The building blocks: word types

Grammar is the rulebook for how words change their form and combine into sentences. To learn those rules you need names for the kinds of words — because each kind follows its own rules. This lesson defines every word type from zero.

Nouns — things and beings

A noun is a word for a person, a thing, a place, or an idea: *dog, Anna, Berlin, freedom*. Recognition trick in German: nouns are always capitalized, even mid-sentence. This is a particularly distinctive feature of German — it helps you spot nouns instantly.

Verbs — actions and states

A verb says what someone does or what happens: *to sleep, to go, to be, to have*. Verbs are the only word type that changes with time (today/yesterday) and with who acts (I/you/he). The base form (the dictionary form) is called the infinitive and almost always ends in -en: gehen (to go), machen (to do/make), schlafen (to sleep).

Adjectives — qualities

An adjective describes a noun: *small, red, expensive, interesting*. In German the adjective takes different endings depending on where it stands — one of the most important topics of this course (unit “Adjective endings”).

Articles — the little words before a noun

An article is a companion word before a noun. English has two: *the* (definite — a known thing) and *a* (indefinite — some thing). German has the same idea, but its articles change form: der, die, das, den, dem, des (definite) and ein, eine, einen, einem… (indefinite). Why so many forms? In German the article carries information about the noun's gender and case — you'll learn both in the next units.

Pronouns — stand-ins

A pronoun replaces a noun so you don't repeat it: *he, she, it, I, you, my, himself*. Instead of “Anna sleeps because Anna is tired” you say “Anna sleeps because she is tired”.

Prepositions — relation words

A preposition describes a relation — usually place, time or manner: *in, on, with, after, without, for*. It stands before a noun or pronoun: “mit dem Hund” (with the dog), “in Berlin”. Crucial for German: every preposition forces a specific case on the noun that follows — there's a whole unit on this.

Connectors — sentence joiners

A connector (conjunction) joins sentences or parts of them: *and, but, because, that, if, although*. In German the connector decides where the verb goes — after *weil* (because) it moves to the end of the sentence. This too gets its own unit.

Adverbs — the rest

An adverb describes *how, when, where* something happens: *today, here, gladly, very, unfortunately*. Good news: adverbs never change form. A word like *heute* (today) always looks the same — no endings to learn.