Genau
Topic test · A2

German set phrases — fill in the gap test

10questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

10 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

It’s your turn at the bakery and you want a loaf of bread. Which sentence is the most polite?

Ich hätte gern ein Brot. Ich will is correct grammar but at the counter it sounds like “I want it, hand it over”. Gib mir is a flat-out order, and in the du-form at that.

You are ordering from the waiter in a restaurant: “I’ll have the soup.” Which one?

When ordering, “I’ll have” = Ich nehme … kaufen means buying from a shop and essen describes eating; neither is an ordering sentence.

You are asking the way to the train station. Which is correct?

zu takes the Dativ: zu dem Bahnhof → zum Bahnhof. der Bahnhof is masculine, so zu der is out. nach only goes with city and country names: nach Köln.

The other person spoke very fast and you didn’t understand. Which one sounds rude?

A bare Was? is like a curt “What?”. The safe one is Wie bitte?; the second choice is Entschuldigung? with a question tone.

Build the sentence: Do you know if the bus is still coming?

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

ob opens a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb kommt goes to the very end: Wissen Sie, ob der Bus noch kommt?

Ich finde, dass Deutsch ist schwer. — this sentence is built correctly.

False. dass pushes the verb to the end: Ich finde, dass Deutsch schwer ist. You can also say it without dass: Ich finde, Deutsch ist schwer.

Meiner Meinung nach das zu teuer.

In my opinion that is too expensive.

ist. The phrase holds the first slot, and the conjugated verb comes right behind it: Meiner Meinung nach ist das zu teuer.

You are calling a company about your invoice. After saying your name, which one?

For a topic or a reason, “about” = wegen. für means “on someone’s behalf”: Ich rufe für meine Mutter an. The third option has both the verb and the article wrong.

Which line do you use to end a formal email?

The sign-off of a formal letter is Mit freundlichen Grüßen; no comma after it, your name on the line below. Liebe Grüße is for a friend, and Tschüss is spoken language.

What does Könnten Sie mir das bitte einpacken? mean?

Könnten Sie …? = “Could you …?”, a polite request phrase. The könnten inside is Konjunktiv II, but you don’t need to know that to use the phrase.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Learn the phrase with its gap

    One phrase means dozens of sentences. The frame stays fixed, and you put whatever you like in the gap.

    Ich hätte gern … → Ich hätte gern einen Termin.

  2. To ask for something, not wollen

    Ich will … is correct but sounds rude in a request. At the till, in an office, at the doctor’s: Ich hätte gern … or Ich möchte …

    Ich möchte zwei Brötchen, bitte.

  3. dass and ob push the verb to the end

    After a phrase that opens a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb stands last.

    Wissen Sie, ob der Bus noch kommt?

  4. Phrase in first place, verb in second

    Meiner Meinung nach, Einerseits, Zusammenfassend fill the first slot; the verb comes right behind.

    Meiner Meinung nach ist das zu teuer.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Ich will einen Kaffee.

    Ich hätte gern einen Kaffee.

    Grammar right, tone wrong: in a request will sounds rude.

  • Was?

    Wie bitte?

    A bare Was? lands hard on a stranger.

  • Ich finde, dass Deutsch ist schwer.

    Ich finde, dass Deutsch schwer ist.

    dass pushes the conjugated verb to the end.

  • Ich rufe an für die Rechnung.

    Ich rufe an wegen der Rechnung.

    For a topic, “about” = wegen; für means “on someone’s behalf”.