Course Content
German Gender of Nouns
All German nouns are one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neutral. When you’re learning German, it’s important to remember that the word, not the thing, has a gender. Although they don’t always make sense, they are something you have to learn. That’s because in German, the gender of a noun is part of its identity. If you say or write a German word without the article that dictates gender, you won’t be using the noun correctly.
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Lesson-German Gender of Nouns
15:05
Reading Exercise-Gender of Nouns
Writing Exercise-Gender of Nouns
Listening Exercise-Gender of Nouns
German Nominative
In German the nominative is often referred to as the “who-case” (“der Werfall”) , because you can use the question words “who ” or “ what ” to find out what the subject of the sentence is.
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Lesson-German Nominative
13:03
Reading Exercise-German Nominative
Writing Exercise-German Nominative
Listening Exercise-German Nominative
German Numbers
0-null 1-eins 2-zwei 3-drei 4-vier 5-fünf 6-sechs 7-sieben 8-acht 9-neun 10-zehn
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Lesson-German Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
12:24
Reading Exercise-German Numbers
Writing Exercise-German Numbers
Listening Exercise-German Numbers
German Adjectives
German has all the same adjective concepts that English does, yes … but how adjectives are used is very different, mainly because of tricky little adjective endings (i.e. declensions) you frequently have to use as part of the overarching German Case System. Many students find adjective endings (and how they so often impact adjective-usage) to be the most difficult aspect of German to master.
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Lesson-German Adjectives
12:03
Listening Exercise-German Adjectives
Writing Exercise-German Adjectives
Reading Exercise-German Adjectives
German Personal Pronouns
German personal pronouns (ich, sie, er, es, du, wir, and more) work in much the same way as their English equivalents (I, she, he, it, you, we, etc.). When you study verbs, you should already understand pronouns well. They are a key element of most sentences that you should memorize and know by heart.
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Lesson-German Personal Pronouns
10:42
Reading Exercise-German Personal Pronouns
Writing Exercise-German Personal Pronouns
Listening Exercise-German Personal Pronouns
The Future Simple Tense (Futur I)
The German future tense (Futur I) is mostly used to express assumptions about the present or future in German. We can also use this tense to express future intentions, although, in spoken German, it is more common to use the present tense for this. We can translate the future tense with the English tenses: simple present or future with will or going to.
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Lesson-German Future Simple
10:26
Lesson-German Future Tense
Reading Exercise-German Future Tense
Reading Exercise 2-German Future Simple
Writing Exercise-German Future Tense
Writing Exercise 2-German Future Simple
Listening Exercise-German Future Tense
Listening Exercise 2-German Future Simple
German Regular Verbs
The present tense is one of two verb tenses in German that consist of finite forms. This means that the verb itself is inflected to provide all of the grammatical information necessary to understand its role in the sentence. The German present tense is usually formed by dropping the –en or –n from the infinitive and adding personal endings (-e, -(e)st, (e)t, –en, -(e)t, –en) to the remaining infinitive stem.
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Lesson-German Regular Verbs
00:00
Writing Exercise-German Regular Verbs
Reading Exercise-German Regular Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Regular Verbs
German Plural Formation
A plural noun expresses that there is more than one person, object, idea etc. To form plural nouns in German, we can add -n/-en, -e, -r/-er, or -s to the end of the noun. The rules for plural noun formation in German grammar are listed below.
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Lesson-German Plural Formation
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Plural Formation
Writing Exercise-German Plural Formation
Listening Exercise-German Plural Formation
German Accusative Case and Haben
You use the "Akkusativ", when you want to describe what is happening to a person or a thing. This person or thing is the grammatical object.
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Lesson-German Accusative Case and Haben
12:14
Writing Exercise-German Accusative Case and Haben
Reading Exercise-German Accusative Case and Haben
Listening Exercise-German Accusative Case and Haben
German Word Order
English tends to rely mostly on word order to indicate the grammatical function of a word or phrase. German relies more on inflections to show function. Endings, such as those indicating the nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive cases in three different genders, allow for some greater flexibility in clause construction.
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Lesson-German Word Order
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Word Order
Writing Exercise-German Word Order
Listening Exercise-German Word Order
German Definite Articles
A definite article (der Definitartikel) is that tiny word in English we refer to as "the." In German, we have three: der, die, das. As in English, they are also placed before the noun (or their modifying adjectives). In German, however, each of the definite articles has a gender.
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Lesson-German Definite Articles
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Definite Articles
Writing Exercise-German Definite Articles
Listening Exercise-German Definite Articles
German Indefinite Articles
In German there are several varieties of indefinite articles, which change depending on the gender of the noun being modified, whether the noun is singular or plural, and the case of the noun in the sentence.
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Lesson-German Indefinite Articles
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Indefinite Articles
Writing Exercise-German Indefinite Articles
Listening Exercise-German Indefinite Articles
German Negation
Negation or negative sentences in German grammar are formed with the words nicht (not) and kein (no/none). The tricky part is understanding when to use nicht and when to use kein and where to put them in a sentence. Learn about the word order of negative sentences in German and when to use nicht or kein.
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Lesson-German Negation
13:59
Reading Exercise-German Negation
Writing Exercise 1-German Negation
Writing Exercise 2-German Negation
Listening Exercise-German Negation
German Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are a special class of verbs. You will most likely always use and find them in company with another verb. The six modal verbs in German are: dürfen, können, mögen, müssen, sollen, wollen.
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Lesson-German Modal Verbs
13:41
Writing Exercise-German Modal Verbs
Reading Exercise-German Modal Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Modal Verbs
German Separable Prefix Verbs
Separable prefixes offer a large set of possibilities for the formation of new verbs. In general, these elements provide either a more precise, or a significantly different meaning of the modified verb. Thus they serve as the "verb complement". In German, most, but not all, separable prefixes are derived from prepositions and retain much of the meaning that they had in that form.
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Lesson-German Separable Prefix Verbs
10:49
Reading Exercise-German Separable Prefix Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Separable Prefix Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Separable Prefix Verbs
German Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions in German are words that can be used to connect other words, phrases or clauses without affecting the word order of the sentence. These conjunctions are: und, oder, aber, denn, beziehungsweise, sondern, doch, jedoch, and allein.
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Lesson-German Coordinating Conjunctions
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Coordinating Conjunctions
Writing Exercise-German Coordinating Conjunctions
Listening Exercise-German Coordinating Conjunctions
German Konjunktiv I
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Lesson-German Konjunktiv I
Reading Exercise-German Konjunktiv I
Writing Exercise-German Konjunktiv I
Listening Exercise-German Konjunktiv I
German Possessive
Possessive pronouns indicate possession. There are dependent and independent possessive pronouns in German grammar, both types must agree with their noun in case, gender and number.
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Lesson-German Possessive
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Possessive
Writing Exercise-German Possessive
Listening Exercise-German Possessive
German-Present Perfect of Regular Verbs
The English present perfect tense is used to refer to an event that happened in the past but continues (or at least might continue) in the present. For example, the sentence “I have lived in Charleston, South Carolina for six years” suggests that you might still be living in Charleston. Unlike English, das Perfekt doesn’t signify an ongoing event. Instead, it refers to a past event or action which has been completed. It’s also the past tense that’s most commonly used in German conversations, so you need to understand it if you want great speaking skills!
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Lesson-German Present Perfect-Regular Verbs
15:14
Reading Exercise-German Present Perfect-Regular Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Present Perfect-Regular Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Present Perfect-Regular Verbs
German Present Perfect-Irregular Verbs
In German, there are about 150 strong verbs. The vowel, which normally changes in the verb, is called “Ablaut”. There are three typical patterns of “Ablaut” changes: e – i – a: “gehen – ging – gegangen” a – u – a: “fahren – fuhr – gefahren” i – a – u: “finden – fand – gefunden”
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Lesson-German Present Perfect-Irregular Verbs
00:00
Writing Exercise-German Present Perfect-Irregular Verbs
Reading Exercise-German Present Perfect-Irregular Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Present Perfect-Irregular Verbs
German Present Perfect-Mixed Verbs
In German, weak verbs follow a very particular pattern of conjugation. In addition to strong – or irregular – verbs, there is a third category of verbs: irregular weak verbs. The list of these mixed German verbs is: brennen, bringen, denken, kennen, nennen, rennen, senden, wenden and wissen.
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Lesson-German Present Perfect-Mixed Verbs
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Present Perfect-Mixed Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Present Perfect-Mixed Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Present Perfect-Mixed Verbs
German Dative Case
The German dative case is used to indicate the indirect object of a sentence. It answers the question: To or for whom?
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Lesson-German Dative Case
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Dative Case
Writing 1-German Dative Case
Writing 2-German Dative Case
Listening Exercise-German Dative Case
German Two-Way Prepositions
Most German prepositions are always followed by the same case, but two-way prepositions are prepositions that can take either the accusative or dative case. There are nine of these two-way prepositions: an auf hinter neben in über unter vor zwischen
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Lesson-German Two-Way Prepositions
14:44
Reading Exercise-German Two-Way Prepositions
Writing Exercise-German Two-Way Prepositions
Listening Exercise-German Two-Way Prepositions
German Dative Case Prepositions
In English, prepositions take the objective case (object of the preposition) and all prepositions take the same case. In German there are several grouping that are followed by a certain German case. Here is a list of German dative prepositions (nouns are always followed by the dative case): aus außer bei mit nach seit von zu gegenüber
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Lesson-German Dative Case Prepositions
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Dative Case Prepositions
Writing Exercise-German Dative Case Prepositions
Listening Exercise-German Dative Case Prepositions
German Conditionals
In German, subjunctive forms are used much more frequently than in English, to express uncertainty, speculation or doubt.
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Lesson-German Conditionals
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Conditionals
Writing Exercise-German Conditionals
Listening Exercise-German Conditionals
German Dative Verbs
The German dative case is used to indicate the indirect object of a sentence. It’s also used after certain verbs and prepositions.
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Lesson-German Dative Verbs
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Dative Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Dative Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Dative Verbs
German Simple Past Tense
In German, the simple past is referred to as Präteritum. In English, the simple past is often used to discuss past events that have a definite timeframe, referring to when something happened. In German, it can be used the same way, though it’s generally used more in writing vs regular conversation.
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Lesson-German Simple Past Tense
13:59
Reading Exercise-German Simple Past Tense
Writing Exercise-German Simple Past Tense
Listening Exercise-German Simple Past Tense
German Imperative
The German imperative is a form of the verb used when giving orders and instructions, for example, Please sit down!
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Lesson-German Imperative
14:21
Reading Exercise-German Imperative
Writing Exercise-German Imperative
Listening Exercise-German Imperative
German Comparative
A comparative adjective in English is one with -er added to it or more or less in front of it, that is used to compare people or things. (slower, more beautiful) In German, to say that something is easier, more expensive and so on, you add -er to the simple form of most adjectives.
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Lesson-German Comparative
14:15
Reading Exercise-German Comparative
Writing Exercise-German Comparative
Listening Exercise-German Comparative
German Temporal Prepositions
Prepositions of time or temporal prepositions show the relationship of these things to time. Prepositions of time correspond to the questions “When/how long?”
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Lesson-German Temporal Prepositions
13:01
Writing Exercise-German Temporal Prepositions
Reading Exercise-German Temporal Prepositions
Listening Exercise-German Temporal Prepositions
German Present Perfect-Separable Prefix Verbs
Separable prefixes offer a large set of possibilities for the formation of new verbs. In general, these elements provide either a more precise, or a significantly different meaning of the modified verb. Thus they serve as the "verb complement". In German, most, but not all, separable prefixes are derived from prepositions and retain much of the meaning that they had in that form.
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Lesson-German Present Perfect-Separable Prefix Verbs
10:49
Reading Exercise-German Present Perfect-Separable Prefix Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Present Perfect-Separable Prefix Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Present Perfect-Separable Prefix Verbs
German Irregular Verbs
In German, there are about 150 strong verbs. The vowel, which normally changes in the verb, is called “Ablaut”. There are three typical patterns of “Ablaut” changes: e – i – a: “gehen – ging – gegangen” a – u – a: “fahren – fuhr – gefahren” i – a – u: “finden – fand – gefunden”
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Lesson-German Irregular Verbs
10:38
Reading Exercise-German Irregular Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Irregular Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Irregular Verbs
German Question Words
In order to ask basic questions in German, you’ll need to memorize some new vocabulary. Here are thirteen German question words you can use in everyday conversation.
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German Question Words
00:00
Reading Exercise-German Question Words
Writing Exercise-German Question Words
Listening Exercise-German Question Words
German Present Perfect-Inseparable Prefix Verbs
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Lesson-German Present Perfect-Inseparable Prefix Verbs
Reading Exercise-German Present Perfect-Inseparable Prefix Verbs
Writing Exercise-German Present Perfect-Inseparable Prefix Verbs
Listening Exercise-German Present Perfect-Inseparable Prefix Verbs
Basic German Grammar Topics
About Lesson

Listen to the audio and try to answer the following questions.

Question

1. What does the reader have?
2. Who has a son?

Answers

1. The reader has a brother and a sister.
2. His Brother has a son.

Transcript

Ich habe einen Bruder. Er hat einen Sohn. Ich habe eine Schwester. Sie hat keinen Sohn. Sie hat eine Tochter.

Vocabulary

der Bruder (Brüder) - the brother
der Sohn (Söhne)  - the son
die Schwester (Schwestern) - the sister
die Tochter (Töchter) - the daughter

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