B1: Intermediate

The 16 units

• Unit 1

  Geschichten erzählenTelling stories

  You can narrate past events in writing using the Präteritum; understand fairy tales, short biographies and news reports; use the Präteritum of weak, strong and mixed verbs and of modal verbs.

• Unit 2

  Was war vorher?What happened before?

  You can put past events in order using the Plusquamperfekt; connect events with nachdem and bevor and choose the right tense; describe accidents, incidents and mishaps.

• Unit 3

  Wegen des WettersBecause of the weather

  You can use the genitive case to show belonging and relationships; give reasons formally with wegen, trotz, während and statt; talk about weather, the environment and travel disruption.

• Unit 4

  Menschen, die ich kennePeople I know

  You can describe people and things precisely with relative clauses; use relative pronouns in all four cases, including dessen and deren; talk about character, friendship and relationships.

• Unit 5

  Orte, wo ...Places where ...

  You can describe places precisely with relative clauses after prepositions; use wo for places and was after alles, nichts, das and superlatives; make general statements with wer ..., (der) ....

• Unit 6

  Wie wird das gemacht?How is it done?

  You can describe processes with the passive in the present and Präteritum; say who or what caused an action with von and durch; understand guided tours, instructions and short news items.

• Unit 7

  Wozu?What for?

  You can express purpose with um ... zu and damit; say that something happens without something else, using ohne ... zu and ohne dass; talk about alternatives with statt ... zu and statt dass.

• Unit 8

  Hätte, wäre, wennIf only

  You can talk about unreal situations in the present with Konjunktiv II; express regret and missed chances with the Konjunktiv II past; build conditional sentences with and without wenn.

• Unit 9

  Der Kunde, den KollegenThe customer, the colleague

  You can deal politely with customers and colleagues on the phone and by email; make a formal complaint and respond to one calmly; use n-declension nouns like der Kunde, der Kollege and Herr correctly in every case.

• Unit 10

  Sowohl ... als auchBoth ... and

  You can weigh up options when buying technology or choosing media; summarise advantages and disadvantages clearly; use two-part connectors: sowohl ... als auch, weder ... noch, entweder ... oder, nicht nur ... sondern auch, zwar ... aber.

• Unit 11

  Ich lasse ...I'm having ... done

  You can say what you do yourself and what you have done by others; talk about services: the hairdresser, repairs at home and official documents; use lassen to mean cause, permit and leave, including the Perfekt with two infinitives.

• Unit 12

  Obwohl es regnetAlthough it's raining

  You can talk about sport, health and staying motivated; express concession with obwohl and contrast it with trotzdem; express a condition with falls, a result with sodass or so ... dass, and a method with indem.

• Unit 13

  Je mehr, desto besserThe more, the better

  You can express proportional relationships with je ... desto and je ... umso; talk about learning, work-life balance and consumption; describe developments with immer + comparative.

• Unit 14

  Na ja, halt!Well, you know!

  You can make small talk and react naturally in everyday conversations; soften requests and questions with mal, denn and eigentlich; add emphasis, surprise or resignation with doch, ja, eben, halt, schon, wohl, bloß and nur.

• Unit 15

  Das laufende ProjektThe ongoing project

  You can describe states and processes compactly with participles; talk about work projects, deadlines, delays and progress; understand news headlines and short reports.

• Unit 16

  Etwas NeuesSomething new

  You can talk about innovations, acquaintances and social groups; use nominalised adjectives and participles like der Bekannte, die Deutschen and die Jugendlichen; use etwas, nichts, viel, wenig and alles with adjectives: etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes, alles Gute.

Exam practice

• Goethe-style B1 mock exam: Hören, Lesen, Schreiben, Sprechen
• Goethe-style B1 mock exam 2: Hören, Lesen, Schreiben, Sprechen
• Goethe-style B1 mock exam 3: Hören, Lesen, Schreiben, Sprechen

Exam practice follows the style of the Goethe-Zertifikat exams. Masar Deutsch is not affiliated with, approved by or endorsed by the Goethe-Institut, and its mock exams are not official papers.

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