German A1-A2 Crash Refresher Grammar Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary and grammar concept flashcards based on the German A1-A2 Crash Refresher guide.

Verb Position in German Main Clauses

In a normal statement, the conjugated verb is always in position 2, even if position 1 is occupied by a multi-word phrase block (e.g., "Nach der Arbeit").

Sentence Bracket (Satzklammer)

A structural pattern where a left verb component sits in position 2 and a second verb part (e.g., separable prefix, infinitive, or past participle) sits at the very end.

TeKaMoLo Order

The standard default word order for extra information in German sentences: Time (Temporal), Manner/Cause (Causal/Modal), and Place (Local).

German Noun Capitalization Rule

All German nouns (such as das Haus, die Universität, der Kaffee) are capitalized.

Dative Prepositions

Prepositions that always require the dative case: aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu.

Accusative Prepositions

Prepositions that always require the accusative case: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um.

Two-Way Prepositions Rule

Prepositions (an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen) that take accusative for movement toward a destination/change of location, and dative for a fixed location.

kein vs. nicht

kein is used to negate nouns that would naturally take ein/eine or no article; nicht is used to negate verbs, adjectives, adverbs, definite nouns, or specific sentence parts.

Formal "Sie"

The polite form for "you", which is always capitalized and shares the same verb form as "sie" (they), ending in -en.

Inseparable Prefixes

Verb prefixes (be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-) that remain attached to the verb and typically do not add ge- in the past participle.

Separable Verbs

Verbs whose prefixes split off in simple present main clauses and move to the end of the sentence (e.g., aufstehen -> "Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf").

Accusative Masculine Change

In the accusative case (direct object), masculine articles change from der/ein to den/einen, while feminine, neuter, and plural stay unchanged.

Dative Case Articles

Definite articles change in the dative case to dem (masculine/neuter), der (feminine), and den (plural, usually adding -n to the noun).

weil Word Order

The subordinating conjunction "weil" (because) introduces a clause where the conjugated verb moves to the very end.

dass Word Order

The subordinating conjunction "dass" (that) introduces a clause where the conjugated verb moves to the very end.

Perfekt Tense Helper Verbs

The conversational past tense uses "haben" for most verbs, but "sein" for verbs expressing movement from A to B or a change of state (e.g., gehen, fahren, kommen, aufstehen).

Predicate Adjectives

Adjectives that follow linking verbs like sein, werden, or bleiben do not take any grammatical endings (e.g., "Das Zimmer ist groß").

können

Modal verb meaning "can / be able"; conjugated as ich kann, du kannst, er/sie/es kann.

müssen

Modal verb meaning "must / have to"; conjugated as ich muss, du musst, er/sie/es muss.

wollen

Modal verb meaning "want to"; conjugated as ich will, du willst, er/sie/es will.

dürfen

Modal verb meaning "may / be allowed"; conjugated as ich darf, du darfst, er/sie/es darf.

sollen

Modal verb meaning "should / supposed to"; conjugated as ich soll, du sollst, er/sie/es soll.

möchten

Modal verb form meaning "would like"; conjugated as ich möchte, du möchtest, er/sie/es möchte.

werden

Verb meaning "to become" (e.g., "Es wird kalt" = "It is becoming cold").

halb acht

Everyday German time phrase meaning 7:30 (literally "half [toward] eight").