Family nouns: learn article + plural together
German family-noun gender is not guessable from meaning, so learn each with its article and plural: der Vater, die Mutter, der Bruder, die Schwester, der Sohn, die Tochter. das Einzelkind (only child) is NEUTER despite naming a person — gender is grammatical, not biological. Three nouns are plural-only, with no singular: die Eltern (parents), die Geschwister (siblings), die Großeltern (grandparents). Full noun + plural table is in the note.
Possessives decline like ein; stem = owner
Possessive articles (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer) inflect exactly like ein: bare in the masc/neuter nominative, -e for feminine/plural, -en for masculine accusative, -em/-er/-en in the dative. The STEM is fixed by the OWNER, not the noun owned: sein/seine (male owner) vs ihr/ihre (female owner), so ihr Bruder even though Bruder is masculine. An adjective after a possessive takes the MIXED paradigm: mein netter Bruder → meinen netten Bruder. Full tables are in the note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
die Familie takes a singular verb
die Familie (the family) is a SINGULAR noun in German, even though it names several people — it takes a singular verb, like English "the family is":
✗ Meine Familie sind sehr groß. → Meine Familie ist sehr groß.
Because a family is a group, learners reach for a plural verb, but German treats die Familie as one singular entity — always ist, wohnt, hat.
Collective-noun agreement flagged (s23 23 Q6(b)).
sein vs ihr: pick by owner, not noun owned
The possessive stem sein- (his) or ihr- (her) is set by the OWNER's gender, never by the noun that follows:
✗ Marion ... sein Bruder → ihr Bruder — Marion is female, so ihr-, though Bruder is masculine.
With a male owner, sein Bruder AND seine Schwester both keep sein-. The ending tracks the owned noun; the STEM tracks the owner — easily lost under person-shift.
Wrong-gender possessive under person-shift (w23 22 Q4, Marion).
Masc possessive needs -en in the accusative
When a possessive + masculine noun is the DIRECT OBJECT of a transitive verb (besuchen, lieben), it gains the accusative -en:
✗ Ich besuche sein Bruder → seinen Bruder. Likewise Ich liebe meinen Bruder.
Feminine, neuter and plural possessives do NOT change (meine Schwester, meine Eltern stay the same in nom and acc) — the trap is only the masculine singular -en.
seinen Bruder (acc) needed, not sein (s22 22 Q6(h)).
Reflexive verbs keep their sich pronoun
Reflexive friendship verbs — sich (gut) verstehen mit (to get on with), sich streiten (to argue) — must keep their reflexive pronoun, which tracks the subject: ich...MICH, du...DICH, er/sie...SICH, wir...UNS.
✗ Sie verstehen gut mit ihren Freunden → Sie verstehen sich gut mit... .
Under a person-shift the pronoun is easily dropped — exactly the omission examiners flag.
Reflexive pronoun omitted under manipulation (s22 22 Q4(a); w23 22 Q4(c)).
Comparatives add -er, not "mehr"
German forms the comparative by adding -er (often with an umlaut), NOT by putting mehr in front like English "more":
✗ mehr groß → größer; ✗ mehr alt → älter; ✗ mehr jung → jünger.
Do not double the marker: ✗ gesunderer for gesünder. Use als for "than": meine Schwester ist älter ALS ich.
Comparative doubling/anglicising flagged (s22 42 Accuracy; s23 42(a) Task 4).
Capitalise every family noun
Every German noun is capitalised, wherever it falls in the sentence — family nouns included:
✗ mein bruder, meine familie → mein Bruder, meine Familie.
It slips mid-sentence and after a possessive, where the noun no longer opens the clause. Examiners treat capitalisation as scoring-relevant, not cosmetic — a lower-case noun can cost an Accuracy mark.
Noun capitalisation flagged patchy (w22 42; s23 42/43; w23 42).
Possession is von + dative, not apostrophe-s
Learners treat von + dative as an optional, more formal alternative, but German has NO apostrophe-s possessive for common nouns — it is the only natural way:
✗ meiner Schwester's Zimmer → das Zimmer von meiner Schwester.
A related slip: adding an ending to the stem — ✗ seine Bruder for the correct bare sein Bruder (masc nominative, no ending, like ein Bruder).
Build a description in layers
Describe a person in layers: (1) relationship — possessive stem set by the OWNER, noun capitalised; (2) get the case right (masc possessive gains -en in the accusative); (3) add a character and an appearance adjective (mixed paradigm); (4) keep die Familie singular.
Short precise answers beat over-lifted ones
In Reading Q4/Q6 the source is first-person and your answer must shift to third person. Give SHORT, exact answers, changing only what must — the verb ending and the possessive — not the whole sentence. Over-lifting multiplies manipulation slips (wrong person, gender, case).
Answer the exact question word asked
In the Speaking conversation, listen for the exact question word: seit wann? (a time span), wie oft? (a frequency, not a bare day-name), wo? (where, not was?). Answering wie oft? with just a day, or hearing wo? as was?, caps the mark. Match the answer type to the word asked.
Describing yourself, your family and your friends is one of the most common Speaking topic conversations and Writing Q2/Q3 tasks in 0525 — it combines family vocabulary, character/appearance adjectives, and the possessive-article + adjective-ending system.
Family members (learn with article + plural, gender is not guessable):
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