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Glossary of grammatical terms

Glossar

When learning German, many linguistic concepts appear, such as parts of speech, cases, moods, types, etc. On this page you will find a collection of the most popular of them.

List of grammatical terms and their definitions

Subject (Subjekt)

Noun; a person or a thing performing an activity

  • Translation
  • The man gave the woman a gift.
  • Explanation
  • Der Mann is the subject (the person who gave the gift).
Predicate (Prädikat)

A verb; activity being performed

  • Translation
  • The man is giving the woman a gift.
  • Explanation
  • gibt is the predicate (the action performed by the subject).
Infinitive (Infinitiv)

Verb in its base, unconjugated form

  • Translation
  • Bastian is going to ride his bike.
  • Explanation
  • fahren is the infinitive.
Pronoun (Pronomen)

Part of speech that replaces a noun (which usually was mentioned in the previous sentence).

  • Translation
  • Bernd gave Annett a gift. She is very happy.
  • Explanation
  • sie is the personal pronoun (replaces the previously mentioned person Annett)
Object (Objekt)

Noun (or a pronoun replacing a noun); a person or a thing that is affected by or experiences the performed activity. It can be used in 3 grammatical cases: Genitiv (Genitivobjekt), Akkusativ (Akkusativobjekt) i Dativ (Dativobjekt).

  • Translation
  • The man gave the woman a gift.
  • Explanation
  • ein Geschenk is the direct object (the object that the man gives the woman).
  • Translation
  • The man gave the woman a gift.
  • Explanation
  • der Frau is the indirect object (the person whom the man gave the gift).
  • Translation
  • The surgeon enjoys a good reputation.
  • Explanation
  • eines guten Rufs is the genitive object (the object to which the action is referring; the verb requires the genitive case).
Indirect object (Dativobjekt)

Noun (or a pronoun replacing a noun); a person or a thing that is affected by or experiences the performed activity.

  • Translation
  • The man gave the woman a gift.
  • Explanation
  • der Frau is the indirect object (the person whom the man gave the gift).
  • Translation
  • Thomas's wife has birthday today. That is why he gave her a present.
  • Explanation
  • ihr is the indirect object (the person whom the man is giving the gift). In this case the indirect object is a pronoun.
Direct object (Akkusativobjekt)

Noun (or a pronoun replacing a noun); a person or a thing which is the subject of the activity being performed.

  • Translation
  • The man gave the woman a gift.
  • Explanation
  • ein Geschenk is the direct object (the object that the man gives the woman).
  • Translation
  • Thomas bought a gift for his wife. He will give it to her tonight.
  • Explanation
  • es is the direct object (the object that the man is giving to the woman). In this case the direct object is a pronoun.
Object in the genitive case (Genitivobjekt)

Noun; a person or a thing in the genitive Genitiv which is the subject of the activity being performed.

  • Translation
  • The surgeon enjoys a good reputation.
  • Explanation
  • eines guten Rufs is the genitive object (the object to which the action is referring; the verb requires the genitive case).
Verb (Verb)

Describes the activity performed.

  • Translation
  • to eat, to speak, to write
Noun (Nomen / Substantiv)

Describes people, things, feelings, and senses.

  • Translation
  • a house, love, father
Adjective (Adjektiv)

The part of speech that answers the question was für ein(e)? (what kind of?); it describes a noun

  • Translation
  • a nice/pretty car
  • Explanation
  • schönes is the adjective (it describes the car).
Adverb (Adverb)

One of the parts of speech that describes the verb. Answers the question wie? (how?).

  • Translation
  • The train is going fast.
  • Explanation
  • schnell is the adverb (it describes how the train is going 👉 fast).
Transitive verbs (transitive Verben)

Transitive verbs are those that can refer to the accusative object (Akkusativobjekt). They answer the question Wen/Was? (whom/what?) and they can be used to build a sentence with the passive voice.

  • Translation
  • I am eating a soup. (Passive: A soup is being eaten by me.)
  • Explanation
  • What am I eating? 👉 a soup; the verb essen refers to an object in the Akkusativ case, a sentence in passive voice possible
  • Transitive verbs don't always have to take an object e.g. Ich esse viel. (Passiv: Von mir wird viel gegessen.)
Intransitive verbs (intransitive Verben)

Intransitive verbs are those that cannot refer to the object in the accusative case Akkusativ and cannot form the passive voice.

  • Translation
  • I am ill. (Passive: not possible)
Present participle (Partizip I)

The participle Partizip I transforms a verb into an adjective which describes an ongoing activity, e.g. a sleeping child (schlafendes Kind). It is also possible for the Partizip I to transform a verb into a noun, e.g. studieren 👉 der Studierende (male student).

We create the Partizip I by adding the suffix -d to an infinitive (Infinitiv).

  • Translation
  • A crying child is sitting on the street.
  • Explanation
  • Verb: weinen (to cry) + suffix -d 👉 weinend + -es to account for the gender, case, and number (das Kind; Nominativ, Singular).
Past participle (Partizip II)

Partizip II is usually used to describe something that is already done (the tenses Perfekt and Plusquamperfekt), something that will be done in the future (the Futur II tense), and in passive voice (Passiv). In passive sentences, the participle Partizip II may also refer to the present.

Partizip II for regular verbs is created by adding the ge- prefix and the -t suffix to the verb stem. Strong verbs usually retain the -en suffix. Irregular verbs simply have an arbitrary form of Partizip II.

  • Translation
  • I baked a cake.
The nominative case (Nominativ)

One of the four cases in German. It describes the base form of the noun. It is usually used either as the subject in the sentence or after the verb sein (to be). It answers the questions Wer/Was? (who/what?).

  • Translation
  • Wolfgang is a good student.
  • Translation
  • The boy lives in the neighborhood.
The genitive case (Genitiv)

One of the four cases in German. It is most often used to describe ownership. It answers the question Wessen? (whose?). Oftentimes, the genitive Genitiv involves a change of the noun, e.g. adding a suffix -s/-es.

  • Translation
  • This is Julian's backpack.
  • Translation
  • He is accused of murder.
  • Translation
  • She is not aware of her mistake.
The dative case (Dativ)

One of the four cases in German. It answers the questions Wem/Was? (whom/to whom/to what?). In a sentence with two objects, it usually describes the recipient of the activity being performed. The dative case Dativ is also used with certain prepositions (in particular when an activity doesn't involve motions or a change of state).

  • Translation
  • I am giving my girlfriend a gift.
  • Explanation
  • meiner Freundin (to my girlfriend) 👉 recipient of the action (the person, to whom I am giving the present)
  • Translation
  • Tell me the truth!
The accusative case (Akkusativ)

One of the four cases in German. It answers the questions Wen/Was? (whom/what?). In a sentence with two objects, it usually describes the object of the activity being performed. The accusative case Akkusativ is also used with certain prepositions (in particular when an activity involves motions or a change of state).

  • Translation
  • I am giving my girlfriend a gift.
  • Explanation
  • ein Geschenk (a gift) 👉 the object of the activity (what I am giving to my girlfriend)
  • Translation
  • Jürgen is going to school.
Active voice (Aktiv)

In active voice the subject is the person/thing that performs the activity.

  • Translation
  • The merchant is processing your order.
Passive voice (Passiv)

We use the passive voice when the subject (the person who performs an activity) is irrelevant, unknown or we don't want to mention it on purpose. The passive voice focuses on the activity being performed (or on a state) and on the person/thing (the object) affected by that activity.

  • Translation
  • Your order is being processed.
  • Explanation
  • It is irrelevant who is peforming the action, but it is relevant who the object of the action is (the order) and what action is being performed (is being processed).
Article (Artikel)

The article determines the gender of a noun. There are the 3 genders in German: masculine (Maskulinum), feminine (Femininum), and neuter (Neutrum). Apart from that, a noun can also be plural. In that case the definite article is always die and there is no indefinite article.

Definite article (bestimmter Artikel)

It describes a specific noun, e.g. a thing, person, concept. The most accurate comparison to English is: "the" (vs "a").

  • Translation
  • There is a book on the table. The book is green.
Indefinite article (unbestimmter Artikel)

Describes an undefined noun, e.g. a thing, person, concept. The most accurate comparison to English is: "a" (vs "the"). There is no indefinite article for plural nouns.

  • Translation
  • a book
Direct speech (direkte Rede)

Direct speech is a quote from another person (or persons) without any changes.

  • Translation
  • The boss said the company was doing great.
Indirect speech (indirekte Rede)

Indirect speech qutoes another person's statement while adding some uncertainty as to whether that statement is true or no (allegedly it is but we aren't sure). The indirect speech is created using the subjunctive mood I Konjunktiv I.

  • Translation
  • The boss said: "The company is doing great." 👉 The boss said that the company was doing great.
  • Explanation
  • The boss said that the company is doing great, but you really don't know how the company is doing. Maybe it's not going well, and the boss wants to hide it. Reported speech expresses this uncertainty as to what the boss is saying.
Gender (Genus)

Describes the gender of a noun. There are 3 genders in German: masculine (Maskulinum), feminine (Femininum), and neuter (Neutrum).

  • Translation
  • mother (feminine)
  • Translation
  • father (masculine)
  • Translation
  • child (neuter gender)
Singular (Singular)

A singular noun.

  • Translation
  • The house is old.
Plural (Plural)

Denotes more than one of a given thing/person. The fact of being singular or plural influences other parts of speech in the sentence among others the noun's article and the verb's ending.

  • Translation
  • The house is old. 👉 These houses are old.
Auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb)

Verb used together with another verb in order to build a sentence in a given tense or mood (e.g. in the past tense or in the passive voice).

  • Translation
  • I forgot my key.
  • Explanation
  • The past tense Perfekt
  • Translation
  • Your order is being processed.
  • Explanation
  • The present tense Präsens, a passive sentence
Polite form (Höflichkeitsform)

The form of addressing people in a formal way, e.g. Mr. or Mrs. It uses a personal pronoun, which is capitalized, and it requires the verb to be conjugated the same way as the 3rd person plural.

  • Translation
  • Please come inside.
Indicative (Indikativ)

The base and the simplest grammatical form of a sentence; a statement of a fact (in contrast to questions, orders and assumptions)

  • Translation
  • I am going/driving to Berlin.
Prefix (Vorsilbe / Präfix)

Prefix added to many parts of speech (in particular to separable verbs).

  • Translation
  • to depart / to leave
  • Translation
  • confusing/unclear
Suffix (Nachsilbe / Suffix)

Suffix added to different parts of speech depending on the gender, person, tense, grade etc.

  • Translation
  • child 👉 children
  • Translation
  • to do / did / done
  • Translation
  • fast - faster - fastest
Personal ending (Personalendung)

Suffix of a verb in the correct person.

  • Translation
  • She is writing an E-Mail.
Umlaut

Two dots above one of the following letters: a, o, u 👉 ä, ö, ü.

  • Translation
  • men
  • Translation
  • evil / bad
  • Translation
  • to open