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Der Lernpfad

Alle 121 Grammatikthemen in der Reihenfolge, in der sie sich gegenseitig tragen — durchnummeriert von 1 bis 121.

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A1 Sich vorstellen, fragen, Alltägliches sagen.

Schritt 1 bis 24 von 121

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  1. 1What a case is, and what the four are forFour jobs a noun can do, four sets of endings — and one table that is worth learning before any of them.
  2. 2The nominativeThe one doing it — and the one the verb agrees with.
  3. 3The accusativeOne article changes, and that one change is most of what the accusative is.
  4. 4The three gendersNot a property of the thing — a property of the word.
  5. 5The pluralThere is no default. The plural is learned with the noun, like the gender.
  6. 6The definite articleSix distinct words doing sixteen jobs — fewer forms than the table suggests.
  7. 7ein, kein and the possessivesOne pattern shared by nine words — and three cells where it says nothing at all.
  8. 8When preposition and article mergeTen fused forms that are not shortcuts but the normal way to say it.
  9. 9mein, dein, sein, ihrNine possessives that all decline like ein — and one word that means both his and her.
  10. 10Personal pronounsThree cases each, and the dative forms used far more often than English suggests.
  11. 11The present tenseFive endings on a stem — and one tense doing the work of two English ones.
  12. 12sein and habenIrregular, unavoidable, and needed twice over — as verbs and as the machinery of the past tense.
  13. 13The Perfekthaben or sein plus a participle at the end — and it is how Germans talk about yesterday.
  14. 14The six modal verbsOne irregular pattern, six verbs, and the main verb waiting at the end of the sentence.
  15. 15mögen and möchtenOne verb for liking something, another form of it for wanting something — and they are not interchangeable.
  16. 16The verb comes secondOne element in front of the verb — any one you like, but only one.
  17. 17QuestionsNo do, no does, no did — the verb simply moves.
  18. 18Giving instructionsThree imperative forms, one of which keeps its pronoun and two of which drop it.
  19. 19Prepositions with the accusativeFive words, one case, no exceptions — worth memorising as a line.
  20. 20Prepositions with the dativeThe seven that carry most of everyday German — and the contractions that come with them.
  21. 21Adjectives after seinAfter sein, werden and bleiben an adjective never changes — so learn this position first.
  22. 22kein and nichtA noun takes kein. Everything else takes nicht. That is the whole decision.
  23. 23Numbers, dates and timesThree systems that are regular, and each of which runs in the opposite direction from English.
  24. 24What the spelling tells you about the soundGerman spelling is nearly regular, so a written word says how it is pronounced — once eight rules are known.

A2 Über Vergangenes sprechen und Vorhaben äußern.

Schritt 25 bis 61 von 121

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  1. 25The dativeTo whom, for whom — and after a fixed list of prepositions and a fixed list of verbs.
  2. 26Verbs that take the dativeA closed list of verbs whose only object is dative, where English would use a plain object.
  3. 27Compound nounsRead the last part to know what it is, the parts before it to know which one.
  4. 28Making things small: -chen and -leinTwo endings that shrink a noun, turn it neuter and sometimes change its meaning entirely.
  5. 29Guessing the gender from the endingAbout forty endings decide the gender outright, which covers a large share of the vocabulary.
  6. 30When German uses no articleJobs, nationalities, materials and abstract nouns often stand bare where English needs a or the.
  7. 31this one and that oneGerman points with dieser — and mostly with a stressed der, which is what speakers actually say.
  8. 32Reflexive pronounsA large group of German verbs carries a pronoun that translates into nothing at all.
  9. 33Somebody, nobody, everythingA small set of pronouns for unspecified people and things, and the endings some of them still carry.
  10. 34Question words and which case they takewer changes for case exactly like der, and two different words ask which.
  11. 35Separable verbsThe verb starts the sentence and finishes it, and the meaning is not complete until the last word.
  12. 36Strong verbsAbout two hundred verbs change their stem vowel — and they change it in patterns English speakers already own.
  13. 37The imperativeThree forms for three ways of saying you — and a particle that turns an order into an offer.
  14. 38Prefixes that never separateEight unstressed prefixes that stay attached and take no ge- in the participle.
  15. 39The futureGerman usually says the future in the present tense, and keeps werden for prediction and emphasis.
  16. 40What the present tense coversNow, always, tomorrow and since when — all of it in one form.
  17. 41haben or sein in the perfectMost verbs take haben; motion and change of state take sein, and one test decides almost every case.
  18. 42Saying when: seit, vor, in, fürFour prepositions of time whose English equivalents cross over, plus the tense German uses with each.
  19. 43Building the past participleThree patterns, and four situations where the ge- is left off.
  20. 44must not and need notThe one place where a negation flips the meaning — and German and English flip it differently.
  21. 45sollen: somebody else decidedAn obligation that comes from another person, and a second use that reports what people say.
  22. 46The middle of the sentenceNot free, but ordered by a principle rather than by a slot: known things early, new things late.
  23. 47What can stand before the verbExactly one element goes in front of the verb — and which one you choose is a decision, not a formality.
  24. 48dass, weil, wennThe three commonest conjunctions, and the one position they all produce.
  25. 49als, wenn, wannThree words English writes as "when", separated by one question: once in the past, or repeatedly?
  26. 50Giving a reason: weil, da, dennThree words for because, and each one puts the verb somewhere different.
  27. 51The nine that take two casesDative for a position, accusative for a movement — one question that settles all nine.
  28. 52Going somewhere: nach, zu, in, aufFour prepositions for a destination, chosen by what kind of place it is.
  29. 53Being somewhere: in, an, auf, beiFour prepositions for a location, and the one German uses where English says "at somebody’s".
  30. 54Coming from: aus and vonaus if you were inside it, von if you were merely at it — the mirror image of in and zu.
  31. 55Comparative and superlativeGerman has no "more interesting" — every adjective takes the ending, however long it is.
  32. 56Comparing things: so wie, alsEquality takes wie, difference takes als, and mixing them is the commonest mistake German speakers make too.
  33. 57German has almost no adverb endingThe same word describes a thing and an action, with no -ly and no ending at all.
  34. 58Saying yes to a negative questionGerman has a third answer word that English lacks entirely, and leaving it out is genuinely ambiguous.
  35. 59noch nicht, nicht mehr, schonFour small words that place a negation in time — and each has an exact opposite.
  36. 60Being polite in GermanA handful of subjunctive forms carry almost all German politeness, and they are met long before the grammar is.
  37. 61du, Sie, and how formal to beGerman makes you choose a level of formality in every single sentence you address to somebody.

B1 Zusammenhänge erklären, begründen, berichten.

Schritt 62 bis 100 von 121

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  1. 62The genitiveWritten German uses it; spoken German mostly says von plus dative instead.
  2. 63Two objects in one sentenceThe person is dative and the thing is accusative — and which comes first depends on whether they are nouns or pronouns.
  3. 64How German usually avoids the genitiveSpoken German replaces the genitive with von plus dative, and writing does not.
  4. 65Weak masculine nounsA closed group of masculines that takes -n in every case except one — and they are words you use daily.
  5. 66Turning verbs and adjectives into nounsAny infinitive can become a neuter noun, and any adjective can become one that still takes endings.
  6. 67The joints inside a compoundThe -s and -n that appear between the two halves of a compound, and what they are not.
  7. 68Borrowed words and their pluralsThe -s plural belongs to borrowed words, and Greek and Latin words keep their own endings.
  8. 69When German uses an article and English does notAbstract nouns, seasons, meals and parts of the body take an article — and professions lose one.
  9. 70man and esOne stands for anybody at all; the other stands for nothing and holds a position open.
  10. 71Relative and demonstrative pronounsThe same six words work as article, as relative pronoun and as a demonstrative that replaces a noun entirely.
  11. 72The many jobs of esA subject that stands for nothing, a placeholder that disappears, and the one construction every learner needs: es gibt.
  12. 73meins, deins, seinsWhen the noun is left out, the possessive takes the der-endings instead.
  13. 74Verbs with a fixed prepositionThe preposition is part of the verb, and so is the case it takes — neither can be worked out.
  14. 75Verbs that are always reflexiveA group of verbs whose reflexive pronoun is not an object at all — it is part of the verb.
  15. 76Infinitives with zu, and withoutMost verbs need zu before a second infinitive; a short, closed list does not.
  16. 77The nine verbs that do bothA small group that takes the weak -t ending and changes its vowel anyway.
  17. 78Verbs with no real subjectWeather, states and feelings that happen to somebody rather than being done by them.
  18. 79The PräteritumThe past tense of books and reports — plus six verbs that use it in speech.
  19. 80The Plusquamperfekthatte or war plus a participle — for what had already happened when something else did.
  20. 81Modals with no second verbGerman lets a modal stand on its own when the missing verb is obvious.
  21. 82The sentence bracketThe verb opens the clause and something closes it — and everything else lives in between.
  22. 83The order of the middle fieldWhen several adverbials meet, German has a default order: when, why, how, where.
  23. 84Relative clausesThe relative pronoun looks like the article, takes its gender from one clause and its case from the other, and can never be left out.
  24. 85Indirect questions and infinitive clausesA question inside a sentence stops being a question — and a clause with no subject of its own takes zu.
  25. 86Which conjunction moves the verbFive conjunctions change nothing at all; every other one sends the verb to the end.
  26. 87Saying what something is forTwo ways to give a purpose, and one rule decides which: whether both halves have the same subject.
  27. 88If: wenn and fallsTwo words for if, one of them also meaning when — and a third form that drops the word entirely.
  28. 89Prepositions that belong to a verbThe preposition is part of the verb, it fixes the case, and it almost never matches the English one.
  29. 90Adjective endingsOne principle instead of three tables: the ending appears where the article did not.
  30. 91Adjectives used as nounsGerman turns an adjective into a noun by capitalising it — and it keeps its adjective endings for ever.
  31. 92Adjective endings with no articleWith no article in front, the adjective takes over the article’s own endings.
  32. 93Where nicht standsLate for the whole sentence, directly in front of one word to deny only that.
  33. 94The other negative wordsOne negative per clause — German does not stack them, and each positive word has a negative twin.
  34. 95Negating a word rather than a sentenceFour ways to build the opposite of a word, and the difference between -los and -frei.
  35. 96The werden-passiveThe process, not the result — and the agent usually left out on purpose.
  36. 97Konjunktiv IIThe form for what is not the case — and the reason German politeness sounds the way it does.
  37. 98When würde is the right choiceA ready-made subjunctive for every verb — used where the proper form would be unrecognisable, and not where it would not.
  38. 99Which words take a capital letterGerman capitalises every noun — and the hard part is deciding what counts as one.
  39. 100Where the comma goesGerman commas are grammatical, not rhythmic: a clause boundary takes one whether or not anybody pauses.

B2 Genau werden: Haltung, Abstufung, Nebensatz.

Schritt 101 bis 117 von 121

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  1. 101A second name for the same thingAn added description takes the case of the noun it describes, which is easy to say and easy to forget.
  2. 102Relative clauses without a nounWhen there is no noun to attach to, the relative pronoun is was — and after a preposition it is a wo-form.
  3. 103Modals as a guessThe same six verbs used a second time — not about what is possible, but about how likely the speaker thinks it is.
  4. 104Modals in the pastTwo infinitives at the end of the clause — correct, awkward, and usually replaced by the simple past.
  5. 105Although, even if, no matter whatFour ways to concede a point, and each one places the verb somewhere different.
  6. 106Prepositions with the genitiveThe register of written German — and the one case where speech has already moved on.
  7. 107Participles used as adjectivesBoth participles can stand in front of a noun — one means it is doing something, the other that it has been done to.
  8. 108Adjectives with a case or a prepositionSome adjectives take a dative, some a genitive, and many a fixed preposition — none of it derivable.
  9. 109Avoiding the passiveThree constructions German reaches for instead — and one of them is what a spoken sentence usually uses.
  10. 110The sein-passivesein plus a participle describes how things are — and English writes it the same way as the other one.
  11. 111The passive in every tensewerden carries the tense, the participle never changes, and the perfect uses worden rather than geworden.
  12. 112Naming who did it: von and durchA passive usually names nobody; when it does, a person takes von and a cause takes durch.
  13. 113Talking about what did not happenThe past unreal conditional: one form for both halves, and a modal verb pushes hätte to the front.
  14. 114Wishes and regretsA wenn-clause with no main clause, plus nur or doch — a complete sentence expressing a wish.
  15. 115Modal particlesWords with no dictionary meaning that change what a sentence is doing.
  16. 116Building wordsA stem, a prefix and a suffix — and a word nobody taught you becomes readable.
  17. 117Joining two thoughtsAdverbs that connect sentences and take the first position, so the verb moves in front of the subject.

C1 Das Feine: Ton, Register, seltene Formen.

Schritt 118 bis 121 von 121

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  1. 118Futur II, and what it is really forRarely a future tense; almost always a guess about something already over.
  2. 119What may stand after the final verbThe bracket normally closes the sentence — and four things are allowed to come after it.
  3. 120A passive with nothing being acted onGerman can build a passive out of a verb with no object at all — and English cannot.
  4. 121Konjunktiv IA form that says "somebody else said this" and takes no position on whether it is true.

Alle Themen als Übersicht Was jede Stufe bedeutet