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Different types of prefixes Many verbs in German consist of a main verb and a prefix: ankommen ‘to arrive’, verkaufen ‘to sell’, übersetzen ‘to translate’/‘to ferry over’.  There are three different types of prefixes in German: • separable prefixes which – as the name suggests – can exist separately from the […]

Modal verbs – expressing ability, necessity etc.Modal verbs modify an action or situation by expressing the idea of ability, obligation, permission etc.:Sie kann sehr gut schwimmen.      She can swim very well.Wir müssen jetzt gehen.                 We have to go now.Hier dürfen […]

What are reflexive verbs? Reflexive verbs refer to an action where the subject of a sentence is doing something to itself: Ich habe mich verletzt. I have hurt myself. Marco amüsiert sich. Marco enjoys himself. Reflexive verbs are always used with a reflexive pronoun (mich, sich etc.) which reflects the […]

What are pronouns?Pronouns are words that ‘stand in’ for nouns and refer to persons, things or ideas. The most important ones are the personal pronouns (ich, du, er/sie/es etc.):Georg ist noch klein, aber er kann schon lesen.Georg is only small but he can already read. Mir gefällt das Auto, aber […]

What are cases? A case refers to the role a noun or a pronoun plays in a particular sentence or clause. There are four main functions and each one can be linked to a specific case in German: Case Function of noun/pronoun Example Nom. The noun/pronoun is the subject of […]

The two articles and other determiners Determiners usually precede nouns. The most important ones are the definite article, such as der, die etc.corresponding to ‘the’, and the indefinite article, such as ein, eine etc.corresponding to ‘a’. Other determiners include: •   possessives suchas mein ‘my’, dein ‘your’,etc. •   demonstratives such as […]

Plural forms in GermanIn English most nouns form their plural by adding ‘-s’ to the singular form. In German, there are several ways of forming the plural.However, there are patterns and clues that might help you to predict the plural endings: •   there are five main types of plural endings(listed […]

What are nouns? Nouns are words used to name living creatures, objects,abstract qualities or concepts: Mann man Rock skirt Schönheit beauty Entwicklung   development German nouns – three genders In German, all nouns are classedas having one of three genders: masculine, feminine orneuter and are writtenwith an initialcapital letter. In dictionaries, […]

Pronouns are words that stand in place of a noun. In German, third person pro-nouns must be true to the gender, number, and case of the nouns they replace:der Mann   → masculine singular nominative →   erdie Frau     →  feminine singular dative → ihrdas Kind    →  neuter singular accusative → esdie Kinder →  plural nominative → sieFirst, let’s look […]

Adverbial expressions appear as single words or in the form of phrases. In either case, their function is the same: to explain how, when, where, or why about an action or event. Below is a list of some commonly used single-word adverbs:                  […]