A few brief grammer explanations

Alphabet

Parts of Speech

Cases

Pronouns

Prepositions

Punctuation

Home Etymologies Writing System The Germans

Alphabet Letter Name Example a ah father ä short e bet b bay ball c tsay hats d day day e eh a of gate f ef fat g gay gun h haa here i ee machine j yut yes k kaa kick l el William m em moist n en nut o oh bone p pay peace q koo quees r err (rolled) s ess sister t tay tent u oo pool ü lips in whistling position v fow ferry w vay veal x iks fox y üpsilon z stett rats return to top   10 Parts of speech (Wortarten)   1. Article (Geschlectswort) der, die, das (masculine, feminine, neutrr) ein, eine, ein   2. Verb (Zeitwort) springen, geben, danken (to jump, to give, to thank)   3. Noun (Hauptwort) Baum, Wiese, Haus (tree, grass, house)   4. Pronoun (Fürwort) du, dein, jeder you, yours, everyone   5. Adjective (Eigenschaftswort) schön, gut, schnell (nice, good, quick)   6. Numeral acht, der Dritte, viele eight, the third, many   7. Adverb (Umstandswort) dort, gerstern, oft there, yesturday, often   8. Preposition (Verhältniswort) an, mit, durch to, with, through   9. Conjunction (Bindewort) aber, auch, wie but, also, how   10. Interjection (Emfindungswort) oh! au! ach! oh! ouch! hey! return to top    4 Cases Nominative (Werfall) Genitive (Wesfall) Dative (Wemfall) Accusative (Wenfall) return to top Personal Pronouns English German I (Subject) Ich You (familiar) Du You (formal) Sie He Er She Sie It Es We Wir You plural familiar Ihr You plural formal Sie You all Sie Me (Object) Mich You (familiar) Dich You (formal) Sie Him Ihn Her Sie It Es Us Uns You Euch You Sie Them Sie Myself (Reflexive) Mich Yourself Dich Yourself Sich Him-, Her, It- self Sich Ourself Uns Yourselves Euch Yourselves Sich Themselves Sich return to top Prepositions Taking accusative: bis until, as far as durch through, by für for gegen against, into, around, about ohne without um around, at   Taking dative: aus out of, from außer except for, out of bei at, near, with gegenüber across from mit with, by nach after, to, according to seit since, for von from, by, of zu (zum, zur) to, at, for   return to top   Punctuation notes:   • all nouns are capitalized • same punctuation marks as in english, but far more comma rules -Independent clauses as set off by commas if they have different subject and verbs -Dependent clauses are always set off by commas -Any phrase containing zu, um zu, ohne zu, or anstatt zu, is set off by a comma -The last item in a series is NOT set off by a comma   return to top