German language, with its very fixed order, requires special attention to repeating of the beginning of a sentence. Here we will look, how to avoid repetition in essay in German. Also, in any essay in any language, it is very important not to repeat verbs. In describing appearance, the verb “to have” is too active. Therefore, let’s explore alternative verbs and constructions.
German grammar
Past tense in German. Perfect and preterite
The past tense in German is covered almost entirely by only two tenses – Perfekt and Präteritum. It’s a master skill if you master the Plusquamperfekt, but in reality, 100 percent of the time you can avoid it. In this topic, we will look at
how the perfect and the preterite differ from each other,
when they use haben or sein in the perfect,
and at the end we will give tables of irregular verbs by group.
Describing people’s appearance in German (Personenbeschreibung)
Describing people’s appearance in German is difficult types of essay. You should, firstly, know the appropriate words, and secondly, correlate these words with the appearance of a person. At best, people are able to name eye color, hair color, hair length, and eye/mouth size. It is no less difficult in this type of essay to preserve a variety of sentence structures. It is clear that without training it will be a continuous “he has …”
The first part is about the basic principles of describing people’s appearance in German. An example of possible assessment by the teacher and adjectives for different parts of the head are given.
Separable verbs in German
Separable verbs in German are not so difficult, but they require constant attention, even for those who already speak German well and this makes the rule difficult. In addition to the basic rule, let’s also consider how (in)separable verbs combinations with noun, pronoun, adjective are written (Rad fahren, kennenlernen, leidtun, wieder sehen / wiedersehen, etc.).
SS or ß in German
The rule ss or ß in German changed a lot during the 1996-2006 reform. ß used to be written much more often. And now in poorly checked digital dictionaries and other places you can sometimes find old spellings or both spellings. The Germans themselves often confuse which letter to write.
Negation in German
What is the difference between kein and nicht? Are nicht and nein the same thing? And how else can negation be expressed in German? Let’s talk about negation in German.
Over the years, my answer “nein” has often been followed up with a nicht? , so I already managed to completely get confused when what is used. Let’s start by answer on the questions.
Basic German. 4. Time and prepositions of time in German
The prepositions of time in German, like the prepositions of place discussed in the previous part, are that mandatory base without which it is difficult to start speaking.
Basic German with tables. 3. Local prepositions
Conjunctions in sentences. Different word order
Basic German with tables. 2. Noun and articles
Betrag or Beitrag, vertragen or ertragen and other members of tragen family
German picture description phrases and sequence
Basic German. 3. Local prepositions in German
Usually this topic about local prepositions in German is very reduced for beginners, but I give a more complete version so that everything is in one place.
Basic German grammar tables and translation exercises in Anki. 1
Basic German with tables. 2. Noun and articles
Basic German. 4. Time and prepositions of time in German
German picture description phrases and sequence
German test b1 Deutschtest für Zuwanderer. Writing examples
Difference between verschieden, unterschiedlich, anders
Conjunctions and connector adverbs – 2. Different word order in German
We continue the topic of different word order in German in complex sentences and similar constructions. In the first part, we talked about the construction itself and the meanings of connection, opposition, and concessions.
Conjunctions in sentences. Different word order
For me, when I was at the A2 level, it was a big mystery why, when we join the second parts of sentences with the same explanatory meaning, but different conjunctions (denn, weil, deshalb), the word order changes all the time. On the courses the teachers could not clearly explain this to me – you just have to remember. And I hate “just remember”, I prefer to understand. Therefore, we are looking for the answer ourselves.
It will be about conjunctions and connector adverbs, and for the sake of completeness, we will also take prepositions.