MATSEC AM German key terms

The skill of understanding spoken German, such as announcements, interviews, or dialogues, and extracting specific information, main ideas, or the speaker's attitude from what is heard, often after hearing a recording only once or twice.

A listening strategy in which the candidate ignores unknown words and scans the audio for particular details such as times, prices, names, or places, usually because the task asks targeted questions rather than full comprehension.

Listening for precise information, including numbers, dates, and short factual statements, where a single misheard word can change the answer; typical of tasks requiring completion of notes or tables from an audio text.

Grasping the overall meaning, topic, and purpose of a spoken or written text without needing every detail, used when a task asks what a text is mainly about or who the intended audience is.

Fixed phrases and formulaic expressions used to perform communicative functions, such as giving an opinion, agreeing, interrupting politely, or structuring a short presentation; learning them whole improves fluency in the oral exam.

Stating and justifying a personal view using expressions such as 'meiner Meinung nach' or 'ich finde, dass', then supporting it with a reason or example, a core requirement of the speaking test.

A reason or justification given to support a statement or opinion, typically introduced by 'weil', 'denn', or 'deshalb'; examiners reward candidates who explain why rather than only asserting a view.

The set of moves used to keep a conversation going, such as asking for an opinion, responding to a partner, disagreeing politely, or summing up; assessed in paired speaking tasks where interaction matters as much as accuracy.

Describing what is visible in a picture or sequence of pictures: people, setting, actions, and atmosphere, often followed by interpretation or speculation using 'wahrscheinlich' or 'es könnte sein, dass'.

Expressing probability or speculation about a situation, using modal particles and verbs such as 'vielleicht', 'wohl', 'könnte', or 'dürfte', which allows a candidate to say more when unsure of the facts.

Numbers, prices, times, and dates as spoken in German, including forms like 'zwei Komma fünf', 'am einundzwanzigsten März', and 'halb acht' (7:30), which are frequent traps in listening tasks.

The way Germans tell time, using either the 24-hour clock ('vierzehn Uhr dreißig') or colloquial forms where 'halb drei' means 2:30 and 'Viertel vor' means a quarter to the hour.

The type of text, such as a news report, letter to the editor, advertisement, blog entry, or instruction leaflet; recognising it helps a reader predict structure, register, and likely content before detailed reading.

A word in a question or text that carries the essential meaning and can be matched across the two, helping a candidate locate the relevant passage quickly during reading or listening tasks.

Underlining or highlighting key words and evidence in a reading passage while working through questions, a practical technique for justifying answers and avoiding reliance on memory alone.

The exact sentence or phrase in a text that supports a chosen answer; identifying it is essential for true/false and multiple-choice items and for showing that an answer is not merely guessed.

A conclusion drawn from information that is implied rather than stated directly; higher-level reading items often test whether a candidate can infer attitude, cause, or consequence from context.

The level of formality in language, ranging from informal ('du', slang) to formal ('Sie', passive, polite formulas); choosing the right register is assessed in letters, emails, and formal written tasks.

The pronouns used to address people: 'du' and 'ihr' for informal contexts, 'Sie' for formal ones; getting these right, including capitalisation of 'Sie', is a basic accuracy point in writing.

Polite language patterns such as 'Könnten Sie bitte...', 'Ich würde vorschlagen...', or 'Mit freundlichen Grüßen', required in formal correspondence and service encounters and rewarded in the oral exam.

A letter or email following conventions: sender and recipient details, a subject line ('Betreff'), a formal salutation such as 'Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren', a structured body, and a closing formula with signature.

The subject line of an email or letter, placed before the salutation and summarising the purpose briefly without a full sentence, for example 'Anmeldung zum Sprachkurs im Juli'.

The German form used for hypothetical situations and polite requests, as in 'Ich hätte gern...', 'Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich...'; it softens requests and expresses unreal conditions in both speech and writing.

A conditional sentence describing something contrary to reality, typically 'Wenn ich reich wäre, würde ich reisen'; both clauses use Konjunktiv II, and 'würde' plus infinitive often replaces the simple form.

A construction where the focus is on the action rather than the doer, formed with 'werden' plus the past participle ('Das Haus wird gebaut'); common in reports, instructions, and formal written German.

A written style that packs information into noun phrases instead of verbs, as in 'die Durchführung der Maßnahme' rather than 'etwas durchführen'; typical of formal and journalistic texts and useful in reports.

Compound nouns formed by joining words, such as 'Umweltverschmutzung' or 'Hausaufgabe'; the final element determines gender and plural, and recognising the parts helps decode long unfamiliar words.

The grammatical gender of a noun: masculine, feminine, or neuter, shown by the article and adjective endings; since gender is not predictable from meaning, it must be learned with each noun.

The definite ('der, die, das') or indefinite ('ein, eine') word before a noun, which changes form according to case, gender, and number and signals grammatical relationships in the sentence.

The changing of articles, adjectives, and nouns to show case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive), number, and gender; incorrect endings are among the most visible errors in written German.

A grammatical case marking the role of a noun phrase in the sentence: nominative for the subject, accusative for the direct object, dative for the indirect object, and genitive for possession.

The ending added to an adjective before a noun, which depends on the article type, case, gender, and number, for example 'ein neues Auto' versus 'das neue Auto'.

Prepositions that govern a fixed case, such as 'mit' and 'nach' with the dative or 'für' and 'ohne' with the accusative; some, like 'in' and 'auf', take accusative for movement and dative for position.

Prepositions such as 'in', 'auf', 'unter', and 'neben' that take the accusative to express direction or change of place and the dative to express a fixed position, as in 'ins Kino' versus 'im Kino'.

A subordinate clause with its conjugated verb at the end, introduced by conjunctions like 'weil', 'dass', 'obwohl', or 'wenn'; correct word order here is a frequent focus of grammar tasks and writing assessment.

A word joining clauses or phrases, such as 'und', 'aber', 'oder' (coordinating) or 'weil', 'dass', 'obwohl' (subordinating); the type chosen determines whether the verb moves to the end.

A linking word or phrase that signals logical relations between sentences, such as 'trotzdem', 'außerdem', 'deshalb', or 'einerseits ... andererseits'; using them makes written texts coherent and earns marks for structure.

The logical connectedness of a written text, achieved through connectors, consistent referencing, and clear paragraphing; examiners assess it when marking essays and structured responses.

The outline or paragraph structure of a written text, with introduction, body sections, and conclusion; planning it before writing helps meet content points and keeps the argument readable.

A written or spoken statement of opinion on an issue, usually requiring a clear position, supporting arguments, and a conclusion; a common task type in both writing and speaking tests.

Verbs such as 'können', 'müssen', 'dürfen', 'sollen', 'wollen', and 'mögen' that modify the main verb's meaning; in a sentence they push the infinitive to the end.

Word order in German sentences, including the verb-second rule in main clauses, verb-final order in subordinate clauses, and time-manner-place ordering; errors here affect clarity and are heavily penalised.

The past participle form, such as 'gemacht', 'gefahren', or 'geschrieben', used to build the perfect tenses with 'haben' or 'sein' and the passive with 'werden'; strong verbs must be learned individually.

The compound past tense formed with a present form of 'haben' or 'sein' plus the past participle, used mainly in spoken German to talk about completed events, as in 'Ich habe gestern gearbeitet'.

The simple past tense, formed with one-word verb forms such as 'ging' or 'war'; it dominates in written narrative and news, while speech usually prefers the perfect tense.

The processes by which new words are formed, especially compounding and derivation with prefixes and suffixes such as '-ung', 'un-', or '-bar'; understanding them lets a candidate deduce meaning from familiar parts.

A word with a similar meaning to another, such as 'beginnen' and 'anfangen'; exam tasks often rephrase text content in questions, so recognising synonyms is key to matching information.

A word with the opposite meaning to another, such as 'teuer' and 'billig'; recognising opposites helps in vocabulary tasks and in understanding contrastive statements in reading passages.