Obwohl and trotzdem: contrasting ideas in German
Both words connect a circumstance with an outcome that goes against the normal expectation.
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Deshalb and deswegen: explaining results in German
Deshalb and deswegen point back to a reason and introduce its consequence.
Read and practiseBevor and nachdem: ordering events in German
Bevor places the main-clause event before another event; nachdem places it after the subordinate-clause event.
Read and practiseSeit and seitdem in German: from then until now
Seit can introduce a starting point or duration, and seit or seitdem can introduce a clause describing when an ongoing situation began.
Read and practiseGerman passive voice: processes, states and past forms
The process passive makes the action's recipient the subject, while the agent may be omitted or added with von.
Read and practisePolite German requests with Konjunktiv II
Könnte, hätte, wäre and würde can make a request or wish less direct. Compare the examples and check the explained answers.
Read and practiseGerman unreal conditionals: present and past
Konjunktiv II describes imagined situations and their consequences, including things that did not happen.
Read and practiseGerman comparisons: comparatives and superlatives
Use the comparative to show a difference and so ... wie to describe equality.
Read and practiseGerman adjective endings without an article
When there is no article, adjective endings often carry the gender and case information that an article would otherwise show.
Read and practiseGerman prepositions that require the accusative
Für, durch, ohne, gegen and um require accusative regardless of whether the sentence describes motion.
Read and practiseGerman prepositions that require the dative
Aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von and zu consistently introduce dative noun phrases.
Read and practiseGerman time prepositions: am, um, im, seit, vor and in
Different time expressions use different prepositions, so learn clock times, days, seasons and durations as separate patterns.
Read and practiseGerman place prepositions: location and destination
Prepositions describe spatial relationships, but the case after a two-way preposition depends on the intended relationship.
Read and practiseGerman destinations: choosing nach, zu or in
The destination's type and the intended activity help choose between nach, zu and in.
Read and practiseGerman da- and wo-compounds: darauf, worauf and more
Da and wo compounds refer to things or situations while preserving the preposition required by the verb.
Read and practiseEs gibt in German: describe what is available
Es gibt introduces the existence or availability of something and takes an accusative object.
Read and practiseMan in German: general statements about people
Man refers to people in general or an unspecified person, while its verb is always third-person singular.
Read and practiseGerman doch: contradicting negatives and shaping tone
As a response, doch contradicts a negative question or statement; as a particle, it adds a contextual attitude.
Read and practiseGerman conversation particles: ja, mal and denn
These small words can signal shared knowledge, soften a request or make a question sound interested or surprised.
Read and practiseGerman nicht: word order and what you negate
Nicht can negate the whole statement or one specific element, and its position helps distinguish the intended contrast.
Read and practiseGerman word order: time, cause, manner and place
A neutral sequence often puts time before cause, manner and place, but German allows changes to emphasize information.
Read and practiseGerman conjunctions: und, aber, oder, denn and sondern
These conjunctions connect words or main clauses without making the second clause verb-final.
Read and practiseGerman question words: who, where, when and why
German question words specify the information needed; some change with grammatical case.
Read and practiseGerman yes-no questions: put the verb first
A yes-no question normally starts with the conjugated verb, followed by the subject.
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