by Laura Jones
Updated on November 19, 2024
Is German hard to learn? Debunking the German language myth
German often seems daunting to new learners, with its confounding compound words, gendered nouns and grammatical cases. If you’re new to learning German, reaching fluency might appear an impossible task. But really, is German hard to learn? It’s definitely not as difficult as it seems. Let us show you why!
German has cemented its reputation as being difficult for several reasons. Certain parts of German grammar are unfamiliar to English speakers: remembering the gender of nouns is tricky, grammatical cases can be baffling, and German verbs seem to pop up in strange places in sentences. Add some intimidatingly long words and beginner learners tend to back away from German and opt for an ‘easier’ language like Spanish instead.
All German nouns have a gender and they take articles. Nouns can be masculine (der), feminine (die) or neuter (das). When learning a new noun, memorize its gender and article together. For instance: der Honig (the honey), die Katze (the cat), das Kind (the child). Luckily, plural nouns always take die!
Cases can be one of the most challenging aspects of German for English speakers. German has four grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. These cases show a noun’s role in a sentence — whether it’s the subject or object, for example.
The nominative case is used for nouns and pronouns that are the subject of a sentence. In the nominative case, these nouns appear in the form they are in the dictionary. Let’s take the noun der Junge (the boy) as our example.
German: Der Junge ist glücklich.
English: The boy is happy.
The accusative case is used for the direct object of the sentence.
German: Ich möchte den Jungen gern sehen.
English: I would like to see the boy.
The dative case is used for the indirect object.
German: Ich habe dem Jungen ein Geschenk gemacht.
English: I gave the boy a present.
The genitive case is used for possession.
German: Die Eltern des Jungen sind hier.
English: The boy’s parents are here.
As you can see, the article and the form of the noun changed in those sentences. There’s a lot to say about German cases, and following a well-structured program is key to conquering them.
Word order in German sentences is often different from that in English. Verbs, in particular, can appear in unexpected positions. One rule in German is that the verb is always the second idea in a sentence.
Here’s an example with the verb fahren.
German: Ich fahre nach Berlin.
English: I’m going to Berlin.
Look at what happens when we add a word:
German: Heute fahre ich nach Berlin.
English: Today, I’m going to Berlin.
In German, the verb remains the second idea, leapfrogging the subject in placement!
Now, let’s look at a sentence we saw earlier: “Ich habe dem Jungen ein Geschenk gemacht.”
The past participle gemacht appears at the end of the clause, miles away from Ich habe! This is simply a feature of German word order you need to get your head around. Here’s another example:
German: Er hat in der Schule Deutsch gelernt.
English: He learned German at school.
When you encounter a long word, read from the beginning and try to identify shorter words that you recognize. For example, in Geburtstagsgeschenk (birthday present), Geburtstag is “birthday,” and Geschenk is “present.”
Let’s try with Sonnenblumenkernbrötchen now. This one is pretty long, but we can do it! Sonnen means “sun” and blumen means “flowers”, so “sunflowers”. Kern might not be familiar to you, but you can link the meaning to the English word “kernel” and onward from there to “seed”. And finally, you have brötchen, meaning “bread rolls”. Put it all together: sunflower seed rolls.
So, is German easy for English speakers? In a way, it is. German and English are members of the Germanic language family and they share a lot of vocabulary. Some words are exactly the same; do you recognize the German words ideal, Idiot, and Illusion? See! You know way more German than you thought! Other words are not the same but similar, like Sonnenblumenkernbrötchen, in which the individual German words are cognates of the English ones.
There are some patterns that show the differences between English and German.
| English | German | |
| English d = German t | drink | trink |
| good | gut | |
| English t = German z | salt | Salz |
| heart | Herz | |
| English k = German ch | book | Buch |
| make | machen |
Now this is something to celebrate: German is almost entirely phonetic! Because German pronunciation is relatively consistent, if you learn how letters and combinations of letters are pronounced, you’ll be able to say just about any word you encounter. German isn’t a tonal language, either, so it’s far easier for English speakers than Mandarin or Cantonese.
Finally, you can read German from the get-go, even if you don’t understand the words because German uses the Latin alphabet. The only things you may not be familiar with are ß (ss) and the umlauts (the two dots that appear above certain vowels such as ä,ö or ü). Compare that to a language like Arabic or Korean, in which nothing is recognizable for beginner learners.
It can be difficult to know where to start when learning German. Do you really need to know cases as a beginner? (Yes, you do!). That’s why using a structured program that aligns with the CEFR, like Lingoda’s Flex or Sprint programs, is key to making consistent progress.
To reinforce the grammar and vocabulary you learn, you need to practice with native German speakers. Not only will you use grammar and vocabulary naturally in context, but you won’t get stuck learning “textbook German”. Lingoda’s native-level teachers help you learn and use the language of fluent German speakers.
To learn more real, spoken German, listen to authentic German media and immerse yourself in the natural flow of the language. Discover the best podcasts to learn German, dive into the German music scene (it’s not just Rammstein), or go all-in with an audiobook.
One of the great joys of learning any language is embracing a new culture, whether it’s the food, customs, traditions or festivals. Why not cook your favorite dish, then visit Germany to try the real thing? Or add motivation to learn by planning a visit around Oktoberfest or participate in a more unique German tradition you may not know about yet.
We have a few tips and tricks to learn German articles der, die, das, though it is a bit of a grind. Try using color-coded flashcards for different genders or use visual associations: remember der Honig is masculine by picturing a man gorging himself on a jar of honey.
Before you begin your learning journey with cases, you need to have a strong grasp of what subjects and direct and indirect objects are. Start there! Beginners may want to focus on one case at a time — the accusative is useful in shorter sentences.
German: Ich habe einen Hund.
English: I have a dog.
Then build up and add the dative case:
German: Ich habe meinem Hund ein neues Spielzeug gegeben.
English: I gave my dog a new toy.
It’s relatively easy to know when you need the genitive case, so add it in when necessary.
German: Das neue Spielzeug des Hundes ist kaputt.
English: My dog’s new toy is broken.
If you choose to learn German with Lingoda, your teacher will give you advice on to memorize the changes in each case and lots of exercises to help you practice.
As we saw earlier, you can break down compound words in German, and find the meaning of the shorter words they’re made up of. Knowing this might help you breathe more easily the next time you’re confronted with a word that looks like it’s written in code, like Freundschaftsbezeugungen (expressions of friendship).
As an English speaker, you’ll likely find German harder to learn than Romance languages like Spanish or French. According to the Foreign Service Institute, German is a category II language, meaning you need about 900 hours to reach a general level of proficiency. Category IV languages are the real beasts for English speakers: think Mandarin Chinese, a tonal language. So is German hard? It depends on what you’re comparing it to.
We’ve gone from ‘is German hard to learn’ to ‘is German easy’! We wouldn’t go as far as to say that German is easy to learn, but it’s certainly manageable for English speakers. The many cognates, familiar alphabet and relatively simple pronunciation rules make up for the more difficult aspects of German grammar. If you’re ready to take up the challenge and find out how rewarding learning German can be, sign up for an online course with Lingoda to immerse yourself in real-life language and learn to speak with confidence from day one!
