Grammar

German Grammar: Pick Your Level

56 grammar structures from A1 to C2, sorted by level, each with its rule, table, typical mistake and practice questions.

56 structures13,725 tables2,179 real mistakes

A1 · Beginner 13 structures Building a sentence · Nouns and their words · Verbs that do more Start A2 · Elementary 12 structures The case system · Past and irregular verbs · Joining and comparing Start B1 · Intermediate 13 structures Complex sentences · Tense and voice · Case and government Start B2 · Upper Intermediate 10 structures Reported speech and stance · Clause range · Written style Start C1 · Advanced 6 structures Compressed attributes · Register and emphasis Start C2 · Mastery 2 structures Range and register Start

Or see the full syllabus, A1 to C2.

Common questions

Which level should I start at?

The one you are working at, not the one you finished. Each page is complete on its own (A1 has all thirteen A1 structures, and nothing from A2), so starting a level too high means meeting the passive before the perfect. If you are unsure, start at A1 and skip what you already know: the pages are short enough to check in a minute.

What is on a level page?

Everything that level asks of you: its grammar topics grouped into units and in teaching order, each with the rule, the tables, the typical mistake and practice questions, plus the conjugation and declension tables for that level's words, and the errors real learners make at it.

Where do the forms come from?

Wiktionary, through the same dump the vocabulary list is built from. Nothing is generated: every form was written by a human editor somewhere in that project, and the tables are extracted from it rather than predicted. Where Wiktionary lists two forms for a cell, both are shown.

Are the mistakes real?

Yes. They come from MERLIN, a corpus of German written under exam conditions by learners at A1 to C1, where each sentence is paired with what the writer meant to say. Nothing is invented, which is also why the mistakes are sometimes odd. Real ones are.

Tables and mistakes from Wiktionary and the MERLIN learner corpus, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.