A2.2 · 32 of 35
Schreiben: Einladung & Plan
Lesson · 3 rules · about 5 min
Invite a friend to something, in German, and have the message corrected.
- 1könnten and sollten make it an invitation
- 2weil sends the verb to the end
- 3Four things a plan must say
Why this matters
This is a planning message: you suggest something, say why, and leave your friend a way out. You write it here in the box, and the app builds a correction request that carries your own text for your AI to correct. Aim for 200 to 500 characters. Two things earn most of the marks: making the suggestion sound like a suggestion, which is what könnten and sollten are for, and putting the verb at the end of the weil clause. A message that says what, when and where, and asks for an answer, is already a good one.
Rule · 1 of 3
könnten and sollten make it an invitation
A plan in the plain present tense reads as a decision you have already taken. Könnten softens it to an idea, sollten to a recommendation. Both put the other person in the sentence with you: wir könnten, wir sollten.
- Wir könnten am Samstag ins Schwimmbad gehen. We could go to the swimming pool on Saturday.
- Wir sollten früh losfahren, dann ist es noch nicht so voll. We should set off early, then it is not so crowded yet.
Keep the umlaut: könnten and sollten are the polite ones. konnten means could in the past, and sollten without the umlaut does not exist as a separate form, so an umlaut missing from könnten changes the meaning.
Quick check
Which one invites rather than decides?
Rule · 2 of 3
weil sends the verb to the end
A reason with weil is a subordinate clause, so its verb moves to the very end: weil das Wetter schön ist. If there are two verbs, the finite one goes last of all: weil ich arbeiten muss.
- Ich schlage den Samstag vor, weil ich am Sonntag arbeiten muss. I am suggesting Saturday, because I have to work on Sunday.
- Komm doch mit, weil es bestimmt lustig wird. Do come along, because it is sure to be fun.
denn keeps the normal order and weil does not: „…, denn ich muss arbeiten“ but „…, weil ich arbeiten muss“.
Quick check
Ich kann nicht, weil ich keine Zeit .
Memory trick · 3 of 3
Four things a plan must say
What, when, where, and what to do if it does not suit. A message missing any of the four makes your friend write back just to ask. Offer the alternative with oder or with wenn: oder am Sonntag, wenn dir das besser passt.
- Treffen wir uns um sieben am Hauptbahnhof? Shall we meet at seven at the main station?
- Oder wir gehen am Sonntag, wenn du am Samstag keine Zeit hast. Or we go on Sunday, if you have no time on Saturday.
Quick check
What is missing from: „Hast du Lust, ins Kino zu gehen? Liebe Grüße“?
Listen
Play it, then pick what you heard.
Spot the mistake
Which one is right?
Spot the mistake
Which one is right?
Spot the mistake
Which one is right?
Spot the mistake
Which one is right?
Cheat sheet
What to take with you
- könnten and sollten make it an invitation
- weil sends the verb to the end
- Four things a plan must say
How to remember it
- Suggest with wir könnten or wir sollten, never a bare imperative.
- weil sends the verb to the end; denn leaves the order alone.
- Say what, when, where, and offer one alternative.
- Close with Sag mir bitte Bescheid, then Bis bald or Liebe Grüße and your name.
A short message that invites someone and proposes a time is one of the written tasks the A2 certificate sets, and the everyday use of könnten.
Write a message to a friend inviting them to do something at the weekend. Say what you are suggesting and when, give one reason why, offer an alternative in case the first idea does not suit them, and ask them to answer.
- an informal greeting and an informal sign-off
- make the suggestion with könnten or sollten (wir könnten …, wir sollten …)
- give one reason with weil, and put the verb at the end of that clause
- offer an alternative (oder am Sonntag; Wenn du keine Zeit hast, können wir …)
- say clearly when and where you are meeting
- ask them to reply
0 of 200 characters — keep going 0 words
2 Copy the correction request
This carries your own text. Paste it into your AI assistant and it will correct what you wrote, then give you a score and a short list of fixes.
3 Open your assistant
Copy the request first (one step back), then paste it into your assistant.
4 Bring the correction back
Paste the whole report. The SCORE= line is read
automatically, and the fixes are saved as your next things to work on.
Report a problem
Exercise
Schreiben: Einladung & Plan · A2.2
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