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As a German tutor who knows that the language has many grammar rules to learn, you try to neatly explain the various topics and distinguish them from others so that your students are not confused in the end. That's often possible, but unfortunately there are certain words that belong to two or more different grammatical topics. In this post, I explain how to use them and hopefully avoid confusion. "Als" is used as a subordinate clause conjunction, a compound conjunction, as an adverb in the comparative and- sorry, but I can't help it- as the English "as". Als ich ein Kind war, habe ich oft mit meinen Freunden auf der Straße gespielt (here, als is a subordinate conjunction that you need to learn to distinguish from "wenn". It translates as "when" but is only used in the past) Sie mag sowohl Erdbeeren, als auch Himbeeren (the compound conjunction "sowohl..., als auch.." translates as "as well as") Er ist größer als sie (comparison between unequal adjectives; translates as "than") Ich arbeite als Deutschlehrer (used in the context of roles, professions, with verbs like "ansehen" (to be considered as) it is similar to the English "as") "Ohne" is both an accusative-only preposition and a subordinate clause conjunction with zu. Ich gehe nie ohne mein Handy aus dem Haus (Accusative preposition) Er will sein Deutsch verbessern, ohne seine Hausaufgaben zu machen (subordinate clause conjunction) "Statt" and "anstatt" (which can be used synonymously) are also both a preposition- this time one that only goes with the genitive case in German- and a subordinate clause conjunction with zu. Statt des Tennisspiels sieht er lieber eine Krimiserie (genitive preposition) Statt seine Hausaufgaben zu machen, spielt er lieber Videospiele (subordinate clause conjunction) "Um" is another accusative only preposition- with two separate meanings- and the most well-known subordinate clause conjunction with zu. Wir treffen uns morgen um 12 Uhr (temporal preposition, which translates as "at") Sie läuft oft um die Kirche (herum) (spatial preposition that means "around") Sie lernt Deutsch, um besser mit den Eltern ihres Mannes reden zu können (subordinate clause conjunction) "Seit" is again a preposition- though a dative only one- and a subordinate clause conjunction but without zu. Ich wohne seit 14 Jahren in Großbritannien (dative only preposition) Seit sie mir die Grammatik erklärt hat, fällt mir das Sprechen viel einfacher (subordinate clause conjunction) Learn more about German word order in main and subordinate clauses on my blog. There, you will also find posts about the difference between nachdem and danach, bevor and vorher, when to use zu in German sentence, an explanation of how to use um...zu and damit, and a post about the use of als and wenn in German. Related topics on our blog are relative clauses in German, and the German cases. However, it's not just grammar that we write about. You will also find reviews about online German dictionaries, apps for learning German, and our new blog series on false friends in German and English.

Little words in German are often more important to the overall meaning of a sentence than students assume. A case in point would be the word “noch”. Its meaning depends on whether it’s used on its own, or whether it’s used in combination with other words. Lean more below. “noch” on its own (still or another - context will tell you!) Bist du schon unterwegs? Nein, ich bin noch zu Hause. (Are you still on your way/out and about? No, I'm still at home) Bist du fertig? Nein, ich arbeite noch. (Are you ready? No, I'm still working) "noch" (another) Möchtest du noch ein Bier? (Would you like another beer?) Nein, danke. Ich habe noch. (No, thanks. I still have) "immer noch" (still with emphasis, indicating that things haven't changed) Hast du das immer noch nicht gemacht? (You still haven't done it?) Ich bin immer noch erkältet. (I still got a cold) “noch nicht“ (not yet) Hast du deine Hausaufgaben schon gemacht? Nein, noch nicht. (Have you already done your homework? No, not yet) Ich habe noch nicht gegessen. Können wir zuerst etwas essen, bevor wir ausgehen? (I still haven't eaten. Could we first eat something before we go out?) “noch nie” (never- just emphasis on "nie") Sie hat noch nie mexikanisches Essen probiert. (She never tried mexican food) Er war noch nie in Griechenland. (He hasn't been to Greece) “nochmal” (once again) Ich möchte nochmal nach Mallorca fliegen. (I'd like to go to Mallorca again) Habt ihr den Film nochmal gesehen? (Have you guys watched the movie again?) was...noch? (what else?) Was hast du noch gemacht? (What else did you do?) Was möchtest du noch trinken? (What else would you like to drink?) weder noch (neither...nor) Du lernst weder Spanisch, noch Italienisch. Du lernst Deutsch. (You neither learn Spanish nor Italian. You're learning German) Sie kaufen weder Obst, noch Gemüse. (They neither buy fruit nor vegetables) Be careful with weder noch as it is one of several compound conjunctions in German that aren't easy to use. Seid ihr noch verwirrt? Oder jetzt verwirrt? 😉 On our blog, you will find posts on many topics in German grammar- from adjective endings in German, the four German cases, the difference between aber and sondern in German, to German syntax. We also teach you helpful German words and phrases for your next trip to Germany, list the ten most useful German verbs to get your German off the ground, and we compare the most popular online dictionaries Linguee, dict.cc, dict.leo and Collins. So check out our blog and let us know what you think. Find out more about our German lessons and small German courses here.

One of the challenges in learning a new language is to realise that literal translations from your native language into the new language almost never work. Unfortunately, some English native speakers sometimes learn this the hard way, as the example of “I’m bored will” show you. Translating literally from English, many people say “Ich bin langweilig”. Yet what they are actually saying is that they are boring. Ouch! So the correct way to say it is actually “ Ich bin gelangweilt”. That is because "langweilig" is the German adjective for boring, whereas "gelangweilt" is the participle and it means bored. Ich hoffe, ihr wart nicht gelangweilt von diesem Post. (I hope you weren’t bored by this post) On our German language blog "Auf Deutsch, bitte!" , you will find posts on many topics in German grammar- from adjective endings in German , the four German cases , how to negate a German sentence and where to place nicht to German word order . We also give compare the most popular online dictionaries Linguee, dict.cc, dict.leo and Collins . So check out our blog and let us know what you think. Find out more about our German lessons and daytime, evening,and weekend German courses here.

The German verb dürfen often baffles students. They wonder how to translate it into English and how it is used in German. This blog post aims to answer both questions. Dürfen is one of six modal verbs in the German language . It is widely translated into English as "may" yet not always used in quite the same way as the English verb, or "to be allowed to". The two most common ways of using the verb are in polite requests and permissions. Let's look at some examples. Darf ich kurz das Fenster öffnen? (May I quickly open the window) Darf ich Ihnen noch ein Glas Wein einschenken? (May I offer you a top-up for your wine) Sie dürfen die Braut nun küssen (You may now kiss the bride) Hier darf man nicht rauchen (One is not allowed to smoke here) Things get a bit more complicated when dürfen is used with a negation. It then takes on a the meaning of moral or social obligation not to do something, like the English "must not". Wir dürfen es nicht zulassen, dass Juden wieder verfolgt werden. (We must not allow for jews to be persecuted again) Oddly, in customer service interactions at, say, a supermarket dürfen is used in differently yet again. When a shopkeeper asks you: "Darf es sonst noch etwas sein?" He or she is asking if there is anything else they can offer you or help you with. So, as the last two examples indicated, the German verb dürfen is not quite the same as the English may, even though the two frequently overlap. Other modal verbs that are usually confusing for German learners are möchten and mögen in German and the difference between the English must and the German müssen .

These two lookalike verbs are as confusing to English as they are to German native speakers. "False friends" (or "false cognates") like become and bekommen are pairs of words that are often similar in spelling but with a significantly different meaning. In this post, I will explain the difference in meaning between become and bekommen. While the English word "to become" translates as "werden" in German, "bekommen" means "to get, to receive" in English. So when I overheard some German tourists in a London restaurant placing their order by saying "Can I please become a beefsteak", they didn't quite say what they intended to. The last posts in this series discussed the surprising meaning of a German Gift,  English also and its meaning in German, the English "bald" vs. the German "bald", and that "spenden" in German is not what you might think it is etc. On our German Language Blog "Auf Deutsch, bitte!", you also find posts on long German nouns, why the English word fun is used in a different way in German, why Am Morgen and morgens are not the same, on the difference between blenden and blend, the top 5 mistakes in German and tell you how to avoid them. Find out more about our German lessons and online German courses here.

The German adjective “fast“ and the English “fast” are so-called false friends (or false cognates) because even though they may look like twins their meanings have no connection whatsoever. In this post, I will explain the difference in meaning between the two adjectives “fast”. When German speakers say “fast”, they mean that they “almost” completed an action or task, whereas the English fast would be “schnell” in German. Hast du die Aufgabe schon beendet? “Fast!” (Did you complete the assignment? Almost!) Bist du schon mit der Arbeit fertig? Nein, aber fast. (Are you done with work? No, but almost) Viele Männer mögen schnelle Autos (Many men like fast cars) Schnell, schnell bitte!Ich brauche Ihre Hilfe! (Fast, fast please! I need your help!) The last entries in our blog series revealed that there is no relation between the German blenden and the English blend, the difference between become and bekommen, he English "bald" vs. the German "bald", the difference between “brand” vs ”Brand”, showed that "spenden" in German is not what you might think it is, and explained why schmuck wouldn't be considered as an insult by a German native speaker. Are you interested to learn more about the German language? Then check out our German Language Blog ”Auf Deutsch, bitte!” We have blog posts on topics ranging from the most beautiful German words, when to use the ß, we explain the difference between besuchen and besichtigen and kennen vs. wissen, give you tips on how to avoid the most common mistakes in German and how to quickly improve your German,

Even though only one letter separates the two adjectives, but the German “brav” and the English “brave” have nothing in common but their spelling. In this post, I will explain the difference in meaning between the German brav and the English word. While the German “brav” translates into English as “well-behaved” or “obedient”, the English “brave” means “mutig” or “tapfer” in German. Some of our previous posts in this blog series on tricky false friends in German and English revealed that there is no relation between the German Art and the English art, German fast and the English fast, German blenden and the English blend, and discussed the difference between become and bekommen. On our German Language Blog "Auf Deutsch, bitte!", you will find posts on the German kennen vs. wissen, as well as besuchen vs. besichtigen. We also cure your German grammar phobia with our posts explaining adjective ending rules in German, the difference between viel and viele, the German cases, rules on German genders, weak nouns in German, when to use ß in German, Just scroll through our blog and learn more about the language. Learn more about German lessons in London and online, small-group German courses in London, and online German classes on our website.

Don’t be fooled to think that the German noun "Chef" and the English noun “chef” mean the same thing. In fact, they are false friends (also known as "false cognates") because, even though they might be spelled the same, their meanings are very different indeed. In this post, I will explain the difference in meaning between the German Chef and the English word. The German noun “der Chef” translates as “the boss” in English and is therefore not confined to the kitchen. The English word “chef” means “der Koch” in German, so the cook. Confusingly, the German word “der Küchenchef” refers to the head chef of a restaurant, which makes sense as he or she is the boss of the kitchen 😉. The last eleven entries in our blog series revealed the surprising meaning of a German Gift, English also and its meaning in German, the English "bald" vs. the German "bald", the difference between “brand” vs ”Brand”, showed that "spenden" in German is not what you might think it is, and explained why schmuck wouldn't be considered as an insult by a German native speaker. On our German Language Blog "Auf Deutsch, bitte!", you will find posts on the best German songs to learn German, the most beautiful German words, and the German cases, rules on German genders, German word order, and many other topics. Just scroll through our blog and learn more about the language. Learn more about our private German tuition, small-group German courses in London, and online German classes on our website.

The German "Art" and the English word "art" are false friends (or, technically, "false cognates") because even though they may look like twins their meanings have no connection whatsoever. In this post, I will explain the difference in meaning between the two nouns "art" with an upper and a lower-case a. The German noun "die Art" translates as "kind", "sort" or "type", while the English word "art" means "die Kunst" in German. So there is no connection at all. The last nine entries in our blog series revealed that there is no relation between the German fast and the English fast, German blenden and the English blend, the difference between become and bekommen, the surprising meaning of a German Gift, English also and its meaning in German, the English "bald" vs. the German "bald", the difference between “brand” vs ”Brand”, showed that "spenden" in German is not what you might think it is. On our German grammar blog, you will find posts on adjective ending rules in German, the German cases, rules on German genders, the Konjunktiv 2 in German, German word order, and many other topics. Just scroll through our blog and learn more about the language. Learn more about our private German tuition, small-group German courses in London, and online German classes on our website.

Reflexive pronouns are used in conjunction with reflexive verbs in German and indicate that the action or feeling that is expressed by the verb refers back to the subject of the sentence. In this post, I explain the declension of reflexive pronouns and give examples for how we use them. Let's start with the declension of the reflexive pronouns. It is the same as the declesion of personal pronouns in German and involves the accusative and the dative case since there are reflexive verbs that go with the accusative or- far fewer, though- with the dative case. This combination of verb and case doesn't always translate into other languages and therefore needs to be memorised. The same goes for the question if there is a strict logic of which verbs are reflexive in German- there isn't. As the table shows, most reflexive pronouns are the same for both cases. Only the personal pronouns "ich" and "du" have different reflexive pronouns in different cases. Let's look at some examples. Ich dusche mich jeden Tag. (I shower- literally myself- every day) Du meldest dich zum Deutschkurs an. (You register yourself for the German course) Sie sieht sich im Spiegel an. (She is looking at herself in the mirror) Er erkältet sich oft im Winter (He often gets a cold in the winter) Wir möchten uns über die Universität erkundigen. (We would like to enquire about the university) Sie wundern sich über die deutsche Grammatik. (They sometimes wonder about German grammar) While the first three examples make some sense in English as the subject performs the action to him or herself rather than anyone else, the last three do not and hence need to be learned as such. The same goes for two of the most commonly used reflexive verbs in German. Ich treffe mich gern mit meinen Freunden (I like to meet my friends) Sie fühlt sich heute nicht gut (She isn't feeling well today) Let's consider some examples of reflexive verbs with the dative case. Siehst du dir heute Abend einen Film an? (Are you watching a movie tonight) Wir stellen uns vor, dass wir in 20 Jahren auf dem Land leben werden. (We imagine we will live in the countryside in twenty years from now) Again, the use of the reflexive pronoun appears rather arbitrary from an English perspective- and it is. So make sure you commit them to memory. Do you want to learn German with us? Find out more about our courses below.

The imperative in German is used when giving instructions or orders. There are three forms, each of which is used in different situations corresponding to how we use the personal pronouns. In this post, I explain this grammar topic and give examples. As I explained elsewhere, we use “du” for people we know well (family, friends, and increasingly, in very informal professions like the music business), “ihr” for a group of people we know well since it’s just the plural of “du”, and “Sie” when we are addressing one or more people we don’t know very well or in formal situations like the office. Accordingly, there are three imperative forms- one for each of the pronouns. Let’s start with the easiest- the imperative of “Sie”. You simply start with your sentence with the conjugation of “Sie”, followed by the pronoun “Sie” and bitte, to sound less bossy. Schließen Sie bitte die Tür. (Please close the door) Setzen Sie sich bitte. (Please sit down) Another easy form is the imperative “ihr” because you simply start your sentence with the conjugation of the pronoun. Nehmt euch einen Stuhl. (Grab a chair) Wenn ihr Durst habt, nehmt euch bitte soviel Wasser wie ihr wollt. (If you’re thirsty, take as much water as you want) More complicated is the last imperative- the one for “du”. Here, we need to distinguish between regular and irregular verbs. Generally, use the second or third person singular conjugation of your verb of choice and remove the ending. So for regular verbs, you would have Du kaufst- Kauf! Du machst- Mach! Du arbeitest- Arbeite! As the imperative of “arbeiten” shows, there are some verbs that end on an -e. These are verbs with the stem ending on -d, -t, -ig. Other exceptions are the verbs “rechnen” und “öffnen” as their imperative would otherwise be difficult to pronounce. Öffne bitte die Tür (Please open the door) Rechne bitte nach, wie viel Geld ich dir schulde. (Please calculate how much I owe you) Rede bitte mit deiner Schwester. (Please talk to your sister) With regard to irregular verbs, we follow the same logic as above, except when the second person singular stem has an umlaut, then we drop it. Fahr bitte nicht so schnell. (Please don’t drive so fast) Nimm bitte deinen Laptop mit. (Please take your laptop with you) Lies bitte den Artikel. (Please read the article) So the most important decision regarding the imperative is whom you are addressing. On our German Language Blog "Auf Deutsch, bitte!", you will find posts on how modal verbs can help you speak German, as well as besuchen vs. besichtigen. We also cure your German grammar phobia with our posts explaining adjective ending rules in German, the difference between viel and viele, the German cases, rules on German genders, weak nouns in German, when to use ß in German, the Konjunktiv 2 in German, German word order, and many other topics. Just scroll through our blog and learn more about the language. Learn more about our private German tuition, small-group German courses in London, and online German classes on our website.

Ever wondered how to cheer someone up in German? Trying to reassure a German-speaking friend that everything will be fine? Here is how to find the right words of comfort in the German language. When a German-speaking friend is distressed, you might want to say to them that “Alles wird gut” (literally: all will be well) or "mach dir keine Sorgen" (don't worry). The latter (sich Sorgen machen) involves a dative only verb, so watch out that you get it right. On our German language blog, you will also find posts on false friends in German and English like Meinung and meaning , the imperative in German , the difference between sehr and viel , on the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs in the present tense in German , and the rules on the perfekt tense in German . You might also be interested in my Ultimate Guide to Learning German . Check it out to learn how to learn German fast. Our German lessons London and small-group German classes near me can help you achieve your goals.