Zorg SpaceShould I study grammar or vocabulary first?
Short answer
Start with vocabulary — together with the small amount of grammar you need to use it. You do not have to choose one: words carry most of the meaning, so a beginner with many words and shaky grammar can already be understood, while a beginner with perfect grammar and few words cannot say much. But from the first week you also need a handful of structures, and those are best learned through the words you already know.
As you progress, the balance shifts. Grammar becomes more important at the intermediate level, where accuracy and longer sentences start to matter.
Why words come first at the very start
The linguist David Wilkins put it briefly in 1972: “Without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”
Imagine you need a pharmacy. “Pharmacy… where?” gets you directions. A flawless question frame with no noun in it does not. In the first weeks of a language, every new word opens a new situation, while each grammar point refines situations you can already handle.
There is a second reason. Grammar is learned far more easily when you have words to put into it. A rule about adjective endings means little until you know a few adjectives and nouns; once you do, the rule describes sentences you have already seen.
The grammar you need from the first week
Some structures are so basic that you need them almost immediately, because without them you cannot build any sentence at all:
- how to say I am / you are / it is and I have,
- the basic word order of a statement,
- how to make a question and a negative,
- the present tense of common verbs,
- articles or gender, in languages that have them,
- question words: who, what, where, when, how much.
Learn these early and through example sentences, not as a separate block of theory. Two or three model sentences per structure are enough to start.
Learn grammar through sentences, not tables
A conjugation table is useful as a reference, but memorising tables is a slow way to learn to speak. A better method:
- Meet the structure in a few clear example sentences.
- Notice the pattern (what changes, and when).
- Practise making your own sentences with words you know.
- Keep the table nearby for checking, not for reciting.
-
Tengo hambre.
I’m hungry. (literally “I have hunger”)
one sentence teaches a verb, a structure and a habit of the language
-
Ich habe keine Zeit.
I don’t have time.
the negative with kein- in a phrase you will really use
-
Heb je even tijd?
Do you have a moment?
Dutch question order, plus the softening word even
How the balance changes by level
| Level | Main focus | Grammar’s role |
|---|---|---|
| A0–A1 | the first 500–1,000 useful words and set phrases | the basic structures above, learned through phrases |
| A2 | more vocabulary for daily topics | past and future, linking words, common irregular verbs |
| B1 | vocabulary for opinions, work and explanations | accuracy, longer sentences, subordinate clauses |
| B2 and above | precise and topic-specific vocabulary, collocations | nuance, register, complex structures |
At every level, the two support each other: new grammar lets you use your words in more ways, and new words give your grammar more to work with.
Signs your balance is off
- Too much grammar, too few words: you can explain the rule for the subjunctive but cannot name the things in your kitchen; your sentences are correct but you constantly lack the noun.
- Too many words, too little grammar: you understand a lot but speak in strings of words; people understand you only with effort; your errors are the same every time.
- Too much of both, too little use: you know a lot on paper but freeze in conversation — see the related question on freezing when speaking.
A simple weekly routine
- Every day: new words and reviews (15–20 minutes), always in phrases and with audio.
- Two or three times a week: one grammar point — read the rule, study examples, do a short exercise, then write five sentences of your own.
- Every day if possible: some listening or reading at an easy level, where you meet both your words and your grammar in use.
- Once a week: speak or write something longer that uses the week’s words and grammar together.
In short
- Begin with words, plus the few structures you need to use them.
- Learn grammar through example sentences and your own sentences, not by reciting tables.
- Give grammar more time from A2–B1 onwards, when accuracy and longer sentences matter.
- The best learning happens where the two meet: real sentences you understand and produce.
Practise it in Zorg Space
Reading an answer is the first step. In the app, the same grammar becomes exercises with instant correction, new words come back for review just before you would forget them, and you listen and speak as well.
Practise in Zorg Space