Possessive articles (also known as ‘possessive pronouns’), are noun modifiers used to indicate ownership or possession. In English, these are: ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’, ‘her’, ‘our’, etc. German possessive articles share the same endings as the article ‘kein’. If you know these endings, it should be easy to use the possessives. This very thorough 8-page handout explains how to use German possessives in the nominative and accusative cases. The handout is subdivided into 4 separate sections, each emphasizing a different grammatical concept, and is complete with charts and example sentences. Some of the example sentences are color coded as an aid to understanding the grammar. This lesson is at the higher end of the A1 level. As a prerequisite, it would be beneficial for the student to already be familiar with the possessive articles “mein”, “dein” and “Ihr”.

In this six-page lesson, students learn how to say the equivalent of ‘some’, ‘any’ or ‘one’ in German using indefinite pronouns. (Examples of these pronouns used in English would be: “I’d like some.” “Do you have any?” “Can you find one for me?”, etc.) Over 50 German example sentences are provided along with parallel English translations. A review of the demonstrative pronouns is included on pages 1 and 2.

Printable/study sheet with German units of time and their plural endings. Each of these units of time is shown in a German example sentence. Parallel English translations are provided. Appropriate for beginning students who have learned basic conjugation principles.

This set includes five color printables in landscape view on German family vocabulary. It is geared towards brand-new students at the early A1 level and introduces them to both nuclear family and extended family names. Brief stories and example sentences in German are provided together with helpful glossaries.

This is an extensive 16-page lesson on two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen) and how they behave in the dative and accusative cases. The material is geared primarily towards students at the A2 level wishing to increase their knowledge of the subject. Numerous example phrases and sentences are given, some color-coded. Exceptions to general tendencies and rules are discussed, along with the occasional anecdote. Although not intended as a primer on two-way prepositions, some A1 students may find this handout useful. Simple 3D illustrations clearly show the function of each preposition in the two cases. By studying the pictures and the accompanying text in the colored boxes, basic concepts can be absorbed quickly. A summary of the entire handout is provided, beginning on page 15. Before using this handout, students should already be comfortable with article declensions in the accusative and dative cases.

At the A1 level, students first learn to use the subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv II) for making polite requests. In this handout, students will learn how to use the subjunctive to describe improbable situations and make hypothetical statements. This lesson focuses on the verbs ‘würden’, ‘wären’ and ‘hätten’. Copious example sentences are provided with parallel English translations. The English subjunctive is described in detail alongside the German subjunctive, illustrating the structural differences between the two. At the end of the lesson is a section on how to use the adverbs ‘gern’, ‘lieber’ and ‘am liebsten’ together with subjunctive verbs.

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 is a reference list of some of the most commonly used reflexive verbs in the German language. A total of 30 verbs is included, with English translations. Paired prepositions follow the verbs that require them, together with grammatical case. The reflexive pronouns are listed at the end (accusative case only). A few example sentences are given.

This short informational handout introduces students to verbs that often appear in the preterite tense in colloquial German. It can help students identify these verbs when hearing them in films or audio, or when interacting with German-speaking people in ordinary situations. Conjugation tables are provided for some of the verbs listed.

This lesson is the follow-up to the handout, “Introduction to Reflexive Verbs”. In that lesson, the basic principles of reflexive verbs are explained, with a specific focus on verbs with accusative pronouns. This handout goes a step further and introduces students to reflexive verbs with dative pronouns (‘mir’, ‘dir’, ‘sich’, ‘uns’, ‘euch’), highlighting the critical differences between the two types. Although these differences are fairly easy to grasp (“Ich wasche mich.” / “Ich wasche mir die Hände.”), there are many additional nuances of dative reflexives that students can learn in their quest towards fluency. This lesson might be especially helpful to those making the jump from A2 to B1 and can serve as review notes to this end. Approximately 15 reflexive verbs with dative pronouns are chosen for this lesson, with over 50 sample sentences included. The majority are color-coded, clearly marking subject, direct object and indirect object in the sentence. A handy summary is included on page 8 of the handout. As a prerequisite, students should already be familiar with the basics of how reflexive verbs work and should also know the dative-case articles.

Reflexive verbs are special verbs used in situations where the subject and the object are one in the same. Reflexive verbs are used frequently in German, often on occasions where the reflexive wouldn’t normally be used in English. This handout dissects the basic elements of the reflexive verb and explains how it’s used. The differences between reflexive pronouns and accusative personal pronouns are illustrated. (Dative reflexive pronouns are discussed in a different handout.) Six verbs are chosen as examples for this lesson: ‘sich waschen’, ‘sich interessieren’, ‘sich erinnern’, ‘sich fühlen’, ‘sich kümmern’ and ‘sich ängstigen’. Nearly 40 example sentences are provided, color coded for clarity. Some sentences are broken down in schematic form to make the sentence structure easier to understand. A summary of the lesson is provided on page 6.

This 5-page lesson takes a thorough look at some common verbs with direct objects in the dative case (‘helfen’, ‘folgen’, ‘dienen’, ‘gefallen’, etc.) as well as other verbs often associated with the dative (‘empfehlen’, ‘erzählen’, ‘glauben’, etc.). Over 40 color-coded example sentences are provided, some with annotations. As a prerequisite, students should already know how to decline most articles in dative case.

Most students encounter the dative case just a couple weeks or so into their first German course, not yet knowing what it is or how it functions. In the beginning, we take it almost for granted that “Wie geht es dir?” means “How are you doing?” We also learn to say things like “Ich komme aus den Niederlanden”, or “Wir leben in der Schweiz” — without fully learning the underlying grammar. In this advanced A1-level handout, students will get their first nuts & bolts view of how this versatile and complex case works. Articles including possessives and ‘dieser-’ words along with their appropriate endings are shown in chart form and used in sample sentences. Also discussed are the dative personal pronouns. Students learn how to use dative prepositions and how to form contractions with prepositions and definite articles (zum, zur, beim, am, im, etc.). Nearly 70 color-coded example sentences are provided. A summary of the entire lesson is found on page 10 of the handout. (Pages 11 and 12 contain special example sentences with detailed grammatical notes). Before starting this lesson, students should already be comfortable using the accusative case.

This 7-page handout covers the basics of the German accusative case, beginning with all the articles and their declensions. (The first page describes what a case system is and provides a brief overview of each of the German cases: nominative, accusative, dative & genitive.) Color-coded sample sentences illustrate the function of nouns in the sentence and how to differentiate between the nominative and the accusative. Accusative prepositions are covered next. Sample sentences containing “für”, “durch” and the 2-way preposition “in” are provided – all with parallel English translations. The handout ends with a section on the accusative personal pronouns. This is an excellent and thorough primer for students who are encountering the accusative case for the first time. For students who’ve studied German before, but are still not comfortable using the accusative, this handout should prove to be helpful.

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).

This 3-page handout introduces students to the separable verb — first by comparing it to the English ‘phrasal verb’ and then providing examples in German. Many people learning English have initial success with the language, but are unable to get a handle on the large number of phrasal verbs, and the rich subtleties of the language remain impenetrable to them. A similar thing can happen in German with separable verbs, therefore it’s important to become familiar with them early. In this handout, nine common separable verbs have been chosen as examples — conjugated and used in sample sentences.

Second in a series on sentence structure (Satzbau), this 7-page handout describes how adverbs and prepositional phrases are ordered in a typical sentence or clause using the ‘TeKaMoLo’ rule. Certain exceptions to this rule are also discussed. Twenty German example sentences are provided in large font, most with parallel English translations. All example sentences are diagrammed, some color-coded for clarity. Annotations are included in the margins to supplement the lesson text. A short summary is included on the final page, along with a space for writing notes. (This lesson is a follow-up to the “Basic Sentence Structure” handout and is geared towards students at the high A1 level.)

This 13-page handout concentrates on elementary German sentence structure and word order for sentences/clauses having one verb. The concept of ‘position’ is discussed as it relates to subject, verb,object and adverbial. This lesson is a good primer on sentence structure for beginners who are comfortable with conjugating verbs in the present tense and have studied the accusative case. More advanced students may find the lesson to be a good refresher. Students will learn about typical SVO statements, inversions, questions, 'W-Fragen’ (question words) and how to link clauses using coordinating conjunctions. 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.**

Collection of 158 flash cards reviewing the preterite (simple past) tense forms of common German verbs. Verbs with separable and inseparable prefixes are included, in addition to some reflexive verbs. Conjugation tables and example sentences with English translations are provided. Verbs frequently used in the preterite tense in normal, everyday conversation are indicated using check marks or equal signs, though this can vary based on region and personal preference. How to use the flash cards: Print double-sided (short edge) and cut along the dashed lines. The German infinitive and corresponding English meaning will appear on the front side of the card. The preterite form of the verb (ich/er/sie - form), example sentence and conjugation table will appear on the reverse side. Preterite forms are color-coded to show changes to the verb — for example, from “stehen” to “standen”.

Collection of 118 flash cards reviewing past participles of the most common beginner’s verbs and how to use the ‘Perfekt’ tense (Partizip II). Verbs with various separable and inseparable prefixes are also included. Example sentences with English translations and additional grammar information are provided as well. How to use the flash cards: Print double-sided (short edge) and cut along the dashed lines. The German infinitive and corresponding English meaning will appear on the front side of the card. The participle and example sentence will appear on the reverse. Participles are color-coded to show changes to the verb — for example, the addition of a “ge-” prefix, etc.