By taking the time to understand how the German language works, you'll be able to speak German naturally, and read and write in German. We know this can be one of the more challenging parts of your course, and we’re here to help! You can browse the topics, do a search in the top right corner of this page, or start a new conversation. Don’t be shy!
From 10.3 Und da habe ich gedacht, dass ich mich am besten schon mal informiere, um ein gutes Angebot ausfindig zu machen. And I thought, that I'm the best informed at finding a good offer. I am having trouble analysing this sentence, mainly with...
4 replies - Last post by sfpugh - February 23, 2019
17.9 Singular and Plural Words
A section in 17.9 begins with: "Then you have some where the noun seems singular in English but you use the plural to form the verb:" But hat follows are a series of examples where just the opposite it true. Example: Die Umgebung ist sehr ruhig. ...
3 replies - Last post by sfpugh - February 20, 2019
19.1 Jedes Gebäude hier hat soviel Geschichte.
From 19.1 Jedes Gebäude hier hat soviel Geschichte. Each building has so much history here. Isn't the verb supposed to come second in a sentence? Why is hier before hat? From earlier in the lesson we have: Die Häuser sind hier alle so prachtvoll ...
3 replies - Last post by RobertR34 - February 16, 2019
Klar, ich hätte da noch ein paar. Aber dazu später.
From 17.5 Klar, ich hätte da noch ein paar. Aber dazu später. Sure, I'll have a couple. But more on that later. Why is the konjuntiv 2 hätte used here? Also I don't understand the translation doesn't ein paar mean a few and why is it translated as f...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - February 15, 2019
Hi, In 3.7 there is an example "Wer ruft mich?", shouldn't it be "Wer ruft mich an?" instead? If not, then when do we drop the prefix of "Anrufen"? BR, yahya
5 replies - Last post by HugoM5 - January 27, 2019
(15.4) Ich weiss ja noch nicht einmal, was ich nächste Woche mache,
From 15.4 Ich weiss ja noch nicht einmal, was ich nächste Woche mache, I don't even know what I will be doing next week, What is the function of einmal in this phrase? I think it might be a modal particle if so what is its purpose? I assume ja is als...
5 replies - Last post by RobertR34 - January 22, 2019
dass ich die für Ihre Stelle erforderlichen Kenntnisse und Qualifikationen habe.
From 13.2 Ich bin auf jeden Fall der Meinung, I am definitely of the opinion dass ich die für Ihre Stelle erforderlichen Kenntnisse und Qualifikationen habe. that I have the necessary skills and qualifications for this position. I don't unders...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - January 15, 2019
Weder ... oder / weder...noch - neither nor
From 17.5 Und ja manches stimmt natürlich, keine Frage. Wir Deutschen sind pünktlich, weder zu spät oder zu früh. And yes, some is true of course, no question. We Germans are punctual, neither too late nor too early. Are Weder ... oder and wede...
2 replies - Last post by Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor - January 15, 2019
From 9.5 Ja, wenn das möglich ist würde ich gerne ein Doppelzimmer in der Woche danach buchen. I think there is a missing comma after wenn das möglich ist. Just checking my understanding, is this a case where a sub clause precedes the main clause?
1 reply - Last post by Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor - January 9, 2019
This phrase appears in 21.3 Ich weiß nicht ob die hier Traveller Cheques akzeptieren. I don't know if they accept Traveler's Cheques here. Why use die here? Why not sie?
6 replies - Last post by Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor - January 6, 2019
Having trouble understanding a phrase from 18.2
From 18.2 Ja etwas zum Essen kaufen, das musst du immer und überall; das ist Teil des täglichen Lebens wo auch immer du bist. Yes you must always buy something to eat everywhere, that's part of life wherever you are. (casual, singular) I am having...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - December 24, 2018
Hi, in 7.1 (Er ist in seinem Büro), why is the "buro" in the dative? BR, yahya
2 replies - Last post by Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor - December 24, 2018
From 17.5 Hallo Matthias! Schön, dass Du Zeit für eine gemeinsame Mittagspause hast. Hi Matthias! Nice that you have time for a common lunch break. (casual, singular) Why is "Du" capitalised here? I put it through Duden's proof reader as "du" and it...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - December 19, 2018
What is the difference between auf vs für
What is the difference between auf vs für ?
13 replies - Last post by Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor - December 13, 2018
why does verboten change to verbotenes in this sentence? : "Haben Sie irgendetwas Verbotenes im Koffer?"
13 replies - Last post by Leah-Rocket-German-Tutor - December 13, 2018
Hi, in 3.3 (Das Rathaus) and (Die Kirche) are referred to in the follwoing sentence as (Das ist beides im Zentrum). Could you please clarify why a singular expression referred to two things? (i.e. why "Sie sind beide im Zentrum" is used instead?) regar...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - November 10, 2018
I am struggling a bit with why a tense has been chosen (which may be more to do with my poor grasp of English grammar than anything else). One sentence is given as: "Wieviel würde das kosten?" (How much would that cost?), which I think I understand. Howe...
14 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - November 3, 2018
Seitdem halte ich vom Kochen und Backen Abstand
Hi, I'm a confused with "Seitdem halte ich vom Kochen und Backen Abstand".......To my knowledge, Abstand is a noun and Backen is a verb so I can't figure out why Abstand is at the end here
10 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - October 31, 2018
Hi, in 2.8 there is an example sentence that says "Es sind zwei Personen im Auto. " why is (Sind) used here and why isn't (gibt) used in instead? BR, yahya
8 replies - Last post by Fred-C14 - October 30, 2018
OK. So I learned that mir ist mude means "I am tired". However, ich bin hungrig means "I am hungry". Both phrases seem to be present tense of being or seid. If this has to do with dative or accusative my eyes will gloss over and I will break out in h...
1 reply - Last post by sfpugh - October 25, 2018
I have added phrases to my vocabulary that contain the word spät. I am hearing it pronounced like the a in the word spat, or splat. I also hear it pronounced like the ei in eight or the a in the word ate. Which is correct? Danke
4 replies - Last post by Badger - October 25, 2018
In lesson 2.2, on a tour, we see "It's good fun" in German as "Es macht spaß". We also see "The tour will be fun" in German as "Die Tour macht spaß." Why? Is it the word spaß? How can macht be "good" and "will be". I am confused.
5 replies - Last post by Badger - October 21, 2018
In lesson 2.1 it says "ist es geschlossen". should it be "es ist" (it is), or is this common practice?
5 replies - Last post by Badger - October 18, 2018
When to use Ganz und Ganzen . Which is the diference ?
4 replies - Last post by RobertR34 - October 3, 2018
singular versus plural verb conjugation
Why is the following verb, to be, in the 3rd person singular (not plural)? Das ist beides im Zentrum. German Lesson 3.3
2 replies - Last post by Gay-Lynn-B - September 27, 2018
The mystery of ß or ss revealed
I think a lot of people find the use of ß and ss confusing There is a good explanation of it on the German with Jenny channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvd_TfvI1po
0 replies - Last post by sfpugh - July 14, 2018
I am having a problem with the use of “an”, when to use accusative and when dative. Also when to use “an” in the sense of “to” which would usally be zu , in, or nach. The following phrases are from 9.3 Fahren Sie am Hauptbahnhof vorbei und dann die Leipz...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - March 30, 2018
Hallo! In lesson 3.3 (Going into Town) when Nik says "Ich moechte das Rathaus und die Kirche sehen", Paul replies "Das ist beides im Centrum" Should it not be "Sie sind besides in Centrum"? because we are talking about 2 places not one.
1 reply - Last post by sfpugh - February 17, 2018
Modalpartikeln - what the heck are they?
Throughout the course I have been puzzled by words that seem to be thrown into sentences at random, but don't change the meaning such as ja, denn, mal etc. Then I came across this Easy German video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Awhco_VHWE&t=358s th...
3 replies - Last post by sfpugh - February 16, 2018
Ja, und als Belohnung für die harte Arbeit haben wir beschlossen heute nett zum Abendessen zu gehen.
18.4 Going out for dinner. Ja, und als Belohnung für die harte Arbeit haben wir beschlossen heute nett zum Abendessen zu gehen. I am puzzled by the function of nett in this sentence it seems to stuck on its own and not attached to Abendessen and it has n...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - February 5, 2018
I understand that this course teaches a few sentences that sound odd. "Wie ist dein name?", which SUPPOSEDLY translates to "what is your name?". If "Wie" means "how", shouldn't "Was" be used instead because it translates to "what". Someone please clear up...
2 replies - Last post by Rspring33 - January 9, 2018
Hey there, would anyone be able to shed some light on this? What does the "an" suppose to represent in these sentences.....Können Sie sich an mich erinnern or Erinnern Sie sich an mich? (Do you remember me/can you remember me) I understand when they are ...
2 replies - Last post by Grant-K1 - December 28, 2017
In lesson 2.1 Die Touristeninformation Why do we say ist es instead of es ist. "Ja, aber heute ist es geschlossen" instead of "Ja, aber heute es ist geschlossen" Thanks
3 replies - Last post by Grant-K1 - December 23, 2017
Hello, why in the sentence (geht es mit dem Fotografen zum Schlosspark) did we use (geht es) to refer to "we are going" instead of (gehen uns/wir) ??
3 replies - Last post by sfpugh - December 14, 2017
in 10.8, there is an example sentence (Ein alter Mann fährt mit dem Rad) this is (1. indefinte) (2.singular) (3.masculine) (4.nominative) yet in the tutorial example there is no extra ending to ( Ein Rotwein ) so why is there a (er) at the end of (alter) ...
3 replies - Last post by sfpugh - November 28, 2017
Der Hund des Nachbarn bellt viel - why is Nachbarn not Nachbarnes?
I've just been looking at the genitive case and read the rules about endings - el, er, en or ending in a vowel taking an s ending while vowels ending in a consonant take es. So I'm a bit confused at why in the following statement why the word Nachbarn do...
4 replies - Last post by CraigM12 - November 22, 2017
Earlier in the same lesson I learned that matthias refered to (Koffer) as (er) given it is a masculine in (er ist nicht da) then sandra later refered to it as (ihn) in (Können sie ihn beschreiben). why haven't we remained consistent in the following sente...
8 replies - Last post by Lucia - Rocket Languages Tutor - November 14, 2017
Ich möchte gerne 1 Stunde lang das Internet benutzen.
From 21.1 Ich möchte gerne 1 Stunde lang das Internet benutzen. I would like to use the Internet for 1 hour. In this phrase the tutor clearly says eine Stunde which seems correct as Stunde is feminine . Yet the only way to score 100% with the speech rec...
1 reply - Last post by Lucia - Rocket Languages Tutor - October 24, 2017
The words Absicht and Zweck appear in the course, but they seem to mean much the same thing - purpose or intention. Is there any difference in the way they are used? I noticed that Langenscheid also gives cause as an additional meaning for Zweck.
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - October 13, 2017
From 15.2 Ich mach doch nur Spaß. I'm only joking. Should this be mache?
6 replies - Last post by sfpugh - October 10, 2017
Lassen Sie uns doch auf unseren exzellenten Koch anstoßen?
From module 21.1: Lassen Sie uns doch auf unseren exzellenten Koch anstoßen. I don't understand why this sentence contains Sie and not wir, I put the sentence into Duden's checker and it didn't like Sie but accepted wir. http://www.duden.de/rechtschreib...
17 replies - Last post by sfpugh - September 19, 2017
Der Bruder eines/des neuen Nachbarn arbeitet bei Mercedes Benz.
I am confused by this sentence from 10.8 on adjectives. Der Bruder eines/des neuen Nachbarn arbeitet bei Mercedes Benz. The new neighbor's brother works for Mercedes Benz. My problem is "eines/des neuen Nachbarn" Leaving aside that there is no hint that ...
2 replies - Last post by sfpugh - September 15, 2017
Nur wegen einem lächerlichen Strafzettel.
I am confused by the following sentence which appears in 11.1 Nur wegen einem lächerlichen Strafzettel. And all because of a ridiculous ticket. I thought wegen takes the genitive but einem lächerlichen Strafzettel. appears to be dative?
5 replies - Last post by sfpugh - September 15, 2017
Bis take accusative but what about Bis zum Morgen grauen
In module 20.5 there are some examples of prepositions that take the accusative. But the first example is this: Bis / Bis zum Morgen grauen Until / Until dawn Isn't zum short for zu dem - dative? What is going on here?
3 replies - Last post by sfpugh - August 14, 2017
Does anyone know if there is any underlying logic as to when the esszet is used in German as opposed to the double ss? I find it confusing to remember in the Write It part of Rocket German which way a word is spelled. For example, weiß and wissen. It i...
4 replies - Last post by Graeme -TE1q - August 4, 2017
Das Thema der Ausstellung waren die Höhlenmenschen.
I am puzzled by the grammar in this sentence: Das Thema der Ausstellung waren die Höhlenmenschen. The theme of the exhibition was cavemen. Why "waren" the subject appears to be "das Thema" (singular), or is it "die Höhlenmenschen" (plural).
8 replies - Last post by sfpugh - July 29, 2017
Hallo Matthias, wie war ihr Segelausflug?
Hallo Matthias, wie war ihr Segelausflug? This sentence comes in 19.3. I am pretty sure that Sabine says dein not ihr. Which is right? I notice that later on she uses "du" when speaking to Matthias
0 replies - Last post by sfpugh - July 25, 2017
Deine Mutter darf der Mann trotz ihrer Art nicht beleidigen!
I don't get this sentence from 14.8: Deine Mutter darf der Mann trotz ihrer Art nicht beleidigen! It is translated as: Your mother shouldn't /may not be insulted by the man in spite of her ways! Shouldn't der Man be dative?
3 replies - Last post by sfpugh - April 12, 2017
What's the difference between Fährt er dich zur Schule? and Fährt sie dich in die Schule? The translation appears to be the same (Module 5.5). "Does he/she drive you to school?" Danke :) -Jordan
3 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - February 26, 2017
Can someone describe the differences in usage between besichtigen and besuchen? I just want to make sure I use them correctly. Thanks, Jordan
1 reply - Last post by Paul-Weber - February 10, 2017