
Explore structure 4 in German, a past tense question form built from a question word, inverted auxiliary, and past participle. Practice forms like what have you eaten.
Learn how attaching a past participle to an auxiliary verb forms a statement, and how inversion creates a question, with examples like has eaten and have you.
Learn German sentence structure and rule that the past participle goes at the end, with middle-of-sentence placement for extra information and forming questions like 'how much have we spent today'.
Learn to manipulate German sentence structure to form different types of questions, including cases where you don't place the question at the start, as shown with 'have you eaten'.
Recap of German question words and inverted auxiliary verbs, with past participles, and practice forming questions such as where, what, when, why, and how much or how many.
Learn how to say common questions in German, including 'how much have you eaten?' and 'what have they eaten today?', with focus on structure and basic grammar.
Explore German grammar for structure 4 with lesson 7b, focusing on forming questions and tense usage through examples like what have they eaten today and when did he call.
Explore German sentence structure with phrases like 'has to' and questions such as 'how do you say in German?', linking examples about reservation, environment, and habit to everyday usage.
Learn German question formation by identifying the object of the sentence and using correct endings, as in 'which film did you see.' See how masculine noun agreement changes the word.
Practice German grammar through everyday past-tense phrases such as 'he's bought everything for Paul' and 'I took some food to Stuttgart'.
Learn how to express common travel scenarios in German, including complaining about a hotel, changing a reservation, and discussing feelings about a job, through dialogues and vocabulary.
Practice forming German questions and past tense through practical phrases like yesterday, last week, two days ago, and what did you see, eat, or bring.
Explore German movement verbs that form the past tense with design as their auxiliary verb, listing the past participles and their meanings, and noting similarities to English.
Learn how to say who with in German using mit wem and wem, with examples like 'with whom did you go out last night' and 'in kino'.
Learn German sentence structure by translating everyday actions and forming time and place questions, using examples like I got up this morning and when did he wake up.
Explore German sentence construction in lesson 10j by practicing practical phrases and questions, contrasting informal singular and plural forms, and mastering the formal and informal ways to say with you.
Explore a short prefix meaning back that attaches to movement verbs and past participles to express return, with German examples such as come back, go back, and gave it back.
Practice forming German questions and negations using phrases like 'how would you say in German?' and 'why didn't you drink the wine?' and review 'in Deutschland' and 'nicht' usage.
The whole of the German language can be broken down into several different structures. If you take any sentence from any German book or any utterance, you will see that it fits into one of these structures.
I remember one weekend, I was writing some lessons for the week ahead, when I suddenly realised this. I noticed that there are a certain number of structures in German, and that every sentence follows one of these structures. I spent the rest of the weekend working out all the structures, and I wrote them all down.
Every structure you learn gives you the ability to say a huge amount. Some structures are used more than others, but all the structures together make up the whole German language. Once you’ve learnt how a structure works, all you have to do is insert different words into the slots and you have a sentence.
This course introduces you to structure 4. I’ve limited each course to one structure so as not to overburden you. By looking at just one structure at a time, you can really get to grips with it and understand its usage. It will help to clarify the German language and make it more like a reflex rather than something you have to think about as is it were a maths equation.
Each structure can also help to propel you to fluency; if you can manipulate the structures at high speed, you can start to say anything you want without having to thing about how to say it.
This course contains plenty of practice opportunities for you to revise what you’ve learnt and it also contains some hints and tips on how best to learn and memorise the structures and the vocabulary that goes with them. You’ll learn how to make questions out of structure 4, how to make statements and how to turn positive statements negative.
The Building Structures in German series is set out using the same learning techniques as the 3 Minute German courses. You can work through the course in three minute chunks, enabling anybody to learn German, no matter how little time you have.