German Grammar Fundamentals from Capitalization to Word Order

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German is a Germanic language, meaning that it’s more closely related to English than French or Spanish. Still there are plenty of variations that set German grammar apart from its Anglo-Saxon cousin, from word order to capitalization and verb conjugation (and more). 

We’ve listed some of the most common differences between the two languages to make it easier for you to learn to speak German with confidence. Take a look at why German is a unique and interesting language to learn!  

How is German grammar different from English? 

Here’s a list of the seven most notable differences when comparing English to German grammar.

• Capitalization: This is one of the biggest differences you’ll notice when looking at German text for the first time. All nouns are capitalized in the German language, not just proper nouns.
• Articles: While English just has one article with “the”, German has three. All of these articles have a grammatical gender associated with them. Der means a noun is male, Die means a noun is female, and Das means a noun is neutral.  
• Verb conjugation: German has some special grammar rules when it comes to verb conjugation. While in English you often only have a special form for third person singular (he/she/it), German has different conjugations tied to each pronoun. There are three different kinds of verbs in German: weak, strong, and mixed. Weak verbs are regular, strong verbs are irregular with stem changes present across all tenses, and mixed verbs have characteristics of both weak and strong verbs.
• The four grammatical cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive are very special compared to many other languages. They influence articles and pronouns, putting them into different declinated forms based on if they refer to the subject, direct object, or indirect object of a sentence or if they are indicating possession. This also exists in English, albeit to a less thorough degree. Think about how the pronoun “I” changes to “me” if it isn’t the subject of a sentence.
• Negation: In German, negation is mostly done through the word nicht which is added after the verb. This is different to English where you often begin a negated sentence with “to do + not” followed by the verb that is being negated. 

• Word order: In basic sentences, word order often is pretty similar between English and German. There are some finer differences when it comes to the placement of extra information such as places, time, and indirect objects. The German cases also sometimes combine preposition + articles/pronouns into one singular word. “Of my father” turns into meines Vaters, for example. 

How does capitalization work in German? 

Großschreibung (capitalization) in German is pretty straightforward, although there are some major differences between English and German grammar rules. The most important rule to remember is that all nouns in German are capitalized,as opposed to English, where only weekdays, proper nouns, and names are some of the most commonly capitalized nouns. 

• Eine Frau spielt mit ihrem Hund und ihrer Katze. = A woman plays with her dog and her cat. 

The only common exception to this is the formal pronoun Sie (you, formal), which is a sign of respect and formality. It’s capitalized in written texts to differentiate it from the pronoun sie which can mean either “she” or “they.” 

• Ich sehe sie nächsten Samstag. = I’ll see her next Saturday.
• Ich sehe Sie nächsten Samstag. = I’ll see you (formal) next Saturday. 

Languages are only capitalized if they are the subject of a sentence. If they are used as adjectives or adverbs, you’ll write them in lowercase. 

• Ich finde, Italienisch ist eine schöne Sprache. = I find that Italian is a beautiful language. 
• Sie spricht französisch. = She’s speaking French.
• Ich mag deutsches Essen. = I like German food.

One exception is if the name of the language is part of a proper noun. 

• Der Deutsche Schäferhund. = The German shepherd. 

Using articles in German 

German has three different direct articles, all of which have the same role as “the” in English. All of these articles can change form (declension) depending on where they are in a sentence.

• Der is used for male nouns.
• Die is used for female and plural nouns.
• Das is used for neutral nouns.

This German grammar chart shows the rules for the direct articles and how they are declinated in the four grammatical cases. 

• Die Katze sitzt auf dem Bett. = The cat is sitting on the bed. 
• Siehst du den Hund? = Do you see the dog?
• Sie geben dem Pferd Heu. = They’re giving hay to the horse.
• Die Federn der Vögel sind schön. = The birds’ feathers are beautiful.  

>> Learn when and how to use indefinite and definite German articles. 

How to conjugate German verbs

Verbkonjugation (verb conjugation) is one of the cornerstones of German grammar rules. While English usually only changes the conjugation of verbs slightly in certain tenses, German has distinctly different conjugations for each pronoun. 

While there aren’t different verb endings like you may find in French or Spanish, German verbs are categorized into three different types: 

• Schwache Verben (weak verbs) are regular. They don’t change their stem when conjugated, even when you use them in a different tense. An example is the verb malen (to paint).
  • Ich male. = I paint.
  • Er malt. = He paints. 
  • Wir malten. = We painted.
• Starke Verben (strong verbs) are irregular. They change their stem when conjugated or when put into a different tense. This often includes a change of vowel in the stem. Consonants aren’t changed as often, if they it’s often a double “s” or “ts” being changed to an ẞ. An example is the verb essen (to eat).
  • Ich esse. = I eat.
  • Er isst. = He eats.
  • Wir aßen. = We ate. 

• Gemischte Verben (mixed verbs) have characteristics of both weak and strong verbs. In present tense, they sometimes have stem changes, and in past tense, they have a stem change with the regular verb ending. An example is the verb schwimmen (to swim).
  • Ich schwimme. = I swim.
  • Er Schwimmt. = He swims.
  • Wir schwammen. = We swam.

You may notice that the changed stems are sometimes similar to the English stem changes in these examples. Schwimme and Schwammen aren’t all that different from “swim” and “swam.” Chances are that if a German and English verb are similar, they also have similar stem changes! 

This chart shows the typical verb endings for verbs in the present tense. 

Conjugating the verb sein (to be) in German

Sein is German’s most irregular (or “strong”) verb. You’ll notice that it ends on an -n instead of -en as other German verbs do. Its conjugation also doesn’t follow the regular rules of other German verbs—just like the English “to be” has a unique conjugation.

>> Check out our full guide to German conjugation of verbs.

German has four cases to indicate possession and objects of sentences

Die vier Fälle (the four cases) and how they’re utilized are quite unique to the German language. They mark one of the biggest differences when comparing English and German grammar rules. 

Nominative (nominative)

This is the simplest of the German cases. It indicates the subject of a sentence and is pretty straightforward. The nominative case is—as the name implies—the basic form of each article and pronoun.

• Der Fisch schwimmt. = The fish is swimming. 
• Sein Pferd rennt. = His horse is running.
• Ich bin hier. = I am here.

The question to ask yourself if you want to know if a noun is in the nominative case is “who or what is performing the action?” In the examples above, the nouns performing the actions are der Fisch, sein Pferd, and Ich. Since the subjects of the sentence are doing the action, this indicates the nominative case is being used.

Akkusativ (accusative)

The accusative case in German indicates the direct object of a sentence and is pretty straightforward as well. The accusative form of ich (I) turns into mich, similar to how “I” turns into “me” in English. 

• Sie wäscht den Hund. = She washes the dog.
• Du liebst mich. = You love me. 
• Ich baue einen Tisch. = I’m building a table. 

The question you’d ask to identify if it’s the Akkusativ case is “who or what is affected directly?”  For the examples above the answers are: 

• Der Hund => Den Hund
• Ich => Mich
• Ein Tisch => Einen Tisch 

These articles and pronouns are declinated into accusative because they belong to the objects directly affected by the subject’s actions. 

Dativ (Dative)

The German dative case indicates the indirect object of a case. It’s used after prepositions such as auf (on), mit (with), in (in), and von (of.)

• Ich sitze auf meinem Stuhl. = I am sitting on my chair. 
• Sie geht mit ihrem Hund spazieren. = She is going on a walk with her dog. 
• In diesem Wetter? = In this weather?

Dative is often used in casual conversation to replace the genitive. For example, in the last genitive examples below, you could say Die Fenster von unserem Haus (the windows of our house) instead of Die Fenster unseres Hauses (The windows of our houses).

The questions to ask to know if it’s the dative case are “of/on/in/with what?” and “to whom?” For the examples above the answers are: 

• Auf meinem Stuhl. = On my chair.
• Mit ihrem Hund = with her dog
• In diesem Wetter = In this weather

Genitiv (Genitive)

The genitive is used to indicate possession and connection between two nouns. Definite and indefinite articles and German pronouns are declinated into the genitive case which can be confusing for people who are not familiar with German grammar rules. For example, the female noun die Familie (the family) turns into der Familie (of the family), but you can master these tricks once you’ve learned the other cases and gendered nouns. 

• Der Vater der Familie. = The father of the family.  
• Die Familie, deren Haus blau ist. = The family whose house is blue.  
• Die Fenster unseres Hauses. = The windows of our houses. 

The articles in the beginning of all these sentences are in the nominative case, while the articles and pronouns connecting the two nouns are in the genitive case. Note that in the third example the Haus (house) has been changed as well as the possessive pronoun unser (our). This is the case for all possessive pronouns in genitive form that end in -es.  

You can’t start a sentence with an article or pronoun in its genitive form. So if you want to translate “my grandparent’s house” you have to change word order, as you can’t start with meiner.

• Das Haus meiner Großeltern. = My grandparent’s house./The house of my grandparent’s. 

To identify the genitive case, ask  “whose,” “of what,” or “belonging to what?” For the examples above the answers are: 

• Der Familie = of the Family
• Deren Hause = whose house
• Unseres Hauses = of our house

How negation works in German

Verneinung (negation) in German is mostly done through the word nicht (not), though its placement in a sentence is different from English. In English, negation often conjugates the state-of-being verb with “not,” followed by the verb that is actually being negated. In German, nicht is placed either after the verb which is getting negated, or after a direct object, if the clause that is negated has one. If there is more to a clause, such as a second verb or indirect object, it follows after the nicht. This will make more sense in the examples below.

German negation is similar to more archaic English or special phrases such as “I think not.” 

• Ich weiß nicht. = I don’t know.
• Ich sehe ihn nicht. = I don’t see him.
• Er sieht mich nicht. = He doesn’t see me. 

There are some common combinations of nicht with other words. 

• Nicht + mehr = not anymore
  • Sie ist nicht mehr hier. = She isn’t here anymore. 

• Können (to be able to) + nicht = can’t
  • Er kann mich nicht sehen. = He can’t see me. 

• Werden (to become) + nicht = Won’t.
  • Ich werde das nicht tun. = I won’t do it. 

If you want to state the absence of something you use kein (no/not a/not any). This word is declinated based on gender, number, and case and changes in different contexts. 

• Wir haben keine Milch (mehr). = We have no (more) milk.

“No more” is the same in German: Kein + mehr. They are placed differently, however, framing the “missing” noun to the left and to the right.

What is the word order in German?

German word order in basic sentences is the same as it is in English: Subject, verb, and object. But there are some differences as to where additional information is placed, such as adverbs and indications of time and space.

• Ich esse Kuchen. = I eat cake. 

Time

Indications of time are placed directly after a verb or after the reflexive pronoun if it’s a reflexive verb. In English, this information is often placed at the very end of a sentence. 

• Ich dusche mich jeden Morgen. = I take a shower every morning.
• Ich esse heute Kuchen. = I’m eating cake today. 
• Wir sind seit drei Jahren verheiratet.  = We’ve been married for three years.

Places and direction

Indications of places and directions are put at the very end of a sentence, similarly to how indications of time are placed at the end in English.

• Die Katze liegt den ganzen Tag auf dem Sofa. = The cat is lying on the couch all day. 
• Meine Schlüssel sind seit gestern weg. = My keys have been gone since yesterday. 
• Der Hund rennt den ganzen Weg nach Hause. = The dog is running the entire way home. 

Adverbs

Adverbs, which describe the way something is done, are placed after the verb in German grammar sentence structure

• Ich stelle die Vase vorsichtig auf den Tisch. = I carefully place the vase on the table. 

Verbs

If a verb is made up of two different words, such as particle verbs, the verb part of it is conjugated as usual, and the particle part is placed all the way at the end of the sentence.

• Sich Hinsetzen = To sit (oneself) down.
  • Ich setze mich hin. = I sit (myself) down.

Reflexive pronouns

The reflexive pronoun (the indirect object of this sentence) is placed after the conjugated form of Sitzen (to sit) with the particle being placed at the end of the sentence. 

• Spazieren gehen = To go on a walk.
  • Ich gehe heute mit meinem Hund im Park spazieren. = I’m going on a walk with my dog in the park today. 

As stated earlier, the indication of time heute (today) is placed after the verb, followed by the object and the indication of space im Park (in the park). At the very end of the sentence is spazieren, which is the first half of the compound verb spazieren gehen.

Frequently asked questions about German grammar rules

Despite their close linguistic relation, German has some unique grammar rules that differentiate it from other Germanic languages. Here are some questions frequently asked by those looking into learning German.

What is the basic structure of German grammar? 

The basic structure of German grammar is Subjekt (subject) -> Verb (verb) -> Objekt (object) and as such is the same as in English. 

What is the hardest German grammar rule? 

The four grammatical German cases may be the most difficult challenge for those learning German. But if you take it one step at a time and are on the lookout for how they are used in German sentences, you can train your intuition to adapt to the rules. 

• Nominativ (nominative) is used for the subject of a sentence.
• Akkusativ (accusative) is used for the direct object of a sentence.
• Dativ (dative) is used for the indirect object of a sentence. 
• Genitiv (genitive) is used to indicate possession. 

Is German grammar easy? 

German grammar is very structured without many exceptions, so learning German can be easy. Once you have a handle on the basic rules and word order—and how the four cases work—few grammatical curveballs will be thrown your way. 
Irregular verbs need to be learned on a case-by-case basis, but they have a certain set of patterns they tend to follow as well. Your best bet for success is to learn German with the Rosetta Stone app, which teaches you the language immersively!