Topics
Downloadable German Language Resource Packet
German Resource Packet: Language Tips
Vocabulary
German and English share many cognates:
Winter/winter, Haus/house, trinken/drink, etc. Many cognates, however, do not have the same meaning (i.e. they are false friends). For example, the German word also means so in English, not also; aktuell means current not actual. Nouns in German are capitalized, which often leads to students writing English nouns with capital letters.
Idioms/Idiomen:
But some German expressions are extremely good at “hitting the nail on the head” (den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen). One of my all-time favorites: da bin ich überfragt (lit., “I’ve been over-asked” or in other words, “you’ve got me there”). Another favorite is one of many German expressions for “not being all there”: Sie hat nicht alle Tassen im Schrank. (“She doesn’t have all [her] cups in the cupboard.”)
Proverbs, sayings, and clichés also fall into this category. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks in English, but auf Deutsch what little Johnny can’t learn, old John will never learn. (Was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr.) With expressions like these, it is often only necessary to say the first few words before someone nods with recognition.
Tips for Test-Taking
Pay special attention to the following areas. Use the entire time available to you for your exam. If you’re finished before the time, review your answers and again focus especially on the following:
- Capitalize all nouns!
- Use the perfect (=past) tense when you describe events that happened in the past. This feels like stating the obvious but you’d be surprised how many times people use the present tense for describing the past.
- You can, however, use the present tense to describe what you’ll do in the future. Im Sommer fahre ich in den Urlaub.
- Remember the differences between als, wenn and wann. All translate as the English “when” but als is used for past events (Als ich 10 Jahre alt war, war ich in Spanien.); wenn for future or regularly occurring events (Immer wenn ich Durst habe, trinke ich Wasser. Wenn ich wieder in Cork bin, besuche ich meine Eltern.); wann is only ever used in questions (Wann kommst du?)
- Remember the word order. Generally the subject in a main sentence comes first followed by the verb. Ich fahre morgen nach Dublin. If you put anything else in the front the verb still remains at second place: Morgen fahre ich nach Dublin. (Not: Morgen ich fahre nach Dublin.)
- If you’re in loss for a word, don’t beat yourself up over it but try and come up with alternatives that may also de- scribe it. Brand names can often come in handy! “Ich brauche Panadol.” if you happened to forget that “die Tablette” is German for “tablet”. It’s better to write something rather than nothing.
- Re-read the German exam texts properly to make sure you have really understood them correctly.
Prepared by Sara Franks for the Learning Center, updated Spring 2020
Back to Top
German Resource Packet: Verbs and Articles
Verb Conjugation
Every German verb has an infinitive form. You need to know the stem of the verb to be able to conjugate the verb. The stem is the part of the verb without the infinitive ending.
For most German words this is quite easy because most of the verbs are formed in the same way. The verbs spiel- en (to play), lachen (to laugh) and rennen (to run) all end in “en,” which indicates the basic infinitive form.
Examples:
- Laufen (to run)
- Infinitive: laufen
- Stem: lauf
- Geben (to give)
- Infinitive: geben
- Stem: geb
- Lachen (to laugh)
- Infinitive: lachen
- Stem: lach
The German language differentiates between two types of verbs: weak and strong. Weak verbs have a dental consonant (the tongue is pressed against the upper teeth) that is inflected and changed. Strong verbs have a vowel gradation (examples are sing, sang and sung).
Although there are some exceptions, both of these verbs have a regular system that can be applied to almost all the verbs. The most well-known exception is the verb sein (to be), which is highly irregular. Sein is an essential part of German grammar because it is used to form the past tenses.
For regular strong verbs, use the following rules:
- First-person singular is formed by adding “e” to the stem of the verb.
- Second-person singular is formed by adding “st” to the stem of the verb.
- Third-person singular is formed by adding “ t” to the stem of the verb.
- First-person plural is formed by adding “ en” to the stem of the verb.
- Second-person plural is formed by adding “t” to the stem of the verb.
- Third-person plural is again formed by adding “en” to the stem of the verb.
Articles
Definition: In German, the articles are the main indicators of grammatical case. Articles are words mostly used before nouns. In German, articles are the key to understand the gender of nouns because they are divided in three genders.
- Masculine
- Feminine
- Neuter
In German the matter of grammatical gender is quite different. Gender does not depend entirely on sex.
German grammar treats all these as neuter. Use “ das” for all three.
- Woman = Weib
- Girl = Mädchen
- Young lady = Fräulein (not really used in modern German anymore)
Adjectives with Articles: Definite and Indefinite Articles
Adjectives with Definite Articles
- Nom. der gute Mann (masc), die gute Frau (fem), das gute Buch (neut), die guten Leute (plural)
- Acc. den guten Mann, die gute Frau, das gute Buch, die guten Leute
- Dat. dem guten Mann, der gute Frau, dem guten Buch, den guten Leuten
- Gen. des guten Mannes, der gute Frau, des guten Buches, der guten Leute
Adjectives with Indefinite Articles
- Nom. ein guter Mann (masc), eine gute Frau (fem), ein gutes Buch (neut), keine guten Leute (pl)
- Acc. einen guten Mann, eine gute Frau, ein gutes Buch, keine guten Leute
- Dat. einem guten Mann, einer guten Frau, einem guten Buch, keine guten Leuten
- Gen. eines guten Mannes, einer guten Frau, eines guten Buches, keiner guten Leute
Articles with No Adjectives
- Nom. guter Kuchen (masc), kalte Milch (fem), frisches Brot), neut.), frische Würste (pl)
- Acc. guten Kuchen, kalte Milch, frisches Brot, frische Würste
- Dat. gutem Kuchen, kalter Milch, frischem Brot, frischen Würsten
- Gen. guten Kuchens, kalter Milch, frischen Brotes, frischer Würste
Prepared by Sara Franks for the Learning Center, updated Spring 2020
Back to Top
German Resource Packet: Word Order
German has three features of word order that do not exist in English.
- The main verb must be the second element in the independent clause. This often requires an inversion of subject and verb. For example: Manchmal komme ich mit dem Bus in die Schule. (Sometimes I come to school by bus.)
- The past participle must always be the last element in the independent clause. Example: Ich habe ihn nicht gesehen. (I have not seen him.).
- The main verb must be the last element in the dependent clause. For example: Sie fragte mich, ob ich den Film schon gesehen hätte. (She asked me if I had already seen the film.)
When linking two German phrases with a conjunction, the word order of the second phrase will be as follows:
- Ich gehe ins Bett, denn ich bin müde.
- I’m going to bed, because I am tired.
However adverbs indicating cause (such as darum, trotzdem, sonst, so) can also at times be used to link two German phrases. In such cases they are operating as conjunctions; however the word order will not be the same as in the example above. Instead, the sentence will be constituted as follows:
- Ich bin kalt, darum ziehe ich meinen Mantel an.
- I am cold, that’s why I’m putting my coat on.
As the example demonstrates, the verb is placed right after the adverb, whereas with a conjunction, the verb will come after the pronoun or noun.
Word order in German is more flexible than in English. In particular, sentences need not begin with the subject (see “inverted word order” below). There are strict rules determining the position of the verb, and there are a few other rules to bear in mind, but in general once you have put the verb(s) in the right place and chosen between “subject first” and “inverted” word order, there will often be a number of acceptable ways for you to arrange the rest of the sentence.
Main Rules for Verb Position
- In general, the verb should be in position 2.
- The coordinating conjunctions und, aber, oder, denn & sondern occupy position you will generally want e.g. “und”; then something in position one; then the verb.
- If the verb is in two parts, the conjugated part goes in position two, and the “generic part”
(infinitive or past participle) goes at the end of the clause.
- After a subordinating conjunction (dass, weil, wenn, als, ob...) and in a relative clause, the verb comes at the end.
- After a subordinate clause, the subsequent main clause begins with the verb. Infinitives with or without “zu” always come at the end of the clause.
Prepared by Sara Franks for the Learning Center, Updated Spring 2020.
Back to Top