Pearson

GCSE (2024)
German (9-1)
Title heading
Vocabulary and
grammar guide
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................. 4
Vocabulary list compilation ........................................................................ 5
Words with different parts of speech.............................................................................5
2016 vs 2024 vocabulary lists: key differences ................................................................6
Irregular inflected forms ................................................................................................6
Comprehensiveness ...................................................................................................10
Prior knowledge ..........................................................................................................10
Frequency ...................................................................................................................10
Guiding principles: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion .........................................................11
2016 to 2024 vocabulary comparison....................................................... 12
Grammar list .............................................................................................. 13
Nouns .............................................................................................................................13
Adjectives .......................................................................................................................13
Agreement ..................................................................................................................13
Comparatives and superlatives ..................................................................................14
Adverbs ..........................................................................................................................14
Articles and determiners.................................................................................................14
Pronouns ........................................................................................................................14
Personal pronouns......................................................................................................14
Reflexive pronouns .....................................................................................................15
Relative pronouns .......................................................................................................15
Interrogative pronouns ................................................................................................15
Prepositions ...................................................................................................................15
Verbs ..............................................................................................................................16
Tenses ........................................................................................................................16
Word order ..................................................................................................................17
Derivational morphology.................................................................................................17
Applying the vocabulary list to our papers ............................................. 19
Paper 1: Speaking ..........................................................................................................19
Paper 2: Listening ..........................................................................................................19
Paper 3: Reading ...........................................................................................................20
Derived forms .............................................................................................................20
Glossed words ............................................................................................................21
Cognates ....................................................................................................................21

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 Place names ...............................................................................................................22
Inference.....................................................................................................................23
Paper 4: Writing .............................................................................................................24
Interactive vocabulary tool ....................................................................... 25
How to use .....................................................................................................................26
Course planning with this tool ........................................................................................30

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Introduction
This guide contains everything you need to know about the vocabulary and grammar lists
for the Pearson GCSE (2024) German qualification. These are found in Appendix 1 and
Appendix 2 of the specification.
The vocabulary list was developed using a frequency-led approach in line with
requirements set out by the Department for Education. It focuses heavily on the top 2000
most frequent words in A frequency dictionary of German: Core vocabulary for learners
(2nd Ed.) (Tschirner, E. & Möhring, J. (2019); London: Routledge).
This posed a challenge in terms of selecting vocabulary around specific themes: many of
the top 2000 most frequent words are, as one would expect, basic words that can be used
in a wide range of contexts, such as common conjunctions, articles, pronouns, verbs etc.,
with relatively few words being thematically specific nouns and adjectives.
Nevertheless, we were determined to produce lists that met the needs and interests of
learners, so early in the development process we conducted research with teachers and
students from a range of schools across the country to understand the themes and topics
from the 2016 qualification that they most enjoyed covering, as well as possible options for
new subjects. We used this information to devise the list of thematic contexts and subjects
in our 2024 specification and as a steer for where to allocate the approximately 180
(Foundation) and 250 (Higher) low-frequency words. More details about our decisions can
be found in the next section: ‘Vocabulary list compilation’.
The French and Spanish vocabulary lists have also been developed using equivalent
Routledge frequency dictionaries. There is significant overlap in the top 2000 most
frequent words across the three languages, but they are not identical; this means that
there is more divergence between the three vocabulary lists in this qualification than in the
2016 and prior qualifications.

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Vocabulary list compilation
The vocabulary list was carefully compiled to meet a set of requirements laid out by the
Department for Education. The ‘core’ list comprises the following:
• 1200 ‘base’ items at Foundation tier, with an additional 500 items at Higher tier. An
item is a single word in the target language which translates as either a single word or
a phrase in English – for example, immer (‘always’) or Bahnhof (‘station’) – or a phrase
in the target language which translates as a single word in English – for example, auf
Wiedersehen (‘goodbye’).
• 20 cultural or geographical items: these include the names of cities, countries,
continents, places of interest and festivals/events to be known for receptive and
productive papers – for example, Köln, Österreich, Donau, Silvester and Viennale.
• 30 short phrases of up to five words each, whose English translations are also phrases
and cannot be understood from their component parts – for example, Es tut mir leid (‘I
am sorry’).
This makes a total of up to 1250 items at Foundation tier, and 1750 at Higher tier.
The total number of entries in the vocabulary list in our specification is greater than 1750 at
Higher tier, for two reasons:
• the Higher tier list includes pronouns combined with da- or wo- as a prefix – for
example davon (‘from it, about it’) and womit (‘with which’).
• any Foundation tier words with additional meanings at Higher tier are duplicated, with
only the Higher tier meanings listed in the Higher tier section. In particular, this applies
to verbs in the present tense, which have the additional translation of ‘have/has been +
[verb]ing’ at Higher tier.

Words with different parts of speech

There are specific rules around how target-language words that exist in multiple parts of
speech are counted as items within the list of 1200/1700 items:
• If a word on its own exists in more than one part of speech and we want students to
know it in multiple parts of speech, then each part of speech counts as a separate item
in our list. For example, der (‘the’ or ‘who, which’) can be both the definite article and a
relative pronoun; we decided that students should be able to understand it as both, so
we have listed it twice in our list and it counts as two items towards the 1200/1700.
• If a word’s part of speech changes as a result of a ‘function word’ being added to it,
such as a preposition, all parts of speech together count as only one item. For
example, we have the noun Form (‘shape’) in our vocabulary list; when this is preceded
by the word in, it takes on the adjectival meaning ‘healthy’ or ‘fit’. Form and in Form
together count as one item and are listed together in the vocabulary list.

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2016 vs 2024 vocabulary lists: key differences
The compilation of the 2024 vocabulary list took a different approach to that of the 2016
list:

Irregular inflected forms

The grammar list for the 2024 qualification is set out in Appendix 2 of the specification and
explained in more detail in the ‘Grammar list’ section of this document. It contains all of the
rules that students are expected to know for agreeing nouns and adjectives in gender,
number and case, and for conjugating verbs.
Inflected forms of nouns and adjectives are only listed separately where they are not
covered by the patterns given in the grammar list. So, for example, Lehrer for ‘teacher’ or
weiß for ‘white’ are only given in their base form. Similarly, verbs are only listed in the
infinitive with the expectation that all forms of these verbs would be known in all tenses
required by the grammar content. Where the irregular forms are not covered by the
grammar list, the irregular forms are listed as separate items. This is not true of the 2016
vocabulary list.

a) Nouns and adjectives

Where the feminine and plural forms of a noun or adjective in our 2024 vocabulary list
follow one of the regular patterns in the grammar list, we have listed only the masculine
singular in the vocabulary list. The masculine singular and inflected forms together
constitute one of the 1200/1700 items, and students will be expected to understand and
produce the inflected forms. For example:
• Lehrer (‘teacher’): this is the only form listed in the vocabulary list but students at both
tiers should also know Lehrers, Lehrerin and Lehrerinnen, with an additional
requirement to know Lehrern (dative plural) at Higher Tier.
• schnell (‘quickly, quick, fast’): students at both tiers should also know schneller,
schnelle, schnelles and schnellen.
Where the feminine and/or plural forms do not fit one of the regular patterns in the
grammar list, the irregular forms are also explicitly listed in the vocabulary list after the
masculine singular, and each listed form counts as a separate item towards the 1200/1700
total. This is why the feminine and/or plural forms are listed for some words and not others.
For example:
• Arzt, Ärztin, Ärzte and Ärztinnen with the addition of the masculine dative plural Ärzten
at Higher tier, (‘doctor/‘doctors’): the two forms in bold are listed in the vocabulary list
as separate items because the addition of the umlaut to make the feminine is not one
of the rules in the grammar list, so the feminine singular form is irregular. The plural
forms and dative plural do follow rules listed in the grammar list, however, so these
forms are not stated in the vocabulary list but students will be expected to know them.
Where an irregular form is not listed as a separate item in the vocabulary list or covered by
the grammar requirements, students will not be expected to know it and we will not use it
in exam papers. They will only be required to know the listed form. For example:

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• Risiko (‘risk’): this is only listed in the singular for Foundation tier, so Foundation tier
students will not be expected to know the irregular plural Risiken (‘risks’). However, as
the plural is listed as a separate item at Higher tier, Higher tier students will be
expected to know both.

b) Verbs
The verb conjugations and tenses that students will be expected to know at each tier are
laid out in the grammar list and summarised in the ‘Grammar list’ section of this document
below. It is to be noted that the requirements are limited to a select few conjugation
patterns, which are exemplified by ‘anchor’ verbs.
If a verb in our vocabulary list follows one of these conjugation patterns completely, we
have only listed the infinitive and students will be required to know all the relevant
conjugated forms. The infinitive and all conjugated forms together constitute one item
towards the 1200/1700 total in the vocabulary list.
If a verb has conjugated forms that don’t fit with one of the patterns laid out in the grammar
list, these irregular forms each count as a separate item in our vocabulary list and have
been listed at the end of the verb section in the specification, in a subsection entitled
‘Irregular inflected verb forms’.
Let’s take the example of fahren (‘to go, to drive’) to see what this means in practice. For
this irregular verb, following the requirements set out by the Department for Education,
students at Foundation tier are expected to know the present tense (all forms); past
participle; and future tense with werden; Higher tier students are additionally required to
know the imperative; the imperfect; and the conditional with werden.

Table 1:
FAHREN Foundation and Higher tier only
Higher tier
Present fahre
fährst
fährt
fahren
fahrt
Imperfect fuhr
fuhrst
fuhren
fuhrt
Past participle gefahren
Future werde fahren

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 wirst fahren
wird fahren
werden fahren
werdet fahren
Conditional würde fahren
würdest fahren
würden fahren
würdet fahren
Imperative fahr!
fahrt!
fahren Sie!

As shown in the table, Foundation tier students will need to know 12 forms and Higher tier
students 23 forms including the infinitive, but only the forms in bold count as items towards
the 1200/1700 total in the vocabulary list: 3 forms at Foundation tier and 4 at Higher tier
including the infinitive. Where different parts of the verb are identical, they are only listed
once. So, for example, the first person plural, the second person formal and the third
person plural of the present tense count together as one item because they are identical:
fahren.
If the imperfect conjugated form of an irregular verb is not listed in the ‘Irregular inflected
verb forms’ section of the vocabulary list in our specification, students are not expected to
know it and it will not be tested.
To illustrate this, let’s take the example of schlafen (‘to sleep’):

Table 2:
SCHLAFEN Foundation and Higher tier only
Higher tier
Present schlafe
schläfst
schläft
schlafen
schlaft
Future werde schlafen
wirst schlafen
wird schlafen
werden schlafen

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 werdet schlafen
Conditional würde schlafen
würdest schlafen
würden schlafen
würdet schlafen
Imperfect schlief
schliefst
schliefen
schlieft
Past participle geschlafen
Imperative schlaf!
schlaft!
Schlafen Sie!

This verb follows the pattern of the anchor verb fahren in all required tenses except for the
imperfect, schlief. As we have not listed schlief as a separate item in our vocabulary list,
we will not test it in our papers.

At Foundation tier, students are expected to know how separable verbs are used in the
present, perfect and future tenses. At Higher tier, separable verbs may also be used in
subordinate clauses. To illustrate this, let’s take the example of ankommen (‘to arrive’):

Table 3:
ANKOMMEN Foundation and Higher tier only
Higher tier
Present komme ... an ankomme
kommst ... an ankommst
kommt ... an ankommt
kommen ... an ankommen
Future werde ankommen
wirst ankommen
wird ankommen
werden ankommen
werdet ankommen
Conditional würde ankommen

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 würdest ankommen
würden ankommen
würdet ankommen
Imperfect kam … an / ankam
kamst … an / ankamst
kamen ... an / ankamen
kamt ... an / ankamt
Past participle angekommen
Imperative komm … an!
kommt ... an!
Kommen Sie an!

Comprehensiveness
The new vocabulary list is designed to be comprehensive. Students will not be expected to
understand or produce vocabulary that is not either in the list or a regular inflected form of
a word in the list as per the grammar requirements (though they are welcome to use
additional vocabulary in productive tasks if they so wish, and will receive equal credit for
doing so correctly).
The English translations of words on the list are also comprehensive: if a particular
meaning of a word is not given in the specification, students will not be expected to know
that meaning. For example, they will only need to know the word treten with the meaning
‘to step’, not ‘to kick’.
For this reason, the translations of some words – in particular the irregular inflected forms
of common verbs such as sein – are lengthy, to ensure we have captured all the possible
meanings we might need for use in exam papers.

Prior knowledge
Because the new vocabulary list is comprehensive, there is no expectation of prior
knowledge: even basic vocabulary such as greetings, numbers and colours are listed as
items.

Frequency
The compilation of the new vocabulary list was frequency-led, with the vast majority of
words required to be taken from the top 2000 most frequent words in a large corpus of
target-language texts. Given this, as well as the overall reduction in the total number of
words versus the 2016 vocabulary list, we had some difficult decisions to make about
which words to include in the list and which to exclude.

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For example, we excluded lila (‘purple’) from our list of colours because it has irregular
inflected forms, for example lilafarbene, so would have required more than one space out
of the 1200 available at Foundation tier. We chose to allocate these spaces elsewhere.
We were also limited in the number of sports we could include in the list for the ‘sports’
subject, as these were mostly low-frequency words (i.e. not within the top 2000 most
frequent in the corpus). We chose a small number of ‘core’ sports common to the French,
Spanish and German lists (football, tennis, swimming, cycling) and then added a few more
to each language’s list that we deemed culturally relevant for that language, such as
Handball for German.
We decided to tend towards the general over the specific where possible to maximise the
range of subjects available in our vocabulary – for example, we have the word Fleisch
(‘meat’) in the list but have not included the names of different meats, so that we could
instead include other food items: Schnitzel, Ei, Käse, etc.

Guiding principles: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Aside from the rules laid out by the Department for Education around vocabulary list
compilation, we established some guiding principles for our vocabulary choices to ensure
that, as far as possible, our lists don’t favour the lifestyles, life experiences and aspirations
of some students more than others. These are some of the decisions we took:
• Religion – we haven’t included the names of any religions or religious festivals in our
list. We do have the general words ‘religion’, ‘religious’ and/or ‘faith’. All students are
welcome to talk about their religious background in productive tasks, where
appropriate, but will need to learn additional vocabulary pertaining to their specific
religion if they wish to do so.
• Family – we have ensured there is a provision within the list to talk about a range of
family set-ups, including words to talk about step-parents and step-siblings, and single-
sex parents, so as not to favour the stereotypical nuclear family with a mother and a
father.
• School subjects – we decided to only include the school subjects that all students
taking this qualification will be studying: maths, English, science and German. This is
because we deemed it fairest for all students to have to learn the names of their other
GCSE subjects as additional words outside of the vocabulary list if they wanted to talk
about them in productive tasks. A few other school subjects do appear on the list, but
only as a secondary meaning of words that we have included for use in other thematic
contexts/subjects, e.g. Geschichte (‘story’/‘history’), Theater (‘theatre’/‘drama’).
• Jobs – we’ve tried to avoid any specific job titles, as those within the top 2000 most
frequent words in the corpus we were using tended to be highly skilled roles (e.g.
lawyer, scientist) which would only have served to reinforce a sense of elitism around
MFL qualifications. We’ve therefore kept our vocabulary around future opportunities
more general, with words like ‘income’, ‘boss’, ‘career’ and ‘university’. Any job titles
that do appear in the list were primarily included for use in a different subject – for
example, ‘teacher’ for the ‘school’ subject.

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2016 to 2024 vocabulary comparison
We have conducted an analysis of the commonalities and differences between the AQA
2016 and Edexcel 2024 vocabulary lists and have published our findings in a vocabulary
mapping spreadsheet on our website.
This spreadsheet contains three categories:
• the vocabulary items common to both lists – more than half of the words in the
Edexcel 2024 list appear here;
• the vocabulary content from the AQA 2016 specification that has been removed;
• the new vocabulary content in the Edexcel 2024 specification.
Given the reduction in the volume of vocabulary overall, the list of ‘removed’ words is
larger than the list of ‘new’ words; this does not mean, however, that you are obliged to
remove all such content from your teaching materials. Vocabulary from outside of the
defined vocabulary list will not be wasted, as students may use this in productive tasks and
will receive equal credit for doing so correctly.
The mapping spreadsheet contains an introduction tab with some important caveats about
vocabulary comparison. The two lists were developed to meet different Department for
Education subject content requirements with different conventions for presenting
vocabulary; this makes a straightforward comparison of the two lists difficult and produces
misleading results. Of particular note is the fact that the 2024 qualifications assume no
prior knowledge, so you will notice that a number of words reported as ‘new’ to the 2024
qualification are basic vocabulary items which you will have always taught to your students
– for example, ‘Hund’, ‘Schwester’, ‘schwarz’. They are listed as ‘new’ only because the
2016 vocabulary lists did assume prior knowledge, so basic vocabulary items were not
always listed.
If you wish to conduct your own analysis of the vocabulary content or start preparing
resources tailored to the 2024 qualification using only the new Edexcel vocabulary list, we
have developed an interactive vocabulary tool to help you. Please see the final section of
this document for more details.

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Grammar list
The grammar content for this qualification is set out in Appendix 2 of the specification and
is a comprehensive list of the grammatical rules that students will need to be able to apply
to the vocabulary in the vocabulary list. It is not as extensive as the grammar content for
the 2016 qualification: key differences are outlined below for each part of speech.

Nouns
There is no longer an automatic requirement for students to be able to agree all nouns in
the vocabulary list in gender and number. The feminine ending -in and the formation of
regular plural forms as listed in the grammar section must be learned. For any nouns that
do not follow these patterns, the forms will be listed as separate items in the vocabulary
list. For example, Lehrer is in the vocabulary list but the feminine form Lehrerin is not.
However, both Arzt and Ärztin are listed because the feminine form is irregular. Similarly,
Pflanze is listed but the plural form Pflanzen is not, whereas both Mutter and Mütter are
listed because the plural form does not follow a regular pattern. Any feminine or plural
forms which do not follow one of the specified grammatical patterns and do not appear as
separate items on the vocabulary list will not be tested and students are not expected to
know them.
An awareness of the addition of -n to dative plural nouns is now only required at Higher
tier. The exception is the dative plural Freunden which is listed for use at Foundation and
Higher tier as the short phrase, mit (meinen) Freunden.
Other rules governing nouns which are necessary only at Higher tier are: the genitive case
of nouns; the plural forms of weak and adjectival nouns; abstract neuter nouns with
definite article (e.g. das Gute) and after viel, wenig, etwas and alles (e.g. etwas Nettes).
The 2024 specification makes specific reference to compound nouns, as well as infinitives
and adjectives used as nouns at Foundation tier. Students are expected to know how
compound nouns are formed and the final word gender rule. Compound nouns such as
Schulbuch or Hauptbahnhof may be used in our papers as long as the meaning can be
deduced from a knowledge of the component parts of the word. Similarly, students should
be able to recognise and produce nouns formed from verbs or adjectives such as das
Schwimmen and Englisch.

Adjectives
Agreement
The rules governing adjectives are largely the same as they were in the 2016 specification.
Students will learn the difference between prenominal and postnominal adjectival use (e.g.
der alte Mann as opposed to der Mann ist alt). For prenominal adjectives at Foundation
tier, it is necessary to be familiar with the endings after the definite and indefinite articles
and the endings for these without an article in the nominative, accusative and dative

13
cases. In addition, the use of comparative adjectives in constructions with als and so .. wie
is required at Foundation tier.
Only the masculine form is given in the vocabulary list unless there is an irregularity not
covered by a rule in the grammar list. So, for example, when heiß is listed, this means that
students should recognise and use its inflected forms. Where the comparative is irregular,
this is listed separately (e.g. viel, mehr, gut, besser).

Comparatives and superlatives

At Foundation and Higher tier comparative adjectives will only be used postnominally.
The requirement to learn prenominal and postnominal superlative adjectives (e.g.
der/die/das beste; am besten) has been removed from Foundation tier, but remains at
Higher tier.

Adverbs
The requirement to learn superlative adverbs (e.g. größt-, am größten) has been removed
from Foundation tier, but remains at Higher tier.
Adjectives which are also adverbs are listed as one entry in the vocabulary list (e.g. aktiv =
‘active, actively’).
The use of verb + gern to express like and verb + lieber to express preference still features
at both Foundation and Higher Tier.

Articles and determiners

The requirements are broadly similar to the 2016 specification. Students at both tiers are
expected to learn the uses of the definite and indefinite article and negation with kein in
the nominative, accusative and dative cases. In addition, they should be able to distinguish
between uncountable and plural forms of quantifiers such as viel and viele. They should
also be able to recognise and use the relevant forms of all possessive pronouns, the
interrogative welch(er) and the relevant forms of dies(er), jed(er), letzt(er) and nächst(er).
Only at Higher tier is it necessary to be familiar with the genitive case for possession and
after certain prepositions. It is important to note that this will only feature in Listening and
Reading papers at Higher tier.

Pronouns
Personal pronouns
As with the 2016 specification, students at both tiers are expected to know all personal
pronouns in the subject (nominative) form including the use of man. However, for the direct

14
object and indirect object forms in the accusative and dative, only the singular forms
including einen and einem are to be learnt at Foundation tier; the plural forms are
applicable only at Higher tier.
The requirement to know the order of direct and indirect object pronouns, be that with
nouns, a mixture of noun and pronoun or with two pronouns, also now features only at
Higher tier.

Reflexive pronouns
Students at both tiers will learn the singular forms of reflexive verbs with an accusative
reflexive pronoun (e.g. ich freue mich). Only students at Higher tier will now need to know
the plural reflexive pronouns (uns, euch, sich). The use of reflexive verbs with a dative
reflexive pronoun is only required at Higher tier.

Relative pronouns
In contrast to the 2016 specification, students at Foundation tier will now only learn the use
of relative pronouns in subject clauses (der, die, das, die). At Higher tier, their use is
extended to subject and object relative clauses, including the use of wo and was.

Interrogative pronouns
Knowledge of the interrogative pronouns wer, wen and wem is required at both
Foundation and Higher tier.

Prepositions
The 2024 specification give much more detail about the prepositions to be learnt at each
tier.
At Foundation tier, accusative prepositions are restricted to bis, durch, für and ohne,
although um is also listed in the vocabulary list for its use in time phrases (e.g. um vier
Uhr). Foundation tier students are also expected to know the dative prepositions aus, bei,
mit, nach, von and zu, and the dual case prepositions an, auf and in. As before, students
should also be familiar with contracted forms of bei, in, von and zu with the definite article.
Foundation tier students should also be familiar with the use of prepositions after a verb
(e.g. warten auf) and da(r)- compounds such as darauf and damit.
At Higher tier, the use of prepositions widens to include the accusative prepositions gegen
and um (with the sense of ‘around’), the dative prepositions laut and seit, and the dual
case prepositions zwischen, über, unter, hinter, vor and neben. Students should also learn
the use of beim or am with a nominalised verb (e.g. beim Gehen).
The use of prepositions with da(r)- and wo(r)- prefixes in main clauses (e.g. Sie steht
daneben; Worauf wartest du?) also feature at Higher tier.
Genitive propositions which may be used at Higher tier are listed in the vocabulary list.

15
Verbs
The grammatical rules around verbs in particular are more contained and rigidly defined,
and there is no longer a requirement to know all conjugations for all tenses of all verbs in
the vocabulary list. It is advised to pay close attention to the ‘Verbs’ sections of the
grammar list in the specification.

Tenses
On the whole, students at both tiers will be required to know fewer conjugations across
various tenses for this qualification compared with the 2016 specification. The grammar list
in the specification details the specific verb patterns that are to be learnt.
At Foundation tier, students will learn the present tense of regular and irregular verbs as
listed in the vocabulary list, including separable (compound) verbs and reflexive verbs with
an accusative reflexive pronoun; they will learn to use the present tense to express future
meaning. The future tense with werden will also be learnt, but in any student work the
present tense with a time adverb will be acceptable as an indication of a future time frame.
The uses of the perfect tense are listed in the specification for Foundation tier. Students
will learn the rules for conjugating past participle forms as listed. Where the past participle
is formed following a pattern listed, it will not be included as a separate item in the
vocabulary list. However, irregular forms (e.g. gegangen, gewusst) are listed as separate
entries in the ‘Irregular inflected verb forms’ section in the specification.
At Foundation tier, knowledge of the imperfect/simple past tense is restricted to all parts of
haben and sein and to some parts of modal verbs.
All six modal verbs in the present tense will be used at Foundation tier. However, the
imperfect/simple past of modal verbs is required only in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons
singular at this tier.
The conditional tense is now required only at Higher tier. The exception is the use of
möchte which will be used at both tiers.
Students are expected to know the following verb constructions at Higher tier only:
• the imperative
• infinitive clauses e.g. with um/zu or after verbs such as hoffen
• reflexive verbs with a dative reflexive pronoun
• the use of seit with the present tense
• the imperfect/simple past of regular and highly frequent strong verbs as specified in the
vocabulary list
• the imperfect/simple past of modals in all persons
• the imperfect subjunctive in conditional clauses with hätte, wäre and würde + infinitive.

16
There is no longer an expectation for students at either tier to know the following:
• pluperfect
• the passive.

Word order
The 2024 specification gives more detail about word order than the 2016 specification.

At Foundation tier, students are expected to know:

• main clause word order including inversion and the rule of 2nd verb to the end of the
main clause
• word order in questions with and without interrogatives
• word order in subordinate and relative clauses with single-verb structures
• word order with separable verbs in the present tense in main clauses.

In addition, at Higher tier students are expected to know:

• word order in subordinate and relative clauses with two-verb structures
• word order in subordinate and relative clauses with single-verb and two-verb structures
including with separable verbs.

The 2024 specification also differentiates between how word order with negatives should
be learnt. At Foundation tier, students will learn the word order of verbal negation with nie,
nichts and nicht in main clause with single- and two-verb structures, and in subordinate
clauses with single verbs and with postnominal adjectives. At Higher tier, they will learn
word order using element negation with nicht, including the use of sondern.

Derivational morphology
The 2024 qualification diverges from the 2016 one in having paper-specific grammar
requirements. There is a set of grammar rules using prefixes and suffixes that students at
both tiers will be expected to know for the Reading paper only (though they are welcome
to apply these rules in their answers to productive tasks if they so wish, and will receive
equal credit for doing so correctly). They are called ‘Derivational morphology’ rules and
appear under this title in their own section of the grammar list in the specification.
Applying these rules to words in our vocabulary list, in the Reading paper at both tiers we
may:
• add prefix Lieblings- to nouns to mean ‘favourite’
• add prefix Haupt- to nouns to mean ‘main’

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• add prefix un- to create adjectives where the English meaning is ‘the opposite’ (e.g.
unmöglich, unglücklich)
• add suffix -te (1-19) and -ste (20-) to change cardinal into ordinal numbers (e.g. zweite,
zwanzigste)
• add suffix -ung to a verb stem to change into nouns with equivalent and transparent
meaning (e.g. lösen ➜ Lösung)
• add suffix -er to a verb stem (-en verbs) to change into male agent nouns with
equivalent and transparent meaning (e.g. besuchen ➜ Besucher)
• add suffix -s to nouns for days and times of day to change them into adverbs (e.g.
Montag ➜ montags; Nachmittag ➜ nachmittags.

And at Higher tier only, we may:

• add -chen, -lein to create nouns, only when the English equivalent is ‘little’ (e.g.
Häuschen, Kätzchen)
• add -heit or -keit to adjectives/adverbs to create nouns, only when the English
equivalent is ‘-ty’ or ‘-ness’ (e.g. Krankheit, Notwendigkeit)
• add -los to nouns to create adjectives, only with the English equivalent ‘-less’ or
meaning ‘without’.

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Applying the vocabulary list to our papers
In this section we explain how we have used the vocabulary list in each of our papers.

Paper 1: Speaking
The text in the target language in the Speaking paper comprises:
• the text to be read aloud in the read aloud task.
• the questions and follow-up phrases on the teacher card for the role play task.
• prompts and compulsory questions, as well as examples of non-compulsory questions,
in the instructions to teacher for the picture task.
These target-language texts are all written exclusively with vocabulary from the vocabulary
list, or inflected forms of base words in the vocabulary list that are in line with the grammar
requirements of the course. No words from outside of the vocabulary list will appear in this
paper.
Candidates can access the full range of marks for this paper using only the words in the
vocabulary list and any inflected forms covered by the grammar requirements in their
responses. They are, however, free to learn and use words from outside of the vocabulary
list that are relevant to their own lives and interests, and will receive equal credit for these
if used correctly.

Paper 2: Listening
All comprehension passages in section A of this paper contain only words from the
vocabulary list and inflected forms covered by the grammar requirements.
The dictation activity in section B includes words from outside of the vocabulary list to test
candidates on their knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences. For more information,
please see our Paper 2, Listening Teacher Guide that can be found on our ‘Course
materials’ page, under ‘Teaching and learning materials’.
For example, below is the Foundation tier dictation question from our Sample Assessment
Materials (SAMs):

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Suppe and Spargel are words from outside of the vocabulary list that we test in this
question.

Paper 3: Reading
Most of the target-language content of this paper is written using words in the vocabulary
list or inflected forms covered by the grammar requirements, but with a few concessions:

Derived forms
There is an additional set of grammatical requirements for the Reading paper that allows
the use of ‘derived’ forms of words in the vocabulary list. These include:
• Ordinal numbers that are created by adding the suffixes -te (1-19) and -ste (20-). The
ordinal numbers erst, zweit and dritt are listed as entries in our vocabulary list and so
may be used in all papers, but ordinal numbers from viert onwards may only be used in
the Reading paper.
• Adding the prefix un- to create adjectives where the English meaning is ‘the opposite’.
For example, the adjectives wichtig and ruhig are listed in our vocabulary list at
Foundation tier, so in the Reading paper (at either tier) we may use the words
unwichtig and unruhig.

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• Adding a suffix to a verb stem (-en verbs) to change into male agent nouns with
equivalent and transparent meaning. For example, as the verbs besuchen and retten
are in the vocabulary list, the nouns Besucher(in) and Retter(in) may appear in the
Reading exam.
• Adding the prefixes Lieblings- to nouns to mean ‘favourite’ or Haupt- meaning ‘main’.
For example, as the nouns Bahnhof (Foundation tier) and Ausflug (Higher tier) are in
the vocabulary list, the nouns Hauptbahnhof and Lieblingsausflug may appear in the
Reading exam at the relevant tiers.
• At Higher tier, adding the suffixes -heit or -keit to adjectives/adverbs to create nouns,
only when the English equivalent is ‘-ty’ or ‘-ness’. For example, the adjectives krank,
and traurig are in our vocabulary list at both tiers; the equivalent nouns Krankheit and
Traurigkeit are not, but may be used in the Reading paper at Higher tier.
These rules may also be applied in reverse, i.e. if a ‘derived’ form is listed in our
vocabulary list but the ‘base’ form is not, we may use the base form in the Reading paper.

Glossed words
Up to 2% of the total number of words in Higher tier or Foundation/Higher overlap
comprehension passages can be words from outside of the vocabulary list. This 2% figure
is calculated at question level, not on the paper as a whole. Any such words are glossed in
English alongside the comprehension passage.

Cognates
In addition to the glossed words, up to 2% of the total number of words in any given
comprehension passage can be cognates from outside of the vocabulary list, and these
are not glossed. Again, this 2% figure is calculated at question level.
A cognate is defined in the subject content for this qualification as a “word in which the
substantial majority of letters are the same in English and the assessed language; they
have the same meaning in both languages and any difference in spelling should not
impede understanding”. We have been conservative in applying this definition in the
Sample Assessment Materials: for example, question 5 of the Foundation paper includes
the word Taxis as a cognate.

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Place names
Names of any places that do not appear in the ‘cultural and geographical’ words in our
vocabulary list, and that are not easily understandable, may be used and glossed in the
Reading paper. For example, we gloss the city of Frankfurt in question 8 of our Higher tier
SAMs.

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There is no specified limit on the number of place names that may be glossed in this way,
but as place names are used sparingly in our passages, very few are glossed in the SAMs.

Inference
The subject content for this qualification stipulates that candidates must be able to “infer,
by using knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar specified for each tier, plausible
meanings of single words from outside the Vocabulary List when they are embedded in
the context of written sentences”. We therefore have inference questions in our Reading
papers that test words from outside of the vocabulary list.
This example from our Foundation tier SAMs requires candidates to use the word
Lieblingsspiel and other clues from the surrounding sentence to deduce the correct
meaning of Schach from the options provided.

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Paper 4: Writing
All tasks in the writing papers are written in English, but care has been taken to ensure
that they target vocabulary on the list. All questions in this paper can be answered and
candidates can access the full range of marks using only words from the vocabulary list
and inflected forms covered by the grammar requirements. Candidates are, however, free
to learn and use words from outside of the vocabulary list that are relevant to their own
lives and interests, and will receive equal credit for these if used correctly.

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Interactive vocabulary tool
This qualification is vocabulary-driven
rather than theme-driven. However,
we know that teachers wish to
continue planning and teaching
course content around themes, so we
have developed an interactive
vocabulary tool that maps the words in
the vocabulary list to the 20 subjects
listed in our specification. This tool
can be found on our ‘Course
materials’ page, under ‘Teaching and
learning materials’:
How to use
This resource contains an introduction tab explaining
how to use the tool, plus four vocabulary tabs.
The first vocabulary tab lists the full Foundation tier
vocabulary list, organised in frequency order.

The second tab lists the full Higher tier

vocabulary list, which contains the
Foundation vocabulary (sometimes with
extra HT-only definitions) plus 500
additional words, as well as a small set of
pronouns prefixed with da- or wo-. All HT-
only content is marked in bold.
These two tabs are not editable.

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The third and fourth tabs are the
interactive tabs. They contain two sets of
filters in the purple boxes at the top: one for
parts of speech, and another for all of the
subjects in the specification, plus a ‘General
and grammatical’ category for words that
are too general to be mapped to subjects.

To see all the vocabulary

mapped to a particular
subject, simply click on that
subject (‘Music’ in this
example) and all irrelevant
vocabulary will be filtered out.

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Should you then wish to filter down further, by
part of speech (‘nouns’ in this example), you
can then click on the part of speech that you
would like to see for your chosen subject.

Alternatively, you could start by selecting

the part of speech and then narrow down
by subject. Either way, selecting an
option in one filter narrows down the
options in the other filter to only
those containing your selection. For
example, if you were to choose ‘num’
(‘number’) for the part of speech, you
would only be left with the ‘General and
grammatical’ option in the subjects filter,
because numbers are too general to be
mapped to any specific subjects.

To reset a filter, click on the icon in the top right corner of the filter – the image of a funnel with a red cross.

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To select more than one option in
either of the filters, click on your first
selection and then hold down the
Ctrl key while clicking on your other
selections.

The fourth tab – the Higher

interactive list – contains a third
filter titled ‘HT only’. Select ‘Yes’
in this filter to see all the items
in the vocabulary list with HT-
only content, marked in bold.
Select ‘No’ to see only the
vocabulary items that are
identical at Foundation and
Higher tier: this is not the entire
Foundation tier list as some FT
words have additional English
translations that only HT
students are required to know.

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Course planning with this tool
This tool is purely intended as a starting point for your course planning: it does not reflect the organisation of the vocabulary in
any coursebooks for this qualification, nor does it prescribe where the vocabulary will be used in exam papers.
It is important to note that the categorisation of vocabulary into subjects is highly subjective, and you may disagree with some of
the categorisations in this tool. To make the tool as useful as possible, we have mapped as many of the words in the list as we
could to subjects, rather than putting them in the ‘General and grammatical’ category; however, highly frequent words are by
their very nature applicable to a wide range of contexts, and their links to some subjects may seem tenuous. You are not bound
to teach the vocabulary in the subjects that they appear under in this spreadsheet – you are free to teach it under any subject
you wish, or not under any subjects at all.

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