Learn German together

Twenty-six letters you know, three umlauts and ß – how each one is written and how it sounds.

1. A to M: the first half of the alphabet
2. N to Z: the second half of the alphabet
3. Ä, Ö, Ü and ß: the letters English lacks
4. Checkpoint: The German Alphabet
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ei, ie, sch, ch – the letter groups that make German readable, and your first words.

1. ei, ie, eu, au: the vowel pairs
2. sch, ch, st, sp: the consonant groups
3. Long and short vowels, capital nouns
4. Checkpoint: Sounds and First Words
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Hallo, ich heiße … – names, origins, du and Sie.

1. Hallo! Ich heiße …: greeting and saying your name
2. Woher kommst du?: countries, cities and languages
3. The verb sein: ich bin, du bist
4. Checkpoint: Greetings and Introductions
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich lerne, du lernst – the present tense, W-questions and the verb in second place.

1. Ich lerne, du lernst: the present tense
2. Was? Wo? Wann?: asking questions
3. Heute lerne ich: the verb in second place
4. Checkpoint: Verbs and Questions
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Der, die, das – gender, plural and saying that something is not there.

1. Der, die, das: the three genders
2. Ein, eine and the plural
3. Kein and nicht: saying no
4. Checkpoint: Nouns and Articles
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Einundzwanzig, Viertel nach drei, am Montag – counting and telling time.

1. Numbers from 0 to 1000
2. Wie spät ist es?: telling the time
3. Days, months and dates
4. Checkpoint: Numbers, Time and Dates
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Mein Bruder, deine Schwester – the family and the possessive articles.

1. Die Familie: the family
2. Mein, dein, sein, ihr: whose is it?
3. Unser, euer, Ihr and describing people
4. Checkpoint: Family and Possession
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich möchte einen Kaffee – food, the café and the accusative case.

1. Essen und Trinken: food, drink and mögen
2. Einen Kaffee, bitte: the accusative
3. Im Café und im Restaurant: ordering and paying
4. Checkpoint: Food, Drink and the Accusative
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich stehe um sieben auf – the daily routine and separable verbs.

1. Mein Tag: the daily routine and separable verbs
2. Kommst du mit? More separable verbs
3. Wie oft? Frequency and routine
4. Checkpoint: Daily Life and Separable Verbs
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich kann, ich muss, ich will – ability, duty, wishes and permission.

1. Können and müssen: can and must
2. Wollen, möchten and dürfen: wishes and permission
3. Sollen and advice: nicht müssen or nicht dürfen?
4. Checkpoint: Modal Verbs
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Wo ist der Bahnhof? – places, transport, the dative after mit and zu.

1. In der Stadt: places in town
2. Mit dem Bus, zum Bahnhof: the dative
3. Der Weg: asking and giving directions
4. Checkpoint: The City and Directions
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das Sofa steht im Wohnzimmer – rooms, furniture and where things are.

1. Meine Wohnung: rooms and furniture
2. Wo? In, auf, unter + dative
3. Stehen, liegen, hängen: where things are
4. Checkpoint: Home and Place
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich spiele gern Fußball – hobbies, clothes and gern, lieber, am liebsten.

1. Hobbys: free time and gern, lieber, am liebsten
2. Kleidung und Farben: clothes and colours
3. Im Geschäft: shopping for clothes
4. Checkpoint: Leisure, Shopping and Clothes
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich habe gearbeitet, ich bin gefahren – the past of everyday speech.

1. Ich habe gemacht: haben + participle
2. Irregular participles
3. Ich bin gefahren: sein + participle
4. Checkpoint: The Perfect Tense
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich war, ich hatte, es gab – the written past and the past of sein and haben.

1. War and hatte: the past of sein and haben
2. The simple past of regular verbs
3. Irregular simple past
4. Checkpoint: The Simple Past
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich gebe dir das Buch – indirect objects, pronouns and dative verbs.

1. Wem? The indirect object
2. Mir, dir, ihm: dative pronouns
3. Verbs and prepositions with the dative
4. Checkpoint: The Dative Case
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

…, weil ich müde bin – weil, dass, wenn and the verb at the end.

1. Weil: giving reasons
2. Dass and ob: “that” and “whether”
3. Wenn: conditions and repeated events
4. Checkpoint: Subordinate Clauses
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ein neuer Mantel, die neue Jacke – the endings after articles.

1. Adjective endings after der, die, das
2. Adjective endings after ein, kein, mein
3. Adjectives with no article
4. Checkpoint: Adjective Endings
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Größer als, so groß wie, am größten – comparing things and people.

1. Größer als: the comparative
2. So … wie: as … as
3. Am größten: the superlative
4. Checkpoint: Comparison
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende – sich and the verbs that need a preposition.

1. Ich wasche mich: reflexive verbs
2. Sich freuen auf: verbs with a preposition
3. Worauf? Darauf! Asking about things
4. Checkpoint: Reflexive Verbs and Prepositional Verbs
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Wohin fährst du? – directions with the accusative, the hotel and the trip.

1. Where to? In die Berge, ans Meer
2. At the hotel
3. On the road: plans and problems
4. Checkpoint: Travel and Holidays
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Mir tut der Kopf weh – the body, the doctor and advice.

1. The Body
2. At the Doctor’s
3. Du solltest …: advice
4. Checkpoint: Health and the Body
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Wenn ich Zeit hätte, … – wishes, politeness and unreal conditions.

1. Würde, hätte, wäre: the Konjunktiv II
2. Wenn ich …, würde ich …: unreal conditions
3. Könnten Sie …? Polite requests and advice
4. Checkpoint: the Konjunktiv II
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das Haus wird gebaut – focusing on what happens, not who does it.

1. Wird gemacht: the present passive
2. Wurde gemacht: the past passive
3. Muss gemacht werden: the passive with modal verbs
4. Checkpoint: the passive
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Der Mann, der dort steht – describing with relative clauses.

1. Der, die, das as relative pronouns
2. Dem, deren, dessen: relative pronouns in every case
3. Wo, was, wer in relative clauses
4. Checkpoint: Relative Clauses
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Ich habe vor, mehr zu lesen – zu + infinitive, um … zu and damit.

1. Zu + infinitive: versuchen, vorhaben, aufhören
2. Um … zu and damit: saying what for
3. Ohne … zu, statt … zu: without and instead of
4. Checkpoint: infinitive clauses
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, … – sequence in the past.

1. Hatte gemacht, war gegangen: the past perfect
2. Nachdem, bevor, während: time clauses
3. Als, wenn, seit, bis: when, since, until
4. Checkpoint: the past perfect and time clauses
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das Auto meines Vaters – possession and wegen, trotz, während.

1. Des Mannes, der Frau: the genitive
2. Wegen, trotz, während: prepositions with the genitive
3. Der Kollege, den Kollegen: the n-declension
4. Checkpoint: the genitive and the n-declension
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren – jobs, applications, e-mails and phone calls.

1. Beruf und Arbeitsplatz: jobs and the workplace
2. Die Bewerbung: applying for a job
3. Am Telefon und per E-Mail: formal calls and e-mails
4. Checkpoint: work, applications and formal contact
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Meiner Meinung nach … – giving and defending opinions, two-part connectors.

1. Meiner Meinung nach: giving your opinion
2. Agreeing and disagreeing
3. Entweder … oder, weder … noch: two-part connectors
4. Checkpoint: opinion and argument
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Daumen drücken – media, culture and the idioms Germans use every day.

1. Media: news, papers and streaming
2. Festivals and traditions
3. Everyday idioms
4. Checkpoint: media, culture and idioms
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das ist zu erledigen, das lässt sich machen – the other passives.

1. Ist geöffnet: the stative passive
2. Ist zu erledigen, lässt sich lösen: passives with must and can
3. Lesbar, machbar: adjectives in -bar and -lich
4. Checkpoint: Passive Alternatives and the Stative Passive
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Er sagte, er habe keine Zeit – how the news reports what people say.

1. Er habe, sie sei: the Konjunktiv I
2. Replacing the Konjunktiv I
3. Reported questions and commands
4. Checkpoint: Subjunctive I and Reported Speech
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Hätte ich das gewusst! – unreal past, regret and als ob.

1. Hätte gemacht, wäre gegangen: the past Konjunktiv II
2. Hätte machen sollen: modal verbs in the past
3. Als ob, als wäre: comparisons that are not true
4. Checkpoint: The Past Subjunctive and Regret
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das lachende Kind, das gelesene Buch – participles and extended attributes.

1. Das lachende Kind: the Partizip I
2. Das gelesene Buch: the Partizip II as an adjective
3. Extended attributes: die seit Jahren steigenden Mieten
4. Checkpoint: Participles as Adjectives
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Die Durchführung der Maßnahme – nominal style and Funktionsverbgefüge.

1. From Verb to Noun
2. Nominal and Verbal Style
3. Noun–Verb Phrases: Funktionsverbgefüge
4. Checkpoint: Nominal Style and the Formal Register
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Er wird wohl krank sein – future, assumptions and what modals really say.

1. Futur I: werden + infinitive
2. Futur II: it will have happened
3. Muss, dürfte, kann: Degrees of Certainty
4. Checkpoint: The Future, Assumptions and Subjective Modals
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Sodass, infolgedessen, wenngleich – the connectors of written German.

1. Cause and consequence: da, zumal, sodass, folglich
2. Concession and contrast: obgleich, dennoch, wohingegen
3. Condition and means: sofern, es sei denn, indem
4. Checkpoint: cause, purpose, consequence and concession
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Die Erörterung – structuring an argument in speech and writing.

1. Die Erörterung: how an argument is built
2. Arguing and refuting: Dafür spricht, dass …
3. Concluding and persuading: Alles in allem …
4. Checkpoint: argumentative writing
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das ist ja doch mal eine Idee – modal particles and subjective modality.

1. Modal particles: doch, ja, mal, eben, halt
2. Particles in questions and requests
3. Soll gewesen sein: subjective modals in the past
4. Checkpoint: Modality and Modal Particles
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Hochdeutsch, Umgangssprache, Dialekt – the German that is spoken.

1. Standard and colloquial German
2. Austria and Switzerland: three standards
3. Dialects
4. Checkpoint: Registers and Varieties
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Wie es heißt, … – quoting, reporting and the verbs that frame speech.

1. Reporting verbs: behaupten, einräumen, unterstellen
2. Quoting and paraphrasing: laut, zufolge, wie … betont
3. Distance and irony: angeblich, vermeintlich, sogenannt
4. Checkpoint: Voices in a Text
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Das Vorfeld, das Mittelfeld – the architecture of the German sentence.

1. The sentence brackets: Vorfeld, Mittelfeld, Nachfeld
2. Word order in the middle field: pronouns, tekamolo, nicht
3. Cohesion: dabei, dies, Letzterer
4. Checkpoint: Word Order and Cohesion
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

ÜBERsetzen or überSETZEN: one spelling, two verbs – compounds, prefixes and suffixes.

1. Compounds: Handschuh, Nashorn, Glühbirne
2. Prefixes that separate – and those that stay
3. Suffixes that make words: -ung, -schaft, -lich, -los
4. Checkpoint: Word Formation
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen – idioms, collocations and proverbs.

1. Idioms with the body: Hals über Kopf
2. Collocations: eine Rolle spielen, Bilanz ziehen
3. Proverbs: Aller Anfang ist schwer
4. Checkpoint: Idioms and Collocations
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Meine sehr verehrten Damen und Herren – speeches, presentations and rhetorical devices.

1. The presentation
2. Rhetorical devices
3. Speeches for occasions
4. Checkpoint: Rhetoric and Public Speaking
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Schachtelsätze und Kanzleistil – the most complex German, taken apart.

1. Nested clauses and verb clusters
2. Kanzleistil: the German of laws and offices
3. Stylistic word order
4. Checkpoint: Complex Syntax
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

From Old High German to the spelling reform – how today’s German came to be.

1. From Old High German to Middle High German
2. Luther and the printing press
3. Norms and reforms
4. Checkpoint: History of the German Language
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Fontane – reading the classics.

1. Sturm und Drang and Classicism
2. Romanticism and Heine
3. Realism: Fontane and Büchner
4. Checkpoint: Reading German Literature
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Was er eigentlich meint – indirectness, irony and politeness.

1. Saying without saying
2. Irony and understatement
3. Politeness and face
4. Checkpoint: Pragmatics and the Implicit
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Falsche Freunde und unübersetzbare Wörter – translating into and out of German.

1. False friends
2. Untranslatable words
3. Translation strategies
4. Checkpoint: Translation and Interpretation
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Duden, Zweifelsfälle und gendergerechte Sprache – what is correct German?

1. Zweifelsfälle: when even native speakers hesitate
2. Norm and usage
3. The gender debate
4. Checkpoint: Norm, Usage and Variation
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions

Alles zusammen – German at the top of the ladder, used for real.

1. Precision: the exact word
2. Style: writing well
3. Spontaneous speech
4. Checkpoint: The Summit: Mastery in Practice
5. Reading, listening and 10 questions