B1 graduation chest in German

What you'll learn

• Connect ideas using subordinate clauses and relative clauses.
• Distinguish repeated situations with wenn from past occasions or periods with als.
• Review past events, future plans and hypothetical possibilities.
• Use practical language for encouragement, privacy and shared achievements.
• Review adjective endings, location and direction, passive forms and paired structures.

German phrases for b1 graduation chest

• Als du jünger warst, habe ich dir immer geholfen, wenn ein Projekt schwierig war.

  When you were younger, I always helped you whenever a project was difficult.

  Als introduces a past period; wenn means 'whenever' for repeated situations. Helfen takes the dative: dir.

• Wenn du mehr Zeit hättest, könntest du den Club ausprobieren, für den wir einen Flyer gefunden haben.

  If you had more time, you could try the club for which we found a leaflet.

  Hättest and könntest describe a hypothetical possibility. Für takes the accusative, so the relative phrase referring to der Club is für den.

• Morgen werde ich die blaue Kiste auf den Schreibtisch stellen, damit du deine Projektmaterialien finden kannst.

  Tomorrow I will put the blue box on the desk so that you can find your project materials.

  Werde … stellen is Futur I. Auf den Schreibtisch describes the destination; damit introduces the purpose.

• Die Notizen, die du geschrieben hattest, lagen schon auf dem Schreibtisch, als wir nach Hause kamen.

  The notes that you had written were already lying on the desk when we got home.

  Geschrieben hattest places the writing before the later past event. Lagen and kamen are Präteritum forms of liegen and kommen.

• Du solltest versuchen, deine Aufgaben im Haushalt zu erledigen, bevor deine Freunde kommen.

  You should try to finish your chores before your friends arrive.

  Solltest gives gentle advice. Versuchen is followed by a zu-infinitive clause; bevor sends kommen to the end.

• Weder dein Name noch dein Foto dürfen in der Gruppe geteilt werden.

  Neither your name nor your photo may be shared in the group.

  Weder … noch means 'neither … nor'. Dürfen … geteilt werden is a modal passive expressing permission; here the whole sentence prohibits sharing either item.

• Je sorgfältiger du deine Woche planst, desto leichter ist es, Zeit für Hobbys zu finden.

  The more carefully you plan your week, the easier it is to find time for hobbies.

  Je … desto links two comparative ideas. The verb ends the je-clause; in the second clause, ist follows desto leichter.

• Deine Modelle werden in der Bibliothek ausgestellt, weil die Klasse stolz auf deine kreative Arbeit ist.

  Your models are displayed in the library because the class is proud of your creative work.

  Werden … ausgestellt is present passive, not future tense. Stolz auf takes the accusative.

Key words

Subordinate clauses and wenn versus als

In these subordinate clauses, the finite verb comes last. Use als for a single past occasion or a past period, and wenn for repeated situations or conditions. A subordinate clause placed first is followed immediately by the main-clause verb.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses describe a noun and are separated by commas. The relative pronoun matches the noun's gender and number, but its case depends on its role inside the relative clause.

Past forms and Plusquamperfekt

Common Präteritum forms help describe past states and events. The Plusquamperfekt marks something that had already happened before another past event.

Hypotheticals and gentle advice

Konjunktiv II presents imagined possibilities or softens advice. Here hättest means 'had', könntest means 'could', and solltest means 'should'.

Futur I

Futur I uses a conjugated form of werden with an infinitive. It can express a future intention. Everyday German also often uses the present tense with a time word such as morgen.

Adjective endings

Adjective endings depend on the determiner, gender, number and case. Both examples below are feminine accusative singular and use the ending -e.

Two-way prepositions

With spatial auf and in, the accusative marks a destination and the dative marks a location. The distinction is not simply whether movement occurs.

Infinitive clauses

A zu-infinitive clause can name the action someone tries to do or the activity being evaluated. Zu comes directly before these infinitives.

Passive and modal passive

The passive focuses on what happens to something rather than who does it. Unlike Futur I, the present passive uses werden with a past participle. With a modal verb, the final passive phrase is past participle + werden.

Paired structures

Weder … noch excludes both items. Je … desto expresses how a change in one thing goes together with a change in another.

More examples

Keep going in German