Although there are exact grammatical rules for this, you will need to know the grammatical gender of a noun to apply the rules correctly. They indicate how someone or something is (for example gut, schnell – good, fast). It is not too difficult, especially if you are a native speaker of another European language. In this part of the site, we explain the order of words in main clauses, questions, and dependent clauses. They are reflected in the declension of the aforementioned articles and certain adjectival pronouns as these change to show the case of the nouns they modify (however, the German noun itself does not change much to signal its case). One such example is irregular verbs which are often the same in German and English (e.g., sing, bring, drink). You will have to learn the plural form of most German nouns by heart. In the German language there are six tenses: present (Präsens), present perfect (Perfekt), simple past or preterite (Präteritum), past perfect (Plusquamperfekt), future (Futur I), and future perfect (Futur II). For example, a man in German is “ein Mann”, or “der Mann” if definite article is used, which tells you the noun is masculine whereas a woma… German Grammar with Rules and Interactive Exercises. The German language uses four cases. German, like English, has grammatical irregularities or exceptions. Adjectives are descriptive words. However, in most cases, there are no signals to indicate which gender a noun belongs to and you will need to learn the gender of each noun by heart. Here you can find information about modal verbs, reflexive verbs, separable … Exercise 1 - Konjugation Präsens, Personalpronomen I; Exercise 2 - Bestimmter und unbestimmter Artikel I; Exercise 3 - Bestimmter … Here you can find information about modal verbs, reflexive verbs, separable and inseparable verbs, the passive voice, the imperative, and the subjunctive. Some adverbs can be comparative. Adjectives can be comparative, and sometimes we have to decline them too. German Grammar with Rules and Interactive Exercises Tenses. They are in two different formats: multiple choice and fill in the blanks. They are generally used with an article and have to be declined. For example, a man in German is “ein Mann”, or “der Mann” if definite article is used, which tells you the noun is masculine whereas a woman is “eine Frau” or “die Frau” and, therefore, feminine. Once you start, you will soon realize that the basic rules of German grammar are relatively simple. Our complete grammar explanations make learning German easy. You can interactively and independently test your progress and apply German grammar rules. In German, nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter (for example der Löffel, die Gabel, das Messer – the spoon, the fork, the knife). Fortunately, these exceptions tend to follow set patterns but a certain amount of pure memorization is required. Learn the most important rules and their exceptions and master verb conjugation in various tenses. We make a distinction between personal, possessive, reflexive, interrogative, demonstrative, and indefinite pronouns. The biggest difference is that in German the verb is always placed at the end of subordinate clauses. Adverbs are unchanging words (for example hier, gestern, darum, sehr – here, yesterday, therefore, very), which we use to provide information about place, time, reason, or manner. German uses two indefinite articles “ein” and “eine” which stand for “a” or “an” in English and three definite articles “der”, “die” and “das” that correspond to the English “the”. German Exercises. The different tenses are explained in the section called "Tenses". But for a language, having precise grammar rules is not all that bad after all. Below is a brief overview of the most important specifics of German grammar from the perspective of an English (native) speaker. All Rights Reserved. A quick-learner can probably memorize them in a couple of days. In each tense, the verbs have to be conjugated (ich, du, er, ... – I, you, he, ...). Do not let grammar to discourage you from learning German. However, it will take practice and discipline to apply them in speech. Copyright © 2016 LearnGermanOnline.org. German word-order is not the same as English, although there are a lot of similarities. For example, “ein” and “eine” can also appear as “einer”, “eines” or “einem”, while “der”, “die” and “das” can be transformed into “dem”, “den” and “des”. That is, most of the German grammar rules are very logical and often related to grammar rules found in many other European languages. Free online exercises to practice the application of grammar rules for both beginners and advanced learners. With hundreds of interactive exercises for beginners through to advanced German learners, you can practise what you have learnt and master the German language. Many people, including German native-speakers themselves, believe that German is a difficult language to learn because of its complex grammar. The plural form of many nouns can differ significantly from its singular form and in most cases there are no exact rules to help you with that. We pay special attention to the areas of conditional clauses and indirect speech. There is no shortage of free online resources that teach German grammar. Pronouns take the place of nouns and have to be declined. Prepositions are short words (for example in, auf, ohne – in, on, without) that we use with nouns or pronouns. These articles tell you whether a noun associated with the article is masculine, feminine or neuter as all nouns in German have a grammatical gender (but this is not the same as biological gender). Learn German grammar online with Lingolia. Each preposition requires a particular case (genitive, dative, accusative). Below we present a list of those that specifically address grammar issues (please note that most German courses listed in other sections of this website are also dealing with grammar): Alternatively, if you prefer paper textbooks, you may be interested in these PDFs for practicing German grammar that you can download for free. Also, the prepositional part of compound separable verbs, e.g., “auf” in the German verb “aufstehen” (meaning stand up in English), comes at the end of the clause. In the German language there are six tenses: present (Präsens), present perfect (Perfekt), simple past or... Verbs. The English “you” has two forms in German – “du” and “Sie” in singular and “ihr” and “Sie” in plural. For those wishing to work offline there's a print version available. This is important when conjugating verbs that follow these pronouns and there are precise grammatical rules for it. German uses two indefinite articles “ein” and “eine” which stand for “a” or “an” in English and three definite articles “der”, “die” and “das” that correspond to the English “the”. If you learn to apply these rules correctly, you will soon be able to speak reasonably good German. For each German lesson you can find graded German exercises in the levels 'easy', 'medium' and 'difficult'. These articles tell you whether a noun associated with the article is masculine, feminine or neuter as all nouns in German have a grammatical gender (but this is not the same as biological gender). German online exercises that cover the most important grammar areas with a concentration of topics that make most foreigners problems.