German Online 

Beginner's Page 

Welcome to the Beginners page at German Online. Here you can build up your knowledge of German in order to extend youyr vocablary properly .

1. Some Basic Phrases

Note:  Ich is not actually pronounced ikh.  There is no equivalent sound in English.  It is somewhere between esh and ekh.

2. Pronunciation

3. Alphabet

Note:  ß isn't said when reciting the alphabet.  It's actually a double s.  Some people will write it ss instead of ß.

4. Noun Cases

In German, all nouns (as well as pronouns and adjectives) have a case depending on what function they serve in the sentence.  These may seem strange, but remember that English uses cases also; however, we would say direct object instead of accusative, or indirect object instead of dative.  Although these cases may make learning new words difficult, they actually help with word order because the position of words in a sentence is not as crucial in German as it is in English.  And the reason for that is because words can occur in these four cases:

Note:  The nouns I give you, and the ones you look up in a dictionary, will be in the nominative case.

5. Definite and Indefinite Articles and Demonstratives

Note:  Jener is an older word  found in written German that was used to mean that or those, but today in spoken German the definite articles are used.  Dort or da may accompany the definite articles for emphasis.  Das is also a universal demostrative and therefore shows no agreement.  Notice the last letter of each  of the words above.  They correspond to the last letters of the words for the definite articles.  Words that are formed this same way are called der-words because they follow the pattern of the der-die-das declension.  Other der-words are:  jeder-every, and welcher-which.  Mancher (many) and solcher (such) are also der-words, but they are used almost always in the plural.

6. Subject (Nominative) Pronouns and the verbs To Be and To Have

Note:  Man can be translated as one, we, they or the people in general.  When referring to nouns as it, you use er for masculine nouns, sie for feminine nouns and es for neuter nouns.  However, the definite articles der, die and das can be subsituted for er, sie and es to show more emphasis.

Note:  You must use the subject pronouns (ich, du, er...); however, I will leave them out of future conjugations.

7. Useful Words

8. Question Words

9. Numbers

Note:  Sometimes Zwo (tsvoh) is used instead of Zwei to avoid confusion with Drei.  And the use of commas and periods is switched around in German.

10. Days of the Week

Note:  To say on a certain day, use am.  Add an -s to the day to express "on Mondays, Tuesdays, etc."  All days, months and seasons are masculine so they all use the same form of these words:  jeden - every, nächsten - next, letzten - last (as in the last of a series), vorigen - previous.

11. Months of the Year

Note:  To say in a certain month, use im.

12. Seasons

Note:  To say in the (any season), use im.

13. Directions

14. Colors

15. Time

16. Weather

17.  Accusative Case

The accusative case corresponds to direct objects.  Here are the accusative forms of the definite and indefinite articles.  Note that only the masculine changes in this case.

Note:  Some masculine nouns add an -(e)n to the accusative form, such as der Junge (den Jungen), der Herr (den Herrn), der Kunde (den Kunden) and der Student (den Studenten).  And wen (whom) is the accusative of wer (who).

German uses the case system to show the function of a word in a sentence, whereas English relies mainly on word order.  Take, for example, the following sentences:  Ich esse den Apfel translates into I eat the apple.  In German, you can switch the word order around without affecting the meaning.  Den Apfel esse ich is also I eat the apple, but in English, if you were to change word order, you would have to say the apple eats me.  English does not accomodate for the direct object to be placed before the subject and verb like German does.

18.  Dative Case

The dative case corresponds to indirect objects.  Usually in English, we use the words to or for to indicate an indirect object.  But German relies on the endings of the dative case.  Here are the dative forms of the definite and indefinite articles.

Note:  Those same masculine nouns that added an -(e)n in the accusative form also add an -(e)n in the dative form.  And all plural nouns add an -(e)n in the dative plural, unless they already end in an -n or -s.  And wem (to/for whom) is the dative of wer (who).

In sentences that show with both a direct and indirect object, the noun in the dative case precedes the accusative noun, unless the accusative case is a pronoun.

Ich schenke meinem Bruder eine Krawatte.  I give (to) my brother a tie.
Ich schenke sie meinem Bruder.  I give it to my brother.

19. Prepositions

For the two-way prepositions:  the dative form indicates position and location and answers the question where?  The accusative form indicates direction and movement and answers the question where to?  For example:  In die Schule means to school and uses the accusative form because it is a direction.  In der Schule means in school and uses the dative form because it is a location.  But one exception is zu Hause - at home (dat.) and nach Hause - (to) home (acc.)  Ich bin zu Hause is I am at home, and Ich gehe nach Hause is I am going home.

Note:  The verbs liegen, sitzen and stehen all use the dative form, while the verbs legen, setzen and stellen use the accusative.

20. Prepositional Contractions

21. Plural Nouns

Plural nouns in German are unpredictable, so it's best to memorize the plural form with the singular.  However, here are some rules that can help:

1. Feminine nouns usually add -n or -en.  Nouns that end in -in (such as the female equivalents of masculine nouns) add -nen.

2. Masculine and neuter nouns usually add -e or -er.  Many masculine plural nouns ending in -e add an umlaut as well, but neuter plural nouns ending in -e don't.  Plurals that end in -er add an umlaut when the stem vowel is a, o , u or au.

3. Masculine and neuter singular nouns that end in -er either add an umlaut or change nothing at all.  Many nouns with a stem vowel of a, o, u or au add an umlaut.

4. Nouns that end in a vowel other than an unstressed -e and nouns of foreign origin add -s.

22. Sports

23. Machen and Spielen

24. School

Note:  The letters in parentheses are the plural forms of the nouns.  Das Fach is subject (singular), and die Fächer is subjects (plural).  (-) indicates that the singular and plural forms are the same.

25. Kommen and Gehen

26. Transportation

Note:  To say by bus, train, etc., use mit dem and the noun.  The one exception is streetcar, where you use mit der instead of dem (because it's feminine).

Wie kommst du in die Schule?  is How do you come to school?  Now you can use the modes of transportation listed above.  Ich komme mit dem Rad is I come by bike and Ich komme zu Fuss is I come on foot.

27. Negative Sentences

Using nicht and kein are the two ways of making negative sentences.  Nicht translates to not and is usually placed after verbs, but before the complement of the verb.  Kein is technically a negative article, translates to no or not any, is declined like the indefinite article ein, and place before a  noun.

28. To and From Countries and Cities

Note:  Zu also means to, but is used only when referring to somewhere within a place.

29. Countries and Nationalities

30. Places

31. Conjugating Regular verbs

To form regular verbs, take off the -en ending and add these endings:

32. Exceptions: Irregularities in Regular verbs 

1) Some verbs require an umlaut over the a in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.

Examples: fallen-to fall, schlafen-to sleep, tragen-to carry, waschen-to wasch, laufen-to run

2) Some verbs change the e to ie in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.

Examples: lesen- to read, befehlen-to command, empfehlen-to recommend, geschehen-to happen, stehlen-to steal

3) Some verbs change the e to an i in the 2nd and 3rd person singular.

Examples: brechen-to break, essen-to eat, helfen-to help, sprechen-to speak, sterben-to die, werfen-to throw
*nehmen has another irregularity:  it doubles the m and gets rid of the h*

4) Verb stems ending -d or -t, add an e before three endings.

5) Verb stems ending in an s or z sound, have -t for du form ending instead of -st.

6) Infinitives ending in -n (not -en) only have -n ending for wir and sie forms.  Infinitive stems ending in -el or -er can drop the e in the ich form.

33. Commands

Note:  Sometimes an e is added to the du form, but in colloquial German it is left off to make the word one syllable. Verbs that take an umlaut in conjugations leave it off in commands.  Verbs that change their stem vowel from e to i use the changed stem in the du form.  All commands require an exclamation point.

34. Verbs with Prepositions

35. Travelling / Directions

36. Family

37. Possessive Pronouns

Note:  Other words that are formed like mein are:  dein-your (du form), sein-his/its, ihr-her, unser-our, euer-your (ihr form), ihr-their, Ihr-your (Sie form), and kein-no/not any.

38. Declensions of Nouns

Practically all nouns follow these five rules of declensions:

1)  Feminine Singular nouns remain unchanged in all Singular cases.

2) All Neuter and most Masculine Singular add -s or -es (if one syllable) to Genitive Singular.

3) Masculine nouns that end in -e in Nom. Sing. and designate living things add -n to form both Singular and Plural for all cases.

4) All Dative Plural either adds -n or -en.

5) In Plurals of all declensions of all genders, the Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative Plural are the same.

Note: To form the Dative Plural, add -e or -en to the Nominative Plural, unless it already ends in -e or -en, then add nothing.

39. Noun Groups

Most singular declensions can be formed from the first three rules above, but plural nouns are more complex and irregular.  Some may add -n, -en, -r, -er, -e, or an umlaut over the stem vowel with a final -e, and some nouns do not change from singular to plural.

Group 1
-Singular follows rules
-Plural adds umlaut to stem vowel and -n to all datives

Nouns belonging to this group:  Most nouns whose Nom. Sing. end in -el, -en, -er; and neuter nouns that begin with Ge- and end with -e

Group 2
-Singular follows rules
-Plural sometimes adds umlaut to stem vowel and -e to Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative; -en to Dative

Nouns belonging to this group:  Masculine that are one syllable; half of feminine and neuter that are one syllable

Group 3
-Singular follow rules
-Plural adds umlaut to stem vowel and -er to Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative; -ern to Dative

Nouns belonging to this group: Many neuter that are one syllable; no feminine nouns

Group 4
-Singular adds -en to all Masculine Dative, Accusative, and Genitive; Feminine follows rule
-Plural adds -n or -en to all forms

Nouns belonging to this group:  Most feminine that are more than one syllable, most masculine that denote living things; no neuter nouns

Group 5
-Add -s to Genitive Singular
-Add -s to all plural forms

Nouns belonging to this group:  Foreign origin words, such as das Radio, das Restaurant, and das Hotel.

Group 6 - Irregular
-Add -ns or -ens to Genitive Singular
-Add -en to Dative Singular, may add -en to Accusative Singular
-All plural add -en

Group 7 - Mixed
-Add -s or -es for Genitive Singular
-Add -n or -en for all plural

40. Holiday Phrases

The German National Anthem: Deutschland-Lied
by Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit für das deutsche Vaterland!
Danach lasst uns alle streben brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Frieheit sind des Glückes Unterpfand
Blüh im Glanze dieses Glückes blühe deutsches Vaterland!

Unity and right and freedom for the German fatherland;
Let us all pursue this purpose brotherly, with heart and hands.
Unity and right and freedom are the pawns of happiness.
Flourish in this blessing's glory, flourish, German fatherland.