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### Asking how someone is

**Wie geht es dir?** is the standard question — literally "how does it go for you". It takes the DATIVE (*dir*, *Ihnen*), never the nominative, and there is no way to say it with *du*. Use *Wie geht es Ihnen?* with anyone you address as *Sie*.

The reply everyone learns first is **Es geht** — "so-so", "I'm getting by". It is honest but lukewarm; *Danke, gut* is the cheerful answer.

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### Apologising, and accepting an apology

**Es tut mir leid** is the real apology — *Entschuldigung* gets attention, *es tut mir leid* expresses regret. It is dative again: the thing does the hurting, *mir* receives it.

When someone apologises to you, you answer with **Das macht nichts** (it doesn't matter) or **Schon gut** (it's all right, never mind).

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### Agreeing

| reply | force |
|---|---|
| **Na klar** | of course! — enthusiastic |
| **In Ordnung** | OK, fine — neutral agreement to a plan |
| **Das stimmt** | that's right — agreeing that something is TRUE |

*Das stimmt* agrees with a FACT, *In Ordnung* agrees to a PROPOSAL. They are not interchangeable.

Everyday replies

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
how are you (informal)	Wie geht es dir
Hello Anna! How are you?	Hallo Anna! Wie geht es dir?
How are you today?	Wie geht es dir heute?
I'm OK, so-so	Es geht
How are you? — I'm OK.	Wie geht es dir? — Es geht.
Are you tired? — So-so.	Bist du müde? — Es geht.
I am sorry	Es tut mir leid
I am sorry, I have no time.	Es tut mir leid, ich habe keine Zeit.
The colleague is ill. I am sorry.	Der Kollege ist krank. Es tut mir leid.
it doesn't matter, never mind	Das macht nichts
I am sorry. — It doesn't matter.	Es tut mir leid. — Das macht nichts.
I am coming tomorrow. — It doesn't matter.	Ich komme morgen. — Das macht nichts.
it's all right, never mind	Schon gut
It's all right, I am happy to wait.	Schon gut, ich warte gern.
Sorry! — It's all right.	Entschuldigung! — Schon gut.
of course!	Na klar
Are you coming along? — Of course!	Kommst du mit? — Na klar!
Of course, I will help you.	Na klar, ich helfe dir.
OK, all right (agreeing to a plan)	In Ordnung
We are going tomorrow. — All right.	Wir gehen morgen. — In Ordnung.
All right, I will do that.	In Ordnung, ich mache das.
that's right, that's true	Das stimmt
The train is slow. — That's right.	Der Zug ist langsam. — Das stimmt.
That's right, the city is very old.	Das stimmt, die Stadt ist sehr alt.
clear; obvious	klar
That is clear.	Das ist klar.
The question is not clear.	Die Frage ist nicht klar.
naturally, of course	natürlich
Of course I am coming.	Natürlich komme ich.
Of course, that is right.	Natürlich, das ist richtig.
the order, the tidiness	die Ordnung
I am tidying up the room.	Ich mache Ordnung im Zimmer.
Tidiness is important to him.	Die Ordnung ist ihm wichtig.
to be correct	stimmen
Is that right?	Stimmt das?
No, that is not right.	Nein, das stimmt nicht.
the apology	die Entschuldigung
Your apology is no problem.	Deine Entschuldigung ist kein Problem.
I do not need an apology.	Ich brauche keine Entschuldigung.

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