German Grammar

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!

Difference between deine and ihre?

Haben Sie Ihren Schlüssel? (do you have your key). When is it appropriate to use deine or deinem. I thought deine or deinem might go there instead of ihren but I'm all confused I know I've covered it somewhere in this program but I'm too lazy to look.

2 replies - Last post by Grant-K1 - February 9, 2016

sind or ist?

Deine Haare sind kürzer als vorher "your hair is shorter than before" Please help me with this one. Now, why isn't the "ist" there instead of the sind? Is it acceptable to have the "ist" there instead of the "sind"?

2 replies - Last post by Grant-K1 - January 30, 2016

The work "steht" in this particular joke

I recently read a joke in German....Eine Ärztin geht zum Essen. Sie bemerkt das der Kellner ständig seinen Kopf krazt. Sie fragt: “Haben Sie Juckreiz?” Der Kellner antwortet: “Wenn es nicht auf der Speisekarte steht haben wir es nicht   The joke is ok I g...

2 replies - Last post by Grant-K1 - January 30, 2016

lesson 6.9 cases

In lesson 6.9  know it test The question asked to say in German is:  I don’t want to come along"   The answer given is: Ich möchte nicht mit kommen. Shoulden't   the correct answer be: Ich Will nicht mit Kommen. Which is correct? I say  ich will nicht m...

1 reply - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 29, 2016

About dative

Why are these phrases in dative?: Der frau gefallt das Hotel; Dem Mann gefallt das Hotel. Normally they are in nominative because in both of them, der Frau and dem Mann are subjects of the action gefallen.

3 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 4, 2016

Dropping the indefinite article.

Hi. My German is largely self taught so, although it seems to work OK(ish) in Germany, I know that the grammar is a mess. I have bought Rocket German to try and add some structure. So far I have been knocking through the Beginners course at...

1 reply - Last post by Paul-Weber - September 14, 2015

Word order lesson 10.7

This example in the lesson seems like an exception to the TMP rule. 6. Der Mann vorliest den Kindern jeden Abend ein Buch. It seems to me, based on the rule, that it should be "Der Mann vorliest jeden Abend den Kindern ein Buch". Please explain. thanks...

6 replies - Last post by Peter--252 - August 28, 2015

Ich muss...nicht...

Hi, in lesson 7.7 there is the phrase "Ich muss heute nicht zur Arbeit gehen." which translates to "I don't have to go to work today". Now if I hadn't seen the English trans, I would have read it as "I must not go to work today." The meanings are differen...

3 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - August 2, 2015

12.8-Tenses

HI there I've been looking at lesson 12.8 on tenses (past, present, future)--and it says, that I already learned how to conjugate the tenses in 12.7 and 12.8, but I'm in 12.8 and there are no conjugations. I can somewhat see the pattern here of using the ...

0 replies - Last post by Elizabeth--234 - July 18, 2015

Sie meaning You or they

Sie brauchen etwas zu essen; can mean You need or they need. How can I distinguish the  meaning ?

2 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - June 21, 2015

Lesson 3.8. Did you know.

Hello there. Can you please tell me why es becomes it in the translation   es weiss= it knows.                          ...

3 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - June 16, 2015

Akkusative vs Nominative

Hi , Could someone please explain me why we use accusative in the following question? Was macht dich glücklich ? ( What makes you happy) When we ask someone (a friend) what are you doing today we ask "was machst du heute?" Similary why can't I say "Wa...

3 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - June 2, 2015

Es or er?

Koffer is masculine so Sandy asks if you can describe him. Why does Matthias answer with," Es ist etc." Shouldn't the answer start with " Er ist etc."?

2 replies - Last post by bikeophile - May 24, 2015

Accusative

The accusative case This case is the second most frequently used case. It shows the direct object in a sentence. The direct objects is the object or person suffering from the subject’s action which is expressed in the verb. The direct object usually an...

2 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - May 16, 2015

Ihr (Pronomen im Nominativ und Dativ)

Hello, I'm having trouble with the search engine at the top of the Rocket Languages system. It doesn't seem to find ihr in lesson 1.6, so thank you for the forum here and the link: http://members.rocketlanguages.com/your-community/german-vocab/ihr-ache/ ...

1 reply - Last post by Byron-K21 - May 16, 2015

Two questions on "Ich will etwas warmes zu Trinken.&quo

Hi Nathalie, In the transcript for lesson 1.2 Kaffee trinken, there is the sentence"Ich will etwas warmes zu Trinken.". I've got a couple of questions. Firstly, is "Trinken" definitely meant to be capitalised? It looks like a ver...

9 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - May 16, 2015

Nächste and Nächsten?

When do you use nächste; and when do you use nächsten? Also, why does an change die to der?   

6 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - April 27, 2015

Denn/Dann

Can anyone tell me why 'denn' is used in one of the sentences below and 'dann' is used in the other?  I had read that 'denn'  is equivalent to 'then' in English while 'dann' was equivalent to 'than' but 'then' would seem to be the correct Englis...

2 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - April 19, 2015

Shortened Forms of Prepositions

Hallo Bis zum Morgen grauen - Until Dawn This should be the accusative following the preposition "bis". der Morgan goes to den Morgen then why has zum been used which is the shortened form of zu dem. Should the phrase not correctly be: Bis zu den Morge...

2 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - April 6, 2015

Possessive adjective, euer

Hello: in the grammar section 7.2, the table for __[color=darkblue:q1gu7nk8]euer[/color:q1gu7nk8]__ shows the Neuter nominative and accusative to be __[color=darkblue:q1gu7nk8]eures[/color:q1gu7nk8]__. Is this correct? It doesn't seem to follow the pat...

4 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - March 18, 2015

runter

7.4 Nik wants to know how to get "down" the mountain, but how would she say how do I get "up" the mountain?

5 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - March 17, 2015

nachgesendet

Hello, In lesson http://members.rocketlanguages.com/lessons/89 I have a question about this phrase: Ich habe es aber zum Glück am nächsten Tag nachgesendet bekommen. I got it luckily the next day it was re-sent. Why is nächsten Tag used and then a...

1 reply - Last post by Paul-Weber - March 16, 2015

Proper Article lesson 4.5

I n lesson 4.5  I want, need, and I would like. again the statement: Ich möchte bitte einen Kaffee. The word Kaffee is masculine. Why is the Article "Einen" is used instead of "Ein" ? Am I missing something or  please explain why  is a...

4 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - March 5, 2015

Ein, Eine, und Einen

Why do you say "einen Kaffee" instead of "eine Kaffee"?

2 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - February 25, 2015

Proper Article

In lesson 4.3 " resstaurant The Statement Ich möchte bitte einen Tisch für zwei Personen bestellen. Why is Einen used as the Article for Tisch when the word Table is Masculent. why  einen  was used insted of Ein. 

5 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 24, 2015

what is einen used for

What is einen used for and, is it different from ein and eine

1 reply - Last post by jason☺ - February 21, 2015

Grammar lesson 7.2 question

Hi Nathalie, I'm confused by the endings for "euer" given for the singular neuter nominative and accusative. It says that for both it is "eures," but I would have thought it would be "euer," since "unser" and &q...

2 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 18, 2015

Ich mache nicht Spaß

Hello, I'm only working module 5 right now, but I found a phrase in a higher level that does not seem to have the right conjugation for "Ich mache". Can somebody please have a look at it? If by adding "doch" to the phrase it changes the conjugation to ma...

5 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 18, 2015

Darf ich Sie oder Darf ich Ihnen etwas fragen?

Ich dachte immer dass es 'Darf ich Ihnen...' war, aber heute habe ich auch 'Darf ich Sie' gelesen? Können Sie das bitte erklaren? Vielen Dank!

6 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 18, 2015

Der blaue

Hello, While doing lesson 2.3, I didn't notice the German adjective "blau" in upper case. http://en.pons.com/translate?q=blau&l=deen&in=&lf=de Now at lesson 5.3, I see that it may not be necessary to capitalize "blaue". http://en.pons.com/tr...

3 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 18, 2015

Lesson 4.4 Restaurant

In lesson 4.4. Restaurtrant; The question : Können Sie das Museum empfehlen?. my question is why is the direct object  Das Museum is use Instead of the indirect object Ein museum. Sounds silly to ask if one can recommed a Museum if only one exis...

1 reply - Last post by jason☺ - February 18, 2015

A Case in Point -Accusative

In the exercises for Language & Culture Lessons 6.6 A Case in Point -Accusative: Would Lisa and Tom be also Accusative such as einen Gutschein and einen Brief? 15. Er schenkt Lisa einen Gutschein. He gives Lisa a voucher. 16. Steffi schreibt Tom ...

1 reply - Last post by jason☺ - February 8, 2015

Keine

What is the dative and genitive form of Keine ? In the chapter 6.9 Talking About Something Negative it's as given as below Dative : Keiner Gentive : Keinen I believe it's other way around and the values are swapped. If so could you please correct the co...

7 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 5, 2015

When to use Dies and Das

I'm very confused as when to use das (that) and when to use dies (this). For example, in the Language and Culture lesson 6.8 there are a number of phrases all of which translate to "This is the ..." in English. However in German, some of the phrases are...

4 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 3, 2015

Dativ

I am totally confused - Ich brauche Hilfe! I think I understand and can find the DATIV in the following sentence: Paul (subject) gibt (action) der Frau (dativ or in english the indirect object) das Ticket (acccusitiv or direct object in english) I do n...

4 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - February 1, 2015

Examples in 6.7

I gave feedback but has anyone else noticed that the example 'Der Frau gefällt das Hotel. The woman likes the hotel.' is confusing because the translation is 'The woman likes the hotel' when, more accurately, it is 'The hotel pleases the woman'. That mak...

7 replies - Last post by jason☺ - February 1, 2015

Accusative: question 5 of Lesson 6.6

The questions in Lesson 6.6 ask for the noun in the accusative case to be identified. Below is question 5. The answer is shown as "Thomas." Is this correct? When I ask who/what is being burned, I find it is the CD, not Thomas. 5. Ich brenne ein...

6 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 30, 2015

Gender?

Guten tag I'm new here but really loving this program. I seem to have confused myself a little while trying to learn genders of nouns. Yesterday I learnt in Part one of gender that a masculine noun uses 'DER'... however today part 2, Glass Wasser is 'DA...

1 reply - Last post by jason☺ - January 26, 2015

Wie schade!

Hello again, I hope I don't run out of postings. I ran into a limit the other day and it sort of bothers me, especially when I post on both French and German subjects. I don't so much mind the limit, but I mind not knowing the limit in real-time because ...

0 replies - Last post by jason☺ - January 25, 2015

Fun: They picked a new die der das prompt at the end of which lesson?

Anybody know the answer to my trivia question? After answering gustvalo's question my ears were ringing. http://members.rocketlanguages.com/your-community/german-grammar/written-section His questions forced me to listen to one of the earlier lessons bef...

1 reply - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 22, 2015

Written section ??

Please, Help me! Im stuck here. It is very frustraiting that every time we are in a difficult subject, in the audio, Nik says: "you can learn more about it in the written section of the course". Where is that? I cannot find it anywhere!! The pdf documents...

1 reply - Last post by jason☺ - January 22, 2015

Heiß und Heisse

Hello, Can anybody help me out with a little detail? The questions: Is it Heiß or Heiss? Are there any situations where Heiss(enr) exists as an adjective? I find many in the lessons, but I think they need to be corrected. Example 1 (Lesson: Food) http...

3 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 21, 2015

Help! German grammar: verbs, nouns, pronoun endings

2 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 17, 2015

German style for writing numbers

Hello, I am looking at lesson 4.2 - In the kitchen (In der Küche) and I didn't like the situation with the numbers in several phrases. I reported one as an error but, as there are several, I thought I would open a discussion. First of all, we write numb...

2 replies - Last post by jason☺ - January 13, 2015

Esszett/Umlaut

I was practicing German spelling and the program gave me the German word Tschüss; ( bye) but, when I spelled it out and used the Umlaut in the letter "ü" then I used the Esszett ß for the ss in the word; the program gave me a red error sign that indica...

4 replies - Last post by jason☺ - January 5, 2015

Telling the time in German

Hello, Hmm, how can I say this nicely? I can't, so I won't mention anything about Lesson 2.8 for telling the time. Instead, I will ask if it would be possible to create something a little more like this web site? http://www.goethe.de/ins/pl/pro/deutsc...

4 replies - Last post by jason☺ - January 3, 2015

Ich bin versus Mir gehts

Can one say Ich bin sehr gut ? Or is Mir gehts the proper way. Perhaps one is less formal?

2 replies - Last post by jason☺ - January 3, 2015

fahren versus gehen, which to use?

Why is 'gehen' used in the phrase I would like to go to the market (Ich mochte zum Markt gehen) but in the phrase I would love to go to the cinema (Ich mochte so gerne ins Kino fahren) the word fahren is used? How do I know what the appropriate word is?

7 replies - Last post by Byron-K21 - January 3, 2015

werde, würde and wurde

Hi, Could someone explain the difference between the three -- werde, würde and wurde. My undersanting is the following 1. werde is used in future form for example ich werde arbeiten, ich werde spazieren 2. würde is used as conditional form like would i...

3 replies - Last post by Paul-Weber - December 8, 2014

Question

I notice that Sometime's Das is spelled with one "s" And other times It's spelled with the "ß" as in Daß What is the rule when to use the Das or Daß or is the pronunciation of both different. Jamand hife mir bitte

4 replies - Last post by Honest Tom S - October 6, 2014

Ask a question or post a response

If you want to ask a question or post a response you need to be a member.

If you are already a member login here.
If you are not a member you can become one by taking the free Rocket German trial here.