Nomen (Nouns)
Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas. In German, all nouns are capitalised and have a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Nouns can be singular or plural.
der Mann – masculine
die Stadt – feminine
das Auto – neuter
Der Mann fährt das Auto. (The man drives the car.)
Die Stadt ist groß. (The city is big.)
Die Äpfel sind rot. (The apples are red.)

Verben (Verbs)
Verbs describe an action, occurrence, or state. In German, verbs change their form according to the subject, tense, and mood.
fahren – to drive / ride
essen – to eat
sein – to be
Ich fahre Fahrrad. (I ride a bike.)
Er isst Kekse. (He eats biscuits.)
Wir sprechen Deutsch. (We speak German.)

Fälle (Cases)
Cases show the grammatical role of a noun or pronoun in a sentence. German has four cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive. The case can be determined by the noun's function in the sentence, by a preposition, or by certain verbs. The case affects articles, pronouns, adjective endings and, in some cases, nouns.
Nominative – the subject
Accusative – the direct object
Dative – the indirect object
Genitive – often shows possession
Der Hund bellt. (The dog barks.) – Nominative
Ich kaufe den Kuchen. (I buy the cake.) – Accusative
Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. (I give the man the book.) – Dative
Das ist das Auto des Mannes. (That is the man's car.) – Genitive

Artikel (Articles)
Articles come before nouns and give information about their gender, number, and case. German has definite articles, such as der, die, das, and indefinite articles, such as ein, eine.
der Hund – the dog
die Katze – the cat
das Haus – the house
ein Hund – a dog
eine Katze – a cat
Der Hund ist groß. (The dog is big.)
Die Katze ist klein. (The cat is small.)
Ein Mann wartet draußen. (A man is waiting outside.)

Adjektive (Adjectives)
Adjectives describe people, things, places, or ideas. When an adjective comes before a noun in German, its ending changes depending on the gender, case, number, and article.
groß – big
schön – beautiful
klein – small
Das große Auto ist neu. (The big car is new.)
Sie hat einen kleinen Hund. (She has a small dog.)
Die Landschaft ist schön. (The landscape is beautiful.)

Pronomen (Pronouns)
Pronouns replace nouns or refer to people and things without repeating their names. German pronouns can change according to their grammatical case.
ich – I
du – you
er / sie / es – he / she / it
wir – we
Der Mann ist hier. Er wartet draußen. (The man is here. He is waiting outside.)
Ich sehe ihn. (I see him.)
Sie gibt mir das Buch. (She gives me the book.)

Präpositionen (Prepositions)
Prepositions show relationships such as place, direction, time, or manner. In German, a preposition determines which case is used after it. In German, prepositions determine the case of the noun or pronoun that follows them.
mit + Dative
für + Accusative
in + Accusative or Dative
Ich fahre mit dem Bus. (I travel by bus.)
Das Geschenk ist für meinen Bruder. (The present is for my brother.)
Ich gehe in die Stadt. (I go into the city.)
Das Bild hängt an der Wand. (The picture hangs on the wall.)

Konjunktionen (Conjunctions)
Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses. Some German conjunctions do not change the normal word order, while subordinating conjunctions send the conjugated verb to the end of the clause.
und, oder, aber, denn – normal main-clause word order
weil, wenn, obwohl, dass – verb at the end of the subordinate clause
Ich trinke Kaffee und lese ein Buch. (I drink coffee and read a book.)
Ich bin müde, aber ich gehe spazieren. (I am tired, but I am going for a walk.)
Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil es regnet. (I am staying at home because it is raining.)

Wortstellung (Word Order)
Word order is particularly important in German. In a main clause, the conjugated verb is normally in position 2. The first position can contain the subject or another element, such as a time or place expression.
Position 1 + Verb + Subject + ...
Ich gehe morgen ins Kino. (I am going to the cinema tomorrow.)
Morgen gehe ich ins Kino. (Tomorrow I am going to the cinema.)
Am Samstag fahre ich nach Berlin. (On Saturday I am travelling to Berlin.)
Key rule: The conjugated verb stays in position 2 in a German main clause.

Modalverben (Modal Verbs)
The six German modal verbs are können, dürfen, mögen, müssen, sollen, and wollen. The commonly used möchten is the Konjunktiv II form of mögen and is used to express a polite wish.When a modal verb is used with another verb, the modal verb is conjugated and the other verb appears in the infinitive at the end of the clause.
Ich kann schwimmen. (I can swim.)
Ich muss arbeiten. (I have to work.)
Du darfst hier parken. (You are allowed to park here.)
Wir wollen ins Kino gehen. (We want to go to the cinema.)
Er möchte einen Kaffee trinken. (He would like to drink a coffee.)

Adverbien (Adverbs)
Adverbs give additional information about how, when, where, or to what extent something happens. They can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or an entire sentence. Unlike attributive adjectives, German adverbs do not take adjective endings.
schnell – quickly
heute – today
hier – here
sehr – very
Ich laufe schnell. (I run fast.)
Er kommt heute. (He is coming today.)
Wir wohnen hier. (We live here.)
Das Essen schmeckt sehr gut. (The food tastes very good.)

Komparativ und Superlativ (Comparative & Superlative)
​The comparative is generally formed with -er. The superlative is generally formed with -st/-est. When used predicatively or adverbially, it usually takes the form am + -sten/-esten.
groß → größer → am größten
klein → kleiner → am kleinsten
gut → besser → am besten
Der Apfel ist größer als die Birne. (The apple is bigger than the pear.)
Dieser Apfel ist am größten. (This apple is the biggest.)
Anna läuft schneller als Paul. (Anna runs faster than Paul.)

Passiv (Passive Voice)
The passive voice is used when the action is more important than the person performing it. The German process passive (Vorgangspassiv) is formed with werden + past participle.
werden + Partizip II
Das Buch wird gelesen. (The book is being read.)
Der Apfel wird gegessen. (The apple is being eaten.)
Das Haus wurde gebaut. (The house was built.)
Active: Der Mann baut das Haus.
Passive: Das Haus wird gebaut.

Reflexive Verben (Reflexive Verbs)
Reflexive verbs are used with a reflexive pronoun that refers back to the subject. The reflexive pronoun changes according to the subject and case.
Accusative: mich – dich – sich – uns – euch – sich
Dative: mir – dir – sich – uns – euch – sich
Ich wasche mich. (I wash myself.)
Du interessierst dich für Musik. (You are interested in music.)
Sie freut sich auf die Party. (She is looking forward to the party.)
Wir treffen uns morgen. (We are meeting tomorrow.)
Some German verbs are always or commonly reflexive, while others can be used both reflexively and non-reflexively.

Partikeln (Particles)
Particles are small words that add emphasis, nuance, or attitude to a sentence. They are especially common in spoken German and often do not have an exact English translation.
Common modal particles include:
doch – adds emphasis, contradiction, or encouragement
mal – often makes a request or suggestion sound more casual
ja – can refer to something considered known or obvious
eben – can express acceptance or inevitability
Ich habe das doch gesagt. (But I did tell you that.)
Komm doch mit! (Why don't you come along!)
Kannst du das mal machen? (Can you do that for me?)
Das ist ja interessant! (That's interesting!)
Tip: Particles are often best understood through context rather than translated word for word.