Archive for 'Grammar'
This Is How German Letters Sound Posted by Sten on Dec 12, 2019
When you learn a new language, it is sometimes hard to get the pronunciation just right. You’re met with a blank stare, the native has no clue what you’re trying to communicate. Sure, you could try describing it, but what if you know the word, know how it’s written, but just not really how to…
Three Easy German Grammar Rules to Remember Posted by Larissa on Sep 3, 2019
German grammar can sometimes be really confusing – which article to use, how does the article change in the accusative case, when to use a capital letter, and so on. Although I personally find it easier to speak casually when I’m not actively thinking about grammar, it is always good to have a refresher on some…
Colors in German – How does the grammar work? Posted by Sten on Jun 21, 2019
There is some weird stuff going on with the Grammatik (grammar) of Farben (colors) in German. Sometimes they are capitalized. Sometimes not. What are the rules? And how can you determine what to do? Let’s have a look. Substantivierung As a small reminder, Substantive (nouns) are written with a capital first letter. This is pretty…
Es Sei Denn: The German For ‘Unless’ Posted by Constanze on Nov 28, 2018
Guten Tag! Sometimes when learning a language you will come across little turns of phrase that you just can’t get your head around. Maybe they look like they should mean one thing, but they actually mean something totally different. We have looked at false friends on the blog before, which is a similar topic you might…
The difference between das, dass and daß Posted by Sten on Jul 12, 2018
You may have come across the word das. It is the article for neuter nouns, and so it shows up quite a lot. But then there is also dass. And daß? And they all sound the same! What are all these words? Let’s disentangle this Wortsalat (word salad) today! Der Artikel (the article) Das is the most common and straightforward one. It…
The German Subjunctive – Konjunktiv II Posted by Sten on Jul 5, 2018
On this blog, we have explained before how to use tenses in German. But we have not yet looked at a rather peculiar tense in German yet: the Konjunktiv (subjunctive mood)! It comes in two parts, Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II. Today, we look at number II! I will tell you what it is, how to use it and in which…
The German Subjunctive – Let’s Talk Konjunktiv! Posted by Sten on Jun 28, 2018
On this blog, we have explained before how to use tenses in German. But we have not yet looked at a rather peculiar tense in German yet: the Konjunktiv (subjunctive mood)! It comes in two parts, Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II. Today, we look at number I! Let’s go! What is the Konjunktiv? Konjunktiv (subjunctive mood) is a word that comes from the…