Thought grammar was a mere detail in your language learning process? We’re here to deliver some bad news: you’ve got it all wrong.
And yet German grammar, as beautiful and mysterious as it may be, gives learners a run for their money in terms of pure frustration. Sadly, the English users of our online German course Wunderbla are no exception to the rule.
Gymglish has carefully selected the 10 most common German grammar mistakes our English-speaking users have made over the past year. We’re not here to point fingers.*
1) Possessive adjectives in the nominative
Let’s start our selection with possessive adjectives in the nominative:
| MASKULIN / NEUTRUM | FEMININ / PLURAL | |
|---|---|---|
| ich | mein Bruder | meine Lampe |
| du | dein Mann | deine Schwester |
| er / es | sein Auto | seine Töchter |
| sie | ihr Hotel | ihre Kamera |
| wir | unser Sohn | unsere Mutter |
| ihr | euer Haus | eure Schwester |
| sie / Sie | ihr / Ihr Kleid | ihre / Ihre Katzen |
Betty und ihr Hotel sind sehr speziell. Betty and her hotel are very special.
Ich hoffe, deine Reise ist schön! I hope your trip will be pleasant.
Euer Vater ist lustig! Your father is funny!
Note: feminine nouns and plural nouns take the same possessive adjectives.
More on possessive adjectives in the nominative here.
2) Personal pronouns (nominative case)
Another pitfall for German learners, personal pronouns are definitely no picnic.
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
| ich bin (I am) | wir sind (we are) |
| du bist (you are, singular, informal) | ihr seid (you are, plural, informal) |
| er, sie, es ist (he, she, it is) | sie, Sie sind (they are; you are, formal) |
Note: We use the personal pronoun Sie (you) to speak to someone (or several people) politely.
Going further with personal pronouns in the nominative form here.
3) The genitive
The genitive is used to show ownership and belonging.
Das ist Bettys Hotel. (Betty) This is Betty’s hotel. (Betty = nominative, Bettys = genitive)
Die Sprache meiner Mutter. (meine Mutter) My mother’s language. (meine Mutter = nominative, meiner Mutter = genitive)
These are the endings for articles in the genitive:
| GENITIVE | EXAMPLE | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | -es + s | Das Büro eines Buchhalters The office of an accountant |
| neuter | -es + s | Das Dach des Hotels ist kaputt The roof of the hotel is broken |
| feminine | -er | Die Schwester einer Küchenchefin The sister of a chef |
| Plural | -er | Die Badesachen der Gäste The swimwear of the guests |
To ask whom something belongs to, we use wessen (whose, to whom): –Wessen Koffer sind das? -Die Koffer der Gäste. (die Gäste)
‑Whose suitcases are these? ‑The guests’ suitcases. (die Gäste = nominative, der Gäste = genitive)
Note:
- For names, or masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive, ‑es or ‑s is generally added to the name/noun.
das Hotel die Türen des Hotels the hotel the doors of the hotel
ein Mann das Buch eines Mannes a man a man’s book
Anna Annas Kleiderschrank Anna Anna’s wardrobe
- Instead of the genitive we use von + dative for nouns without an article. The dative can also simply be used instead of the genitive in informal speech.
Die Produktion von Bademänteln. The production of dressing gowns.
Das Hotel von Betty. Betty’s hotel.
More on the genitive form here.
4) Regular verbs in the simple past tense
The Präteritum (simple past tense) is used to express completed actions in the past. It is mainly used in written German and for narrating stories.
Vor langer Zeit lebte eine Gruppe spezieller Menschen im Hotel Brandenbutt. A long time ago, a group of special people lived at the Hotel Brandenbutt.
Sie wohnte
n dort mit vielen Katzen… They lived there with many cats…
Verbs in the simple past tense are formed like this: stem of the verb + t + ending.
leben
ich lebte
du lebtest
er/sie/es lebte
wir lebten
ihr lebtet
sie/Sie lebten
wohnen
ich wohnte
du wohntest
er/sie/es wohnte
wir wohnten
ihr wohntet
sie/Sie wohnten
Note: if the stem of the verb ends in a ‑t or ‑d , you have to add an extra ‑e:
arbeit-en sie arbeitete arbeiten, Präteritum to work she worked
bad-en ich badete baden, Präteritum to bathe I bathed
More on regular verbs in the simple past tense here.
5) The imperative
The imperative is used for direct orders and requests.
Trinke noch einen Kaffee! Drink another coffee!
Warten Sie vor der Tür! Wait outside the door!
The imperative is formed with the same endings as the present tense. Exception: for du (you) there is no ‑st ending.
Präsens
ich gehe
du gehst
er/sie/es geht
wir gehen
ihr geht
sie/Sie gehen
Imperativ präsens
(du) Gehe!
(wir) Gehen wir!
(ihr) Geht!
(Sie) Gehen Sie!
The ‑e ending for the du (you) form is often omitted in everyday speech.
Gehe nach Haus Geh nach Hause! (Präsens: du gehst) Go home! (present tense: du gehst, you go)
Bleibe da! Bleib da! (Präsens: du bleibst) Stay there! (present tense: du bleibst, you stay)
For wir (we) and Sie (polite “you”) the pronoun is part of the imperative, as otherwise you could not differentiate between the two.
Kommen wir zur Sache! / Kommen Sie zur Sache! Let’s get down to business! / Get down to business!
Note:
- For verbs that change the vowel a ä there is no umlaut in the imperative.
fahren du fährst Fahre nach Hause! to drive you drive Drive home!
In the imperative, the first part of a separable verb goes to the end of the sentence.
Höre mit dem Lärm auf! (aufhören) Stop that racket! (the auf of aufhören goes to the end)
Steigen wir ein! (einsteigen) Let’s get on board! (the ein of einsteigen goes to the end)
Learn more about the imperative here.
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6) The imperative of sein and haben
The imperative of the verbs sein (to be) and haben (to have) is formed like this:
sein
(du) Sei!
(wir) Seien wir!
(ihr) Seid!
(Sie) Seien Sie!
haben
(du) Habe!
(wir) Haben wir!
(ihr) Habt!
(Sie) Haben Sie!
Want to know more about the imperative of sein and haben? Click here!
7) The indefinite article
The indefinite article is used when the person/thing is unknown or for general statements.
An der Rezeption steht ein Koffer. At the reception there is a suitcase.
Eine Fliege isst keinen Salat. A fly does not eat salad.
Here are the indefinite articles in the nominative case (used to refer to the subject of the sentence):
| ARTIKEL | BEISPIEL | |
|---|---|---|
| maskulin | EIN | ein Mann |
| feminin | EINE | eine Frau |
| neutrum | EIN | ein Haus |
| Plural | – | Menschen |
Note: In the plural there is no indefinite article:
Auf diesem Planeten leben Menschen. People live on this planet.
Going further with the indefinite article here.
8) The past participle
Partizipien (past participles) can be divided into 3 groups according to the way they are formed.
- For regular verbs, the past participle is formed with ge‑ and ‑t.
kaufen gekauft to buy bought
machen gemacht to make made
- For verbs that start with er‑, ver‑, be‑, hinter‑ and/or end in ‑ieren, we form the past participle without ge‑ and with a ‑t or ‑en ending:
telefonieren telefoniert to telephone telephoned
erzählen erzählt to tell told
betrachten betrachtet to consider considered
verstehen verstanden to understand understood
- For irregular verbs, we form the past participle with ge‑ and ‑en. The stem may change:
essen gegessen to eat eaten
gehen gegangen to go gone
bleiben geblieben to stay stayed
sehen gesehen to see seen
Notes:
- If the verb stem ends in ‑d or ‑t, the past participle ends in ‑et:
arbeiten gearbeitet to work worked
- The past participle is used to form composite tenses (perfect, pluperfect, passive) and as an adjective:
Anna hat/hatte das Hotel von ihrer Großmutter geerbt. Anna has/had inherited the hotel from her grandmother.
Das Hotel wird von Anna geerbt. The hotel is being inherited by Anna.
Das geerbte Hotel ist wunderschön. The inherited hotel is beautiful.
More on the past participle here.
9) Verbs with the vowel change e i(e) in the present tense
Some irregular verbs change their vowel in the present tense for du (you) and er/sie/es (he/she/it). The endings are the same as for regular verbs.
essen
ich esse
du isst
er/sie/es isst
wir essen
ihr esst
sie/Sie essen
- e i : essen (to eat), geben (to give), helfen (to help), sprechen (to speak)
Er isst Brot. essen, Präsens
He eats bread.
Sie gibt Anna das Formular. geben, Präsens
She gives Anna the form.
Du hilfst den Schülern. helfen, Präsens
You help the pupils.
Er spricht kein Deutsch. sprechen, Präsens
He speaks no German.
- e ie : lesen (to read), sehen (to see)
Er liest ein Buch von Goethe. lesen, Präsens
He is reading a book by Goethe.
Sie sieht den Fernsehturm. sehen, Präsens
She sees the television tower.
Learn more about verbs with the vowel change.
10) The definite article
The definite article (equivalent to “the” in English) is used if a person or object is already known.
| ARTIKEL | BEISPIEL | |
|---|---|---|
| maskulin | DER | der Mann |
| feminin | DIE | die Frau |
| neutrum | DAS | das Haus |
| Plural | DIE | die Männer, die Frauen, die Häuser |
Note: The article conveys the gender. However, grammatical gender is not necessarily the same as human gender:
das Mädchen (Genus = neutrum, trotz Geschlecht = feminin) the girl (grammatical gender = neuter, although human gender = feminine)
das Baby, das Kind (kann ein Junge oder ein Mädchen sein) the baby, the child (grammatical gender = neuter, but can be a boy or a girl)
die Person (kann ein Mann oder eine Frau sein) the person (grammatical gender = feminine, but can be a man or a woman)
Taking your learning of the definite article further here.
Has this list fulfilled its job of confusing and delighting you at the same time? Improve your German further and try Wunderbla, our online German lessons today!
*Anonymous data collected from our users regarding our German course Wunderbla in 2020.
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