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B2

Fließend

Hier verschwindet die Anstrengung aus dem Zuhören. Ein Vortrag, eine Diskussion, ein Zeitungstext im eigenen Fachgebiet gehen ohne ständiges Nachfragen durch.

Beim Sprechen kommt eine Wahl dazu, die es vorher nicht gab: Für dieselbe Sache gibt es jetzt mehrere Formulierungen, und sie klingen unterschiedlich höflich, unterschiedlich sicher, unterschiedlich formell.

Noch ohne Familie17

The four cases

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B2A 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.

Pronouns

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B2Relative 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.

Modal verbs

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B2Modals as a guessThe same six verbs used a second time — not about what is possible, but about how likely the speaker thinks it is.B2Modals in the pastTwo infinitives at the end of the clause — correct, awkward, and usually replaced by the simple past.

Subordinate clauses

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B2Although, even if, no matter whatFour ways to concede a point, and each one places the verb somewhere different.

Prepositions

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B2Prepositions with the genitiveThe register of written German — and the one case where speech has already moved on.

Adjectives

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B2Participles 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.B2Adjectives with a case or a prepositionSome adjectives take a dative, some a genitive, and many a fixed preposition — none of it derivable.

The passive

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B2Avoiding the passiveThree constructions German reaches for instead — and one of them is what a spoken sentence usually uses.B2The sein-passivesein plus a participle describes how things are — and English writes it the same way as the other one.B2The passive in every tensewerden carries the tense, the participle never changes, and the perfect uses worden rather than geworden.B2Naming who did it: von and durchA passive usually names nobody; when it does, a person takes von and a cause takes durch.

The subjunctive

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B2Talking about what did not happenThe past unreal conditional: one form for both halves, and a modal verb pushes hätte to the front.B2Wishes and regretsA wenn-clause with no main clause, plus nur or doch — a complete sentence expressing a wish.

The finishing touches

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B2Modal particlesWords with no dictionary meaning that change what a sentence is doing.B2Building wordsA stem, a prefix and a suffix — and a word nobody taught you becomes readable.B2Joining two thoughtsAdverbs that connect sentences and take the first position, so the verb moves in front of the subject.