Goethe B2 Grammar Topics: The Structures the Exam Actually Tests
Level:B2Duration:~3 h 15 minFee:Varies by centreValidity:UnlimitedFormat:Modular
Last updated: 22 September 2026 · Verified against current official Goethe-Institut sources
The Goethe-Zertifikat B2 has no separate grammar section and the Goethe-Institut publishes no official grammar list for B2. The exam still tests specific structures directly: through the 'Strukturen' criterion in Writing and Speaking, and through the text-grammar tasks in Reading.
Where each structure is tested
| Module | Structural focus |
|---|---|
| Reading Part 2 | Connectors and reference words (doch, nun, diese …) linking sentences |
| Reading Part 5 | Instructional register: nominalisations, passive, noun-verb collocations |
| Writing | 'Strukturen' criterion: varied subordinate clauses, passive, Konjunktiv II |
| Speaking | 'Strukturen' criterion: fluent, varied sentence structure held together by connectors |
Structures expected at B2
- A range of subordinate clauses: dass-, weil-, obwohl-, indem-, sodass- and relative clauses; main clauses alone cost points.
- Passive and passive substitutes: „wird … erhöht“, „lässt sich … umsetzen“, „ist … zu beachten“.
- Konjunktiv II for polite proposals and hypotheses: „Ich würde vorschlagen, …“, „Es wäre sinnvoll, wenn …“.
- Connectors: zwar … doch, einerseits … andererseits, demgegenüber, folglich, allerdings.
- Noun-verb collocations: Maßnahmen ergreifen, zu dem Schluss kommen, in Frage stellen, Rücksicht nehmen.
- Nominalisation, common in instructions and formal texts: „nach Beendigung des Trainings“, „bei Nichtbeachtung der Vorgaben“.
- Reference words: diese/jene, dabei, dadurch, hierfür — tracking what a text refers back to is the key to Reading Part 2.
How to study without an official list
- Set one language goal per writing task: Konjunktiv II this week, the passive next week.
- Harvest collocations rather than single words from everything you read; at B2 it is the collocations that earn points.
- Do Reading Part 2 tasks by marking connectors and reference words, not by meaning alone.
- Count how many different subordinate clause types you used in each text you write; range is exactly what the 'Strukturen' score measures.
Study grammar inside a text type rather than as an isolated topic — that is how the exam measures it.
Official sources
The exam rules and figures in this guide were checked against the official sources below.
Related guide
Practise structures inside real texts
See instantly which structures your B2 texts already use on Zertifly — and where you can widen the range.