German grammar, explained clearly
Short, precise lessons from A1 to C1 — the rule first, then examples with translations, tables and the mistakes to avoid. Practice every topic in the BRAGIflash app.
A1 Beginner
- Bestimmter Artikel
German definite articles der, die, das: gender, endings and cases
der = masculine, die = feminine, das = neuter, die = plural. The noun ending usually reveals the gender, and the article changes with the case.
- Unbestimmter Artikel
German indefinite articles ein, eine, einen: forms, endings and use
ein goes with masculine and neuter nouns, eine with feminine ones; the accusative masculine is einen, the dative einem/einer. There is no plural.
- Plural
German plural forms: the five endings and when to use each
German nouns take -e, -(e)n, -er, -s or no ending at all, often plus an Umlaut — and the plural article is always die.
- Zählbare und unzählbare Nomen
Countable and uncountable nouns in German: viel or viele?
Countable nouns take ein/eine and a plural (ein Apfel – zwei Äpfel); uncountable ones drop the article and use viel: viel Milch, ein Glas Wasser.
- Personalpronomen
German personal pronouns (Personalpronomen): ich, mich, mir and all the forms
Every pronoun has three forms: ich → mich → mir, du → dich → dir, er → ihn → ihm. Subject, object and recipient decide which.
- Possessivpronomen / Possessivartikel
German possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein, ihr): forms and endings
The owner picks the stem (ich → mein, sie → ihr); the noun that is owned picks the ending: mein Buch, meine Tasche, meinen Bruder.
- Verbkonjugation im Präsens
German present tense (Präsens): verb endings and stem changes
Stem + -e, -st, -t, -en, -t, -en; strong verbs also swap the stem vowel (a→ä, e→i, e→ie) in the du and er/sie/es forms.
- sein, haben & möchten
sein, haben and möchten: present-tense forms and when to use each
sein says who somebody is, haben what somebody has, möchten what somebody would like: bin/bist/ist, habe/hast/hat, möchte/möchtest.
- Modalverben
German modal verbs (Modalverben): können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen, mögen
The modal is conjugated in position 2, the second verb goes to the end as an infinitive without zu: Ich kann gut schwimmen.
- Nominativ
The nominative case (Nominativ): the subject, its articles and wer/was
The nominative marks the subject and answers Wer?/Was?: der, das, die, die (plural), ein/eine — and it follows sein, werden, bleiben and heißen.
- Akkusativ
The accusative case (Akkusativ): when to use it and how the articles change
The accusative marks the direct object and answers Wen/Was? Only masculine changes: der → den, ein → einen, mein → meinen.
- Negation: nicht, kein, nein
German negation: nicht, kein and nein — which one and where
kein negates nouns with ein or no article, nicht negates everything else, nein only answers a yes/no question.
- W-Fragen
German W-questions: wer, was, wo, wann, wie, warum — and the word order
Open questions start with a w-word: question word first, conjugated verb second, subject third — Wann beginnt der Kurs?
- Satzbau I: Hauptsatz, Fragen, Verbklammer
German word order: verb in second position, questions and the sentence bracket
In a German main clause the conjugated verb is always the second element; yes/no questions put it first and the second verb closes the sentence.
A2 Elementary
- Dativ
The dative case (Dativ): articles, pronouns and when to use it
The dative marks the receiver: der → dem, die → der, das → dem, plural → den + noun -n. Ask Wem? to find it.
- Präpositionen: Überblick nach Kasus
German prepositions by case: accusative, dative, two-way, genitive
The preposition picks the case: durch/für/gegen/ohne/um → accusative; aus/bei/mit/nach/seit/von/zu → dative; in/an/auf → both.
- Lokalpräpositionen
Local prepositions in German: wo, wohin, woher — zu, nach, in, aus, von
Wo? = position, Wohin? = direction, Woher? = origin. nach + cities, zu + people, in + countries with an article, aus vs von for origin.
- Wechselpräpositionen
Two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen): accusative or dative?
an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen take the accusative for direction (wohin?) and the dative for position (wo?).
- Lokaladverbien
Local adverbs (Lokaladverbien): wo, wohin, woher and the hin/her pairs
Place words answer wo? (hier, dort, oben), wohin? (dorthin, hinaus, nach oben) or woher? (von dort). hin = away from you, her = towards you.
- Perfekt & Partizip II
The Perfekt tense: haben or sein + Partizip II
Perfekt = haben or sein in position 2 + Partizip II at the end: gemacht, gefahren, angerufen, besucht. sein marks movement and change of state.
- Trennbare und untrennbare Verben
Separable and inseparable verbs in German: prefixes, word order and ge-
Stressed prefixes (auf-, an-, ab-) split off and go to the end: ich stehe auf, aufgestanden. Unstressed be-, er-, ver-, zer- never split.
- Reflexive Verben
German reflexive verbs (sich): pronouns, accusative vs dative, word order
Reflexive verbs point the action back at the subject: mich, dich, sich, uns, euch — accusative, but dative once an accusative object follows.
- Komparativ und Superlativ
Comparative and superlative in German: -er, am -sten and als
German compares with endings: schnell → schneller → am schnellsten. Use als for a difference and so … wie for equality.
- Imperativ
The imperative (Imperativ): du, ihr and Sie commands in German
du = verb stem without a pronoun (Komm!), ihr = the present-tense form (Kommt!), Sie = infinitive + Sie (Kommen Sie!).
- Konjunktionen I: und, aber, denn, oder, sondern
Coordinating conjunctions: und, aber, oder, denn, sondern
und, aber, oder, denn and sondern sit in position 0: the clause after them keeps normal main-clause order, verb second. sondern only after a negation.
- Konjunktionen II: dass, weil, wenn, ob …
Subordinating conjunctions: dass, weil, wenn, ob, als — verb at the end
After dass, weil, wenn, ob, als, obwohl, damit, bevor, nachdem and während the conjugated verb moves to the end of the clause, after a comma.
- Kausalsätze: weil, da, denn
Causal clauses in German: weil, da and denn — word order and difference
weil and da send the verb to the end, denn keeps it in second place; weil gives a new reason, da a known one, denn never precedes its statement.
- Demonstrativpronomen
German demonstrative pronouns: dieser, der/die/das, jener
dieser takes the definite-article endings; stressed der/die/das replaces the noun and adds denen in the dative plural, dessen/deren in the genitive.
B1 Intermediate
- Adjektivdeklination
German adjective endings (Adjektivdeklination): weak, mixed and strong
Endings depend on the article: after der-words five forms take -e and the rest -en; after ein-words -er/-es; with no article the adjective shows the case.
- Präteritum
The simple past (Präteritum): forms, endings and when to use it
Weak verbs add -te (machte), strong verbs change the vowel with no ending in ich/er (ging). Präteritum = writing, Perfekt = speaking.
- Plusquamperfekt
The past perfect (Plusquamperfekt): hatte/war + Partizip II
Plusquamperfekt = hatte or war + Partizip II. It marks the earlier of two past events — typically after nachdem, bevor and als.
- Futur I
Futur I (German future tense): werden + infinitive — and when to use the present
Futur I = werden + infinitive at the end. Everyday future is the present plus a time word; Futur I marks predictions, promises and assumptions.
- Satzbau II: TEKAMOLO & Mittelfeld
German word order: TEKAMOLO and the middle field (Mittelfeld)
Between the verb and the end of the clause, German sorts extra information as time – cause – manner – place, with pronouns first.
- Relativsätze
German relative clauses (Relativsätze): der, die, das, dessen, deren, wo
Gender and number come from the noun in front, the case from the pronoun's job inside the clause — and the verb goes to the end.
- Genitiv
The genitive case (Genitiv): des/der, noun endings and prepositions
The genitive shows possession and answers Wessen?: der/das → des + noun -s/-es, die and plural → der, with no ending on the noun.
- Passiv (Vorgangspassiv)
The German passive (Vorgangspassiv): werden + Partizip II
The German passive is werden + Partizip II: wird gemacht, wurde gemacht, ist gemacht worden. The agent takes von (person) or durch (means).
- Verben mit Präpositionen
German verbs with prepositions: warten auf, denken an, Angst haben vor
The preposition belongs to the verb and fixes the case: warten auf + accusative, teilnehmen an + dative. Learn all three parts together.
- Infinitiv mit zu
The infinitive with zu (Infinitiv mit zu): when German needs zu — and when not
zu + infinitive closes the group after verbs like versuchen, after Lust haben and es ist wichtig — but not after modal verbs, werden, lassen or sehen/hören.
- Konjunktionaladverbien: deshalb, trotzdem, …
Conjunctional adverbs (deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem): position and word order
deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem and co. are adverbs, not conjunctions: in position 1 the verb comes second and the subject follows it.
- Das Pronomen „es“
The pronoun es in German: personal, impersonal, placeholder and correlate
es stands for a neuter noun, is the fixed subject of es regnet / es gibt / es geht, fills position 1 (Es kommen viele Gäste) and announces a dass-clause.
- Da- und Wo-Komposita
Da- and wo-compounds (darauf, womit): German pronominal adverbs
da(r)- + preposition points back to a thing (darauf, damit), wo(r)- + preposition asks about one (worauf, womit); people keep auf ihn, mit ihr.
B2 Upper-intermediate
- Konjunktiv II & würde-Form
Konjunktiv II: forms, würde and how to say 'would' in German
For unreal wishes, conditions and polite requests: Präteritum stem + umlaut + -e (hätte, wäre, käme); other verbs take würde + infinitive.
- lassen + Infinitiv
lassen + Infinitiv: have something done, let somebody do it, sich lassen
lassen + bare infinitive = have something done or allow it; sich lassen + infinitive = can be done. Perfekt: habe … lassen, not gelassen.
- Nominalisierung
Nominalisation in German (Nominalisierung): das Lesen, die Erklärung, etwas Neues
Verbs and adjectives become nouns: the infinitive is neuter (das Lesen), -ung is feminine (die Erklärung), adjectives keep their endings (ein Deutscher).
- Zustandspassiv & Passiv mit Modalverben
Zustandspassiv (state passive) and the passive with modal verbs
sein + Partizip II names the result (Die Tür ist geöffnet), werden + Partizip II the process; modals: muss/musste repariert werden.
- Doppelte Konnektoren: sowohl … als auch, …
Two-part conjunctions in German: sowohl … als auch, weder … noch, je … desto
Correlative pairs like sowohl … als auch, weder … noch, entweder … oder: what they join, which half causes inversion, agreement and commas.
- N-Deklination
N-declension (N-Deklination): weak masculine nouns and their -(e)n ending
A closed group of masculine nouns adds -(e)n in every case except the nominative singular: der Student → den, dem, des Studenten.
- Konjunktiv I & indirekte Rede
Konjunktiv I and indirect speech in German: forms, tenses, word order
Reported speech in written German: infinitive stem + -e (er sage, er habe, er sei); where that form equals the indicative, Konjunktiv II steps in.
C1 Advanced
- Subjektive Bedeutung der Modalverben
Subjective modal verbs in German: müssen, dürfte, könnte, sollen, wollen
Used subjectively, modals grade certainty — muss (sure) › dürfte (likely) › könnte (possible) — while sollen reports others' claims and wollen the subject's.
- Partizipialattribute
Participial attributes (Partizipialattribute): Partizip I, Partizip II and zu + Partizip I
Partizip I is active and simultaneous (das lachende Kind), Partizip II passive and finished (das reparierte Auto), zu + Partizip I means must or can be done.
- Nominalstil vs. Verbalstil
Nominal style vs verbal style (Nominalstil): turning clauses into phrases
Nominal style packs a subordinate clause into a noun phrase: weil → wegen + Genitiv, obwohl → trotz, nachdem → nach, bevor → vor, wenn → bei.
- Funktionsverbgefüge
Light verb constructions (Funktionsverbgefüge): verb + noun as one predicate
A weak verb plus a fixed noun makes one predicate: eine Entscheidung treffen = entscheiden. The noun carries the meaning, verb and article are fixed.
- Komplexe Satzverbindungen
Complex sentence connectors (C1): the formal inventory by meaning
Every relation has three forms: subordinate clause (da), main clause with inversion (infolgedessen) or preposition + noun phrase (aufgrund).