Grammar

Level B2

1. 1
   Indirect speech: Er sagt, er habe keine Zeit

   To pass on what someone said, German has its own verb form, the Konjunktiv I: Emil sagt, er habe keine Zeit. It shows that these are someone else's words, and you meet it above all in the news and in written texts.
2. 2
   The Konjunktiv II of the past: Wenn ich das gewusst hätte…

   Wenn ich das gewusst hätte, wäre ich früher gekommen. With hätte or wäre and the participle you talk about a past that didn't happen: missed chances, regret and what someone should have done.
3. 3
   More passive: muss repariert werden, ist repariert worden

   You know Die Heizung wird repariert from B1. Here the passive gets a modal verb (muss repariert werden), a Perfekt (ist repariert worden) and a partner that shows the result (ist repariert).
4. 4
   Without werden: man, sich lassen, sein + zu, -bar

   Das lässt sich reparieren. Die Rechnung ist bis Freitag zu bezahlen. Das ist machbar. German has several ways to say what can or must be done without the passive with werden.
5. 5
   Participles as adjectives: die schlafende Katze, das reparierte Fahrrad

   Both participles can stand before a noun like an adjective and take the usual endings: die schlafende Katze, das reparierte Fahrrad. In written German they often bring words of their own: die gestern gekaufte Lampe.
6. 6
   Nominal style: wegen des Regens, nach seiner Ankunft

   Written German likes nouns where speech uses verbs: nach seiner Ankunft instead of nachdem er angekommen war. Learn how these nouns are made, which article they take and how to read a sentence full of them.
7. 7
   How and with what result: indem, sodass, ohne … zu

   Indem and dadurch, dass say how something is done; sodass and so …, dass say what it leads to. Je … umso links two things that grow together, and ohne … zu and anstatt … zu say what doesn't happen.
8. 8
   Modal verbs for guesses: Er muss den Bus verpasst haben

   Modal verbs can also say how sure you are: muss (almost sure), dürfte (probably), kann or könnte (perhaps). Soll and will pass on what others say. For the past, put the participle and haben or sein at the end: Er muss den Bus verpasst haben.
9. 9
   Noun and verb as a pair: eine Entscheidung treffen

   In eine Entscheidung treffen the noun carries the meaning, and the verb hardly means anything on its own. Such pairs are everywhere in work emails, reports and the news, so learn them as one unit.
10. 10
    Prepositions with the genitive: innerhalb, aufgrund, dank

    You know wegen, trotz, während and statt from B1. Written German has more prepositions with the genitive, like innerhalb, außerhalb, aufgrund, bezüglich and dank, while in speech the dative often takes its place.
11. 11
    Relative clauses with wer, was and wo: alles, was ich weiß

    Not every relative clause starts with der, die or das. Wer means anyone who, was comes after alles, etwas or das Beste, and with a preposition was becomes worüber or womit.
12. 12
    Modal particles: doch, ja, mal, halt

    Small words like doch, ja, mal and halt don't change the facts of a sentence, but they show how you feel about them: friendly, surprised, a little impatient. They belong to spoken German, and without them you sound like a textbook.