Printable German grammar cheat sheet for beginners

Printable German grammar cheat sheet for beginners (PDF download)

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite tools for learning the grammar of a foreign language. I recommend using grammar cheat sheets for all my students who are learning German. German grammar might seem very complex, especially for beginners. But when you have a clear and understandable grammar cheat sheet in front of you, it is not as bad as it seems at first sight.

I often saw in my classes that many beginners didn’t feel confident speaking German because they were constantly trying to remember how to conjugate the article or adjective, or which case to use after which preposition. With this simple grammar cheat sheet, you can easily find the conjugation that you forgot and concentrate on speaking.

You will find the link to download my own printable German grammar cheat sheet at the bottom of the page. Or make your own once you understand the concept! 

How to guess the gender of German nouns (+printable exercise)

The concept of a grammar cheat sheet is very simple and you can easily create one by yourself. It shouldn’t be too long, the best is just one A4 page. The grammar cheat sheet should contain only the most essential grammar rules. For example, if you are learning German, it could be the conjugation of definite and indefinite articles and pronouns in different cases, adjective declensions etc. Of course, there are always exceptions to the grammar rules, but try not to worry about exceptions at this point. Stick to the basics – the point of the grammar cheat sheet is to help you start speaking and if you make some small grammar mistakes at first, it’s not a big deal. Once you learn the basics and all these conjugations stick in your memory, you will start remembering the exceptions as well. 

Here are the grammar tables that are included in this German grammar cheat sheet pdf:

Conjugation of definite and indefinite articles in 3 cases: Nominative, Dative, Accusative.

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Definite articles by case

Case Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
Nom. der die das die
Dat. dem der dem den(-n)
Acc. den die das die

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Indefinite articles by case

Case Masc. Fem. Neut.
Nom. ein eine ein
Dat. einem einer einem
Acc. einen eine ein

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Conjugation of personal pronouns in Nominative, Dative and Accusative.

Personal pronouns by case

Nom. ich du er sie es wir ihr Sie sie
Dat. mir dir ihm ihr ihm uns euch Ihnen ihnen
Acc. mich dich ihn sie es uns euch Sie sie

Conjugation of possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns

  ich du er sie es wir ihr Sie/sie
Nom. masc mein dein sein ihr sein unser euer Ihr/ihr
fem meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure Ihre/ihre
neut mein dein sein ihr sein unser euer Ihr/ihr
pl meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure Ihre/ihre
Dat. masc meinem deinem seinem ihrem seinem unserem eurem Ihrem/ihrem
fem meiner deiner seiner ihrer seiner unserer eurer Ihrer/ihrer
neut meinem deinem seinem ihrem seinem unserem eurem Ihrem/ihrem
pl meinen deinen seinen ihren seinen unseren euren Ihren/ihren
Acc. masc meinen deinen seinen ihren seinen unseren euren Ihren/ihren
fem meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure Ihre/ihre
neut mein dein sein ihr sein unser eures Ihr/ihr
pl meine deine seine ihre seine unsere eure Ihre/ihre

German adjective declencions 

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adjective endings after definite article

  Masc. Fem. Neut. Pl.
N der nette Mann die  nette     Oma das         nette    Mädchen die netten    Kinder
D dem netten Mann der  netten  Oma dem     netten    Mädchen den netten Kindern
A den netten Mann die  nette  Oma das        nette      Mädchen die netten Kinder

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adjective endings after indefinite articles and possessive pronouns

  Masc. Fem. Neut. Pl.
N mein kleiner Bruder meine kleine Katze mein  kleines Kaninchen meine kleinen
Vögel
D meinem kleinen Bruder meiner kleinen Katze meinem kleinen Kaninchen meinen kleinen Vögeln
A meinen kleinen Bruder meine kleine Katze mein  kleines Kaninchen meine kleinen
Vögel

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adjective declension with no article

  Masc. Fem. Neut. Pl.
N heißer Kaffee kalte Milch frisches Brot warme Brötchen
D heißem Kaffee kalter Milch frischem Brot warmen Brötchen
A heißen Kaffee kalte Milch frisches Brot warme Brötchen

 

The list of Dative, Accusative, and two-way prepositions:

Accusative prepositions: bis, durch, für, gegen, ohne, um

Dative prepositions: ab, aus, außer, bei, dank, mit, nach, seit, von, zu

Accusative/Dative prepositions: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen

Download German grammar cheat sheet for beginners (PDF)

German grammar terminology explained

Enjoy your cheat sheet! Let me know in the comments which grammar topic is the most difficult for you?

 


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2 responses to “Printable German grammar cheat sheet for beginners (PDF download)”

  1. […] Get printable grammar cheat sheet for beginners […]

  2. Tulsi Prakash Avatar
    Tulsi Prakash

    Thank you! I found the cheat sheet very helpful 😁👍🏽

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