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German Grammar Fundamentals Syllabus
The Grammar Fundamentals syllabus for German in full: 4 chapters and 12 topics, every one listed below, plus 49 Grammar Fundamentals flashcards with answers.
Grammar Fundamentals syllabus: all 4 chapters
Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics.
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Nouns and Articles
3 topics- Gender of Nouns
- Definite and Indefinite Articles
- Plural Forms
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Pronouns
3 topics- Personal Pronouns
- Possessive Pronouns
- Demonstrative Pronouns
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Verbs and Tenses
3 topics- Present Tense
- Past Tense
- Future Tense
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Sentence Structure
3 topics- Basic Sentence Order
- Questions and Negations
- Subordinate Clauses
German Grammar Fundamentals flashcards — 49 questions with answers
What are the three grammatical genders of German nouns, and how are they marked?
Masculine (der), feminine (die), and neuter (das). Gender is shown by the definite article and is largely grammatical, not natural.
Which noun ending almost always signals feminine gender in German?
The ending -ung (e.g., die Zeitung), as well as -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tion, and -ei.
What gender do most German nouns ending in -chen or -lein take, and why?
Neuter (das). These are diminutive suffixes, so even das Mädchen (girl) is grammatically neuter.
State the German definite articles in the nominative for all three genders and the plural.
Masculine der, feminine die, neuter das, plural die.
State the German indefinite articles (a/an) for masculine, feminine, and neuter in the nominative.
Masculine ein, feminine eine, neuter ein. There is no plural indefinite article.
How do the definite articles decline in the accusative case for the three genders and plural?
Masculine den, feminine die, neuter das, plural die. Only the masculine changes (der to den).
How do the definite articles decline in the dative case (masc./fem./neut./plural)?
Masculine dem, feminine der, neuter dem, plural den (and the noun usually adds -n).
How do the definite articles decline in the genitive case (masc./fem./neut./plural)?
Masculine des, feminine der, neuter des, plural der. Masculine and neuter nouns usually add -s/-es.
Give the accusative forms of the indefinite article ein for all three genders.
Masculine einen, feminine eine, neuter ein. Only the masculine changes.
Give the dative forms of the indefinite article ein for all three genders.
Masculine einem, feminine einer, neuter einem.
What is the negative article kein, and how does it decline?
Kein means 'no/not a' and declines exactly like ein (keinen, keine, kein), but it also has plural forms (keine, keinen).
List the five common German plural-formation patterns.
1) no change or umlaut only, 2) add -e (often + umlaut), 3) add -er (often + umlaut), 4) add -(e)n, 5) add -s (mostly loanwords).
Which plural ending is typical for feminine nouns, and give an example.
The ending -(e)n; e.g., die Frau to die Frauen, die Blume to die Blumen.
Which plural ending is common for foreign/loanwords in German?
The ending -s; e.g., das Auto to die Autos, das Hotel to die Hotels.
In the dative plural, what suffix must (nearly) every German noun take?
An -n, unless the plural already ends in -n or -s; e.g., mit den Kindern, mit den Autos.
List the German nominative personal pronouns (all persons, singular and plural).
ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie.
Give the accusative forms of the German personal pronouns.
mich, dich, ihn/sie/es, uns, euch, sie/Sie.
Give the dative forms of the German personal pronouns.
mir, dir, ihm/ihr/ihm, uns, euch, ihnen/Ihnen.
What is the difference between du, ihr, and Sie in German?
du = informal singular, ihr = informal plural, Sie = formal (singular or plural), always capitalized.
What is the possessive pronoun (determiner) for each person in German?
mein, dein, sein (his/its), ihr (her/their), unser, euer, Ihr (formal your).
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How do possessive pronouns like mein agree with the noun they modify?
They take the same endings as ein/kein, agreeing in gender, number, and case with the following noun (e.g., mein Vater, meine Mutter, meinen Bruder).
Distinguish sein and ihr as possessive pronouns.
sein = his/its (masc./neut. owner); ihr = her (fem. owner) or their (plural owner).
What are the main German demonstrative pronouns meaning 'this/that'?
dieser (this) and jener (that), plus der/die/das used demonstratively; they decline like the definite article.
How does dieser decline in the nominative for the three genders and plural?
dieser (masc.), diese (fem.), dieses (neut.), diese (plural).
How is the demonstrative dieser different from the definite article in usage?
dieser specifically points out 'this particular one' and always takes strong (der-word) endings, functioning as a determiner or standalone pronoun.
How is the present tense of a regular German verb formed? Give the endings.
Take the stem and add: ich -e, du -st, er/sie/es -t, wir -en, ihr -t, sie/Sie -en (e.g., spielen: ich spiele).
Conjugate sein (to be) in the present tense.
ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, sie/Sie sind.
Conjugate haben (to have) in the present tense.
ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben, ihr habt, sie/Sie haben.
What is the German present tense used for besides current actions?
It also expresses habitual actions and, very commonly, future events (often with a time expression), e.g., Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin.
What are the two German past tenses and their typical use?
The Perfekt (present perfect) for spoken/conversational past, and the Präteritum (simple past) mainly for written narrative and with sein/haben/modals.
How is the German Perfekt (present perfect) formed?
Auxiliary haben or sein (present tense) + the past participle placed at the end, e.g., Ich habe gespielt; Ich bin gegangen.
How is the past participle of a regular (weak) verb formed?
ge- + verb stem + -t; e.g., spielen to gespielt, machen to gemacht.
Which verbs use sein as the auxiliary in the Perfekt?
Verbs of motion/change of location (gehen, fahren, kommen) and change of state (werden, sterben), plus sein and bleiben.
How is the Präteritum of a weak (regular) verb formed? Give endings.
Stem + -te + personal endings: ich spielte, du spieltest, er spielte, wir spielten, ihr spieltet, sie spielten.
Give the Präteritum forms of sein and haben (ich/er).
sein: ich war, er war. haben: ich hatte, er hatte.
How is the German future tense (Futur I) formed?
werden (conjugated) + infinitive at the end, e.g., Ich werde lernen; Sie wird kommen.
Conjugate the auxiliary werden in the present tense (used for the future).
ich werde, du wirst, er/sie/es wird, wir werden, ihr werdet, sie/Sie werden.
What is the basic word order of a German main (declarative) clause?
Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), with the conjugated verb always in the second position (V2 rule).
State the German 'verb-second' (V2) rule.
In a main clause the conjugated verb must occupy the second position; if another element (e.g., a time phrase) comes first, the subject moves after the verb (inversion).
Where do the two verb parts go in a main clause with a modal or auxiliary (the 'sentence bracket')?
The conjugated verb is in position 2 and the infinitive or past participle goes to the very end, forming a bracket, e.g., Ich will heute FuĂźball spielen.
Give the standard order of objects: when do dative and accusative noun objects appear?
With two noun objects, dative precedes accusative (Ich gebe dem Kind den Ball). But an accusative pronoun precedes a dative noun.
How do you form a yes/no question in German?
Invert to put the conjugated verb first, then the subject: Verb–Subject–...? e.g., Spielst du Fußball?
How do you form a wh-question (information question) in German?
Question word first, then the conjugated verb, then the subject: Wo wohnst du? Was machst du?
List common German question words (interrogatives).
wer (who), was (what), wo (where), wann (when), warum (why), wie (how), welcher (which), wie viel (how much).
What are the two main German negation words and how are they used?
nicht negates verbs, adjectives, or whole clauses; kein negates nouns that would take ein or no article (Ich habe kein Auto).
Where does nicht typically go in a sentence?
Usually before the element it negates; to negate the whole sentence it goes near the end, but before infinitives, participles, and separable prefixes at the end.
What happens to the conjugated verb in a German subordinate clause?
The conjugated verb moves to the very end of the clause (verb-final word order), e.g., ..., weil ich mĂĽde bin.
List common subordinating conjunctions that send the verb to the end.
weil (because), dass (that), wenn (if/when), ob (whether), obwohl (although), damit (so that), als (when, past).
How is punctuation and verb order handled when a subordinate clause begins the sentence?
A comma separates the clauses, and because the subordinate clause fills position 1, the main clause's conjugated verb comes immediately after the comma: Weil ich krank bin, bleibe ich zu Hause.
German Grammar Fundamentals FAQ
What is in the German Grammar Fundamentals syllabus?
German Grammar Fundamentals is split into 4 chapters: Nouns and Articles, Pronouns, Verbs and Tenses and Sentence Structure. Together they contain 12 topics.
How many chapters are in German Grammar Fundamentals?
4 chapters, containing 12 topics. The largest chapter is Nouns and Articles, with 3 topics.
Are there flashcards for German Grammar Fundamentals?
Yes — a 49-card Grammar Fundamentals deck, printed in full in the flashcards section of this page and available in the Examius app with spaced repetition. The free plan covers one exam of your choice, including its flashcards; Examius Pro, a one-time purchase, unlocks every other exam and deck.