German Grammar Rules

Question 1

What do you add to pluralise a noun ending with an E

Not accounting for umlauts

Answer 1

To pluralise it add an N
For example:
Woche - Week
Wochen - Weeks

Question 2

What do you add to pluralise a noun ending with EN

Not accounting for umlauts

Answer 2

To pluralise it add an S
For example:
Morgen - Morning
Morgens - Mornings

Question 3

What do you add to pluralise a noun ending with any consonant except for EN

Not accounting for umlauts

Answer 3

To pluralise it add and E
For example:
Nachmittag - Afternoon
Nachmittage - Afternoons

ask mum if germans say that

Question 4

What is the rule for vowel lengths when followed by 1 or 2 consonants

Answer 4

Followed by one:
Vowel length is stretched
Such as muder

Followed by more than one:
The vowel is short
Such as mutter

Question 5

Dipthong for AI

Answer 5

Sounds like English letter I
Der Mai - May
Der Hai - shark
Der kaiser - emperor

Question 6

Dipthong for AU

Answer 6

Sounds like ow in English
Das Haus - house
Die Maus - mouse
Kauen - to chew
Auch - also
Auf - on

Question 7

Dipthong for ÄU

Answer 7

Sounds like oi on English
Die Häuser - houses
Die Mäuse - mice
Der räuber - robber

Question 8

Dipthong for EU

Answer 8

Sounds like oi in English
Neu - new
Scheu - shy
Die Freude - joy

Question 9

Dipthong for EI

Answer 9

Sounds like eye or I in English
Schreiben - to write
Drei - three
Das Bein - leg

Question 10

Dipthong for IE

Answer 10

Sounds like E in English
Nie - never
Sie - you
Das Bier - beer

Question 11

Verb endings for subjects:
Ich

Answer 11

Ich - ends with -e
Examples:
Haben - Habe
Kommen - Komme
Wohnen - Wohne
Heißen - Heiße

Question 12

Verb endings for subjects:
Du

Answer 12

Du ends with -st
Examples:
Wohnen - Wohnst
Kommen - Kommst
Heiße - Heißt
Sprechen - Sprichst

That last one is an example that the rules aren’t always 100% effective

Question 13

Verb endings for subjects:
Sie

Answer 13

Sie ends with -en
Examples:
Kommen - Kommen
Heißen - Heißen
Wohnen - Wohnen

Question 14

Pronoun for I and We

Answer 14

Sin - ich
Plu- wir

Question 15

Second person informal pronoun sing and plu -you and you all

Answer 15

Du - you
Ihr - you all

Question 16

Second person formal sin and plu - you and you all

Answer 16

Sie - you
Sie - you all

Question 17

Third person pronouns in Singular and Plural - geht, she, it and they

Answer 17

Er - he
sie - she
Es - it
sie- they

Question 18

Conjugated forms of haben for single and plural

Ich Wir
Du Ihr
Sie Sie
Er/sie/es sie

Answer 18

Ich habe Wir haben
Du hast Ihr habt
Sie haben Sie haben
Er/sie/es hat sie haben

Question 19

What are regular and irregular verbs

Answer 19

Regular verbs are verbs where the verb stem stays the same when conjugated the ending is put in it depending on the subject.

Irregular verbs are verbs where the verb stem changes when conjugated and the ending is put in depending on the subject.

Question 20

How is an infinite verb formatted

Answer 20

Verbs are made up of a verb stem and ending. The infinitive version of this will be the stem plus either -en or -n. So if you see a verb with these endings then you know it is in the infinite form.

Question 21

Verb conjugation template for regular verbs
Matrix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd person vs singular and plural

Answer 21

Singular Plural
1st ich verbstamm+e wir verbstamm+en
2nd du verbstamm+st ihr verbstamm+t
2nd Sie verbstamm+en Sie verbstamm+en
3rd er/sie/es verbstamm+t sie verbstamm+en

Question 23

Regular verb special cases

Verbstamm ending in -s, -ß, or -z

Answer 23

The ending of these change for the following:
-st ending changes to -t

So the verb reisen (to travel) changed in second person plural.

So instead of ‘du reisst’ it is ‘du reist’

Question 24

Regular verb special cases

Verbstamm ending in -s, -ß, or -z

Answer 24

The ending of these change for the following:
-st ending changes to -t

So the verb reisen (to travel) changed in second person plural.

So instead of ‘du reisst’ it is ‘du reist’

Question 25

Regular verb special cases
Verbstamm ending in -d or -t

Answer 25

The endings switch as follows:
-st switches to -est
-t switches to -et

For example arbeiten (to work):
Du arbeitst becomes du arbeitest
Ihr arbeitt becomes ihr arbeitet
Er/sie/es arbeitt becomes arbeitet

Question 26

Sentences can be made up of three parts:
The subject
The direct object
The indirect object.

How do you tell them apart

Answer 26

The subject is always stated, so I ran to the car. The subject would be I.

The direct object is the object that the subject is acting upon and is needed for the sentence to make sense. So I ran to the car, the direct object would be the car.

The indirect object is the object that is not needed for the sentence to make sense. For instance I ran to the car with my wife. I ran to the car on its own would make sense, however I ran to the, with my wife would not. So the wife would be the indirect object.

Question 27

What is the case of the subject in a sentence

Answer 27

The case of the subject will always be nominative which is the standard case.

Question 28

What is the case of the direct object

Answer 28

The direct object will go into the accusative case.

Question 29

What is the case of the indirect object

Answer 29

The indirect object will go into the dative case.

Question 30

Whats the difference between determiners and adjectives

Answer 30

Determiners describe which one, or how many.
Examples are a, the, some, a few, many.

Adjectives describe what the noun is, such as colour, shape, texture, size, speed, direction.

Question 31

The six steps to applying declensions

Answer 31

1. Identify the noun gender
2. Determine the noun case
3. Find it on the declension chart
4. Analyse slot contents of word
5. Identify declension pattern
6. Apply declension