German Language Foundation

Learn the German language alphabet, an extension of the roman alphabet with umlauts (a umlaut, o umlaut, u umlaut) and the eszett, including letter names and pronunciation notes.

Learn to use the modal verb wollen in hochdeutsch to ask what you want, as in was wollen sie trinken or was wollen sie essen.

Learn how the German modal wollen is used in two ways, asking questions and making polite requests, with examples like will you or do you want, and note verb placement.

Explore German modal verbs können and wollen, including their conjugations (ich kann, ich will; er/sie/es kann; wir können), and the verb placement with sehen in sentences.

Explore how tense structure and meaning diverge in German present simple, contrasted with English present progressive, using kommen and ich komme as examples.

Practice the German simple present tense using bleiben and gehen, forming wir bleiben and gehen wir, with heute, hier, and heute Abend to show time and place.

Learn how jetzt meaning now and nicht meaning not function in basic German, with pronunciation notes on jetzt and practical examples using ich, wollen, können and the placement of nicht.

Learn how verstehen means to understand in German, explore its modular formation with wir verstehen and wir verstehen sie, and negate with nicht for practical, everyday conversation.

Three ideas for studying German: say 'i'm sorry', ask 'how long', and master sentence structure, while training your ear by listening to language as music with the Michel Thomas method.

Master essential German phrases and grammar for the German language foundation course: es tut mir leid, wie lange, müssen, können, and pronoun forms mich/mir, with verstehen and bleiben usage.

Explore the German verbs wissen and finden, the special wissen conjugation, and mich versus mir, with examples like ich weiß es nicht.

Learn essential German basics with haben and warum, plus how to form questions, use pronouns ich, mich, mir, and practice verb position with modal verbs können and wollen.

Explore how mich and mir change with verbs and prepositions in German, and how the four cases—nominative, accusative, dative, genitive—govern after prepositions like für and mit.

Learn to use mich and mir with verbs and prepositions, including es ist für mich. Construct simple questions like können sie mich verstehen and warum können sie mich nicht verstehen.

Demonstrates how to use the German verb haben to say you have, with ich habe es, negation with nicht for emphasis, and how modal verbs affect sentence order.

Explore how to express 'to be able to' and 'must' in German with können and müssen, including dative mir versus accusative mich and verb-final modal usage.

Explore geben and brauchen, their pronunciation before vowels, and key conjugation rules with examples like ich gebe, ich brauche es, and modal verb placement.

Learn the German future tense using the modal verb werden, with the main verb at the end and examples like ich werde es heute haben.

Compare tenses and modal verbs discussed so far to distinguish future with werden from present simple and present progressive. Use examples with können, wollen, and bringen to practice verb placement.

Learn to say at what time in German with um wie viel Uhr. Explore du, ihr, Sie forms and basic verb conjugation via the Michel Thomas approach.

Learn how to form German questions about time, arrival, and duration for the German language foundation, using prefixes with verbs like ankommen and bleiben to alter meaning.

Learn the German verb sagen, meaning to say, and its pronunciation before vowels. See example phrases like will you tell me where it is and ich weiss nicht.

Explore how gehen expresses go and going in german, highlighting motion and direction. Learn to distinguish wo vs wo hin, dot vs dot hin, and use nicht for negatives.

Explore the present and past forms of sein (to be) in German, including ich bin, du bist, er ist, ich war, du warst, wir waren, and the adjective beschäftigt (busy).

Explore how German verbs build adjectives and nouns from roots, using beschäftigt (busy) and beschäftigen as examples, and relate the engage word family to English past participles and -ing forms.

Explore separable and inseparable verbs in German, learn how prefixes detach and move to the sentence end, and practice present tense and imperative in questions using wo and wo hin.

Explore the imperative case in German, with guidance on forming commands, understanding verb-first question structure, and distinguishing present simple from present progressive in practical examples.

Discover how to express wait in German, including the pronunciation waaten, the imperative form waaten Sie auf mich, and polite requests using wollen, können, or würden with auf mich.

Examine how the German pronoun sie covers you, they, and she, including capitalization: capital S at sentence start, and conjugation with werden for the future, with practical examples.

Learn how to express the future with werden, and use kaufen and teuer in German, with examples like I will wait for you and we are going to buy it.

Learn essential German words for everyday use: fertig, schon, schön, and alles, with practical usage. Identify pronunciation nuances and common usage patterns for fertig, schon, schön, and alles.

Explain German present tense conjugation for the third person singular of bleiben, ending with t, as shown by bliped. Distinguish alles vs alle and introduce future forms with werden.

Learn to express 'i would like' with möchte, use möglich and unmöglich for possible and impossible, and ganz for entirely, plus a primer on German pronouns and cases.

Master how to express 'gladly' in German using gern, explore the gern vs mögen constructions, and practice common phrases like ich mag dich gern and ja gern.

Explore how to say 'I would like to have it' with möchte and conjugate wollen. Explain wissen's forms, konjunktiv eins and zwei, and questions with wissen sie.

Explore how German nouns are classified by three genders and how cases shape articles and endings, using der, die, das and nominative, accusative, dative, genitive examples.

Explore how to say 'i am busy' and 'i am tired' in German using sein, with das haus as a neuter noun and basic articles der, die, das.

Master German verb conjugation using the example verb verstehen, focusing on ich, du, ihr forms, present tense and other tenses, and eliminating en to add endings for correct forms.

Explore how to say 'to understand' in German using verstehen, with conjugation rules and examples for I understand, we understand, they understand, and you understand, plus negation and pronoun forms.

Learn how sagen means to tell or to say, and master German sentence structure with modal verbs and weil, with examples like ich weiss nicht was sie sagen.

Learn how to express because in German with weil and denn, and place the verb at the end of the clause, especially with modal and future forms.

Master core German sentence structures with sagen and können, including ich kann ihn nicht sagen. Explore warum patterns that push verbs to the end, like ich will es heute haben.

Master expressing prices in German with kosten, including how to say it costs, how much it costs, and polite requests for prices in euros.

Learn how to ask in German using fragen, master gendered definite and indefinite articles (der/die/das, ein/eine), and form practical sentences like ich habe eine frage and wo ist es.

Learn to greet in German with hallo, guten morgen, guten tag, guten nachmittag, guten abend, and gute nacht; choose formal or informal forms and ask or answer 'how are you'.

Master reflexive verbs in German by studying reflexive pronouns mich, mir, and sich, and how verbs like waschen, beeilen, and fühlen use reflexive forms.

Explore the structure of the reflexive verb sich beeilen in German, explaining the reflexive sich, the prefix be-, the stem eile, and learning through building blocks rather than memorization.

Learn to say sich beeilen in German and distinguish man from der Mann, while using müssen, können, wollen, and werden across ich, wir, and sie.

Explore the German -ieren verbs, such as interessieren, organisieren, and spezialisieren, including reflexive uses, past participles like interessiert, and examples like ich interessiere mich für Sprachen.

Explore how sich freuen means to enjoy or be pleased, including reflexive usage, the feminine noun freude, and common patterns with über, auf, darüber, darauf, and kennenzulernen with zu.

Explore how to talk about time in German using die Zeit, master negation with keine before time nouns, and understand noun formation like Zeitung from Zeit and Heizung from Heizen.

explains German nouns ending in -heit and -keit and how they form feminine nouns such as möglichkeit, with examples ich habe keine möglichkeit and es ist möglich, gelegenheit meaning opportunity.

Learn how to express always with immer and often with oft in German, using nicht for negation and examples like ich habe nicht immer die gelegenheit zu sehen.

Explore essential german vocabulary: wichtig, nötig, spät, rufen, fahren, with practical usage such as es ist sehr wichtig, es ist nicht nötig, es ist spät, and rufen vs anrufen.

Introduce the German verb sprechen (to speak), cover phrases like do you speak English, and show how to say it in German or English using auf Deutsch or auf Englisch.

Learn how to express lateness and intention in German using spät, später, and bald, with phrases like es ist zu spät and es wird nicht möglich sein.

Explore how the German modal verb würden expresses would in hochdeutsch, with ich würde, er würde, and wir würden, and note the main verb at the end in infinitive.

Learn to say buy and sell in German with kaufen and verkaufen, including inseparable prefixes. Explore negation and inversion using würde, werden, and while with weil or denn.

Learn how will, be going to, would, and can shape German sentence order in statements and questions. See examples with werden, sein, fertig, wann, um wie viel Uhr, and weil.

Explore when to use wenn (if) and wann (when), and understand verb-final order with modal verbs like wollen and können.

Explore how to express 'whether' in German using ob, and how detachable versus non-detachable verb prefixes affect placement, with examples like mitmachen and versuchen.

Explain the present progressive perfect tense and how German uses the present simple tense, with examples like I have been living here for 20 years.

Review German modal verbs such as can, will, and would, with ich and es conjugations and modal verb sentence patterns like es kann nicht möglich sein.

Explain how 'could' marks hypothetical ability and past tense in english, and how german uses konnte with correct spelling to express past ability, as in ich konnte es nicht finden.

Learn the German past tenses for sein, können and haben, with subject-verb forms like ich war, du warst, wir waren, ich hatte, ich konnte, and their usage in sentences.

Learn how the German modal verb können and its form könnten express past ability, hypothetical situations, and polite requests, with practical examples and context guidance.

Explore the German modal verbs müssen, wollen, and werden, with present, past, and future forms and examples like ich muss jetzt gehen and er wird es tun.

Examine the German modal verb wollen and its past tense wollten, with present and preteritum conjugations, and examples using kaufen and haben.

Explore the German modal verbs sollen and sollten, their present and past forms, conjugation patterns with no umlaut and added t, and how they differ from English shall and should.

Explore expressing desire and its negation in German with lust and keine lust, such as ich habe keine lust, and es freut mich.

Explore how the German verb lassen expresses having or getting something done by others, with examples for repair, washing, and getting it repaired or cleaned.

Explore how German phrasal verbs form meanings by combining prefixes like weg, aus, and ein with verbs, highlighting separable verbs and noun forms such as ein gang and aus gang.

Learn how wieder means 'again' and functions as a prefix (e.g., wiederholen) while distinguishing it from wider and widerstand, and use examples like auf wiedersehen, nie wieder, durchgehen, dürfen.

Learn essential German verbs like bekommen and kommen, with undetachable be- prefixes and examples such as ich bekomme es and ich kame morgen nachmittag an, plus vormittag, morgen, nachmittag, übermorgen.

explains hin and her as motion and direction markers in German, with detachable prefixes and examples like hingehen, hinfahren, hierher, and imperatives such as kommen sie her.

Explore transitive and intransitive verbs in German, and how accusative, dative, and genitive cases affect nouns and articles. See practical examples with der, die, das and possessive structures.

Learn how to indicate motion in German with prefixes hin and her and the verb gehen, including how to say going out and using detachable prefixes to convey direction.

Explore how the German verbs legen, liegen, and stellen distinguish transitive and intransitive usage, including motion with hin and placement on surfaces.

Discover how German prepositions govern noun cases, choosing accusative for movement and dative for location, illustrated with on top of the table and other examples.

Learn how German uses da with prepositions to express on top of it, over it, or under it, forming phrases like da rauf, darüber, and darunter.

Explore the German verbs überlegen, rüberkommen, and reinkommen, with prefix rules and reflexive usage. Learn ich überlege es mir and the dative mir vs accusative mich.

Explore the german verb family around ziehen, including sich ansiehen and reflexive mich, with ein, aus, um prefixes for entering, exiting, and changing trains.

Learn german verbs fangen, anfangen, anrufen, and hoffen, with separable prefixes and prepositions, including examples like fangen mit der angel and wir fangen bald an.

Explore German basics by distinguishing denken, glauben, and danken; learn that verbs go to the end of the sentence and master polite phrases like entschuldigen.