Nicht vs kein: negating nouns in German
In our previous article on negation with nicht, we looked at how nicht works in German sentences: where it goes, what it negates, and…
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Where does “nicht” go in German?
One of the most common questions German learners ask is: where does nicht go? English speakers usually negate the verb and use stress to…
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German passive voice: structure, usage and professional context
German passive voice is a structure many learners encounter early on, yet rarely feel fully confident using. The formation is straightforward, but…
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Should’ve learned German: how to say ‘would have’ and ‘could have’ in German
Should’ve learned German. It’s a thought many learners have at some point, often when looking back at a missed opportunity, an awkward…
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Konjunktiv II in German business emails: how to sound polite and professional
Writing a polite email in German can be surprisingly challenging, even for learners who already speak the language well. Many English speakers…
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Gern and gerne: how to say what you like doing in German
How far along are you with your German language learning, and have you had a chance to practise with one of Europe’s…
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Expressing likes and dislikes in German
One of the challenges English speakers face when learning German is expressing likes or dislikes. It’s not uncommon for learners to find…
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Plurals in German
There are several different ways to form plurals in German. It can be difficult to predict plural endings with complete certainty, and…
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German verb conjugation: the present tense
During German lessons, you notice how German verb endings change depending on the subject they accompany. English verbs do the same but…
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To say in German: I do not understand
After a few German lessons, you will want to say: I do not understand. Saying it in German is even better. The…
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The German prepositions ‘zu’ and ‘nach’
Whilst learning German, grammatical queries do come up. I want to use this opportunity to illustrate another topic that students ask me…
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German modal verbs
Studying German, learners come across modal verbs expressing desire, ability, obligation or probability. In German, we conjugate the modal verb, which retains…
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In German: is a Beemer he, she or it?
A Beemer, or BMW, made by the famous German car manufacturer Bayerische Motoren Werke in Munich, is a popular accessory for many…
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German grammar terminology explained
Being able to understand grammar terminology is crucial, but many people learning German find it challenging to get to grips with it….
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The perfect tense in German
The perfect tense (das Perfekt) is the past tense that German speakers most often use when describing events that have been completed….
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Do German nouns have gender identity issues?
Sometimes, while teaching German, students ask why German nouns change genders. It is ‘die Tür’, a feminine noun, and suddenly somewhere mid-sentence,…
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The hairy wife and German reflexive verbs
When learning German, you will have come across reflexive verbs. Reflexive verbs also exist in English and can sometimes be translated as…
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The brothers Grimm and the German dictionary
The brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm are, of course, famed for fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and Cinderella, known…
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The past perfect in German: using the Plusquamperfekt
During my German lessons students tend to meet the Perfekt, grow comfortable with it, and then run into a sentence that places…
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Irregular German verbs: present tense and simple past
Irregular verbs, sometimes called strong verbs, have irregularities in the present tense indicative, the simple past indicative and the past participle. This…
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An vs auf in German: when to use which
I see students struggle with the German prepositions ‘an’ and ‘auf’ during my lessons. Both describe locations and require either the Accusative…
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Position of the finite verb
During my German lessons, I see many students placing the finite verb in the 3rd position, as they would in their mother…
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Accusative and dative in German
When I teach German, students often ask me what the accusative and the dative are. The four German cases German has four…
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The gender of nouns in German
In my previous blog post, I wrote about the declension of adjectives, and I summed up the blog by stressing the importance…
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The present perfect continuous in German
During many years of teaching German to English speakers, I found that many students struggle with the same aspects of German due…