CEFR B1 in German: what you can do

B1 is the "independent user" level. You can cope with most situations while living in a German-speaking country and you can tell a story, give opinions and explain plans. Your German is still plain and sometimes hesitant, but you can get your message across and repair misunderstandings.

What you can do

Follow the main points of clear standard speech on familiar topics such as work, school and leisure.
Write a simple connected text: a complaint, a cover letter or a short opinion piece.
Describe experiences and hopes: Ich würde gern im Ausland arbeiten.
Give reasons and opinions: Meiner Meinung nach ist das keine gute Idee, weil ...
Handle most situations at the authorities, at the doctor or at work.

A quick self-check

You are probably at B1 if you can do most of these:

Read a short newspaper report and explain its main point.
Retell a film plot in a few minutes, using the Präteritum for narration.
Write a formal email asking for information or complaining about a service.
Say what you would do in someone else's position.

Typical grammar at B1

The Präteritum

In writing and in narration the simple past is common: Es war einmal ein König. Er ging nach Hause. In speech, most verbs use the Perfekt, but sein, haben and the modals prefer the Präteritum even in conversation: Ich war müde. Ich hatte keine Zeit. Wir mussten warten. See Perfekt vs Präteritum.

Konjunktiv II basics

Use it for wishes, polite requests and unreal situations. The most common forms are wäre, hätte, würde + infinitive and the modal forms könnte, müsste, dürfte: Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich reisen. Könnten Sie mir helfen? Ich wäre froh, wenn du kommen könntest.

Relative clauses

Relative pronouns match the gender and number of the noun they refer to, but their case depends on the role in the relative clause. The verb goes to the end: Der Mann, der neben mir wohnt, ist Arzt. Die Frau, die ich gestern gesehen habe, arbeitet hier. Das Buch, das du mir geliehen hast, war toll. Review the four cases if the case is the problem.

Passiv: a first look

The Vorgangspassiv uses werden + participle: Das Haus wird gebaut. Die Tür wurde geöffnet. The agent, if named, follows von + dative: Das Buch wurde von einem Schüler geschrieben. You do not need the full system yet, only the recognition of the pattern.

Connectors

Obwohl, während, damit, dass, ob and wenn all send the verb to the end. Deshalb, trotzdem and deswegen are followed by the verb: Es regnet, trotzdem gehe ich spazieren.

Vocabulary themes

Work, studies, application and CV
Media, news, environment and society
Feelings, opinions and relationships
Housing, bureaucracy and the post office
Travel plans and cultural events

What you may find hard

Case endings on adjectives. ein großer Mann, einem großen Mann, die großen Männer. They are systematic, but it takes many repetitions.
Konjunktiv II in speech. Many learners avoid it. Start with ich hätte gern, ich würde, könnten Sie.
Relative pronouns. dem, deren, dessen look similar to articles but behave differently.
Spoken German. Contractions and dialect make real-life listening much harder than a classroom recording.

Exams and courses

The standard exam is the Goethe-Zertifikat B1, which tests all four skills. Many other options exist, including the telc Deutsch B1 and the ÖSD Zertifikat B1. Newcomers in Germany often take the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer (DTZ), which is aimed at A2 to B1 and is used for integration and residence purposes. B1 is also the common requirement for naturalisation.

How to practise at this level

Read short news in simple German, such as the "Nachrichtenleicht" service from the Deutschlandfunk, and write your own summaries. Use idioms to sound more natural. Go back to A2 if the cases feel shaky and look ahead to B2.

Practice

Remember that wenn ich ... hätte is an unreal condition, that relative clauses end with the verb, and that the Passiv uses werden.