German grammar is very complex and relies heavily on memorization. Most German learners find it relatively easy to understand German grammar when reading or listening, but struggle to use it correctly when speaking or writing. However, with the right tools and practice, you can master German grammar. I recommend learning new grammar patterns through input and practicing proper grammar through writing. You can gather input through any German language resource, such as books or TV shows. When you come across a new grammar point you don’t understand, copy and paste it into Google and write “grammar” after it. For example, let’s look up “auf grammar,” like in the image below. You will see several websites with grammar explanations pop up.
Here I’m using the website Your Daily German. When you open the website, you will see a quick explanation of the grammar point, including meaning, how to use it, and example sentences. This is pretty standard across most grammar websites.
If you scroll down a little more, you will see more example sentences with English translations.
If you are still struggling with the grammar of a sentence, you can ask ChatGPT to explain it to you. You may have to ask a few times in different ways to get the answer you want, but you can get a grammar explanation in English or German.
You can copy a few of the example sentences into your Anki deck for German sentences so you can review the grammar pattern again later. If you don’t have the German sentences decks downloaded or don’t know how to use Anki, you can learn more through the links below.
Remember, you should only make about 5 new cards a day, as making too many cards will burn you out. Focus on quality over quantity. You’re not missing anything by making fewer cards. If those grammar patterns are important, you’ll see them again!
For practicing grammar and sentence order, I like to use cloze cards. These are cards where a specific word or phrase is removed from a sentence, and you need to fill it back in. To create a cloze card, change your note type at the top of the card creation screen to “Cloze German Sentences.” In order to have this note type, you will need to have downloaded and opened the German sentences template deck.
Before clozing any sentences, it’s important to add audio first, since cloze deletions remove words, which will affect audio generation. To add audio to your card, start by copying the German sentence. Then, click into the audio field where you’d like the file to go. With your cursor in the audio field, click the speaker icon in the top toolbar. If you don’t see this icon, it likely means AwesomeTTS isn’t installed. You can learn how to install it by following the article linked below.
If you copied your German sentence and have it on your clipboard, it will automatically appear in the text box on the right side, otherwise, you can type out the sentence manually. To add the audio to your card, click “record.”
Now we can cloze our sentence. Start by selecting the word or phrase you want to hide, then click on the “Cloze deletion” button on the toolbar.
You can cloze as many words or phrases as you’d like in a sentence, and each cloze will generate a separate card. Some people prefer to cloze every word to practice sentence structure, one piece at a time. Personally, I only cloze key words or phrases that I think are the most important to remember. Once you’ve finished adding your clozes, click “Add” at the bottom of the screen to create the new cards.
When you study these cloze cards, you will be presented with the sentence with one of the words missing. Your goal is to recall the missing word. If you need a hint, you can click on English for the English translation of the sentence.
On the back of the card, you’ll be able to grade yourself on how well you remembered the word. You’ll also see the English translation and hear the audio.
Practicing Grammar
Learning German grammar can be pretty tricky as it requires a lot of memorization. Learning through input and practicing through writing are the best ways for you to improve your German. After reading or watching a grammar explanation, try writing a few sentences of your own. Personally, I need to use a grammar pattern many times before I can fully comprehend it. To check that your usage is correct, use ChatGPT or HiNative to receive feedback.
Grammar Websites
Your Daily German
Your Daily German is a blog for German learners with useful grammar explanations, interesting articles, and fun practice worksheets. The website is free, but you are limited to two articles a day without a membership.
Hanbok Study – Freemium
Hanbok is an amazing website that lets you break down and analyze German sentences piece by piece. Start by selecting German as your target language, then type or paste the sentence you want to analyze into the search field. After you analyze a sentence, you will be able to go over each word one at a time and see what role it plays in the sentence, as well as its form or grammar usage.
If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see all the words in the sentence listed in their dictionary forms, along with the grammar points used, each with a level rating and example sentences.
Conjuguemos
Conjuguemos is a fantastic website for practicing German verbs through games! There are a number of games to choose from to practice all variations of German verb conjugations. You can sign up for a free account to keep track of your scores and progress, or play without one!
Linguno
Linguno is another great website for practicing German through games! This website has conjugation drills, listening practice, and crossword puzzles to help you improve your German!
Mein Deutsch Buch
Mein Deutsch Buch has a large selection of grammar explanations all in German, making it great for intermediate and advanced learners. There are also lots of useful, free grammar exercises.
Lingolia German
Lingolia has a useful grammar wiki that you can use as a reference for learning or reviewing German grammar. The website also has a free exercise with each grammar explanation.
Schubert
Schubert has lots of free grammar practice for A1-C2. The quizzes and exercises are interesting, and the entire website is in German, so it’s great immersion for more advanced learners.
Grammar Practice Books
Practice is a great way to get better at grammar, especially when it requires a lot of memorization, like German. Below you will find three different practice books for each level of German, as well as their respective answer sheets. Do note that although A is the easiest level, the difficulty of this series is more for intermediate learners and above, as there are no English translations for any of the practice problems. You should already have a decent vocabulary and be comfortable looking up unknown words before starting these books.
Each section of the Übungsgrammatikbuch starts with an explanation and a few examples.
Then, after you’ve read through the explanation, you will have a lot of practice problems to help you retain what you just learned. When I do practice problems like these, I like to write down my answers in a notebook, so I can easily check them later.
When you have finished a section, go to the Lösungbuch and find the page number of the practice problems you just did, then compare your answer to the book. If you get stuck on a problem and don’t understand why the correct answer is what it is, don’t be afraid to Google it or ask ChatGPT. Also, you’ll likely come across quite a few words you don’t know as you progress through these books. Remember to look up these words and take note of them because you will likely see them again in the future.
Grammar YouTube Channels
Learn German with Anya
Anya is a fun and enthusiastic German teacher who makes learning German interesting. If you just started learning German, she has a complete A1 course for beginners. If you are more advanced, you can learn new grammar and phrases from her other videos. If there is a specific grammar point you are struggling to understand, she probably has a video on it where she explains it clearly.
German with Laura
Laura’s videos focus on breaking down German grammar so it’s easy to use and understand. She has a 3-hour video that covers all the German grammar you need to know and how to use it. I highly recommend that every German learner watch and study this video because it will make grammar much easier.
Benjamin – Der Deutschlehrer
This is another German grammar channel that explains grammar concepts entirely in German. If there are some grammar points you still struggle with or would like to review, this channel is great for both exposure and learning.
