German grammar why and how?

What is German grammar? 

First, what even is grammar, let alone German grammar?

Well, grammar is the system, the structural patterns of a language. Think of it as the way words are arranged in a meaningful phrase (syntax) and how some words change form to express different meanings (morphology).

Linguists are interested in how people use the system of German and how it’s changing over time (as all languages do). That’s “descriptive” grammar.

In contrast, the German grammar we often think of as learners (or teachers) is “prescriptive grammar”. That’s to say, German grammar as a set of explicit, fixed rules that govern the “standard language”. We know that we need to master the system and the structural patterns that fluent speakers (mostly unconsciously) use but does paying attention to the explicit rules or prescriptive grammar help in this?

Do I need to learn German grammar? 

Native speakers learn to speak their language without having studied the “grammar” (in the sense of explicit rules).  They pick up the common patterns of the language naturally from context. These language patterns often vary in some ways according to region, social group, age.

For us as adult German learners, it’s attractive to attempt to learn naturally, like a child. It sounds like it’s going to be easier. That’s often a selling point for apps and courses that downplay grammar (or don’t teach it explicitly at all). After all, many adult learners have already been put off explicit grammar rules from unpleasant experiences trying to learn foreign languages as schoolkids.

But hold on a minute!

Before we say that learning German grammar doesn’t matter and we’re just going to acquire the language “naturally”, don’t forget two awkward truths.

First, it’s a lot harder to learn a language “like a child” than you might think. Remember just how much exposure to their first language that children need in order to pick it up “naturally”. We’re talking thousands of hours. Remember too how motivated they are to be able to understand the world around them better and express their essential needs. Can you really replicate that for two or three years?

OK, let’s say you are ready to replicate that “babe-in-arms through toddler experience” to learn German. Do you really want to end up sounding like an out-sized three-year-old at the end of it?

Here’s the thing!

Educated native speakers have usually spent many years cultivating their grasp of the language.

In the modern world, this is always bound up with the written as well as the spoken language.

As school children, they learn standard written rules for clear basic expression on paper and this feeds back into how they speak. Some of this is punctuation and spelling, but some of it will be explicit rules about how the language works, as well (such as German case endings and how to write longer, more complex sentences).

As they grow up, they continue to develop their skills in the standardised language. It’s a quite deliberate process in the modern education system. Young people learn to express themselves across various elevated registers and the grammar rules that they’ve learned feed into that.

So, if you want to sound (and write) like an intelligent, educated German adult, you’ll need to give yourself some deliberate education about how German works.

You need some explicit instruction in the rules of German grammar.

Of course, it’s a question of balance.

Just learn grammar and vocab and, at best, you’ll end up able to speak and write in a slow, mechanical and stilted way.

No!

To get fluent, you need lots and lots of listening and reading practice (receptive skills or input). And lots of speaking and writing practice (productive skills or output).

That’s a given.

But supplement that with judicious, conscious focus on explicit grammar and you’ll feel the benefit.

Next, let’s look in more detail why it makes sense to study German grammar.

What are the benefits of studying German grammar? 

To learn German you need to get a lot of practice across all the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Studying grammar can’t take the place of any of this practice.

But, done right, studying German grammar will give you a number of benefits that will help you as you get the extensive practice across all four skills:

Notice what you hear and read better

As you listen and read, you’ll notice patterns that you’ve already become aware of from your focus on grammar. They’ll stick better.

Work out more from context

An understanding of grammar will give you the framework to understand how new, individual words that you come across when reading fit into the structure of the sentence or phrase and relate to the other words. That will give you a better chance of working out the meaning out from context. Deduction is a great way to learn! But if you can’t work it the actual meaning of the word, you can just look up the meaning and slot it in to the grammatical whole.

More accurate speaking and writing

Live speech moves too fast for you constantly to apply grammar rules or recall tables of case endings as you go. You don’t want your grammar “monitor” in your head to get in the way at the cost of natural fluency.

Yet your “monitor” will sometimes be able to give you a helpful steer as you speak, improving your accuracy.

When you’re writing, meanwhile, you do have time to think about the grammar as you go and, if you’ve studied it, you’re more likely to write accurately (but it’s still important to read and listen a lot to develop your feeling for natural “German” ways of expressing yourself).

Reduced unconscious influence of English patterns on your German

Study the grammar and you’ll have a keener sense of the contrasts and similarities between how German and English work. So, there’s less chance your English will inadvertently affect your German.

Increased ability to cope with longer, more complex sentences

This is especially important as you move into the intermediate levels. You’ll want to be able to understand more complex spoken and written German. You’ll be expected to write more complex sentences as well. If you don’t understand what clauses are and how they fit together, you’re going to have difficulties.

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In short, if you learn German grammar, you’ll be better prepared to get the most out of your listening and reading and be on the way to speaking and writing more accurately. You’ll be more aware of how German works.

You’ll feel more confident in your use of German.

So, you’re probably wondering, “How can I learn German grammar?”

What is the best way to learn German grammar?  

If you want to get good at German, grammar matters. But you need to learn German grammar in the right way.  Here’s how:

Start with a grammar overview

Start with an overview “road map”.

Granted, you’ll get nowhere on a journey if you just look at the map and never get out the door and into the elements. Don’t get lost learning about German at the cost of exposure to real German and starting to use it.

That said, a map can give you a basic idea of the lay of the land. That can prepare you well for the journey and come in handy as you go. Start with a brief, basic overview of how German works (in comparison with English and any other languages that you know).

Demystify grammatical jargon

There’s no need to learn lots of jargon but don’t be intimidated by the specialist vocabulary either. This “fear of grammar” seems to be an Anglo-Saxon thing and it’s pretty pathetic, really. The basics of the “science of grammar” aren’t that difficult, you see.

It’s worth mastering the lingo of grammar because it’s easier to say “noun plural” than to say “the form of a word for a person, place, a thing, feeling or concept that indicates there are more than one of it”.  It’s easier to say “verb tense” than to say something like, erm, “in relation to a word expressing a state of being, action or feeling, a form which show when in time that state, action or feeling takes place.”

After all, every field has its helpful shorthand and you should think of grammar terms in that way.  Technical words are useful among people focussed on the “trade”. Mechanics communicate more effectively thanks to specialist terms such as carburettor or crank shaft. They understand what these parts do and why they are needed. It would be silly to have to paraphrase this every time they come up in a discussion of car maintenance.

Think in terms of patterns in context more than abstract rules

There’s no point learning loads and loads of abstract rules about German. You won’t usually have time to apply them as you speak. If you try, you’ll end up speaking very slowly and sound stilted. There’s a good chance you’ll just get it plain wrong.

Instead, your aim is to master language patterns that you can apply. Once you know a stock of basic phrases that illustrate the patterns, you’re in business.

So, you can learn “The boy ate the apple” or “The dog is bigger than the cat” and you’ll be able to say limitless other sentences that have the same pattern: “The baker ate the bread”, “Russia is bigger than Germany” and so on. With practice, performing these acrobatics as you speak will become second nature and you’ll be confident that you’ve got it right. It’s how the natives do it!

The best courses are light on rules and explanations and big on patterns: they’ll give you grammar as a useable framework.

Take it in stages

“How do you eat an elephant? Bit by bit!”. Don’t overwhelm yourself with grammar. Take it in stages.

As a beginning and lower intermediate German student, learn just enough explicit grammar (explanations and rules) so that you can understand how the patterns work. What’s the role of each word in a sentence (noun, verb, adjective, and so on)? Why do some types of words change form in some circumstances, for example to show that there is more than one of an object (plural) or that an action happened in the past (verb tense).

Most good courses will do some level-appropriate grammar filtering for you. They’ll guide you through the grammar that you need in stages. They’ll also teach some more complex but very useful grammar from the beginning as “set phrases”, for now. Towards the end of the post, you’ll find lists of the grammar you need for the different attainment levels in German from A1 (beginner) to C1 (advanced).

Keep reviewing the grammar

Don’t stress or get stuck about any aspects of German that seem overwhelming at first. Get more experience of the real, live language and double back to the explanations again later on. Build up real experience of German and you’ll have more bandwidth for exceptions to the usual patterns as well.