B1 graduation chest in German

What you'll learn

• Describe past events and repeated situations using als and wenn.
• Connect ideas with subordinate clauses, relative clauses and infinitive clauses.
• Review future plans, hypothetical situations and gentle recommendations.
• Recognize adjective endings, preposition cases and passive forms.
• Explain how events relate using paired expressions and the Plusquamperfekt.

German phrases for b1 graduation chest

• Als du ein Neugeborenes warst, wolltest du immer auf dem Arm gehalten werden, wenn du müde warst.

  When you were a newborn, you wanted to be held whenever you were tired.

  Als introduces the past newborn period; wenn describes repeated tired moments. Auf dem Arm gehalten werden means to be held in someone's arms.

• Wenn du schläfrig bist, helfen dir weder helles Licht noch lautes Spielzeug dabei, zur Ruhe zu kommen.

  When you are sleepy, neither bright lights nor noisy toys help you settle.

  Weder ... noch means neither ... nor. Zur Ruhe kommen is a natural way to describe settling down.

• Ich werde die weiche Decke, die Oma für dich gemacht hat, in den Kinderwagen legen.

  I will put the soft blanket that Grandma made for you into the pram.

  Werde ... legen forms Futur I. The relative clause describes the blanket; in den Kinderwagen expresses its destination.

• Das ist der kleine Becher, aus dem du nach deinem Mittagessen Wasser getrunken hast.

  This is the little cup from which you drank water after your lunch.

  Aus always takes the dative. The masculine noun Becher therefore has the prepositional relative form aus dem.

• Wir sollten daran denken, zu prüfen, ob dieses Spielzeug in warmem Wasser gewaschen werden kann.

  We should remember to check whether this toy can be washed in warm water.

  Sollten gives gentle advice. In the ob-clause, the modal passive ends with gewaschen werden kann.

• Wenn du noch hungrig wärst, würde ich dir etwas mehr Brei anbieten.

  If you were still hungry, I would offer you a little more porridge.

  Wärst and würde ... anbieten mark a hypothetical situation. Here wenn means if, not when.

• Je ruhiger wir deiner Abendroutine folgen, desto leichter schläfst du ein.

  The more calmly we follow your bedtime routine, the more easily you fall asleep.

  Je ... desto links two changing qualities. Folgen takes the dative: deiner Abendroutine.

• Ich hatte dein Fläschchen schon vorbereitet, als du wach wurdest, sodass du nicht warten musstest.

  I had already prepared your bottle when you woke up, so you did not have to wait.

  Hatte ... vorbereitet marks the earlier past action. Wach wurdest means woke up; nicht warten musstest means did not have to wait.

Key words

Subordinate clauses: wenn, als, ob and sodass

The finite verb goes at the end of a subordinate clause. Use temporal wenn for repeated events or present/future situations, and als for a single past event or past period. Ob means whether; sodass introduces a result.

Common Präteritum forms

Forms of sein and modal verbs are common in the Präteritum, including in everyday conversation. Wach werden means to wake up.

Plusquamperfekt: an earlier past action

Use hatte or war plus a past participle for something completed before another past event. Vorbereiten takes haben, so its Plusquamperfekt uses hatte.

Relative clauses, including prepositional relatives

Relative pronouns match the noun's gender and number. Their case depends on their role inside the relative clause. A preposition comes before the relative pronoun and determines its case.

Futur I

Futur I uses a present-tense form of werden plus an infinitive at the end. Here it expresses what the parent will do.

Adjective endings

Adjective endings depend on gender, case and the preceding determiner. Without an article, the adjective carries more grammatical information.

Two-way prepositions: location and destination

With in and auf, use the accusative for a destination and the dative for a location. Movement alone does not determine the case.

Infinitive clauses

Zu-infinitive clauses describe an action without introducing another finite verb. Daran and dabei can point forward to the action being discussed.

Hypotheticals and sollte

Konjunktiv II expresses imagined conditions and their consequences. Sollte is also used for gentle advice; in this context it means should, not was supposed to.

Passive, including modal passive

The passive focuses on what happens to someone or something. Its core pattern is past participle + werden. With a modal verb, the finite modal goes last in a subordinate clause.

Paired expressions: weder ... noch and je ... desto

Weder ... noch excludes both items without adding nicht. Je ... desto links two comparative expressions: the je-clause has its finite verb last, while the desto-clause places the verb immediately after the comparative phrase.

More examples

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