German cheat sheet

Main-clause verb

In a declarative main clause, the finite verb generally occupies the second constituent position.

Heute lerne ich Deutsch.

Subordinate clause

Many subordinate clauses place the finite verb at the end. A conjunction can signal the construction.

… weil ich Deutsch lerne.

Case

Nominative, accusative, dative and genitive express relationships within a sentence. Articles often make the case visible.

der Mann → Ich sehe den Mann.

Noun gender

Learn a noun with its article and plural. Grammatical gender is not a reliable description of a person or object.

der Tisch; die Lampe; das Buch

Questions and verb position

In a standard yes–no main-clause question, the finite verb usually comes first. A question word comes before the finite verb in a typical information question.

Kommst du heute? — Are you coming today? Wann kommst du? — When are you coming?

Perfect tense

The conversational past commonly uses a form of haben or sein plus a past participle. The auxiliary depends on the verb and use; the participle usually appears at the end of a simple main clause.

Ich habe gearbeitet. — I worked. Ich bin gekommen. — I came.

Accusative articles

A masculine singular definite article changes from der in the nominative to den in the accusative. Feminine die and neuter das have the same form in these two cases.

Der Mann liest den Brief. — The man reads the letter.

Dative after mit

The preposition mit takes the dative. Learn the preposition and its case together instead of choosing a case only from the English translation.

mit dem Bus — by bus; mit meiner Freundin — with my friend.

Worked example: inversion

Morgen arbeite ich zu Hause places a time expression first. The finite verb arbeite remains in the second constituent position and the subject follows it.

Second position means the second constituent, not necessarily the second individual word.

Common mistake: gender follows meaning

Grammatical gender is a property to learn with a noun and its article. It cannot always be predicted from a person’s characteristics or from the English word.

Learn das Buch together as “the book”, rather than memorising Buch without its gender.

Check your understanding

Why is Morgen ich arbeite non-standard as an ordinary declarative main clause?

The finite verb should occupy second constituent position: “Morgen arbeite ich.”

Curriculum connections

Sources