Genau
Topic test · A1

The 7 rules of German 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.

Which one is “I’m going to the cinema today.”?

Heute gehe ich ins Kino. When a time word comes first, the conjugated verb stays in 2nd place and the subject moves behind it. The first option is English word order, the third is subordinate-clause order.

Build the sentence: I’m staying home today.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

The verb (bleibe) is in 2nd place. Put heute first and the subject moves behind: Heute bleibe ich zu Hause. Starting with the subject is also correct: Ich bleibe heute zu Hause.

Which one is “I can’t come tomorrow.”?

Ich kann morgen nicht kommen. The conjugated kann is in 2nd place, the infinitive kommen is last and unconjugated. Put morgen first and you get: Morgen kann ich nicht kommen.

“I’m not coming because I’m sick.” — which one is correct in writing?

…, weil ich krank bin. weil opens a subordinate clause, and the conjugated verb drops to the very end. You may hear the second option in speech, but it counts as wrong in writing and in exams.

In a yes/no question the conjugated verb goes to the very front: Wohnst du in Köln?

True. The “verb in 2nd place” rule is for statements and for questions with a question word (Wo wohnst du?). In a yes/no question, 1st place is empty and the verb jumps to the front.

Ich habe Hund.

I have a dog.

einen. Hund is masculine and haben takes its object in the Akkusativ: ein → einen.

Which one is “I see the man.”?

Ich sehe den Mann. Just as English turns he into him, German changes the article: masculine der becomes den in the Akkusativ. dem is the Dativ (to the man).

How should you write the word “book” in your notebook?

das Buch. You learn the article together with the word, and a noun is always written with a capital letter. Writing it down without the article means guessing again in every sentence.

Which one is “Where do you live?”?

Wo wohnst du? du needs the ending -st, and the verb stands right after the question word, in 2nd place.

Which one is “I have no time.”?

Ich habe keine Zeit. What is being negated is a noun, so kein. Zeit is feminine, so keine.
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. Conjugated verb in 2nd place, second verb last

    Whatever you put first, the conjugated verb stays in 2nd place and the subject moves behind it. If there is a modal, a Perfekt or a separable prefix, the second part goes to the very end.

    Heute kann ich nicht kommen.

  2. weil · dass → verb last

    In a subordinate clause the conjugated verb drops to the very end too — English never does this.

    Ich komme nicht, weil ich krank bin.

  3. The article changes with its job

    In the Akkusativ only the masculine changes: der → den · ein → einen. In the Dativ der → dem.

    Ich habe einen Hund.

  4. The pronoun stays · kein for nouns, nicht for the rest

    The verb takes a person ending, but the subject is still said. A noun with no article or with ein takes kein; a verb or an adjective takes nicht.

    Ich habe keine Zeit.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

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

  • Heute ich gehe ins Kino.

    Heute gehe ich ins Kino.

    When a time word comes first, the subject moves behind the verb.

  • Ich möchte trinken einen Kaffee.

    Ich möchte einen Kaffee trinken.

    The second verb does not stay in the middle; it goes last.

  • Ich habe ein Hund.

    Ich habe einen Hund.

    A masculine noun as the object: ein → einen.

  • Ich habe nicht Zeit.

    Ich habe keine Zeit.

    If what you negate is a noun, use kein.