HSC German Beginners flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

die Geschwister

Plural noun meaning siblings, used for brothers and sisters together. It has no common singular form in everyday use; say mein Bruder or meine Schwester for one sibling.

mein, meine, mein

Possessive 'my' before a noun. It takes the noun's gender: mein Vater (masculine), meine Mutter (feminine), mein Kind (neuter), and meine for all plurals.

aufstehen (separable verb)

To get up. In a main clause the prefix moves to the end: Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf. In a subordinate clause it rejoins: ..., weil ich um sieben Uhr aufstehe.

um, am, im

Time prepositions. Use um for clock times (um acht), am for days and dates (am Montag), and im for months and seasons (im Juli, im Winter).

Modal verb word order

With müssen, können, wollen, dürfen, sollen or mögen, the main verb becomes an infinitive at the end of the clause: Ich muss heute lernen. The modal takes no ending in ich and er/sie/es.

Perfect tense with haben

Most verbs form the perfect with haben plus a past participle: Ich habe meine Hausaufgaben gemacht. Regular participles are ge- plus stem plus -t; strong verbs end in -en with a vowel change.

Perfect tense with sein

Verbs of movement or change of state use sein: Ich bin nach Hause gefahren, Wir sind geblieben, Sie ist eingeschlafen. The participle stays at the end of the clause.

weh tun with dative

Expresses pain with a body part as subject and a dative person: Mein Kopf tut mir weh. Related phrases: Ich habe Fieber, Husten or Halsschmerzen for symptoms.

werden plus infinitive

Future tense construction: Ich werde nächstes Jahr Medizin studieren. German often uses the present tense with a future time word instead: Nächste Woche fahre ich nach Berlin.

du versus Sie

Two address forms. Use du with friends, family and young people; use Sie with adults, teachers and strangers, with the verb ending -en and Sie always capitalised.

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren

Formal letter or email opening when the recipient's name is unknown, meaning 'Dear Sir or Madam'. It is followed by a comma and a lower-case first word on the next line.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Standard formal closing meaning 'Yours sincerely' or 'Kind regards'. It is followed by a comma and the full name on the next line; informal letters use Viele Grüße instead.

nach versus in with countries

Use nach for cities and most countries without an article: nach Wien, nach Deutschland. Countries with an article take in plus accusative: in die Schweiz, in die Türkei.

Oktoberfest in München

Large folk festival held in Munich from late September into the first days of October. It features beer tents, traditional Bavarian dress such as Dirndl and Lederhosen, and fairground rides.

Karneval and Fasching

Carnival season in the German-speaking regions, celebrated before Lent with costumes, parades and street parties. Karneval is common in the Rhineland; Fasching is the usual term in Bavaria and Austria.

Weihnachtsmarkt tradition

December street market in German-speaking towns selling Glühwein, Lebkuchen and gifts. It runs during Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, and is a common topic in listening and reading texts.

der Verein

A registered club or association, for example a Sportverein or Musikverein. Many young people in German-speaking countries join one for football, music or volunteering in their free time.

das Ehrenamt

Unpaid voluntary work, such as helping at a sports club, a church or a fire brigade. It is often mentioned in texts about youth free time and community life in Germany.

wann, wo, wer, warum

Question words for listening and reading tasks. Wann asks about time, wo about place, wer about a person, and warum about a reason, which is answered with weil.

Comma as decimal separator

In German prices and numbers, a comma marks the decimal: 3,50 Euro is three euros fifty. Thousands are written with a full stop, so 1.000 means one thousand.

Negation cues: nicht, kein, nie

Words that reverse meaning in audio texts. Nicht negates verbs and adjectives, kein and keine negate nouns, and nie or nichts mean never and nothing. A statement is false if the audio negates it.

Sequencing words in audio

Zuerst, dann, danach, später and schließlich order events in a story or announcement. Vorher refers to an earlier step. They help you place answers in the correct order.

Umlauts change meaning

A, o and u with umlaut are different letters, not decoration: schon means already while schön means beautiful, and zahlen means to pay while zählen means to count. Always write the umlaut.

Telephone formula: Hier spricht

Standard opening when answering the phone, meaning 'This is ... speaking'. Other useful phrases are Könnte ich bitte mit ... sprechen? and Am Apparat for 'speaking'.

Compound noun gender rule

In a compound noun the gender follows the last element: das Klassenzimmer from das Zimmer, der Stundenplan from der Plan, die Hausaufgabe from die Aufgabe. Use it to guess articles.

weil, dass, wenn, obwohl

Subordinating conjunctions. They send the conjugated verb to the end of the clause: Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin. Recognising them helps you parse long sentences.

um ... zu plus infinitive

Expresses purpose, meaning 'in order to'. The zu sits directly before the infinitive at the end: Ich lerne Deutsch, um in Berlin zu studieren. Related forms are ohne ... zu and statt ... zu.

Weak adjective endings

After der, die or das, adjectives take -e in the nominative singular and -en elsewhere: der gute Film, die gute Idee, das gute Buch, den guten Film, die guten Filme.

gern, lieber, am liebsten

Comparative forms of 'gladly' used to express preference: Ich lese gern, ich koche lieber, am liebsten spiele ich Fußball. Similar patterns are viel, mehr, am meisten and gut, besser, am besten.

TeKaMoLo word order

Order of adverbial phrases in the middle field: temporal, causal, modal, local. Example: Ich fahre morgen wegen der Prüfung mit dem Zug nach Berlin.

Verb-second rule

In a German main clause the conjugated verb is the second element. If the sentence starts with a time or place phrase, the subject moves after the verb: Morgen fahre ich nach Hamburg.

Invitation formula

Useful pattern for writing an invitation: Ich möchte dich zu meiner Party einladen. Hast du am Samstag Zeit? Bitte antworte mir bald. Ich freue mich auf dich.