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Often, words and phrases need to be negated. This is done using kein and nicht.
Kein- negates a word. Similar to “no”. It is used and conjugated like “ein”.
Er hat drei Kinder. He has three children.
Er hat keine Kinder. He has no children.
Ich habe keine Idee. I have no idea.
“Nicht” always negates a verb. It appears either behind the direct object (here placed
before the indirect object) or before short adverbs/adverbial phrases.
Another form of negation is through the use of ungern. It means “to dislike” and is
the opposite of “gern”, meaning “to like”. It appears like “nicht” after the verb.
PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions
Accusative Dative Accusative and dative
durch- through, by (durchs) aus- out, from auf- on, to (aufs- dat)*
für- for (fürs) bei- with (beim) an- on, at/against, to (ans- dat)*
gegen- about, against nach- after in- in, into (ins- dat)*
um- around, at (ums) seit- since hinter- behind
ohne- without von- from, of, by (vom) vor- in front, before, ago
zu- to (zum & zur) zwischen- between
mit- with neben- beside
über- over, about
unter- under, near
All the forms in (...) are short forms, e.g. durchs = durch das, fürs = für das, beim =
bei dem. These are used in spoken language.
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Correct written language does include some of these short forms. In many cases you
have to use the long form, for example, in written language you should not use “ans”,
but “an das”.
Genitive prepositions
ausserhalb- outside of anstatt- instead of
innerhalb- inside of während- during, while
trotz- in spite of wegen- because of
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Personal pronouns
Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive
ich mich mir mein
du dich dir dein
ihr euch euch euer
wir uns uns unser
er ihn ihm sein
sie sie ihr ihr
es es ihm sein
sie (plural) sie ihnen ihr
Sie (polite) Sie Ihnen Ihr
Case. Noun.
Nominative Der Mann
Dative Dem Mann
Genitive Des Mann
Accusative Den Mann
Often, the direct object of the main clause is replaced by a relative pronoun.
Relative pronouns
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative der die das die
Accusative den die das die
Dative dem der dem denen
Gentive dessen deren dessen deren
When replacing a direct object with a relative pronoun the direct object switches
places with the indirect object, no longer appearing in the final position.
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Replacing a noun with a pronoun
Ich gebe der Frau das Frühstück. I give the woman the breakfast.
Ich gebe es der Frau. I give it to the woman.
Notice how the indirect object/pronoun remains dative and the direct object/pronoun
remains accusative.
It is important to remember which nouns are the direct and indirect objects and
subject of a sentence, and so their case, when replacing them.
Das Zimmermädchen kam kurz darauf und brachte die gewünschte Siefe. Als sie
sie mir gab, fragte sie: „Welche Zimmernummer, bitte?“
Er warf einen mitleidigen Blick auf meinem Koffer. Als er ihn nahm, fragte er:
„Welche Zimmernummer mein Herr?“
When there is a main and subordinate clause the relative pronoun appears after the
conjunction in the subordinate clause. The main verb of the subordinate clause takes
the final position, either in the infinitive (when a modal is used) or in the perfect tense.
Notice how the modal verb takes the final position, after the main verb.
When replacing a noun with a personal pronoun use the corresponding third person
pronoun.
Der, die or das are only used when greater emphasis is required. For example, if
someone was pointing at something.
ARTICLES
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Articles: 1-4 are declined as definite articles, 5-9 as indefinite articles and 10-14
as plural articles.
1) dieser 8) ein bisschen- a little
2) jeder- each 9) andere- other
3) mancher- many 10) einige- some
All of these articles change their ending according to the gender of the word they
proceed and case of the sentence they appear in. For example, dieser, diesen,
diesem, dieses.
ADJECTIVAL ENDINGS
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All adjectives preceded by articles end with “en”, save-
All genders in the nominative case, plus the feminine and neutral accusative
cases. Here adjectives with the definite article end in “e”. Adjectives with the
indefinite article end with the last letter of the definite article.
All adjectives preceded by no article take the last letter of the definite article, save-
In the masculine and neutral genitive case the adjective takes “en”.
In most cases the adjectival ending of plurals will be -en, however, when there is no
article it is almost always -e. For example:
In den letzen zwei Jahre habe ich viele/fünf deutsche Leute kennengelernt.
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Die deutschen Leute helfen mir mit meinem Deutsch.
Adjectival endings occur when an adjective appears before the noun. For example:
The adjectival ending depends on 1) the case and 2) the gender of the noun. For
example:
“Ich habe den (“film“ in German is masculine) neuen Harry Potter nicht gesehen.“
Often, verbs with past participles become adjectives. They also obey the same rule.
For example:
When verbs are used in the passive voice they take on adjectival endings. For
example:
The adjectival present participle is formed by adding “d“ to the infinitive form of the
verb before the adjective ending. For example:
Verb Adjective
Passen - to fit Passend - fitting
Hervorragen - to stand out Hervorrangend - outstanding
This appears to create an infinitive form, however infinitives are verbs and this
construction is only used with adjectives in the present tense.
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Such present participles are only used with the active voice and at specific points in
time.
Adjectives are preceded with the verb “sein” when there is a personal pronoun.
One does not use “sein” with a verb, unless the prefect tense is sought.
The verb “regnen” means “to rain”, whereas the adjective “windig” needs “sein” to
make “to be windy”.
“Er ist windig”, however, is an adjectival phrase since it describes the world, the
environment. “Windig”- windy, is not an action.
An adjectival phrase would be, “Der laufender Mann”- the running man, since
“laufender” is describing a noun.
Adjectival Adverbial
Das ist eine gute Idee- That is a good Er kocht gut- He cooks well.
idea.
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Meine Mütter kann sehr gut kochen. Meine Mütter kann sehr gut.
If there is already an “e” at the end, just add “r” in the comparative form.
Adjectives with stems ending in “el” and “er” drop the “e” in the comparative form.
Adjectives with stems ending in “d”, “s”, “ß”, “sch”, “t”, “x”, “z” add an extra “e” in the
superlative.
One syllable adjectives often take an umlaut in the comparative and superlative.
Statement.
Deutsch English
Er ist alt. He is old.
When comparing two items to emphasise how equal they are use the phrase “so…
wie”.
Deutsch English
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Er ist so alt wie ich. He is as old as I am.
Similar to.
Deutsch English
Er ist alt wie meinen Vater. He is old like my father.
Deutsch English
Er ist älter als ich. He is older than I am.
Superlative.
Deutsch English
Er ist der am ältesten. He is the eldest.
When joining two sentences together one uses conjunctions. Whether two main
clauses or a main and relative clause are connected is governed by conjunction.
Simple conjunctions connect two main clauses. Main clauses make sense on their
own and require no further information.
Simple conjunctions.
und- and trotz- despite, in spite of
aber- but trotzdem- nevertheless
oder- or anschließend- afterwards
dann- then deshalb / deswegen- therefore
(je)doch- however entweder- either
danach- after that
While all “da” forms (dann, danach, dafür, damit, dabei) are simple conjunctions, they
reverse the word order. As does “also” and “deshalb”. For example:
Often, “dann“ does not appear in a sentence, though its use is implied. For example:
Wenn die Frauen Kirche fertig ist, (dann) denke ich, dass der Platz schöner wäre.
Also, when the object (here: “die Frauen Kirche“) starts a sentence, the object (here:
“ich”) appears after the verb. Another example is:
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Ich liebe Hamburg und ich liebe Manchester.
Mein Französisch ist nicht so gut, aber mein Deutsch ist besser.
Tante Unice las ein Buch und Onkel Peter spielte Schach.
Tante Unice hat ein Buch gelesen ünd Onkel Peter hat Schach gespielt.
Entweder gehen wir heute ins Kino, order wir gehen in der Stadt spazieren.
Ich habe ein neues Auto und ich habe eine kleiner Wohnung.
Ich kann ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen, aber ich verbessere mich jeden Tag.
Subordinate conjunctions.
weil- because ob- whether
denn- because bevor- before
dass- that seit, seitdem- since
wenn- if, when, whenever als- when, as
falls - if nachdem- after
obwohl- although
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Ich stehe so früh auf, weil ich um acht Uhr einen Deutschkurs
habe.
Ich muss mein Vokabelbuch in meine weil ich es (sonst) verlieren könnte.
Tasche nehmen,
Lea hilft mir mit meinen Hausaufgaben, weil es schwierig für mich ist.
Ich beverzuge es den ganzen Tag obwohl es mich müde machen kann.
Deutsch zu sprechen,
Ich lerne mein deutschen Wörte, wenn ich Zeit habe.
Christina hat mich gefragt, ob ich ihr helfen kann.
Ich habe gegessen, bevor ich hier gekommen bin.
Er sagt, dass die Leute faul sind.
Ich habe ein Auto gesehen, das einen Tuer gebraucht.
(Note: In the last two examples, dass and das are used. In the first case dass does
not refer to an object, while in the second case das refers to das Auto. When “that“
refers to an object it must reflect the gender and case of the noun.)
Mein Deutsch ist schon besser, weil mein Deutschfamilie so freundlich ist, und
(weil) sie mit mir spricht.
Here, three clauses have been connected. The first clause is the main clause. It is
followed by two subordinate clauses. Although the third clause appears to be a main
clause (since it is connected using “und”) it is still dependent on the first clause. It is
still explaining why. “Weil” (in parenthesis) is suggested. It is therefore a subordinate
clause.
Therefore if “und” is used after “weil” it connects two subordinate clauses. Alone it
connects two main clauses.
A main clause can also be split in two parts with the relative clause contained within
it.
German English
Das Zimmer ist möbliert. The room is furnished.
Sie mietet das Zimmer für einige Geld. She rents the room for little money.
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Main clause Relative clause Main clause continued
Der Baum, den ich gepflatzt habe, blümt.
Above, “der Baum” is nominative as it is the only noun in this clause, however, in the
relative clause “der Baum” becomes the accusative “den” as “ich” is the new
nominative subject.
In the relative clause above, “mein Freund“ becomes the dative “dem“.
COMMAS
Commas are used in German not to express pauses in speech, but the division of
clauses. For example:
Der Nachbar, der mir, als ich meine neue Wohnung bekommen habe, geholfen hat,
verlor seine Schwester, zu der er sehr nah war.
When subordinate conjunctions are used verbs with separable prefixes are reunited
in conjugated form at the end of the dependent clause.
The following English sentences are literal translations to illustrate the use of
subordinate conjunctions and commas in German:
Since German comma rules are complicated and numerous most German speakers
use commas intuitively.
IF CONSTRUCTION
When “wenn” or “falls” opens a sentence the following clause must begin with ”dann”.
The verb, and not the article, then follows in the second position. Sometimes “dann”
is dropped, but it is always implied.
When “also” opens a sentence or clause, the verb also takes the second position.
UM AND ZU
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In many conversations one wants to say, “I did… in order to…” German always uses
“um” (in order) and “zu” (to).
Even if the opening of the sentence is in the perfect or past tense, the verb in the
second clause always appears in the infinitive preceeded by “zu”.
Whenever two verbs appear in one sentence, the first is inflected according to the
pronoun or object and the second appears in the infinitive form, preceeded by “zu“.
NOUN GENDERS
The rules listed are based on the ending of the nouns. However, as always, there are
exceptions.
Masculine:
Males, male professions and male animals: der Sohn, der Arzt, der Hund.
Seasons, months and days of the week: der Sommer. der Mai, der Montag.
Weather expressions: der Wind.
Points of the compass: der Norden.
Rocks and minerals: der Diamant, der Quartz.
Types of car: der BMW.
Rivers outside Germany: der Ganges.
Monetary units: der Dollar.
Mountains and mountain ranges: der Mount Everest, der Himalaja.
Plant-based drinks: der Saft.
Alcoholic drinks: der Wein (except das Bier).
-er endings: der Fehler.
-ling endings: der Liebling.
-ant endings: der Konsonant.
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-ich endings: der Teppich.
-ig endings: der Essig.
-or endings: der Motor.
-us endings: der Rythmus.
-ast endings: der Kontrast.
-ismus endings: Sozialismus.
Nouns derived from a verb that have dropped the ending: der Anruf (from
anrufen).
Feminine:
Females, female professions and female animals: die Tochter, der Lehrerin,
die Kuh.
Types of aeroplanes and motor-bikes: die Boeing, die Honda.
Names of ships: die “Bismarck”.
Rivers inside Germany: die Elbe.
Names of numerals: die Tausend.
-ei endings: die Baeckerei.
-heit and -keit endings: die Moeglichkeit.
-schaft endings: die Wissenschaft.
-ung endings: die Zeitung.
-ät endings: die Universität.
-ie endings: die Familie.
-ik endings: die Politik.
-ur endings: die Natur.
-ion endings: die Funktion.
-in endings: die Freundin.
-a endings: die Pizza.
-anz and -enz endings: die Eleganz.
-sis endings: die Basis.
Nouns that have a -t at the end and are derived from a verb: die Fahrt (from
fahren).
Most nouns ending in -e: die Reise.
Neuter:
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-tel endings: das Viertel.
-it endings: das Dynamit.
-il endings: das Ventil.
Nouns derived from a verb that appear the infinitive: das Essen.
Most nouns with the prefix -ge: das Gespräch.
Compound nouns take the gender of the last noun: der Fahrplan.
ORDINAL NUMBERS
Write the numbers one to twelve as words, thereafter write numbers in ordinal form.
CARDINAL NUMBERS
All cardinal numbers take the male form, unless referring to a female or neutral
object.
TIME EXPRESSIONS
All times of the day and months are masculine, save for “die Nacht”. They are all
expressed using the dative “am” (“an” plus “dem”), save for “an der Nacht”. Their
adjectival ending is therefore -en.
-t + adjectival ending = 1 – 19
-st + adjectival ending = 20…
German. English.
Am Morgen In the morning.
Am Vormittag Before lunch/late morning.
Am Mittag Noon/midday.
Am Nachmittag In the afternoon.
Am Abend In the evening.
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An der Nacht In the night.
Am Ersten April On the first of April.
Am Zwanzigsten Mai On the twentieth of May.
Am achtiziger Jahre. In the eighties.
Am ziebziger Jahre. In the seventies.
Der zwölfte Dezember 2005. The twelfth December, 2005
(Note: In the final example the dative “am” is not used, so the number has the
nominative -e adjectival ending. Moreover, the previous two examples take the
adjectival ending -er, because, while dative, Jahr is feminine.
German.
Um 13.30 Uhr treffen wir.
Um wie viel Uhr?
What makes the expression “Guten Tag” dative is the root of the phrase, which uses
the dative verb, “wünschen”.
Original expression.
Ich wünsche Ihnen einen guten Tag.
Ich wünsche Ihnen eine gute Nacht.
PLURALS
Most German nouns are made into plural by adding -e, or -en and occasionally -s.
Often the vowel takes on an umlaut. There is no rule for this, however, with familiarity
one can know if an umlaut is necessary by the sound of the noun.
In addition, some male nouns can become cross-gender group plurals. For example:
Normally an ending would be added to create the plural, however, der Teilnehmer
becomes die Teilnehmer to create the plural. The male form takes prominence.
If the group is female only the plural is die Teilnehmerinnen. An extra -n is added at
the end before the usual plural -en.
Feminine words ending in -heit, -keit, -ung usually take -en for the plural ending.
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ACCOUNTABLE
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