In this post you'll find all you need to know about how to form and use the German imperfect tense or, in German, das Präteritum or das Imperfekt. The imperfect is one of the three tenses used to talk about the past in German. The others are the perfect and the pluperfect (the "past in the past"). In English, the German imperfective tense is also sometimes called the simple … [Read more...]
Joining it up: how conjunctions can transform your intermediate German
If you're already a solid beginner in German and looking to become move into intermediate, one of the things you have to learn to do is understand and use longer, more complex sentences. To transform your German as you burst into intermediate, you're going to need conjunctions. But what exactly are conjunctions? This post explains all. Let's look at the most useful German … [Read more...]
German modal verbs explained
German modal verbs are one of those welcome areas where German and English feel very close. When "ich kann" means "I can", "wir müssen" means "we must", what's not to like? Yes, here our common linguistic ancestry seems close to the surface, with English still forming questions the and negatives Germanic way. No "Do you can?" but a good, Germanic "Can you?", … [Read more...]
How to remember German noun gender: the ultimate guide
Learning the German noun gender system can be a real headache. In this post, I'm sharing some top tips on how to remember German noun gender. Taken together, the tricks will stack odds of getting the gender right significantly in your favour. The info below will save you time and give you confidence as you power ahead auf Deutsch. Los geht's! So what is all the fuss … [Read more...]