Machst du diese Fehler im Deutschen? Grammatik lernen B1/B2

I bet you make one of these typical mistakes too! Hello and welcome to the Lingster Academy! I am your German teacher Julia and today I will explain to you some typical mistakes of German learners. And we start directly with mistake number 1. On the weekend I meet my friends. I love my children above all. Well, have you already found the mistakes in the sentences? Of course! The plural forms are not correct. It must be friends, children and cities. But where does this mistake come from? Very simple! You have often heard the plural form friends, children and cities, but it is only correct in the dative plural. It often happens that German learners always use some nouns in the dative plural, i.e. with an extra N at the end, because they hear this form so often. But it is correct, I meet my friends, I am always with my children and in many German cities there is a church. Here you need the dative plural everywhere, because the prepositions mit- and bei- as well as in- for local conditions require the dative plural. By the way, I have made an overview of the most important prepositions and verbs in the dative plural for you, you can download them for free in the learning package of the Lingster Academy. But back to the topic. The N at the end of the plural is only in the dative, but not in the nominative, accusative or genitive. So, these are my friends. I love my friends. This is the car of my friends. But I help my friends. Let's move on to the next favorite mistake of my German learners. I keep reading sentences like When I was a child, I played a lot. Or when German is a difficult language, I learn in the Lingster Academy. Maybe you'll find the problem right away. It's about the difference between ALS and WENN. Do you know the rules for this? You only use ALS if something has happened once in the past. When I was at my grandma's yesterday, we looked at an old photo album. Here I am talking about a specific day, namely yesterday and about something that we only did once yesterday. When I sent my application to the University of Saarbrücken, I forgot my certificate. Oops! That should only happen once, right? When I was a child, I played a lot. You were a child for a long time, but you were only a child once, right? And that's what it's about. WENN you use in the past when something has happened more often. Here are a few examples. Whenever I was at my grandma's, we looked at old photo albums. That means that I have looked at photos with my grandma more often or whenever I was with her. When I had my birthday as a child, my dear grandma made chocolate cake for everyone. Okay, you were only a child once, but you had many birthdays as a child. And when grandma made cake for everyone or most of them, it is a repetition in the past. Whenever I did my homework, my cat lay on my lap. That may not have happened every time, but very often. Most of the time it is always correct when we talk about a certain thing that has happened to us, because we want to report something special, right? Something unique. By the way, in the present or the future you don't have to think long, then you always say WENN. Look. When you visit me, I bake a cake. When we have vacation in summer, we go to the sea. And when it stops raining, I go for a walk. Again to the example, when German is a difficult language, I learn in the Lingster Academy, I think this mistake comes from the English S, and that means because. The words are similar, but in German we use DA or WEIL to talk about a reason. Because I was sick on the weekend, I couldn't do the homework. Because she didn't see any more challenges in her job, she was looking for another job. And now we come to another typical mistake, which somehow consists of several mistakes. Even though she has a good job, she doesn't earn that much money. Although she has a good job, she doesn't earn that much money. Correct is Although she has a good job, she doesn't earn that much money. And Despite her good job, she doesn't earn that much money. This is a very special grammar topic, namely concessive clauses, and they can contain the words despite, nevertheless and although. But what exactly do you do with it? Here is an example. It's cold outside, but she still goes out in a T-shirt. You shouldn't normally do that. And that's what concessive clauses are about. Peter has no money, but he still wants to buy a Porsche. You don't usually do that either. Okay, here's the correct grammar in the three variants. Although she has an allergy, she loves cats. She has an allergy, but she still loves cats. Despite her allergy, she loves cats. So you have three ways to repeat the same information, but the grammar is always a little different. Let's do a little analysis. Although you always use a subordinate clause and the verb is at the end. The whole subordinate clause can be at the front or at the back. She loves cats, although she has an allergy. Although she has an allergy, she loves cats. If you want to write this statement with nevertheless, it looks like this. She has an allergy, but she still loves cats. No comma, no subordinate clause. And be careful, the nevertheless clause is always in second place, because you have to give the context first. It's hot, but she's wearing a scarf. I'm very tired, but I'm still working. It's not the other way around, so the nevertheless clause is always in the back. Okay? And finally, let's look at the preposition despite. Although it is very similar, it has a different sentence structure. Although she has an allergy, she loves cats. Despite her allergy, she loves cats. So although plus verb, because although is a conjunction and it is always in a subordinate clause. But despite plus noun, because despite is a preposition, with the genitive. Despite the bad weather, despite the problems in the world, etc. By the way, this topic is important for nominalization and verbalization, because the first sentence consists of a subordinate clause and a main clause and is therefore verbal. But the second example is only a main clause and is therefore nominal. I've already made a whole video about that, you can watch it here. Well, did you understand the difference between the three options now? In a nice text at B2 level, you should be able to apply all three forms. And that's why we're going to end the video with a little exercise. I'll give you two main sentences and you think about how you can formulate them correctly with although, despite or despite. Ready? Here are your sentences. The home office offers many advantages. Some employees miss the contact with their colleagues. Write your three answers in the comments before you look at the solutions. Attention, here are the solutions. Or Despite the many advantages of the home office, some employees miss the contact with their colleagues. Yes, and that's it again for today. How many of the mistakes do you make or have you made? If you liked the video and you learned something, subscribe to my channel now. I'll say goodbye, see you next video! Your Julia