Free German grammar guides, one topic at a time.

Sounds, verbs, cases and the first sentence patterns.

• A1Alphabet and pronunciationThe German alphabet with letter names, ä, ö, ü and ß, eight sound rules (w, v, z, ei, ie, ch, sch, final d), word stress, spelling your name aloud, German sounds you know from Hindi, and exercises.
• A1NumbersGerman numbers from 0 to a million: why 21 is einundzwanzig, the tricky 16, 17 and 30, amounts in euros, years like 1998, phone numbers, Hindi इक्कीस as a parallel, and exercises with answers.
• A1Question wordsGerman question words and W-questions: the full list, word order, wo vs wohin vs woher, wer, wen and wem, wie viel vs wie viele, indirect questions, Hindi क-words compared, and exercises with answers.
• A1ja, nein, dochWhat doch means in German: the answer to negative questions, contradicting with doch, doch as but and after all, and the particle doch in Komm doch mit!, with Hindi ना compared and exercises with answers.
• A1Present tenseGerman present-tense verb conjugation: the six endings, spelling adjustments, verbs that change their vowel like fahren and sprechen, sein, haben, werden and wissen, Hindi हूँ and है compared, and exercises.
• A1Der, die, dasWhen does German use der, die or das? The three genders, reliable noun-ending patterns, why Hindi gender does not carry over, common mistakes, and exercises with answers.
• A1nicht or keinWhen to use nicht and when kein in German, the forms of kein, where nicht goes in the sentence, nicht … sondern, answering with doch, Hindi parallels, mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A1AkkusativThe German accusative made simple: when to use it, the only articles that change (der → den), pronouns, accusative prepositions, mistakes Hindi speakers make, and exercises.
• A1Word orderGerman word order made simple: the verb in second position, the sentence bracket, questions, and verb-last clauses after weil and dass, with what Hindi gets right and wrong, and exercises.
• A1Modal verbsGerman modal verbs made clear: meanings of können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen and mögen with Hindi parallels, the forms, word order, müssen nicht vs dürfen nicht, polite möchte and könnte, and exercises.
• A1Telling the timeHow to tell the time in German: the formal 24-hour way, everyday Viertel and halb, why halb drei is 2:30, Hindi सवा, साढ़े and पौने side by side, um and gegen, and exercises with answers.
• A1DatesHow to say and write dates in German: days, months and seasons, am, im and um, ordinal numbers like am fünften Mai, der fünfte vs am fünften, birthdays, Hindi को compared, and exercises with answers.
• A1Separable verbsGerman separable verbs made clear: how to recognise them, where the prefix goes, when the parts stay together, inseparable prefixes, the Perfekt and zu-infinitive, mistakes and exercises.
• A1PerfektThe German Perfekt made clear: haben or sein, how to form regular, irregular and separable participles, a Hindi ने check for haben, Perfekt vs Präteritum, mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A1DativThe German dative made simple: dem, der, dem and den + n, dative pronouns, verbs like helfen and gefallen, dative prepositions, Akkusativ vs Dativ, and exercises with answers.
• A1PrepositionsGerman prepositions made clear: which always take the Akkusativ or Dativ, the nine two-way prepositions and the Wo?/Wohin? test, contractions, the Hindi से trap, and exercises with answers.
• A1ImperativeThe German imperative for du, ihr and Sie: how each form is built, stem-vowel changes, sein as the exception, bitte and mal for politeness, Hindi आ, आओ and आइए side by side, and exercises with answers.

Connecting sentences, more cases, comparisons and everyday structures.

• A2GenitivThe German Genitiv made clear: des and der, -s and -es endings, names like Rahuls Handy, wegen, trotz and während, Genitiv vs von, the Hindi का/की/के twist, and exercises with answers.
• A2weil, denn, deshalbweil, denn and deshalb in German: which one sends the verb to the end, which keeps normal order and which swaps it, with Hindi क्योंकि and इसलिए parallels, common mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A2dass-clausesGerman dass-clauses: why the verb goes to the end, useful starters like ich glaube, dass, leaving dass out, the das or dass spelling test, Hindi कि as a parallel, common mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A2Possessive articlesGerman possessive articles mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and Ihr: which one to choose, how the endings follow ein and kein in every case, sein vs ihr compared with Hindi अपना, and exercises with answers.
• A2Comparative and superlativeGerman comparatives and superlatives made clear: -er and am -sten, umlauts, irregular forms like besser and lieber, als vs wie, forms before nouns, how Hindi से compares, and exercises.
• A2Reflexive verbsGerman reflexive verbs made clear: reflexive pronouns in the Akkusativ and Dativ, when to use mir instead of mich, the verbs to learn first, word order, the Hindi अपना comparison, and exercises.
• A2liegen, legen, stehen, stellenGerman position verbs: liegen and legen, stehen and stellen, sitzen and setzen, hängen and stecken, wo with Dativ vs wohin with Akkusativ, past forms, Hindi रखना compared, and exercises with answers.
• A2Konjunktiv IIThe German Konjunktiv II made clear: würde and the short forms, polite requests, wishes, unreal conditions with wenn, advice, the past with hätte and wäre, a Hindi parallel, and exercises.
• A2Adjective endingsGerman adjective endings made clear: why the article or the adjective carries the signal, tables after der, ein and no article, shortcuts, a Hindi parallel, mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A2als, wenn, wannals, wenn or wann? The three German words for "when": one event in the past, repeated or future events and conditions, and questions, with Hindi जब, जब भी and कब, common mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A2man, jemand, niemandGerman indefinite pronouns: man, jemand and niemand, etwas and nichts, alle vs jeder vs alles, einer, keiner and eins, why Hindi कुछ नहीं is one German word, common mistakes and exercises with answers.
• A2Verbs with prepositionsGerman verbs with fixed prepositions: common pairs with Akkusativ and Dativ, sich freuen auf vs über, questions with worauf and auf wen, answers with darauf, Hindi का इंतज़ार as a parallel, and exercises with answers.
• A2Relative clausesGerman relative clauses made clear: relative pronouns in all cases, how to choose gender and case, prepositions, was and wo, the Hindi जो … वह parallel, mistakes and exercises with answers.

Tenses, clauses and the structures the Goethe B1 exam expects.

• B1zu + infinitiveThe German infinitive with zu: which verbs and phrases take it, where zu goes in separable verbs, when there is no zu, um … zu vs damit, ohne and statt, the comma, Hindi के लिए, and exercises with answers.
• B1PräteritumThe German Präteritum made clear: when to use it instead of the Perfekt, regular -te forms, irregular verbs to learn first, mixed verbs, separable verbs, a note for Hindi speakers, and exercises.
• B1PassiveThe German passive made clear: werden + participle in every tense, von and durch, wird geöffnet vs ist geöffnet, passive without a subject, a Hindi parallel with जाना, and exercises with answers.
• B1n-DeklinationThe German n-Deklination: which masculine nouns add -n or -en, the three groups to recognise, Herr and Herrn in formal letters, Name and des Namens, Hindi लड़का and लड़के compared, and exercises with answers.
• B1Future tenseThe German future tense: how Futur I is built with werden, why Germans often use the present for plans, predictions and guesses, the three meanings of werden, the ich will trap, Hindi -गा compared, and exercises.
• B1PlusquamperfektThe German Plusquamperfekt: hatte or war + participle, when to use the past before the past, the tense step after nachdem, bevor and als, Hindi चुका था compared, common mistakes and exercises with answers.
• B1Time clausesGerman time clauses with während, seit, seitdem, bis, sobald and solange: verb at the end, the present tense after seit, conjunction or preposition, Hindi जब तक and जैसे ही compared, and exercises with answers.
• B1Two-part connectorsGerman two-part connectors: sowohl … als auch, weder … noch, entweder … oder, nicht nur … sondern auch and zwar … aber, with word order, commas, Hindi न … न parallels, common mistakes and exercises.