German Grammar Course

Personal pronouns

Learn the basic German personal pronouns like I, you, we and so on...

Present tense 1 - Easy peasy

German conjugation is not as simple as in English, but much much easier than in French or Spanish or Russian. In this part we'll learn how to conjugate about 98% of all verbs in present and learn important verbs along the way.

Present Tense 2 - the Special Ones

Here, we'll learn how to use the other few verbs... verbs like to be, to have, can, must and more.

Asking Questions 1

Of course, we also need to know how to ask questions. In this part, we'll learn all the question words and how to use them in a sentence.

Asking Questions 2

Not all questions have question words. In this part we'll learn how to ask the so called "open question" or yes-no-questions. Part 3 will be on indirect questions... coming (sort of) soon

Past Tense 1 - An Overview

Now that we've mastered the present, we'll move on right to using the past tense. First of, because without that you can't effectively converse, but also because with past tense we'll really get used to the whole "put stuff last" thing. In the first part, we'll do a general overview of how past tense is used in German and how that compares to English.

Past Tense 2 - Spoken Past

We'll learn everything about the spoken past. How to build a ge-form, where to put it and of course which helper to use - haben or sein. And we'll also take a look at rhythm, because that's a big deal with language.

Past Tense 3 - Written Past

Now, we'll learn how to form the written past (also known as preterit) and we'll see how surprisingly similar German and English are.

Past Tense 4 - When to use the Written Past

Here, we'll learn for which verbs we need the written past also for idiomatic spoken German. And just so you know... it's more than just the modals :)

Past Tense - Exercise

In this work out you can train when to use Written Past correctly for all those common verbs where it really matters. It's epic and it's got audio.

Good- better - Comparisons

Not super important but we'll have to learn it at some point :) First, we'll take a look at the two kinds of comparisons there are (yes, in any language) and then we'll see how it's done in German.

Comparisons 2 - The Best (Superlative)

In this article, we'll learn how to say things like "the best" in German. So we'll learn about the "am"-form and a few other things you need to know. (yeah, I'm getting lazy with these snippets :))

What are Cases?

We'll take a look at what cases are, why they exist, how they are in other languages and what cases and prepositions have in common (except that they suck).

Nominative

In this episode, we'll take a look at Nominative. Sounds boring but there are a couple of interesting "quirks" about comparisons and structures with "to be" where German and English work very differently regarding the subject. So don't skip this one.

Accusative and Dative

And now for the two cases that people actually care about. Mich, mir… Accusative, Dative… let's find out what they mean once and for all.

Genitive

We'll talk about the Genitive, how and when it's used for possession in German, why you don't really need to worry about it and we'll take a look at the claim that it's disappearing.

Practice German Cases - Masculine

One of the biggest problems with practicing cases is that the right answer also depends on the gender. So even if you get a case right, your answer might still be wrong because you had the wrong gender in mind. In this exercise, we take gender out of the equation and focus on one at a time, so you can actually build up an intuition for the various endings. This one is focused on masculine nouns. And optionally, you can make it a translation exercise, if you want to.

Practice German Cases - Feminine Nouns

The second part of this epic exercise is all about feminine nouns. Again, we'll mix articles and pronouns, but you never have to worry about the gender. That way, you can build an intuition for the various feminine case forms. And if you want to, you can again make this into a translation practice.

Practice German Cases - Neuter

In the third part of this epic practice series, it's time to deal with ... neuter nouns. As in the other two, we'll wildly mix articles and pronouns, but as scary as that may sound, it's actually pretty helpful because you can build a feel for how a "thing" transitions through a sentence. And as in the other two, you can either focus just on cases, or make it a translation practice (English to German). Enjoy :)

German Adjective Endings - Two Simple Steps

In this lesson, we'll get an overview of adjective endings and how they're usually taught. And then, we'll ignore all that and learn two simple steps for how to get to about 75% correct endings with very little effort and without learning any tables. And I'll also explain how I got to these steps and why they work so well. This is suitable for ABSOLUTE beginners. Read it and start implementing today!

German Adjective Endings - The Grammar and Logic

This lesson, we'll look at the underlying logic and system of adjective endings. This will clean up whichever gaps my two step approach didn't cover. This is NOT really for beginners and you do not need this until you're way into B1. But of course feel free to dive in, if you want to.

German Adjective Endings - Exercise 1

A big exercise to put all we learned into practice.

German Adjective Endings - Exercise 2 (BEAST MODE!!)

A second big exercise, but this time... it's HARD!! Enter on your own peril.

German Adjective Endings - ChatGPT Practice Generator

An experimental exercise chat bot that lets you practice adjective endings, one gender at a time. It's based on LLM technology (ChatGPT, Claude) so it's not perfect, but I'm continuously improving it and it's worth giving it a try.

The Box Model

A broad look at what a sentence consists of leads us to the Box Model (©me). And the Box Model is awesome. Seriously, it is REALLY HELPFUL at understanding and breaking down even the most difficult German sentences. It will be theory and a lot of English but it is definitely worth the read.

Sentence Structure 1 - Main Sentences

In this part, we’ll look at the structure of main sentences, particularly at how the stuff with the verb works. And we’ll tackle some textboook myths that cloud the view on how German REALLY works along the way.

Sentence Structure 2 - Position 1 and end

In this part, we'll explore position 1 and the end and see which elements go where and what effect that has. And we'll debunk some common myths you can find a lot on Youtube and in textbooks.

Word Order Explained - 1

In the first part, we take a look at the commonly taught rules like TeKaMoLo and find out why they suck- And then we’ll learn a fundamental principle about German that REALLY cracks word order wide open.

Word Order Explained - 2

We use what we learned in part 1 and see how word order really works. What goes where, why and what happens if you change the order. All that with loads and loads of examples.

Word Order Explained - 3

With lots more of examples we fill in all the gaps that are still there and wrap up the whole word order thing with a surprising parallel.

The position of 'nicht'- The Basics

Most explanations make it seem like a complicated topic with side rules but it's actually really really really simple... if you're ready to accept something really crazy :).

The position of 'nicht' - The Details

In this part, we'll take what we've learned in part one, fuse it with intuition and use it to analyze those typical fringe cases where the textbook rules usually fail.

The position of 'nicht' - The Exercise

Time to put what we learned into practice in position some "nicht" :).

German Participle Constructions

Scary sounding, not the most useful in daily conversation and yet all over in German. You can be fluent without knowing about this. But it gives you a great inside into the Lego-like character of German and helps you understand German sentence structure a bit better… because actually, you don’t have to move that much :)

Conditional 1 - The beginning

We learn what Conditional is at its core and why I don't call it by its official name subjunctive. Then, we'll learn how it works in the present tense AND we'll learn how to build the würde-conditional :). Sounds more than it is... but it's the foundation.

Conditional 2 - The Real Conditional

We'll learn how to build the "Real Conditional" and for which verbs we need it. So we'll go over hätte, wäre, könnte and a lot more.

Conditional 3 - Exercise

We'll practice what we've learned so far and transform sentences into conditional by using the two forms we now know.

Conditional 4 - The Past Conditional

Now things get real :). We'll learn how to say "would have done" and stuff like this. Almost every learning is making mistakes there, but I have a very simple 2 step system to get it right... ALL THE TIME.

Conditional 5 - Past Conditional with modal verbs

And now it gets super real. We'll learn how to say stuff like "would have been able to" or "would have wanted to". We can use the system we already learned BUT... we need to let go of what we thought was the most basic German grammar.

Conditional 6 - Past Conditional Exercise

And now, we'll practice the past conditional. It'll be tough. But you'll make it!

German Passive Voice - 1 - Overview

In part one, we'll take a broader perspective and look at what passive is, what it expresses and how we can spot it, in general. This is the foundation for looking at passive in German, because frankly... most of the explanations out there SUCK (and are wrong).

German Passive Voice - 2 - The Real Deal

In this episod, we'll learn what Vorgangspassiv and Zustandspassiv are and why the concepts are not helpful at all. We'll also learn how to build The Passive in German (with "werden") and the present and past tense.

German Passive Voice -3 - Interactive Exercise (with ChatGPT)

An interactive exercise generator I built, that let's you practice passive voice with ChatGPT. You can modify sentences at will and transform them from present to past, add a modal verb or make it a question. Like anything with ChatGPT, it's not perfect, but it's a great way to practice regardless.

German Passive Voice - 4 - English Passive Quirks

In this lesson, we'll look at some special features of English passive voice that do not work in German, and we'll see how you can translate them.

German Passive Voice - 5 - German Passive - Special Forms

In this lesson, we'll look at some special features of German passive, like the subject-less passive, and we'll explore the so called "Passiv-Ersatzformen".

Two-Way Prepositions Explained

A bunch of German prepositions can go with Dative and Accusative. IN this article, we'll see which prepositions they are and when to use which (spoiler: it depends on what WE want to say).

The Preposition and Prefix "ab" - Part 1

In part one, we'll look at "ab" as a preposition, and see what the core meanings are.

The Preposition and Prefix "ab" - Part 2

And here, we'll continue that. #worst synopsis ever.

The Preposition and Prefix "auf" - Part 1

In part one, we'll look at "auf" as a preposition, and also talk about the two core ideas of "auf" as a verb prefix and how it shape-shifts in practice.

The Preposition and Prefix "auf" - Part 2

In the second part, we'll look at "auf" in fixed combination with verbs, like "warten auf" or "freuen auf", get to know the most important ones and see if there's any logic or unifying theme.

The Preposition and Prefix "aus" - Part 1

In part one, we'll look at "aus" as a preposition, see what the difference is to "von" and start talking about "aus" as a prefix and how it modifies the base verbs.

The Preposition and Prefix "aus" - Part 2

In this part, we'll finish the part about "aus" as a prefix and then take a look at the differences between "aus" and its cousins raus, außen, draußen and so on.

The Preposition and Prefix "mit"

Not really much about the preposition here, but rather a detailed look at the prefix "mit" and how it can change and modify verbs. And a bonus look at "damit" and how it got the meaning it has today. Not gonna lie... the article is a bit dated and definitely needs an edit and a good trimming. But I hope it's useful anyway.

The Preposition and Prefix "nach"

In this article, we'll look at "nach". It's an article I wrote before starting the "official" series about prepositions and prefixes, but there's still a lot of useful stuff in it.

The Preposition and Prefix "um"

This is one of the oldest articles on prepositions, but the important things are there - mainly the weird double meaning and function of "um".

The Preposition "von"

"von" is a preposition but not a prefix, so this is an easy one. Still it's good to go over it and check what the core meaning is and why it became a replacement for Genitive (and how to do that of course).

The Preposition and Prefix "vor"

In this article, we'll learn all about "vor" you'll ever need - so we'll talk about "vor" as a preposition, "vor" as a verb prefix and we'll also see if there is any pattern to when "vor" is used as a fixed preposition for a verb (like "warnen vor, Angst haben vor and so on).

The Preposition and Prefix "zu" - Part 1

In part 1, we'll talk about "zu" as a preposition, what the difference is to "nach" and "in" and in what other contexts "zu" is used. Then, we'll talk about the two themes of the prefix "zu" and how they change and mold the meaning of their verbs.

The Preposition and Prefix "zu" - Part 2

In this part, we'll go over the important verb combination with "zu" and we'll also talk about when "zu" is (and isn't) translated as "too".

Relative Pronouns 1 - The Basics?

First, we'll talk a bit of background and find out what relative pronouns actually are. Then, we'll take a quick look at the basics in English and then go over the basics in German (and where the crucial differences are to English).

Relative Clauses 2 - The Nitty Gritty

We'll go over all the "quirks" of German relative clauses and tackle some common mistakes people make.

Relative Clauses - The Big Exercise

Practice what you've learned and find out where you usually make mistakes :). With translations and audios.

Time 1 - Overview

An insightful (or so I hope) introduction about what ways there are to give time information. Courses usually skip this step, but I think it's crucial to have a bit of background, especially for stuff like vor and bevor.

Time 2 - Time of Day

Learn how to say the time of day. It's boring but it's a must have :).

Time 3 -Names

By "names" I don't only mean the days of the week and the months. The main focus is learning all the words and chunks that refer to a specific point in time directly, like today, tomorrow, last week and so on.

Time 4.1 - Referring to the future

After the specific "names", we'll now turn our focus to the more vague words like soon, later, at some point and so on and see which time frame they refer to and what common traps there are. We'll start with the future...

Time 4.2 - Referring to the past

... and continue with the past here with lots of useful words like just now, recently, a while ago, earlier and so on.

Time 5.1 - Time Prepositions

Now that we're done with the direct ways to single out a point in time, let's learn how to pick them in relation to something - with time prepositions. We'll learn words like since, for, after, before and so on. Time 5.2 - the rest of the prepositions… shame on me, but this is still pending

Time 6 - Connecting Actions

And now it's time for the endboss of talking about time ... coordinating two actions. We'll learn the German words for before, after, while and others and see what effect they have on sentence structure.

Reflections on reflexive verbs

This post takes a look at what "reflexive" actually means. Then we'll take a look at English and compare that to how it works on German and do away with some myths they teach in language class sometimes. After reading this, you see German reflexive verbs in a different light... they aren't that hard actually.

"zu" or "um zu"

In this article, we'll find out a couple of ways to tell when to use "zu" and "um zu" and look at plenty of examples.

"zu" or "um zu" - Big Exercise

In this epic exercise, you'll find... a pdf. Whomp whomp whomp whoooooooomp. Seriously, it's an old exercise I made way back when, but it's still very useful, especially, because you can do it without a pen. I'll change it into a more modern quiz soon.

"einkaufen gehen" - Why no "zu"

This is kind of an inofficial part 2 for "zu" and "um zu". We'll explore what's going on with phrasings like "einkaufen gehen" or "joggen sein" and why there is no "zu" ther, even though the rules we learned would suggest that we need one.

Thinking about Prefix Verbs - 1

Dealing with prefix verbs are an important part of learning German and many of you struggle with them. But they're actually nothing particularly German. Many languages have them. In this mini series, we'll explore the background of prefix verbs. And the first part, we'll learn their history and the core them they all share across languages.

Thinking about Separable Prefix Verbs

In this article, we'll learn how the infamous German separable prefixes have evolved and we'll get to know their secret English brothers that are hidden in plain sight.

Non-Separable Prefix Verbs

In the third and final part of the mini series on prefix verbs, we'll look at non-separable prefix verbs, how they evolved, and we'll see that the languages of Europe are actually FULL of them. English, French, Russian... you name it.

What are r-versions

In the this episode, we'll do a sort of Q&A about verbs like raufmachen, rausgehen or reinlegen - which I call r-versions, or r-words. There's a boatload of them in German (and by boatload I mean transatlantic cruise-ship load) and you cannot speak proper German without them.

r-version, her-version, hinversion - A closer look

After we learned the basics in the first episode, we'll take a closer look at the various versions, see what the differences are and what rules there are (and which to ignore).

What the Heck do da-Words mean?

damit, davor, davon, daran… what are they, what do they do, how do we use then and… whyyyyyyy. All this we'll talk about in this article. And we'll find out why the da-words are actually kind of awesome.

da-Words undone - Splitting the "da-words"

Germans like splitting things - bills, hairs, verbs... and they also split their da-words in spoken German. In this article, we'll look at this phenomenon, that gets virtually ignored by ALL courses and Youtube teachers.

What the Heck do wo-words mean?

The wo-words are the brothers of the da-words and there are some common principles. But the wo-words are a bit more difficult to handle. In this post we'll find out what they do and when to use them... and it's gonna get nerdy :)

"aufhören" - a practical guide

A practical guide for the verb "aufhören". We'll practice present, past, questions and all important structures for this important verb - all by actually speaking :).

"finden" - a practical guide

Practice all the important structures and phrasings for "finden" by speaking with the epic AI of EF Languages - perfect if you want to actually practice speaking and pick up grammar structures naturally.

"gehen" - a practical guide

We'll practice all important phrasings and uses of "gehen" - present tense, past, questions and so on. By speaking into a mic :)

"sein" - a practical guide

Practice how to use "sein" by speaking. A step by step guide that walks you through all the basic phrasings and structures with sein.

"warten" - a practical guide

Practice how to use "warten" by speaking. Together, we'll go through all the basic phrasings including "auf" and "darauf", and all that by actually speaking.

What the heck is "to conjugate"

Conjugation is one of the things you are confronted with in almost any language class… for languages that conjugate, that is. The idea of conjugation is pretty simple and the term might sound familiar to you but maybe you can’t quite put your finger on what exactly it means. So if you need an update on that… here it is.

What the Heck are "Prepositions"

The term is thrown around a lot in language courses and you need them everyday in German and English… and they cause a lot of trouble for language learners. Misuse of prepositions is one of the biggest sources of error in German and it is by far more confusing than getting a case wrong. This article won’t solve any of these problems ... uh... yeay. It will explain, what prepositions do, how to recognize them, compare German and English ones and answers the question whether prepositions are necessary at all :).

What the heck does "transitive" and "intransitive" mean

This opinionated post… well.. rant takes a look at the terms transitive and intransitive. We’ll see what it means and if it is really necessary to use these terms.

What the heck are "Adverbs"

Textbooks, teachers, politicians… everyone uses the term without even asking whether people actually understand what it is. Here’s a thorough analysis of adverbs in general as well as a look at what’s special about them in German.

What the Heck are "Subordinating Conjunctions"

This intense post tries to figure out just what are conjunctions. And we’ll go much deeper than the usual book definition. Because conjunctions have a lot in common with another bunch of words. And we’ll see what’s up with these things in German, which is kind of really interesting because it touches the secret why the verb moves. (Spoiler: they stink)