German Grammar Questions & Answers

100+ of the most common German grammar questions — each answered on its own page with clear rules, examples and the declension tables you need. Browse by topic below.

Nouns & Articles (Gender, Plural, Cases)

Noun Gender (3)

Noun Plural Forms (2)

Grammatical Cases (Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive) (6)

Indefinite Articles (ein, eine, ein) (2)

Zero Article (1)

When do I not use an article at all (zero article)?

Adjectives

Adjective Declension (6)

Comparative & Superlative (3)

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns (2)

Possessive Pronouns/Adjectives (1)

How do possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein, etc.) decline?

Reflexive Pronouns (2)

Demonstrative Pronouns (dieser, jener) (1)

How do "dieser" (this/these) and "jener" (that/those) decline?

Interrogative Pronouns (wer, was, wem, wen, wessen) (1)

How do "wer" (who) and "was" (what) decline?

Relative Pronouns (der, die, das, welcher, welche, welches) (2)

Verbs

Verb Conjugation (Present Tense) (4)

Past Tenses (Perfekt, Präteritum, Plusquamperfekt) (5)

Future Tenses (Futur I, Futur II) (2)

Modal Verbs (können, müssen, sollen, wollen, dürfen, mögen) (5)

Separable & Inseparable Prefix Verbs (5)

Verbs with Fixed Prepositions (2)

Imperative (Commands) (1)

How do I form the imperative (commands) in German?

Passive Voice (3)

Konjunktiv I & II (Subjunctive Mood) (3)

Prepositions

Accusative Prepositions (1)

Which prepositions always take the accusative case?

Dative Prepositions (1)

Which prepositions always take the dative case?

Genitive Prepositions (1)

Which prepositions always take the genitive case?

Two-Way Prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen) (2)

Contractions with Prepositions (1)

What are common contractions of prepositions with articles?

Sentence Structure & Conjunctions

Basic Sentence Structure (Word Order) (4)

Subordinate Clauses (Nebensätze) (3)

Coordinating Conjunctions (1)

Which conjunctions do NOT change word order (coordinating conjunctions)?

Infinitivsätze (Infinitive Clauses) (2)

Adverbs & Other Word Types

Adverbs (2)

Negation (nicht, kein) (2)

Numbers, Time, Dates (2)

Interjections & Particles (1)

What are German modal particles (ja, doch, mal, denn, wohl, eben) and how do I use them?

Common Confusions & Tricky Spots

sein vs. haben (1)

What's the difference between "sein" and "haben" in general usage (not just Perfekt)?

werden vs. werden (1)

How do I distinguish "werden" as 'to become' from "werden" as the future/passive auxiliary?

liegen / legen, sitzen / setzen, stehen / stellen (1)

What is the difference between "liegen/legen," "sitzen/setzen," and "stehen/stellen"?

man vs. Mann (1)

What's the difference between "man" and "Mann"?

es gibt vs. es ist (1)

When do I use "es gibt" vs. "es ist/sind"?

als vs. wann vs. wenn (1)

What's the difference between "als," "wann," and "wenn"?

da vs. dort vs. hier (1)

What's the difference between "da," "dort," and "hier"?

selbst vs. selber (1)

What's the difference between "selbst" and "selber"?

brauchen (zu) vs. müssen (1)

When do I use "brauchen + zu + Infinitiv" vs. "müssen"?

kennen vs. wissen (1)

What's the difference between "kennen" and "wissen"?

lassen (1)

How is the verb "lassen" used (to let, to have something done)?

um...zu, damit (1)

What's the difference between "um...zu" and "damit"?

Word Order for Direct & Indirect Objects (1)

When do I put the direct object before the indirect object, and vice versa?

Reflexive Verbs with Dative/Accusative (1)

How do I know if a reflexive verb needs the reflexive pronoun in dative or accusative?

Direct vs. Indirect Questions (1)

How do I form indirect questions? * A: Indirect questions are subordinate clauses. They use the same word order as other subordinate clauses (verb at the end).

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