Grammar

A1

German verb conjugation

Conjugation is the engine of every sentence. Learn stem changes and endings, then lock them in with practice.

  • Regular vs irregular stems
  • Person endings for present tense
  • Immediate feedback on each drill
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Conjugation

A conjunction is a little word that connects two clauses:

You're so fine, and you're mine

Long stemmed roses are the way to your heart, but he needs to start with your head.

In German, a conjunction either coordinates two equally important clauses, or it subordinates one clause to the other.

Subordinating conjunctions make the verb go to the end in the clause they introduce, while coordinating conjunctions leave the verb position unchanged (the verb will usually, but not always, be in position 2 after a coordinating conjunction).

It is constructed with the verb sein or haben and the past participle of the main verb.

The conjugations aber and oder

Aber unites contrasting ideas and means but

Er ist hübsch, aber er gefällt mir nicht

He is handsome, but I do not like him

The conjugation oder means or and is plcaed between two distinct options

Was magst du lieber, Strand oder Berge?

What do you prefer, beach or mountains?

Prepositions that take the genitive

With the prepositions während (while, during) you always use the geinitve case

Während des Kochens telefonierte David ständig

David always phoned while cooking

Wegen means because of or due to

Wegen des schlechsten Wetters sind wir zu Hause geblieben

Because of the bad weather we stayed home

The conjunctions und and denn

Und means and and it allows you to combine two or more ideas

Tom arbeitet in Berlin und Luzie in Paris

Tom works in Berlin and Luzie in Paris

The conjuction und does not change the word order of the sentence

Die Kinder speieln und die Erwachsenen sehen einen Film

The children play and the adults watch a film

The conjuction denn means because and it also does not change the word order of the sentence

Ich darf nicht schlafen, denn ich muss lernen

I cannot sleep because I have to study

Sentences with dass

Dass means that. In the part of the sentence that includes it, the conjugated verb occupies the last position

Es ist schade, dass ihr schon gehen müsst

It is a shame that you have to go

As you will see in the following examples, dass is also used in the expression in an indirect way:

Sie sagt, dass das Wetter nicht gut ist

She says that the weather is not good

Interrogatives used as conjugations

When an interrogative is used as a subordinate clause, the relevant interrogative pronoun such as wer, was, wo, wann, wie serves as a conjugation

Ich weiß nicht, wer draußen ist

I do not know who is outside

A comma is placed before the interrogative pronoun

Ich weiß nicht, wo der Bodensee ist

I do not know where Lake Constance is

Subordinating conjunctions weil and obwohl

Weil expresses the reason why something occurs and means because

Warum hast du einen Laptop gekauft? weil och viel reise

Why did you buy a laptop? Because I travel a lot

In subordinate phraces with weil the verb should always come at the end

Er arbeitet nicht, weil er krank ist

He is not working because he is ill

Obwohl expresses a contrast or the reason soemthing should not occur. It means even though, although

Ich komme mit dir, obwohl ich sehr müde bin

I will come with you, even though I am very tired

Subordinating conjunctions damit and wenn

Damit explains the reason why something is done in a certain way. A close tranlsation in English would be so, so that

Ich habe die Zeitschrift gekauft, damit ich sie lesen kann

I bought the magazine so I can read it

You use wenn to indicate a condition for something to happen. It means if and it also has the temporal meaning when

Morgen werde ich ausgehen, wenn er nicht kommt

I will go out tomorrow if he does not come