Basics & Everyday Life
Introducing yourself, building simple sentences, understanding everyday life.
Target exam: Goethe-Zertifikat A1 / telc Deutsch A1
Alphabet und Aussprache
German alphabet, buchstabieren (spelling out letter by letter), and basic pronunciation rules.
Buchstabenkombinationen (Letter Combinations)
Letter groups like sch, ch, ei, ie, eu, sp/st form a single sound.
Syllables and Stress (Silben und Betonung)
In German, the stress is mostly on the first syllable; long and short vowels change the meaning.
Zahlen (Numbers)
Numbers from 0'dan 100'e and beyond — essential for prices, times, phone numbers.
Begrüßung & Vorstellung (Greetings & Introductions)
Wie heißt du? Woher kommst du? Wo wohnst du? Wie geht's? — all the phrases for your first conversation.
Professions (Berufe): nouns, the -in suffix, and stating your profession
Ich bin Lehrerin. Er arbeitet als Koch. Was sind Sie von Beruf?
Personalpronomen (Personal Pronouns)
ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie — the first step to forming sentences.
Auxiliary verbs: sein, haben, werden
The most fundamental verbs in German: sein (to be), haben (to have), and werden (to become).
Präsens: Regular Verb Conjugation
Conjugation rules for regular verbs in the present tense.
Präsens: Irregular Verbs (Vokalwechsel)
Stem-vowel changing verbs like fahren, sprechen, lesen, essen.
German Sentence Structure (Satzbau)
Verb always in position 2: normal word order, inversion, question sentences, and the verb part going to the end of the sentence.
Articles and Nouns (der, die, das · ein, eine)
Definite and indefinite articles, capitalising nouns, and suffixes that help predict the article.
Nominativ (Nominative Case)
The subject of the sentence: the base form that answers the questions 'wer?' and 'was?'.
Negation: nicht and kein
When to negate a sentence with 'nicht' and when with 'kein'.
The Plural Form of Nouns
5 different ways to form the plural in German.
Compound nouns (Komposita)
das Haus + die Tür = die Haustür: the last word always determines the article.
Akkusativ (accusative case)
The case indicating the direct object: answers the question 'wen/was'.
Präpositionen mit Akkusativ (für, durch, gegen, ohne, um)
Prepositions always followed by the Akkusativ: für dich, ohne Zucker, durch den Park.
Possessivartikel (Possessive Determiners)
mein, dein, sein, ihr... — indicating who something belongs to.
Possessivpronomen (meiner, deiner: mine, yours)
Possession without a noun: 'Ist das dein Stift?' – 'Ja, das ist meiner.'
Adjectives: Das Haus ist groß / ein großes Haus
The adjective takes no ending after a verb; before a noun in Nominativ it takes an ending.
W-Fragen (Question Words)
Wer, was, wo, wann, wie, warum... basic question patterns.
Conjunctions: und, aber, oder, denn, sondern
Conjunctions that connect two sentences without changing the position of the verb.
Modalverben (können, müssen, dürfen, wollen, sollen, möchten)
Modal verbs expressing ability, necessity, and desire.
Trennbare Verben (Separable Verbs)
aufstehen, einkaufen, fernsehen — prefixed verbs split into two in a sentence.
Untrennbare Verben (Inseparable Verbs)
verstehen, bekommen, besuchen — prefixes like be-, ver-, er- never separate from the verb.
Imperativ (commands: Sie, du, ihr)
Requests and instructions: the imperative with formal 'Sie' and informal 'du' / 'ihr'.
Präpositionen für Ort (in, an, auf...)
Prepositions of place and an introduction to Dativ vs. Akkusativ.
Clock Time and Time Expressions (Uhrzeit · am, im, um)
Asking and telling the time; am, im, um, von … bis for days, months and times.
Dates: Days, Months, Seasons and Ordinal Numbers
Days of the week, months, seasons, ordinal numbers and how to say and write the date.
Wie oft? Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)
Say how often you do something: immer, meistens, oft, manchmal, selten, nie.
Quantities: ein bisschen, viel, wenig, ein paar
A little, a lot, few, a couple: expressions of quantity and measure.
gern, lieber, am liebsten (to like, to prefer)
Ich spiele gern Fußball. Ich trinke lieber Tee. Am liebsten lese ich.
Perfekt (Introduction to the Past Tense)
haben/sein + Partizip II — the past tense used most in spoken German.
Writing short letters and emails (A1 Schreiben)
Greeting, opening, request, closing: ready-made phrases for Goethe A1 Schreiben Teil 2.