Learn German Language
On this page are some basic German grammar explanations to help you get started in the German language. Also included are free German vocabulary lists covering topics such as family, clothing, household items, restaurant terms and more. Feel free to print off any of the vocabulary lists for your own personal use.
Greetings
|
Hello. Good morning! Good evening! Good night! Goodbye. Bye! See you soon. See you later. How are you? [formal] How are you? [informal] Fine, thanks. What is your name? [formal] What is your name? [informal] My name is... Please. Thanks! Thank you. You're welcome. |
Hallo. Guten Morgen! Guten Abend! Gute Nacht! Auf Wiedersehen. Tschüs! Bis bald Bis später Wie geht es Ihnen? Wie geht's? Danke, gut. Wie heißen Sie? Wie heißt du? Ich heiße... Bitte. Danke! Danke schön. Bitte schön |
German Cases
German has four cases. Remember that English has cases as well.
| Nominative Case | used for the subject of the sentence |
| Accusative Case | used for direct objects |
| Dative Case | used for indirect objects |
| Genitive Case | used for objects of certain prepositions and to show possession |
Subject Pronouns (Nominative Case)
Remember that pronouns are words that are used in place of nouns.
These subject pronouns are for the noninative case meaning they deal
with the subject of the sentence.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ich (I) | wir (we) |
| 2nd person | du (you, familiar) | ihr (you, familiar) |
| 3rd person | er (he, it) sie (she, it) es (it) |
sie (they) |
| Sie (you, formal) |
The Simple Present Tense
Verbs in German usually end in "en". The other less common endings are "n", "eln", and "ern". This form of the verb is the infintiive. When you remove the "en" or "n" endings, you get the stem of the verb.
The simple present tense is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the stem of the verb. Most weak verbs use the endings in group 1, but certain verbs will use the 2nd group of endings for pronunciation purposes.
The present tense has 3 general equivalents in English:
1. I write
2. I do write
3. I am writing
Group 1 (Endings for weak verbs)
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | e | en |
| 2nd-person | st | t |
| 3rd-person | t | en |
Group 2
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | e | en |
| 2nd-person | est | et |
| 3rd-person | et | en |
The Future Tense
Remember that the present tense in German can be used for the future. However, German also has a proper future tense.
The future tense is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb
werden + adding the infinitive of the verb you would like to
use. So werden + infinitive will be the formula
you always use for the proper future tense.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | werde | werden |
| 2nd-person | wirst | werdet |
| 3rd-person | wird | werden |