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Contents

Grammar Help

Alphabetized Listing

Verbs: Indicative Tenses

Verbs: Subjunctive

Conditional

Verbs: General

Verbs: Prefixes

Articles

Pronouns

Nouns

Adjectives

Numerals

Adverbs

Prepositions

General


Alphabetized Listing

Topics in alphabetical order:

Adjective Comparison
Adverbs
Conjunctions
Contrary Conditions
Declensions
Definite Article
Demonstratives
Endings
Future
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Subjunctive
Future Subjunctive
Idiomatic Use of Prepositions
Imperfect
Indefinite Article
Indefinite Pronouns
Indirect Discourse
Interrogatives
Non-Inflecting
Noun Endings
Noun--Classes
Nouns--Accusative Case Help
Nouns--Dative Help
Noun--Declension
Nouns--Gender
Nouns--Genitive Help
Nouns--Nominative Case Help
Numerals
Passive Voice
Past Conditional
Past Conditional
Past Perfect Subjunctive
Perfect Subjunctive
Personal Pronouns
Possessives
Prepositions
Present Conditional
Present Perfect
Present Tense
Pronoun Help
Relative Pronouns
Subjunctive I
Subjunctive II
Subjunctive--Principal Clauses
Supplement to Prepositions
Tense Usage
Time
Verb--General Rules
Verbs--Auxiliary
Verbs--Dative
Verbs--Double Prefixes
Verbs--Impersonal
Verbs--Inseparable Prefixes
Verbs--Modal Auxiliaries
Verbs--Reflexive
Verbs--Separable Prefixes
Verbs--Strong
Verbs--Weak
Vocabulary Difficulties
When
Word Order


Verbs: Indicative Tenses

Tense Usage

Present Tense

Imperfect

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

Future

Future Perfect


Tense Usage

The progressive form (I am going, I was going) is rendered in German by the simple forms: ich gehe, ich ging, etc.

The present often denotes future time:
Er kommt morgen. = Er wird morgen kommen.
He is coming tomorrow. = He will come tomorrow.

It corresponds to English present perfect when referring to a past event continuing in present time:
Ich bin schon lange hier.
I have been here a long time.

Wir sind seit gestern, einer Woche, einem Monat in dieser Stadt.
We have been in this city since yesterday, for a week, a month.

The simple past is used in narration:
Um acht Uhr stand ich auf; um neun Uhr ging ich aus; dann nahm ich mein Frühstück und traf meinen Freund, der auf mich wartete.
At eight o'clock I got up; at nine o'clock I went out; then I had (my) breakfast and met my friend (male) who was waiting for me.

The past corresponds to English past perfect in speaking of a condition or event which was interrupted by another condition or event in the past:
Ich wartete seit einer Stunde, als er endlich kam.
I had been waiting for an hour, when he finally came.

The present perfect is used:
• to refer to past actions closely connected with the present:
Ist er nicht gekommen?
Hasn't he come?

• to speak of single events in the past:
Shakespeare ist im Jahre 1616 gestorben.
Shakespeare died in 1616.

• in colloquial language in place of the past, consequently in conversation in the form of questions and answers:
Hat er mich gerufen?
Has he called me?

Nein, niemand hat gerufen.
No, no one has called.

The future is sometimes used to express probability in present time, and the future perfect to denote probability in past time:
Er wird (wohl) kommen.
He probably will come.

Er wird (wohl) gekommen sein.
He probably came.


Present Tense

The present tense is used:

• To express present conditions or actions.  For example:
Ich fühle mich schlecht.
I feel ill.

Es schneit.
It is snowing.

• To express general statements or universal truths. Examples:
Sabine hört gern  Rockmusik.
Sabine likes to listen to rock music.

Zeit ist Geld.
Time is money.

• As a common way to express the future.  For example:
Ich bin gleich zurück.
I'll be right back.

Du bekommst einen Brief.
You'll be getting a letter.

• With schon (bereits, erst, lange) to denote the continuation of an action or condition that began in the past. For example:
Es regnet schon drei Tage.
It has been raining for three days (and still is).

Formation:
The present tense of most German verbs is formed by adding the following endings to the verb stem:

ich	-e	wir	-en
du	-st	ihr	-t
er, sie es	-t	sie, Sie	-en
The conjugations of the following verbs are irregular and are included in our Verb Conjugator.

sein	to be
haben	to have
werden	to become, to get, will


Imperfect

The imperfect tense (narrative past) in German is the usual tense for stories, novels, and news reports.  It is not interchangeable with the Present Perfect (conversational past).  The imperfect is used:

• To narrate or report a chain of past events.
Als sie in Deutschland war, vor zwei Jahren, lernte sie viel, reiste sie überall in Europa, und bekam sie eine größere Weltanschauung.
When she was in Germany two years ago, she studied a lot, she travelled all over Europe, and she gained a greater world view.

• To express two actions that occurred at the same time in the past, or a condition or event that was interrupted by another condition or event in the past.  The dependent clauses are often introduced by während (while, during) or als (when).
Sie las einen Roman, während ich studierte.
She was reading a novel while I was studying.

Ich wartete seit einer Stunde, als er endlich kam.
I had been waiting for an hour when he finally came.

•  To express habitual past action.  Key words such as gewöhnlich (usually) and immer (always) occur in these sentences.  In English the action is often expressed by used to + verb.
Um sieben Uhr machte sie gewöhnlich einen Spaziergang.
At seven o'clock she usually went for a walk.

Ich sah sie immer.
I always used to see her.

• Most often for sein (to be), haben (to have), and the modal auxiliaries (see also Verbs--Modal Auxiliaries) when referring to the past.
Das war klasse!
That was great!

Ich konnte es kaum glauben.
I could hardly believe it.

Formation:
Weak verbs form the imperfect tense by adding the following endings to the verb stem:

ich	-te	wir	-ten
du	-test	ihr	-tet
er, sie, es	-te	sie, Sie	-ten
Verb stems that end in -d, -t, -dn, -tm, -chn, -fn or -gn insert an e between the stem and the personal imperfect endings to facilitate pronunciation.

The verbs brennen (to burn), kennen [to know (by acquaintance)], nennen (to call, to name), rennen (to run), senden (to send), wenden (to turn), bringen (to bring, to take), denken (to think), and wissen [to know (a fact)] are irregular in the imperfect. Conjugations for these verbs are included in German Assistant's Verb Conjugator.

Strong verbs have a vowel change in the imperfect stem. The endings also differ from weak verbs in that the first and third person singular never receive an ending.  The endings are:

ich	-	wir	-en
du	-st	ihr	-t
er, sie, es	-	sie, Sie	-en
Verb stems that end in -d, -t, -ss/ß and -chs usually insert an e between the stem and the personal imperfect endings of the 2nd person singular and plural.

The auxiliary verbs sein, haben and werden are irregular in the imperfect and must be memorized.  Reference the Verb Conjugator for assistance.

See also:
Verbs--Weak
Verbs--Strong


Present Perfect

The present perfect Tense is the standard tense used in conversations about the past (except with the verbs sein and haben, and the modal verbs discussed in Imperfect).  This tense should not be confused with the imperfect which is used to narrate a series of past events.

The present perfect tense is used:

• In colloquial language in place of the imperfect, thus in conversation in the form of questions and answers:
Hat er mich gerufen?
Has he called me?

Nein, niemand hat gerufen.
No, no one has called.

• To refer to past actions closely connected with the present:
Er ist nicht gekommen.
He didn't come.

• To speak of single events in the past:
Shakespeare ist im Jahre 1616 gestorben.
Shakespeare died in the year 1616.

Formation:
The present perfect Tense is generally formed from the Present Tense of the auxiliary verb haben + the past participle of the main verb. The auxiliary verb sein is used when the main verb is intransitive (does not take a direct object) and indicates a change of location or condition. The past participle should come at the end of the clause.

See also:
Verbs--Auxiliary


Past Perfect

The Past Perfect Tense (or pluperfect) describes an action or condition which took place before another action or event in the past.  It is formed from the Imperfect of haben or sein + past participle of the main verb.

Sie lief zum Haus ihrer Großmutter, nachdem sie den Kuchen gebacken hatte.
She ran to her grandmother's house, after she had baked the cake.

Nachdem ich gegessen hatte, machte ich einen Spaziergang.
After I had eaten, I took a walk.


Future

The Future Tense is used:

• To express an action that will that will take place in the future.

Ich werde ihn treffen.
I will meet him.

Wir werden nach San Diego fahren.
We will drive to San Diego.

• To express probability in the present time, or future of probability.  This is usually expressed with the adverbs wohl (probably), sicher (certainly), wahrscheinlich (probably) and vielleicht (perhaps).  In these cases, the German future tense corresponds to the English present tense.
Mary wird wohl schon zu Hause sein.
Mary is probably at home now.

Formation:
The Future Tense is formed from the Present Tense of werden (to become) + infinitive of the main verb.  The infinitive comes at the end of the clause, unless it occurs in a dependent clause. In dependent clauses, the infinitive precedes werden, which will come at the end.

See also:
Word Order)


Future Perfect

The Future Perfect describes an event which will be completed in the future before a second (future) event takes place. It is formed from the Present Tense of werden + the past participle of the main verb + the infinitive of haben or sein.

The future perfect is used to describe an event which will be completed at some point in the future.
Er wird bis übermorgen das Buch gelesen haben.
He will have read the book by the day after tomorrow.

With schon, wohl, doch, or wahrscheinlich, the future perfect can denote probability in past time.
Er wird wohl  gekommen sein.
He probably came.

For word order with the future perfect, see Word Order


Verbs: Subjunctive

Subjunctive I

Subjunctive II

Perfect Subjunctive

Past Perfect Subjunctive

Future Subjunctive

Future Perfect Subjunctive


Subjunctive I

Subjunctive I (present subjunctive) is most common in formal contexts, as in the media or press.  The subjunctive II form is most commonly used in speech.  The subjunctive is almost never used to state a fact.  It expresses ideas, desire, unreality, possibility, concession, purpose, personal impression, etc., and is principally used in indirect statements.

The subjunctive I is used for:

• Indirect discourse when the original direct speech is in the present.  For example:
Er hat gesagt, er finde es schwierig.
He said he finds (found) it difficult.

Compare with the direct discourse:
Ich finde es schwierig.
I find it difficult.

• The subjunctive endings are identical with the past endings of weak verbs:

ich	-e	wir	-en
du	-est	ihr	-et
er, sie, es	-e	sie, Sie	-en
Formation:
The present subjunctive, otherwise known as Subjunctive I, is formed by adding the subjunctive endings to the infinitive stem:
haben

ich	habe	wir	haben
du	habest	ihr	habet
er, sie, es	habe	sie, Sie	haben
Exception: sein has no endings in the first and third persons of the singular:

ich	sei	wir	seien
du	seiest	ihr	seid
er, sie, es	sei	sie, Sie	seien
Usage:
The present subjunctive is primarily used in indirect discourse, when the original direct speech is in the present:
Direct Discourse:
Ich finde es schwierig.
I find it difficult.

Indirect Discourse:
Er hat gesagt, er finde es schwierig.
He said he finds (found) it difficult.

As in English, the present subjunctive can be used as a kind of third person imperative:
Lang lebe der König!
Long live the King!

The present subjunctive can also replace lassen (to let):
Laß uns gehen!
Let's go!
OR	Gehen wir!

Usage of Subjunctive I:
Use of the Subjunctive I is most common in formal contexts, as in the media or press. In speech, the Subjunctive II form is most commonly used.

See also:
Indirect Discourse
Subjunctive II
Contrary Conditions


Subjunctive II

The imperfect subjunctive, otherwise known as subjunctive II, is formed by:

• Past stem + umlaut (where possible) + subjunctive endings. This applies to:

Auxiliaries:	wäre, hätte, würde
Strong verbs:	bliebe, tränke
Two irregular weak verbs:	brächte, dächte
wissen:	wüßte
• Infinitive stem + (e)t + subjunctive endings. This applies to all other verbs.

Modals:	wollte, sollte, könnte, müßte, dürfte, möchte
Weak verbs:	lebte, arbeitete
Six irregular weak verbs:	brennte, kennte, nennte, rennte, sendete, wendete
• The imperfect subjunctive is used for:
A wish, request, or conditional statement:
Wenn er nur hier wäre!
If he were only here! (but he is not)

Wenn er käme, ginge ich nach Hause.
If he came, I would go home.

Indirect discourse when the original statement is in the present:
Der Minister eklärte, daß dies unmöglich wäre.
The minister explained that this would be impossible.

Usage of Subjunctive II:
Although the Subjunctive I form is the most appropriate form to use in writing, especially in the media or press, Subjunctive II is the most common form used in speech coloquially, even when the rules would suggest otherwise.


Perfect Subjunctive

The perfect subjunctive is used in indirect discourse when the tense of the direct speech was in the imperfect, perfect, or past perfect indicative.
Direct Discourse:
Ich fand es schwierig.
I found it difficult.

Ich habe es schwierig gefunden.
I have found it difficult.

Indirect Discourse:
Er hat gesagt, er habe es schwierig gefunden.
He said he had found it difficult.

Ich hätte es schwierig gefunden.
I would have found it difficult.

Formation:
The perfect subjunctive is formed from the Subjunctive I (present subjunctive) of haben or sein + past participle of the main verb.

See also:
Indirect Discourse


Past Perfect Subjunctive

The past perfect subjunctive (or pluperfect subjunctive) is used:

• To indicate contrary-to-fact wishes, contrary-to-fact conditional clauses, and als ob clauses referring to past time.
Wenn er nur mitgeholfen hätte!
If only he had helped.

Wenn er mich gefragt hätte, hätte ich ihm das Geld geliehen.
If he had asked me, I would have lent him the money.

Er tut, als ob er dort gewesen wäre.
He acts, as if he had been there.

• In indirect discourse when the original sentence was in the imperfect, perfect, or past perfect indicative.
Direct Discourse:
Ich fand es schwierig.
I found it difficult.
Ich habe es schwierig gefunden.
I have found it difficult.

Indirect Discourse:
Er hat gesagt, er hätte es schwierig gefunden.
He said he had found it difficult.
Ich hätte es schwierig gefunden.
I would have found it difficult.

Formation:
The past perfect subjunctive is formed from the Subjunctive II (imperfect subjunctive) of haben or sein + past participle of the main verb.

See also:
Indirect Discourse
Contrary Conditions


Future Subjunctive

The future subjunctive is used in indirect discourse when the original statement was in the Future Indicative.  It is formed from the Subjunctive I (present subjunctive) of werden + the infinitive of the main verb.  The infinitive comes at the end of the clause, unless it occurs in a dependent clause.  In dependent clauses, the infinitive precedes werden, which will come at the end.
Direct Discourse:
Ich werde es schwierig  finden.
I will find it difficult.

Indirect Discourse:
Er sagte, er werde es schwierig finden.
He said he would find it difficult.

See also:
Indirect Discourse
Word Order


Future Perfect Subjunctive

The future perfect subjunctive is used in Indirect Discourse when the original statement was in the Future Perfect.  It is composed of the Subjunctive I (present subjunctive) of werden plus the Perfect Infinitive (the infinitive of haben or sein plus the past participle).
Direct Discourse:
Ich werde jung gewesen sein.
I will have been young.

Indirect Discourse:
Er sagte, daß er jung gewesen sein werde.
He said that he would have been young.

See also:
Indirect Discourse


Conditional

Present Conditional

Past Conditional


Present Conditional

The present conditional is used to express conditions contrary to fact in the present time.  It refers to what would happen or what would be done as a result of some other hypothetical action.  It is formed from the Subjunctive II (past subjunctive) of werden + the infinitive of the main verb.  The infinitive comes at the end of the clause unless it occurs in a dependent clause.  In dependent clauses, the infinitive precedes werden.
Wenn das passiert, würde ich mich sehr freuen.
If that happens, I would be very pleased.

See also:
Subjunctive II
Past Conditional
Contrary Conditions
Word Order


Past Conditional

The past conditional expresses the result of a condition contrary to fact in the past time.  It is formed from the Subjunctive II (past subjunctive) of werden + the Perfect Infinitive (haben or sein + the past participle of the main verb).

Wenn ich die Antwort gewußt hätte,dann würde ich sie geäußert haben.
If I had known the answer, I would have said it.

See also:
Past Perfect Subjunctive
Present Conditional
Contrary Conditions


Verbs: General

Verb--General Rules

Passive Voice

Verbs--Auxiliary

Verbs--Weak

Verbs--Strong

Verbs--Modal Auxiliaries

Verbs--Reflexive

Verbs--Impersonal

Verbs--Dative

Imperative

Indirect Discourse

Contrary Conditions

Subjunctive--Principal Clauses


Verb--General Rules

The infinitive ends in -en, sometimes only in -n:

singen	sing
schreiben	write
segeln	sail
wandern	wander, travel
tun	do
The infinitive is very frequently used as a neuter noun:

das Singen	singing
das Wandern	hiking
To convert an infinitive to a noun, simply capitalize the infinitive (all German nouns are capitalized) and give it the neuter gender (das).

The present participle is formed by adding -d to the infinitive: singend, schreibend.  It may be used as an adjective and is declined as such.
Exception:  sein, seiend

The compound tenses are formed as follows:

Present Perfect	habe (bin)	plus present participle
Past Perfect	ich hatte (war)	plus past participle
Future	ich werde	plus infinitive
Future Perfect	ich werde	plus past infinitive
Passive Voice	ich werde	plus past participle
Table of Endings: this table is valid for all verbs, except the present indicative of sein.

Pres. Ind of allverbs (except  modals and wissen)	Past of weak verbs and Pres. Subj 1 and 2	Past of strong verbs and Pres. Ind of  modals and wissen	Imperative
-e	-en	-e	-en	----	-en	----	----
-(e)st	-(e)t	-est	-et	-(e)st	-(e)t	-(e)	-(e)t
-(e)t	-en	-e	-en	----	-en	----	-en + Sie
The present indicative and the imperative use the fuller endings -est and -et to prevent difficulties in pronunciation:
• after d and t: du redest, er redet, ihr redet, redet!
• after m and n preceded by some other consonant (not l, m, n, r, h): atmen (breathe): du atmest, er atmet, ihr atmet, atmet! öffnen (open): du öffnest, er öffnet, ihr öffnet, öffnet!

Verbs, the stem of which end in a sibilant (s, ß, sch, z), usually contract the s sounds of the second person singular of the present indicative by omitting es:  du reisest = du reist; du sitzest = du sitzt.

The ending -e in the imperative of the second person singular is often omitted, especially in the strong verbs: Lebe wohl (farewell), gehe (go), komme (come).


Passive Voice

The passive voice is formed from werden plus the past participle of the main verb:
Ich werde gefragt.
I am asked.

The past participle of werden used in forming the passive voice is worden:
Ich bin gefragt worden.
I have been asked.

Sein plus the past participle denotes a state or condition; werden plus the past participle denotes a progressive action in the passive voice:
Das Haus ist gebaut.
The house is built (completed).

Das Haus wird gebaut.
The house is (being) built.

Therefore, do not confuse a form of sein with the past participle as a passive sentence. (This combination is sometimes called the "false passive".)

The active and the passive tenses correspond as follows:

	Active	Passive
Pres.	ich frage	ich werde gefragt
Past	ich fragte	ich wurde gefragt
Pres.Pf.	ich habe gefragt	ich bin gefragt worden
Past Pf.	ich hatte gefragt	ich war gefragt worden
Fut.	ich werde fragen	ich werde gefragt werden
Fut. Pf.	ich werde gefragt haben	ich werde gefragt worden sein
In changing a sentence from the active to the passive voice (or the reverse) the following points must be observed:

• The correspondence of tenses.

• The direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence:
Ich fragte ihn.
I asked him.

Er wurde von mir gefragt.
He was asked by me.

• The subject of the active sentence appears in the dative preceded by von:
Der Herr fragte ihn.
The gentleman asked him.

Er wurde von dem Herrn  gefragt.
He was asked by the gentleman.

• The dative object remains in the dative:
Die Frau half dem Teufel.
The woman helped the devil.

Dem Teufel wurde von der Frau geholfen.
The devil was helped by the woman.

• The indefinite pronoun man is not expressed in the passive voice:
Man hat ihn gefragt.
(Some)One has asked him.

Er ist gefragt worden.
He has been asked.

Man wird immer plündern.
People will always loot.

Es wird immer geplündert werden.
There will always be looting.
(or, without grammatical subject:
Immer wird geplündert werden.)

The passive voice is not as frequently used in German as it is in English; frequent substitutes are:
• man (one, they, people) with the active voice:
man sagt
it is said

man glaubt
it is believed

• sich lassen plus infinitive expresses possibility:
Das läßt sich leicht machen.
That can be easily done (arranged).

• sein plus infinitive with zu expresses possibility or necessity:
Es ist viel zu tun.
Much has to be done.

Das ist leicht zu verstehen.
That can be easily understood.


Verbs--Auxiliary

There are three verbs which have independent meanings, and besides, are used as auxiliary verbs to form compound tenses:
sein:  be, exist
Gott ist.
God exists.

Ich bin gewesen.
I have been.

haben:  have, own, possess
Er hat ein Haus.
He has (owns) a house.

Ich habe gehabt.
I have had.

werden:  become, grow, get; shall, will
Es wird hell.
It is getting light.

Ich werde sein.
I shall be.

Most verbs use haben to form the compound tenses of the past. Sein is used with intransitive verbs (verbs not requiring an accusative object) denoting change of position or condition.

change of position:	change of condition:
aufstehen	get up, rise	aufwachen	awake
gehen	go, walk	werden	become, grow
begegnen (dative)	meet	einschlafen	fall asleep
kommen	come, arrive	zufrieren	freeze over or up
fallen	fall	sterben	die
laufen	run
folgen (dative)	follow
Sein is also used with sein be, exist; bleiben stay, remain; gelingen succeed; geschehen happen.
bleiben:
Er ist zu Hause geblieben.
He (has) remained at home.

gelingen:
Er ist mir nicht gelungen.
I did not succeed.

geschehen:
Was ist geschehen?
What has happened?

Werden is used to form the Future, the Future Perfect and the Passive Voice:
Ich werde arbeiten.
I shall work.

Ich werde gearbeitet haben.
I shall have worked.

Es wird nicht gearbeitet.
No work is being done.


Verbs--Weak

Weak verbs form their past by adding to the infinitive stem -t or -et plus the endings:

ich	-e	wir	-en
du	-est	ihr	-et
er, sie es	-e	sie, Sie	-en
ich sag-t-e,  du sag-t-est, etc.; ich öffn-et-e, etc. The -et is added to avoid difficulties in pronunciation.

Weak verbs form their past participle by adding ge- before the stem and -t or -et after it: ge-sag-t; ge-öffn-et.

Verbs with inseparable prefixes and verbs ending in -ieren do not prefix ge- to form their past participle:

erzählen, erzählt	narrate, narrated
versuchen, versucht	try, tried
studieren, studiert	study, studied
In verbs with separable prefixes the participle ge- is inserted between the two component parts:

aufhören, aufgehört	cease, ceased
Past participles are used as adjectives and inflected as such:
der geliebte Hund.
the beloved dog

Examples of principal parts:

Inf.	Past	Past Part.
lernen	lernte	gelernt	learn
studieren	studierte	studiert	study
öffnen	öffnete	geöffnet	open
aufhören	hörte auf	aufgehört	stop, cease
erzählen	erzählte	erzählt	narrate
Irregular Weak Verbs

Eight weak verbs change the stem vowel to form the past and past participle:

Inf.	Past	Past Part.	Pres. Subj. 2
brennen	brannte	gebrannt	brennte	burn
kennen	kannte	gekannt	kennte	know
nennen	nannte	genannt	nennte	name
rennen	rannte	gerannt	rennte	run
senden	sandte	gesandt	sendete	send
wenden	wandte	gewandt	wendete	turn
bringen	brachte	gebracht	brächte	bring
denken	dachte	gedacht	dächte	think
Wissen (know, have knowledge of) is irregular in the singular of the present indicative:

ich weiß	wir wissen
du weißt	ihr wißt
er weiß	sie wissen
The principal parts of wissen are: wissen, wußte, gewußt.  Wissen means have knowledge of:
Er weiß alles.
He knows everything.

Ich weiß, daß er morgen kommt.
I know that he is coming tomorrow.

Kennen means know, be acquainted with:
Ich kenne den Mann.
I know (am acquainted with) that man.

Können means be able to, master:
Sie kann gut Deutsch.
She knows German well.
OR	She is able to speak German well.


Verbs--Strong

Strong verbs change their stem vowel to form the past and the past participle:

singen, sang, gesungen	sing, sang, sung.
They have either two or three different stem vowels in their principal parts:

geben, gab, gegeben	give, gave, given
finden, fand, gefunden	find, found, found
Strong verbs form their past like ich war, by adding to the past stem the endings:

	to come	to find
----	ich kam	ich fand
-(e)st	du  kamst	du  fand(e)st
----	er  kam	er  fand
-en	wir kamen	wir fanden
-(e)t	ihr kamt	ihr fandet
-en	sie kamen	sie fanden
They form their past participle by adding ge- before and -en after the stem of the past participle: ge-schrieb-en.

Verbs with inseparable prefixes do not prefix ge-:

entstehen, enstanden.	develop, developed
In verbs with separable prefixes ge is inserted between the component parts:

hineinspringen	jump in
hineingesprungen	jumped in
Verbs of classes 4 and 5 change the stem vowel e to i or ie in the second and third persons singular of the present indicative and in the second person singular of the imperative.  They also omit the ending -e in the second person singular of the imperative (exception: werde).

speak	sprechen	du sprichst	er spricht	sprich!
see	sehen	du siehst	er sieht	sieh!
Verbs of classes 6 and 7 change the stem vowel a to ä (au to äu) in the second and third persons singular of the present indicative:

fall	fallen	du fällst	er fällt
run	laufen	du läufst	er läufst
push	stoßen	du stößt	er stößt.
Verbs falling under these two rules do not use connective e in the singular of the present indicative:

scold	schelten	du schiltst	er schilt
step	treten	du trittst	er tritt
load	laden	du lädst	er lädt
guess	raten	du rätst	er rät.
Strong verbs roughly follow one of seven classes, called "ablaut classes":

class	infinitive	Past	Past Part.	Example
1	ei	ie(i)	ie(i)	bleiben (reiten)
2	ie	o	o	bieten
3a	i followed by n plus consonant	a	u	binden
3b	i followed by nn, mm	a	o	beginnen
4	e in syllables containing l, m, r	a	o	helfen
5	e followed by consonants except: l, m, n, r	a	e	geben
6	a	u	a	fahren
7	a or o, u, au, ei	ie(i)	a,o, etc.	fallen
Irregular:	gehen stehen tun	ging stand tat	gegangen gestanden getan


Verbs--Modal Auxiliaries

There are six modal auxiliaries:

Infin.	Past	Past Participle	Present Subj.2	Meaning
können	konnte	gekonnt or können	könnte	be able to
wollen	wollte	gewollt or wollen	wollte	want to
sollen	sollte	gesollt or sollen	sollte	be supposed to
müssen	mußte	gemußt or müssen	müßte	have to
dürfen	durfte	gedurft or dürfen	dürfte	be allowed to
mögen	mochte	gemocht or mögen	möchte	care for
Modal auxiliaries are irregular in the singular of the present indicative; the endings are identical with the past endings of strong verbs (see also:  Verbs--Strong):

	können	wollen	sollen	müssen	dürfen	mögen
ich	kann	will	soll	muß	darf	mag
du	kannst	willst	sollst	mußt	darfst	magst
er	kann	will	soll	muß	darf	mag
wir	können	wollen	sollen	müssen	dürfen	mögen
ihr	könnt	wollt	sollt	müßt	dürft	mögt
sie	können	wollen	sollen	müssen	dürfen	mögen
The regular past participle (gekonnt, gewollt, etc.) is used without a dependent infinitive:
Ich habe es gewollt.
I have wanted it.

The infinitive form of the modal is used instead of the regular past participle when a modal is accompanied by an infinitive of some other verb:
Ich habe (hatte) es tun wollen.
I have (had) wanted to do it.

In the Future Perfect haben precedes the two infinitive forms:
Er wird es nicht haben finden können.
He will not have been able to find it.
(He probably has not been able to find it.)

This construction is called the double infinitive and always stands last, even in a dependent clause:
Er hat es nicht tun wollen.
He has not wanted to do it.

Ich weiß, daß er es nicht hat tun wollen.
I know that he has not wanted to do it.

Other verbs requiring the double infinitive construction are: hören (hear), sehen (see), lassen (let), helfen (help), heißen (bid, order):
Wir haben den Doktor kommen lassen.
We (have) let the doctor come.

Modals and the other verbs mentioned do not require zu with a dependent infinitive:
Ich will es nicht tun.
I do not want to do it.

Habt ihr sie singen hören?
Have you heard her sing?

All other dependent infinitives do require zu:
Er wünschte zu sprechen.
He wished to speak.

Es ist schwer, ihn zu treffen.
It is difficult to meet him.

Er kam, um mit ihm zu sprechen.
He came in order to speak him.

Er ging in die Stadt, (an)statt zu arbeiten.
He went to the city instead of working.


Verbs--Reflexive

All reflexive verbs are conjugated with haben (see also:  Verb--General Rules).

Reflexive verbs of frequent occurrence:

sich aufhalten	stay, be detained		sich beeilen	hasten
sich befinden	be, feel		sich bemühen	endeavor
sich ereignen	happen		sich erholen	recover
sich erinnern	remember		sich erkälten	catch cold
sich freuen	be glad		sich fürchten	fear, be afraid
sich irren	be mistaken		sich langweilen	be annoyed, be bored
sich schämen	be ashamed		sich setzen	sit down
sich verspäten	be late		sich wundern	be surprised, wonder


Verbs--Impersonal

Impersonal verbs are used only in the third person singular with the indefinite subject es (which is omitted in some phrases):

• Referring to the weather:

es schneit	it is snowing		es blitzt	it is lightning
es friert	it is freezing		es dämmert	it dawns, it grows dusk
es regnet	it is raining		es dunkelt	it is getting dark
es donnert	it is thundering		es taut	it is thawing
• Referring to condition or emotion:

es ist mir kalt	I feel cold		es freut mich	I am glad
es geht mir gut	I am well		es wundert mich	I am surprised
es ist mir wohl	I feel well		mich dürstet	I am thirsty
es gelingt mir	I succeed		mich hungert	I am hungry
es gefällt mir	I like it, it		mich friert	I am freezing
es tut mir leid	I am sorry
Es gibt (there is, there are) plus the accusative of the noun, is used to denote universal truths:
Es gibt (gab) nur einen Beethoven.
There is (was) only one Beethoven.

Es ist, es sind (war, waren, etc.) refers to specific facts:
Es sind viele Studenten an dieser Universität.
There are many students at this university.


Verbs--Dative

Certain verbs require that their accusitive objects be in the dative case.  The following verbs govern the dative:

antworten	answer		folgen	follow
begegnen	meet		gefallen	please
danken	thank		gehören	belong
dienen	serve		glauben	believe
gehorchen	obey		helfen	help
geschehen	happen		fehlen	be missing, be ailing


Imperative

The German imperative, like the English imperative, expresses commands or requests.  German imperatives are used only in the present tense, and are usually followed by an exclamation point.

The imperative for second person singular (familiar imperative) is formed by removing the -st or  -t ending from the second person singular of the present tense for most verbs:

Du trinkst.	You drink.	Trink!	Drink!
Du ißt.	You eat.	Iß!	Eat!
Verbs whose stem vowels are a or au, and use an umlaut (to ä and äu) in the second person singular of the present tense, do not change the stem vowel for the familiar imperative:

Du wäschst dich.	You wash.	Wasch dich!	Wash yourself!
Du läufst.	You run.	Lauf!	Run!
If the verb stem ends in -d, -t, -m, -n, or -ig, an -e is added to the familiar imperative:

Du arbeitest.	You work.	Arbeite!	Work!
If the verb infinitive ends in -eln, the -e- is removed and an -e ending is added:

lächeln	to smile	Lächle!	Smile!
The imperative for second person plural (familiar imperative) is identical to the second person plural of the present tense, but without the pronoun ihr:
Ihr kommt nach Hause.
You (pl) come home.

Kommt nach Hause!
Come home!

The formal imperative, both singular and plural, is formed from the infinitive followed by the pronoun Sie:
Sie kaufen das Auto.
You buy the car.

Kaufen Sie das Auto!
Buy the car!


Indirect Discourse

Whenever a speaker reports on another's authority, he/she uses the subjunctive.  When the speaker believes what he/she reports, the indicative is used.  The former is known as indirect discourse.

Indirect discourse is used after such verbs as:

sagen	say
erzählen	narrate
fragen	ask
denken	think
schreiben	write
glauben	believe
meinen	mean
fürchten	fear
wollen	want
wünschen	wish
Sie sagte, daß er gekommen sei (report on another's authority).
Sie sagte, daß er gekommen ist (report on one's own authority).
She said that he had come.

The tense of the subjunctive in indirect discourse is determined by the tense in which the corresponding direct statement was or would have been made.
Er sagte: "Ich werde kommen."
He said: "I will come."

Er sagte, er werde kommen.
He said (that) he would come.

Er sagte: "Ich war dort."
He said: "I was there."

Er sagte, er sei dort gewesen.
He said he had been there.

Er sagte: "Ich bin (war) dort gewesen."
He said: "I have been there."

Er sagte, er sei dort gewesen.
He said he had been there.

Compare the correspondence of indicative and subjunctive tenses. Subjunctive I or Subjunctive II may be used in indirect discourse.  Type 1 is preferred, but Type 2 must be used whenever Type 1 is identical with the corresponding indicative form.
Er sagte, er werde (würde) kommen.
He said he would come.

Er sagte, sie würden (NOT werden) kommen.
He said they would come.

Daß is frequently used to introduce indirect statements and requires dependent word order: Er sagte, daß er kommen werde. In longer passages daß is usually omitted, in which case the word order remains unchanged.

The imperative of Indirect Discourse is rendered by sollen or mögen:
Er sagte "Kommen Sie zu uns!"
He said: "Come to our place!"

Er sagte, ich solle (möge) zu ihnen kommen.
He said I should come to their place.

In indirect questions the same tenses and types are used as in indirect discourse; they are introduced by ob, was, wie, wo,  wann, etc.
Er fragte: "Ist er gekommen?"
He asked: "Has he come?"

Er fragte, ob er gekommen sei.
He asked if he had come.

Er fragte: "Wann kommen Sie?"
He asked: "When are you coming?

Er fragte, wann ich käme.
He asked when I was coming.


Contrary Conditions

Conditions contrary to fact:  A condition may be real or contrary to fact. In the sentence:
I shall come if I have time,
the condition is real, i.e. it is possible that I shall have the time to come.  In the sentence:
I would come if I had time,
the condition is contrary to fact, i.e. it states that I have no time, and that I would come if conditions were different.

Conditions contrary to fact are expressed only by Type 2 of the Subjunctive, also known as Subjunctive II.  In conditions contrary to fact in present time:

• the condition is expressed only by Subjunctive II;
• the conclusion is expressed either by the present Subjunctive II or the Future Subjunctive II;
Wenn ich Zeit hätte, (so) käme ich
OR	würde ich kommen.
If I had time, I would come.

In conditions contrary to fact in past time:
• the condition is expressed by the Perfect Subjunctive II;

• the conclusion is expressed either by the Past Subjunctive II or the Future Perfect Subjunctive II;
Wenn ich Zeit gehabt hätte, (so) wäre ich gekommen
OR	(so) würde ich gekommen sein.
If I had had time, (then) I would have come.

The conclusion may precede the condition:
Ich käme, wenn ich Zeit hätte.
I would come if I had time.

Whenever wenn is omitted in the condition, inverted order is used:
Hätte ich Zeit, (so) käme ich.
Had I time, then I would come.

Hätte ich Zeit gehabt, (so) wäre ich gekommen.
Had I had time then I would have come.

Als ob, als wenn (as if, as though) introduce a surmise often contrary to fact and are followed by the Subjunctive II (or Subjunctive I):
Er ißt, als ob er hungrig wäre.
He eats as though he were hungry.

Er hat gegessen, als wenn er hungrig gewesen wäre.
He ate as if he had been hungry.

Whenever ob or wenn is omitted, inversion instead of dependent word order is used:
Er ißt, als wäre er hungrig.
He eats as if he were hungry.


Subjunctive--Principal Clauses

The Subjunctive I is used in principle clauses:

• to express formal wish:
Es lebe die Republik!
Long live the Republic!

So möge Gott mir helfen!
So help me God!

• to supply the missing forms of the imperative:
Gehen wir! = Laßt uns gehen!
Let us go

In the older language:
Gehe er! = Er soll gehen!
May he go. = He should go.

• Subjunctive I is also used in concessions:
Was es auch sei, ich werde dich nicht töten.
Whatever it may be, I shall not kill you.

Sei es auch noch so kalt (= Wie kalt es auch sein mag), wir werden ausgehen.
However cold it may be, we are going out.

The Subjunctive II, is used in principle clauses to express:

• informal wish:
Er käme gerne
OR	Er möchte gerne kommen.
He would like to come.

Er wäre gerne gekommen.
He would have liked to come.

• exclamation:
Wenn er doch (or nur) käme!
OR	Käme er doch!
If only he would come!

Wenn er doch gekommen wäre!
OR 	Wäre er doch gekommen!
If he had only come!

• possibility:
Es könnte (möchte) ihm gelingen.
He might succeed.

• probability:
Er dürfte kommen.
He might (will probably) come.

See also:
Indirect Discourse
Contrary Conditions


Verbs: Prefixes

Verbs--Inseparable Prefixes

Verbs--Separable Prefixes

Verbs--Double Prefixes


Verbs--Inseparable Prefixes

Inseparable prefixes are: be-, ent-, (emp-), er-, ge-, ver-, zer-; (usually also hinter-, behind; miß-, mis-; voll-, full; wider-, against). These prefixes are never stressed:

besie'gen	erfah'ren	verlie'ren
Verbs with inseparable prefixes do not take ge- in the past participle:

besiegt	erfahren	verloren
Meanings of the inseparable prefixes:
be- often has intensifying force; it changes intransitive verbs into transitive verbs:

arbeiten an + dative	work at		bearbeiten	work, treat
denken an + accusative	think of		bedenken	consider
schreiben über + accusative	write about		beschreiben	describe
ent- (emp- in empfangen) denotes separation or origin:

ehren	honor		entehren	dishonor
fliehen	flee		entfliehen	escape
stehen	stand		entstehen	originate
er- (original meaning out of) signifies the beginning or the result of an action:

wachen	be awake		erwachen	awake
schlagen	beat		erschlagen	slay, kill
trinken	drink		ertrinken	be drowned
ge- denotes collection or union:

frieren	freeze		gefrieren	freeze, congeal
fallen	fall		gefallen	please
ver- frequently has the negative meaning of spoiling, erring,  mistaking, or of away, forth:

führen	lead		verführen	mislead
kaufen	buy		verkaufen	sell
lernen	learn		verlernen	unlearn (forget)
Ver- also denotes a change into a condition usually indicated by a noun or adjective which forms the stem of the verb:

arm	poor		verarmen	grow poor
deutsch	German		verdeutschen	translate into German
Gold	gold		vergolden	cover with gold
zer- denotes separation, destruction, and dissolution:

beißen	bite		zerbeißen	bite to pieces
brechen	break		zerbrechen	break to pieces
schneiden	cut		zerschneiden	cut to pieces


Verbs--Separable Prefixes

Separable prefixes have independent meanings and are always stressed:

aus	out
gehen	go
aus'gehen	go out
mit	with, along
nehmen	take
mit'nehmen	take along
Separation takes place in the simple tenses (i.e. in the present and past) and in the imperative:
ich gehe aus
I go out.

ich ging aus
I went out.

geh(e) aus!
Go out!

The particle ge- of the past participle and zu with the infinitive stand between the prefix and the verb, forming one unit:
Er ist nicht zurückgekommen.
He has not returned.

Er versprach, sofort zurückzukommen
He promised to return at once.

In dependent word order there is no separation:
Er ging, als ich zurückkam.
He left when I returned.


Verbs--Double Prefixes

Double prefixes are : durch-, über-, unter-, um-, wieder-.  They are separable and stressed when the verb is used in a real, literal sense; they are inseparable and unstressed when the verb is used in an unreal, figurative sense:

Real or literal:
wie'derholen bring back
Er hat das Buch wiedergeholt.
He (has) brought back the book.

ü'bergehen go over
Die Soldaten gingen zum Feind über
The soldiers went over (deserted) to the enemy.

u'mstellen rearrange

Unreal or figurative:
wiederho'len review
Er hat die Aufgabe wiederholt.
He (has) reviewed the lesson.

überge'hen omit, skip
Wir übergingen diese Aufgabe.
We omitted this exercise.

umste'llen surround


Articles

Definite Article

Indefinite Article


Definite Article

	Masc	Neut.	Fem.	Pl.
Nom.	der	das	die	die	the
Acc.	den	das	die	die	the
Dat.	dem	dem	der	den	to the
Gen.	des	des	der	der	of the
The definite article is frequently contracted with certain prepositions:

an dem = am		in dem = im
an das = ans		in das = ins
auf das = aufs		von dem = vom
bei dem = beim		zu dem = zum
durch das = durchs		zu der = zur
für das = fürs
The definite article is generally used as in English. Yet in German it is also used:

• with abstract nouns, verbal nouns (infinitives as nouns),  or nouns of class or material when used in a general sense:
Die Liebe ist blind.
Love is blind.

Unser Onkel liebt das Reisen.
Our uncle loves to travel.
OR	Our uncle loves traveling.

• with names of seasons, months, and days, and with names of places and streets:
Der Frühling kommt.
Spring is coming.

Hier ist der Königsplatz, neben der Alexanderstraße.
Here is King's Square, next to Alexander St.

• instead of the possessive adjective with parts of the body and clothing when the owner is clearly understood:
Er nimmt den Hut ab.
He is taking his hat off.

Der Vater drückt ihm die Hand.
His father squeezed his hand.

• in a distributive sense:
Thomas kommt einmal den Tag, (die Woche, den Monat,etc.)
Thomas comes once a day, (week, month, etc.).

Diese Äpfel kosten fünf Pfennig das Stück.
These apples cost five cents apiece.

• familiarly with names of friends, acquaintances, and well-known personalities:
Die Marie ist krank.
Marie is sick.

Kennst du den Faust?
Are you familiar with Faust?

• with names of certain countries or regions:

die Türkei	Turkey		die Schweiz	Switzerland
das Elsaß	the Alsace region		in der Türkei	in Turkey
in der Schweiz	in Switzerland		im Elsaß	in the Alsace region
The definite article is omitted:

• in poetry and poetic prose with nouns limited by a preceding genitive:
unseres Großvaters Haus
our grandfather's house

des Volkes Stimme
the voice of the people

des Tages Arbeit
the day's work

• as in English in many set phrases:
über Land und Meer
over land and sea

durch Feld und Wald
through field and forest

mit Weib und Kind
with wife and child


Indefinite Article

Ein is known as the indefinite article, equivalent to the English articles a or an.  The indefinite article contrasts with the definite article in that it is not as defined, or specific:
Der junge Mann kam und ging.
The young man came and left.

Ein junger Mann kam und ging.
A young man came and left.

The following is a chart for ein declensions. Since ein has no plural, we give the plural of kein: keine (no).

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Pl.
Nom.	ein	eine	ein	keine	a
Acc.	einen	eine	ein	keine	a
Dat.	einem	einer	einem	keinen	to a
Gen.	eines	einer	eines	keiner	of a
The indefinite article is generally omitted before an unmodified predicate nominative:
Er ist Maler.
He is a painter.

Sie ist Lehrerin.
She is a teacher.

But with a modifier:
Er ist ein berühmter Maler.
He is a famous painter.

Sie ist eine gute Lehrerin.
She is a good teacher.


Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Possessives

Demonstratives

Relative Pronouns

Interrogatives

Indefinite Pronouns

Pronoun Help


Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns are:

		I	you	he	she	it	-self
Singular	Nom.	ich	du	er	sie	es
	Acc.	mich	dich	ihn	sie	es	sich
	Dat.	mir	dir	ihm	ihr	ihm
	Gen.	meiner	deiner	seiner	ihrer	seiner
		we	you	they	you (form.)		-selves
Plural	Nom.	wir	ihr	sie	Sie
	Acc.	uns	euch	sie	Sie		sich
	Dat.	uns	euch	ihnen	Ihnen
	Gen.	unser	euer	ihrer	Ihrer
Formal and informal pronouns:
Modern English has only one second person pronoun:  you.  German, however, has three second person pronouns:  du, ihr, and Sie. The usage of these pronouns is governed by the number of persons being addressed and by the speaker's relationship to them.  Du and ihr are used when addressing family members, close friends, children, animals, and God.  Sie is used in polite and formal address. Sie (you) is always capitalized and takes its verb in the third person plural, and should not be confused with sie (she) or sie (they).

Wegen meiner (for my sake), wegen deiner (for your sake), etc., are frequently replaced by meinetwegen, deinetwegen, seinetwegen, ihretwegen; unsretwegen, euretwegen, ihretwegen (Ihretwegen). The third person of the personal pronoun agrees with the noun to which it refers in gender and number:

der Tisch -- er		the table -- it
die Uhr -- sie		the clock -- it
das Haus -- es		the house -- it
As an object es may be contracted to 's  and follow mir, dir, ihr,  and sich:
Er hat mir's gesagt.
He (has) told me so.

Er hat sich's gedacht.
He thought so.

Es is often the grammatical subject introducing the logical subject:
Es ist niemand zu Hause.
Nobody is at home.

Es ruft jemand.
Someone is calling.

It is I, you, he, etc. is rendered in German by ich bin es, du bist es, er ist es, wir sind es, etc. The e is often elided: ich bin's, du bist's:
Wer ist da?
Who's there?

Ich bin's.
It is I.

When the personal pronoun refers to inanimate things, da(r) (there) plus a preposition is used ("r" is inserted before vowels for ease in pronunciation:
Sie sorgte dafür.
She took care of it.

Ich kann sie nicht daran hindern.
I cannot prevent them from (doing) it.

The reflexive pronoun has the same forms as the personal pronoun, except in the third person singular and plural where sich is used:
Er (sie) hat kein Geld bei sich.
He (she) has no money with him (her).

See also:
Verbs--Reflexive

The reciprocal pronoun is einander (each other, one another); sich is often used in its place when no ambiguity can arise:
Sie lieben sich (or einander).
They love each other (or one another).

The intensive pronoun selbst or selber (self), which is added for emphasis, is never declined:
Hilf dir selbst!
Help yourself!

Selbst without sich emphasizing a noun or pronoun usually means even:
Selbst die Offiziere (selbst sie) wurden ängstlich.
Even the officers (even they) became anxious.


Possessives

The possessives are:

Sg.		Pl.
mein	my	unser	our
dein	your (thy)	euer	your
sein	his, its	ihr	their
ihr	her	Ihr	your (formal)
When used in connection with a noun they are possessive adjectives and are declined like ein and kein.

See also:
Indefinite Article

Unser and euer may drop the e from the stem when inflected: unser, unseres, unserem, unseren or unsrem, unsren; euer, eueres, euerem, or eurem, etc.

The possessive pronouns are much like the possessive adjectives except that they are not used in conjunction with a noun.  Instead, they take the place of the noun and refer back to their possession:

mein	dein	sein	ihr	unser etc.
der meine	der deine	der seine	der ihre	der unsere
der meinige	der deinige	der seinige	der ihrige	der unsrige
Mein, dein, etc. are declined like ein and kein with the exception of three cases, namely those cases in which ein has no endings:

	Masc	Fem	Neut	Masc	Fem	Neut
Nom.	meiner	meine	mein(e)s	unserer	unsere	unser(e)s
Acc.	meinen	meine	mein(e)s	unseren	unsere	unser(e)s
Dat.	meinem	meiner	meinem	unserem	unserer	unserem
Gen.	meines	meiner	meines	unseres	unserer	unseres
Possessive pronouns are used to replace possessive adjectives and their nouns whenever the noun referred to is clearly understood:
Mein Haus ist so schön wie sein(e)s (das seine, das seinige).
My house is as beautiful as his.

Ein and kein are used as pronouns in the same way as mein.  Compare:
Das ist mein Stock.
That is my cane.

Das ist meiner, der meine, etc.
That is mine.

Das ist unser Haus.
That is our house.

Das ist unseres, das unsere, etc.
That is ours.

Das ist ein (or kein) Haus.
That is a (or no) house.

Das ist eins (keins).
That is one (not one).

The uninflected forms of mein, dein, sein, unser, euer, (uninflected ihr or Ihr do not occur) are used in the predicate to denote simple ownership:
Dieser Hut ist mein.
This hat is mine.

Jenes Haus ist sein.
That house is his.

But:
Dieser Hut ist ihrer (Ihrer).
This hat is hers (yours).

Jenes Haus ist ihres (Ihres).
That house is theirs (yours).

See also:
Indefinite Article


Demonstratives

The demonstratives are:

der	that (one), he (who)		dieser	this , the latter
jeder (pl.: alle)	each, every (pl.: all)		jener	that (one), the former
mancher	many a		solcher	such, such a
welcher	which, that, what		derjenige	the one (who), he (who)
derselbe	the same
Dieser, jeder, jener, mancher, solcher, welcher decline like the definite article and are also called der words:

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
Nom.	dieser	diese	dieses (dies)	diese
Acc.	diesen	diese	dieses (dies)	diese
Dat.	diesem	dieser	diesem	diesen
Gen.	dieses	dieser	dieses	dieser
Der, used as a pronoun, is inflected as follows:

	Masc	Fem.	Neut.	Pural
Nom.	der	die	das	die
Acc.	den	die	das	die
Dat.	dem	der	dem	denen
Gen.	dessen	deren	dessen	deren (derer)
Das and dies referring to a predicate nominative remain uninflected. The genitive forms of dessen and deren are used instead of the possessive adjective whenever ambiguity arises:
Er sprach zu Hans und dessen Offizieren.
He spoke to Hans and his (Hans') officers.

Er sprach zu Hans und seinen Offizieren is ambiguous because seinen (his) may refer to er or Hans.

The genitive plural derer is used before a relative.

Derjenige is used instead of der as an antecedent of a relative pronoun and is strongly emphatic:
Es sind diejenigen, die sie bewaffnet hatte.
They are those to whom she had given arms.

Derselbe is declined like derjenige:
Schopenhauer aß in demselben Gasthaus, in dem Rossini aß.
Schopenhauer ate at the same inn at which Rossini was eating.

Solch, (such a) remains uninflected when followed by ein: solch ein Unrecht (such an injustice); solch eine Grausamkeit (such a cruelty).  In colloquial language so ein is often used instead of solch : ein: so ein Unrecht, so eine Grausamkeit.


Relative Pronouns

There are two relative pronouns, der and welcher, both meaning who, which, that.  The relative pronoun is always expressed in German:
die Geschichte, die (welche) ich lese
the story (that/which) I am reading

The relative der is declined like the demonstrative der according to its function in the relative clause:

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
Nom.	der	die	das	die
Acc.	den	die	das	die
Dat.	dem	der	dem	denen
Gen.	dessen	deren	dessen	deren
Welcher is less frequently used than der.  It is declined like dieser except in the genitive where forms of relative der are used.

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
Nom.	welcher	welche	welches	welche
Acc.	welchen	welche	welches	welche
Dat.	welchem	welcher	welchem	welchen
Gen.	-------	-------	-------	-------
A relative agrees with its antecedent in gender and number; its case is determined by the construction of the clause.

Der König, der viel Gold besaß, lebte in Afrika.
The King, who possessed a lot of Gold, lived in Africa.

Der König, dessen Land reich war, lebte in Afrika.
The King, whose country was rich, lived in Africa.

Der König, von dem die Geschichte erzählt, lebte in Afrika.
The King, of whom the story is told, lived in Africa.

Der König, den Alexander besuchte, lebte in Afrika.
The King, whom Alexander visited, lived in Africa.

(Since the relative clause is a dependent clause, the conjugated verb comes at the end of the clause.)

Wer often means who, whoever, whosoever; and was, means that, which, or what:
Wer Zeit hat,...
He who has time...

Was er tun kann, tut er.
What he can do, he does.

Was is used instead of relative das when the antecedent is:
• a neuter pronoun:
Das ist alles, was ich habe.
This is all (that) I have.

• a superlative adjective used as a noun:
Er tat das Beste, was er tun konnte.
He did the best (that) he could do.

• a clause:

Der König war sehr gerecht, was seine Gast erstaunte.
The king was very just, which surprised his guest.

A relative pronoun referring to inanimate things and governed by a preposition is frequently replaced by wo(r) plus preposition; r is inserted before vowels for ease in pronunciation:
das Land, wovon (=von dem) wir sprachen,...;
the country of which we spoke

das Land, worin (=in dem) sie wohnten,...
the country in which they lived


Interrogatives

The interrogatives are:

wer	who
wo	where
warum	why
was für ein	what kind of
welch ein	what a
was	what
wann	when
wie	how
welcher	which (one)
Welcher is declined like dieser:
Welche Geschichte erzählte er?
What story did he tell?

Von welchen Knaben sprechen Sie?
Of which lads are you speaking?

Was für ein inflects only ein:
In was für einem Buch steht die Geschichte?
In what kind of book is the story (situated)?

Ein is omitted in the plural:
Was für Knaben sind sie?
What kind of boys are they?

Was für ein and welch ein are often used in exclamations:
Was für eine Grausamkeit!
What cruelty!

Welch ein böser Streich!
What an evil trick!

Solch is used in the same way:
Solch ein Streich!
Such a trick!

Wer refers to persons and is inflected according to case:

Nom.	wer	who
Acc.	wen	to whom
Dat.	wem	for whom
Gen.	wessen	whose
Wer ist da?
Who is there?

Mit wem spricht er?
With whom is he speaking?

Wen sieht er?
Whom does he see?

Wessen Freund ist er?
Whose friend is he?

Was refers to things and is used only in the nominative and accusative, which are alike:
Was ist das?
What is that?

Was sagen Sie?
What do you say?

Was dependent upon a preposition and referring to inanimate things is replaced by wo(r) with the preposition affixed:
Womit schreiben Sie?
With what do you write?

Worüber ärgern Sie sich?
About what are you annoyed?


Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are:

etwas	something, some;	uninflected: etwas Neues
nichts	nothing;	uninflected: nichts Gutes
jemand	somebody;	inflected: jemand(es), jemand(em), jemand(en)
niemand	no one;	inflected like jemand
jedermann	everybody;	inflected: jedermanns, jedermann, jedermann
man	one, they, people;	inflected: eines, einem, einen.
Er tut einem leid.
One feels sorry for him.

Unglück trifft einen oft unerwartet.
Misfortune strikes one often unexpectedly.


Pronoun Help

Sg.	Nom.		Acc.		Dat.
1st	ich	I	mich	me	mir	to me
2nd	du	you	dich	you	dir	to you (familiar)
	Sie	you	Sie	you	Ihnen	to you (formal)
3rd	er	he	ihn	him	ihm	to him
	sie	she	sie	her	ihr	to her
	es	it	es	it	ihm	to it
Pl.
1st	wir	we	uns	us	uns	to us
2nd	ihr	you	euch	you	euch	to you (familiar)
	Sie	you	Sie	you	Ihnen	to you (formal)
3rd	sie	they	sie	them	ihnen	to them


Nouns

Nouns--Gender

Noun--Declension

Noun--Classes

Endings

Noun Endings

Nouns--Nominative Case Help

Nouns--Accusative Case Help

Nouns--Dative Help

Nouns--Genitive Help

Declensions


Nouns--Gender

In English the natural gender determines the grammatical gender; man in English is replaced by the masculine pronoun he, woman by the feminine pronoun she, and tree, table, or chair by the neuter pronoun it. There are not such definite rules for determining the gender of a German noun, yet is necessary to know the gender of a noun before one can decline it.

The following are Masculine:

• names of males, days, months, seasons, and points of the compass:

der Lehrer	teacher
der Montag	Monday
der Frühling	Spring
der Hund	dog
der Februar	February
der Norden	the north
• times of day:

der Morgen	morning
der Mittag	noon
der Nachmittag	afternoon
der Abend	evening
Exception: die Nacht night

• nouns ending in -ich, -ig, and -ing:

der Teppich	carpet
der König	king
der Jüngling	youth
• nouns ending in -en (except infinitives used as nouns):

der Boden	floor, soil
der Hafen	harbor
The following are Feminine:
• collective and abstract nouns ending in -ei, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ung:

die Bäckerei	bakery
die Dankbarkeit	gratitude
die Endung	the ending
die Freiheit	freedom
die Freundschaft	friendship
• nearly all nouns ending in -e:

die Kälte	the cold
die Größe	the size
die Rose	the rose
• nouns derived from masculines by adding -in:

die Freundin	female friend
die Lehrerin	female teacher
• nouns of foreign origin ending in -ie, -ion, -ik, and -tät:

die Melodie	melody
die Fabrik	factory
die Nation	nation
die Universität	university
The following are Neuter:
• infinitives used as nouns:

das Gehen	the going, "when the going gets tough..."
das Reisen	traveling
• diminutives ending in -chen and -lein:

das Schwesterchen	little sister
das Fräulein	Miss
• almost all names of countries:

Deutschland	Germany
Frankreich	France
Exceptions:

die Schweiz	Switzerland
die Türkei	Turkey
• metals:

das Eisen	iron
das Gold	gold
das Silber	silver
Exception:  der Stahl steel

• most nouns ending in -nis, -sal, -sel, -tum:

das Gefängnis	prison
das Schicksal	fate
das Rätsel	riddle
• nouns of foreign origin not qualifying under the above rules:

das Auto	car


Noun--Declension

The nominative and genitive singular and the nominative plural are called the principal parts of a noun because all other cases are derived from them.  The principal parts of der Vater are:

Nominative	der Vater	the father
Genitive	des Vaters	the father's
Nom. Plural	die Väter	the fathers
Noun declensions are classifications of nouns based on the four forms, or cases, which nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles take in the German sentence according to their function in that sentence.  The four cases of nouns in German are:

• The nominative, used in the subject, and in the predicate after a linking verb (e.g. sein--to be):
Der Wagen fährt sehr schnell.
The car goes very fast.

Paul ist der Mann.
Paul is the man.

Der Mann is known here as a predicate nominative, a substantive which refers to the subject and is, therefore, also in the nominative case.

• The accusative, which indicates the direct object, and which is also required with the use of some prepositions (bis (until), durch (through), für (for), gegen (against), ohne (without), um (around)):
Hans findet das Hotel.
Hans finds the hotel.

Mein Freund singt ohne mich.
My friend sings without me.

• The dative, denoties the indirect object.  It is also required with certain verbs (i.e. helfen, antworten, etc.) and prepositions (aus (out of),außer (besides), bei (near),gegenüber (across from), mit (with), nach (after), seit (since), von (from), zu (to)) require this case:
Ich gebe meinem Freund das Buch.
I give my friend the book.

Peter antwortet mir nicht.
Peter does not answer me.

Ich habe das Buch bei mir.
I have the book with me.

• The genitive, used to denote possession or relationship. It also occurs with some prepositions and verbs, and may be translated by 's, of the, or an adjective:
die Stimme der Frau
the woman's voice

trotz der Hitze
in spite of the heat

die Zivilisation des Westens
Western civilization


Noun--Classes

Nouns may be divided according to their principal parts into five classes (or according to their plural endings into four classes; Class 5 is then considered as exceptions to Class 4.)

Class 1 adds no endings in the nominative plural, but often has an umlaut: der Vater (father), die Väter (fathers). To Class 1 belong:

• masculine and neuter nouns ending in -el, -en, -er, as der Esel (donkey), der Garten (garden), der Lehrer (teacher).

• diminutives ending in -chen  and  -lein, as das  Mädchen (girl), das Fräulein (young lady).

• two feminines: die Mutter (mother),  die Tochter (daughter).

Class 2 adds -e to form the nominative plural and often has an umlaut: der Arm (arm), die Arme; der Sohn (son), die Söhne. To Class 2 belong mainly monosyllabic masculine and feminine nouns: der Berg (mountain), die Berge; die Stadt (city), die Städte.

Class 3 adds -er and always takes an umlaut where possible (a changes to ä, o to ö, u to ü, au to äu): das Buch (book), die Bücher; das Haus (house), die Häuser. To class 3 belong most monosyllabic neuter and some masculine nouns: das Kind (child), die Kinder; der Mann (man), die Männer.

Class 4 adds -n, -en, or -nen, and never takes umlaut: die Schule (school), die Schulen; die Tür (door), die Türen; feminine nouns ending in -in take -nen: die Freundin (girl-friend), die Freundinnen. Masculine nouns take -n or -en also in the singular.

der Knabe	des Knaben	dem Knaben	den Knaben	the boy
der Mensch	des Menschen	dem Menschen	den Menschen	the human being
To Class 4 belong most feminine nouns and some masculine nouns.

Class 5 (also called the exceptions to Class 4) takes -(e)s in the genitive singular, and -(e)n  in all cases of the plural: das Auge (eye), des Auges, die Augen; der Doktor (doctor), des Doktors, die Doktoren. To Class 5 belong:

• some foreign nouns as der Doktor (doctor), der Professor (professor), der Pastor (pastor), das Insekt (insect), das Interesse (interest), das Juwel (jewel), der Muskel (muscle), der Nerv (nerve), das Drama (drama: plur. die Dramen).

• some other masculine and neuter nouns as das Auge (eye), das Bett (bed), das Ohr (ear), der Schmerz (pain), der See (lake), der Strahl (ray).

• Der Bauer (farmer) and der Nachbar (neighbor) may be declined according to Class 4 or 5.

• Das Herz (heart) inflects: das Herzens, dem Herzen, das Herz, die Herzen. Similarly, der Friede (peace), des Friedens, dem Frieden, den Frieden.


Endings

Class	1	2	3	4	5
Sg.	m,(f),n	m, f, n	m, n	m, f	m, n
Nom.	-	-	-	-	-
Acc.	-	-	-	-(e)n	-
Dat.	-	-	-	-(e)n	-
Gen.	-s	-(e)s	-(e)s	-(e)n	-(e)s
Pl.
Nom.	-	-e	-er	-(e)n	-(e)n
Acc.	-	-e	-er	-(e)n	-(e)n
Dat.	-n	-en	-ern	-(e)n	-(e)n
Gen.	-	-e	-er	-(e)n	-(e)n
Umlaut
Class	1	2	3	4	5
Masc.	often	often	always	never	never
Fem.	both	always	-------	never	-------
Neut.	never	never	always	-------	never


Noun Endings

Rules:
• Feminine nouns remain unchanged in the singular.

• The genitive singular of masculines and neuters:

• Nouns of more than one syllable generally take -s (except masculines belonging to Class 4):

der Vater	father	des Vaters
das Mädchen	girl	des Mädchens
• Monosyllabic nouns usually take -es:

der Mann	man	des Mannes
• Nouns ending in a sibilant (s, ß, sch, z) always take -es:

das Haus	house	des Hauses
der Fuß	foot	des Fußes
der Tisch	table	des Tisches
der Schmerz	pain	des Schmerzes
• Names of persons add -s, but no apostrophe:

Schillers Werke	Schiller's works
Wagners Opern	Wagner's operas
also feminines:

Maries Vater	Maria's father
• Names ending in an s sound take an apostrophe instead of -s or add -ens: Hans' or Hansens Mutter; Fritz' or Fritzens Bruder. The genitive ending is omitted when the name is preceded by a word already in the genitive:
die Werke unseres Goethe
the works of our Goethe

die Reden des großen Lincoln
the speeches of the great Lincoln.

Names of places either add -s to the proper noun, or use the genitive article:
die Straßen Chikagos
the streets of Chicago

die Geschichte des alten Athen
the history of old Athens

but names of places ending in -s take von:
die Straßen von Paris
the streets of Paris

The dative -e is added to monosyllabic and less frequently to polysyllabic nouns (except feminines): it is nearly always suppressed in colloquial speech: dem Buch, dem Buche; dem Tisch, dem Tische; dem König, dem Könige.

The accusative of feminine and neuter nouns is identical with their nominative. This rule also applies to articles, adjectives, and pronouns.

The dative plural always ends in -n.

Compound nouns inflect only their last component: des Schulzimmers. The last component also determines the gender of the noun:

die Schule	the school
das Zimmer	the room
das Schulzimmer	the classroom


Nouns--Nominative Case Help

The nominative and genitive singular and the nominative plural are called the principal parts of a noun because all other cases are derived from them.  The principal parts of der Vater are:

Nominative	der Vater	the father
Genitive	des Vaters	the father's
Nom. Plural	die Väter	the fathers
Noun declensions are classifications of nouns based on the four forms, or cases, which nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles take in the German sentence according to their function in that sentence. The nominative is used when a noun or pronoun is the subject of a verb, and in the predicate after a linking verb (e.g. sein--to be):
Der Wagen fährt sehr schnell.
The car goes very fast.

Paul ist der Mann.
Paul is the man.

(Der Mann is known here as a predicate nominative, a substantive that refers to the subject and is, therefore, also in the nominative case.)


Nouns--Accusative Case Help

The accusative case indicates the direct object, and also occurs with certain prepositions:

Hans findet das Hotel.
Hans finds the hotel.

Mein Freund singt ohne mich.
My friend sings without me.

A noun in a prepositional phrase will take the accusative case when it follows these prepositions:

bis	until, as far as
für	for
ohne	without
durch	through, by
gegen	against, into
um	around, at


Nouns--Dative Help

The dative case denotes the indirect object.  Some verbs and prepositions also require that their objects take this case:
Ich gebe meinem Freund das Buch.
I give my friend the book.

Peter antwortet mir nicht.
Peter does not answer me.

Auf dem Haus sitzt ein Storch.
A stork sits on top of the house.

The following prepositions require the dative case:

aus	out of, from, (made) of
bei	at, near, with
mit	with, by
seit	since, for
zu	to, at, for
außer	except, for, out of
gegenüber	across from
nach	after, to, according to
von	from, by, of
Some prepositions may take either the dative or accusative case.  The dative case indicates an action that occurs in a fixed position or location.  The accusative case indicates movement toward or into a place.  The following prepositions may take either the accusative or dative case:

an	at, on, to
hinter	behind
neben	beside
über	over
vor	before
auf	on, upon
in	in, into
unter	under, among
zwischen	between
The majority of German verbs require the accusative case for direct objects.  The following common verbs use the dative case:

antworten	to answer
danken	to thank
drohen	to threaten
folgen	to follow
gehorchen	to obey
glauben	to believe
helfen	to help
passen	to fit, to suit
schmeicheln	to flatter
verzeihen	to forgive
begegnen	to meet
dienen	to serve
entgehen	to evade
gefallen	to please
gehören	to belong to
gratulieren	to congratulate
imponieren	to impress
schaden	to hurt
vertrauen	to trust


Nouns--Genitive Help

The genitive case denotes possession or relationship. It also occurs with some prepositions, and may be translated by 's, of the, or an adjective:
die Stimme der Frau
the woman's voice

trotz der Hitze
in spite of the heat

die Zivilisation des Westens
Western civilization

The following prepositions require the genitive case:

(an)statt	instead of
diesseits	this side of
jenseits	on the other side of
um ... willen	for ... sake
wegen	because of
außerhalb	outside of
innerhalb	within
trotz	in spite of
während	during


Declensions

There are four different cases in German, depending on the function of the word in the sentence.

Subject of a sentence see Nouns--Nominative Case Help;

Direct object see Nouns--Accusative Case Help;

Indirect object see Nouns--Dative Help;

Denotes possession see Nouns--Genitive Help.

Adjectives can be declined in Strong, Weak or Mixed form. (See Adjective Declension)


Adjectives

Adjective Declension

Adjective Comparison


Adjective Declension

Adjectives decline according to their type. There are two types of adjectives. The first type is one with which most people are familiar:
The pretty, young girl kissed the handsome man.
The quick, brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
That was an interesting anecdote he told.

In the above sentences, the adjectives precede the nouns they describe and are easily identifiable. These are known as attributive adjectives.

The other type of adjective, known as the predicate adjective, is less apparent in a sentence. Predicate adjectives are adjectives which refer back to the subject:
The girl is pretty and young.
The fox was quick.

In contrast to normal adjectives, predicate adjectives do not precede the nouns they modify. They usually are in the same position in which we normally find direct objects, but they are not the recipient of an action. Instead they are adjectives which describe the subject but are found later in the sentence (with respect to the subject).
Diese Anekdote ist sehr interessant.
This anecdote is very interesting.

An adjective appearing directly before the noun it modifies is declined:
diese interessante Anekdote.
this interesting anecdote

Predicate adjectives are not declined:
Die Anekdote war interessant.
The anecdote was interesting.

Attributive adjectives take two sets of endings when declined: strong and weak endings.

Strong Declension

• Strong endings are the same as dieser endings and almost like those of the definite article.  When the genitive of a noun ends in -(e)s the adjective takes -en: alten  Freundes;  but before nouns of Class 4: gutes Knaben. The ending -es is found in certain set phrases: geradeswegs or gerade(n)wegs, (straightway).

	Masc	Fem.	Neut.	Pl.
Nom.	-er	-e	-es	-e
Acc.	-en	-e	-es	-e
Dat.	-em	-er	-em	-en
Gen.	-(en)	-er	-(en)	-er
• Strong endings indicate the gender, number, and case of a noun when there is no limiting article to convey this information.

good friend
Singular	Plural
guter Freund	gute Freunde
guten Freundes	guter Freunde
gutem Freunde	guten Freunden
guten Freund	gute Freunde
• The weak endings are -en in all cases except the nominative singular of all three genders and the accusative singular of the feminine and neuter genders:

	Masc	Fem.	Neut.	Pl.
Nom.	-e	-e	-e	-en
Acc.	-en	-e	-e	-en
Dat.	-en	-en	-en	-en
Gen.	-en	-en	-en	-en
• Weak endings are used when the attributive (preceding the noun) adjective follows the definite article or a der word.

	the little boy
	Singular	Plural
Nom.	der kleine Knabe	die kleinen Knaben
Acc.	den kleinen Knaben	die kleinen Knaben
Dat.	dem kleinen Knaben	den kleinen Knaben
Gen.	des kleinen Knaben	der kleinen Knaben
Mixed Declension:
After an uninflected ein word (ein (a), kein (no), mein (my), dein (your--familiar), etc.), i.e. in the nominative singular masculine and neuter and accusative neuter, (the instances where these words take no endings), strong endings are used:
ein guter Freund
a good friend

unser altes Haus
our old house

After inflected forms of ein words weak endings are used:
meines guten Freundes.
of my good friend

This results in a mixed declension (combining strong and weak forms).
mein guter Freund
my good friend

meinen guten Freund
to my good friend

meinem guten Freund
for my good friend

meines guten Freundes
of my good friend

meine  guten Freunde
my good friends

Derselbe (the same) and derjenige (the one who, he who) inflect each component part:  der like the definite article, selbe, jenige, like weak adjectives.

	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
Nom.	derselbe	dieselbe	dasselbe	dieselben
Acc.	denselben	dieselbe	dasselbe	dieselben
Gen.	desselben	derselben	desselben	derselben
Dat.	demselben	derselben	demselben	denselben
Two or more adjectives modifying the same noun, and following a der word, have the same endings:
die interessante kleine Anekdote (nominative)
the interesting little anectdote

der interessanten kleinen Anekdote (genitive)
of the interesting little anecdote (etc.)

Participles are declined like adjectives:

the sleeping child	the beloved dog
das schlafende Kind	der geliebte Hund
das schlafende Kind	den geliebten Hund
dem schlafenden Kinde	dem geliebten Hunde
des schlafenden Kindes	des geliebten Hundes
die schlafenden Kinder	die geliebten Hunde
Adjectives and participles used as nouns are declined as adjectives:

the German (male)	a German (male)	the relative (male)
der Deutsche	ein Deutscher	der Verwandte
den Deutschen	einen Deutschen	den Verwandten
dem Deutschen	einem Deutschen	dem Verwandten
des Deutschen	eines Deutschen	des Verwandten
the Germans(plural)	German	the relatives
die Deutschen	Deutsche	die Verwandten
die Deutschen	Deutsche	die Verwandten
den Deutschen	Deutschen	den Verwandten
der Deutschen	Deutscher	der Verwandten
Irregularities:
• Hoch (high) changes ch to h when e follows:
das Haus ist hoch
the house is tall

ein hohes Haus
a tall house

• Adjectives ending in -el, -en, -er ordinarily drop the e of these endings when inflected:

dunkel	dark		ein dunkles Zimmer	a dark room
selten	rare		ein seltnes Buch	a rare book
bitter	bitter		eine bittre Pille	a bitter pill


Adjective Comparison

German and English both have three basic forms of the adjective:

Positive	schnell	quick
Comparative	schneller	quicker
Superlative	schnellst	quickest
The adjective's comparative form in German is indicated by the -er ending.  The superlative is indicated by the -(e)st ending added to the positive form.

Most monosyllabic adjectives having the stem vowels a, o, or u in the positive take an umlaut in the comparative and superlative: warm (warm), wärmer (warmer), wärmst (warmest). Polysyllabic adjectives never take an umlaut:

bekannt	well-known
bekannter	more well-known
bekanntest	most well-known
Adjectives ending in -d, -t, or a sibilant (s, ß, sch, z) form the superlative with -est to avoid difficulties in pronunciation:

alt	old		ältest	oldest
kurz	short		kürzest	shortest
heiß	hot		heißest	hottest
The following adjectives are irregular and should be memorized:

groß, größer, größt		big, bigger, biggest
gut, besser, bestY		good, better, best
hoch, höher, höchst		high, higher, highest
nah(e), näher, nächst		near, nearer, nearest
viel, mehr, meist		much, more, the most
In comparison wie is used after a positive, als after a comparative:

Ich bin so groß wie du.
I am as tall as you.

Karl ist größer als ich.
Karl is taller than I.

German uses the article when English does:
das beste Buch
the best book

Exception:
die meisten Leute (most people)

Am with the superlative is most frequently used with the predicate:
Dieses Werk ist am bekanntesten.
This work is the most well-known.

As attributes, comparatives and superlatives are inflected like adjectives:
Das ist der bessere Wein.
That is the better wine.

Heute ist schöneres Wetter.
Today (there) is more beautiful weather.

Sie ist meine beste Freundin.
She is my best friend.

The comparative and the superlative, like other forms of the adjective, may be used as nouns:
Er hat etwas Besseres.
He has something better.

Wissen Sie das Neueste?
Do you know the latest (thing)?


Grammar Help - Numerals
Numerals

Numerals

The cardinal numerals are:

0   null	20 zwanzig
1   ein(s)	21 einundzwanzig
2   zwei	22 zweiundzwanzig
3   drei	40 vierzig
4   vier	50 fünfzig
5   fünf	60 sechzig
6   sechs	70 siebzig
7   sieben	80 achtzig
8   acht	90 neunzig
9   neun	100 (ein)hundert
10 zehn	101 hunderteins
11 elf	121 hunderteinundzwanzig
12 zwölf	1000 tausend
13 dreizehn	1 000 000 eine Million
14 vierzehn	1 000 000 000 eine Milliarde
15 fünfzehn	1 000 000 000 000 eine Billion
16 sechzehn
17 siebzehn
18 achtzehn
19 neunzehn
Beyond the number 20, the numerals are read in German, literally, as "one and twenty", "two and twenty", "four and fifty", etc. Aside from Hundert and Tausend when these are used as nouns, (das  Hundert, das Tausend), only ein is ordinarily inflected.  When used as an an adjective, it is inflected like the indefinite article:
Er hatte nur ein Auge.
He had only one eye.

When used without a noun, it is inflected like an adjective:
Einer ist hier.
One (person) is here.

Eines weiß ich.
I know one (thing).

Ich habe nur den einen gesehen.
I have seen only that one (person).

The Ordinals:  Up to twenty the ordinals are formed from the cardinals by adding -t: viert (4th), zehnt (10th), achzent (18th); from twenty on they are formed by adding -st:
zwanzigst (20th), einundzwanzigst (21st), hundertst (100th).

Exceptions:
erst, dritt, siebt and siebent, acht: 1st 3rd 7th 7th 8th

The ordinals are used only after the definite article or some pronominal modifier and are inflected like adjectives. Thus we never have: zweit, dritt, zwanzigst, but der (die, das) zweite, dritte, zwanzigste:
sein erster Sohn
his first son

ihr viertes Kind
her fourth child

den einundzwanzigsten (21. or 21sten) Januar
the twenty-first (21st) of January

Fractions are formed by means of the suffix -el, -stel, as follows: das Drittel(one-third), Viertel,(one-forth) Achtel, (one-eighth) Zwanzigstel (one-twentieth), Hundertstel (one one-hundredth).  Half as an adjective is halb, as a noun die Hälfte: ein halbes Pfund (half a pound); die Hälfte des Apfels, (The half of the apple).  Also note the forms: anderthalb (one and a half), drittehalb (two and a half), viertehalb (three and a half), etc.

The ordinal adverbs erstens (firstly), zweitens (secondly), drittens (thirdly), etc. are derived from the ordinals by means of the suffix -ens  (-ly).

From the cardinals are derived the adverbs einmal (once), zweimal (twice), etc. by means of the suffix -mal (-ce, times), and four kinds of adjectives by means of the following suffixes: -fach (-fold), -erlei (kinds of ...), -malig, -fältig.
zweifach, dreifach, zehnfach
twofold, threefold, tenfold

zweierlei, dreierlei
two kinds of, three kinds of

einmalig, zweimalig;
single, repeated (done twice)

das einmalige Erscheinen
the one (single) appearance

des Geistes
of the ghost

zweifältig
twofold

Rules pertaining to numerals

Commas, not periods, indicate decimals:
18.45 (English) = 18,45 (German)

Where English inserts a comma, German uses a space:
14,846 (English) = 14 846 (German)

Note:  German Assistant may classify as general quantifiers words such as all, some, first, and last, which carry a counting or ordering meaning.  For more information regarding these words, see also Article, Pronoun, and Quantifier Inflections, Adjective Declension


Grammar Help - Adverbs
Adverbs

Adverbs

Time

When


Grammar Help - Adverbs - Adverbs
Adverbs

In German, the distinction between an adjective and an adverb is very slight.  That is, the same word or phrase can be either an adjective or an adverb, depending on its function in the sentence.  However, adverbs are never declined.
Die schöne Blume ist da.
The pretty flower is there.

Sie singt schön.
She sings beautifully.

The function of an adverb in a sentence is to modify (describe) a verb, adjective, or another adverb.  An adverb can consist of a single word or an entire phrase.
Er kam spät.
He came late.

Er ist sehr jung.
He is very young.

Er liest sehr langsam.
He reads very slowly.

Sie kam am Morgen.
She came in the morning.

Sie kam mit John.
She came with John.

Adverbs appear in the sentence in the order of TIME, MANNER, and PLACE. (Adverbs of TIME answer the question:  "WHEN did the action occur?". Adverbs of MANNER answer "HOW did it occur?".  And adverbs of PLACE answer "WHERE did it occur?".)

Er kam spät und allein nach Hause.
He came home late and alone.

Sie kam gestern Morgen mit John zu dem Park.
She came yesterday morning with John to the park.

Exceptions to the word-order rule for adverbs are made for emphasis or stylistic purposes.

Adverbs are compared like predicate adjectives; the superlative uses only the am... -en form (never -est):
Karl läuft schneller.
Carl runs faster.

Paul läuft am schnellsten.
Paul runs the fastest.

Gern(e) (willingly, with pleasure) is compared: gern(e), lieber, am liebsten.

Ich trinke Wasser gern, du trinkst lieber Milch, und er trinkt am liebsten Wein.
I like to drink water, you prefer milk, and he likes to drink wine best.

The adverb bald (soon) is compared: bald, eher, am ehesten. The absolute superlative adverb is formed by aufs: aufs beste, (aufs freundlichste, aufs schönste), in the best (most friendly, most beautiful) way or fashion.

See also:
Adjective Comparison


Time

Hours of the Day

7:00 AM (PM): sieben Uhr vormittags (nachmittags)
12:00 AM (PM): zwölf Uhr mittags (mitternachts)
12:30: halb eins
1:15: Viertel nach eins  (ein Viertel [auf] zwei)
1:45: Viertel vor zwei (drei Viertel [auf] zwei)
2:20: zwanzig (Minuten) nach zwei
2:40: zwanzig (Minuten) vor drei3:25: fünfundzwanzig nach drei; fünf (Minuten) vor halb (vier)
3:35: fünfundzwanzig vor vier; fünf (Minuten) nach halb vier

Railroad and business time is counted through from midnight to midnight:  0:00 (null Uhr, Mitternacht) to 24:00 (24 Uhr).

Expressions of time

heute morgen	this morning
heute abend	this evening
gestern morgen	yesterday morning
gestern abend	last night
morgen früh	tomorrow morning
morgen mittag	tomorrow noon
vorgestern	the day before yesterday
übermorgen	the day after tomorrow
vor acht Tagen	a week ago
vor einer Woche	a week ago
vor einem Monat	a month ago
vor einem Jahr	a year ago
heute in acht Tagen	a week from today
in Einer Woche	a week from today
jeden Tag	every day
alle zwei Tage	every other day
jeden dritten Tag	every third day
einmal am Tage	once a day
einmal die Woche (den Monat, das Jahr) OR einmal in der Woche etc.	once a week (a month, a year)
morgens = am Morgen	in the morning
tags = am Tage	by day
vormittags = am Vormittag	in the (late) morning
abends = am Abend	in the evening
mittags = am Mittag	at noon
nachts = in der Nacht	at night
nachmittags = am Nachmittag	in the afternoon
Sonntags = am Sonntag	on Sunday


When

The word when has many translations in German and depends very much on context.  The choices are not interchangeable. Please refer to the following rules:

• Als is used to refer to any action in the past:
Als ich jung war, spielte ich gern.
When I was young, I liked to play.

Er fuhr weg, als ich ankam.
He drove away when I arrived.

Ich sah ihn bei der Bibliothek, als ich da war, letzten Sonntag.
I saw him in the library, when I was there last Sunday.

• Wenn is used for recurring future actions, or a one-time desire that has not yet occurred:

Ich gehe zum Zahnarzt, wenn meine Zähne müssen geputzt werden.
I go to the dentist when my teeth need to be cleaned.

Ich werde es kaufen, wenn ich das Geld bekomme.
I will buy it when I get the money.

• Wenn is also used with the subjunctive, to introduce an action that has not occurred and may not ever occur:
Wenn ich die Lotterie gewinne, werde ich aufhören zu arbeiten.
When (if) I win the lottery, I will quit working.

See also:
Subjunctive II

• Wann is used with a future action occurring at a definite, or known, time:
Ich werde ihn abholen, wann er ankommt.
I will pick him up when he arrives.

Wann sie hier ist, können wir das besprechen.
When she is here, we can discuss that.

• Wann is also used commonly to ask questions about when something will occur, since the answer is expected to be a definite time.
Wissen Sie, wann die Feier anfängt?
Do you know when the celebration begins?


Grammar Help - Prepositions
Prepositions

Prepositions

Idiomatic Use of Prepositions

Supplement to Prepositions


Grammar Help - Prepositions - Prepositions
Prepositions

Most prepositions requiring the genitive are of substantive nature in English or in German: anstatt = an der Stätte (Stelle) von, instead of; diesseits = auf dieser Seite von, on this side of. Only während is a present participle.

The most common prepositions requiring the genitive are:

anstatt (statt)	instead of
außerhalb	outside of
innerhalb	inside of
oberhalb	above
unterhalb	below
um...willen	for the sake of
diesseits	on this side of
trotz	in spite of
während	during
wegen	on account of
jenseits	on the other side of
The dative is used with prepositions to express rest or motion away from.  Nach and zu take the dative in contradiction to this rule.

Rest
bei	at, near, with
mit	with
Motion away from
aus	from, out of
von	of, from
seit	since (of time)
nach	after, to, according to
zu	to
The accusative is used with prepositions to express all other motions, and with the preposition ohne.

Motion toward
gegen	against
wider	against
für	for
Motion through and around
ohne	without
durch	through
um	around
A number of prepositions may take either the dative or accusative, depending on whether they express rest or motion toward:
Ich bin in dem Zimmer.	(rest)
I am in the room.

Ich gehe in das Zimmer.(motion)
I'm going in(to) the room.

an	at, to
auf	on, upon
hinter	behind
unter	under, below
zwischen	between
in	in, into
neben	beside, next to
über	over, above, across
vor	before


Idiomatic Use of Prepositions

Idiomatic use of prepositions:

an
am Morgen, am Mittag
in the morning, at noon

am Abend
in the evening

denken an + accusative
think of

schreiben an + accusative
write to

auf
auf deutsch, auf englisch
in German, in English

auf einmal
all at once, suddenly

auf Reisen sein
be traveling

auf Wiedersehen
good-bye, au revoir

auf dem Land sein
be in the countryside

sich freuen auf + accusative
look forward to

bei
bei dem Onkel
at uncle's (house)

bei mir
with me, at my house

nach
fragen nach + dative
inquire about, ask for

reisen nach
travel to

nach Hause
towards home

Ich gehe nach Hause.
I'm going home.

um
bitten um + accusative; einen um
ask for, beg a person's pardon

Entschuldigung bitten
to ask for forgiveness, pardon

über
lachen über + accusative
laugh at

sprechen über + accustaive (or von + dative)
speak about

vor
sich fürchten vor + dative
be afraid of

zu
zu Hause
at home

Ich bin zu Hause.
I am at home.
Or literally:  I feel at home.


Supplement to Prepositions

Prepositions governing the dative:

aus	from, out of		nach	after, according to
bei	at, near, with		seit	since
mit	with		von	from
zu	to
Prepositions governing the accusative:

durch	through		gegen	against
für	for		ohne	without
um	around		wider	against
Prepositions governing the dative answering the question wo (where, in which place); and the accusative answering the question wohin (where, whither, to which place):

an	at, to		in	in
auf	on upon		neben	beside
hinter	behind		unter	under, below
über	above, over		vor	before
zwischen	between
These prepositions can be memorized as follows:
Über, unter, vor und zwischen, An auf, hinter, neben, in Nehmen Dativ nach dem "Wo?"

See also:
Prepositions


General

Word Order

Vocabulary Difficulties

Conjunctions

Non-Inflecting

Article, Pronoun, and Quantifier Inflections


Word Order

Normal word order is used in principal clauses.  In this order the subject comes first, the personal or conjugated verb second, the modifiers of the verb last:
Er geht heute nicht in die Stadt.
He is not going downtown today.

In principal clauses with compound tenses, the past participle and the infinitive come last:
Ich bin im Theater gewesen.
I was at the theater.

Er wird heute dort sein.
He will be there today.

The double infinitive always comes at the end:
Er hatte es nicht tun wollen.
He had not wanted to do it.

Inverted order is used when the sentence does not begin with the subject, i.e. when it begins with:

• an adjective:
Hungrig tritt er ins Gastzimmer.
Hungrily he walked into the lounge.

• an adverb or adverbial expression:
Nach einer halben Stunde kam er heraus.
After half an hour he came out.

Dort bleibt er stehen.
There he remains standing.

• the object
Zwei Mark habe ich nicht.
I don't have two marks.

• a clause:
Wenn Sie zu meinem Nachbar gehen , gebe ich Ihnen den Taler.
If you go to my neighbor, I will give you the dollar.

• a quotation:
"Ich danke Ihnen," sagte der Gast.
"I thank you," said the guest.

• Inverted order is also used in questions, as in English:
Kommt er heute?
Is he coming today?

General Rule: In an independent statement the conjugated verb is always the second element. Dependent clauses use dependent word order.  Dependent clauses occur after:
• subordinate conjunctions

• interrogatives in indirect questions

• relative pronouns.

In Dependent word order the conjugated verb comes at the end of the clause:
Er ging, nachdem ich zurückgekommen war.
He went after I had come back.

In double infinitive constructions, the verb immediately precedes the double infinitive:
Ich weiß, daß er es hat tun wollen.
I know that he wanted to do it.

Adverbs:
Adverbs generally appear in the sentence in the order of TIME, MANNER, PLACE. (Adverbs of TIME answer the question WHEN did the action occur.  Adverbs of MANNER answer HOW did it occur.  And adverbs of PLACE answer WHERE did it occur.)

Er geht heute in die Stadt.
He is going downtown today.

Wir gehen morgen zusammen in die Stadt.
We will go downtown together tomorrow.

When more than one adverb of the same type is used, the more general adverb precedes the more specific:

Er kommt jeden Tag um acht Uhr.
He comes at eight o'clock every day.

Er ist in die Stadt zum Theater gefahren.
He drove downtown (to go) to the theater.

Direct and Indirect Objects:
The indirect object precedes the direct object unless it is a personal pronoun.
Er schreibt der Mutter einen Brief.
He is writing his mother a letter.

Er schreibt ihr einen Brief.
He is writing her a letter.

But if the direct object is a personal pronoun, it precedes the indirect object:
Er schreibt ihn der Mutter.
He is writing it to his mother.

Er schreibt ihn ihr.
He is writing it to her.

Participial constructions
Attributive adjectives and participles precede the noun with all its modifiers.  English places the latter after the noun, or uses one or several relative clauses:

der in seinem Sprechzimmer sitzende Professor
the professor who is (was) sitting in his office

die aus Vollmond, Temperatur usw. berechnete Formel
the formula which has (had) been computed from full moon, temperature, etc.

The present participle of the passive voice is rendered in English by a relative clause, or a phrase:

der schwer zu ergreifende Irre
the insane person, who can (could) only be seized with difficulty


Vocabulary Difficulties

• Wenn and ob: wenn introduces a conditional (if-) clause, or a temporal (whenever-) clause; ob means whether:
Wenn ich kann, werde ich kommen.
If I can, I will come.

Ich komme (immer), wenn ich Zeit habe.
I (always) come when I have time.

Er weiß nicht, ob er kommen kann.
He does not know if he can come.

• da, weil, and während: Da (as, since) as a conjunction usually points to a cause:
Da er keine Zeit hat, kommt er nicht.
Since he has no time, he is not coming.

Weil has the same function, but is usually avoided at the beginning of a sentence:
Er kommt nicht, weil er keine Zeit hat.
He is not coming because he has no time.

Während has temporal meaning and often denotes contrast:
Er ging in die Stadt, während ich arbeitete.
He went downtown while I was working.

stellen, setzen, legen;			stehen, sitzen, liegen:
Causative weak verbs (often used reflexively)			Strong verbs denoting result of action expressed by corresponding weak verbs
stellen	put, place, cause to stand		stehen, stand, gestanden	stand, be standing
Sie stellte das Glas auf den Tisch. She put the glass on the table.			Das Glas stand auf dem Tisch. The glass stood on the table
setzen	put, place, cause to sit or stand		sitzen, saß, geseen	sit, be seated
Ich setze das Buch auf dem anderen. I set the book on top of the other one.			Das Buch sitz auf dem anderen. The book sits (is) on top of the other one.
legen	lay, cause to lie		liegen, lag, gelegen	lie, be lying
Ich lege die Arbeit auf ihren Schreibtisch. I lay the paper on her desk.			Ich liege draußen, unter der Sonne. I lie out(side), under the sun.
• wohnen, leben, and bleiben:
wohnen live = reside, dwell
Ich wohne in Leipzig.
I live in Leipzig.

leben live = spend one's life, exist
Ich hoffe, Hundert Jahre zu leben.
I hope to live 100  years.

bleiben stay = remain
Er blieb bei mir.
He stayed with me. (at my house)

• bitten and fragen:
bitten, bat, gebeten request, ask a favor, beg
Ich bitte dich!
I beg you!

um etwas bitten request something;
Ich bitte um Hilfe.
I am requesting help.

fragen ask (a question)
Sie fragte der Lehrerin, ob sie es machen könnte.
She asked the teacher if she could do it.

• bitten, bieten, and beten:
bitten (see above);

bieten, bot, geboten offer, bid;
Ich bot mein Auto.
I offered my car.

beten pray, say a prayer
Wir beten für Friede.
We pray for peace.

• lieben and gleichen:
lieben = gern(e) haben, mögen:
Er liebt seine Patienten.
He loves his patients.

gleichen, glich, geglichen  [(dat.) resemble, be like]:
Der Sohn gleicht seiner Mutter.
The son resembles his mother.

• fühlen and sich fühlen
fühlen feel, perceive
Er fühlt, daß er verloren ist.
He feels that he is lost.

sich fühlen 	feel, literally
Er fühlt sich sicher.
He feels safe.

• begegnen and treffen:
begegnen (meet), an intransitive verb of motion requiring the dative (the objects following it are indirect objects):
Ich begegnete ihm, ihr, ihnen.
I met him, her, them.

It is frequently used impersonally:
Es ist mir etwas Schlimmes begegnet
OR	Etwas Schlimmes ist mir begegnet.
Something bad happened to me.

treffen, traf, getroffen hit, meet; transitive:
Ich traf sie bei der Universität.
I met her at the university.

• werden and bekommen:
werden, wurde, geworden is an auxiliary verb meaning shall, will; as well as an independent verb meaning become, grow.
Sie wird fahren.
She will drive.

Ich werde älter.
I am becoming older.

bekommen, bekam, bekommen receive, get
Er bekommt ein Steak.
He is getting a steak.

• lernen, erfahren, and studieren:
lernen learn; study (a lesson)
Er hat seine Aufgabe nicht gelernt.
He has not learned his lesson.

Er lernt für seine Prüfung.
He is studying for his test.

erfahren, erfuhr, erfahren learn (by experience), find out
Er hat viel in seinem Leben erfahren.
He has experienced much in his life.

Er hat es nicht erfahren können.
He was not (has not been) able to find out about it.

studieren to study a topic at the university
Er studiert Soziologie.
He is studying sociology.


Conjunctions

Conjunctions are connective words which link two words, clauses, or sentences.

Coordinating conjunctions do not influence word order:

Alexander kam in die Stadt, und die Bewohner grüßten ihn.
Alexander came to the city, and the inhabitants greeted him.

Coordinating conjunctions are:

und	and
oder	or
denn	for
aber	but, however
weder...noch	neither...nor
entweder... oder	either...or
sondern	but, however
allein	but, however
Sondern is used to replace emphatically a preceding negative statement. It can often be translated in English as but, rather:

Alexander wollte nicht ihr Land, sondern ihre Sitten kennenlernen.
Alexander did not want to get to know their country, but (rather) their customs.

Compare:

Er wollte ihr Land, aber auch ihre Sitten kennenlernen.
He wanted to get to know their country, but also their customs.

Subordinating conjunctions cause dependent word order, i.e. the finite or the inflected part of the verb stands at the end of the clause.

Er ging fort, nachdem ich zurückgekommen war.
or Nachdem ich zurückgekommen war, ging er fort.(Note inversion.)
He left, after I came back.

The most common subordinating conjunctions are:

als	when, as		ehe	before
während	while		bevor	before
nachdem	after (temporal or to denote contrast)		weil	because (causal)
bis	until, till		obwohl	although
da	since (causal)		obgleich	although
wenn	if, when		obschon	although
damit	in order that		daß	that
Indirect questions are introduced by:

wann	when		wie	how
woher	whence, where from		warum	why
wieviel	how much		wohin	whither, where to
ob	whether		wo	where
Als refers to a single event in the past:
Als er kam, ging ich.
When he came, I left.

Wenn introduces a conditional (if) clause or a temporal (whenever) clause:
Wenn er kommt, gehe ich.
If he comes, I shall leave.

Wenn es regnete, kam er nicht.
Whenever it rained, he did not come.

Wann (when, at what time) is an interrogative adverb:
Wann kommen Sie?
When are you coming?

Ich weiß nicht, wann ich kommen kann.
I do not know when I can come.


Non-Inflecting

The following parts of speech have no inflectional models:
• Conjunction
• Intensifier
• Non-Grammatical
• Note
• Preposition
• Prefix
• Slot Phrase
• Suffix
• Suffix 1
• Title


Article, Pronoun, and Quantifier Inflections

Both articles and pronouns have inflections for the following forms:
• Masculine
• Feminine
• Neuter

Pronouns add plural.

Quantifiers add:
• Masculine Strong
• Feminine Strong
• Neuter Strong
• Plural Strong

See the following for more specific information:
Pronouns
Articles
Numerals
Adjective Declension


Glossary of Terms

conjunction


conjunction

A word functioning as a connector between words, phrases,

clauses, or sentences.  For example: and, because, but,

however.


The German simple present tense also expresses the English present progressive (i.e., I am learning) and emphatic (i.e., I do learn) tenses. These two compound forms are not found in German.


The imperfect forms of these verbs are used in conversation and are not restricted to narrative use as with other verbs.


In German, the Present Tense is used with an adverb of future time instead of the Future Tense more frequently than in English:
Ich treffe ihn morgen.
I am meeting him tomorrow.

Übermorgen fahren wir nach San Diego.
We are driving to San Diego the day after tomorrow.


Sterben (die), werfen (throw), and a few other strong verbs have irregular imperfect subjunctive forms: ich stürbe, ich würfe.


The Past Perfect Subjunctive (pluperfect subjunctive) may also be used for indirect discourse in this example.


The Perfect Subjunctive may also be used for indirect discourse.


Case is most often indicated by the adjective or article preceding the noun, and less often by the ending of the noun itself.


der Herr (the gentleman) is declined:
Singular: der Herr, des (dem, den) Herrn;
Plural: die (der, den, die) Herren.


die and das are also considered der words.


as...as... translates as "so...wie..."


The adjective endings are in addition to endings for either comparative or superlative forms.


In German, whenever another part of speech is converted to a noun, it is capitalized and given the neuter article.


The hour (here vier) is commonly omitted in speech, since it is usually known.


When you can substitue either whenever or if for when, as in the above examples, Wenn is the best translation.


am is a contraction of an + dem (dative form of der)