Reading - Part A. Discrete Sentences
Reading - Part A. Discrete Sentences
The first reading part gives about thirty single sentences, each with one blank and four options. There is no extended context, so the sentence itself must contain everything needed to decide. Items target vocabulary in use, preposition and case government, connector logic, verb forms, idiom, and adjective endings.
Procedure
- Read the whole sentence before looking at the options - the blank's grammatical slot (preposition, conjunction, verb, pronoun, noun) determines what can fit.
- Use government and collocation, not English intuition: German verbs and adjectives select fixed prepositions with fixed cases.
- Check the logic between clauses before checking grammar.
High-yield patterns
- Prepositions and case: mit, nach, aus, bei, seit, von, zu + Dative; durch, für, gegen, ohne, um + Accusative; wegen, trotz, während, statt, außerhalb + Genitive. Two-way prepositions take Dative for location (im Kino) and Accusative for direction (ins Kino).
- Verb + fixed preposition: warten auf + Acc, sich interessieren für + Acc, teilnehmen an + Dat, abhängen von + Dat, sich beschweren über + Acc, sich erinnern an + Acc, bitten um + Acc. Sich freuen auf looks forward to something; sich freuen über reacts to something present or past.
- Connector logic: obwohl (concession, verb final), trotzdem (concession, verb second), weil (cause), deshalb / darum (result, verb second), sondern (correction after a negation), sowohl ... als auch, entweder ... oder, weder ... noch.
- Idioms: eine Rolle spielen, Bescheid sagen, in Frage kommen, auf dem Laufenden sein, es geht um, zur Verfügung stehen.
Worked example
_____ des schlechten Wetters fand das Konzert im Freien statt. (A) Obwohl (B) Wegen (C) Trotz (D) Während
The slot is followed by a genitive noun phrase (des schlechten Wetters), so a preposition is required; obwohl needs a full clause. The event being surprising calls for concession - the concert went ahead outdoors despite the weather: (C). Wegen is grammatical but makes the sentence self-contradictory, and während would mean the concert happened during the weather. Answer: C.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing trotz where trotzdem is needed, ignoring that trotzdem forces verb-second order.
- English collocations: abhängig von, not abhängig auf.
- sondern used without a preceding negation, or aber used where a correction is meant.
- Adjective endings: after ein- words the ending depends on gender and case, not on the noun alone.
- als vs wie in comparisons (größer als, so groß wie), and wenn / wann / als confused.