German · A1 · Milestone
A1 Graduation Chest in German
Celebrate your German learning with familiar baby-day phrases about getting dressed, feeding, cuddling, travelling and birthdays.
What you'll learn
- Use familiar words from everyday routines.
- Review simple statements, possessives and the modal verb können.
- Use neben and mit with the dative case.
- Recognise war and hattest when talking about the past.
German phrases for a1 graduation chest
Komm, wir setzen dir deine Mütze auf.
Let's put on your hat.
A natural, encouraging way to say this to a child. Aufsetzen means to put on a hat; auf moves to the end here.
Ich brauche eine Flasche.
I need a bottle.
Brauchen means to need. Eine Flasche is the object of the sentence.
Teddy ist neben dir.
Teddy is next to you.
Neben dir describes a location. Dir is the dative form of du.
Ich kuschle gern mit dir.
I like to cuddle you.
German naturally says 'cuddle with you'. Gern shows that you enjoy the activity.
Du kannst meine Hand halten.
You can hold my hand.
Kannst is the du form of können. The main verb halten goes at the end.
Heute ist dein erster Geburtstag.
Today is your first birthday.
Heute means today. Dein erster Geburtstag means your first birthday.
Heute fahren wir mit dem Bus.
We go by bus today.
Use fahren for travelling by vehicle. Mit dem Bus means by bus.
Dein Bad war warm, und du hattest Spaß.
Your bath was warm, and you had fun.
War means was; hattest means you had. Spaß haben means to have fun.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
die Mütze
hat; cap
A good word for a baby's soft or knitted hat.
die Flasche
bottle
Can refer to a feeding bottle in this context.
der Teddy
teddy bear
When used as the toy's name, Teddy needs no article.
kuscheln
to cuddle; to snuggle
Use mit to say who you cuddle with.
die Hand
hand
Meine Hand means my hand.
der Geburtstag
birthday
German nouns always begin with a capital letter.
der Bus
bus
After mit, der Bus becomes dem Bus.
das Bad
bath
Can also mean bathroom; here it means bath.
Spaß haben
to have fun
Learn these two words together.
Present tense and word order
In a simple statement, the conjugated verb comes second. If heute comes first, the subject follows the verb.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject first | subject + verb + other information | Ich brauche eine Flasche. |
| Time first | heute + verb + subject + other information | Heute fahren wir mit dem Bus. |
Separable verbs
Aufsetzen is separable. In a simple present-tense statement, auf goes at the end. Dir tells us whose hat we are putting on.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Put on a hat | aufsetzen → wir setzen … auf | Wir setzen dir deine Mütze auf. |
Enjoying an activity and saying can
Use gern with a verb to say you like doing something. With können, conjugate können and put the other verb in its infinitive form at the end.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Like doing something | verb + gern | Ich kuschle gern mit dir. |
| You can | du kannst + other information + infinitive | Du kannst meine Hand halten. |
Dative after prepositions
Mit always takes the dative case. Neben takes the dative when it describes where someone or something is.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| With you | mit + dir | Ich kuschle mit dir. |
| By bus | mit + dem Bus | Wir fahren mit dem Bus. |
| Next to you | neben + dir | Teddy ist neben dir. |
My, your and first
Possessive endings depend on the noun's gender and case. Meine Hand and deine Mütze use -e here. In dein erster Geburtstag, erster means first and has the masculine subject ending -er.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| My hand | meine + Hand | Du kannst meine Hand halten. |
| Your first birthday | dein + erster + Geburtstag | Heute ist dein erster Geburtstag. |
| Your bath | dein + Bad | Dein Bad war warm. |
Talking about the past
War and hattest are simple past forms of sein and haben. These forms are common in everyday German. Und joins two statements without changing their word order.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Was | sein → war | Dein Bad war warm. |
| You had | haben → du hattest | Du hattest Spaß. |
More examples
Heute brauche ich eine Flasche.
Today I need a bottle.
After heute, the verb comes before ich.
Du kannst Teddy halten.
You can hold Teddy.
Halten stays in the infinitive at the end.
Ich fahre gern mit dem Bus.
I like travelling by bus.
Gern expresses enjoyment; mit dem Bus describes transport.
Teddy war neben dir.
Teddy was next to you.
Use war instead of ist to describe a past location.