Tag: German grammar

Most two-part conjunctions in German have direct English equivalents, so it’s faster to learn them by example than to break them down grammatically. The easiest…

To conjugate modal verbs in the Perfekt, we still need the auxiliary “haben” (conjugated with the subject). The difference here is made by the two infinitives at the end…

When als (als ob, als wenn) is used to mean as if or as though, the verb in its clause should be in the subjunctive.  Subjunctive II (general subjunctive) occurs more…

If you plan to improve your German by reading news articles, this is an important form to learn. The special subjunctive appears most frequently in…

German modal particles (Modalpartikel) are uninflected words that are used mainly in the spontaneous spoken language in colloquial registers in German. Their dual function is to reflect the mood or…

Relative clauses are used extensively in German, and they use dependent word order (i.e. the conjugated verb moves to the end of the clause). In…

The German verb lassen is a very useful irregular (strong) verb with the basic meaning of “to allow” or “to let.” But it has many other meanings and…

The passive voice is usually used when the person who does an action is not clear, not important or not known. There are, however, some…

In German passive sentences, we seem to put more emphasis on the actions rather than who is doing the action. When those actions involve a…

Unlike the active voice, when the subject of the sentence performs an action, the passive is the form of the verb that is used when the subject…