Learn Hardcore German: Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines und schicken einander Lernpläne. - In our class group chat we remind each other of deadlines and send each other study plans.

Wo? (Where?) → dative
- Im Gruppenchat = in the group chat (location)
Wohin? (Where to?) → accusative
- In den Gruppenchat schreiben = to write into the group chat (movement towards)

So Im Gruppenchat literally means In dem Gruppenchat (in the group chat), but the contracted form im is what you actually say and write in normal German.

What does unserer Klasse mean exactly, and why is it in that form?

unserer Klasse is a genitive phrase meaning of our class.

der Gruppenchat unserer Klasse = the group chat of our class
It’s like saying our class’s group chat in English.

Grammatically:

Klasse is feminine: die Klasse
Genitive singular feminine of the article die is der → der Klasse
With a possessive like unsere-, the genitive feminine singular ending is -r → unserer Klasse

So Gruppenchat unserer Klasse = group chat of our class.

You could also say:

im Gruppenchat von unserer Klasse

That’s grammatically fine and more colloquial, but many teachers and textbooks prefer the genitive (unserer Klasse) in written German as it’s a bit more formal and compact.

Why does the sentence start with Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse and then put erinnern before wir?

This is the verb-second (V2) rule in main clauses.

In a normal sentence with no fronted element, you might say:

Wir erinnern uns gegenseitig an Deadlines.

Here, wir is in the first position, and the conjugated verb erinnern is in the second position.

If you put a different element at the beginning (here: Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse), that element takes the first position, and the finite verb must move right after it, to position 2:

Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse (position 1)
erinnern (position 2 – the verb)
wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines … (the rest)

So the word order is:

Fronted phrase: Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse
Conjugated verb: erinnern
Subject: wir
Other elements: uns gegenseitig an Deadlines

This kind of inversion (verb before subject) is completely normal and required by German word order when something other than the subject stands in first position.

Why is erinnern used with uns and an? Why can’t we just say something like wir erinnern Deadlines?

German erinnern works differently from English to remember or to remind:

There are two common patterns:

sich an etwas erinnern = to remember something
- Ich erinnere mich an die Deadline.
  I remember the deadline.
Here mich is a reflexive pronoun (accusative), and an takes the accusative object (an die Deadline).
jemanden an etwas erinnern = to remind someone of something
- Ich erinnere dich an die Deadline.
  I remind you of the deadline.

In your sentence, we have the first pattern:

wir erinnern uns an Deadlines
= we remember deadlines
(literally: we remind ourselves of deadlines)

So:

uns is the reflexive pronoun (accusative, matching the subject wir).
an is a fixed preposition with erinnern, taking accusative: an Deadlines.

You cannot say wir erinnern Deadlines; that’s ungrammatical in German because erinnern does not mean “to remember” in that simple transitive way. It either needs:

a reflexive pronoun + an
- object (sich an etwas erinnern), or
a direct object person + an
- object (jemanden an etwas erinnern).

What exactly does gegenseitig add here? Is it necessary?

gegenseitig is an adverb meaning mutually, reciprocally, to each other.

Wir erinnern uns an Deadlines.
= We remember deadlines. (no information about whether it’s mutual or not)
Wir erinnern uns gegenseitig an Deadlines.
= We remind each other of deadlines.
(it’s clear that the action goes back and forth between group members)

So gegenseitig:

Emphasizes that it’s a two-way / many-way action, not just one person reminding others.
Is not strictly necessary grammatically, but it changes the meaning slightly by adding the idea of each other.

Without gegenseitig, it could also just mean we (individually) remind ourselves, rather than we remind each other.

What’s the difference between uns gegenseitig and einander in this context?

Both express a reciprocal idea, similar to each other / one another in English, but they work differently:

uns gegenseitig
- uns = reflexive pronoun (here: accusative)
- gegenseitig = adverb (mutually)
Together they mean something like we … each other, but literally it’s we remind ourselves mutually.
einander
- A reciprocal pronoun meaning each other / one another.
- It changes form by case, not by person:
  - (accusative) einander
  - (dative) einander
  - (genitive) einander
    (the form looks the same, but the function changes)

In your sentence:

… erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines …
= we remind each other of deadlines (using reflexive uns
- adverb gegenseitig)
… und schicken einander Lernpläne.
= and (we) send one another study plans (using einander as the dative object)

They both express reciprocity, but:

In the first clause the verb naturally uses a reflexive pronoun (sich an etwas erinnern), so gegenseitig is added to make the reciprocity clear: uns gegenseitig.
In the second clause the verb normally uses dative person + accusative thing (jemandem etwas schicken), so it’s convenient to use einander in the dative as the “to each other” part.

You generally don’t say uns einander or gegenseitig einander; that sounds redundant or wrong. You choose either the reflexive + gegenseitig or einander, depending on the verb pattern.

Why is it schicken einander Lernpläne and not schicken uns Lernpläne?

It could be:

… und schicken uns gegenseitig Lernpläne.

That would be correct and mean the same thing.

However, the version with einander fits the verb pattern very neatly:

jemandem etwas schicken = to send someone something
- jemandem = dative
- etwas = accusative

In the sentence:

einander = dative (to one another)
Lernpläne = accusative (study plans)

So the structure is:

(wir)
schicken (verb)
einander (dative: to each other)
Lernpläne (accusative: study plans)

Using uns here would also be dative (wir schicken uns Lernpläne), but in the first clause uns is accusative reflexive, so uns is already doing a different job there. Using einander in the second clause:

Helps keep the roles clear:
- first clause: uns = reflexive object (accusative)
- second clause: einander = indirect object (dative)
Emphasizes the reciprocal nature (to one another) in a concise, natural way.

What cases are used for uns, einander, Deadlines, and Lernpläne in this sentence?

Let’s break it down by verb pattern:

erinnern (sich an etwas)
- Pattern: sich (Akk.) an etwas (Akk.) erinnern
In erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines:
- wir = subject (nominative plural)
- uns = accusative reflexive pronoun (matching wir)
- an Deadlines = prepositional object with an
  - accusative
    (with an
    - erinnern it’s always accusative)
schicken (jemandem etwas)
- Pattern: jemandem (Dat.) etwas (Akk.) schicken
In schicken einander Lernpläne:
- (understood) wir = subject (nominative plural)
- einander = dative (indirect object, “to one another”)
- Lernpläne = accusative plural (direct object, “study plans”)

So:

uns → accusative reflexive
einander → dative indirect object
Deadlines → accusative object of an (because of sich an etwas erinnern)
Lernpläne → accusative direct object of schicken

Why is Deadlines capitalized? Is this normal in German?

Yes, it’s normal.

In German, all nouns are capitalized, including:

Native nouns: die Klasse, der Gruppenchat, der Lernplan
Loanwords used as nouns: die Deadline, plural die Deadlines

So Deadlines is capitalized simply because it is a noun.

Using the English loanword Deadline is very common in modern German, especially in academic, business, and tech contexts. A more “German” alternative would be Frist or Abgabetermin, but Deadline is widely understood and used.

Why is the subject wir missing in und schicken einander Lernpläne?

German often omits repeated subjects in coordinated clauses when it’s clear they are the same.

The full, explicit version would be:

Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines und wir schicken einander Lernpläne.

Since wir is already the subject of the first clause, it can be dropped in the second clause:

… erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines und schicken einander Lernpläne.

The subject wir is understood to apply to both verbs:

wir erinnern … and (wir) schicken …

This is very natural and common in both spoken and written German and avoids unnecessary repetition.

Could we change the word order, for example: Wir erinnern uns im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse gegenseitig an Deadlines …? Would that still be correct?

Yes, that would still be grammatically correct. German word order inside the “middle field” (between the conjugated verb and the final elements) is quite flexible.

Some possible variations:

Original:
- Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines …
With the subject first:
- Wir erinnern uns im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse gegenseitig an Deadlines …
Slightly different internal order:
- Wir erinnern uns gegenseitig im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse an Deadlines …

All of these:

Keep the verb in second position in the main clause.
Keep the basic structure of erinnern – uns – an Deadlines intact.

Native speakers might prefer one order or another for emphasis:

Fronting Im Gruppenchat unserer Klasse emphasizes the location.
Starting with Wir emphasizes the people (“we”) rather than the chat.

One thing to avoid is unnecessarily splitting uns gegenseitig, which usually stays together:

… erinnern wir uns gegenseitig an Deadlines …
is more natural than
… erinnern wir uns an Deadlines gegenseitig … (possible, but sounds odd).

What are the genders and plurals of Gruppenchat, Klasse, Deadline, and Lernplan?

Here are the basic forms:

der Gruppenchat (masculine)
- plural: die Gruppenchats
die Klasse (feminine)
- plural: die Klassen
die Deadline (feminine)
- plural: die Deadlines
der Lernplan (masculine)
- plural: die Lernpläne (with umlaut: ä)

In your sentence:

im Gruppenchat = dative singular of der Gruppenchat
unserer Klasse = genitive singular of die Klasse
Deadlines = plural of die Deadline
Lernpläne = plural of der Lernplan