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Some words decline similarly to the definite article:

dies- (this), jen- (that), jeglich- (any), jed- (every) manch- (some), solch- (such), welch- (which)

Some words decline similarly to the indefinite article:

ein- (a), kein- (some); mein- (my), dein- (yours), etc.

Pronouns

Formal pronouns refer to both singular and plural.

Personal pronouns in the genitive case are not used in conversational german — possessive pronouns are used instead — which resemble exactly the pronouns in the genitive case bar the suffix -er.

* Possessive adjectives get declined as per indefinite articles. (e.g., “mein Hund”; “Ich habe meinen Hund”)
* Possessive pronouns get declined as per definite articles. (e.g., “dein Hund ist großer als meiner”; “dein Bett ist großer als meins”)

Adjectives

Adjectives are inflected when they come before a noun.

Der Mann ist gut, das Kind ist gut, die Frau ist gut und die Menschen sind gut.

Er ist ein guter Mann, es ist ein gutes Kind, sie ist eine gute Frau und sie sind gute Menschen.

Der gute Mann, das gute Kind, die gute Frau und gute Menschen.

German adjectives take different sets of endings in different circumstances. Essentially, the adjectives must provide case, gender and number information only if the articles do not.
As more context from the article is provided, the inflection gets weaker - and thus less information is provided by the ending.

The strong inflection, therefore, closely resembles the definite article endings, apart from the adjectival ending "-en" in the masculine and neuter genitive singular.

Strong inflection ( No article, a quantity with no definite article [etwas, mehr, wenig, zwei..., ein paar] )

Mixed inflection ( Indefinite [ein-, kein-], Possessive [mein-, dein-, ...] )

Weak inflection ( Definite [der, die, das], [dies-, jeglich-, jed-, alle, beide, ...] )

Comparative form

The comparative form consists of the stem and the suffix -er. Inflected, the corresponding adjective ending is attached.

Superlative form

The superlative cannot exist uninflected — however it can exist in the predicate form via a prepositional phrase. One attaches the suffixes -st and the adjective ending -en to the root, and the word am is put before it.

The attributive superlative form adds the ‘st’ to the comparative root and then the conventional adjective ending.

This attributive form can also be placed in a predicate position with the appropriate adjective ending:

Interrogatives

*welch- and dies- both get conjugated with definite article endings.
*wer conjugates similarly, as per the table below.

Relative pronouns in German are fully declined and resemble the definite article, except for the dative plural and the genitive case.

The relative clause is usually set off with commas.

As in English, the interrogative pronouns can also sometimes be used as relative pronouns. Unlike the standard relative pronouns, they are not declined.

The different words for "why" and "because" require different grammar structures, and sometimes get used in slightly different situations.

wo can be combined with prepositions to form compound interrogative pronouns.
If the preposition starts with a vowel, an “r” is inserted between them to make the pronunciation easier.

This can be done similarly in English ("Wherefore [why / what for] art thou, Romeo?" — "Whenceforth [from which point] ought we begin?") however this usage is archaic.

Verbs

Conjugation in German has three persons (I, you, he/she/it), two numbers (singular, plural), three moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive), and two simple tenses (present, preterite).

Six tenses are built upon this: the present (Präsens), present perfect (Perfekt), simple past (Präteritum), past perfect (Plusquamperfekt), future (Futur I) and future perfect (Futur II).

The simple past tense is not used much in conversation — apart from modal verbs like haben and sein.

Instead the past participle is formed (usually via the prefix ge- and a form of the verb (e.g. spielt —> gespielt)). This is then used to form the present perfect (Perfekt) via e.g., haben.

Like in English, the subjunctive present tense is rarely used in German, however the subjunctive past tense is often used to express doubt, or conditionality.

The subjunctive past tense usually closely resembles the indicative past tense, often with an umlaut added.

Every verb has a past subjunctive conjugation, however the conditional is usually formed via würd-. (Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive_mood#Konjunktiv_I)

Contractions

Misc. Vocab

notes / vocab I am having trouble with

NOCH - yet, still, more (another)

Ich will noch nicht gehen — I don't want to go yet

Geben Sie mir noch eine Stunde — Give me another hour

Noch is often used in conjunction with "immer" where it's definition becomes more like "still"

Noch is often used in conjunction with "nie" where it's definition becomes more like "never" (still never)

Ich warte immer noch — I am still waiting

Noch nie — Never yet

Immer noch falsch! — Still wrong!

NACH - after, to

Nach dir bitte — After you please

Es ist fünf nach eins — It is 5 past 1

Ich will nach Hause — I want (to go) [to] home

Nochdem - again

Nachdem - after that

Wieder - Again

Nachmals - Afterwards

Nachher - Afterwards

Nochmal - Again (usuall used as in 'once again please')

• haben – habe – hatte – hätte
• sein – bin – war – wäre
• mögen – mag – mochte – möchte
• dürfen – darf – durfte – dürfte
• können – kann – konnte – könnte
• müssen – muss – musste – müsste
• wollen – will – wollte – wollte      (Not all verbs take umlauts)
• sollen – soll – sollte – sollte

• gehen – gehe – ging – ginge
• kaufen – kaufe – kaufte – kaufte
• geben – gebe – gab – gäbe
• essen – esse – aß – äße