B1 graduation chest in German

What you'll learn

• Distinguish repeated past events with wenn from single past occasions with als.
• Use subordinate clauses, relative clauses and infinitive clauses to connect ideas.
• Review future plans, hypothetical situations and actions completed before another past event.
• Choose adjective endings and cases after two-way prepositions.
• Recognize passive forms, paired conjunctions and je ... desto comparisons.

German phrases for b1 graduation chest

• Immer wenn du nach der Schule müde warst, haben wir eine kurze Geschichte gelesen, aber als du deinen ersten Zahn verloren hast, wolltest du Oma anrufen.

  Whenever you were tired after school, we read a short story, but when you lost your first tooth, you wanted to call Grandma.

  Immer wenn marks repeated past occasions; als marks one past occasion. Warst and wolltest are common conversational Präteritum forms.

• Morgen werde ich mit dem Trainer sprechen, mit dem du trainieren möchtest.

  Tomorrow I will talk to the coach with whom you would like to train.

  Werde ... sprechen forms Futur I. In the relative clause, mit requires dative dem, and möchtest comes last. For a female coach, use mit der Trainerin, mit der ...

• Bitte stell deine Tasche neben den kleinen Schreibtisch, damit du mit deinen Hausaufgaben anfangen kannst; dein Lesebuch liegt schon auf dem Schreibtisch.

  Please put your bag beside the small desk so that you can start your homework; your reading book is already on the desk.

  Neben den describes the destination of the bag; auf dem describes the book's location. Damit introduces a purpose clause with kannst at the end.

• Wenn dein Freund vorbeikäme, könntet ihr draußen spielen; wenn es später regnet, bleiben wir drinnen.

  If your friend came over, you could play outside; if it rains later, we will stay indoors.

  Vorbeikäme and könntet describe a hypothetical situation. Regnet and bleiben describe a real future possibility. For a female friend, use deine Freundin.

• Nachdem du zu Ende gelesen hast, solltest du weder Spielzeug noch Süßigkeiten in deine Schultasche packen.

  After you have finished reading, you should pack neither toys nor sweets in your school bag.

  Nachdem establishes the sequence of actions. Solltest gives advice; weder ... noch means neither ... nor. No extra nicht is needed.

• Je sorgfältiger du deine Münzen zählst, desto leichter ist es, zu entscheiden, was du kaufen kannst.

  The more carefully you count your coins, the easier it is to decide what you can buy.

  Je ... desto links two comparisons. Zählst ends the je-clause; ist follows desto leichter. The embedded question was du kaufen kannst also has its finite verb last.

• Die Mannschaftsfotos werden geprüft, bevor sie geteilt werden, und dein Bild darf nur mit unserer Erlaubnis veröffentlicht werden.

  The team photos are checked before they are shared, and your picture may only be published with our permission.

  Werden geprüft is passive. Darf ... veröffentlicht werden is modal passive: publication is permitted only with permission.

• Du hast dich gefreut, weil du daran gedacht hattest, deine sauberen Sportsachen einzupacken.

  You were pleased because you had remembered to pack your clean sports clothes.

  Gedacht hattest is Plusquamperfekt: remembering happened before feeling pleased. Daran denken, etwas zu tun means to remember to do something.

Key words

Subordinate clauses and word order

Conjunctions such as weil, damit, bevor and nachdem send the finite verb to the end. If a subordinate clause comes first, the main clause begins with its finite verb.

Temporal wenn versus als

Use wenn for repeated past occasions and present or future occasions. Use als for one event or period in the past. Immer wenn makes the meaning whenever explicit.

Common conversational Präteritum

Even when other past actions use Perfekt, sein and modal verbs often use Präteritum in conversation.

Relative clauses, including prepositional relatives

A relative pronoun matches its noun's gender and number, but its case depends on its role inside the relative clause. A preposition comes before the pronoun and determines its case. The finite verb goes last.

Futur I and present tense for future plans

Futur I uses a conjugated form of werden plus an infinitive. German also commonly uses the present tense when a time expression or context makes the future meaning clear.

Two-way prepositions and adjective endings

With two-way prepositions such as neben and auf, use accusative for a destination and dative for a location. Adjective endings depend on the determiner, case, gender and number.

Infinitive clauses

A zu-infinitive can express the action someone remembers or finds easy. With separable verbs, zu goes between the prefix and the verb stem.

Hypotheticals and advice with sollte

Konjunktiv II presents imagined situations or possibilities. Könnte means could. Sollte commonly gives advice and means should, rather than expressing a firm command.

Passive and modal passive

The process passive focuses on what happens to something. Use werden plus a past participle. With a modal verb, use the modal plus past participle plus werden.

Paired coordination: weder ... noch

Weder ... noch joins two excluded items or possibilities. It already expresses negation, so do not add nicht.

Linked comparisons: je ... desto

Use a comparative after both je and desto. The je-clause has its finite verb at the end. In the main clause, the finite verb follows the complete desto comparison phrase.

Plusquamperfekt

Use Plusquamperfekt for an action completed before another past event. Form it with hatte or war plus a past participle. In a subordinate clause, the auxiliary goes last.

More examples

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