Reference · module 3
Verbs and word order
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Ich mache, du machst
Use any regular German verb with ich, du and er.
- Most German verbs work the same way. Take machen, to do, cut off the -en, and what is left is the stem: mach. Every ending goes on that.
- Three endings cover most of what you will say. Ich mache, du machst, er macht. Same for wohnen, lernen, kommen, spielen and hundreds more.
- One wrinkle, and it is only about being able to say it. A stem ending in t or d gets an extra e: du arbeitest, er arbeitet. Try arbeitst out loud and you will see why.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich tue nicht arbeiten.
Ich arbeite nicht.
English needs "do" to say "I do not work", so you will go looking for a German one. There is none: the verb carries nicht by itself — ich arbeite nicht.
Haben und sein
Use the two verbs that break the rules and turn up everywhere.
- Two verbs refuse the pattern, and they are the two you need most. Sein, to be: ich bin, du bist, er ist. You have had these since the second lesson.
- Haben, to have, bends in the middle: ich habe, du hast, er hat. The b disappears in du and er, which is the whole irregularity.
- German has haben where other languages have nothing. Ich habe Hunger — I have hunger, not I am hungry. Same with Durst, thirst, and Zeit, time.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich bin Hunger.
Ich habe Hunger.
English is hungry; German has hunger. "I am hungry" comes out as Ich bin Hunger, which says you are hunger itself. Hunger, Durst and Zeit are all things you have.
Where the verb goes
Put the verb where German expects it, and ask a question by moving it.
- One rule holds up most German sentences: the verb is the second thing. Ich lerne Deutsch. Heute lerne ich Deutsch. Move anything to the front and the verb still sits second.
- Second thing, not second word. Am Montag lerne ich Deutsch — the whole of am Montag counts as one, and the verb follows it.
- To ask something answerable by yes or no, put the verb first. Lernst du Deutsch? With a question word it goes back to second: Was lernst du?
The mistake you are about to make
Heute ich lerne Deutsch.
Heute lerne ich Deutsch.
English keeps the subject in front of the verb whatever comes first: "Today I learn German". German counts places instead — heute took the first one, so the verb takes the second and ich moves behind it.
Nicht und kein
Say that something is not the case, with the right one of the two words for it.
- German negates with two words, and which one you need depends on what you are denying. Kein goes in front of a noun: Ich habe kein Geld.
- Nicht does everything else — verbs, adjectives, whole statements. Ich arbeite nicht. Das ist nicht gut. Er kommt nicht aus Berlin.
- Where nicht stands is the part that takes practice. It goes at the end when it denies the whole sentence, and directly in front of whatever it denies otherwise.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich nicht arbeite.
Ich arbeite nicht.
"I do not work" puts the negation in front of the verb, so nicht will land there too. German leaves the verb in second place and sends nicht to the end.