Marking a flat application: which errors actually cost you the room
You are preparing a B1 writing task. The flat you viewed is advertised from 1 June; applications go by e-mail to Frau Weber, the current tenant. Your teacher returned your first draft with „Formfehler“ in the margin but no corrections. The draft reads:
„Sehr geehrte Frau Weber, ich habe das Wohnung am Samstag gesehen und ich möchte mich gern bewerben. Weil ich arbeite in der Nähe, ich brauche die Wohnung schnell. Ich wohne in Berlin seit drei Jahre und ich habe in eine WG gewohnt. Meine Freundin kann für die Miete bürgen. Können wir ein Termin machen? Mit freundlichen Grüßen“
You have 20 minutes left and cannot rewrite the whole text. Your flatmate says it is „verständlich“, so the real question is what a German landlord would notice first.
1. Correct „seit drei Jahre“ and „in eine WG“ and explain the single grammatical principle behind both.
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Both are dative problems.
- seit drei Jahren - „seit“ is one of the prepositions that always takes the dative (seit, aus, bei, mit, nach, von, zu). The plural dative adds -n to the noun: Jahren.
- in einer WG - „in“ is a Wechselpräposition. Ask the question: wo? → dative (position), wohin? → accusative (direction). „wohnen“ describes a position, so dative: in einer WG. Note that „ich ziehe in eine WG“ would be correct with the accusative, because ziehen is movement towards something.
So the underlying rule is not „memorise two endings“ but „identify the case the preposition and the verb require, then make the article show it“. The endings - -en in the plural, -er in the feminine dative - are only the visible symptom.
2. Rewrite the „weil“ sentence twice: once keeping „weil“, once with „denn“. Explain what changes.
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With „weil“: „Weil ich in der Nähe arbeite, brauche ich die Wohnung schnell.“
Two movements are needed. First, in a subordinate clause the finite verb goes to the end: „… ich in der Nähe arbeite“. Second, the whole subordinate clause now occupies position 1 of the main clause, so the finite verb of the main clause comes immediately after the comma and before the subject: „… brauche ich …“. The draft breaks both rules.
With „denn“: „Ich brauche die Wohnung schnell, denn ich arbeite in der Nähe.“ „Denn“ is a coordinating conjunction: it takes position 0, so the word order after it is completely normal - subject, then verb. That is why „denn“ is the easier repair under time pressure, and „weil“ the one that shows control.
3. Rank the remaining errors by how much damage they do to the application, and say whether „ich möchte mich gern bewerben“ is acceptable.
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Ranking, worst first:
- „das Wohnung“ → „die Wohnung“. Gender is the first thing a native reader registers; a wrong article reads as carelessness in a text about housing.
- „ich möchte mich gern bewerben“ is grammatically acceptable when the object is clear from context. Adding „um die Wohnung“ makes the application more explicit, but its omission is not a grammatical error. Prioritize actual article and case errors instead.
- „Können wir ein Termin machen?“ → „einen Termin“ (accusative, masculine). This is the closing line, so it is the last impression.
Prioritize the actual article and case errors. The contextual omission of „um die Wohnung“ is not itself an error; add the complement when it improves clarity.