German Grammar Checklist

man writing in journal
Pixabay/CC0

Use this checklist to proofread and edit your writing in German. This checklist disregards the basic writing/grammar points that you would find in a general writing checklist, such as beginning a sentence with a capital letter, indenting a paragraph. etc.

It is specifically geared for those writing/grammar concepts that are essential to correct German writing.

01
of 10

Have you capitalized all nouns?

Remember all nouns and any nominalized adjectives (im Voraus), verbs (das Laufen) etc. are all capitalized. 

02
of 10

Have you used correct grammatical cases?

Depending on the meaning of the sentence, all articles, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives can be in either the nominative, genitive, dative or accusative case. 

03
of 10

Have you placed your verbs in second position in your declarative sentences?

This means that the verb is always the second grammatical element in a declarative sentence. Remember, this does not necessarily mean that the verb is the second word.

For instance: Der kleine Junge will nach Hause gehen (The little boy wants to go home). Will is the fourth word. Also, the verb is still the second element even if the first element of the declarative sentence is not the subject. 

04
of 10

Did you put the second part of the verbal phrase last?

The second part of a verbal phrase is either the past participle, prefix or infinitive, such as Sie trocknet ihre Haare ab (She is drying her hair). Keep in mind as well that verbs are last in subordinate and relative clauses. 

05
of 10

Are there any prepositions that can be contracted?

For example an dem => am.

06
of 10

Have you inserted commas before your dependent clauses? In numbers and prices?

Remember that the German language applies stricter rules in the use of commas. 

07
of 10

Have you used German quotation marks?

Mostly two types are used. Commonly used are lower and upper quotation marks =>  „  “ In modern books, you will also see chevron-style quotation marks =>  »   «

08
of 10

Have you used formal forms of Sie as necessary?

That would include also Ihnen and Ihr

09
of 10

Don’t forget the proper word order in German sentences: time, manner, place.

For example: Sie ist heute schnell nach Hause gefahren. (time – heute, manner – schnell, place – nach  Hause). 

10
of 10

Check for “false friends” or false cognates.

These are words -- either written exactly or similarly -- that exist in both languages, but they have different meanings. For example bald/soon, Rat/counsel. 

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Your Citation
Bauer, Ingrid. "German Grammar Checklist." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/german-grammar-checklist-1444497. Bauer, Ingrid. (2023, April 5). German Grammar Checklist. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/german-grammar-checklist-1444497 Bauer, Ingrid. "German Grammar Checklist." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/german-grammar-checklist-1444497 (accessed March 28, 2024).