Grammar Tips
Nouns · Pronouns · Conjugation · Word Order · Akkusativ
All Nouns have Genders
Every noun (person, place, or thing) in German has a gender. A noun can be either masculine, feminine, or neutral.
The gender is shown through the noun's ARTICLE:
- der (masculine)
- die (feminine)
- das (neutral)
- *Anytime a noun is plural, it takes die
Some patterns do exist however! Nouns with the endings below almost always fall into that gender category.
Subject Pronouns
An important difference between German and English subject pronouns, is that the German language distinguishes a difference in formality.
In German du, ihr, and Sie all mean "you." However, you need to consider formality when trying to decide which "you" to use:
- du
- informal, singular
- Use with: family, close friends, people younger than you
- ihr
- informal, plural
Use with: multiple family members/friends, younger people
- Sie
- formal, plural & singular
- Use with: strangers, people older than you, teachers, those you high positions
Conjugation
What is conjugation? We don't usually have to think about conjugating verbs in our native language, because we grew up speaking it. We just know that we say "I am" instead of "I is."
Conjugation means changing a verb so that it matches its subject and makes sense.
Look at the picture below to see how most verbs are conjugated:
Vowel - Stem Changing Verbs
Separable Prefix Verbs
Word Order
The BIG rule to remember: The VERB is always in the 2nd position!
German sentences require the verb to be in Position 2 in a sentence. See the chart below;
Your sentence does not have to start with your subject (ich). You could start with a time phrase, for example. Just remember, that the verb must be 2nd.
Akkusativ (Direct Object Case)
The Accusative is used with direct objects in a sentence. To find the direct object, ask the question "Who or what is being verb-ed ?"
For example:
The woman drinks the coffee. Ask: Who or what is being drunk? The coffee.
The coffee is the direct object. It is receiving the action of the verb.
To identify who or what is the direct object, Germans use the ACCUSATIVE CASE:
- The article changes, to show the direct object.