QCAA German flashcards

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

du versus Sie

Informal du addresses friends, family, classmates and children; formal Sie addresses strangers, officials and teachers. Sie always takes a plural verb form even for one person.

Könnten Sie bitte

Polite request formula using Konjunktiv II of können. It softens a demand and is standard with strangers or in service situations, often followed by an infinitive at the end.

Sich verabreden

Reflexive verb meaning to arrange to meet. Typical exchange: Hast du Zeit? Wann denn? Sagen wir um drei. Abgemacht! It takes an accusative reflexive pronoun.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Standard formal closing for letters and emails, equivalent to 'yours sincerely'. It follows a comma and is written on its own line with no full stop.

Da stimme ich zu

Agreement formula meaning 'I agree with that'. Da refers back to the previous statement, and the verb occupies position two after the fronted element.

Wie bitte

Repair phrase asking the speaker to repeat. Rising intonation signals a genuine request; flat or sharp intonation can signal surprise or mild disbelief.

Modal particles doch and mal

Particles that adjust tone without changing content. Doch means 'after all' or adds emphasis; mal softens a request, as in Komm mal her.

Gist before detail

Reading and listening strategy: first identify text type, speaker purpose and topic, then locate specific facts. It prevents getting stuck on unknown vocabulary.

Separable verb in main clause

Prefix verbs such as ankommen and aufstehen split in main clauses: the finite verb sits in position two and the prefix moves to the clause end.

Negation with nicht and kein

Nicht negates a verb, adjective or specific element and usually precedes it; kein- negates nouns and declines like ein-. Choosing the wrong one changes the meaning.

German number formats

German uses a comma for decimals and a point for thousands: 3,50 Euro means three euros fifty, and 1.000 means one thousand. Announcements use 24-hour times.

Intonation of questions

Yes/no questions rise at the end; W-questions typically fall. Contrastive stress marks the corrected element, which often carries the answer to a listening question.

Announcement text type

Durchsagen at stations and airports are short, formulaic and front-load key nouns and times. Listen for the destination, platform and delay before details.

Inference from evaluative words

Attitude questions are answered by evaluative adjectives and particles such as leider, zum Glück, toll, langweilig rather than by neutral factual statements.

Verb-second rule

In a German main clause the finite verb is the second element. If a time or place phrase comes first, the subject follows the verb: Am Montag fahre ich.

Subordinate clause verb final

After conjunctions weil, dass, obwohl, wenn and als the finite verb moves to the end of the clause, and separable prefixes stay attached to it.

Perfect tense with sein

Most verbs form the perfect with haben; verbs of movement or change of state (gehen, fahren, aufstehen, werden) and sein, bleiben use sein plus past participle.

Passive present with werden

Formed with werden plus past participle: Das Haus wird gebaut. The agent takes von, the means or instrument takes durch.

Signposting a presentation

Sequencing words such as Zunächst, Danach, Außerdem and Abschließend structure a spoken or written text and make the argument easy to follow.

Stating an opinion

Frames like Meiner Meinung nach, Ich bin der Ansicht, dass and Ich finde es wichtig, dass introduce a viewpoint; each needs a supporting reason to score well.

Nominalisation for register

Turning clauses into noun phrases raises formality: weil die Lage günstig ist becomes wegen der günstigen Lage. Nouns in these phrases are capitalised and take case endings.

Adjective endings after ein-words

After ein, kein and possessives the ending is mixed: masculine and neuter nominative take no ending, while accusative masculine and all dative forms take -en.

The four German cases

Nominative marks the subject, accusative the direct object, dative the indirect object, genitive possession. Prepositions fix the case: mit plus dative, für plus accusative.

Dative plural noun ending

In the dative plural the noun itself adds -n unless the plural already ends in -n or -s: mit den Freunden, mit den Autos.

Diminutives are neuter

Nouns ending in -chen or -lein are always neuter regardless of the base noun's gender: das Mädchen, das Brötchen, das Fräulein.

Sixteen Bundesländer

Germany has sixteen federal states, including Bayern, Hessen and Nordrhein-Westfalen. Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen are city-states with their own governments.

Austria and Switzerland

Austria is a federal republic of nine states with capital Vienna; Switzerland is a confederation of twenty-six cantons with capital Bern and four official languages.

Gendered river names

Most German river names are feminine (die Elbe, die Donau, die Spree), but some are masculine, including der Rhein, der Main and der Neckar.

Oktoberfest

Munich's beer festival runs from late September into early October. Despite its name it begins in September and is held on the Theresienwiese.

Tag der Deutschen Einheit

German Unity Day falls on 3 October and is the national holiday marking reunification in 1990. It is the only national holiday set by federal law.

Dual vocational system

German apprenticeships combine company training with part-time vocational school (Berufsschule). The system is called dual because learning happens in two places.

German school types

After primary school pupils are often separated into Gymnasium (leading to Abitur), Realschule and Hauptschule, though several states now run combined comprehensive schools.