Accusative Case: The case that denotes the direct object of the verb (e.g. Ich sehe den Mann). Also used with the prepositions:
durch, für, gegen, entlang, ohne, um, wider

Active Voice: The subject is the performer of the action (Er schreibt den Brief)

Adjective: A descriptive word that describes the properties of a noun (Das schöne Schloss)

Adverb: A descriptive word that modifies a verb or an adjective or another adverb (Er singt schön, Das sehr schöne Schloss ist beliebt, Er läuft wirklich schnell)

Agreement: The correct correspondence between parts of speech such as between subject and verb or adjective and noun

Antecedent: Parts of speech that have just been mentioned and are now referred to. (The man whom you see is my father - the man is the antecedent of "whom")

Attributive Adjective: Adjectives that precede the noun they modify. They have endings (Linksattribute)

Auxiliary Verbs: These are literally helping verbs such as modals, sein and haben and werden (Ich muss es machen, Ich habe es gemacht, Ich bin gekommen, Ich werde es tun)

Cardinal Number: The counting numbers we use to tell how many items there are (eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf ...)

Case: Shows the function of a noun or pronoun in a clause. Case endings show whether these parts of speech are the subject, object, indirect object or possessive. German has four cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive

Clause: The smallest possible unit of a sentence. Often a sentence has only one clause (Er kommt nach Hause). A clause must have a finite verb.

Coordinating Conjunction: The conjunctions aber, denn, sondern, and und. They do not affect the word order

Comparative: The form of the adjective or adverb that is used to compare two or more things (Sie ist größer als er, Er fährt schneller als ich)

Compound: A combination of two or more nouns, verbs etc. (Hauptpostamt, kennen lernen)

Conjunction: Words that connect clauses (Ich weiß, dass er heute kommt)

Conjunctive I: used for Indirect Speech, The Stem of the Verb takes the endings e, est. e, en, et, en

Conjunctive II: used for Conditional, (see also Subjunctive Mood), and for Indirect Speech. The stem of the Imperfect takes the endings e, est, e, en, et, en. In the case of strong verbs an Umlaut is added where possible.

Dative Case: The indirect object of the sentence that denotes the beneficiary of what the subject does with the verb to the object (e.g.Ich kaufe ihm das Buch). The Dative is also used after the prepositions:
aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu
and after some verbs where English uses a direct object (eg. helfen, folgen).

Definite Article: The articles der, das, die and their various forms

Dependent Clause: A clause that depends on outside elements to be complete (e.g. dass er hier ist, ob er kann) . A dependent clause on its own does not really .'make sense'.

Dependent Infinitive: The infinitive that is used with a finite verb and stands at the end of the clause (Ich kann es vielleicht machen, Ich werde morgen kommen)

Der-Words: These are words that change their endings in a similar fashion to the definite article (dieser, jener, jeder, solcher, welcher, mancher, alle)

Direct Object: The direct object is directly affected by the action of the subject - eg Ich esse den Kuchen. Also see indirect object.

Ein-Words: These are the possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, ihr, Ihr) and kein. Ein-words add the same endings as ein (eine = meine, einer = unserer)

Extended Adjective: see pre-noun inserts

Finite Verb: The verb that has a subject and an ending (Ich will es machen, Ich gehe, Ich bin gekommen)

Gender: Gender denotes whether a noun is masculine (der), neuter (das) or feminine (die)

Genitive Case: The case of nouns and pronouns which shows possession or relationship (Ich wohne im Haus meiner Mutter, Peters Buch liegt hier, Das Dach unseres Hauses ist kaputt)

Imperative Mood: This mood is used to make requests, give orders or commands (Geh in die Küche!, Kommen Sie bitte um zwei)

Independent Clause: A clause that expresses a self-contained complete idea (Er singt schön.)

Indirect Object: Is the secondary information given on an action done by the subject. In the dative case. Eg ich fahre mit dem Auto in die Stadt.

Indirect Speech: Reported Speech, to create indirect speech, the verb is put into Conjunctive I. Where the resulting form is identical to the present tense form, the verb is put into Conjunctive II. (eg er kommt - er komme, ich komme - ich käme).

Infinitive: The base form of the verb that is listed in dictionaries and word lists (lernen, machen, tun, wandern, sein)

Interrogative Pronouns: Question words such as wer

Object: The case that denotes the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb. There are direct and indirect objects (Ich sehe ihn, Ich kaufe ihm ein Auto)

Ordinal Number: Numbers that show a definite order (erst-, zweit-, dritt-)

Mixed Verb: Irregular weak verbs, in other words, verbs that display characteristics of both irregular and regular verbs. They show a stem change but exhibit a regular ending (Es brannte gestern)

Modal Verbs: These are auxiliary verbs that show the mode (attitude) with which things are performed. The modals are: können, dürfen, müssen, sollen, wollen, mögen

Modifier: Part of speech that qualifies or describes another, such as adjectives and adverbs

Mood: Refers to whether a statement is in the subjunctive or indicative, interrogative, or the imperative

Nominative Case: The case that shows the subject of a clause. The subject is usually the agent of the verb, the 'doer' (Er macht es.)

Noun: That part of speech that names persons, animals, things, places, ideas, and quality. German nouns have gender (masculine, neuter, feminine - der, das die), and show case (Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive). They can be singular or plural. Nouns are listed in dictionaries and word lists in the nominative.

Number: Number refers to whether a noun or pronoun is in the singular or plural

Object: The person ot thing affected by the action of the subject. In the Accusative, Dative or Genitive case. (eg Ich sehe den Mann, ich helfe dem Mann, Die Frau des Mannes hat Geburtstag) There can be several objects in one sentence (eg Ich sehe die Frau des Mannes in dem Auto). Some objects are seen as directly affected by the action of the subject, some indirectly. See indirect object and direct object.

Participle: A form of the verb used either as an adjective or to form compound tenses. The present participle is formed by adding 'd' to the infinitive (Sie hört das weinende Kind nicht, Das fehlende Handtuch war schmutzig), the past participle usually has the prefix 'ge' and ends in 't,' 'et' or 'en' (Sie hat es gehört, Er ist gekommen) but sometimes there is no 'ge' (Ich habe studiert).

Part of Speech: The individual elements of a clause such as nouns, pronouns, adjectives

Passive Voice: In the passive voice the subject is the recipient of the action (Ich wurde von einem Hund gebissen - I was bitten by the dog) Remember that there is Zustands-and Vorgangspassive!!

Past Participle: A form of the verb used either as an adjective or to form compound tenses. The past participle usually has the prefix 'ge' and ends in 't', 'et' or 'en' (Sie hat es gehört, Er ist gekommen) but sometimes there is no 'ge' (Ich habe studiert).

Personal Pronouns: the pronouns ich, du, er, es, sie, wir, ihr, sie/Sie

Phrase: Two or more words conveying a coherent thought not containing a subject and verb

Possessive Case: see genitive

Possessive Pronouns: These are the ein-words: mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr

Predicate Adjective: An adjective that is separated from the noun it modifies by a verb. It has no endings (Das Haus ist schön.)

Pre-Noun Inserts: Extended phrases involving adjectives, adverbs, verbs, nouns etc. that modify a noun. German has the ability to include quite a bit of information in these phrases that stand before the noun they modify. English must usually substitute a subordinate clause (Die schon seit ziemlich langer Zeit wartende Frau ging plötzlich weg - the woman who was already waiting for quite a long time, suddenly left)

Preposition: Prepositions are connecting words that show the relationships of time, space and logic between parts of speech (e.g Ich komme um 10 Uhr. Er geht durch den Garten Ich fahre mit dem Auto)

Prepositional Phrase: A phrase introduced by a preposition (in das neue Haus)

Predicate Nominative: This condition occurs with selected verbs such as sein, heißen, werden. The noun after these verbs is the Predicate Noun and is in the Nominative. The Predicate Noun and the subject of a clause are identical (Ich bin ein kleiner Mensch)

Pronoun: The part of speech that is substituted for the noun (der Mann = er, das Haus = es, die Frau = sie, die Leute = sie). Pronouns act exactly like nouns

Reflexive Pronoun: A pronoun that refers back to the subject of the verb of which it is the object (Ich sehe mich im Spiegel, Ich kaufe mir ein Buch) In English usually myself, yourself etc.

Relative Clause: A clause that gives specific information about a noun or pronoun and makes it relative (Der Mann, den du siehst, ist mein Vater)

Relative Pronoun: A pronoun (such as "who" or "which") that introduces a relative clause (Der Mann, der dort geht, ist mein Onkel) checklist of all relative pronouns in your reader/worksheet

Stem: see verb stem

Strong Verb: An irregular Verb. Irregular verbs may show variations in the formation of the stem or the endings (er sing, er sang, er hat gesungen)

Subject: The case that denotes the doer of an action (Er macht es.) Nominative Case.

Subjunctive Mood: Also referred to as Conditional. To express doubt, possibility, contrary to fact conditions and show politeness, the subjunctive is used. The subjunctive is also used to render indirect speech (Das könnte stimmen, Wenn ich könnte, würde ich kommen, Würden Sie bitte so nett sein, Er sagte, er käme erst morgen) remember: realer und irrealer Konjunktiv

Subordinate Clause: see dependent clause

Subordinate Conjunction: A conjunction such as daß, ob, weil, wenn. Subordinate Conjunction cause the finite verb to be in final position in the clause (Es ist wahr, dass er auch kommen will.)

Superlative: The highest degree of an adjective or adverb (Sie ist die größte, Sie läuft am schnellsten)

Tense: A form of the verb that shows the time of the action such as the present, past and future tenses. German has the following tenses: Present (ich gehe), Imperfect (ich ging), Perfect (ich bin gegangen), Pluperfect (ich war gegangen), Futur (ich werde gehen).Futur II (ich werde gegangen sein) * You will probably never use Futur II.

Verb: Words expressing actions, existence or occurrences (Er kommt schon, Der Winter ist kalt, Es regnet gerade).

Verb Stem: The verb stem is that form of the verb we need to form personal verbs. It is the infinitive without its en or n ending (lern, arbeit, tu, sei, hab)

Voice: Voice determines whether the subject is the performer of the action (Active Voice: Der Hund beißt mich) or the recipient of the action (Passive Voice: Ich werde von dem Hund gebissen)

Weak Verb: A regular verb. Regular verbs are conjugated according to a standard norm (ich lernte, du lerntest, er/es/sie lernte, wir lernten, ihr lerntet, sie lernten)