{"id":94482,"date":"2024-02-14T05:24:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T10:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/german-grammar\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T01:15:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T06:15:58","slug":"german-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"German Grammar Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Need the lowdown on German grammar without being overwhelmed by all the details? This guide will walk you through all the most important German grammar topics\u2014no fuss, no muss.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll also get links to our more in-depth blog posts on each topic, so you can choose to dive deeper into anything you need to learn more about right now.<\/p>\n<p>[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n<h2>1. Nouns<\/h2>\n<p>Nouns are the stuff of sentences, literally.<\/p>\n<p>When you&#8217;re learning German nouns, you&#8217;re not just memorizing singular words. Every noun in German should be considered a two-part package\u2014i.e., they consist of the noun itself and the article that comes with it.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"xj2f4eXmhn\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/most-common-german-nouns\/\">200+ Common German Nouns [with Audio]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;200+ Common German Nouns [with Audio]&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/most-common-german-nouns\/embed\/#?secret=S5wODXdBvr#?secret=xj2f4eXmhn\" data-secret=\"xj2f4eXmhn\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Capitalization<\/h3>\n<p><strong>All German nouns are capitalized<\/strong>. You don&#8217;t really have to worry about &#8220;proper nouns&#8221; and such, unlike in English. Whether you&#8217;re referring to something with a name (&#8220;Johann Schmidt,&#8221; &#8220;Volkswagen,&#8221; &#8220;Cuddles&#8221;) or a generic person\/object (&#8220;man,&#8221; &#8220;car,&#8221; &#8220;cat&#8221;), the noun would be capitalized.<\/p>\n<h3>Gendered Articles<\/h3>\n<p>Articles are the little words that come before nouns. They tell you if you&#8217;re talking about something definite (<em>the<\/em> dog) or something indefinite (<em>a<\/em> dog).<\/p>\n<p>There are three genders in German articles: masculine, feminine and neuter. Each has its own unique articles.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4525555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4525555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Gender<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Definite Article<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Indefinite Article<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Masculine<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6bd48b1e57856137037bfee4dec8d57f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">der        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ffef75ef03094771fb011905bf579fdb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ein        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Feminine<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-81b63b9d54b303edeaf9765a6915ee13-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">die        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cbf4f9f39b44ba3841673ec3fbea236d-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">eine        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Neuter<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2a6571da26602a67be14ea8c5ab82349-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">das        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ffef75ef03094771fb011905bf579fdb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ein        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4525555 from cache -->\n<p>Every German noun is assigned a gender. For example, since &#8220;chair&#8221; in German is masculine, you say\u00a0<em>der Stuhl <\/em>(the chair) or\u00a0<em>ein Stuhl <\/em>(a chair). Similarly, with the feminine word &#8220;flower&#8221;, you say\u00a0<em>die Blume <\/em>(the flower) or\u00a0<em>eine Blume <\/em>(a flower).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are the general rules for using each article\u2014that is, what gender you should use for which noun ending.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4775555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4775555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Noun Ending<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Article Gender<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>-ig, -ling, -or, -smus<\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Masculine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>-ei, -heit, -ik, -keit, -schaft, t\u00e4t, -tion, -ung<\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Feminine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>-chen, -lein, -ma, -ment, -tum, -um<\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Neuter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4775555 from cache -->\n<p>Note that the articles may also change depending on which case you use.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"cHI4sixRCe\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/die-der-das\/\">The Ultimate Guide to Der, Die and Das<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Ultimate Guide to Der, Die and Das&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/die-der-das\/embed\/#?secret=kQjQ1Rl0Jj#?secret=cHI4sixRCe\" data-secret=\"cHI4sixRCe\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Pluralization<\/h3>\n<p><strong>All plural nouns in German take on the feminine article <em>die<\/em><\/strong>. They may also change their endings (most commonly &#8211;<em>e<\/em>, &#8211;<em>er<\/em>, &#8211;<em>en<\/em> or &#8211;<em>s<\/em>) depending on the root noun&#8217;s ending, gender, number of syllables and whether they&#8217;re family names.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/umlaut-in-german\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">umlaut<\/a> (two dots above a letter) may also be added to a vowel, like in <em>der Koch<\/em> (the chef) \u2192 <em>die K\u00f6che<\/em> (the chefs).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"0yjAErSmLO\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-plural\/\">Plural Nouns in German<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Plural Nouns in German&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-plural\/embed\/#?secret=AF9T0Ort6a#?secret=0yjAErSmLO\" data-secret=\"0yjAErSmLO\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Compound Nouns<\/h3>\n<p>There are instances in German where two nouns can get squished together, creating compound nouns. These can result in combos like <em>die Handschuhe<\/em> (gloves, literally &#8220;hand shoes&#8221;) or\u00a0<em>die Arbeiterunfallversicherungsgesetz <\/em>(law relating to worker&#8217;s compensation insurance).<\/p>\n<h2>2. Cases<\/h2>\n<p>In German grammar, nouns and pronouns can change depending on what role they play in a sentence. This role is known as the &#8220;case.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For example, in the sentence\u00a0<em>Ich habe einen Hund <\/em>(I have a dog), &#8220;I&#8221; is the subject (the doer of the verb), so it&#8217;s in the &#8220;nominative&#8221; case. Meanwhile, &#8220;dog&#8221; is the object of the verb, meaning it&#8217;s receiving the action of the verb &#8220;have,&#8221; so it goes in the &#8220;accusative&#8221; case.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are <strong>four German cases<\/strong> to learn, and each one can change the personal pronouns and articles (both definite and indefinite) used.<\/p>\n<h3>Nominative<\/h3>\n<p>The nominative case\u00a0(<em>der Nominativ<\/em>) is used to <strong>indicate the subject of a sentence,<\/strong> or the one performing the action of the verb.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, you\u2019ll be using the standard personal pronouns and articles.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4535555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4535555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Nominative Pronouns<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Nominative Articles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3cf49b0960fb2ef0ea03d0b991819630-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ich        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (I)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-13a014cb9de9f7cad88d5dafb70ecb41-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">du        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: singular, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-818f9c45cfa30eeff277ef38bcbe9910-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">er        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (he)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-16b3a716ae6977112e2f5e31ccb350fb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">sie        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (she)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-12470fe406d44017d96eab37dd65fc14-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">es        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (it)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4c38b6b1835c6934dc866ef3dd858bc6-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">wir        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (we)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-da6ac101b05b6974d66e6485b7a34629-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihr        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: plural, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-16b3a716ae6977112e2f5e31ccb350fb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">sie        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (they)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f17c5d28da44d331d02187a4550d9f97-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Sie        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6bd48b1e57856137037bfee4dec8d57f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">der        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ffef75ef03094771fb011905bf579fdb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ein        <\/a>\n    <\/em>:  masculine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-81b63b9d54b303edeaf9765a6915ee13-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">die        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cbf4f9f39b44ba3841673ec3fbea236d-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">eine        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: feminine <br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2a6571da26602a67be14ea8c5ab82349-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">das        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ffef75ef03094771fb011905bf579fdb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ein        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: neuter<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-81b63b9d54b303edeaf9765a6915ee13-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">die        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: plural<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4535555 from cache -->\n<h3>Accusative<\/h3>\n<p>The accusative case (<em>der Akkusativ<\/em>) is used to <strong>express the direct object of the sentence<\/strong>. It\u2019s the \u201creceiver\u201d of the subject\u2019s actions and is influenced by them.<\/p>\n<p>Note that in accusative articles, only the masculine articles change.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4545555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4545555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Accusative Pronouns<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Accusative Articles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2ec490229423f4a6879d555a81bd6e4a-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">mich        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (me)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/v1-7dcfa1ae6810809f91266e56042694c6-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">dich        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: singular, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d0d77aa7f1b3fd8f4e7c3f50ba60df31-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihn        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (him)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-16b3a716ae6977112e2f5e31ccb350fb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">sie        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (her)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-12470fe406d44017d96eab37dd65fc14-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">es        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (it)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-07525332b1617934911c9fbadb3a304e-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">uns        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (us)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-49abf4332723ab7a2019b0ad3900a0f3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">euch        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: plural, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-16b3a716ae6977112e2f5e31ccb350fb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">sie        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (them)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f17c5d28da44d331d02187a4550d9f97-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Sie        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-32ce9c04a986b6360b0ea1984ed86c6c-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">den        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-886a2babcd5e5207220ac05db09ac310-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">einen        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: masculine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-81b63b9d54b303edeaf9765a6915ee13-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">die        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cbf4f9f39b44ba3841673ec3fbea236d-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">eine        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: feminine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2a6571da26602a67be14ea8c5ab82349-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">das        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ffef75ef03094771fb011905bf579fdb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ein        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: neuter<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-81b63b9d54b303edeaf9765a6915ee13-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">die        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: plural<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4545555 from cache -->\n<h3>Dative<\/h3>\n<p>The dative case\u00a0(<em>der Dativ<\/em>)\u00a0is used to <strong>express the indirect object of the sentence.\u00a0<\/strong>This would be the noun that receives or is acted upon by the direct object.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in\u00a0<i>Die Junge gibt <strong>dem Hund<\/strong> den Ball <\/i>(The boy gives <strong>the dog<\/strong> the ball), the dog is the indirect object (indicated by the dative <em>dem <\/em>article), since the direct object, the ball (indicated by the accusative <em>den <\/em>article), is being given to the dog.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4555555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4555555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Dative Pronouns<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Dative Articles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-bc2e8b2ac93b02432d1816f80e26e7e8-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">mir        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (me)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-736007832d2167baaae763fd3a3f3cf1-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">dir        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: singular, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-75a0b9b40f26fcfd635593f22e8b53c3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihm        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (him)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-da6ac101b05b6974d66e6485b7a34629-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihr        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (her)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-75a0b9b40f26fcfd635593f22e8b53c3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihm        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (it)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-07525332b1617934911c9fbadb3a304e-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">uns        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (us)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-49abf4332723ab7a2019b0ad3900a0f3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">euch        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: plural, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8e896a2829656ccff4df9e22f004116b-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihnen        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (them)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7674b6658ebd064702d3fc15a8ba4ba8-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ihnen        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (you: formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-45bc08e6003540a8698dfabade95cd48-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">dem        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1c1d32a3f719c4fbd58290857a988934-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">einem        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: masculine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6bd48b1e57856137037bfee4dec8d57f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">der        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6a7daca9393d2683b1caf863f101c413-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">einer        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: feminine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-45bc08e6003540a8698dfabade95cd48-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">dem        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1c1d32a3f719c4fbd58290857a988934-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">einem        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: neuter<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-32ce9c04a986b6360b0ea1984ed86c6c-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">den        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: plural<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4555555 from cache -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"1HxBQ8CWpz\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-dative\/\">The Dative Case in German<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Dative Case in German&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-dative\/embed\/#?secret=vg00HXaxfA#?secret=1HxBQ8CWpz\" data-secret=\"1HxBQ8CWpz\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The dative case is known to be a tricky one for German learners. It changes pronouns and articles in a way that can make discerning genders confusing. But once you&#8217;ve learned these changes, you can convey concise yet intricately complex meanings!<\/p>\n<p>Since it can take a while to get the hang of grammatical cases in German, you can internalize them better by watching native content with targeted exercises on the language learning platform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/german\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<p>You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/fluentu-learn-language-videos\/id917892175\">the iOS app<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fluentflix.fluentu&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US\">Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><i><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/NativeAd-German.jpg\" alt=\"FluentU Ad\" \/>\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n    <button class=\"btn-blue\" style=\"border: none;font-size: 18px;text-align: center;padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;cursor: pointer\">\r\n      Try FluentU for FREE!\r\n    <\/button>\r\n  <\/p>\r\n<\/a>\r\n\n<h3>Genitive\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>The genitive case\u00a0(<em>der Genitiv<\/em>) is used to <strong>express possession or association<\/strong>. In English, we indicate possession by saying something is &#8220;of&#8221; someone or by adding -&#8216;s to nouns. In German, the approach is a bit similar.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, you&#8217;ll have to change the &#8220;possessor&#8221; noun&#8217;s article. Then, for masculine and neuter nouns, you must add &#8211;<em>es<\/em> (for short, one-syllable nouns) or &#8211;<em>s<\/em> (for multi-syllable nouns).<\/p>\n<p>The genitive possessive articles depend on the gender of the possessor noun as well. For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Das Haus <strong>meiner<\/strong> Schwester ist sehr gro\u00df.  <br \/>\n<\/em>My sister&#8217;s house is very big.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4565555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4565555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Genitive Possessive Articles<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Genitive Articles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fc17d21ae57131a6155cec87c8c3f150-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">meiner        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of me)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e256b822b3528d9c1a55dcbb907dcbb9-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">deiner        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of you: singular, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-90748da21eacb651d90d5855b5af90ba-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">seiner        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of him)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-696623e0804c57b654c6f7ceaec70f66-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihrer        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of her)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-90748da21eacb651d90d5855b5af90ba-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">seiner        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of it)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a37d71627375c8f6cff53a174f7d5338-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">unser        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of us)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-708483d34059b40fc02710ea3360bf35-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">eurer        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of you: plural, informal)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-696623e0804c57b654c6f7ceaec70f66-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">ihrer        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of them)<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1ea3e77343d2b112117c6886ee70f8f3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ihrer        <\/a>\n    <\/em> (of you: formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0ecee728bf87a4c1a02883004044dcd5-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">des        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cb27306bbafc0351db8bc5911b9c3368-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">eines        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: masculine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6bd48b1e57856137037bfee4dec8d57f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">der        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6a7daca9393d2683b1caf863f101c413-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">einer        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: feminine<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0ecee728bf87a4c1a02883004044dcd5-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">des        <\/a>\n    <\/em>\/<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cb27306bbafc0351db8bc5911b9c3368-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">eines        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: neuter<br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6bd48b1e57856137037bfee4dec8d57f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">der        <\/a>\n    <\/em>: plural<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4565555 from cache -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"oiZcd0R6SY\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-genitive\/\">The Genitive Case in German<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Genitive Case in German&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-genitive\/embed\/#?secret=kgbRGPi2ca#?secret=oiZcd0R6SY\" data-secret=\"oiZcd0R6SY\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>3. Verbs<\/h2>\n<p>Verbs are so-called &#8220;doing&#8221; or &#8220;action&#8221; words. &#8220;To play,&#8221; &#8220;to run,&#8221; &#8220;to paint&#8221; and &#8220;to learn&#8221; are all examples of verbs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Placement<\/h3>\n<p>In basic German sentences, verbs will typically be in the &#8220;second position.&#8221; That is, the <strong>main<\/strong> <strong>conjugated<\/strong> <strong>verb would usually be the second word in the sentence<\/strong>, directly following the subject noun.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, verbs will stick to the second position even if the subject doesn&#8217;t take the first position.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>For interrogative or &#8220;question&#8221; statements and imperatives, or command statements,<\/strong> <strong>conjugated<\/strong> <strong>verbs take the first position<\/strong>. When this happens, the German sentence takes on an &#8220;inverted word order,&#8221; and the subject comes after the verb.<\/p>\n<h3>Conjugation<\/h3>\n<p>German verbs change depending on who is doing the action, just as in English. Think of &#8220;I play&#8221; vs. &#8220;She play<strong>s<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The only difference in German is that each &#8220;person&#8221; has a different verb ending, whether it&#8217;s &#8220;I,&#8221; &#8220;you,&#8221; &#8220;he\/she\/it,&#8221; &#8220;we,&#8221; etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This change is called\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-verb-conjugation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conjugation<\/a><\/strong>. And the conjugation of verbs depends on what category they fall into.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Weak (Regular) Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Most German verbs fall under this category and simply follow the normal conjugation rules.<\/p>\n<p>For example, let&#8217;s see how the German weak verb\u00a0<em>spielen<\/em> (to play) would be conjugated:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4575555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4575555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><em>Spielen<\/em> Conjugation<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0f91c3952a6599d06ec62d512e5930b1-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich spiel<strong>e<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I play<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-dd3c59b6e2fa3be4ee9d5626f3ea6f4d-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Du spiel<strong>st<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">You play (informal, singular)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d604fabef83aa51bbc243d759d222bc7-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Er spiel<strong>t<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-338f0dd70c9fb6c3d58ec93fa1dc65d2-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Sie spiel<strong>t<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0b54c895c03963e7dd299c1aab32acfc-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Es spiel<strong>t<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">He plays<br \/>\nShe plays<br \/>\nIt plays<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b2eb29dc62ebc2e3826d65f85f81fbaf-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wir spiel<strong>en<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">We play<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cf57c10f2a567489fab28bb8d5275a52-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ihr spiel<strong>t<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">You play (informal, plural)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f62f7b5c5b3323ed5b284fe097b5c414-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Sie spiel<strong>en<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n<em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-83ecd07441028cfed9f245a6311f2dd3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">sie spiel<strong>en<\/strong>        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">You play (formal)<br \/>\nThey play<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4575555 from cache -->\n<p>See how the stem of <em>spiel<\/em>&#8211; still sticks around? It&#8217;s just attached to different endings, namely &#8211;<strong>e, -st, -t <\/strong>and<strong> -en.<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"gNk5hMg7EH\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-strong-and-weak-verbs\/\">German Strong and Weak Verbs: Understanding The Difference<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;German Strong and Weak Verbs: Understanding The Difference&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-strong-and-weak-verbs\/embed\/#?secret=9S97EUXp6A#?secret=gNk5hMg7EH\" data-secret=\"gNk5hMg7EH\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Strong (Irregular) Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>You can think of German strong verbs as &#8220;rebellious&#8221; verbs, in the sense that, during conjugations, the <strong>vowels in the stem often change in the\u00a0<em>du <\/em>(you) and <em>er\/sie\/es <\/em>(he\/she\/it) forms.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example, the German irregular verb\u00a0<em>sehen<\/em> (to see) sees a vowel change from <em>e<\/em> to <em>ie.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4585555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4585555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><em>Sehen<\/em> Conjugation<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6c14c3669f0125ebe0abe146e5ab80c2-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich sehe        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I see<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-76754532111ae7294ca284287365ff66-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Du siehst        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">You see<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-61c1f20852e787edd11d518c567665f5-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Er sieht        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">He sees<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4585555 from cache -->\n<h3><strong>Mixed Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>True to their name, mixed verbs <strong>take on traits of both strong and weak verbs<\/strong>. They take on endings when conjugated to different tenses, but may also experience stem-vowel changes in the past tense.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the German mixed verb\u00a0<em>kennen<\/em> (to know) would become:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4595555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4595555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><em>Kennen<\/em> Conjugation<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ff8279f94e72f64664f92bb9ed0580b9-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich kenne        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I know<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b62b051f1bb79c93ad8d1c6bd96a1b45-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich kannte        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I knew<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fc3ac1c0ebd9a2ce08c7d0e422eb0b02-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich habe gekannt        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I have known<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4595555 from cache -->\n<h3><strong>Separable Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-separable-verbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Separable German verbs<\/a> come with prefixes that can be, well, separated. These prefixes are extra words (typically prepositions) that give total clarity to what the verb means.<\/p>\n<p>The concept exists in English, too. Think about verb phrases like &#8220;getting <strong>up<\/strong>&#8221; or &#8220;breaking <strong>down<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When using these verbs, the prefix is typically moved to the end of the sentence.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>aufstehen <\/em>(<em>auf + stehen<\/em>) <\/strong>\u2014 to get up, stand up<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Er <strong>steht<\/strong> um 8 Uhr <strong>auf<\/strong>. <br \/>\n<\/i>He <strong>gets up<\/strong> at 8 o&#8217;clock.<\/p>\n<p>But beware! <strong>Not all verbs that look like they have a separable prefix actually have one<\/strong>, like\u00a0<em>entspannen <\/em>(to relax). It might seem like you can separate <em>ent-<\/em> from <em>-spannen<\/em><em>, <\/em>but that&#8217;s actually not the case. In fact, if you&#8217;re seeing a verb with the prefixes <em>be-<\/em>, <em>ge-<\/em>, <em>emp-<\/em>, <em>ent-<\/em>, <em>er-<\/em>, <em>miss-<\/em>, <em>ver-<\/em> and <em>zer<\/em>-, then it is <strong>not<\/strong> a separable verb.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Reflexive Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>German reflexive verbs <strong>relate to actions that would be done on the subject itself.<\/strong> They usually come attached with reflexive pronouns.<\/p>\n<p>The verb word itself still follows their strong, weak or mixed natures, but\u00a0the reflexive pronoun must show up somewhere in the sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>sich duschen <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 to shower<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Ich <strong>dusche<\/strong> mich jeden Tag. <br \/>\n<\/i>I <strong>shower<\/strong> every day.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZmKo89EKKH\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/reflexive-verbs-german\/\">German Reflexive Verbs: Types, Conjugation and Grammar Essentials<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;German Reflexive Verbs: Types, Conjugation and Grammar Essentials&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/reflexive-verbs-german\/embed\/#?secret=jrJ9dtISGm#?secret=ZmKo89EKKH\" data-secret=\"ZmKo89EKKH\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Auxiliary Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This small category includes verbs that often take on a &#8220;helping&#8221; role in sentences. They give more meaning and detail about another verb in the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>three main German auxiliary verbs are\u00a0<em>haben<\/em> (to have),\u00a0<em>sein<\/em> (to be) and\u00a0<em>werden<\/em> (to become)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The auxiliary verb is generally considered the &#8220;main&#8221; verb of the sentence that&#8217;s conjugated. If it comes with a secondary verb (e.g., &#8220;have eaten&#8221;), that secondary verb may or may not be conjugated.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4785555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4785555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Auxiliary Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example Sentence<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-80be74ed1da939b0985cab3811d9e3b0-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">haben        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/strong> (to have)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ac431af50d0d84665944c26fc800d66e-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em>Ich <strong>habe<\/strong> das Buch gelesen.<\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">I <strong>have<\/strong> read the book.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-af1f8d9839dd6ffefedebab89761ee7e-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">sein        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/strong> (to be)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fb24e7eeead3d01c0e97fffc5d655cdb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em>Ich <strong>bin<\/strong> nach Berlin gereist.<\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">I <strong>have<\/strong> traveled to Berlin.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b12c96ca51fd97596a2eb9ec7135c5dd-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">werden        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/strong> (to become)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8630eb6bf6045fcf15bb8bca8e691a60-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Er <strong>wird<\/strong> ein neues Auto kaufen.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-3\">He <strong>will<\/strong> buy a new car.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4785555 from cache -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"S66uHrOGno\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-auxiliary-verbs\/\">The Guide to German Auxiliary Verbs<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Guide to German Auxiliary Verbs&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-auxiliary-verbs\/embed\/#?secret=3obaa6C8VE#?secret=S66uHrOGno\" data-secret=\"S66uHrOGno\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Modal Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Modal verbs are used when you&#8217;re describing the possibility, necessity or desire of something. They&#8217;re usually meant to emphasize another verb or verb phrase. Therefore, modal verbs are technically auxiliary verbs.<\/p>\n<p>In German, there are six modal verbs:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1325555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1325555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Modal Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ebd719939708f31103b85762ecf771a3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em><strong>d\u00fcrfen<\/strong><\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">may<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d9e7493f40d8a9f712c605286b0ff64a-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em><strong>k\u00f6nnen<\/strong><\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">can<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1d650fd771769bfe52d00a4f07adfc8b-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em><strong>wollen<\/strong><\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">want<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-62915a7c4637d6727421efa3e25a3263-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em><strong>sollen<\/strong><\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">supposed to\/expected to<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4ec83f0451ab0c24ba3b39c50bc11c85-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em><strong>m\u00fcssen<\/strong><\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">must<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f8d737c8b038c3ec9bf78294d12871cc-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em><strong>m\u00f6gen<\/strong><\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">like<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1325555 from cache -->\n<p>They each follow their own quirky conjugation patterns, so they don&#8217;t really fit into any of the above categories. You&#8217;ll have to memorize each of their unique conjugations.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"FQfuQZPsEa\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-modal-verbs\/\">6 German Modal Verbs and How to Use Them<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;6 German Modal Verbs and How to Use Them&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-modal-verbs\/embed\/#?secret=ckfID6l48T#?secret=FQfuQZPsEa\" data-secret=\"FQfuQZPsEa\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The key thing to know with modal verbs is that they send the second verb to the end of the sentence in the infinitive (how you find verbs in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-dictionary-in-german\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dictionary<\/a>). For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Die Kinder wollen mit dem Hund <strong><strong>spielen<\/strong><\/strong>. <br \/>\n<\/em>The children want to <strong>play<\/strong> with the dog.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Tenses<\/h2>\n<p>Just like English, German conjugates verbs according to the time the actions indicated by these verbs took place, are taking place or will take place. These are known as <em>tenses.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Present<\/h3>\n<p>While the English language has multiple ways of expressing the present tense\u00a0(<em>das Pr\u00e4sens<\/em>), German only has one (whew).<\/p>\n<p>Here are the general rules when conjugating German verbs in the present tense:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For weak or regular verbs, you take the verb stem (by dropping the infinitive \u2013<em>en<\/em> or \u2013<em>n<\/em> ending), and add the endings unique to each personal pronoun.<\/li>\n<li>For strong (irregular) verbs, you do a similar ending switch to the verb endings. However, some strong verbs with vowels in their stems also experience vowel-changes in their\u00a0<em>du<\/em> and <em>er\/sie\/es<\/em> conjugations.<\/li>\n<li>Mixed verbs, which include modal verbs, take on conjugations similar to both weak and strong verbs.<\/li>\n<li>Some verbs, such as\u00a0<em>sein<\/em> and <em>haben<\/em>, have their own unique conjugations that you&#8217;ll just need to learn.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"kOWzcUuJuY\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-present-tense\/\">How to Conjugate German Verbs in the Present Tense<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;How to Conjugate German Verbs in the Present Tense&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-present-tense\/embed\/#?secret=EDTJTYe8ur#?secret=kOWzcUuJuY\" data-secret=\"kOWzcUuJuY\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Past<\/h3>\n<p>There are two forms of the past tense in German: the simple past (a.k.a. preterite or imperfect) and the present perfect (a.k.a. perfect).<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Simple Past\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Like in English, the simple past tense\u00a0(<em>das Pr\u00e4teritum\/<\/em><em>das Imperfekt<\/em>) conjugates verbs to a form that, by itself, will make it clear that you&#8217;re talking about actions in the past. Think about sentences like &#8220;I <strong>bought<\/strong> milk&#8221; or &#8220;I <strong>ran<\/strong> a mile.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4695555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4695555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Type of Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Example Simple Past Sentence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Weak<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5a14032547db8e02c0e68d6e00221062-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">spielen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to play)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a5e0a7c053c93c9703a9a18ed2decd0b-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich <strong>spielte<\/strong> im Park.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(I <strong>played<\/strong> in the park.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Strong<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7192a147572e9d00f660ca3982d05a17-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">fahren        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to drive)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-fae67d11323bcf01cb76685fb2ab96a7-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wir <strong>fuhren<\/strong> nach Hause.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(We <strong>drove<\/strong> home.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Mixed<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-aa92a6ee1fb4a27cf2f015a255ea6e55-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">bringen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to bring)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6e2804283d24e55639673bfa0ec8763c-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Mutti <strong>brachte<\/strong> Snacks.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(Mom <strong>brought<\/strong> snacks.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4695555 from cache -->\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note that the simple past sounds a bit more literary, and therefore tends to be reserved for written or formal texts. When just talking casually, you&#8217;re more likely to use the present perfect.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Present Perfect\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The present perfect\u00a0(<em>das Perfekt<\/em>) also describes the past, but it&#8217;s probably the one you&#8217;ll encounter the most in actual conversation. For this tense, there are two elements.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, you need an auxiliary verb:\u00a0<em><strong>haben<\/strong><\/em> (to have) or the verb\u00a0<em><strong>sein<\/strong><\/em> (to be), the latter usually reserved for action verbs requiring movement.<\/p>\n<p>The second part is the conjugated past participle of the main verb, which will have the prefix <em>ge-,\u00a0<\/em>and usually a <em>-t\u00a0<\/em>ending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, the complete formula is:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong><em>haben\/sein<\/em> (present tense) + main verb (past participle)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s see how this works, using the same verbs and sentence format as in the simple past examples above:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4705555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4705555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Type of Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Example Present Perfect Sentence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Weak<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5a14032547db8e02c0e68d6e00221062-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">spielen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to play)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e8e543dcc72673c1f2546ce2c704577f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich <strong>habe<\/strong> im Park <strong>gespielt<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(I <strong>played<\/strong> in the park.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Strong<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7192a147572e9d00f660ca3982d05a17-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">fahren        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to drive)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f11698439b090d69d9e5995b9dbf186f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wir <strong>sind<\/strong> nach Hause <strong>gefahren<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(We <strong>drove<\/strong> home.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">Mixed<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-aa92a6ee1fb4a27cf2f015a255ea6e55-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">bringen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to bring)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-32b76fba74e65a2a8d46718f3bf0907d-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Mutti <strong>hat<\/strong> Snacks <strong>gebracht<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(Mom <strong>brought<\/strong> snacks.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4705555 from cache -->\n<p>Notice how in the last sentence, the auxiliary verb used is\u00a0<em>sein <\/em>(to be), as the sentence is about movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Ea5XLirqF5\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-present-perfect\/\">The German Present Perfect Tense<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The German Present Perfect Tense&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-present-perfect\/embed\/#?secret=3rUnnRLhnB#?secret=Ea5XLirqF5\" data-secret=\"Ea5XLirqF5\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Past Perfect\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Past perfect (<em>das Plusquamperfekt<\/em>) is used for actions that occurred before a specific moment in the past.<\/p>\n<p>In English, the past perfect tense is created by combining the past tense of the verb &#8220;to have&#8221; and the past participle of the main verb. This creates sentences like &#8220;I had eaten&#8221; or &#8220;They had walked.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The German past perfect is the same. You&#8217;ll now be conjugating the auxiliary verbs\u00a0<em>haben<\/em> or\u00a0<em>sein<\/em> into their simple past (preterite) tense.<\/p>\n<p>The formula is:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong><em>haben\/sein <\/em>(preterite)<em> + <\/em>main verb (past participle)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4715555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4715555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Example Verb<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example Past Perfect Sentence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5a14032547db8e02c0e68d6e00221062-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">spielen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to play)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8bcbcf1177e9a4ba18fc8ede5984cf80-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich <strong>hatte<\/strong> gespielt.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(I <strong>had<\/strong> played.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7192a147572e9d00f660ca3982d05a17-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">fahren        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(to drive)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cb7ca4db6d4bbd0b9d6c3019d925b4b3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Mutti <strong>war<\/strong> gefahren.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(Mom <strong>had<\/strong> driven.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4715555 from cache -->\n<h3>Future<\/h3>\n<p>In everyday conversation, you often just use the standard present tense alongside a word like &#8220;tomorrow&#8221; or &#8220;next week&#8221; to refer to future plans.<\/p>\n<p>For example:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em><strong>Morgen<\/strong> gehen wir ins Schwimmbad. <\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Tomorrow<\/strong>, we&#8217;re going to go the swimming pool.<\/p>\n<p>However, when making promises, assumptions or formal declarations about future intent, you should use the Future 1 tense.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Future 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Future 1 (<em>futur 1<\/em>) acts much like the English simple future tense.<\/p>\n<p>In the German Future 1 tense, you use <strong>the present tense of the verb\u00a0<em>werden<\/em> (to become)<\/strong><em>. <\/em>You could think of\u00a0<em>werden\u00a0<\/em>as the equivalent of the English verb &#8220;will.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The formula is then:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong><em>werden<\/em> (present tense) + main verb (infinitive)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4725555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4725555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Future 1 Example<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-280293d3f5d00f0747948931beac93d0-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich <strong>werde<\/strong> spielen.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I <strong>will<\/strong> play.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-90dc2fc52a1b4f4f8304afd3e573b4ef-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Du <strong>wirst<\/strong> spielen.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">You <strong>will<\/strong> play.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4725555 from cache -->\n<h4><strong>Future 2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Future 2 (<em>futur 2<\/em>) refers to actions that will be completed at some point in the future. It&#8217;s similar to the English future perfect tense\u2014i.e., &#8220;will have&#8221; sentences.<\/p>\n<p>Future 2 <strong>incorporates three verbs: <em>werden<\/em>, the main verb and either <em>haben\/sein<\/em>. <\/strong>It&#8217;s very similar to Future 1, except the past participle of the main verb is used.<\/p>\n<p>The formula is:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><strong><em>werden<\/em> (present tense) + main verb (past participle) + <em>haben\/sein <\/em>(infinitive)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4735555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4735555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Future 2 Example<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-599d37da62519bca16fc5534cbd1e643-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich <strong>werde<\/strong> gespielt <strong>haben<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I <strong>will have<\/strong> played.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-732b0fbda5538dc026e846ffd2e26b3c-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Mutti <strong>wird<\/strong> nach Hause gefahren <strong>sein<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Mom <strong>will have<\/strong> driven home.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4735555 from cache -->\n<h2>5. Adjectives<\/h2>\n<h3>Endings<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, even German adjectives get endings! They&#8217;re present when the adjective comes before the noun, and this scenario can be categorized into what&#8217;s known as declension.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Weak Declension<\/h4>\n<p>A weak declension is when <strong>the adjective comes after a definite article<\/strong> (i.e., <em>der<\/em>, <em>die<\/em>, <em>das<\/em>). In the nominative case, the adjective&#8217;s ending would be &#8211;<em>e<\/em> (for singular nouns) or &#8211;<em>en<\/em> (for plural nouns).<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4605555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4605555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Weak Declension (Adjectives)<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3eee604e8e48d5e5fe64be2ae0bf3391-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Der <strong>gute<\/strong> Mann        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The good man<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9bd3afff8abd018c981abf3a14754178-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Die <strong>gute<\/strong> Frau        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The good woman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8047d9283f515b25664a040b6002e173-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Das <strong>gute<\/strong> Kind        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The good child<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b23ed2ed68f727d705ae37a6c16b0f62-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Die <strong>guten<\/strong> Menschen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The good people<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4605555 from cache -->\n<h4>Strong Declension<\/h4>\n<p>A strong declension is when <strong>there isn&#8217;t a definite article<\/strong>.\u00a0Since there&#8217;s no article telling you the noun&#8217;s gender, the adjective has to pick up the slack. The adjective&#8217;s ending will usually resemble the ending of the definite article, if it had been present.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4615555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4615555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Strong Declension (Adjectives)<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-28029a42d9ed386da2a970ee04662ca4-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><strong>Guter<\/strong> Mann        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Good man<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-74d94514ba57a6ce08391b22b8451be2-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><strong>Gute<\/strong> Frau        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Good woman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f1ac6ac4fe9a02aaa7c30d374d56a874-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><strong>Gutes<\/strong> Kind        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Good child<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-bf66228d8d10a8d566662e5b25cb4ac6-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><strong>Gute<\/strong> Menschen        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Good people<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4615555 from cache -->\n<h4>Mixed Declension<\/h4>\n<p>A mixed declension is when <strong>the adjective follows an indefinite article (<em>ein\/eine<\/em>) or a possessive pronoun.<\/strong>\u00a0 The mixed declension adjective endings are similar to the weak declension&#8217;s, but the masculine and neuter adjective endings resemble the strong declension&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>To make things more deliciously complex, the ending<strong> of the adjective will also depend on the noun&#8217;s case<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4625555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4625555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Mixed Declension (Adjectives)<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Transation<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Case<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6f11fedac65e84fc04049879f09b05ac-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ein <strong>alter<\/strong> Mann        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">An old man<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Nominative<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-bf6497432b737160d3805f42b1717bdc-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Eines <strong>alten<\/strong> Mannes        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Of an old man<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Genitive<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-257a684b5d11b1cd2b24d2cef036ac1a-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Einem <strong>alten<\/strong> Mann        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">To an old man<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Dative<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e01fea4e3a36d907c9425fc09fed2d94-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Einen <strong>alten<\/strong> Mann        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">An old man<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Accusative<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4625555 from cache -->\n<h3>Placement<\/h3>\n<p>In terms of placement, German adjectives are quite like English ones. You can place them right before the noun, or have them come after &#8220;is&#8221; or &#8220;are.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4635555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4635555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Adjective Placement<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-363b582fd9d4fa26ff52c130bbc23f9d-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Der Hund ist <strong>braun<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The dog is <strong>brown<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f953ee942b790e70c5c820ab94b70c9f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Der <strong>braune<\/strong> Hund isst Fr\u00fchst\u00fcck.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The <strong>brown<\/strong> dog eats breakfast.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4635555 from cache -->\n<h3>Comparative and Superlative<\/h3>\n<p>The comparative is used when you&#8217;re comparing two or more nouns, or noticing a change in how much a noun embodies an quality. In English, if something is more or less of a certain quality, you&#8217;d add &#8211;<em>er<\/em> to the end of an adjective.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, German adjectives follow a similar principle! However, <strong>if the adjective comes after an article and before a noun, you&#8217;ll need to add the correct gender- and case-specific <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-suffixes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suffix<\/a> after &#8211;<em>er.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s see a couple of examples with the adjective <em>traurig<\/em>, meaning &#8220;sad&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4645555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4645555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Comparative Adjective<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-3c6d2dbcb0ce98dbd772641a3b2c6078-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Er ist traurig<strong>er<\/strong> als er.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">He is <strong>sadder<\/strong> than him.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a64557c68a7fd2a3114bbb57142b2433-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Der traurig<strong>ere<\/strong> Junge weinte.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The <strong>sadder<\/strong> boy cried.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4645555 from cache -->\n<p>On the other hand, the superlative is used when a noun embodies the most of a certain quality. In English, we would add the endings -st or -est to the end of an adjective.<\/p>\n<p>In German, you&#8217;d typically <strong>add two things: the ending &#8211;<em>sten<\/em> to the adjective, and the word <em>am<\/em> before the adjective. <\/strong><strong>However, if the adjective comes after an article and before a noun, you won&#8217;t need <em>am<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Again, the adjective gets an ending depending on the case and gender of the noun.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4655555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4655555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Superlative Adjective<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e21b822094603010076f8b1deddf9416-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Er ist <strong>am<\/strong> traurig<strong>sten<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">He is the <strong>saddest<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1302b9e3f2d0d4ee3893932b7cc42d3e-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Der traurig<strong>ste<\/strong> Junge weinte.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">The <strong>saddest<\/strong> boy cried.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4655555 from cache -->\n<p>For more on German comparative and superlative adjectives, check out this guide:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"U3XTgEJfON\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/comparative-and-superlative-german\/\">The German Comparative and Superlative<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The German Comparative and Superlative&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/comparative-and-superlative-german\/embed\/#?secret=Hi0WwHGBQw#?secret=U3XTgEJfON\" data-secret=\"U3XTgEJfON\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>6. Adverbs<\/h2>\n<p>Adverbs describe and add life to adjectives, verbs and other adverbs. In English, we tend to identify them through specific endings, such as -ly or -ish.<\/p>\n<p>In German, there isn&#8217;t really a specific &#8220;adverb&#8221; ending. In fact, many German adjectives can take on adverbial roles without the need to add specific suffixes. For example, notice how the adjective <em>schnell <\/em>here doesn&#8217;t need to change at all to become an adverb:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Ich laufe <strong>schnell<\/strong>. <br \/>\n<\/em>I run <strong>quickly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>There are also adverbial phrases that don&#8217;t necessarily contain adjectives, but are a collection of words that describe how, where or when something is being done: <em>interessanterweise<\/em> (interestingly),\u00a0<em>\u00fcberall<\/em> (everywhere)<em>, immer <\/em>(always).\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Placement<\/h3>\n<p>German adverbs are <strong>typically found after and close to the verbs they modify<\/strong>. They can be a little distanced from the verb by object nouns.<\/p>\n<p>However, you can have adverbs start sentences as well. Remember the &#8220;inverted&#8221; German sentences, in which the subject isn&#8217;t the first word in the sentence but the main verb still takes the second position.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples, each showcasing a specific adverb in different positions:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4665555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4665555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Adverb Placement<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d323e30b8f220d356980bc41edac409f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich laufe <strong>schnell<\/strong>.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I run <strong>fast<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8bc93554ee30c1fb7b711287f4a76ac3-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><strong>Schnell<\/strong> laufe ich zur Schule.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I run <strong>quickly<\/strong> to the school.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4665555 from cache -->\n<p>Notice again that there&#8217;s no ending for the adverb <em>schnell<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>Multiple Adverbs<\/h3>\n<p>When you start having more than one adverb in a sentence, then it&#8217;s time to start following a specific order:<strong> time, manner, place<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, adverbs describing &#8220;when&#8221; come first, followed by those describing &#8220;how&#8221; and then finishing with those describing &#8220;where.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Gestern habe ich <strong>viel in der Bibliothek<\/strong> gelesen. <br \/>\n<\/i>I read <strong>a lot in the library yesterday<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Gestern<\/em> means &#8220;yesterday&#8221; (adverb of time), <em>viel<\/em> means &#8220;a lot&#8221; (adverb of manner), and <em>in der Bibliothek<\/em> means &#8220;in the library&#8221; (adverb of place).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"0NsPH7ivF6\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-adverbs\/\">The Complete Guide to German Adverbs of Time, Manner and Place<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The Complete Guide to German Adverbs of Time, Manner and Place&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-adverbs\/embed\/#?secret=rfZycQabcC#?secret=0NsPH7ivF6\" data-secret=\"0NsPH7ivF6\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>7. Conjunctions<\/h2>\n<p>Conjunctions are words that connect phrases and clauses together in a sentence. In German, there are two types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating.<\/p>\n<h3>Coordinating<\/h3>\n<p>Coordinating conjunctions connect phrases and clauses without changing the sentence&#8217;s word order. Whatever comes after this type of conjunction will follow a normal sequence, as if it were its own sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4675555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4675555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Coordinating Conjunction<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example Sentence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-caf6e89c04bf613dc7e027fb6cc9adbf-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em>und<\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/strong><br \/>\n(and)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-689f44f084a212431bf37b977bbbe3cb-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich spiele Klavier <strong>und<\/strong> singe im Chor.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(I play the piano <strong>and<\/strong> sing in the choir.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2632021c78a2220fa94121f0578d67dd-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em>aber<\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/strong><br \/>\n(but)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d8cce1fcebdbe46cc84cbac719aba279-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Das Essen ist lecker, <strong>aber<\/strong> es ist zu teuer.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(The food is delicious, <strong>but<\/strong> it is too expensive.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4675555 from cache -->\n<h3>Subordinating<\/h3>\n<p>Subordinating conjunctions are used when there&#8217;s a dependent clause involved.<\/p>\n<p>When the sentence starts with the independent clause, then the subordinating conjunction would introduce the dependent clause. In the dependent clause, the conjugated verb is pushed to the end.<\/p>\n<p>Putting the subordinating conjunction at the start of a sentence will also change the word order of the concluding independent clause. The inverted word order takes effect\u2014the conjugated verb is pushed to the front.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4685555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4685555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Subordinating Conjunction<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example Sentence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-012dea98e7c021713c94793966f76ab6-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em>bis<\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/strong><br \/>\n(until)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b46dc08c80c9c9e697515b3e35218355-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Du darfst nicht gehen, <strong>bis<\/strong> du gegessen hast.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(You may not leave <strong>until<\/strong> you have eaten.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><strong>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1f534bc385bd0ef6a43111f4d17d30fa-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><em>weil<\/em>        <\/a>\n    <\/strong><br \/>\n(because)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c9468d679854dcf75687f643d2839d02-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><strong>Weil<\/strong> ich krank bin, muss ich Medikamente kaufen.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><br \/>\n(<strong>Because<\/strong> I'm sick, I must buy medicine.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4685555 from cache -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"qmu6AOASsY\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-subordinating-conjunctions\/\">German Subordinating Conjunctions<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;German Subordinating Conjunctions&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-subordinating-conjunctions\/embed\/#?secret=k8sKDHp08N#?secret=qmu6AOASsY\" data-secret=\"qmu6AOASsY\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>8. Prepositions<\/h2>\n<p>Prepositions are words that describe a noun in relation to something else. Typically, prepositions describe position, movement or timing.<\/p>\n<p>German prepositions can be categorized according to the cases they utilize. The nouns that follow these prepositions take on different cases.<\/p>\n<h3>Accusative<\/h3>\n<p>The noun that immediately follows these prepositions must use the accusative case. For example:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>durch <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 through<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Ich gehe <strong>durch<\/strong> den Tunnel. <br \/>\n<\/i>I walk <strong>through<\/strong> the tunnel.<\/p>\n<h3>Dative<\/h3>\n<p>Dative prepositions work the same way, but take the dative case instead. That means you have to watch out for those article and adjective endings! For example:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>mit <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 with<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Ich gehe <strong>mit<\/strong> meinem Freund in den Supermarkt. <br \/>\n<\/i>I go to the supermarket <strong>with<\/strong> my boyfriend.<\/p>\n<h3>Genitive<\/h3>\n<p>The use of prepositions in the genitive is becoming increasingly rare, at least in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/beginner-german-conversation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spoken conversation<\/a> where the dative is often used instead. However, they do appear in more formal contexts, so it&#8217;s good to know them regardless.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>wegen <\/em><\/strong><em>\u2014 <\/em>because of<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i><strong>Wegen<\/strong> des Sturms k\u00f6nnen wir nicht spielen. <\/i><br \/>\n<strong>Because of<\/strong> the storm we can&#8217;t play.<\/p>\n<h3>Two-way<\/h3>\n<p>In German, these are called\u00a0<em>Wechselpr\u00e4positionen <\/em>(<em>Wechsel<\/em> means &#8220;switch&#8221;). They&#8217;re appropriately named, because these prepositions <strong>can use either the accusative or dative case<\/strong>, depending on the context.<\/p>\n<p>Sounds complicated, I know! Luckily, there&#8217;s a general rule to figure out which case should be used. The <strong>accusative is used for motion or direction<\/strong>, while the <strong>dative is for describing position or an object&#8217;s static location<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s an example with one two-way preposition:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>auf <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 on, onto, upon<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i><strong>Dative:<\/strong><em>\u00a0Der Rucksack liegt <strong>auf<\/strong><strong>dem<\/strong> Bett. <br \/>\n<\/em><\/i>The backpack is <strong>on<\/strong> the bed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i><strong>Accusative:<\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>Ich lege den Rucksack <strong>auf<\/strong><strong>das<\/strong> Bett<\/em>. <br \/>\n<\/i>I put the backpack <strong>on(to)<\/strong> the bed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"GpswBuSzxi\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-prepositions\/\">How to Use Prepositions in German<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;How to Use Prepositions in German&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-prepositions\/embed\/#?secret=v15OWnl5jr#?secret=GpswBuSzxi\" data-secret=\"GpswBuSzxi\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>9. Moods<\/h2>\n<p>Moods describe the nature and tone of the verbs used in a sentence, so that whoever hears it would understand the speaker&#8217;s intentions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Indicative\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>The indicative mood (<em>der Indikativ<\/em>) is what you&#8217;ll be using most of the time. They&#8217;re appropriate for matter-of-fact sentences, or ones that simply express facts, opinions or questions. The indicative is also used to describe things that have happened, is happening or would happen.<\/p>\n<h4>Declarative Statements<\/h4>\n<p>Declarative statements are the sentences that just relay information. For example:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4745555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4745555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Declarative Sentence<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f37b7baf84c7542b3941cb910f781827-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Er kommt zu sp\u00e4t.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">He's late.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-76e6e49e71eaf174c18919e7eb1743b0-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Das \u00fcberrascht mich nicht.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">That doesn't surprise me.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5e1342e1871497891635651976f61a88-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ich glaube, er hat uns vergessen.        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I think he forgot about us.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4745555 from cache -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"qjzISeKmQd\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-moods\/\">German Grammatical Moods: Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;German Grammatical Moods: Indicative, Imperative, Subjunctive&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-moods\/embed\/#?secret=mkIZuTsvUk#?secret=qjzISeKmQd\" data-secret=\"qjzISeKmQd\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>Interrogative Statements<\/h4>\n<p>Interrogative statements are sentences that pose questions. From a declarative statement, it&#8217;s pretty easy to form question statements\u2014you move the conjugated verb to the first position of the sentence, followed by the subject, then the predicates or objects (if any):<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4755555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4755555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Interrogative Statement<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ca7a0abf4bdc4a6925f6125c937c6da8-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Kommt er zu sp\u00e4t?        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Is he late?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f7b62287de3538290690bc6980a4730f-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">\u00dcberrascht dich das?        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Does that surprise you?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d38fa79d3e03187538900d4b49b07726-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Meinst du, er hat uns vergessen?        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Do you think he forgot about us?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4755555 from cache -->\n<p>If an auxiliary verb is involved, then that auxiliary verb (conjugated) would take the first position instead.<\/p>\n<p>While the translations for the above examples include the word &#8220;does&#8221; and &#8220;do,&#8221; this isn&#8217;t really the word being used. The German verb for &#8220;to do&#8221; isn&#8217;t utilized in most interrogative statements, since all that&#8217;s needed is the conjugated main verb.<\/p>\n<p>But what about those &#8220;W-questions&#8221; asking about the who, what, when, where, why and how? These are known as &#8220;question pronouns,&#8221; and in German, they&#8217;re called <em>W-W\u00f6rter<\/em> (W-words). The six most common ones are:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-4765555\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-4765555\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Question Word<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">English Translation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5ac9f461b16c1743f4b241d2826b500c-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wer        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Who<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-629757e00950898e680a61df41eac192-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Was        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">What<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5c110c313d3ce4096b249e66345cc254-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wann        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">When<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-08b4c422407490ff16348fd8bcd27495-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wo        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Where<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a653c17e496958b6899bb149bf301b0a-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Warum        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Why<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6c79285d8cf1e40cfdcf8c733d95841c-neural-Vicki.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Wie        <\/a>\n    <\/em><\/td><td class=\"column-2\">How<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-4765555 from cache -->\n<p>If you&#8217;re using a W-word in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/questions-in-german\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">question<\/a>, then it would take the first position, followed by the main conjugated verb.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Imperative<\/h3>\n<p>This mood is for commands and orders. The imperative will solely use pronouns meant for directly addressing others:\u00a0<em>du <\/em>(you),\u00a0<em>ihr <\/em>(you, plural),\u00a0<em>wir <\/em>(we) and\u00a0<em>Sie <\/em>(you, formal). So, you&#8217;ll only have to worry about the conjugations related to those pronouns!<\/p>\n<p>Forming the imperative involves putting the conjugated verb at the front of the statement. However, <strong>for <em>du<\/em> commands, the conjugated verb would have its ending (-<em>st<\/em> or &#8211;<em>t<\/em>) dropped. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Gib mir das Buch! <br \/>\n<\/i>Give me the book!<\/p>\n<p><em>Sie<\/em>, <em>ihr<\/em> and <em>wir<\/em> commands use the simple present tense verb conjugations. Also, for the polite <em>Sie<\/em> commands, <strong>the pronoun <\/strong><strong>must appear.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Lesen Sie bitte die Unterlagen. <br \/>\n<\/i>Please read the documents.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"WuUf4xTwwt\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-imperative\/\">Guide to the German Imperative<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Guide to the German Imperative&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-imperative\/embed\/#?secret=ibSMgtBAhG#?secret=WuUf4xTwwt\" data-secret=\"WuUf4xTwwt\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Subjunctive (<em>der Konjunktiv<\/em>)<\/h3>\n<p>The subjunctive\u00a0(<em>der Konjunktiv<\/em>) is where we enter the esoteric realm of possibility and hearsay. There are two categories of the German subjunctive: <em>Konjunktiv<\/em> <em>1<\/em> and <em>Konjunktiv<\/em> <em>2<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Subjunctive 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em>Konjunktiv<\/em> <em>1<\/em>\u00a0is used for indirect speech. In other words, someone&#8217;s words are being quoted or reported by another.<\/p>\n<p>To form this mood, you&#8217;ll have to take the stem of the verb (in present tense) and add specific endings. These endings are the same for every verb except <em>sein<\/em>, which has its own unique forms.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples of <em>Konjunktiv 1<\/em> at work:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Sarah sagte, sie <strong>sei<\/strong> m\u00fcde. <br \/>\n<\/i>Sarah said she <strong>is<\/strong> tired.<i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Sarahs M\u00fctter sagte, sie <strong>m\u00fcsse<\/strong> mehr schlafen. <br \/>\n<\/i>Sarah&#8217;s mother said she <strong>must<\/strong> sleep more.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Subjunctive 2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em>Konjunktiv 2<\/em>\u00a0is used to express speculations, imaginings and hypotheticals. There are two main ways to accomplish this mood.<\/p>\n<p>The first way is by using special conjugations of the main verb, and conveniently, these conjugations resemble the simple past conjugations. Vowel umlauts may also be added.<\/p>\n<p>The second way is by utilizing the auxiliary verb <em>werden<\/em>. This verb will receive special conjugations that will automatically imply the <em>Konjunktiv 2<\/em> mood\u2014i.e., something &#8220;would&#8221; occur.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a sentence that utilizes both of these methods:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><i>Wenn ich das Geld <strong>h\u00e4tte<\/strong>, <strong>w\u00fcrde<\/strong> ich den Computer kaufen. <br \/>\n<\/i>If I <strong>had<\/strong> the money, I <strong>would<\/strong> buy the computer.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"4OqpzbenWF\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-subjunctive\/\">The German Subjunctive<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The German Subjunctive&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-subjunctive\/embed\/#?secret=anaCw6Kprp#?secret=4OqpzbenWF\" data-secret=\"4OqpzbenWF\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>10. Word Order<\/h2>\n<p>At this point, you&#8217;ve seen several examples of how word order can work in German sentences. Sometimes, they&#8217;re in the basic Subject-Verb-Object format. Other times, they&#8217;re inverted and push the subject or a verb elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>As a quick refresher, here are some of the core elements that you should watch out for when considering word order:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conjunctions (especially subordinating conjunctions)<\/li>\n<li>Adverbs (especially if there are different types of adverbs)<\/li>\n<li>Verbs (especially if there are more than one)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By far, adverbs may prove to be the trickiest when figuring out the correct sentence word order. As a general guide, remember the rule of TMP: time, manner, place.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"eQvDRtqqhF\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-sentence-structure\/\">German Sentence Structure: The Simple Guide to German Word Order<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;German Sentence Structure: The Simple Guide to German Word Order&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-sentence-structure\/embed\/#?secret=9d8gXxGSJV#?secret=eQvDRtqqhF\" data-secret=\"eQvDRtqqhF\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So there you have it: a speedrun of German grammar!<\/p>\n<p>Take the time to study up a bit more on these concepts, and you&#8217;ll master them in no time!<\/p>\n<h2>And One More Thing...<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\nWant to know the key to learning German effectively?\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nIt's using the right content and tools, <strong><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">like FluentU has to offer<\/a><\/strong>! Browse hundreds of videos, take endless quizzes and master the German language faster than you've ever imagine! \r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2005\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/German-5.jpg\" alt=\"learn-german-with-videos\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWatching a fun video, but having trouble understanding it? <strong>FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive subtitles.<\/strong>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2006\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/German-2.jpg\" alt=\"learn-german-with-interactive-videos\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nYou can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don't know, you can add it to a vocabulary list.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2007\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/German-6.jpg\" alt=\"learn-conversational-german-with-subtitled-dialogue\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nAnd FluentU isn't just for watching videos. It's a complete platform for learning. It's designed to effectively teach you all the vocabulary from any video. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you're on.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2008\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/German-7.png\" alt=\"practice-german-with-adaptive-quizzes\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nThe best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you're learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it\u2019s time to review what you\u2019ve learned.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nStart using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need the lowdown on German grammar without being overwhelmed by all the details? This guide will walk you through all the most important German grammar topics\u2014no fuss, no muss. You&#8217;ll&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":413,"featured_media":248958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"German Grammar Guide | FluentU German Blog","description":"Need to know the ins and outs of German grammar? Look no further! This is your ultimate guide to grammatical concepts in German. We'll cover a wide range of topics from nouns and verbs to moods, cases and more! Stay tuned and soon you'll know everything you need to about German grammar."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[525,530],"tags":[],"coauthors":[185],"class_list":["post-94482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-german","category-grammar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/413"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94482"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243522,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94482\/revisions\/243522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94482"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=94482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}