekt. The "Präteritum" is used:
With auxiliary verbs ( sein, haben,

werden) and with modal verbs: (können,
...)
In the written language, especially in
newspapers and books
It is more common in northern Germany.
2. Regular conjugation
It is formed in the following way for regular
verbs:
ich leb-te I lived

du leb-te-st you lived
er/sie/es leb-te he/she/it
lived
wir leb-te-n we lived
ihr leb-te-t you lived
sie leb-te-n they lived
Adding "–e-" between the stem

and the ending
Just like with the present indicative, if the

verb stem ends in:
"-d", "-t" as is the case with "schaden" (to

damage).
Strong consonant + "-n" or "–m" as is the
case with "eröffnen", "rechnen".
➜ An "–e-" is addd between the stem and
the ending.
ich arbeit-e-te I worked

du arbeit-e-te-st you worked
er/sie/es arbeit-e-te he/she/it worked
wir arbeit-e-te-n we worked
ihr arbeit-e-te-t you worked
sie arbeit-e-te-n they worked
Examples:
Er lebte in Spanien
He lived in Spain
Sie malte das Bild

She painted the picture
3. Irregular conjugation
Many verbs are irregular and they do not
follow the rule that was explained previously.
As an example, we can look at the verb
sehen (to see) where the "Präteritum" is
conjugated like this:

ich sah I saw
du sah-st you saw
er/sie/es sah he/she/it
saw
wir sah-en we saw
ihr sah-t you saw
sie sah-en they saw
Endings are the same for regular or irregular

verbs, what changes is the stem when the
Präteritum is formed.
This link shows the most important German

irregular verbs and their corresponding
"Präteritum".
4. The passive voice

The structure of the passive voice in the
"Präteritum" consists of:
[wurden, (werden in the Präteritum)] +

Partizip II
If the clause in the active voice is:
He read a book
Er las ein Buch
The equivalent clause in the passive voice

would be:
A book was read by him
Ein Buch wurde von ihm gelesen
More information about the passive voice
5. Audiovisual Complement
For this lesson, we’ve chosen a precious
Christmas song “Stille Nacht” (Christmas
Eve), interpreted by the spectacular Greek
artist Nana Mouscouri.
Copyright www.GermanVeryEasy.com 2008-2023 [no

cached] v9| Privacidad| Aviso Legal
The Perfect in German (Perfekt)
The "Perfekt" is the most used past tense in

German.
The "Perfekt" is used in spoken and non-
formal written language with non-modal
verbs.
1. Use of the "Perfekt"

The "Perfekt" is the most used verb tense for
referring to past actions in German. It is
used for 3 situations:
To refer to a past action without

any relation to the present
Theory says that, for a past action without
any relation to the present, the Präteritum
should be used. In practice, however, this is
only true for the written language and modal
verbs. The Perfekt is used in the spoken
language (or in non-formal written language)
with non-modal verbs. Perfekt is used more
in southern German and Präteritum is used
more often in northern Germany.
Er hat gestern Fußball gespielt

He played soccer yesterday
To refer to a past action that

continues in the present
If the action continues in the present, the

use of the Perfekt is mandatory.
Wir sind nach Spanien gereist

We travelled to Spain (and we still are
there)
To refer to an action that will be

completed in the future
To give "Perfekt" this connotation of being in

the future, it is necessary to add a temporal
particle that indicates the future. This may
seem a bit odd to you.
Ich habe es nächste Woche geschafft
I'll have it done next week
2. Conjugating the "Perfekt"

The conjugation of the "Perfekt" is easy
enough. It is constructed with the verb "sein"
or "haben" in the present indicative +
"Partizip II" of the verb.
Ich habe ein Bild gemalt

I have painted/ I painted a picture
Sie ist schon angekommen

She has already arrived / She arrived
already
3. When to use the auxiliary verbs

"haben" and "sein"
- "Sein" is only used as an auxiliary verb:
For the verbs "sein", "passieren", "bleiben",

"werden".
For intransitive verbs and non-reflexive

verbs that indicate movement or a
change in state such as: rennen (to run),
springen (to jump), laufen (to walk),
fallen (to fall), gehen (to walk), sterben
(to die), schmelzen (to melt), etc.
- The auxiliary verb "haben" is used in all
other cases.
- There are some verbs that can be transitive

or intransitive depending on the sentence
which is why they will sometimes have sein
or haben as auxiliary verbs. Examples that
we have are:
fahren (to drive), biegen (to turn), verderben

(to spoil), brechen (to break), fliegen (to fly),
treten (to step on, to go), schneiden (to
separate, to cut), reiten (to ride).
4. How Partizip II is constructed
It depends on what type of verb you are

dealing with:
Regular verbs without a prefix
ge - (VERB STEM) -(e)t

II
kauf-en ge-kauf-t to buy
regn-en ge-regn- to rain
e-t
An "-e-" between the stem and the final "-t" is

added with some verbs (for more details,
see the present indicative)
Regular verbs with a separable

prefix
(SEPARABLE PREFIX) - ge - (VERB STEM) -

(e)t

II
auf- auf-ge- to round
rund-en rund-e-t up
ein- ein-ge- to go
kauf-en kauf-t shopping
Regular verbs with inseparable

prefix
(INSEPARABLE PREFIX) - (VERB STEM) -

(e)t

II
be- be-nutz-t to use
nutz-en
ent- ent- to
wickel- wickel-t develop
n
Verbs ending with "-ieren"

(VERB STEM) -t

II
studier- studier- to study
en t (at the
University)
rotier- rotier-t to rotate
en
Irregular verbs
Many of the irregular verbs follow the

construction:
ge - (VERB STEM) -(e)n
Example:

II
backen gebacken to bake
braten gebraten to fry
fahren gefahren to drive
fallen gefallen to fall
fangen gefangen to catch
But, unfortunately, most irregular verbs do

not follow any easy rule to learn:
Examples:
haben gehabt to have
werden geworden to
become
wissen gewusst to know
verlieren verloren to lose
This link has most of the irregular verbs'

participles in German.
5. The passive voice of the Perfekt

The construction of the passive voice in the
"Perfekt" consists of:
[sein conjugated in the present] + PARTIZIP

II + worden.
As a reminder: "Worden" is the Partizip II of

the verb "werden" when it acts as an
auxiliary verb.
If the sentence in the active voice in the

"Perfekt" is:
He has read a book

Er hat ein Buch gelesen
The equivalent sentence in the passive voice

would be:
The book has been read by him
Das Buch ist von ihm gelesen worden
6. The "Perfekt" with modal verbs

With modal verbs it is much more common
to use the "Präteritum" than the "Perfekt" to
indicate the past.
If the modal verb is accompanied by

another verb (99% of the cases), the
structure is:
Verb haben + THE INFINITIVE OF THE

FULL VERB + THE INFINITIVE OF THE
MODAL VERB
Er hat nicht fliegen wollen

He hasn't wanted to fly / He didn't
want to fly
If there is no full verb, the structure is
Verb haben + PARTIZIP II OF THE

MODAL VERB
Er hat nicht gewollt

He didn't want to / He hasn't wanted
to
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Verb

The present tense in German

(Präsens)
1. Use of the Present
The use of the present in German is almost

the same as the present in English. It is used
for:
Talking about events in the present

Things that are independent of time such
as physical laws, etc.
In German, the present is often used for
future actions with a temporal adverb
Example:
Ich komme morgen
I’ll come tomorrow
2. Regular Conjugation
For the normal conjugation the verb stem
does not change for any of the persons and
different endings are added depending on
the person.
For example, we show the conjugation of the

verb: "leben" (to live) with the different
endings in bold:
Conjugation Meaning
ich leb-e I live
du leb-st you live
er/sie/es leb-t he/she/it lives
wir leb-en we live
ihr leb-t you live
sie leb-en they live
Inserting "–e-" between the stem

and the ending
If the verb stem ends in:

"-d", "-t". as is the case with "bitten" (to
ask), "arbeiten" (to work).
hard consonant (b, ch, d, f, g, p, t) )
followed by "-n" or "-m" as is the case
with "eröffnen" (to open something),
rechnen (to calculate).
An "–e-" is inserted between the stem and

the ending so that pronunciation is easier.
For example, let’s see the conjugation of the

verb "arbeiten" in the present:
Conjugation Meaning
ich arbeit-e I work
du arbeit-e-st you work
er/sie/es arbeit-e-t he/she/it works

wir arbeit-en we work
ihr arbeit-e-t you work

(speaking to a group)
sie arbeit-en they work
Dropping the "–s"
Verbs whose stems end in "–s", "-z", "-x" or "-

ß" lose an "–s" in the second person.
For example, the verb "sitzen" (to sit) in the
second person would have to be "sitzst" but
this is impossible to pronounce. That is why
it loses an s and ends ups simply as "sitzt".
Conjugation Meaning
ich sitze I sit
du sitzt you sit
er/sie/es sitzt he/she/it sit

wir sitzen we sit
ihr sitzt you sit

sie sitzen they sit
Conjugating verbs ending in "-eln"
Verbs ending in –eln such as klingeln (to

ring (the doorbell)) lose an e on occasion in
the 1st person singular. You also have to
keep in mind that the 1st person and the 3rd
person plural are formed with –n and not -en
Conjugation Meaning
ich klingle or I ring

klingele
du klingelst you ring
er/sie/es klingelt he/she/it rings
wir klingeln we ring
ihr klingelt you ring

sie klingeln they ring
Conjugation of verbs ending in "-

ern"
Verbs ending in "–ern" such as "ändern"

(change), like the previous case of verbs
ending in "–eln", form the 1st person and the
3rd person plural with "–n" instead of "-en".
Conjugation Meaning
ich ändere I change
du änderst you change
er/sie/es ändert he/she/it changes

wir ändern we change
ihr ändert you change

sie ändern they change
The present in colloquial language

(Umgangssprache)
It is very common in spoken language, and
sometimes in written language, to remove
the e ending of the 1st person singular:
Umgangsprache
Official form
(Slang)
ich lebe ich leb

ich habe ich hab
A common error (among Germans) is to

write this contraction with an apostrophe:
"ich leb’" or "ich hab’".
Main article: Use of the apostrophe
3. Irregular verbs
The verb sein (to be) is irregular in all of its
conjugations:
Conjugation Meaning
ich bin I am
du bist you are
er/sie/es ist he/she/it is

wir sind we are
ihr seid you are

sie sind they are

The modal verbs and the verb wissen are
irregular in the first three conjugations:
Conjugation Meaning
ich weiß I know
du weißt you know
er/sie/es weiß he/she/it knows

wir wissen we know
ihr wisst you know

sie wissen they know
The other strong verbs are only irregular in

the 2nd and 3rd person singular forms. For
example, let’s look at the verb sehen:
Conjugation Meaning
ich sehe I see
du siehst you see
er/sie/es sieht he/she/it sees

wir sehen we see
ihr seht you see

sie sehen they see
Main article:Irregular verbs in German
4. Present Continuous. The particle

"gerade"
In German the present continuous tense is
formed with the particle "gerade". This
particle makes the action sound like it is
taking place at this very moment. "Gerade" is
the equivalent of the gerund form in English.
Take a look at these 2 phrases:
I study German
Ich lerne Deutsch
I am studying German
Ich lerne gerade Deutsch
There is an important difference. The first

phrase means that even though I am
studying German, I am not necessarily doing
it right now. The second phrase means that I
am studying German now.
5. The passive
When the subject is not important and you
want to emphasize the direct object, the
sentence is constructed with the passive:
The present passive’s structure consists of [
werden conjugated in the present] + Partizip
II.
If the sentence in the active voice is:
He reads a book
Er liest ein Buch

would be:
The book is read by him

Ein Buch wird von ihm gelesen
6. Audiovisual supplement
A nice song follows from die Prinzen:
"Deutschland".
Die Prinzen…
Prinzen…
< HOME
Verb

The present tense in German

(Präsens)
1. Use of the Present
The use of the present in German is almost

the same as the present in English. It is used
for:
Talking about events in the present

Things that are independent of time such
as physical laws, etc.
In German, the present is often used for
future actions with a temporal adverb
Example:
Ich komme morgen
I’ll come tomorrow
2. Regular Conjugation
For the normal conjugation the verb stem
does not change for any of the persons and
different endings are added depending on
the person.
For example, we show the conjugation of the

verb: "leben" (to live) with the different
endings in bold:
Conjugation Meaning
ich leb-e I live
du leb-st you live
er/sie/es leb-t he/she/it lives
wir leb-en we live
ihr leb-t you live
Inserting "–e-" between the stem

and the ending
If the verb stem ends in:

"-d", "-t". as is the case with "bitten" (to
ask), "arbeiten" (to work).
hard consonant (b, ch, d, f, g, p, t) )
followed by "-n" or "-m" as is the case
with "eröffnen" (to open something),
rechnen (to calculate).
An "–e-" is inserted between the stem and

the ending so that pronunciation is easier.
For example, let’s see the conjugation of the

verb "arbeiten" in the present:
Conjugation Meaning
ich arbeit-e I work
du arbeit-e-st you work
er/sie/es arbeit-e-t he/she/it works

wir arbeit-en we work
ihr arbeit-e-t you work

sie arbeit-en they work
Dropping the "–s"
Verbs whose stems end in "–s", "-z", "-x" or "-

ß" lose an "–s" in the second person.
For example, the verb "sitzen" (to sit) in the
second person would have to be "sitzst" but
this is impossible to pronounce. That is why
it loses an s and ends ups simply as "sitzt".
Conjugation Meaning
ich sitze I sit
du sitzt you sit
er/sie/es sitzt he/she/it sit

wir sitzen we sit
ihr sitzt you sit

sie sitzen they sit
Conjugating verbs ending in "-eln"
Verbs ending in –eln such as klingeln (to

ring (the doorbell)) lose an e on occasion in
the 1st person singular. You also have to
keep in mind that the 1st person and the 3rd
person plural are formed with –n and not -en
Conjugation Meaning
ich klingle or I ring

klingele
du klingelst you ring
er/sie/es klingelt he/she/it rings
wir klingeln we ring
ihr klingelt you ring

sie klingeln they ring
Conjugation of verbs ending in "-

ern"
Verbs ending in "–ern" such as "ändern"

(change), like the previous case of verbs
ending in "–eln", form the 1st person and the
3rd person plural with "–n" instead of "-en".
Conjugation Meaning
ich ändere I change
du änderst you change
er/sie/es ändert he/she/it changes

wir ändern we change
ihr ändert you change

sie ändern they change
The present in colloquial language

(Umgangssprache)
It is very common in spoken language, and
sometimes in written language, to remove
the e ending of the 1st person singular:
Umgangsprache
Official form
(Slang)
ich lebe ich leb

ich habe ich hab
A common error (among Germans) is to

write this contraction with an apostrophe:
"ich leb’" or "ich hab’".
Main article: Use of the apostrophe
3. Irregular verbs
The verb sein (to be) is irregular in all of its
conjugations:
Conjugation Meaning
ich bin I am
du bist you are
er/sie/es ist he/she/it is

wir sind we are
ihr seid you are

sie sind they are

The modal verbs and the verb wissen are
irregular in the first three conjugations:
Conjugation Meaning
ich weiß I know
du weißt you know
er/sie/es weiß he/she/it knows

wir wissen we know
ihr wisst you know

sie wissen they know
The other strong verbs are only irregular in

the 2nd and 3rd person singular forms. For
example, let’s look at the verb sehen:
Conjugation Meaning
ich sehe I see
du siehst you see
er/sie/es sieht he/she/it sees

wir sehen we see
ihr seht you see

sie sehen they see
Main article:Irregular verbs in German
4. Present Continuous. The particle

"gerade"
In German the present continuous tense is
formed with the particle "gerade". This
particle makes the action sound like it is
taking place at this very moment. "Gerade" is
the equivalent of the gerund form in English.
Take a look at these 2 phrases:
I study German
Ich lerne Deutsch
I am studying German
Ich lerne gerade Deutsch
There is an important difference. The first

phrase means that even though I am
studying German, I am not necessarily doing
it right now. The second phrase means that I
am studying German now.
5. The passive
When the subject is not important and you
want to emphasize the direct object, the
sentence is constructed with the passive:
The present passive’s structure consists of [
werden conjugated in the present] + Partizip
II.
If the sentence in the active voice is:
He reads a book
Er liest ein Buch

would be:
The book is read by him

Ein Buch wird von ihm gelesen
6. Audiovisual supplement
A nice song follows from die Prinzen:
"Deutschland".
Die Prinzen…
Prinzen…
< HOME
Verb

Introduction to Verb
Conjugation
Most German verbs end with "-en" and a few

end with "-rn" or with "-ln" (the verbs sein and
tun are exceptions)
Conjugations, are done with a verb stem,

adding an ending that indicate who is
completing the action (person and number).
The verb stem is taken from the infinitive

without the "-en" ending.
As an example, if we look at the verb "leben"

(to live), its stem is "leb-" and the present
indicative conjugation is:
Pronoun Conjugation Meaning
ich leb-e I live

du leb-st you live
er/sie/es leb-t he lives
wir leb-en we live
ihr leb-t you live
1. List of verb tenses

German has the following verb tenses:
Konjunktiv
Indikativ Konjunktiv II
I
Präsens Präsens
Präteritum Präteritum
Perfekt Perfekt
Plusquamperfekt Plusquamperfekt
Futur I Futur I Futur I
Futur II Futur II Futur II
"Indikativ" is the equivalent of the

indicative in English.
Konjunktiv I is used for indirect speech.
Konjunktiv II Is the equivalent of the
subjunctive mood in English and it's used
sometimes instead of "Konjuntiv I" for
indirect speech.
2. Regular Verbs
All the regular verbs ("regelmäßige Verben")
are also weak verbs ("schwache Verben")
[This means that their stem does not change
in the conjugations].
Example with the conjugation a

regular verb: "arbeiten"
Konjunktiv
Indikativ Konjunktiv II
I
Präsens Präsens (doesn't exist)

ich arbeite ich arbeite
du arbeitest du arbeitest
er arbeitet er arbeite
wir arbeiten wir arbeiten
ihr arbeitet ihr arbeitet
sie arbeiten sie arbeiten
Präteritum Präteritum
ich arbeitete (doesn't ich arbeitete
du arbeitetest exist) du arbeitetest
er arbeitete er arbeitete
wir arbeiteten wir arbeiteten
ihr arbeitetet ihr arbeitetet
sie arbeiteten sie arbeiteten
Perfekt Perfekt (doesn't exist)
ich habe ich habe
gearbeitet gearbeitet
du hast du habest
er hat gearbeitet er habe
wir haben gearbeitet
gearbeitet wir haben
ihr habt gearbeitet
gearbeitet ihr habt
sie haben gearbeitet
gearbeitet sie haben
gearbeitet
Plusquamperfekt (doesn't Plusquamperfekt
ich hatte exist) ich hätte
du hattest du hättest
er hatte er hätte
wir hatten wir hätten
ihr hattet ihr hättet
sie hatten sie hätten
Futur I Futur I Futur I
ich werde ich werde ich würde
arbeiten arbeiten arbeiten
du wirst arbeiten du werdest du würdest
er wird arbeiten arbeiten arbeiten
wir werden er werde er würde arbeiten
arbeiten arbeiten wir würden
ihr werdet wir werden arbeiten
arbeiten arbeiten ihr würdet
sie werden ihr werdet arbeiten
arbeiten arbeiten sie würden
sie werden arbeiten
arbeiten
Futur II Futur II Futur II
ich werde ich werde ich würde
gearbeitet haben gearbeitet gearbeitet haben
du wirst haben du würdest
gearbeitet haben du werdest gearbeitet haben
er wird gearbeitet gearbeitet er würde
haben haben gearbeitet haben
wir werden er werde wir würden
gearbeitet haben gearbeitet gearbeitet haben
ihr werdet haben ihr würdet
gearbeitet haben wir werden gearbeitet haben
sie werden gearbeitet sie würden
gearbeitet haben haben gearbeitet haben
Die Prinzen…
Prinzen…
< HOME
Grammar

Home > Grammar >Subordinate
clauses >
Relative Clauses in German
The formation of "Relativsätze" explained in

English, Relative pronouns "deren" and
"dessen".
Relative clauses are for adding information
about a noun.
Du bist der Mann, den ich liebe

You are the man that I love
You should have the following in mind about

relative clauses in German:
- the conjugated verb is placed at the end of
the relative clause.
- sometimes a comma is placed in front of
the relative pronoun.
1. Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are shown in this table:
Nominative der die das die
Accusative den die das die
Dative dem der dem denen
Genitive dessen deren dessen deren
This table is not very hard to learn because it

is very similar to the one with the definite
articles. The only thing that is different is the
genitive and the dative plural.
Surely you are asking yourself, why so

many? And, how do I know which one to
choose? We’ll explain that next.
Relative Pronoun Gender
The relative pronoun gender is defined by

the gender of the noun that it complements.
An example:
Die Frau , die das Auto hat, ist reich

The woman that has the car is rich
As you see in the previous example, "Frau" is

a feminine noun so the relative pronoun that
follows it has to be feminine as well (die).
2. Types of Relative Clauses

Relative clauses can be nominative,
accusative, dative or genitive. Let’s look at
them all in detail because this is very
important:
Nominative
The relative pronoun acts as a subject and

the conjugated verb is placed at the end of
the relative clause. Remember: the verb has
to be conjugated in association with the
relative pronoun (make sure if it is singular
or plural).
Das Kind, das dort spielt , wohnt in der

Schweiz
The child that is playing there lives in
Switzerland
Die Kinder, die dort spielen , wohnen in

der Schweiz
The children that are playing there live in
Switzerland
Accusative
When the relative pronoun is accusative, the

pronoun is placed in the first position and
therefore the subject is moved to the second
position and, as always, the conjugated verb
goes to the end of the relative clause:
Der Roman, den ich lesen will , ist "El

Quijote"
The novel that I want to read is "El
Quijote"
Das Buch, das ich lesen will , ist "El

Quijote"
The book that I want to read is "El Quijote"
Dative
The dative and accusative work the same

with the exception of the relative pronoun.
This time, however, we’ve provided you with
an example that is a bit more difficult. Notice
that the relative pronoun might be
accompanied by a preposition as well:
Der Kunde, mit dem ich gerade

gesprochen habe, ist Deutscher
The client that I just spoke to is German
(most likely a male customer but not
definitively)
Die Kundin, mit der ich gerade

gesprochen habe, ist Deutsche
The (female) client that I just spoke to is
German
Genitive
The relative pronouns "deren" and "dessen"

are translated as "whose", its or their:
Die Nachbarin, deren Kind in meiner

Klasse war, ist krank
The neighbor whose child was in my
class is sick
Der Nachbar, dessen Kind in meiner

Klasse war, ist krank
The neighbor whose child was in my
class is sick
< HOME
Grammar

Home >
The subordinate clause in

German (Nebensatz)
The subordinate clauses are

complicated and are often not fully
understandable. In this article we
have tried our best to explain them in
the clearest way possible. Let’s get
going:
1. Introduction
A complex sentence (Satzgefüge) is formed
by a main clause (Hauptsatz) and a
subordinate clause (Nebensatz).
COMPLEX SENTENCE = MAIN CLAUSE +

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
Types of subordinate clause constructions:
Subordinate clauses with a conjunction

Common subordinate clauses
Infinitive subordinate clause
Subordinate clauses without a

conjunction
Relative Clauses
Subordinate clauses from the

"Konjunktiv I" without dass
2. Common Subordinate Clauses

Common subordinate clauses are the most
used subordinate clauses and have the
following characteristics:
They have a common subordinate

conjunction
The conjugated verb is placed at the end
of a the clause
It’s easier to see this with an example:
Ich wusste nicht, dass du so klug bist

I didn’t know that you were so smart
One type of subordinate clause is the

conditional clause.
Common subordinate
conjunctions
subordinate
conjunctions
als obwohl während

bevor seit weil
bis sobald wenn
dass sofern wie
damit soweit wo
ob sowie
3. Infinitive Subordinate Clauses

Infinitive subordinate clauses are
characterized by not having a subject. The
subject is understood by the information in
the main clause. The subject that is omitted
from the subordinate clause can be either
the main clause’s subject or its
direct/indirect object or another that is
understood to be there.
Er hat den Befehl gegeben, ihn nicht zu

stören
He gave the order to not disturb him
Infinitive Subordinate
Conjunctions
Infinitive
Subordinate Conjunctions
anstatt zu statt zu um zu
außer zu ohne zu zu
4. Relative clauses
An example of this type of clause is:
Hast Du die Lampe, die du gestern

gesehen hast, gekauft?
Did you buy the lamp that you saw
yesterday?
This type if clause is explained in: Relative

clauses
5. Subordinate Clauses of the

"Konjunktiv I" without "dass"
With the clauses of the Konjunktiv I it is not
necessary to use a conjunction. You simply
say:
Martin sagt, er sei Schauspieler

Martin says he’s an actor
Even though it is also ok to use "dass":
Martin sagt, dass er Schauspieler sei

6. The Comma in Subordinate
Clauses
In German, you have to put in a comma to
separate the main clause (Hauptsatz) from
the subordinate clause (Nebensatz)
Ich mache, was ich will

I do what I want
7. Inverting the Subordinate Clauses

As we stated previously, the typical structure
of a subordinate clause is:
COMPLEX SENTENCE= MAIN CLAUSE +

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
ich weiß nicht, ob er mich liebt

I don’t know if he loves me
Sometimes, more importance is given to the

subordinate clause and therefore it comes
first:
COMPLEX SENTENCE = SUBORDINATE

CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE
Ob er mich liebt, weiß ich nicht

Whether/if he loves me, I don’t know
It should be emphasized that the
subordinate clause now occupies the first
position in the sentence, which makes the
subject move to the 3rd position so that the
verb stays in the second position.

Home > Grammar >
Sentence Structure in German
The word order in German is rather strict.

We'll explain the type of components that a
sentence has in detail and how they are
organized.
The parts of a sentence in German to have in
mind are:
The subject
The verb
Particles that occupy position 0
(coordinate conjunctions and W-words)
Objects: Accusative and Dative
Complements
The particle nicht
1. The subject
Typical subject placement.

Position 1
The subject usually is in [POSITION 1] in the
sentence:
Ich habe einen Hund

I have a dog
Subject inversion. Position 3
To emphasize a complement or an object, it

can be placed in [POSITION 1], which makes
the subject move to [POSITION 3]:
Einen Hund habe ich

I have a dog
This complement can be even a subordinate

clause:
Während meiner Kindheit war ich sehr

zufrieden
During my youth, I was very happy
Interrogation. Subject in position

2
With interrogative sentences, the verb takes

[POSITION 1] which is why it moves the
subject to [POSITION 2]
Hast du einen Hund?

Do you have a dog?
Original imperative forms. There
is no subject
The 2nd person singular and plural of the

imperative do not have a subject.
Komm jetzt her

Come here now
2nd person komm come

singular
2nd person plural komm - t come
Forms added to the imperative.

Subject in position 2
In forms added to the imperative, the verb

and the subject are organized like in the
interrogative sentences:
Trinken wir noch ein Bier

Let’s drink one more beer
1st person plural trinken wir let’s drink

Polite form trinken Sie drink
2. The verb
Typical placement of the
conjugated verb in position 2
If there is just one verb, it is placed in

[POSITION 2]
Ich bin 30 Jahre alt

I am 30 years old
If there are several verbs, the conjugated

verb is placed in [POSITION 2] and the
unconjugated one (an infinitive or a
participle) in the [LAST POSITION] of the
sentence.
Ich möchte Deutsch lernen

I want to learn German
Conjugated verb with

interrogation and the imperative in
position 1
In interrogative sentences, the conjugated

verb takes [POSITION 1] and, if there is an
unconjugated one, it takes the [LAST
POSITION]
Haben Sie Deutsch in der Schule

gelernt?
Did you study German at school? (formal)
Komm her!
Come here!
Conjugated verb in the last

position in subordinate clauses or in
relative clauses
In subordinate clauses or relative clauses,

the conjugated verb is placed in the [LAST
POSITION], moving the unconjugated verb
(infinitive or participle) to the [SECOND TO
LAST POSITION].
Subordinate clauses
Ich glaube nicht, dass du heute kommen

darfst
I don't think that you may come today
"Darfst" is the conjugated verb [LAST

POSITION] and "kommen" is the
unconjugated verb [SECOND TO LAST
POSITION].
The subordinate conjunctions are those

which make the conjugated verb go to the
end of the sentence and are the following:
als (when), bevor (before), bis (until), dass

(that), damit (so that), ob (if), obwohl
(despite), seit (since), sobald (as soon as),
sofern (as long as), soweit (as far as), sowie
(as soon as), während (while), weil
(because), wenn (if), wie (how), wo (where)
Relative clauses
Das ist das Mädchen, das ich in der

Schule gesehen habe
This is the girl that I saw at school
"Habe" is the conjugate verb [LAST

POSITION] and "gesehen" is the
unconjugated verb (second to last position).
3. Particles that occupy position

zero (particles that have no
influence)
"Particles of position 0" means that they do
not influence the order of the sentence.
Conjunctions
There are some conjunctions that do not

take a grammatical position in the sentence.
Let’s look at an example:
Ich bin müde denn ich habe wenig

geschlafen
I am tired because I slept little
Let’s analyse the clause in yellow:
POSITION POSITION POSITION LAST

0 1 2 POSITION
Coordinate Subject Conjugated Complements Unconjugated
conjunction verb Verb
denn ich habe wenig geschlafen
The following conjunctions take position 0 in

the sentence:
aber
beziehungsweise
denn
oder
sondern
und
Interrogative particles
Interrogative particles take position 0.

Therefore, the verb takes position 1 and the
subject takes position 2:
Wie alt bist du?

How old are you?
The following particles do not take a

position in the sentence:
Pronouns Adverbs
Wer Wann Wie Wo
Wie Woran
Was Warum
alt Worauf
Wie Woraus
Welcher Wie
viel Wobei
Wie Wogegen
lange Worin
Wie Womit
oft Worüber
Wie Worum
teuer Wozu
Wie Wohin
weit Woher
4. Objects
Objects are organized in the following order:
Accusative pronouns (mich, dich, ihn, sie,

es, uns, euch)
Dative pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm,
uns, euch, ihnen)
Dative object (z.B.: meiner Mutter)
Accusative object (z.B. einen Brief)
Let’s see some examples to get a clearer

idea of this:
DATIVE OBJECT + ACCUSATIVE OBJECT
Ich schicke meiner Mutter einen Brief

I am sending a letter my mother
DATIVE PRONOUN + ACCUSATIVE OBJECT
Ich schicke ihr einen Brief

I am sending a letter to her
ACCUSATIVE PRONOUN + DATIVE OBJECT
Ich schicke ihn meiner Mutter

I am sending it to my mother
ACCUSATIVE PRONOUN + DATIVE

PRONOUN
Ich schicke ihn ihr

I am sending it to her
5. Order of complements:
TEKAMOLO
Complements are placed between the
conjugated verb and the unconjugated verb:
Subject Conjugated Complements Accusative Unconjugated

Verb Object Verb
Herr hat gestern aus Blumen gekauft
Meier Liebe im
Geheimen in
München
Out of love, Mister Meier secretly bought
flowers in Munich yesterday
Complements are organized amongst

themselves by following the mnemonic rule
TEKAMOLO:
1. Temporal (TE)
2. Causal (KA)
3. Modal (MO)
4. Locative (LO)
Let’s see an example:
Temporal Kausal Modal Lokal

gestern aus im in
Liebe Geheimen München
6. The particle "nicht"

As we’ve seen in German negation, the
adverb "nicht" is the most common type of
negation. By placing "nicht" in a different
position, the meaning can change.
Nicht negating the verb
It makes the verb of the sentence negative

when placed right before the unconjugated
verb (if there is one) or at the end of the
sentence:
Ich möchte nicht essen
I don’t want to eat
Ich esse nicht

I don’t eat
"Nicht" negating a complement
When placed before any complement, it

negates the complement
Ich möchte nicht jeden Tag Nudeln

essen
I don’t want to eat pasta every day (every
day is negated)
Ich möchte nicht zu spät essen

I don’t want to eat so late (so late is what
is negated)
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Home > Grammar >
Plural in German
For English speakers, the plural in

German is exasperating. We are
happy to just add a simple "–s". In
German it’s much more complicated.
Get into fighting mode; we think
you’ll need to. Here’s our
explanation:
1. Summary of the most common

plurals
Because this subject is pretty complicated,
we’ve made a small table with the most
common suffixes for making the plural
depending on the gender:
Masculine Feminine Neuter

Common
[-e] [-en] [-e]
[¨-e] [-n] [ - ]
[-] [-nen]
Less
common
[-en] [¨-e] [-er]
[-n] [ ¨ -er]
[¨]
Adopted
foreign
[-s]
words
2. No plural
Some nouns do not have a plural form in
German:
Names of countries, rivers, cities:
Example Meaning
die Türkei Turkey

die Wolga the Volga
München Munich
Abstract concepts:
Example Meaning
die Zweisprachigkeit bilingualism

die Abgespanntheit exhaustion
die Zuvorkommenheit courtesy
die Wut rage
3. General rules that are applicable

to all genders
Constructing the plural with "-s"
Just like in English it’s normal to construct

the plural with the ending "–s". In German,
however, only a few adopted foreign words
have this plural.
Noun Plural Meaning
die Kamara die Kamaras camera

der Gorilla die Gorillas gorilla
das Auto die Autos car
4. The plural for feminine nouns

The construction of the plural for feminine
nouns is the easiest in German:
The possibilities are:
Frequency Plural
Adding "-en"
Very common
Adding "-n"
Common Adding "-nen"
Adding [Umlaut] + "-e"
Rare
"-nis" -> "-nisse"
Adding [Umlaut] + "–en"
Adding [Umlaut]
"-a" -> "-en"
Very rare "-sis" -> "-sen"
"xis" -> "-xien"
"-aus" -> "-äuse"
"-itis" -> "-iden"
Adding "-en"
The large majority of feminine nouns that do

not end in "-e" make their plural with "-en":
Noun Plural Meaning
die Datei die Dateien file
die die apartment

Wohnung Wohnungen
die Fabrik die Fabriken factory
The following endings which guarantee that

the noun is feminine should be emphasized:
"-ei", "-ung", "-heit", "-keit", "-ion", "-schaft", "-ik",
"-eur", "-enz", "-tät", "-itis", "-sis".
Adding "-n"
If a feminine noun ends in "-e", its plural is

always constructed with "-n" (Note: Not all
nouns ending with "-e" are feminine. For
example: der Käse)
Noun Plural Meaning
die Lampe die Lampen lamp
die Fantasie die Fantasien fantasy

die Narzisse die Narzissen narcissus
The following endings guarantee that the

noun is feminine and their plural is with "-n"
: -ie , -ade, -age, -ere, -ine, -isse, -ive, -se,
Adding "-nen"
The feminine nouns that end in "-in" make

their plural with "-nen".
Noun Plural Meaning
die Chefin die Chefinnen boss

A few feminine nouns add [Umlaut] + "-e".
Noun Plural Meaning
die Kraft die Kräfte force
die Angst die Ängste fear
Plural: "-a" ➜ "-en"
Some words not from German origin ending

in "-a" make their plural with "-en"
Noun Plural Meaning
die Firma die Firmen company

die Skala die Skalen scale
Plural: "-sis" ➜ "-sen"
Nouns ending in "-sis" construct their plural

with "-sen"
Noun Plural Meaning
die Analysis die Analysen analysis

Plural: "-xis" ➜ "-xien"
The plural for nouns ending with "-xis" are

constructed with "-xien"
Noun Plural Meaning
die Galaxis die Galaxien galaxy
Plural: "-itis"➜ "-iden"
The feminine nouns ending with "-itis"

construct their plural with -den
Noun Plural Meaning
die Cellulitis die Cellulitiden cellulitis
Plural: "-nis" ➜ "-nisse"
Feminine nouns ending in "-nis" construct

their plural by adding the ending "-se"
Noun Plural Meaning
die Befugnis die Befugnisse authorization

Plural: "-aus" ➜ "-äuse"
Feminine nouns ending with "-aus" add an

Umlaut over the "a" and add the ending "e".
Noun Plural Meaning
die Maus die Mäuse mouse
Adding [Umlaut]
There are two feminine nouns that construct

their plural with Umlaut: "Mutter" and
"Tochter".
Noun Plural Meaning
die Mutter die Mütter mother
die Tochter die Töchter daughter
Adding [Umlaut] + "-en"
A plural form that is not very common is the

[Umlaut] + "–en" that practically is used only
with the word "Werkstatt"
Noun Plural Meaning
die Werkstatt die Werkstätten workshop
5. Plural for masculine nouns
Frequency Plural
Adding "-e"
Common Adding [Umlaut] + "-e"
Not adding an ending
Adding [Umlaut]
Adding "-n" (N-Deklination)
Rare
Adding "-en" (N-Deklination)
"-us" -> "-usse"
Adding "-en" (no N-Deklination)
Adding "-er"
Very rare Adding [Umlaut] + "-er"
Adding "-ten"
Plural "-us" -> "-i"
Adding "-e"
Many masculine nouns form their plural with

"-e". The endings that guarantee the use of
this plural are: "-ich", "-ig", "-ling", "-är" (only
those coming from French) and "-eur".
Noun Plural Meaning
der Teppich die Teppiche carpet
der König die Könige king
der die butterfly

Schmetterling Schmetterlinge
der Veterinär die Veterinäre veterinarian
der Friseur die Friseure barber
Some nouns form the plural with [Umlaut] +

"-e". We emphasize the following:
Noun Plural Meaning
der Platz die Plätze seat

der Kuss die Küsse kiss
der Hals die Hälse neck
der Arzt die Ärzte doctor
der Fluss die Flüsse river
Not adding any ending

Many masculine nouns ending with "-er" and
"-el" do not add any ending.
Noun Plural Meaning
der Schüler die Schüler student

der Würfel die Würfel dice
Adding [Umlaut]
Many masculine nouns ending with "-er" and

"-el" add just an Umlaut.
Noun Plural Meaning
der Vater die Väter father
der Mantel die Mäntel overcoat
Adding "-n" [according to the N-

Deklination]
Many masculine nouns ending with "-e" are

declined according the "N-Deklination".
Singular Plural
Nominative der Kunde die Kunden

Accusative den Kunden die Kunden
Dative dem Kunden den Kunden
Genitive des Kunden der Kunden
Examples of nouns that follow the "N-

Deklination":
Noun Plural Meaning
der Name die Namen name

der Buchstabe die Buchstaben letter
There are many exceptions that do not

follow the "N-Deklination" such as:
Noun Plural Meaning
der Käse die Käse cheese

der See die Seen lake
Advice: If you have to take a German test,

learn the gender and plural of "der Käse" as
it’s one of professors’ favorite words.
Adding "-en" [according to the N-

Deklination]
Words with a Greek or Latin ending in "-at", "-
ant", "-ent" and "–ist" are declined according
to the "N-Deklination".
Singular Plural
Nominative der Pianist die Pianisten

Accusative den Pianisten die Pianisten
Dative dem Pianisten den Pianisten
Genitive des Pianisten der Pianisten
Examples of nouns that follow the "N-

Deklination":
Noun Plural Meaning
der Student die Studenten student

der Soldat die Soldaten soldier
der Liferant die Liferanten supplier
der Violinist die Violinisten violinist
Adding "-en" [no "N-Deklination"]
Although it is not very common, there are

also nouns that construct the plural with "-
en" without "N-Deklination".
Noun Plural Meaning
der Staat die Staaten state

der Doktor die Doktoren doctor
Adding "-er"
Very few masculine nouns construct the

plural with "-er". It is a plural construction
that is much more common with neuter
nouns.
Noun Plural Meaning
der Leib die Leiber body
Adding [Umlaut] + "-er"
A few masculine nouns’ plural form is made

with [Umlaut] + "-er".
Noun Plural Meaning
der Mann die Männer man

der Gott die Götter God
Adding "-ten"
One the rarest masculine nouns is

constructed with the suffix "-ten"
Noun Plural Meaning
der Anbau die Anbauten annex

Plural: "-us" -> "-usse"
Most of the masculine nouns ending with "-

us" add "-se", meaning that an extra –s is
added.
Noun Plural Meaning
der Zirkus die Zirkusse circus

der Bus die Busse bus
Plural: "-us" -> "-i"
There are a few masculine nouns that come

from Latin and end with "us", forming the
plural with "i"
Noun Plural Meaning
der Modus die Modi mode

der Ficus die Fici ficus
6. The plural for neuter nouns
Frequency Plural
Very common Adding "-e"

Without an ending added on
Common Adding "-er"
Rare "-nis" ➜ "-nisse"
Adding "-ien"
"-um" ➜ "-en"
Very rare
"-um" ➜ "-a"
Adding "-en"
Adding "-e"
The most common plural form for neuter

nouns is constructed with the ending "-e"
Noun Plural Meaning
das Alphabet die Alphabete alphabet

das Protokoll die Protokolle record
No ending added
Almost all of the neuter nouns ending with "-

er" or "-el" or "-en".
Noun Plural Meaning
das Leder die Leder leather
das Kabel die Kabel cable
das Abkommen die Abkommen agreement
Adding "-er"
Many neuter nouns construct the plural with
"-er".
Noun Plural Meaning
das Bild die Bilder picture

das Lied die Lieder song
The plural [Umlaut] + "-er" is very common

with neuter nouns.
Noun Plural Meaning
das Fahrrad die Fahrräder bicycle

das Blatt die Blätter leaf
das Haus die Häuser home
Adding "-en"
A few neuter nouns add "-en" to construct

the plural.
Noun Plural Meaning
das Bett die Betten bed
das Verb die Verben verb
Adding "-ien"
The plural formed with the suffix "-ien" is not
very common.
Noun Plural Meaning
das Adverb die Adverbien the adverb

das Prinzip die Prinzipien the principle
Plural "-nis" ➜ "-nisse"
For nouns ending with "-nis", a suffix, "-se", is

added (another –s is added).
Noun Plural Meaning
das Ergebnis die Ergebnisse result
das Geheimnis die Geheimnisse secret
Plural "-um" ➜ "-a"
A few nouns originating from Latin ending

with "-um" construct their plural with "-a".
Noun Plural Meaning
das Antibiotikum die Antibiotika antibiotic
das Analgetikum die Analgetika analgesic
Plural "-um" ➜ "-en"

Most nouns originating from Latin ending
with "-um" construct their plural with "-en".
Noun Plural Meaning
das Aquarium die Aquarien aquarium
das Ministerium die Ministerien ministry
Plural "-o" ➜ "-en"
Another rare plural form is that of the neuter

nouns ending in "-o".
Noun Plural Meaning
das Bankkonto die Bankkonten bank account
7. Practice Exercise
As you have seen, constructing the plural is
very complicated. The best way to
consolidate your knowledge is by practicing
what you’ve learned. In GermanVeryEasy we
have made a pretty fun exercise to practice
the plural: Plural Exercise
< HOME
Grammar
Home > Grammar >
German noun declension
Regular declension, n-declension

and exceptions
There are three genders for nouns in
German: Masculine (männlich),
feminine (weiblich) and neuter
(sächlich).
1. Capitalized Nouns
One important thing as we get started: All
nouns are written with the first letter
capitalized.
"the house" is written as "das Haus".
2. Genders
There are three genders in German:
masculine (männlich), feminine (weiblich)
and neuter (sächlich). Usually, the gender of
a noun is determined by its ending.
The articles der, die and das are used with
nouns to indicate their gender:
der Mann (the man) [Masculine Noun]
die Frau (the woman) [Feminine Noun]
das Kind (the child) [Neuter Noun]
It's not easy to know which gender a noun is.

There are a few rules for
masculine, feminine and neuter nouns.
However, usually there is no choice but to
learn each word's gender.
3. Declension
A noun in English, "house" for example, does
not change even if we change the role it
plays in a phrase.
The house is pretty ("house" is the subject in

this case)
We bought a house ("a house" is the direct

object).
As you see, the word house is not declined.

You just add "s" in English to make the plural.
It's very simple.
Unfortunately, it is not always like this in
German. This might cause you a bit of
despair when you start learning German. For
example, in the phrase, "Erkrankungen des
Herzens", the word "Herzens" (heart in
genitive form) does not appear in the
dictionary. That is because it is declined and,
instead of that word, you have to look for
"Herz" (heart in nominative form).
It is a bit complicated but don't worry about

it. you will get it.
Regular noun declension
As a general rule, an "-n" or an "-en" are

added to all nouns in the dative plural. If the
noun in the plural ends with "-n" or "-s,"
nothing will be added.
Masculine or Neuter Nouns
An "-s" or an "-es" is added in the genitive

singular. Sometimes both options are ok. In
general, if a word ends with “-e”, an “-s” is
added in the genitive and if it ends with “-s”
or “-z” and “-es” is added.
Example for a neuter noun:

Singular Plural
Nominative das Gas die Gase

Accusative das Gas die Gase
Dative dem Gas den
also: dem Gasen
Gase
Genitive des der Gase
Gases
Although it is not very common today,

sometimes an "-e" is added to the dative
singular. Nowadays, you can see this is
some phrases:
Ich gehe nach Hause

I am going home
Hause is the old declension in the dative

singular for das Haus (house).
Dem deutschen Volke

For the German people
Volke is the classic declension of Volk

(people) in the dative singular.
Feminine Nouns
Feminine nouns do not change in the

genitive singular.
Singular Plural
Nominative die Kraft die Kräfte

Accusative die Kraft die Kräfte
Dative der Kraft den
Kräften
Genitive der Kraft der Kräfte
Interestingly, a large portion of feminine

plural nouns end with "-n," meaning that
luckily the majority of feminine plural nouns
do not change.
Singular Plural
Nominative die die

Lampe Lampen
Accusative die die
Lampe Lampen
Dative der den
Lampe Lampen
Genitive der der
Lampe Lampen
N-Declension
Some masculine nouns and a few neuter

ones have a declension that is different from
the usual one and it is called the "N-
Deklination" (N-Declension).
Singular Plural
Nominative der die

Kunde Kunden
Accusative den die
Kunden Kunden
Dative dem den
Kunden Kunden
Genitive des der
Kunden Kunden
If we look closely at all of the forms except

for the nominative singular, they have an "-n"
ending. This is why it is called "N-
Deklination".
Sometimes, an "-en" is added instead of

adding an "-n". For example, the noun
"Mensch".
Examples of nouns with n declension
Most masculine nouns ending with "-e"

but not der See or der Käse or der
Deutsche and which represents
professions or nationalities or people
such as der Experte.
Many nouns that represent professions
or nationalities or people such as: der
Herr, der Astronom, der Architekt.
Latin or Greek words ending with:
-at as in der Soldat, der Advokat, der

Diplomat.
-ant as in der Elefant, der Diamant, der

Lieferant.
-ent as in der Student.
-ist as in der Journalist, der Zivilist, der

Violinist, der Polizist.
N-Deklination + genitive with "ns"
Sometimes, the genitive is formed with "-ns"

instead of "-n".
Singular Plural
Nominative der Name die

Namen
Accusative den die
Namen Namen
Dative dem den
Namen Namen
Genitive des der
Namens Namen
Examples of nouns with genitive "-ns": der

Friede, der Name, der Funke, der Gedanke,
der Glaube, der Same, der Wille, der
Buchstabe.
4. Exceptions
Doubling the -s
Some nouns that end with "-s" have another

"-s" added in the declension.
Singular Plural
Nominative der Bus die Busse

Accusative den Bus die Busse
Dative dem Bus den
Bussen
Genitive des der Busse
Busses
A short reminder about pronunciation: The

"ss" indicates that the preceding vowel is
shortened.
Das Herz
"Herz" has an irregular declension. It is also

one of the few neuter nouns with the "-n"
declension.
Singular Plural
Nominative das Herz die
Herzen
Accusative das Herz die
Herzen
Dative dem den
Herzen Herzen
Genitive des der
Herzens Herzen
We'll finish this article with the ballad "Das
Beste" from the German group "Silbermond."
It's a very nice song.
Webpage not
available
The webpage at
https://www.youtube.com/embe
rel=0 could not be loaded
because:
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Home >
The use of the comma in

German (Komma)
The comma in German can be used in the

following contexts:
Subordinate clauses
Enumerations
Decimal point
After greetings on a card
1. The comma in subordinate

clauses
Subordinate clauses have to have a comma
separating the main clause (Hauptsatz)
from the subordinate clause (Nebensatz).
Du hast mir gesagt, dass er krank war

You told me that you were sick
When the subordinate clause is embedded

in the main clause, two commas are used:
Die Frau, die du gestern geküsst hast, ist
verheiratet
The woman that you kissed yesterday is
married
In infinitive subordinate clauses the

placement of the comma is optional, it is
used when the meaning without it is not
clear.
2. Comma in enumerations
Just like in English, commas are used to
separate items when enumerating (listing)
them:
der Obsthändler hat Bananen, Birnen,

Melonen und Pfirsiche
The fruit seller has bananas, pears,
melons and peaches
3. The comma as a decimal point

In countries where German is spoken, the
comma is used as the decimal point:
1,2
Eins Komma zwei
One point two
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The subordinate clause in

German (Nebensatz)
The subordinate clauses are

complicated and are often not fully
understandable. In this article we
have tried our best to explain them in
the clearest way possible. Let’s get
going:
1. Introduction
A complex sentence (Satzgefüge) is formed
by a main clause (Hauptsatz) and a
subordinate clause (Nebensatz).
COMPLEX SENTENCE = MAIN CLAUSE +

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
Types of subordinate clause constructions:
Subordinate clauses with a conjunction

Common subordinate clauses
Infinitive subordinate clause
Subordinate clauses without a

conjunction
Relative Clauses
Subordinate clauses from the

"Konjunktiv I" without dass
2. Common Subordinate Clauses

Common subordinate clauses are the most
used subordinate clauses and have the
following characteristics:
They have a common subordinate

conjunction
The conjugated verb is placed at the end
of a the clause
It’s easier to see this with an example:
Ich wusste nicht, dass du so klug bist

I didn’t know that you were so smart
One type of subordinate clause is the

conditional clause.
Common subordinate
conjunctions
subordinate
conjunctions
als obwohl während

bevor seit weil
bis sobald wenn
dass sofern wie
damit soweit wo
ob sowie
3. Infinitive Subordinate Clauses

Infinitive subordinate clauses are
characterized by not having a subject. The
subject is understood by the information in
the main clause. The subject that is omitted
from the subordinate clause can be either
the main clause’s subject or its
direct/indirect object or another that is
understood to be there.
Er hat den Befehl gegeben, ihn nicht zu

stören
He gave the order to not disturb him
Infinitive Subordinate
Conjunctions
Infinitive
Subordinate Conjunctions
anstatt zu statt zu um zu
außer zu ohne zu zu
4. Relative clauses
An example of this type of clause is:
Hast Du die Lampe, die du gestern

gesehen hast, gekauft?
Did you buy the lamp that you saw
yesterday?
This type if clause is explained in: Relative

clauses
5. Subordinate Clauses of the

"Konjunktiv I" without "dass"
With the clauses of the Konjunktiv I it is not
necessary to use a conjunction. You simply
say:
Martin sagt, er sei Schauspieler

Martin says he’s an actor
Even though it is also ok to use "dass":
Martin sagt, dass er Schauspieler sei

6. The Comma in Subordinate
Clauses
In German, you have to put in a comma to
separate the main clause (Hauptsatz) from
the subordinate clause (Nebensatz)
Ich mache, was ich will

I do what I want
7. Inverting the Subordinate Clauses

As we stated previously, the typical structure
of a subordinate clause is:
COMPLEX SENTENCE= MAIN CLAUSE +

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
ich weiß nicht, ob er mich liebt

I don’t know if he loves me
Sometimes, more importance is given to the

subordinate clause and therefore it comes
first:
COMPLEX SENTENCE = SUBORDINATE

CLAUSE + MAIN CLAUSE
Ob er mich liebt, weiß ich nicht

Whether/if he loves me, I don’t know
It should be emphasized that the
subordinate clause now occupies the first
position in the sentence, which makes the
subject move to the 3rd position so that the
verb stays in the second position.

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Interrogation in German
Closed questions (Ja/Nein) and open ones.

Interrogative particles, interrogative
pronouns, interrogative adverbs.
1. Introduction
Showing interrogation:
To show interrogation in German, the order

of the subject and verb is simply inverted:
Hast du Zeit? ➜Ja, ich habe Zeit

Do you have time? Yes, I have time
Types of Questions
In German, there are 2 types of questions:
"Ja-Nein Fragen" or closed questions

Bist du müde?
Are you tired?
"W-Fragen" or open questions
Wann kommst du?

When are you coming?
2. "Ja-Nein" Fragen
The "Ja-Nein" questions are those which do
not have any interrogative particle and
whose expected answer is "Yes" or "No"
("Ja", "Nein" or "Doch")
Sind Sie verheiratet?

Are you married?
When constructing the question, the verb

moves to the beginning of the sentence
(position number 1). Main article: the
sentence
3. W-Fragen
Open questions or "W-Fragen" have an

interrogative particle at the beginning of the
sentence:
Wo sind Sie geboren?

Where were you born?
The verb moves to the beginning of the
sentece given that the interrogative particle
does not take a position (Main article: the
sentence)
4. Interrogative particles
Interrogative
Interrogative adverbs
pronouns
Wer Wann Wie Wo

Wie Woran
Was Warum
alt Worauf
Wie Woraus
Welcher Wieso
viel Wobei
Wie Wogegen
lange Worin
Wie Womit
oft Worüber
Wie Worum
teuer Wozu
Wie Wohin
weit Woher
Wer (Wen / Wem / Wessen)
"Wer" means "who" (it is used when we are

asking about the nominative)
"Wen" means "to whom" (accusative).
"Wem" means "to whom" (dative).
"Wessen" means "whose" (genitive).
This can be understood better with some

examples:
For the verb "besuchen" (to visit), the people

visited are in the accusative:
Er besucht dich
He’s visiting you
If we want to ask who is visiting you, we say:
Wer besucht dich?
If we want to ask whom he is visiting, we

say:
Wen besucht er?
For the verb "erzählen" (to tell), the persons

being told something are in the dative.
Er erzählt dir was passiert ist

He’s telling you what happened
If we want to ask to whom what happened is

told, we will have:
Wem erzählt er was passiert ist?
Whom is he telling about what happened?
Declension of "wer"
Nominative Wer
Accusative Wen
Dative Wem
Genitive Wessen
Was
It means "what"
Was ist los?

What’s up?
Welcher
It means "which" or "what" and is followed by

a noun. Welche is declined:
Welchen Bus muss ich nehmen?

Which bus do I have to take?
zu welchem Arzt gehst du?

Which doctor are you going to?
Declension of "welcher"

Nominative welcher welche welches welche
Accusative welchen welche welches welche
Dative welchem welcher welchem welchen
Genitive welches / welcher welches welcher
welchen /
welchen
Wann
It means "when".
Wann willst du essen?

When do you want to eat?
Warum
It means "why".
Warum hast Du die Tür offen gelassen?

Why did you leave the door open?
Wieso
It means "why".
Wieso muss ich den Rechner

neustarten?
Why do I have to restart the computer?
Differences between "warum" and "wieso"

("warum" vs "wieso")
Both words mean the same thing but
"warum" is used much more often.
Wie
It means "how".
Wie geht's?
How are you?
Wie can be added to adjective or adverbs to

make interrogative particles. These are the
most common ones:
Wie viel / Wie viele
"Wie viel" means "How much?". It is used

when it comes before non-count nouns. "Wie
viele" means "how many?" and it is used
when it comes before count nouns.
Wie viel Geld haben Sie?

How much money do you have?
Wie viele Autos haben Sie?

How many cars do you have?
Wie lange
It means "how long".

Wie lange bleibst du noch in
Deutschland?
How long will you still be in Germany?
Wie oft
It means "how often".
Wie oft sollte man einen Hund waschen?

How often should a dog be bathed?
Wie alt
It means "how old".
Wie alt bist du?

How old are you?
Wie teuer
It means "how expensive".
Wie teuer ist eine Hochzeit?

How expensive is a wedding?
Wie weit
It means "how far".
Wie weit ist es von Wien nach München?

How far is it from Vienna to Munich?
Wo
It means "where".
Wo bist du?
Where are you?
Prepositions or adverbs her and hin are

added to the particle wo to form other
interrogative particles.
Wohin
It means "to where".
Wohin fährst du?

Where are you going to?
Woher
It means "from where".
Woher kommst du?

Where do you come from?
Wo + (r) + Preposition
Many verbs usually are accompanied by a

preposition. For example: beginnen mit (to
begin with)
To make a question, we say:
Womit beginne ich heute?

What will I begin with today?
It is important to say that Wo + (r) +
Preposition is only used for asking for
things, not persons.
If we wanted to ask about persons, we

would say:
Mit wem beginne ich heute?

Who do I begin with today?
Woran
It usually means "about what".
Woran denkst du?

What are you thinking about?
verbs that use woran
Worauf
It usually means "for what?" or "on what?".
Worauf wartest du?

What are you waiting for?
verbs that use worauf
Woraus
It usually means "from what?".

Woraus wird Bier eigentlich gemacht?
What is beer really made from?
main verbs that use woraus
Wobei
It usually means "in what?" or "in which?" but

it depends on the context.
Wobei helfen wir denn?

What can we help with?
main verbs that use wobei
Wogegen
It means "against what".
Wogegen muss ich mich impfen lassen?

What do I have to vaccinate myself
against?
main verbs used with wogegen
Worin
It means "in what".
Worin liegt dein Problem?

Where’s the problem?
main verbs used with worin

Womit
It means "with what".
Womit öffne ich Doc-Dateien?

What do I open the files with?
Main verbs used with womit
Worüber
It means "about what".
Worüber hast du gesprochen?

What did you talk about?
main verbs used with worüber
Worum
It usually means "for what".
Worum muss ich mich kümmern?

What do I have to worry myself for?
main verbs used with worum
Wozu
It means "for what".
Wozu brauche ich ein Auto?

What do I need a car for?
main verbs used with wozu
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Negation and Affirmation

(German Language)
No in German. The types of negation: "nein",

"nicht", "kein", "nie", "niemand", "nichts"...
1. Types of Negation: "Nein", "nicht",

"kein"
Nein
We use "nein" when we answer negatively to

a direct question.
Hast du einen Kuli? Nein

Do you have a pen? No
Nicht
We use "nicht" in several cases:

When we negate a verb.
Willst du kommen? Nein, ich will nicht

gehen .
Do you want to come? No, I do not want
to go
When we negate an adjective or adverb.
Dieses Auto ist nicht groß

This car is not big
Kein
It can be translated as "none". We

recommend that you study the pronoun
"kein" in detail because the way it functions
is not obvious and it is used very often in
German. "Kein" has 2 functions:
attributive (accompanying a noun)

not attributive, without an article
"Kein" with an attributive function
When "kein" comes before a noun

(attributive function) its function is similar to
that of an article:
Hast du einen Kuli? nein, ich habe keinen

Kuli
Do you have pen? No, I don’t have a pen.
Declension of "Kein" (attributive)
It is declined as the indefinte article, except

in plural forms:

Nominative kein keine kein keine
Accusative keinen keine kein keine
Dative keinem keiner keinem keinen
Genitive keines keiner keines keiner
"Kein" with no attributive function and

without an article
Hast du ein Auto? Nein, ich habe keines .

Do you have a car? No, I don’t have one.
"Kein" without an attributive function is

declined with the strong declension:

Nominative keiner keine keines keine
Accusative keinen keine keines keine
Other types of negation

The particles nichts, nie and niemand are
also used for negation:
nichts (nothing)
Ich habe nichts zu verlieren

I have nothing to lose
nie (never)
Ich war nie dort

I was never there
niemand (no one/nobody)
Niemand war dort

No one/nobody was there
2. The affirmation "Ja"

"Ja" means "yes" and, just like in English, it is
used to answer closed questions:
Hast du Kulis? Ja , ich habe drei .

Do you have pens? Yes, I have three.
3. Answering questions with

negation: "Doch" and "Nein"
Questions are often asked in German with
negation. We could answer negatively to this
type of question with "nein" or affirmatively
with "doch."
Hast du keinen Kuli? Nein , ich habe
keinen Kuli.
Don’t you have a pen? No, I don’t have a
pen.
Hast du keinen Kuli? Doch , ich habe drei.

Don’t you have a pen? Yes, I have three.
A beautiful Disney song: Farbenspiel des
Winds (Pocahontas) with German subtitles
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Home > Grammar >
Sentence Structure in German
The word order in German is rather strict.

We'll explain the type of components that a
sentence has in detail and how they are
organized.
The parts of a sentence in German to have in
mind are:
The subject
The verb
Particles that occupy position 0
(coordinate conjunctions and W-words)
Objects: Accusative and Dative
Complements
The particle nicht
1. The subject
Typical subject placement.

Position 1
The subject usually is in [POSITION 1] in the
sentence:
Ich habe einen Hund

I have a dog
Subject inversion. Position 3
To emphasize a complement or an object, it

can be placed in [POSITION 1], which makes
the subject move to [POSITION 3]:
Einen Hund habe ich

I have a dog
This complement can be even a subordinate

clause:
Während meiner Kindheit war ich sehr

zufrieden
During my youth, I was very happy
Interrogation. Subject in position

2
With interrogative sentences, the verb takes

[POSITION 1] which is why it moves the
subject to [POSITION 2]
Hast du einen Hund?

Do you have a dog?
Original imperative forms. There
is no subject
The 2nd person singular and plural of the

imperative do not have a subject.
Komm jetzt her

Come here now
2nd person komm come

singular
2nd person plural komm - t come
Forms added to the imperative.

Subject in position 2
In forms added to the imperative, the verb

and the subject are organized like in the
interrogative sentences:
Trinken wir noch ein Bier

Let’s drink one more beer
1st person plural trinken wir let’s drink

Polite form trinken Sie drink
2. The verb
Typical placement of the
conjugated verb in position 2
If there is just one verb, it is placed in

[POSITION 2]
Ich bin 30 Jahre alt

I am 30 years old
If there are several verbs, the conjugated

verb is placed in [POSITION 2] and the
unconjugated one (an infinitive or a
participle) in the [LAST POSITION] of the
sentence.
Ich möchte Deutsch lernen

I want to learn German
Conjugated verb with

interrogation and the imperative in
position 1
In interrogative sentences, the conjugated

verb takes [POSITION 1] and, if there is an
unconjugated one, it takes the [LAST
POSITION]
Haben Sie Deutsch in der Schule

gelernt?
Did you study German at school? (formal)
Komm her!
Come here!
Conjugated verb in the last

position in subordinate clauses or in
relative clauses
In subordinate clauses or relative clauses,

the conjugated verb is placed in the [LAST
POSITION], moving the unconjugated verb
(infinitive or participle) to the [SECOND TO
LAST POSITION].
Subordinate clauses
Ich glaube nicht, dass du heute kommen

darfst
I don't think that you may come today
"Darfst" is the conjugated verb [LAST

POSITION] and "kommen" is the
unconjugated verb [SECOND TO LAST
POSITION].
The subordinate conjunctions are those

which make the conjugated verb go to the
end of the sentence and are the following:
als (when), bevor (before), bis (until), dass

(that), damit (so that), ob (if), obwohl
(despite), seit (since), sobald (as soon as),
sofern (as long as), soweit (as far as), sowie
(as soon as), während (while), weil
(because), wenn (if), wie (how), wo (where)
Relative clauses
Das ist das Mädchen, das ich in der

Schule gesehen habe
This is the girl that I saw at school
"Habe" is the conjugate verb [LAST

POSITION] and "gesehen" is the
unconjugated verb (second to last position).
3. Particles that occupy position

zero (particles that have no
influence)
"Particles of position 0" means that they do
not influence the order of the sentence.
Conjunctions
There are some conjunctions that do not

take a grammatical position in the sentence.
Let’s look at an example:
Ich bin müde denn ich habe wenig

geschlafen
I am tired because I slept little
Let’s analyse the clause in yellow:
POSITION POSITION POSITION LAST

0 1 2 POSITION
Coordinate Subject Conjugated Complements Unconjugated
conjunction verb Verb
denn ich habe wenig geschlafen
The following conjunctions take position 0 in

the sentence:
aber
beziehungsweise
denn
oder
sondern
und
Interrogative particles
Interrogative particles take position 0.

Therefore, the verb takes position 1 and the
subject takes position 2:
Wie alt bist du?

How old are you?
The following particles do not take a

position in the sentence:
Pronouns Adverbs
Wer Wann Wie Wo
Wie Woran
Was Warum
alt Worauf
Wie Woraus
Welcher Wie
viel Wobei
Wie Wogegen
lange Worin
Wie Womit
oft Worüber
Wie Worum
teuer Wozu
Wie Wohin
weit Woher
4. Objects
Objects are organized in the following order:
Accusative pronouns (mich, dich, ihn, sie,

es, uns, euch)
Dative pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm,
uns, euch, ihnen)
Dative object (z.B.: meiner Mutter)
Accusative object (z.B. einen Brief)
Let’s see some examples to get a clearer

idea of this:
DATIVE OBJECT + ACCUSATIVE OBJECT
Ich schicke meiner Mutter einen Brief

I am sending a letter my mother
DATIVE PRONOUN + ACCUSATIVE OBJECT
Ich schicke ihr einen Brief

I am sending a letter to her
ACCUSATIVE PRONOUN + DATIVE OBJECT
Ich schicke ihn meiner Mutter

I am sending it to my mother
ACCUSATIVE PRONOUN + DATIVE

PRONOUN
Ich schicke ihn ihr

I am sending it to her
5. Order of complements:
TEKAMOLO
Complements are placed between the
conjugated verb and the unconjugated verb:
Subject Conjugated Complements Accusative Unconjugated

Verb Object Verb
Herr hat gestern aus Blumen gekauft
Meier Liebe im
Geheimen in
München
Out of love, Mister Meier secretly bought
flowers in Munich yesterday
Complements are organized amongst

themselves by following the mnemonic rule
TEKAMOLO:
1. Temporal (TE)
2. Causal (KA)
3. Modal (MO)
4. Locative (LO)
Let’s see an example:
Temporal Kausal Modal Lokal

gestern aus im in
Liebe Geheimen München
6. The particle "nicht"

As we’ve seen in German negation, the
adverb "nicht" is the most common type of
negation. By placing "nicht" in a different
position, the meaning can change.
Nicht negating the verb
It makes the verb of the sentence negative

when placed right before the unconjugated
verb (if there is one) or at the end of the
sentence:
Ich möchte nicht essen
I don’t want to eat
Ich esse nicht

I don’t eat
"Nicht" negating a complement
When placed before any complement, it

negates the complement
Ich möchte nicht jeden Tag Nudeln

essen
I don’t want to eat pasta every day (every
day is negated)
Ich möchte nicht zu spät essen

I don’t want to eat so late (so late is what
is negated)
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Adjective declension in German
Adjective declension is one of the most

complicated tasks in the German language.
Sometimes they are declined (there are
three types of declensions) and other times
not. But don’t worry; we will explain it so that
you can understand easily.
1. Adjective Functions
Adjectives can have 3 functions in a
sentence and only the attributive function is
declined. Let’s see the three functions to
distinguish them from one another:
Attributive (adjective accompanying a

noun).
Der gute Mann arbeitet viel
[DECLINED]
Often, it is understood which noun is

being referred to so the adjective
appears without the noun but it is still
declined
Er mag den roten Apfel, ich mag den

gelben
(apple is omitted in the second clause)

Predicative (the adjective is in a
sentence with the copulative verbs [
sein, bleiben and werden] and is not
accompanied by a noun)
Der Mann ist gut [NOT DECLINED]
Adverbial (the adjective behaves like an

adverb)
Sie singt gut [NOT DECLINED]
2. Adjective declension
As we have stated, there are 3 types of
declension, depending on the the particle
that comes before the adjective:
Weak declension (the definite article +

adjective).
Das schöne Sofa

The beautiful sofa
Mixed declension(indefinite article +
adjective).
Ein schönes Sofa

A beautiful sofa
Strong declination (no article +

adjective).➜
Schönes Sofa
Beautiful sofa
Weak declension
The weak declension is used when:
the definite articles (der, die, das)
or the pronouns:
dieser (this)
jener (that)
derjenige (that one)
derselbe (the same)
welcher (which)
or declined indicators of quantity:
jeder (every)
mancher (some)
alle (all)
...
come before the adjective and the adjective
before the noun.
This is called weak declension because the

case marker is not carried by the adjective
but rather particle before it.
Weak Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

declension
Nominative der gute die gute das die guten
Mann Frau gute Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Kind
Accusative den guten die gute das die guten
Mann Frau gute Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Kind
Dative dem der dem den guten
guten guten guten Männern/Frauen/Kindern
Mann(e) Frau Kind(e)
Genitive des guten der des der guten
Mannes guten guten Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Frau Kindes
If we look closely, we see that you just add "-

e" or "-en".
Mixed declension
Mixed declension is used when:
the indefinite articles (ein,...)

the possessive pronouns (mein, …)
kein, ... (none)
...
come before the adjective and the adjective
before the noun.
Mixed Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

declension
Nominative ein guter eine gute ein keine guten
Mann Frau gutes Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Kind
Accusative einen eine gute ein keine guten
guten Frau gutes Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Mann Kind
Dative einem einer einem keinen guten
guten guten guten Männern/Frauen/Kindern
Mann(e) Frau Kind(e)
Genitive eines einer eines keiner guten
guten guten guten Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Mannes Frau Kindes
Strong declension
The strong declension is used when nothing

comes before the adjective. But there are
also other cases such as when the adjective
is preceded by
any of the following pronouns:
dergleichen, ... (the same)

derlei, ... (such)
dessen, deren (whose)
wessen (whose)
manch (some)
etliche mehrere (a few more)
etwas (something)
ein bisschen (a bit)
ein wenig (a little)
ein paar (a couple)
or by:
wie viel (how much)

viel (a lot)
wenig (little)
or declined indicators of quantity that are

only used in the plural:
viele (many)
wenige (few)
einige (some)
Strong Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

declension
Nominative guter gute gutes gute
Mann Frau Kind Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Accusative guten gute gutes gute
Mann Frau Kind Männer/Frauen/Kinder
Dative gutem guter gutem guten Männern/
Mann(e) Frau Kind(e) Frauen/Kindern
Genitive guten guter guten guter Männer/
Mannes Frau Kindes Frauen/Kinder
Declension of 2 or more
consecutive adjectives
If two or more consecutive adjectives are in
a sentence, they will be declined with the
same type of declension:
Wir möchten in einem guten japanischen

Restaurant essen
We would like to eat in a good Japanese
Restaurant
In this example, "gut" and "japanisch" are

declined with the mixed declension because
the adjectives are preceded by the indefinite
article (ein).
"ein" is declined in dative (einem) because it

is preceded by the preposition "in" (with a
situational concept).
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German Adverbs (das Adverb)
Adverbs are words that do not change (they

are not declined) and they modify the verb’s
meaning, an adjective or other adverb.
1. Types of adverbs
Temporal adverbs (Temporaladverbien)
Adverbs of Frequency
Locative Adverbs (Lokaladverbien)
Interrogative Adverbs (Frageadverbien)
Causal Adverbs (Kausaladverbien)
Adverbs of Manner (Modaladverbien)
Pronoun Adverbs
Temporal adverbs
Temporal adverbs dealing with the day
Adverb Meaning
vorgestern the day

before
yesterday
gestern yesterday
heute today
morgen tomorrow
übermorgen the day

after
tomorrow
Subjective Temporal Adverbs
Adverb Meaning
damals then
früher earlier
jetzt now
sofort immediately
gleich immediately
bald soon
später later
dann after/then
Temporal adverb gerade
The adverb gerade is used to make the

present continuous in German:
Ich lese gerade die Zeitung

I am reading the newspaper
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Absolute Frequency
Adverb Meaning
immer always
fast almost
immer always
meistens most of the
time
häufig frequently
oft often
ab und zu once in a
while
manchmal sometimes
selten rarely
fast nie almost never
nie never
Adverbs of daily frequency
Adverb Meaning
morgens in the
morning
nachmittags in the
afternoon
abends in the
evening
nachts during the
night
Adverbs of weekly frecuency
Adverb Meaning
montags on Mondays
dienstags on Tuesdays
mittwochs on
Wednesdays
donnerstags on
Thursdays
freitags on Fridays
samstags on
Saturdays
sonntags on Sundays
Other adverbs of frequency

Adverb Meaning
täglich daily
wöchentlich weekly
monatlich monthly
jährlich yearly/annually
Forming temporal adverbs by adding an -s
Often, temporal adverbs of frequency are

formed from nouns with an "–s" added on.
At first, this construction creates a bit of
confusion among students of German.
Noun Adverb
der Abend abends

the in the
evening evenings
der halbtags
Halbtag half-day
half a day
der feiertags
Feiertag every holiday
the holiday
Locative Adverbs
Locative adverbs of place
Adverb Meaning
vorn / vorne in front
hinten behind
links on the left
rechts on the right
oben up
unten down
innen inside
außen outside
hier here
da there
dort there
überall everywhere
nirgends nowhere
Locative adverbs with the particles "hin" and

"her". The particles "hin" and "her" denote the
direction of movement with respect to the
person that is speaking. These particles are
used often to make adverbs.
Here are some examples so that you

understand better:
hinein
If my child and I are outside of the house

and I want to tell him to go inside (for
example, to do his chores), I’d say:
Geh hinein!
Go inside!
heraus
If I am outside of the house and my child is

inside and I want him to come out (for
example, to cut the grass), I’d say:
Komm heraus!
Come outside!
herein
If I am inside the house and my son is

playing in the garden and I want him to
come in (for example, to eat), I’d say:
Komm herein!
Come inside!
hinaus
If my child and I are inside the house and I

want to tell him to go out (for example, to
play in the garden), I’d say:
Geh hinaus!
Go outside!
Locative adverbs that indicate movement
Adverb Meaning
aufwärts upwards
abwärts downwards
vorwärts forwards
rückwärts backwards
heimwärts homeward
westwärts to the west
bergauf uphill
bergab downhill
Construction of locative adverbs by adding

an -s
In German, locative adverbs are also formed

by adding an "–s" to nouns.
Locative
Noun
adverb
das rechts
Rechte to the right
right
die Linke links
left to the left
Causal Adverbs
Causal adverbs indicate the reason or origin

of an action.
Adverb Meaning
deshalb therefore
darum therefore
deswegen therefore
folglich thus/consequently
daher therefore
Causal adverbs serve as a connection
between two sentences, given that they’re
Konjunktionaladverbien
Ich möchte in Deutschland leben,

deshalb lerne ich gerade Deutsch
I would like to live in Germany, therefore I
am learning German
It must be emphasized that adverbs occupy

a position and by placing them at the
beginning of a sentence, they move the
subject to the 3rd position.
Main Article: Sentence structure
Adverbs of manner
Adverb Meaning
erstens firstly
zweitens secondly
drittens thirdly
auch also
ebenfalls as well
ansonsten otherwise
außerdem in addition
Restrictive adverbs
Adverb Meaning
nur only
wenigstens at least
hingegen on the other

hand
Adverbs of quantity
Adverb Meaning
sehr very
kaum hardly
gern / gerne
The adverb "gern" is used often in German

and it’s equivalent is "gladly".
The construction "Ich hätte gern…" is very

common in German and means "I would like
to" and is used to politely order something.
gern or gerne are exactly the same but gern

is used more often.
Pronoun Adverbs
Pronoun adverbs are the combination of a
preposition and a pronoun and are used only
to refer to things (not for living things).
Adverbs "da-" + preposition
The adverbs "da-" + preposition are used

very often and their translation depends
greatly on the context:
Ich habe nicht daran gedacht

I didn’t think about that
Adverb Meaning
daran (or dran) at it (preposition an)
darauf (or on it (preposition auf)

drauf)
daraus from it (preposition aus)
dabei present (preposition bei)
dagegen against it (preposition

gegen)
darin in it (preposition in)
damit with it (preposition mit)
darüber about it (preposition über)
darum therefore (preposition

um)
dazu additionally (preposition
zu)
The prepositions are not exactly the same in

German and English and thus the translation
is not exact. Check out prepositions to get
the best translation in every case.
Adverbs hier + preposition
The adverbs "hier-" + preposition have

practically the same meaning as adverbs da
+ "preposition" though they are used much
less often. Their meaning depends greatly
on the context.
Adverb Meaning
hieran at this
(preposition
an)
hierauf on this
(preposition
auf)
hieraus from this
(preposition
aus)
hierbei with this or at
this
(preposition
bei)
hiergegen against this
(preposition
gegen)
hierin in this
(preposition
in)
hiermit with this
(preposition
mit)
hierüber about this
(preposition
über)
hierzu for this
(preposition
zu)
Interrogative adverbs
Main article: Interrogative particles
The most important interrogative adverbs

are:
Wie (how) Wo (where)

Wann
(when) Wie alt (how Woran
Warum old) (whereof)
(why) Wie viel (how Worauf
Wieso much/many) (where upon)
(why) Wie lange (how Woraus
long) (what from)
gern lieber am liebsten
gladly preferably most preferably
oft öfter am häufigsten
often more often most often
wohl wohler am wohlsten
well better best
3. Adjectives functioning like

adverbs
In many cases, adjectives can function like
adverbs:
Das Auto ist schnell [schnell as an

adjective]
The car is fast
Sie isst schnell [schnell as an adverb]

She eats fast
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Article declension in German
The articles (der, ein, kein) change form (are

declined) depending on the gender, case and
number.
1. Differences between the definite

and indefinite article
The definite article is used in German (just
like in English) when we refer to a particular
object.
Let’s look at two example phrases:
The (female) teacher reads

Die Lehrerin liest
A (female) teacher reads

Eine Lehrerin liest
There is a slight difference in meaning. In

the first case, the teacher is known or
relevant. In the second, the teacher is not
known or irrelevant.
2. Declension of the definite article
The definite article (der, die, das,…) does not
have an equivalent in English. We simply use
"the" for any gender, case and number. It is
very important to learn this table.

Dative dem der dem den
Genitive des der des der
Contractions: preposition +
definite article
The definite articles are contracted with

prepositions in these cases:
an + das = ans, an + dem = am, auf + das =

aufs, bei + dem = beim, durch + das =
durchs, für + das = fürs, in + das = ins, in +
dem = im, um + das = ums, von + dem =
vom, zu + der = zur, zu + dem = zum
3. Declension of the indefinite

article
This is the equivalent of the English article
"a" or "an".
Nominative ein (a) eine (a) ein --
Accusative einen eine ein --
Dative einem einer einem --
Genitive eines einer eines --
In German, "einige" (some) is sometimes

used to refer to an indefinite number of
objects (plural).
Contraction of the indefinite

article in slang
In an informal setting it is common to

contract the indefinite article ein to ‘n:
Ich habe 'ne Wohnung
or even
Ich habe ne Wohnung
instead of
Ich habe eine Wohnung

I have an apartment
More info at the apostrophe in German
4. Pronouns that can function as

articles
Pronouns often accompany a noun
(attributive function):
Mein Hund ist alt

My dog is old
which makes them behave like articles.
Pronouns that behave like articles are called

attributive pronouns.
5. Determiners
Definite articles, indefinite articles and
pronouns with an attributive function are
called determiners (Artikelwort).
List of determiners
Definite articles
Indefinite articles
Possessive determiners (mein, dein, ...)
or possessive articles [Possessivartikel]
Demonstrative determiners (dieser, jener,
derjenige, derselbe) or demonstrative
articles [Demonstrativartikel]
Indefinite determiners (kein, einige,…)
For practical purposes, often, when a

pronoun acts like a normal pronoun or like a
determiner, there is no difference. They have
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Conjunctions in German
Coordinate, subordinate and compound

conjunctions
1. Coordinate Conjunctions
(Koordinierende Konjunktionen)
The coordinate conjunctions do not modify
the position of the verb in the clause. The
most common ones are:
Coordinate
Meaning
conjunction
aber but
beziehungsweise better put
respectively
denn because
then
oder or
sondern but
but rather
und and
aber
It means "but".
Die Hose ist schön, aber zu klein

The pants are pretty but too small
Er ist klug, aber faul

He’s smart but lazy
Das Angebot ist super, aber wir haben

keine Zeit
The offer is great but we don’t have time
beziehungsweise
It means "better put" or "respectively" and is

abbreviated often as bzw.
Ein Auto habe ich beziehungsweise

meine Frau hat eins
I have a car or, better put, my wife has
one.
Die Disko ist heute billiger für Frauen und

Männer. Es kostet 7 Euro bzw. 10 Euro.
The disco is cheaper today for women
and men. It costs 7 and 10 Euros,
respectively
denn
It means then/because, etc.
Ich weinte, denn ich hatte kein Geld

I cried because I didn’t have money
Synonymns: weil
oder
Means "or"
Ich weiß nicht, ob ich lachen oder weinen

soll
I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry
Wer fängt an, du oder ich?

Who starts, you or me?
sondern
Means "but" or "but rather"
Das Haus ist nicht alt, sondern neu

The house is not old but new
und
It means "and"
Meine Freunde und ich wollen ins Kino

gehen
My friends and I want to go to the cinema
2. Subordinate Conjunctions
Subordinate conjunctions help to form
subordinate clauses. One of the most
interesting things about German is that the
verb is placed in the last position of the
clause in subordinate clauses (Main article:
Sentence structure in German)
Subordinate
Meaning
conjunction
als when
bevor before
bis until
dass that
damit so that
nachdem after
ob whether
if
obwohl although
seitdem since
sobald as soon as
sofern provided that
as long as
soweit insofar as
sowie as soon as
während while
weil because
wenn if
wie how
wo where
als
It means "when" if it is a subordinate

conjunction. Careful: It’s used only in the
past and when the past event only took
place one time (temporal conjunction)
Als ich Kind war, wohnte ich in München

When I was a child, I lived in Munich
"Als" is also used for the construction of the

comparative of superiority:
Er ist stärker als ich

He is stronger than me
bevor
It means "before" (temporal conjunction to

show previous action or event)
Woran denkst du, bevor du einschläfst?

What do you think about before you fall
asleep?
bis
It means "until" (temporal conjunction to

show subsequent action or event) "Bis" can
act as a subordinate conjunction:
Warte, bis du gesund bist

Wait until you are healthy
or as a preposition:
Bis in den Tod

until death
dass
It can be translated into English as "that" and

is used to start a new subordinate clause.
Ich denke, dass die deutsche Sprache

kompliziert ist
I think that the German language is
complicated
dass vs das
Sometimes English speakers confuse "das"

(relative pronoun) and "dass" (conjunction).
The reason for this is because we use "that"
for both words.
"das" is used to make relative clauses, which
are used to give more information about a
noun (Example: the noun "book"):
Das ist das Buch, das ich gerade lese

This is the book that I am reading
dass is to make common subordinate

clauses where more information is given
with a verb (Example: the verb to say)
Ich habe dir gesagt, dass er heute

kommt
I told you that he’s coming today
damit
It means "so that" (conjunction of purpose)
Ich spare, damit meine Familie einen

Mercedes kaufen kann
I am saving money so that my family can
buy a Mercedes
nachdem
It means "after" (temporal conjunction)
Nachdem wir aufgestanden waren, haben

wir gepackt
After we got up, we packed our bags
ob
It means “whether/if” in the context of

indirect questions or to show doubt.
Er hat dich gefragt, ob du ins Kino gehen

möchtest
He asked you if you wanted to go to the
cinema
Common mistakes: Confusing the use of ob

and wenn
obwohl
It means "although" or "even though"

(concessive conjunction)
Ich mag Kinder, obwohl ich keine habe

I like kids even though I don’t have any
seit
It means "since" (temporal conjunction). Seit

can act as a subordinate conjunction:
Ich wohne in Köln, seit ich geboren bin

I’ve been living in Cologne since I was
born
or as a preposition (seit + Dative):

Er wohnt jetzt seit 2 Jahren in diesem
Haus
He’s been living in this house for two
years
seitdem
It means "since" (temporal conjunction)
Ich habe keine Heizung, seitdem ich in

Spanien wohne
I haven’t had heating since I’ve been living
in Spain
sobald
It means "as soon as" (temporal

conjunction)
Ich informiere dich, sobald ich kann

I’ll inform you as soon as I can
sofern
It means "as long as" (temporal conjunction)
Wir versuchen zu helfen, sofern es

möglich ist
We will try to help as long as it’s possible
soviel
It means "as much as" or "for all"
Soviel ich weiß, ist sie in Berlin geboren

For all I know, she was born in Berlin
soweit
It means "as far as"
Soweit ich mich erinnern kann, war er

Pilot
As far as I remember, he was a pilot
sowie
It means "as soon as"
Ich schicke dir das Dokument, sowie es

fertig ist
I’ll send you the document as soon as it’s
finished
während
It means "while" or "during" (temporal). While

can act as a subordinate conjunction:
Während ich studierte, lernte ich auch

Deutsch
While I was studying, I was also learning
German
or as a preposition (während + Genitive):
Während meiner Jugendzeit war ich in

Basel
During my youth I was in Basel
weil
It means "because" (causal conjunction)
Sie arbeitet heute nicht, weil sie krank

ist
She doesn’t work today because she’s
sick
Synonyms: denn
wenn
It means "if" but only in certain cases. For

example: "If you want to go with us, you can."
Expressing doubt would require "ob". For
example: " I don’t know if you’d like to come
with us." It also means "whenever"
(conditional conjunction)
Wenn du möchtest, kannst du Deutsch

lernen
If you want, you can learn German
(context of "if" or "in case")
Wenn ich singe, fühle ich mich viel
besser
If I sing, I feel much better (context of
"whenever I sing...")
Common mistakes: Confusing the use of

"wenn" and "ob".
wie
It means "how" (modal conjunction):
Ich weiß nicht, wie ich es auf Deutsch

sagen kann
I don’t know how to say it in German
or for expressions of equality:
Peter ist so dünn wie Tomas

Peter is as thin as Tomas
wo
It means "where" (local conjunction)
Ich weiß nicht, wo er Deutsch gelernt hat

I don’t know where he learned German
3. Compound Conjunctions
Compound conjunctions are formed by 2
words:
Compound
Meaning
conjunction
anstatt ... zu instead of

[subordinate]
entweder ... oder either... or
[coordinate]
weder noch neither... nor
[coordinate]
weder noch as well as
[subordinate]
sowohl ... als (auch) as well as
[subordinate]
sowohl ... wie (auch) as well as
[subordinate]
anstatt...zu
It means "instead of"
Ich würde 2 Wochen am Strand liegen,

anstatt zu arbeiten
I would be lying on the beach for 2 weeks
instead of working
entweder...oder
It means "either… or"
Entweder bist du Teil der Lösung, oder du

bist Teil des Problems
Either you’re part of the solution or you’re
part of the problem
Die Hose ist entweder schwarz oder rot

The pants are either black or red
weder...noch
It means "neither… nor"
Weder du noch ich haben eine Lösung

Neither you nor I have a solution
sowohl ... als (auch)
It means "as well as"
Ich habe sowohl schon einen Mercedes

als auch einen Audi gehabt
I have had a Mercedes as well as an Audi
sowohl ... wie (auch)
It means "as well as"
Ich habe sowohl ein Auto wie auch ein

Motorrad
I have a car as well as a motorcycle
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Verbs in German
This article serves as a general

overview for all the aspects of verbs:
Verb tenses, the passive voice,
irregular verbs, auxiliary verbs,
separable verbs, etc.
1. Verb Tenses
Next we’ll show you the verb tenses

organized by their frequency of use. It is
good to concentrate your effort on the most
common ones:
Verb Tenses of the Present
Verb tense Use Example
Präsens Indikativ Very very ich tanze

common
Konjunktiv II - Common ich
Präteritum tanzte
Konjunktiv I - Rare ich tanze
Präsens
Verb Tenses of the Past
Perfekt Very very ich habe

common getanzt
Präteritum Very ich tanzte
common
Plusquamperfekt Common ich hatte
getanzt
Plusquamperfekt Rare ich hatte
Konjunktiv II getanzt
Perfekt Konjunktiv Very rare ich habe
I getanzt
Future Verb Tenses

Futur I Common ich werde
Indikativ tanzen
Futur II Rare ich werde
Indikativ getanzt haben
Futur I Rare ich würde
Konjunktiv II tanzen
Futur II Very rare ich würde
Konjunktiv II tanzen
Futur I Very rare ich werde
Konjunktiv I tanzen
Futur II Very very ich werde
Konjunktiv I rare getanzt haben
Other Verb Tenses
Verb Tense Use Example
Partizip II Very common getanzt

Imperativ Common tanz!
Partizip I Rare tanzend
2. Types of Verbs
Next, we’ll show you different verb
classifications, they are not exclusive:
Type Example
Modal Verbs müssen

Auxiliary verbs: sein,
haben, werden
Separable Verbs anfangen
Irregular Verbs singen
Regular Verbs leben
Impersonal Verbs blitzen
Reflexive Verbs sich abkühlen
Reciprocal Verbs sich
anfreunden
3. Passive
More information in German Passive

Home > Grammar >
German noun declension
Regular declension, n-declension

and exceptions
There are three genders for nouns in
German: Masculine (männlich),
feminine (weiblich) and neuter
(sächlich).
1. Capitalized Nouns
One important thing as we get started: All
nouns are written with the first letter
capitalized.
"the house" is written as "das Haus".
2. Genders
There are three genders in German:
masculine (männlich), feminine (weiblich)
and neuter (sächlich). Usually, the gender of
a noun is determined by its ending.
The articles der, die and das are used with
nouns to indicate their gender:
der Mann (the man) [Masculine Noun]
die Frau (the woman) [Feminine Noun]
das Kind (the child) [Neuter Noun]
It's not easy to know which gender a noun is.

There are a few rules for
masculine, feminine and neuter nouns.
However, usually there is no choice but to
learn each word's gender.
3. Declension
A noun in English, "house" for example, does
not change even if we change the role it
plays in a phrase.
The house is pretty ("house" is the subject in

this case)
We bought a house ("a house" is the direct

object).
As you see, the word house is not declined.

You just add "s" in English to make the plural.
It's very simple.
Unfortunately, it is not always like this in
German. This might cause you a bit of
despair when you start learning German. For
example, in the phrase, "Erkrankungen des
Herzens", the word "Herzens" (heart in
genitive form) does not appear in the
dictionary. That is because it is declined and,
instead of that word, you have to look for
"Herz" (heart in nominative form).
It is a bit complicated but don't worry about

it. you will get it.
Regular noun declension
As a general rule, an "-n" or an "-en" are

added to all nouns in the dative plural. If the
noun in the plural ends with "-n" or "-s,"
nothing will be added.
Masculine or Neuter Nouns
An "-s" or an "-es" is added in the genitive

singular. Sometimes both options are ok. In
general, if a word ends with “-e”, an “-s” is
added in the genitive and if it ends with “-s”
or “-z” and “-es” is added.
Example for a neuter noun:

Singular Plural
Nominative das Gas die Gase

Accusative das Gas die Gase
Dative dem Gas den
also: dem Gasen
Gase
Genitive des der Gase
Gases
Although it is not very common today,

sometimes an "-e" is added to the dative
singular. Nowadays, you can see this is
some phrases:
Ich gehe nach Hause

I am going home
Hause is the old declension in the dative

singular for das Haus (house).
Dem deutschen Volke

For the German people
Volke is the classic declension of Volk

(people) in the dative singular.
Feminine Nouns
Feminine nouns do not change in the

genitive singular.
Singular Plural
Nominative die Kraft die Kräfte

Accusative die Kraft die Kräfte
Dative der Kraft den
Kräften
Genitive der Kraft der Kräfte
Interestingly, a large portion of feminine

plural nouns end with "-n," meaning that
luckily the majority of feminine plural nouns
do not change.
Singular Plural
Nominative die die

Lampe Lampen
Accusative die die
Lampe Lampen
Dative der den
Lampe Lampen
Genitive der der
Lampe Lampen
N-Declension
Some masculine nouns and a few neuter

ones have a declension that is different from
the usual one and it is called the "N-
Deklination" (N-Declension).
Singular Plural
Nominative der die

Kunde Kunden
Accusative den die
Kunden Kunden
Dative dem den
Kunden Kunden
Genitive des der
Kunden Kunden
If we look closely at all of the forms except

for the nominative singular, they have an "-n"
ending. This is why it is called "N-
Deklination".
Sometimes, an "-en" is added instead of

adding an "-n". For example, the noun
"Mensch".
Examples of nouns with n declension
Most masculine nouns ending with "-e"

but not der See or der Käse or der
Deutsche and which represents
professions or nationalities or people
such as der Experte.
Many nouns that represent professions
or nationalities or people such as: der
Herr, der Astronom, der Architekt.
Latin or Greek words ending with:
-at as in der Soldat, der Advokat, der

Diplomat.
-ant as in der Elefant, der Diamant, der

Lieferant.
-ent as in der Student.
-ist as in der Journalist, der Zivilist, der

Violinist, der Polizist.
N-Deklination + genitive with "ns"
Sometimes, the genitive is formed with "-ns"

instead of "-n".
Singular Plural
Nominative der Name die

Namen
Accusative den die
Namen Namen
Dative dem den
Namen Namen
Genitive des der
Namens Namen
Examples of nouns with genitive "-ns": der

Friede, der Name, der Funke, der Gedanke,
der Glaube, der Same, der Wille, der
Buchstabe.
4. Exceptions
Doubling the -s
Some nouns that end with "-s" have another

"-s" added in the declension.
Singular Plural
Nominative der Bus die Busse

Accusative den Bus die Busse
Dative dem Bus den
Bussen
Genitive des der Busse
Busses
A short reminder about pronunciation: The

"ss" indicates that the preceding vowel is
shortened.
Das Herz
"Herz" has an irregular declension. It is also

one of the few neuter nouns with the "-n"
declension.
Singular Plural
Nominative das Herz die
Herzen
Accusative das Herz die
Herzen
Dative dem den
Herzen Herzen
Genitive des der
Herzens Herzen
We'll finish this article with the ballad "Das
Beste" from the German group "Silbermond."
It's a very nice song.
Silbermond - Das B…
B…
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Prepositions in German
Prepositions are used as a union between a

noun, verb or adjective with another noun,
verb, adjective or adverb.
The use of one preposition determines the
case used for nouns, articles, adjectives and
pronouns.
Accusative Accusative/Dative Dative Genitive
bis an ab anstatt
durch auf aus aufgrund
für hinter außer außerhalb
gegen in bei dank
ohne neben entgegen statt
um über entsprechend während
wider unter mit wegen
vor nach
zwischen seit
von
zu
1. Prepositions with Accusative

bis
durch
für
gegen
ohne
um
wider
bis
until (LOCATIVE or TEMPORAL)
bis bald
(see you soon)
bis in den Tod
von Kopf bis Fuß

(from head to toe)
durch
by means of, through (LOCATIVE)
Eine Reise durch Deutschland

(a trip through Germany)
Wir fahren durch den Fluss
(we are driving through the river)
(Expressions):
10 [geteilt] durch 5 ist gleich 2

(10 divided by 5 is 2)
Used in the construction of the passive

voice:
Google wird durch Werbung finanziert

(Google is financed by advertisements)
Important verbs followed by the preposition

durch:
waten durch
(to wade through)
für
for (PURPOSE)
sterben für dich

(to die for you)
of (PURPOSE)
Institut für Allgemeine Physik

(Institute of General Physics)
Contractions: fürs (für + das)

für:
abstellen für
(to send to)
adaptieren für
(to adapt to/for)
agitieren für
(to campaign for)
Geld ausgeben für
(to spend money for)
bürgen für
(to vouch for)
einstehen für
(to be responsible for something)
sich entscheiden für
(to decide on)
entschuldigen für
(to apologize for)
interessieren für
(to be interested in)
sorgen für
(to take care of something)
vertauschen für
(to change for)
gegen
against (LOCAL)
Kampf gegen den Krebs
(the fight against cancer)
gegen die Wand

(against the wall)
toward, about, approximately
(TEMPORAL)
Er kommt gegen 9.00 ins Büro

(He’s coming to the office at 9:00)
[approximately]

gegen:
abdichten gegen
(to seal against)
abhärten gegen
(to strengthen against)
abschirmen gegen
(to protect against)
agitieren gegen
(to campaign against)
protestieren gegen
(to protest against)
ohne
Welt ohne Krieg

(a world without war)
um
at (TEMPORAL)
um zehn Uhr
(at ten o'clock)
um ein Haar (very nearly)
at, around (LOCAL)
um die Ecke
(around the corner)

um:
bitten um
(to ask for/ to request)
kümmern um
(to care for)
wider
against
Er handelt wider das Gesetz

(He is acting against the law)
Wider Erwarten kam der Gast doch

noch
(Against all expectations, the guest
arrived)
2. Prepositions with Dative

ab
aus
außer
bei
entgegen
entsprechend
mit
nach
seit
von
zu
ab
starting at/on (TIME)
ab dem 24. Februar

(starting on the 24th of February)
from (PLACE, ORIGIN)
Wir fliegen ab Köln

(we fly from Cologne)
aus
from (PLACE, origin)
Wein aus Italien

(Wine from Italy)
Ich komme aus Spanien

(I come from Spain)
Wir kommen aus der Stadt

(We come from the city)
from, out of (MATERIAL)
Tisch aus Holz

(Table out of wood)

aus:
auswählen aus
(select from)
bestehen aus
(consists of, to be composed of)
ableiten aus
(to derive from)
kommen aus
(to come from)
vertreiben aus
(to expel from)
außer
without
Außer der Liebe nichts

(Nothing else besides love)
Wir sprechen alles außer

Hochdeutsch
(We speak everything except high
German)
(expressions)
außer Betrieb
(out of service)
bei
next to, near to (PLACE)
Die Schule ist bei der Apotheke

(the school is next to the pharmacy)
in, with, at
Ich arbeite bei Porsche

(I work at Porsche)
bei Montage
(during assembly)
Contractions: beim (bei + dem)
Main article: preposition bei

entgegen
against, contrary to
entgegen allen Erwartungen

(contrary to all expectations)
(expressions)
entgegen dem Uhrzeigersinn

(counter-clockwise)
entsprechend
according to
entsprechend dieser Regel

(according to this rule)
den Umständen entsprechend

(according to the circumstances)
mit
with (MODAL)
Spiel mit mir

(Play with me)
Er reist mit dem Fahrrad

(He’s traveling with his bike)
mit:
ausrüsten mit
(to equip with)
beginnen mit
(to begin with)
eindecken mit
(to supply with)
hantieren mit
(to be busy with, to temper with)
multiplizieren mit
(to multiply by)
protzen mit
(to make a show of)
rechnen mit
(to count on, reckon)
reden mit
(to talk with)
sprechen mit
(to speak with)
teilen mit
(to share with)
sich treffen mit
(to meet with)
zusammenhängen mit
(to be related with)
nach
to, toward (LOCATIVE)
Sie geht nach Berlin

(She’s going to Berlin)
- nach is used for cities or countries that

don’t have an article
- Expression: nach Hause ([I’m going]

home)
to (LOCATIVE)
nach links
(to the left)
after (TEMPORAL)
Sie studiert nach der Arbeit

(She studies after work)
Main article: preposition nach
seit
since (TEMPORAL)
Besucher seit 2008

(visitors since 2008)
von
from, of (LOCATIVE OR TEMPORAL)

das Lied von der Erde
(the song from the Earth)
Contractions: vom (von + dem)

von:
abbringen von
(to dissuade from)
abhängen von
(to depend on)
ablassen von
(to desist from)
abschreiben von
(to copy from)
abweichen von
(to deviate from)
entbinden von
(to absolve from)
zurücktreten von
(to resign from/ to back out of)
Used in the construction of the passive

voice:
Google wurde von 2 Mathematikern

gemacht
(Google was made by 2 mathematicians)
zu
towards
er kommt zu mir
(he is coming to me)
"Zu" is used with the meaning of to

- when we are heading to a person or a
specific place (with a name)
on, at, to
Er kommt zu Fuß
(He’s coming on foot)
Übergang zu der Demokratie

(Transition to democracy)
(EXPRESSIONS)
Ich bleibe zu Hause

(I stay at home)
Der Weg zum Meer

(The way to the sea)
Informationen zu Italien
(Information on Italy)
Contractions: zum (zu + dem), zur (zu + der)
Main article: preposition zu

3. Prepositions with Genitive
anstatt
aufgrund
außerhalb
dank
statt
während
wegen
anstatt
instead of
Ich will anstatt der Pommes lieber

mehr Salat
(I want more salad instead of French
fries)
aufgrund
due to, based on
Diskriminierung aufgrund des

Glaubens
(Discrimination due to beliefs)
außerhalb
outside of, out of

Außerhalb des Bereichs
(Out of the area)
dank
thanks to
Dank deines Tipps hat es geklappt

(It worked thanks to your tip)
statt
instead of
Sie gab ihren Schmuck statt des

Gelds
(She gave her jewelry instead of the
money)
während
during
Während des Jahres 2008

(During 2008)
wegen
because of, due to
Wegen eines Fehlers

(Due to a mistake)
wegen:
zerstreiten wegen
(to quarrel because of)
4. Prepositions with
Accusative/Dative
They are also called "Wechselpräpositionen".
They are accusative if they indicate
movement and dative if they indicate a state
(of rest).
an
auf
hinter
in
neben
über
unter
vor
zwischen
There are some verbs that always indicate

movement and other that always indicate a
state of rest.
Verbs of movement Verbs of state

(regular and (irregular and
transitive) intransitive)
stellen (to place stehen (to
vertically) stand)
legen (to place liegen (to be
horizontally) lying down)
setzen (to set, sit) sitzen (to be
hängen (to hang) seated)
hängen (to be
hung)
an
on, in, next to
Wenn ich an deiner Stelle wäre,

würde ich ...
(If I were in your position, I would...)
(EXPRESSIONS)
Am Sonntag
(On Sunday)
Am Abend
(in the evening)
Contractions: am (an + dem), ans (an + das)
Main Article: preposition 'an'

auf
in, about, on
Contractions: aufs (auf + das)
Important verbs with auf:
absetzen auf
(to set down on)
achten auf
(to pay attention to)
achtgeben auf
(to look out for)
anstoßen auf
(to toast for)
antworten auf
(to reply to)
ausweisen auf
(to expel from)
sich freuen auf
(to be happy about)
warten auf
(to wait for)
zielen auf
(to aim for)
zuschießen auf
(to hurdle toward)
Main article: preposition auf
hinter
behind
Gehen Sie bitte hinter das Haus

(Please go behind the house)
in
in, inside

in:
einbauen in
(to insert into)
einbinden in
(to include in)
sich verlieben in
(to fall in love with)
versunken in
(to engulfed in)
zerteilen in
(to divide into)
Contractions: im (in + dem), ins (in + das)
Main article: preposition in
neben
next to, near
über
over, about, on top of (but without

contact)

"über":
nachdenken über
(to think about)
reden über
(to talk about)
unter
under
Die Ente liegt unter dem Tisch
(The duck is under the table)
vor
in front of
Sie wartet vor der Schule

(She is waiting in front of the school)
ago
Ich bin vor vier Jahren nach

Deutschland gekommen
(I arrived in Germany four years ago)
zwischen
between
Ein Vertrag zwischen Vatikan und der
Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg
(A contract between the Vatican and
the free and Hanseatic city of
Hamburg)
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Home > Grammar >
German Pronouns
Personal Pronouns (I, you, …), possessive

pronouns (my, your, …), declension of
pronouns
1. Personal pronouns
The nominative personal pronouns are one
of the first things to learn in German as they
are the basics to form our first sentences.
One interesting fact about German is that
the formal way of writing "you" is "Sie" and it
is always capitalized.
Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive
ich I mich me mir me meiner mine
du you dich you dir you deiner yours
er he ihn him ihm him seiner his
sie she sie her ihr her ihrer hers
es it es it ihm it seiner its
wir we uns us uns us unser ours
ihr you euch you euch you euer yours
sie they sie them ihnen to them ihrer theirs

you Sie you Ihnen to you Ihrer yours
(formal) (formal) (formal) (formal)
Sie
The third person singular is formed with "er"
(he), "sie" (she) and "es" (it).
Ich singe ein Lied für dich

I am singing a song for you
Ich habe dir eine Email geschickt

I have sent you an e-mail
The current use of genitive pronouns in

German is rare and sounds old (Often, it's
substituted by dative pronouns):
Ich will dir statt seiner einen Kuss geben

(old form with genitive)
Ich will dir statt ihm einen Kuss geben
(modern form with Dative)
I want to give you a kiss and not him.
2. Possessive Pronouns
The possessive pronouns in German are:
German English
1 Person Sing. mein my
2 Person Sing. dein your
3 Person Sing. sein his

her
its
ihr
sein
1 Person Plural unser our
2 Person Plural euer your
3 Person Plural ihr their

Unfortunately, the possessive pronouns are
declined and, this has always been a bit
confusing. Let's try and make this clear.
There are 3 declensions depending on the
function of the pronoun:
Attributive (possessive pronoun that

comes before a noun) or determiner
Not attributive without article
Not attributive with article
Attributive or determiner
This is when the possessive pronoun comes

before a noun:
Mein Name ist Helmut

My name is Helmut

Nominative mein /dein meine /deine mein /dein meine /deine
sein/ihr/sein seine/ihre/seine sein/ihr/sein seine/ihre/seine
unser/euer/ihr unsere/eure/ihre unser/euer/ihr unsere/eure/ihre
Accusative meinen /deinen meine /deine mein /dein meine /deine
seinen/ihren/seinen seine/ihre/seine sein/ihr/sein seine/ihre/seine
unseren/euren/ihren unsere/eure/ihre unser/euer/ihr unsere/eure/ihre
Dative meinem /deinem meiner /deiner meinem /deinem meinen /deinen
seinem/ihrem/seinem seiner/ihrer/seiner seinem/ihrem/seinem seinen/ihren/seinen
unserem/eurem/ihrem unserer/eurer/ihrer unserem/eurem/ihrem unseren/euren/ihren
Genitive meines /deines meiner/deiner meines/deines meiner /deiner
seines/ihres/seines seiner/ihrer/seiner seines/ihres/seines seiner/ihrer/seiner
unseres/eures/ihres unserer/eurer/ihrer unseres/eures/ihres unserer/ eurer/ihrer
When the possessive pronoun does not

accompany a noun or an article:
Der Kuli ist meiner

The pen is mine
Nominative meiner /deiner meine /deine meines/deines meine /deine
seiner/ihrer/seiner seine/ihre/seine seines/ihres/seines seine/ihre/seine
unserer/eurer/ihrer unsere/eure/ihre unseres/eures/ihres unsere/eure/ihre
Accusative meinen /deinen meine /deine meines/deines meine /deine
seinen/ihren/seinen seine/ihre/seine seines/ihres/seines seine/ihre/seine
unseren/euren/ihren unsere/eure/ihre unseres/eures/ihres unsere/eure/ihre
Dative meinem /deinem meiner /deiner meinem /deinem meinen /deinen
seinem/ihrem/seinem seiner/ihrer/seiner seinem/ihrem/seinem seinen/ihren/seinen
unserem/eurem/ihrem unserer/eurer/ihrer unserem/eurem/ihrem unseren/euren/ihren
Genitive meines /deines meiner/deiner meines/deines meiner /deiner
seines/ihres/seines seiner/ihrer/seiner seines/ihres/seines seiner/ihrer/seiner
unseres/eures/ihres unserer/eurer/ihrer unseres/eures/ihres unserer/ eurer/ihrer
Not attributive with article
When the possessive pronoun is

accompanied by an article:
Ein Kuli ist der meine

A pen is mine

Nominative meine /deine meine /deine meine /deine meinen /deinen
seine/ihre/seine seine/ihre/seine seine/ihre/seine seinen/ihren/seinen
unsere/eure/ihre unsere/eure/ihre unsere/eure/ihre unseren/euren/ihren
Accusative meinen /deinen meine /deine meine /deine meinen /deinen
seinen/ihren/seinen seine/ihre/seine seine/ihre/seine seinen/ihren/seinen
unseren/euren/ihren unsere/eure/ihre unsere/eure/ihre unseren/euren/ihren
Dative meinen /deinen meinen /deinen meinen /deinen meinen /deinen
seinen/ihren/seinen seinen/ihren/seinen seinen/ihren/seinen seinen/ihren/seinen
unseren/euren/ihren unseren/euren/ihren unseren/euren/ihren unseren/euren/ihren
Genitive meinen /deinen meinen /deinen meinen /deinen meinen /deinen
seinen/ihren/seinen seinen/ihren/seinen seinen/ihren/seinen seinen/ihren/seinen
unseren/euren/ihren unseren/euren/ihren unseren/euren/ihren unseren/euren/ihren
3. Reflexive pronouns
Just like in English, in some cases, reflexive
verbs need a reflexive pronoun to complete
the meaning of the verb (Example: I dressed
myself)
Ich erinnere mich nicht
I don't remember
Accusative Dative
1 Person Sing. mich mir
2 Person Sing. dich dir
3 Person Sing. sich sich
1 Person Plural uns uns
2 Person Plural euch euch
2 Person Plural sich sich
4. Demonstrative pronouns
The following demonstrative pronouns exist
in German:
der, die, das (that one)

dieser (this one)
jener (that one)
derjenige (that)
derselbe (the same one)
These pronouns are declined according to

the gender, number and the case of the noun
they refer to:
Diese Frau ist Sängerin

This woman is a singer
This picture shows the demonstrative

pronouns "der", "die" and "das":

Dative dem der dem denen
Genitive dessen deren dessen deren
The pronouns "der", "dieser" and "jener" have
a strong declension:

declension
Nominative dieser diese dieses/dies diese
Accusative diesen diese dieses/dies diese
Dative diesem dieser diesem diesen
Genitive dieses dieser dieses dieser
The pronouns "derjenige", "derselbe" are both

declined "der" with the strong declension
and "jenige/selbe" with the weak one:

declension
+
Weak
declension
Nominative derselbe dieselbe dasselbe dieselben
Accusative denselben dieselbe dasselbe dieselben
Dative demselben derselben demselben denselben
Genitive desselben derselben desselben derselben
5. Indefinite Pronouns
The main indefinite pronouns are:
alle (all)
andere (other)
beide (both)
einige (some)
ein bisschen (a bit)
ein paar (a couple)
jeder (each)
jemand (someone)
kein (none)
man (one)
mancher (some)
mehrere (several)
niemand (no one)
alle
This generally has a strong declension and

is almost always used in the plural

declension
Nominative aller alle alles alle
Accusative allen alle alles alle
Dative allem aller allem allen
Genitive alles/allen* aller alles/allen* aller
Hamburger mit allem

Hamburger with everything
But if it comes before a:
definite article
possessive pronoun
demonstrative pronoun
It is not declined and it is written in its non-

changing form all.
andere
Depending on the particle that comes before

it, it has a declension:
Without article ➜ Strong declension.
Auf dem Tisch steht eine Flasche Wein

und eine Flasche mit anderem Inhalt
There's a bottle of wine on the table and a
bottle with other contents
Er lebt jetzt mit anderem Namen in
Mexiko
He lives in Mexico now with another
name
Indefinite article or possessive pronouns

➜ Mixed declension.
Mein anderer Hund ist groß
My other dog is big
Definite article ➜ Weak declension.
Ich habe ein Stück Torte genommen, die

anderen hat Michael gegessen
I took a piece of cake. Michael ate the
other ones
beide
Usually "beide" is only used in the plural:
Strong Mixed Weak

declension declension declension
(plural) (plural) (plural)
Nominative beide beiden beiden
Accusative beide beiden beiden
Dative beiden beiden beiden
Genitive beider beiden beiden
To find out which declension to use, check

out the example of andere.
Wir haben zwei Kinder, und beide sind so

unterschiedlich
We have two children, and both are so
different
Examples of the 3 declensions:

Beide Arme nach oben
Both arms up (strong)
Meine beiden Arme

Both my arms (mixed)
Die beiden Arme

Both arms (weak)
einige
It only has a strong declension:
Haus mit einigem Luxus

House with (some) luxury

declension
Nominative einiger einige einiges einige
Accusative einigen einige einiges einige
Dative einigem einiger einigem einigen
Genitive einiges einiger einiges einiger
ein bisschen
It is correct to decline "ein bisschen" as well

as leave it unchanged:
Mit ein bisschen Glück

With a bit of luck
Mit einem bisschen Glück

With a bit of luck
ein paar
"Ein paar" never changes:
Mit ein paar Freunden

With a couple of friends
jeder
Usually, "jeder" only is used in the singular

and its declension is strong:
Der Morgen kommt nach jeder Nacht

The morning arrives after every night
Strong Masculine Feminine Neuter

declension
Nominative jeder jede jedes
Accusative jeden jede jedes
Dative jedem jeder jedem
Genitive jedes/jeden* jeder jedes/jeden*
jemand
"jemand" is only used in the singular and it

doesn't depend on the gender. It's correct to
decline it as well as to leave it unchanged.
Jemand kommt
Someone's coming
Strong declension Singular

Nominative jemand
Accusative jemand
jemanden
Dative jemand
jemandem
Genitive jemands
jemandes
kein
There are 2 declensions depending on

"kein"'s function:
Attributive
Attributive Attributive When the pronoun
"kein" comes before a noun
Ich habe keine Lampe

I don't have any lamp

Nominative kein keine kein keine
Accusative keinen keine kein keine
Not attributive without article When the

pronoun does not accompany a noun
Hast du ein Auto? Nein, ich habe keines

Do you have a car? No, I don't have one

Nominative keiner keine keines keine
Accusative keinen keine keines keine
man
"man" does not change and it is only used in

the nominative to make impersonal phrases.
Man kann nie wissen

You never know
Sentences with the pronoun "man" are an

alternative way to form the passive voice.
Main article: Pronoun "man" in German
mancher
"mancher" has a strong declension.
Manche Autos verbrauchen weniger als 3

Liter
Some cars consume less than 3 liters

declension
Nominative mancher manche manches manche
Accusative manchen manche manches manche
Dative manchem mancher manchem manchen
Genitive manches mancher manches mancher
/ /
manchen* manchen*
mehrere
"mehrere" is only used in the plural:
In mehreren Sprachen
In several languages
Strong declension Plural

Nominative mehrere
Accusative mehrere
Dative mehreren
Genitive mehrerer
niemand
"niemand" is used only in the singular and

does not depend on the gender. It's correct
to decline it as well as to leave it unchanged.
Niemand ist schuld

No one is guilty
Strong declension Singular

Nominative niemand
Accusative niemand
niemanden
Dative niemand
niemandem
Genitive niemands
niemandes
Forming the masculine and neuter

genitive "-en" instead of using "-es"
The indefinite pronouns "alle", "jeder",

"mancher", etc (strong declension) form the
genitive sometimes with "-en" instead of "-
es".
This has a logical explanation: Most

masculine or neuter nouns add an "-s"
already when forming the genitive.
Die Meinung manches Lesers

The opinion of some reader
That is why adding "-en" instead of "-es" is

the preferred choice in many cases.
Die Meinung manchen Lesers
It is important to emphasize that if the noun

does not add an "-s" in the genitive (for
example, the nouns with N-declension), the
genitive of pronouns is formed only with "-
es".
Die Meinung manches Kunden

The opinion of some client
To conclude this lesson, we'll listen to the
beautiful song "Vergiss mich" (forget me)
from the Austrian group Luttenberger*Klug
Vergiss mi…
mi…
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Home > Grammar > Verbs >

Irregular verbs in German

The 3 auxiliary verbs are irregular. The verb

sein ist war ist gewesen to be very

dürfen darf durfte hat to be

3. Irregular verbs for starters

bieten bot hat geboten to offer

4. Irregular verbs for the

beginnen begann hat begonnen to begin

bringen brachte hat gebracht to bring

treten tritt trat hat/ist to step also: to go

5. Irregular verbs for the advanced

beißen biss hat gebissen to bite

fließen floss ist geflossen to flow

gelingen gelang ist gelungen to

klingen klang hat geklungen to ring

schreien schrie hat geschrien to

sterben starb ist gestorben to die

6. Irregular verbs for a very

Verb 3rd Präteritum Auxiliar verb Meaning Remarks

betrügen betrog hat betrogen to betray

scheißen schiss hat to shit

stinken stank hat to stink

7. Verbs with "haben" and "sein" as

Among them are: fahren (to drive), biegen

Copyright www.GermanVeryEasy.com 2008-2023 v9|

Impersonal verbs and the

1. The personal pronoun "es"

Impersonal verbs in German use as subject

The pronoun "es" usually means "it" but it

2. Verbs that deal with the weather

Heute kann es regnen

Gestern hat es geschneit

blitzen to flash (lightning)

dunkeln to get dark

3. Impersonal verbs dealing with

knallen to make a bang/explode

läuten to sound the bells

These verbs don't necessarily have to always

Nachts pfeift der Wind ums Haus

4. Impersonal verbs that deal with

Es tut mir leid

5. "Sein", "werden" and "bleiben" as

Are meteorological events

Gestern war es sonnig

Are natural phenomena

Deal with time

Wie spät ist es?

6. Geben as an Impersonal Verb

Be careful with "geben" which means to give

Es gibt keine Lösung

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Reflexive Verbs in German

In German, the infinitive of these reflexive

In a reflexive clause, the action is done to

In English, these verbs are characterized by

Reflexive verbs in German can be reflexive in

1st mich mir

Ich freue mich auch für dich

Ich kaufe mir eine Wohnung

2. Accusative reflexive verbs

sich abkühlen to cool

sich ergeben to give up

sich erholen to recover,