This handout breaks down some of the most commonly encountered stem-changing verbs by vowel change type. For example, verbs with ‘a’ to ‘ä’ vowel changes are grouped together and studied as a unit. There are always exceptions to some of these patterns, and these are noted in the handout. Twenty-one verbs are looked at in total. At the end of the lesson are 8 different stem-changing verbs used in sample sentences (three examples are provided for each verb).

The subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv II) is often first introduced to students when learning how to make polite requests. Here, we show how the verbs ‘können’ and ‘werden’ are converted into their subjunctive forms. The relationship between ‘mögen’ and ‘möchten’ is also discussed.

This short, two-page story about Jana and her vegetable garden can be used to test students’ knowledge of various coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Students reading the story will fill in the blanks with the appropriate conjunction. Included is a small glossary, an answer key and an English translation of the text. Appropriate for 2nd or 3rd-year students of German, or for adult learners at around the A2.2 level.

Single-page printable on various kitchenware, cookware and eating utensils. Small glossary included.

A2.2-level grammar review test covering: Prepositions governing location and direction (dative & two-way), how to navigate roads (‘um… herum’, ‘an… vorbei’, ‘entlang’, etc.), conjunctions (‘denn’, ‘weil’, ‘damit’, ‘dass’ & ‘sodass’ ), the adverb ‘deshalb’, using verbs with two-way prepositions (‘stellen’, ‘stehen’, ‘legen’, ‘liegen’, ‘hängen’, ‘stecken’ ). The test consists entirely of fill-in-the-blank questions and translation exercises (English to German). It’s suitable as an end-of-course assessment for informal adult courses, but can also be used for 2nd or 3rd-year students of German at the high school or college level. An answer key with annotations is included. English translations of the German text is also provided.

This 14-page handout explains the placement of ‘nicht’ within a sentence, as well as the various nuances in understanding that different placements can cause. This lesson is for students who already have a good handle on basic German sentence structure, understand parts of speech, grammatical case and the TeKaMoLo rule. More than 75 example sentences are included, many of them diagrammed and color coded. A summary of the lesson is provided at the end of the handout.

A1.2-level grammar review test covering: Prepositions of location and direction, including the 2-way prepositions, the difference between ‘nach’, ‘in’ and ‘zu’ when saying “to”, the difference between ‘bei’, ‘an’ and ‘in’ when saying “at”, the difference between ‘von’ and ‘aus’, giving directions (Wegbeschreibungen) and using verbs containing ‘steigen’ (einsteigen, aussteigen, umsteigen). The test consists entirely of fill-in-the-blank questions and includes some English to German translation. It’s suitable as an end-of-course assessment for informal adult courses, but can also be used for 1st and 2nd-year students of German at the high school or college level. An answer key and some annotations are provided. Translations of the German text are also provided at the end of the handout.

This 2-page study guide goes over the so-called “W” words, which often appear at the beginning of questions in German. The words ‘was’, ‘wie’, ‘wie viel’, ‘wer’, ‘wann’, ‘wo’, ‘woher’, ‘wohin’, ‘warum’ and ‘welch-’ are all covered here. Important grammar notes and exceptions to the normal rules are included. Each question word is shown in two or more example sentences.

A short, two-page lesson on the verb ‘möchten’, complete with conjugation tables. This verb is compared with its parent form ‘mögen’ and is a good first introduction to the German subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv II). Color-coded example sentences and some cultural notes are included.

This is a brief 2-page handout introducing students to the very basics of the German ‘Perfekt’ tense. The ‘Perfekt’ is similar in appearance and structure to the English present perfect tense, however, the way in which it’s used is different. The ‘Perfekt’ is widely used in colloquial German when referring to events in the past. It is formed by using a helping verb together with a past participle. Similar to English, participles can be either regular (“weak”) or irregular (“strong”). Examples of weak and strong participles are provided along with sample sentences in German.

This brief handout explains how to use separable verbs in the ‘Perfekt’ tense. Participles for eleven different separable verbs are shown here in example sentences. Some elementary knowledge of the ‘Perfekt’ tense is recommended before using this study guide.

When forming the ‘Perfekt’ tense in German, most participles appear together with the helping verb ‘haben’. However, there are many participles with ‘sein’ as the helping verb. This handout explains how to tell which participles fall into this category. Twenty separate infinitives and their participles are shown — with many of these in example sentences. The handout also includes an extra bonus section on participles without the “ge-” prefix.

In English we have what’s known as active voice and passive voice. The active voice is the typical mode in which people talk and write. An example of the active voice in English would be: “The center fielder threw the ball all the way to home plate”, with the noun ‘ball’ acting as the direct object. An alternate way of saying the same thing would be to switch the nouns and use the passive voice: “The ball was thrown by the center fielder all the way to home plate.” Although the ‘ball’ is still the thing being thrown, it’s now the subject of the sentence. This is the essence of the passive voice. The passive voice is used in many languages, including German. To form the passive voice in German, you use the verb ‘werden’ together with the past participle of the action verb. This handout takes a detailed look at the German passive voice, with mini-lessons and example sentences in the present tense, preterite tense and perfect tense. This handout also explains how to use modal verbs in the passive voice, both in the present and past tenses. The lessons end with a brief explanation on how to tell a passive-voice sentence apart from other sentences that also contain the verb ‘werden’.

This 3-page set of study notes provides common rules and exceptions for forming the plural in German and can be used for test prep. This is not an exhaustive lesson on how to form the plural in all circumstances — but a list of some of the tendencies, set rules, exceptions and common idiosyncrasies the beginner is most likely to run across.

This 2-page set of study notes reviews the basics of using modal verbs (wollen, können) and forming the past tense using the German ‘Perfekt’. Past participles of common regular and irregular verbs are given, along with example sentences and tips on word order. Vocabulary relating to leisure activities, education and training are included. Conjugations of ‘wollen’, ‘können’ and ‘helfen’ are provided in chart form. These notes can be used in tandem with an already established curriculum — or they can even be the basis for a self-directed curriculum.

This 2-page set of study notes covers vocabulary relating to a person’s daily routine and common everyday activities. Telling time in both official time (offizielle Zeit) and colloquial time (inoffizielle Zeit) is covered. Prepositions pertaining to clock time and general time of day are reviewed (am, um, von & bis), as well as the days of the week. Grammar topics covered in this handout are separable verbs (fernsehen, aufstehen, anrufen, etc.) and stem-changing verbs (sprechen, lesen, fahren, schlafen, etc.). Also covered are idiomatic expressions using ‘machen’ (Sport machen, ein Picknick machen, etc.) and phrases with ‘fahren’. These notes can be used in tandem with an already established curriculum — or they can even be the basis for a self-directed curriculum.

This 2-page set of study notes covers vocabulary relating to food & drink, as well as shopping and paying for things. Units of volume and weight are covered. A quick review of the 10s (zehn, zwanzig, dreißig, etc.) is provided up to 110, as well as how the numbers 21-99 are formed. Also covered is how to say “I like” using the adverb ‘gern’, plus the indefinite & negative articles (ein / kein). The verb ‘möchten’ is conjugated in chart form. These notes can be used in tandem with an already established curriculum — or they can even be the basis for a self-directed curriculum.

This 2-page set of study notes reviews vocabulary relating to rooms and furniture in the home — including color and dimensions (length, width, height, area). Counting by 100s is also reviewed here (hundert, zweihundert, dreihundert, etc.). The concept of substituting pronouns for nouns according to gender is covered as well: ‘er’ = masculine “it” ; ‘sie’ = feminine “it” ; etc. The conjugations of ‘mögen’ are provided in chart form. Examples of how to use the verb ‘gefallen’ in the singular and the plural are also provided. These notes can be used in tandem with an already established curriculum — or they can even be the basis for a self-directed curriculum.