Reading Comprehension
Reading Comprehension tests understanding of short written German in everyday formats: signs, notices, emails, forms, advertisements, timetables, menus and simple articles. You need both the main point and specific details such as times, prices, conditions and names.
Core reading rules
- Identify the text type first. An Aushang, E-Mail, Formular, Anzeige, Speisekarte and Fahrplan each place information differently. The purpose tells you where to look.
- Skim headings, first and last lines for the gist; then scan for names, dates, prices, opening hours and negation.
- Decode compound nouns from the right: Fahrkartenautomat is an Automat for Fahrkarten; Hausordnung is an Ordnung for the Haus. The final element gives gender and basic meaning.
- Watch separable verbs: Der Kurs findet am Montag statt contains stattfinden; the prefix appears at the end. Similarly, Ich stehe früh auf = aufstehen.
- Mark restriction words: nicht, kein, nur, außer, geschlossen, geöffnet, kostenlos, ermäßigt, ab, bis. These often carry the answer.
- Use formal/informal clues: Sie, Ihnen, Ihr signal formal address; du, dir, dein signal informal.
Worked example
Text: „Am Samstag bleibt die Stadtbibliothek geschlossen. Bücher können Sie noch bis Freitag, 18 Uhr, zurückgeben.“ Question: Wann ist die Bibliothek geschlossen? The first sentence gives the closure day: Samstag. The second sentence gives a return deadline: Friday at 18:00, not a closure time. Answer: am Samstag. Friday is a distractor because it contains a day and a time.
Traps that cost marks
- Matching one familiar word and ignoring the full sentence; the word may be negated.
- False friends: bekommen means receive, not become; also means so/therefore, not also; bald means soon, not bald; Gift means poison, not gift; Chef means boss, not chef.
- Confusing opening hours with deadlines, or a special exception with the general rule.
- Over-inferring beyond the text; the answer must be supported by the words given.
- Missing small print such as außer sonntags or nur mit Anmeldung.