Understand the pattern. Use it yourself.

Learn each noun with its article and plural. Der, die and das mark grammatical gender, which does not reliably follow the meaning of a word. In the nominative singular, the indefinite articles are ein for masculine and neuter nouns and eine for feminine nouns.

Der Tisch ist klein.

The table is small.

A present-tense verb changes with its subject. For many regular verbs, remove -en and add -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en for ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie. Some stems and endings change; learn frequent irregular verbs separately. Formal Sie takes the same form as plural sie.

Ich lerne Deutsch.

I am learning German.

In a statement, the conjugated verb occupies the second position. Position means a sentence element, not necessarily one word. If you put a time phrase first, the subject usually follows the verb. In a yes/no question, put the conjugated verb first.

Heute lerne ich Deutsch.

Today I am learning German.

A direct object often takes the accusative. Masculine der changes to den, and ein changes to einen. Feminine die/eine and neuter das/ein keep their nominative forms in the accusative. The subject remains nominative. Learn the case required by a verb as part of its pattern.

Ich kaufe einen Stift.

I am buying a pen.

Use kein to negate an indefinite noun or a noun without an article: kein Auto, keine Zeit. Its ending follows the noun’s gender, number and case. Nicht negates a verb, adjective or a specific part of the sentence; its position depends on what you are negating.

Ich habe kein Auto.

I do not have a car.

Conjugate the modal verb and put the other verb in the infinitive at the end of a main clause. Können expresses ability or possibility; müssen expresses necessity. Memorise the common singular forms ich kann, du kannst, er kann and ich muss, du musst, er muss.

Ich kann schwimmen.

I can swim.

In a simple main clause, the separable prefix goes to the end and the conjugated verb stays in second position. With a modal verb, the full infinitive stays together at the end. Learn whether a verb is separable when you learn the verb.

Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf.

I get up at seven.

The Perfekt uses a conjugated auxiliary, haben or sein, and a past participle at the end of a main clause. Many verbs use haben. Some verbs describing a change of place or state use sein. Learn the auxiliary and participle with each new verb.

Ich habe Deutsch gelernt.

I studied German.

A case describes the grammatical role of a noun phrase. Nominative commonly marks the subject; accusative often marks a direct object. Certain verbs and prepositions require dative. Genitive can express possession. Ask wer/was, wen/was, wem and wessen as clues, but learn the construction: meaning alone cannot always tell you the case. Genitive is included here as a reference and practised further in A2.

Der Mann

Der Mann performs the action and is nominative.

Use the noun’s gender and number together with its case. The table gives masculine, feminine, neuter and plural forms in that order. There is no plural ein article. Kein and possessive determiners take the same endings as ein where an ein form exists, and use -e/-en in the plural. Genitive forms are a reference for the later unit.

einen

Mantel is masculine and the direct object: einen Mantel.

Choose a pronoun according to its role and the verb or preposition. The word for he can become ihn or ihm. Formal Sie stays capitalized in all its forms. Genitive personal pronouns such as meiner and deiner are uncommon in everyday beginner speech; do not use them as ordinary possessive determiners.

ihn

Sehen takes accusative: er becomes ihn.

Choose the stem for the owner, then the ending for the possessed noun. Mein means my, dein your informal singular, sein his/its, ihr her/their, unser our, euer your informal plural and Ihr formal your. Before a noun these are possessive determiners. Standalone possessive pronouns can have different endings: Das ist mein Buch; das ist meins. Genitive forms include meines Vaters and meiner Mutter.

meine

Mutter is feminine nominative: meine.

Learn verbs with their object pattern. Sehen, kaufen, brauchen and besuchen commonly take an accusative object. Helfen, danken, gefallen and gehören take dative. Geben can have both: the person receiving something is dative and the thing given is accusative. Genitive-object verbs such as gedenken belong to more formal language; they are a reference rather than a beginner speaking target.

dem

Helfen takes dative: dem Kind.

Some prepositions have a fixed case. Learn für with accusative and mit with dative, rather than guessing from an English translation. In dative plural, a noun commonly adds -n unless it already ends in -n or -s: mit den Kindern, mit den Autos. Two-way spatial prepositions have their own location/destination pattern.

meinen

Für takes accusative; Vater is masculine.

Regular endings are -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en. Some stems add an extra e for pronunciation, as in du arbeitest. Some strong verbs change the stem vowel in du and er/sie/es, such as fahren and lesen. Sein and haben need their own forms. Do not extend a strong-verb vowel change to wir or ihr.

fährst

Fahren changes a to ä with du.

Use the imperative to ask someone to do something. With du, use the imperative verb without du; with ihr, use the ihr verb form without ihr. Formal requests use the verb followed by Sie. Separable prefixes go last. Bitte can soften a request. Learn irregular forms such as lies, nimm and sei.

Komm bitte!

The du imperative of kommen is komm.

Aber, denn, und, sondern and oder coordinate words or clauses. When they connect complete main clauses, each clause keeps main-clause word order. Sondern corrects a negated idea. Denn gives a reason; it does not send the verb to the end. ADUSO is a memory aid, not a separate grammatical rule.

sondern

Sondern corrects the negated time: not today, but tomorrow.

Darum, deshalb and deswegen can mean therefore or for that reason. If one starts a main clause, it fills the first position and the conjugated verb follows immediately. Their differences often depend on context; these exercises focus on the shared consequence pattern rather than claiming only one synonym is possible.

bleibe

Deshalb occupies first position; bleibe is second.

Time adverbs can identify when something happens, how often or in what sequence. Heute, morgen and gestern are normally lowercase. Morgen means tomorrow; der Morgen means the morning. Starting with a time expression still requires the finite verb in second position. Position can also change emphasis.

gestern

Gestern refers to the previous day.

War and hatte are useful past-tense forms even when most conversational past events use Perfekt. Use sein for a past state and haben for past possession or availability. These forms are irregular and do not take a second infinitive in a simple sentence.

war

Müde describes a state: ich war müde.

Many regular participles use ge- plus the stem plus -t. Separable verbs often insert ge- after the prefix. Verbs ending in -ieren and verbs with inseparable prefixes such as be- or ver- do not normally add ge-. Strong participles often change the vowel and end in -en.

Wir haben eingekauft.

We went shopping.

With two-way prepositions such as in, an and auf, the dative describes a location, while the accusative describes a destination or change into a spatial relation. Movement alone does not automatically mean accusative: you can move around within one location.

Ich bin in der Küche.

I am in the kitchen.

Weil introduces a reason; dass introduces a statement reported or expressed by another clause. The conjugated verb normally goes at the end of these subordinate clauses. If the subordinate clause comes first, the conjugated verb of the main clause follows the comma.

Ich bleibe hier, weil ich Zeit habe.

I am staying here because I have time.

Many comparative adjectives add -er; some also change their vowel. Use als when comparing unequal things and so … wie for equality. The common predicative superlative is am … -sten or -esten. Some forms are irregular, such as gut, besser, am besten.

Die Wohnung ist größer als mein Zimmer.

The flat is bigger than my room.

Some verbs use a reflexive pronoun referring back to the subject. The pronoun changes with person: ich erinnere mich, du erinnerst dich, sie erinnert sich. The verb determines the construction and case, so learn the full phrase. A separable reflexive verb still follows the usual prefix pattern.

Ich ruhe mich aus.

I am resting.

Dürfen expresses permission. Nicht dürfen means something is not permitted. Nicht müssen means there is no obligation; it does not express a prohibition. In a main clause, the modal is conjugated and the other verb remains an infinitive at the end.

Du musst nicht kommen.

You do not have to come.

An adjective before a noun usually needs an ending. The ending depends on case, gender, number and the preceding determiner. Compare der kleine Tisch with ein kleiner Tisch: the adjective supplies different grammatical information. An adjective after sein normally has no such ending.

Ich kaufe einen kleinen Tisch.

I am buying a small table.

Genitive can express a relationship or possession: das Fahrrad des Kindes. Ask wessen. Masculine and neuter singular nouns usually add -s or -es, with exceptions such as weak masculine nouns. Feminine and plural nouns do not add this genitive ending. Personal genitive pronouns are rare in everyday speech and differ from possessive determiners.

des

Kind is neuter; use genitive des Kindes.

In formal standard German, wegen, trotz, während, innerhalb and außerhalb commonly take genitive. You may hear dative variants, especially with wegen, but these exercises practise the formal standard pattern. Distinguish the preposition während plus a noun phrase from the conjunction während plus a clause.

des

This exercise uses formal genitive: des Regens.

An attributive adjective before a noun changes with case, gender, number and determiner. Each table cell lists adjective endings for masculine, feminine, neuter and plural in that order. After sein, the adjective has no declension ending. The ein pattern includes possessive determiners and kein; ordinary ein has no plural, so the listed plural endings apply to forms such as meine and keine. Without a determiner, the adjective carries more case information. Examples: der gute Kaffee, ein guter Kaffee, guter Kaffee; den guten Kaffee, einen guten Kaffee, guten Kaffee.

kleiner

Masculine nominative after ein needs kleiner.

Werden has different constructions. With an adjective or noun phrase it can mean become. With an infinitive it can form the future. With a past participle it forms the process passive. Identify the second element before deciding the meaning. Its own Perfekt participle is geworden; passive Perfekt instead uses worden.

wird

Es takes wird.

Sollen often reports an instruction or expectation from someone else. Sollte can give advice. Conjugate the modal and leave the other verb as an infinitive at the end. Soll and sollte are not identical in force: an instruction and a recommendation can sound different.

sollst

Du takes sollst.

Use um … zu to express a purpose with the same understood subject: Ich lerne, um die Prüfung zu bestehen. Damit introduces a finite subordinate clause and can express a different subject. Put its conjugated verb last. With a separable infinitive, zu goes between prefix and stem: aufzustehen.

zu bestehen

Um requires an infinitive construction with zu.

Obwohl introduces a subordinate clause and sends the conjugated verb to the end. Trotzdem can introduce a main clause, taking first position with the conjugated verb next. Both can express an unexpected contrast. If an obwohl clause comes first, the main clause begins with its finite verb.

bin

The finite verb bin ends the obwohl clause.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject. With ich and du, accusative and dative differ: mich/mir and dich/dir. A reflexive construction with another accusative object often uses dative for the person: Ich wasche mir die Hände. Learn each verb pattern, including any fixed preposition.

mich

With no separate accusative object here, use mich.

A relative clause describes a noun. The pronoun’s gender and number come from that noun; its case comes from the pronoun’s role inside the relative clause. Use commas and put the finite verb last. Start with nominative and accusative forms before practising dative.

der

The relative pronoun is the subject of wohnt.

An indirect question is embedded inside another sentence. Keep the question word if there is one. For a yes/no question, introduce the embedded clause with ob. Place the finite verb at the end. The punctuation of the whole sentence depends on whether the full sentence is a question or a statement.

beginnt

Der Kurs takes beginnt at the end of the embedded question.

Past modal forms often appear with a final infinitive. Learn konnte, musste, durfte, wollte, sollte and mochte. Distinguish obligation, permission and ability. Umlauts disappear in konnte, musste, durfte and mochte, unlike the corresponding Konjunktiv II forms könnte, müsste, dürfte and möchte.

kommen

After konnte use the infinitive kommen.

Regular verbs form past stems with -te, sometimes -ete for pronunciation: machte, arbeitete. Strong verbs may change the stem vowel: ging, kam, las. Learn the principal forms with each verb. Written narratives often use Präteritum, while Perfekt is common for conversational past events; use varies by region and verb.

arbeitete

The past singular is arbeitete.

Use könnte, hätte and wäre for polite or hypothetical language. Würde plus infinitive is another common pattern. The modal could be past-looking in form without describing a real past event. Keep würde and wurde separate: wurde is a past form of werden.

Könnten

Könnten expresses a polite request here.

Als introduces a single past occasion or a particular past period; wenn can describe repeated occasions or conditions. Bevor means before, nachdem after, während while and bis until. These subordinators put the finite verb last. After nachdem, choose tenses that make the order of events clear; the example uses past perfect before a past main event.

Als

Als introduces this particular past period.

Use am with weekdays and dates, um with clock times and im with months and seasons. Seit marks a period continuing to the reference time; present tense is common when it continues now. Vor describes how long ago something happened. Für can express a planned duration. Cases belong to the preposition pattern.

um

Clock times use um.

Separate location, destination and origin. With two-way spatial prepositions, a location normally uses dative and a destination into a spatial relation uses accusative. Movement inside one location can still use dative. Nach commonly introduces cities and countries without articles; zu commonly introduces people or destinations as institutions.

dative

The running stays inside the park: location, im = in dem.

Learn a verb with its preposition and case as one pattern. Warten auf takes accusative; sprechen mit takes dative. Sich interessieren für has an accusative reflexive pronoun and für plus accusative. Do not select the preposition only by translating from English.

auf

The fixed pattern is warten auf plus accusative.

For things or ideas, combine wo- with the preposition; add r before a vowel: worauf, woran. For a person, keep the preposition and use the appropriate form of wer: auf wen, mit wem. Answers about things often use da- forms such as darauf. The verb keeps its fixed preposition.

Worauf

A bus is a thing; warten auf becomes worauf.

Indefinite pronouns refer to unspecified people or things. Jemand and niemand refer to people; etwas and nichts to things. Man is an impersonal subject and takes a third-person singular verb. In object positions, jemand and niemand can have case endings; these exercises use explicit endings for clarity.

Man

Man is the impersonal pronoun; Mann is a noun.

The process passive focuses on what happens to something. Use a conjugated form of werden and a past participle. An active accusative object can become the passive subject: Man öffnet die Tür becomes Die Tür wird geöffnet. Sein plus a participle often describes a resulting state. Not every verb can form the same personal passive pattern.

wird

Singular die Tür takes wird.

Use als for a single past situation or a particular period in the past. Use wenn for repeated past occasions and for conditions. Sein, haben and modal verbs frequently appear in the Präteritum: war, hatte, konnte, musste. The subordinate clause introduced by als or wenn has its conjugated verb at the end.

Als ich in Berlin war, besuchte ich ein Museum.

When I was in Berlin, I visited a museum.

A relative pronoun takes its gender and number from the noun it refers to. Its case depends on its role inside the relative clause. The conjugated verb goes at the end. Der Mann, dem ich helfe uses dem because helfen takes the dative.

Das ist die Frau, die hier arbeitet.

That is the woman who works here.

Many expressions take an infinitive with zu. With a separable verb, zu goes between prefix and stem: anzufangen. Modal verbs normally take an infinitive without zu. Um … zu expresses a purpose when the understood subject is the same; damit can introduce a purpose with a different subject.

Ich hoffe, bald eine Stelle zu finden.

I hope to find a job soon.

Konjunktiv II can express imagined situations, wishes and polite suggestions. Common forms include wäre, hätte and könnte. Würde plus infinitive is another frequent pattern. Keep the distinction between an imagined condition and a statement of fact.

Wenn ich mehr Zeit hätte, würde ich mehr lesen.

If I had more time, I would read more.

The process passive uses werden plus a past participle and focuses on an action. Sein plus a participle can describe a resulting state. The object of an active accusative construction can become the passive subject. Not every German verb forms a personal passive in the same way.

Die Tür wird geschlossen.

The door is being closed.

Obwohl introduces a subordinate clause with the conjugated verb at the end. Trotzdem and deshalb can introduce a main clause, where the conjugated verb is second. Trotzdem expresses an unexpected contrast; deshalb expresses a consequence.

Obwohl es regnet, fahre ich Rad.

Although it is raining, I am cycling.

Konjunktiv I can mark reported speech, especially in formal writing. Common forms include sei and habe. If its form is identical to the indicative, Konjunktiv II may distinguish the report. A reported form attributes a claim; it does not prove the claim true or false.

Sie sagt, sie habe Zeit.

She says she has time.

A modal passive uses a conjugated modal plus participle plus werden. The Perfekt of the process passive uses sein plus participle plus worden. Do not confuse worden with geworden, the participle of werden when it means become.

Die Daten müssen geprüft werden.

The data must be checked.

Nominalisation turns a verbal idea into a noun phrase. It can make writing compact but may hide who acts. Wegen normally takes the genitive in formal standard writing. Compare weil der Verkehr zunimmt with wegen der Zunahme des Verkehrs.

Wegen des Regens bleiben wir hier.

Because of the rain, we are staying here.

Zwar … aber acknowledges one point and then introduces a contrasting consideration. Both parts can use main-clause word order. Although they often occur together, Zwar is not itself a subordinating conjunction and does not send the verb to the end.

Der Kurs ist zwar teuer, aber er ist hilfreich.

The course is expensive, but it is helpful.

A participial phrase before a noun can condense a relative clause. Present participles often express an active or ongoing relation; past participles can express a completed or passive relation, depending on the verb. The final participle used as an adjective takes the appropriate ending.

Die gestern veröffentlichten Ergebnisse sind wichtig.

The results published yesterday are important.

Sofern introduces a condition or restriction and normally sends the conjugated verb to the end. Vorausgesetzt, dass also introduces a condition. State the actual condition clearly: a conditional sentence should not imply that the condition has already been met.

Wir stimmen zu, sofern die Kosten sinken.

We agree provided that costs fall.

Focus particles affect scope and expectations. Erst often suggests less or later than expected; schon can suggest more or earlier. Nur restricts alternatives. The context and the particle’s position determine the interpretation; do not treat these words as interchangeable decorations.

Erst zehn Personen haben geantwortet.

Only ten people have responded so far.

Modal forms can qualify how strongly a claim is presented. In an inference, dürfte often conveys a cautious expectation rather than permission. Distinguish a possibility from a certainty and a lack of evidence from a disproof. Preserve that distinction when rewriting.

Das dürfte die Ursache sein.

That is probably the cause.

The scope of nicht changes a proposition. Nicht alle means that at least one does not satisfy the statement; it does not mean none do. Avoid an ambiguous formulation when the distinction matters. Use explicit wording to show whether you mean some, none or not every case.

Nicht alle Anträge wurden abgelehnt.

Not all applications were rejected.

A grammatical edit can change meaning even when both versions are fluent. Replacing könnte with wird strengthens a possibility into a prediction. Check modality, negation, quantifiers, agency and time relations before accepting a shorter or more elegant sentence.

Die Maßnahme könnte helfen.

The measure could help.

When summarising a report, retain the source and the strength of its claim. An attribution such as laut Bericht separates the source’s statement from your own assertion. Reported speech, quotations and a narrator’s voice can serve different purposes; context is needed to identify who is responsible for an evaluation.

Laut Bericht könnte die Nachfrage steigen.

According to the report, demand could rise.