German Grammar.

I have a German exam coming up, though I have an appreciative amount of time to work on it, I want to improve my accuracy. I struggle with the cases the most, as well as adjective endings. Is there any way I can practice these without writing lots (already doing that).

Help is appreciated~

Sie konnten versuchen, Ihren Gebrauch der Sprache hier zu üben, indem Sie auf Deutsch schreiben.

Ich konnte sicher die Praxis selbst verwenden!

Maybe try reading lots too? Look up German articles online, and try to decipher the use of cases, endings, etc.

I'd suggest that you get an outline of Grammar grammar with lots of practice exercises. Or go to the library and see what kind of German books they have. Don't drive yourself crazy. There is one German review book (newer) out there, but I would go for older books that actually explain the material in more detail if you can find them. Schaum's outline series is a name that is pretty solid. Do ten to fifteen minutes a day AND NO MORE. Focus on the problem areas you've already indentified EACH day until you have mastered the material. I say limit your time and focus your mind during that time because it's better than wasting an hour looking at lots of different problem areas.

I meant "German" grammar, lol.

Best to you.

I started with German declensions by reading a traditional textbook where I found both texts (organic material) and declension tables.

After that, I used a lot of other material to learn both grammar and vocab, but I didn't focus on declension tables. I tried to understand declensions in relation to what is being said IN CONTEXT.

After so much grammatical exposure, by both learning rules AND seeing ends/articles/etc in context, I now have few problems with declensions. There are just a small part of the whole declension paradigm that I haven't used and therefore haven't mastered. For example, there's still no need to use "jener". But when I already know how to look for endings, it's only a matter of time before I know the meaning and attach it to endings.

German involves a lot of endings and I tackle them one after another. But then, see? French isn't as much inflected but also has (even more) verb endings. To remember French endings is just quite similar to German ones.

I don't fully understand the case system but I recognise the trigger words and their effects. For example, mit changes der to dem and die to der (or die to den for plural). Don't try and memorize huge tables, just tackle one little piece at a time, learn it and move on.

>>Sie konnten versuchen, Ihren Gebrauch der Sprache hier zu üben, indem Sie auf Deutsch schreiben.

Ich konnte sicher die Praxis selbst verwenden!<<

Im Internet wird nicht gesiezt. So ist's besser:

Du kannst versuchen, deinen Sprachgebrauch hier zu üben/verbessern, indem du auf Deutsch schreibst.
Ein bisschen Praxis/Übung könnte mir auch nicht schaden!

Und bitte niemals ä, ö, u mit a, o, u ersetzen. Dann lieber ae, oe, ue.

I don't fully understand the case system

If you know well the grammar of your own language you could probably understand that!

>>Don't try and memorize huge tables, just tackle one little piece at a time, learn it and move on. <<

There you are.

Well, I can give you a tip regarding the adjective endings, but of course you will have to know which case to use to begin with:

After the definite article, it's 'e' for all unchanged singular articles and 'en' for changed articles and all plurals.

For the indefinite article, it's exactly the same apart from the masculine and neuter unchanged singular article, where it's 'er' and 'es' respectively. That's only because the indefinite article itself doesn't express the gender in these cases.

A few examples:

Der kleine Hund, den kleinen Hund, die kleinen Hunde, mit dem kleinen Hund, mit den kleinen Hunden, ein kleiner Hund, mit einem kleinen Hund, des kleinen Hundes, eines kleinen Hundes
Das kleine Maedchen, die kleinen Maedchen, mit dem kleinen Maedchen, mit den kleinen Maedchen, ein kleines Maedchen, mit einem kleinen Maedchen, des kleinen Maedchen, eines kleinen Maedchen
Die kleine Frau, die kleinen Frauen, mit der kleinen Frau, mit den kleinen Frauen, eine kleine Frau, mit einer kleinen Frau, der kleinen Frau, einer kleinen Frau

It's a bit more complicated where there's no article at all, but basically the adjective ending will show the gender, because nothing else does. So if it's dative feminine, the adjective ending will be 'er', if it's masculine or neuter dative it will be 'em', because that shows the gender instead of the 'der, einer, dem, einem etc. The only exception is really the genitive masculine and neuter where it's 'en'

Remember German is extremely logical. Once you get the system, it makes total sense, with few exceptions. And IMHO the system is far easier than a lot of other things you might have to learn. Algebra for instance...;)

If you know well the grammar of your own language you could probably understand that!

Not all of the languages have the case system.

'If you know well the grammar of your own language you could probably understand that!

Not all of the languages have the case system.'

No, but how many have no case system at all? Even English has a basic one, distinguishing between nominitive and accusative. That's how I first realised what German was about. But I guess some don't even do that, so I might never have learnt German if English was totally case deficient.