German Reference-Sheet 1.0
German Reference-Sheet 1.0
2 Table of contents:
1 Disclaimer: ............................................................1 13 Other tenses (sonstige Zeiten): ....................... 10
2 Table of contents: ..................................................1 14 Infinitives (Infinitive): ................................... 10
3 Alphabet (Alphabet):.............................................2 15 Reflexive verbs (reflexive Verben): ............... 10
4 Nouns (Substantive/Hauptwörter):........................3 16 Separable and inseparable verbs (trennbare und
4.1 General declension: ......................................3 untrennbare Verben): .................................................. 10
4.2 Common examples: ......................................3 17 General verbs (allgemeine Verben/Zeitwörter):
4.3 Genders (Geschlechter): ...............................3 11
5 Numerals (Zahlwörter):.........................................4 18 Adverbs (Adverbien/Nebenwörter):............... 12
5.1 Cardinals (Kardinealzahl/Grundzahlen): ......4 18.1 Comparative adverbs
5.2 Ordinals (Ordinalzahl/Ordnungszahl): .........4 (Komparativadverbien): ......................................... 12
6 Articles (Artikel/Geschlechtswörter): ...................4 18.2 Irregular comparatives: .............................. 12
7 Pronouns (Pronomen/Fürwörter): .........................4 18.3 Interrogative adverbs
7.1 Personal pronouns (Personalpronomen, (Interrogativadverbien/Frageadverbien): ................ 12
persönliches Fürwörter): ...........................................4 19 Conjunctions (Konjunctionen/Bindewörter): . 12
7.2 Other pronouns and determiners: .................5 20 Prepositions and postpositions
8 Adjectives (Adjektive/Beiwörter): ........................6 (Präpositionen/Verhältniswörter und
8.1 Irregular comparatives: ................................6 Postpositionen/Nachsetzwörter):................................. 13
9 Auxillary verbs (Hilfesverben/Hilfeszeitwörter): .6 21 Modal particles (Modalpartikeln und
9.1 Modal verbs:.................................................7 Abtönungspartikeln): .................................................. 15
10 Strong verbs (starke Verben): ...........................7 22 Word-order (Wortstellung): ........................... 15
10.1 General conjugation: ....................................7 22.1 Main clauses (Hauptsätze/Aussagesätze): . 15
10.2 Classes: .........................................................8 22.2 Dependent clauses (Nebensätze): .............. 15
11 Weak verbs (schwache Verben): ......................8 22.3 Negation: ................................................... 15
11.1 General conjugation: ....................................8 22.4 Questions (Fragen): ................................... 16
12 Irregular verbs (unregelmäßige Verben):..........8 22.5 Adverbs (Adverbien/Nebenwörter): .......... 16
12.1 Irregular weak verbs: ....................................8 23 Notes: ............................................................. 16
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3 Alphabet (Alphabet):
Letter: Name: Sound: Broad English: Common rules:
Vowels
(Vokale):
a ah /a/, /aː/ father
e eh /ε/ get
/eː/ bed
i ih /ɪ/ sit
/iː/ meet
o oh /ɔ/ off
/oː/ bone
u uh /ʊ/ took
/uː/ true
ä Ärger /εː/ aeroplane
ö Ökonom /øː/, /œ/
ü Übermut /yː/, /ʏ/
au /aʊ/ how
ei /aɪ/ tie
äu/eu /ɔʏ/ oil~
ie /iː/ meet
Consonants
(Konsonanten):
b beh /b/ ball
/p/ pick at the end
c zeh /k/ cold
/ts/ cats before front vowels
d deh /d/ done
/t/ tall at the end
f ef /f/ fuss
g geh /g/ guest
/k/ cold at the end
/ç/ hue~ in -ig
h hah /h/ hut at a word’s beginning or in a syllable before any vowel but e
// silent
j jot /j/ yard
k kah /k/ cold
l el /l/ last
m em /m/ must
n en /n/ not
p peh /p/ pick
q quh /k/ cold
/kv/ in qu
r er /ʁ/, /r/
s es /z/ hose
/s/ fast at the end and after consonants
/ʃ/ shall before p and t
t teh /t/
v vau /f/ fuss at the end, in prefices ver- and vor-, and at the beginning of most
Geographical and family names
/v/ vanish
w weh /v/ vanish
x ix /ks/ prefix
y ypsilon /ʏ/
z zett /ts/ cats
ß Eszett /s/, /ss/ fast
ch /ç/ hue~ after front-vowels, eu, and äu, and sometimes at the beginning of
words before front-vowels, exc. Sechs
/x/, /χ/ loch (Scots), ugh~ after back-vowels
/k/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ depending on the origin, e.g. Greek,
/k/ cold before s
ck /k/ cold
pf /pf/ cupfull
ph /f/ fuss old orthography
sch /ʃ/ shall
tsch, zsch, etc /tʃ/ match
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4 Nouns (Substantive/Hauptwörter):
4.1 General declension:
Singular: Plural:
M./N. M./N. M. F. A. M./N. A. A. M./N.
Nom. -e -e -er -en -s
Acc. -en -en -e -er -en -s
Gen. -(e)s -en -en(s) -en -ern -en -s -n
Dat. -en -en -e -er -en -s
4.2 Common examples:
S. G. Pl. N. Categories/Examples:
-(e)s -e Masc. -eur, -ich, -ier, -ig, -ling, -ör
(ü)- Many monosyllabic masculine and neuter nouns, e.g. das Buch, das
e(r) Wort
-en Loanwords, -ma, -um, -us
-s -a, -i, -o, -u, -y, some loan-words, family names, most colours
Masc. and neut. -el, -en, -er, -chen, -lein
-en -en Masc. -e, -ent, -and, -ant, -ist, -or
-ens Masc. abstract nouns ending in -e
-en Fem. -e, -in, -ion, -ik, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tät, -ung
-s die Kamera, die Party
ü Near familial roles but die Schwester and der Sohn
ü-e Many monosyllabic feminine nouns, e.g. die Kraft, die Hand
• Feminie nouns ending in -in or -ion have a second n.
4.3 Genders (Geschlechter):
Gender (Geschlect): Categories:
Masculine (Maskulin, male people,
Männlich): seasons of the year,
days, months,
precipitation,
cardinal directions
-ling, -ig, -eur, -ich (except Reich), -ier, -ig, -ling, -ör
nouns formed from verbs without the -en
Feminie (Feminin): female people (but not diminutives)
numbers as nouns
-ung, -schaft, -ion, -heit, -keit, -tät, -ik, -ei (except
Papagei)
many non-living things ending in -e
Neuter (Neutral, Sächlich): letter of the alphabet
-lein, -chen, -um, -ment, -ma,
nouns from verbs with the -en
nouns from verbs without the -en and a Ge-.
nouns from adjectives not referring to something
particular
nouns made from English word ending in -ing.
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5 Numerals (Zahlwörter):
5.1 Cardinals (Kardinealzahl/Grundzahlen):
eins zwei drei vier fünf sechs
sieben acht neun zehn elf zwölf
• Teens are formed by the suffix -zehn.
• Tens are formed by the suffix -zig.
• 100 = einhundert; 1,000 = eintausend; 1,000,000 = eine Million.
• Compound numbers are formed as ein Million (ein)tausend-einhundert-(und)-ein-und-zehn.
• Exceptions are sechzehn, siebzehn, zwanzig, dreißig, and siebzig.
5.2 Ordinals (Ordinalzahl/Ordnungszahl):
erst zweit dritt (vier-neunzehn)-t …-st
• Ordinals are written with a full-stop, e.g. 1. = erst.
• Adverbs add the suffix -ens for lists, e.g. Erstens … (Firstly…).
• Fractions add the suffix -el, which is undeclined. Half is however either halb, when it is an
adjective, or die Hälfte, when it is a noun, which is often definite.
6 Articles (Artikel/Geschlechtswörter):
Definite (or relative or demonstrative): Indefinite (and kein):
M. N. F. Plural: M. N. F.
Nom. der das die die ein ein eine
Acc. den einen
Gen. des(en) der(en) der(en) eines einer
Dat. dem der den(en) einem
• An indefinite article is generally not present for verbs implying equalisation or identification,
i.e. sein and werden.
• The suffices in parenthesis are when the article is used as a relative pronoun.
7 Pronouns (Pronomen/Fürwörter):
7.1 Personal pronouns (Personalpronomen, persönliches Fürwörter):
Singular: Plural:
1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
M. N. F.
Nom. ich du er es sie wir ihr sie
Acc. mich dich ihn uns euch
Dat. mir dir ihm ihr ihnen
Poss. mein dein sein unser euer ihr
Gen. meiner deiner seiner ihrer ihrer
• The third-person reflexive pronouns are sich. Else, it is the same as the non-reflexive form.
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7.2 Other pronouns and determiners:
Pronoun: Kind: Meaning: Declension:
mein, … dependent possessive pronouns ein
meiner, … independent possessive pronouns desen
dieser dem. this, this one der
jener that, that one der
derjenige he, the/this/that one der + weak adj.
derselbe the same der + weak adj.
mancher many der
solcher such adj.
beide both, (the) two das, weak adj.
paar some, few
viel much, many (adj.)
einer indef. one, someone der, weak adj.
keiner no one, none, neither der
jemand someone masc. ein
niemand no one masc. ein
jeder each, everyone, anyone der
alles everything, everyone, all der, strong adj.
etwas something
etwer someone masc. desen
nichts nothing, neut. das
wer inter., who, someone masc. desen
was indef., rel. what, something
welcher inter., rel. which der
• The possessive pronoun euer contracts to eure if there is a suffix.
• Jener is uncommon in colloquial German.
• When the article in derselbe is contracted with a preposition, then the pronoun is sundered.
• Beide must be plural for people. It may be singular for two things. The genitive is obsolete.
• Paar is often used with an undeclined ein.
• Viel as an adjective is never declined when it is singular and without an article.
• Indefinite pronouns may be re-emphasised with irgend-.
• Man has the declension: einen, einem, and sein.
• When an adjective is following, then jemend and niemand are not declined.
• Jeder has a plural form when it implies an interval, e.g. jede zwei Tage.
• The genitive of alles is allen if it is adjectival.
• A relative clause after an indefinite pronoun is often constructed by was. For euphonic
reasons, etwas may however take das.
• Wer may refer to inanimate things whose gender is not neuter.
• Was and wer as indefinites are only the first word in a sentence if there is a following
adjective; else, etwas or etwer are used.
• Welcher as a relative is used in colloquial speech instead of dessen to avoid a double.
• Was may be used as a relative adverb.
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8 Adjectives (Adjektive/Beiwörter):
Adjectives may either be attributive (attributive), predicative (prädikative), or adverbs
(adverbiale). The latter two are not declined.
Strong: Mixed: Weak:
M. N. F. Pl. M. N. F. Pl. M. N./F. Pl.
N. -er -es -e -e -er -es -e -en -e -e -en
A. -en -en -en
G. -en -er -er -en -en
D. -em -en
• An adjective is declined:
o strong if it follows nothing or something that does not fully convey case, etc.
o mixed if it follows either ein, kein, or a possessive pronoun,
o or weak if it follows either der, derselbe, dieser, jener, mancher, solcher, welcher, or
alles.
• Both -e, -el, and -er are contracted.
• The adjective hoch does not have a c if it is attributive.
• The comparative is formed by -er. If the stem has only one syllable, then the comparative has
a umulaut.
• The superlative is formed by -st. An e is added if the stem ends in either an s, ß, x, z, d, or t. If
it is attributive, then it must be formed with der. If it is abverbial, then it must be formed with
am in the dative. If it is predicative, then it may be either.
8.1 Irregular comparatives:
Meaning: Positive: Comparative: Superlative:
good gut besser beste
many viel mehr meiste
near nah näher nächste
high hoch höher höchste
big groß größer größte
9 Auxillary verbs (Hilfesverben/Hilfeszeitwörter):
Sein: This may mean to be, to feel, and to exist.
Infinitive: sein
Present participle: seiend
Past participle: gewesen
Finite: Indicative: Subjunctive:
Singular: Plural: Singular: Plural:
Present 1 bin sind sei seien
(Präsens) 2 bist seid seist seiet
3 ist sind sei seien
Preterite 1 war waren wäre wären
(Präteritum 2 warst wart wärest wäret
Imperfekt) 3 war waren wäre wären
Imperative: sei seid
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Haben: This may mean to have, to own, and to get.
Infinitive: haben
Present participle: habend
Past participle: gehabt
Finite: Indicative: Subjunctive:
Singular: Plural: Singular: Plural:
Present 1 habe haben habe haben
(Präsens) 2 hast habt habest habet
3 hat haben habe haben
Preterite 1 hatte hatten hätte hätten
(Präteritum 2 hattest hattet hättest hättet
Imperfekt)
3 hatte hatten hätte hätten
Imperative: hab(e) habt
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10.2 Classes:
Class: Stem: Pres. Pret. Pp. Exceptions:
I ei + /C ei ie ie
ei + ch/f/ß/t ei i i leiden, schneiden
IIa ie + C ie o o ziehen/zog
IIb au + C au o o saufen/säuft
IIIa i+n+C i a u
i + mm/nn i a o
l + i + mm i o o
IIIb e + r/l + C i a o warden/wurde, schrecken
e + ll/cht i o o dreschen, erlöschen, melken, schmelzen
IV e + ch/ff i a o erschrecken, nehman
e + hl ie a o gebären
ä/e + g/r ä/e o o weben
kommen o a o
V e + h/s/ss i a e geben, treten, genesen/genest, lessen/liest
i+t+C i a e liegen/liegst
VI a+C ä u a
heben e o o
stwören ö o o
VII X (ü) ie X fangen/fing, hängen/hing
11 Weak verbs (schwache Verben):
11.1 General conjugation:
Infinitive: -en
Present participle: -end
Past participle: ge-…-t
Finite: Indicative: Subjunctive:
Singular: Plural: Singular: Plural:
Present 1 -e -en -e -en
(Präsens) 2 -st -t -est -et
3 -t -en -e -en
Preterite 1 -te -ten -te -ten
(Präteritum 2 -test -tet -test -tet
Imperfekt) 3 -te -ten -te -ten
Imperative: -(e) -t
12 Irregular verbs (unregelmäßige Verben):
12.1 Irregular weak verbs:
Infinitive: Meaning: Preterite:
brennen to burn brannte
bringen to bring brachte
denken to think w.g. dachte
kennen to know, to be familiar of kannte
nennen to name nannte
rennen to run rannte
wissen to know, to be aware of wusste
• The verb wissen has weiß for all singular present indicative.
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• Their subjunctive preterite verbs have an umlaut.
Stehen: to stand, et al
Infinitive: stehen
Present participle: stehend
Past participle: gestanden
Finite: Indicative: Subjunctive:
Singular: Plural: Singular: Plural:
Present 1 stehe stehen stehe stehen
(Präsens) 2 stehst steht stehest stehet
3 steht stehen stehe stehen
Preterite 1 stand standen stä(/ü)nde stä(/ü)nden
(Präteritum 2 standest standet stä(/ü)ndest stä(/ü)ndet
Imperfekt) 3 stand standen stä(/ü)nde stä(/ü)nden
Imperative: steh(e) steht
Tun: to do, et al
Infinitive: tun
Present participle: tuend
Past participle: getan
Finite: Indicative: Subjunctive:
Singular: Plural: Singular: Plural:
Present 1 tue tun tue tuen
(Präsens) 2 tust tut tuest tuet
3 tut tun tue tuen
Preterite 1 tat taten täte täten
(Präteritum 2 tatest tatet tätest tätet
Imperfekt) 3 tat taten täte täten
Imperative: tu(e) tut
Gehen: to go, et al
Infinitive: gehen
Present participle: gehend
Past participle: gegangen
Finite: Indicative: Subjunctive:
Singular: Plural: Singular: Plural:
Present 1 gehe gehen gehe gehen
(Präsens) 2 gehst geht gehest gehet
3 geht gehen gehe gehen
Preterite 1 ging gingen ginge gingen
(Präteritum 2 gingst gingt gingest ginget
Imperfekt) 3 ging gingen ginge gingen
Imperative: geh(e) geht
• The verb brauchen is conjugated as a weak verb but in colloquial speech and sometimes
written language it has an A-umlaut for the preterite subjunctive forms.
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13 Other tenses (sonstige Zeiten):
Present perfect (Perfekt) haben + pp.
Past perfect (Plusquamperfekt) hatten + pp.
Future (Zukunft) werden + inf.
Future perfect (Vollendete Zukunft) werden + pp.+ haben
14 Infinitives (Infinitive):
• Double infinitives are used in the perfect and future tenses for:
o verbs that do not take zu,
o and the verbs lassen, helfen, and brauchen.
• Most verbs take zu for the infinitive. A verb does not take zu, if it:
o is a auxillary verb,
o implies a sense, e.g. sehen, hören, spüren, fühlen, etc.
o implies movement, e.g. gehen, kommen, fahren, laufen, etc,
o is finden or haben implying location,
o or is lassen, schicken, or bleiben.
• In an infinitive clause, zu is often used when the clause is the object or an adverb; if it is the
subject, it is not needed.
10
Separable: ab-, an-, auf-, aus-, bei-, ein-, los-, mit-, nach-, her-, hin-, vor-, weg-,
zu-, zurück-
Inseparable: be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-,
Either: durch-, hinter-, über-, um-, unter-,
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▪ if the stem ends in -eln and -ern; the middle e may be left off.
18 Adverbs (Adverbien/Nebenwörter):
• Auch combined with an interrogative makes it indefinite.
• Mehr combined with negation means never again, no longer, etc.
18.1 Comparative adverbs (Komparativadverbien):
• Some adverbial comparatives are formed by the adjectival suffices and a umlaut.
• Superlatives must be formed with am in the dative.
18.2 Irregular comparatives:
Meaning: Positive: Comparative: Superlative:
soon bald eher am ehesten
willingly gern lieber am liebsten
often oft häufiger/öfter am häufigsten/öftesten
very, much sehr mehr am meisten
• The comparative eher may also mean rather, comparatively, or somewhat, aswell as earlier.
18.3 Interrogative adverbs (Interrogativadverbien/Frageadverbien):
Adverb: Meaning: Adverb: Meaning:
wo where warum why (reason)
wohin whither weshalb why (purpose)
woher whence wieso why (cause)
wann when wozu to what, for what
wie how wofür
worüber about what wovon about what, of what
• Interrogative compounds are formed with wo and the preposition. If the preposition begins
with a vowel, then an r is set between.
• Interrogative adverbs can be used as relative adverbs.
19 Conjunctions (Konjunctionen/Bindewörter):
• The conjunction denn may be used as than after comparatives, yet it seems archaic.
o However, it is commonly used instead of als when it is before either als or je.
• After negatives, sondern implies contrast, whilst aber implies gradation or nuance.
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20 Prepositions and postpositions (Präpositionen/Verhältniswörter und
Postpositionen/Nachsetzwörter):
Common prepositions and postpositions:
Ones that take both accusative and dative take the former when motion is implied.
Preposition: General meaning: Case:
ab from (time) D.
abzüglich less, minus G.
an at, on (beside) A, D.
on (a weekday), in (a time of day), at (the weekend) D.
angesichts given, in view of G.
auf on (upon), onto, up A, D.
in (a picture/the world), at (an event/the station) D.
aus from, out of D.
außer except D.
out of D.
außerhalb outside G.
bar devoid of G.
bei at D.
by, near D.
with (a person) D.
betreffend concerning A.
bezüglich concerning, wrt. G.
binnen within (time) G.
bis until, by (time) A.
dank thanks to G, D.
durch through A.
by (ag.), because of A.
einschließlich including G.
entgengen (postp.) towards D.
contrary to D.
entlang along (postp, common) A.
along (an + noun + postp.) D.
along (prep.) G, D.
entsprechend according to D.
für for A.
gegen against A.
around, about (time) A.
gegenüber across to D.
to (a person)
gemäß according to D.
halber (postp.) for the sake of G.
hinter behind A, D.
in into, to A.
in, at D.
in (month, season), at (time) D.
in, on (address) D.
on (TV, radio) D.
infolge because of G.
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inmitten in the midst of G.
innerhalb inside of (people) G.
lang (postp.) for (time) A.
laut according to G, D.
mangels for lack of G.
mit with D.
over (time) D.
at (an age) D.
mittels by means of G.
nach after (time) D.
to (Geographical place and Haus) D.
according to (postp.) D.
like (with sensorary verbs) D.
nahe near D.
neben next to A, D.
oberhalb above, beyond G.
ohne without A.
samt together with D.
seit since D.
for (time) D.
trotz despite G, D.
über over, above A, D.
across, through A.
by, through (process) A.
about (concerning) A.
throughout (postp.) A.
um around A.
at (time) A.
unbeschadet notwithstanding G.
ungeachtet in spite of G.
unter under, below A, D.
among D.
unterhalb below, underneath G.
unweit not far from G.
von from D.
from (time) D.
of (partitive) D.
by (ag.) D.
vor in front of A, D.
of (partitive) D.
ago, before (time) D.
to (clock) D.
während during G, D.
wegen because of G, D.
wider against A.
zu to, towards D.
at D.
zufolge (postp.) according to D.
14
zuliebe (postp.) for the sake of D.
zuwider (postp.) contrary to D.
zugunsten in favour of G.
zwischen between A, D.
21 Modal particles (Modalpartikeln und Abtönungspartikeln):
Common model particles:
(being worked)
22 Word-order (Wortstellung):
22.1 Main clauses (Hauptsätze/Aussagesätze):
• The finite verb must be second, and any infinite verbs or participles must be last.
• The direct object is often after time, place, and the indirect object.
• Pronouns are set before nouns. Accusative pronouns are set before dative pronouns.
• Older information is further from the end, whilst newer information is nearer.
• If the direct object is indefinite, then it must be set after the time and place.
• The indirect object, time, and place are interchangable otherwise.
• If an emphasis is on either the indirect object, time, or place, then it may be set after the direct
object.
•
First word (Vorfeld)
Finite verb
Subject
Dative object
Time
Reason
Manner
Place
Accusative object
Prepositional phrase
Negation
Separable prefices
Infinite verbs or past participles
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• Either nicht or kein may be used with the conjunction sondern.
22.4 Questions (Fragen):
• The word-order is as expected for English or Old English.
• Closed questions (Entscheidungsfragen)
• Open questions (Ergänzungsfragen)
22.5 Adverbs (Adverbien/Nebenwörter):
• Adverbs generally sit before the accusative object and after the dative object.
• Adverbs must never be directly before a pronoun.
23 Notes:
Sources and useful websites:
• https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/german-english/
• https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/german-english/abfahren
• https://www.duden.de/
• https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/grammar
• https://coerll.utexas.edu/gg/gr/con_06.html
• https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/German/Grammar/Sentences
• https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
• https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:German_strong_verbs
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_strong_verb#German
• https://resources.german.lsa.umich.edu/grammatik/strong-weak-mixed/
• https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/German/Grammar/Alphabet_and_Pronunciation
• https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:German_pronunciation
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