Introduction to German Parts of Speech (Wortarten)
Introduction to German parts of speech (Wortarten), covering key categories such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and more, along with their roles, grammatical behavior, and importance in building correct sentences.
Parts of Speech
Overview
There are 10 parts of speech .
- 4 are invariable: adverbs , interjections , conjunctions , and prepositions .
- 6 can change their base form.
- Verbs are conjugated,
- articles Nouns , Numerals & Pronouns are declined
- Adjectives can be declined and compared.
mindmap
root((Parts of Speech))
Variable
Declinable
Noun (Nomen)
Article (Artikel)
Adjective (Adjektiv)
Pronoun (Pronomen)
Numeral (Numerale)
Conjugable
Verb
Invariable
Adverb
Preposition (Präposition)
Conjunction (Konjunktion)
Interjection (Interjektion)
Overview
| Category | Subcategory | Part of Speech | German | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable |
Declinable |
Noun |
Nomen | der Mann | has gender & plural |
Article |
Artikel | der, ein | definite & indefinite | ||
Adjective |
Adjektiv | groß | changes endings | ||
Pronoun |
Pronomen | ich, mein | replaces noun | ||
Numeral |
Numerale | zwei, der zweite | partly declinable | ||
Conjugable |
Verb |
Verb | gehen, ist | changes by person & tense | |
Invariable |
— | Adverb |
Adverb | heute, schnell | describes verb |
Preposition |
Präposition | mit, auf | governs case | ||
Conjunction |
Konjunktion | und, weil | connects clauses | ||
Interjection |
Interjektion | oh!, ah! | expresses emotion |
Invariable ()
This means that the word itself does not change its stem form; it is neither declined nor conjugated.
| Part of Speech | German | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adverb | Adverb | heute, schnell | describes verb |
| Preposition | Präposition | mit, auf | takes case |
| Conjunction | Konjunktion | und, weil | connects clauses |
| Interjection | Interjektion | oh!, ah! | emotion/sound |
Variable (veränderbare Wortarten) ()
These change form depending on case, gender, number, person, tense, etc.
1. Declinable (deklinierbar)
Change based on case (Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv)
| Part of Speech | German | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noun | Nomen | der Mann | has gender & plural |
| Article | Artikel | der, ein | definite & indefinite |
| Adjective | Adjektiv | groß | changes endings |
| Pronoun | Pronomen | ich, mein | replaces noun |
| Numeral | Numerale | zwei, der zweite | numbers (sometimes decline) |
2. Conjugable (konjugierbar)
Change based on person, tense, mood
| Part of Speech | German | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verb | Verb | gehen, ist | only fully conjugated class |