German A1–A2 flashcards
24 decks · 2,085 cards · built into Willys · free samples below
Written against: CEFR A1–A2; every word of the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 and A2, with Austrian/Swiss variants noted; gender, plurals and spelling per Duden. Updated 2026-10-10.
In the app every card is read aloud: the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish or other language side in its own native voice and the English side in yours, with a hands-free Listen mode for whole decks.
What's in it
Every deck follows the course outline, with tags you can study or suspend topic by topic. Open a deck to study its free sample right here.
Learn · 18 decks · 1,605 cards
Concepts, mechanisms and the questions a course or exam asks about them.
Core Vocabulary
One hundred beginner words, nearly all on the Goethe A1 list: thirty high-frequency verbs with stem changes, separable prefixes and Perfekt auxiliary, fifty everyday nouns with article and plural, twenty adjectives and small words, plus Austrian and Swiss variants and false friends.
Core Words: Adjectives & Adverbs
The next 79 core A1 words: adjectives of colour, size, quality and state, then adverbs of place, time and degree and the question words, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Words: Food, Shopping & Nature
72 Goethe A1 words: food and drink, meals and the restaurant, shops, money and paying, then nature, countries and nationalities, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Words: People, Home & Health
The next 114 core A1 words: people and family, body and health, home and daily life, and feelings, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Words: Small Words & Numbers
110 A1 small words: prepositions with their case, pronouns and determiners with their forms, conjunctions, numbers, ordinals, units and abbreviations, and expressions such as an sein and zu sein, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Words: Time, Work & School
The next 103 core A1 words: the clock, days, months, seasons and weather, then jobs, the office, school, courses and forms, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Words: Town, Travel & Free Time
83 Goethe A1 words: getting around town, directions and the compass points, trains, planes and tickets, hotels and sightseeing, then free time, sport, films and parties, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Words: Verbs & Communication
The next 85 core A1 words: essential and everyday verbs, then asking and answering, letters and post, the phone and messages, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Phrases & Core Grammar
Seventy prompts on the A1 essentials: du vs Sie, greetings and polite requests, questions, verb-second and verb-final order, articles with nominative, accusative and dative, kein vs nicht, modal and separable verbs, stem changes, Perfekt, numbers and time.
Vocabulary
Ninety words for A2 learners: travel, health, work and school, shopping, weather and nature, home, free time; fifteen verbs with Perfekt forms (ten with stem changes) and ten adjectives with comparatives. Nouns have article and plural or a singular-only mark, an original example and the usual trap.
Core Vocabulary, Part 1
Ninety Goethe A2 words beyond A1, part 1: health, home and clothes, food and shops, town and travel, animals, school and work, free time, languages and small words, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Vocabulary, Part 2
Ninety more Goethe A2 words, part 2, all nouns: health, clothes and the home, food and shopping, town and travel, nature and countries, school subjects and work, culture and free time, feelings and messages, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Vocabulary, Part 3
Ninety more Goethe A2 words, part 3: family, body and health, jobs and people at work, food, markets and Swiss money, home and clothes, travel, nationalities, school, media and free time, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Vocabulary, Part 4
Ninety more Goethe A2 words, part 4: clothes and the home, moving house, town and traffic, jobs and applications, sport and free time, feelings and reflexive verbs, and small words like dass and wenn, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Vocabulary, Part 5
Ninety more Goethe A2 words, part 5: everyday verbs, connectors and small words, feelings and describing words, opinions, health, home and food, free time and Christmas, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Vocabulary, Part 6
Ninety more Goethe A2 words, part 6: everyday and talking verbs, health, home, food and travel, work and free time, times of day and how often, feelings, describing words and small words, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Core Vocabulary, Part 7
Eighty-nine more Goethe A2 words, part 7: everyday verbs, home, cooking and prices, travel, weather and weekdays, festivals, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, hobbies, character and feelings, colours and small words like gegenüber, each with an original example sentence and its translation.
Grammar
Seventy prompts on A2 grammar: Perfekt with haben or sein, Präteritum of sein, haben and modals, dative verbs and pronouns, two-way prepositions, adjective endings, weil, dass, wenn, als and ob clauses, comparatives, reflexive and separable verbs, and polite Konjunktiv II.
Drills · 5 decks · 430 cards
Short answers and cloze blanks for the facts you simply have to know cold.
In Context: Core Words, Part 1
Ninety German A1 sentences, each blanking one word from the folder's A1 Core Vocabulary and the people, food and town decks so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
In Context: Core Words, Part 2
Ninety German A1 sentences, each blanking one word or short expression from the folder's A1 time, verbs, describing-words and small-words decks so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
In Context: Core Words, Part 1
Ninety German A2 sentences, each blanking one word from the folder's A2 vocabulary and A2 Core Vocabulary, Parts 1–3 so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
In Context: Core Words, Part 2
Ninety German A2 sentences, each blanking one word from the folder's A2 Core Vocabulary, Parts 4–7 so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
Cloze: Articles, Cases & Verb Position
Seventy sentences: the missing article, kein, possessive or contraction (zum, ins), with the case in the hint (nominative, accusative, dative, fixed and two-way prepositions, kein and possessives), then the verb that goes to the end in weil, dass and wenn clauses or second after a fronted element.
Practice · 1 deck · 50 questions
Multiple-choice practice questions, one best answer each, with the reasoning.
Cloze decks have one or more blanks per sentence; the app makes one card per blank.
Study guide
Topics covered
The decks follow the order of the course outline. Numbers are cards per topic.
- Essential verbs 22
- Everyday verbs 124
- People & family 94
- Body & health 68
- Home & daily life 137
- Food & shopping 162
- Food & drink 41
- Shops & money 16
- Town & travel 147
- Town & directions 18
- Transport 24
- Travel & hotels 19
- Time & weather 128
- Clock & frequency 14
- Days & months 25
- Seasons & weather 10
- Work & study 158
- Talking & thinking 154
- Phone & messages 18
- Describing words 135
- Colour 9
- People 3
- Quality & state 20
- Size & shape 5
- Small words & numbers 258
- Numbers 36
- Prepositions & conjunctions 25
- Pronouns & determiners 27
- Quantities 13
- Nature & the world 56
- Countries & nationalities 11
- Nature & animals 3
- Feelings & character 75
- Free time & culture 124
- Greetings & courtesy 12
- Questions 6
- Word order 7
- Articles & cases 18
- kein vs nicht 4
- Modal & separable verbs 11
- Present tense 6
- Perfekt 18
- Possessives 4
- Numbers 4
- Time & dates 6
- Präteritum 9
- Dative 16
- Two-way prepositions 19
- Adjective endings 11
- Subordinate clauses 8
- Comparatives 7
- Reflexive verbs 7
- Separable verbs 5
- Konjunktiv II 9
- Nominative 8
- Accusative 10
- Prepositions with accusative 6
- Prepositions with dative 8
- kein & possessives 7
- Verb position 17
A study plan
- 75 new cards a day covers everything in a month, leaving the last weeks for review.
- 38 new cards a day covers everything in two months, leaving the last weeks for review.
- 25 new cards a day covers everything in three months, leaving the last weeks for review.
Willys schedules reviews for you (FSRS spaced repetition), so the daily number above is only for new cards; reviews of what you have learned come back on their own. Study a topic's cards right after you meet it in class, suspend topics you have not reached yet, and use the app's quiz mode in the final two weeks.
How to get these decks
- Install Willys on your iPhone, iPad or Mac — App Store. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
- In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
- Study. The exam comes in as its own collapsible folder, every card scheduled by FSRS spaced repetition. Nothing you already have is changed.
Every deck is built into Willys
All 24 German A1–A2 decks (2,085 cards), with FSRS spaced repetition, quizzes and mock tests, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de) for gender, plural, conjugation, Perfekt auxiliary and regional marks, the IDS Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen for Austrian and Swiss usage, PONS and Langenscheidt (German–English) for glosses, and the Goethe-Institut word lists for Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (2012), A2 (2016) and B1 (2016) for level placement (reference only; no text copied). All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); word class, comparison forms, gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de); English glosses checked against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, conjugation, Perfekt auxiliary and regional marks checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de), Austrian and Swiss variants against the IDS Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen, and English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, conjugation, Perfekt auxiliary and regional marks checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de), Austrian and Swiss usage against the IDS Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen and the Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache; English glosses checked against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries; usage notes checked against the Google Books Ngram Viewer (German corpus), and the Familienstand note against Duden and the Bundesmeldegesetz (§ 3). All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, case government and forms checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de), number spelling against the Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung's Amtliches Regelwerk (2024); English glosses checked against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, conjugation, Perfekt auxiliary and regional marks checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de), regional usage also against the Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache; English glosses checked against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries; usage notes checked against DWDS corpus frequencies and the Google Books Ngram Viewer (German corpus), and notes on holidays, shop hours, kindergarten and ballots against the law texts on gesetze-im-internet.de and gesetze-bayern.de. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, conjugation, Perfekt auxiliary and regional marks checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de); English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries; the rechts-vor-links note against the Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung (StVO § 8, § 37, gesetze-im-internet.de). All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, conjugation, Perfekt auxiliary and case government checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de), Austrian and Swiss usage against Duden's regional labels and the IDS Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen, and English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries; postcode and dialling facts checked against the Universal Postal Union's addressing pages, the Bundesnetzagentur and ITU-T E.164. All example sentences are original.
- Checked against the Duden online dictionary, conjugation tables and Sprachwissen pages (duden.de), the DWDS dictionary (dwds.de), the Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung's Amtliches Regelwerk (2024), the IDS Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen and the Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache for Austrian, Swiss and regional usage, the Swiss Federal Chancellery's Schreibweisungen for Swiss number writing, the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries for glosses, and the Council of Europe CEFR A1 descriptors for level placement (reference only; no text copied). All example sentences are original.
- Answers are headwords of this folder's A1 vocabulary decks; word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 and A2 (reference only). Gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de); glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All sentences are original, apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences.
- Answers are headwords of this folder's A1 vocabulary decks; word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 and A2 (reference only). Gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de); second correct fills checked against Duden, DWDS (dwds.de) and the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All sentences are original.
- Checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de) for gender, plural and conjugation; English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries; level placement against the Goethe-Institut word lists (Goethe-Zertifikat A2 Wortliste 2016, Start Deutsch 1 Wortliste 2012) and the Council of Europe CEFR A2 descriptors (reference only; no text copied). All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (their example sentences are not used); gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de); English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de); English glosses checked against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (their example sentences are not used); gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de); English glosses checked against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de), English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (Start Deutsch 1, Wortliste 2012) and A2 (Wortliste 2016), alphabetical lists and word groups, reference only (apart from a few set phrases and short everyday sentences, their example sentences are not used); gender, plural, word class and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de); English glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All example sentences are original.
- Checked against the Duden online dictionary and grammar pages (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de) for conjugation, case and adjective endings, the IDS grammar portal grammis (grammis.ids-mannheim.de) for Konjunktiv II usage, and the IDS Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen and the Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache for Austrian, Swiss and southern usage. Level placement follows the Goethe-Institut's A2 materials (Goethe-Zertifikat A2 Wortliste; Start Deutsch 2 and Fit in Deutsch 2 Prüfungsziele), whose word lists and grammar inventories between them include würde, hätte, könnte, wäre and sollte, ob, dative reflexives and zu + infinitive. Temporal als, dürfte and müsste, and sich etwas vorstellen (to imagine) are not in these lists. Reference only; no text copied. All example sentences are original.
- Answers are headwords of this folder's A2 vocabulary decks; word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 and A2 (reference only). Gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de); glosses and second correct fills against Duden, the DWDS (dwds.de) and the PONS German–English dictionary; the password, school-report and library cards against the BSI's advice on secure passwords (bsi.bund.de), the KMK Ländervereinbarung (Art. 26, school marks), the Kanton Zürich Zeugnisreglement and the Bücherhallen Hamburg fee schedule. All sentences are original.
- Answers are headwords of this folder's A2 vocabulary decks; word selection follows the Goethe-Institut word lists for the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 and A2 (reference only). Gender, plural and conjugation checked against the Duden online dictionary (duden.de) and DWDS (dwds.de); glosses against the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries. All sentences are original.
- Checked against the Duden online dictionary, grammar and conjugation pages (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de) for gender, declension and conjugation. Level placement follows the Goethe-Institut's A1 and A2 materials (Start Deutsch 1 and 2 Prüfungsziele, grammar inventory; Start Deutsch 1 Wortliste 2012; Goethe-Zertifikat A2 Wortliste 2016). Reference only; no text copied. All example sentences are original.
- Checked against the Duden online dictionary, grammar, conjugation and Sprachratgeber pages (duden.de) and the DWDS (dwds.de) for gender, declension, conjugation, word order and usage, and the PONS and Langenscheidt German–English dictionaries for glosses. Level placement follows the Goethe-Institut's A1 and A2 materials (Start Deutsch 1 Wortliste 2012, Goethe-Zertifikat A2 Wortliste 2016, Start Deutsch 2 and Fit in Deutsch 2 Prüfungsziele) and the Council of Europe CEFR A1–A2 self-assessment grid; Gift, satt, anprobieren and temporal als are not in these lists. Reference only; no text copied.
- Original questions, signs and messages written for this deck in the style of CEFR A1–A2 proficiency tests; no official exam, textbook or question-bank items were copied.
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