The German Handbook by Paul Webster, published by Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 978-0-521-64860-8

A highly accessible summary of German grammar suitable for beginning to intermediate students. Humanely written with lots of examples, it includes an extensive section on how to express yourself in common situations. There are also special chapters on writing letters and essays in German.

The book is easy to use as a reference and great just to dip into anywhere when you have a free moment. It’s worth incorporating a progressive cover-to-cover read-through of it in your daily study routine: a couple of pages a day and at the end of two months you’ve got a lot of German grammar under your belt and a better insight into when and where you might need to revise some particular grammatical point.

Highly recommended as a constant companion.

Barron’s German Grammar by Paul G. Graves
ISBN: 978-0-8120-4296-2

If you’re tired of staring at screens all the time and want something to make your daily commute more profitable, this little pocket-sized German grammar summary could be just what you are looking for. It includes many useful lists and examples of usage.

German Grammar You Really Need to Know by Jenny Russ, published by Teach Yourself
ISBN: 978-1-444-17949-1

This book offers an interesting approach — or, rather, two approaches — to German grammar. A large “functional grammar” which places grammar at the service of particular tasks (eg, discussing availability, expressing preferences, describing procedures, reporting others’ statements) is complemented by a shorter conventional “reference grammar”. Lots of examples of usage and clarifying remarks, with the emphasis mainly on conversational German. Another humane grammar book.

Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage by Martin Durrell, published by Routledge
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-138-85371-3
(Also available as hardback or e-book.)

While this 600-page volume is not as scary as it looks, it could be somewhat daunting for the beginner. It is a comprehensive reference that students of the language — all the way up to teachers, academics and professional translators — would find enormously useful in elucidating the fine nuances of grammar and expression. Nevertheless, it is worth a place in your library even if you are a beginner.

The first step is not to be intimidated by this book. It is not at all necessary to know every last bit of “correct” grammar in order to be understood in German. You most certainly do not want to have your forays into the spoken and written language — tentative and awkward though they be — hampered by the unhelpful notion that you need to consult dictionaries and grammar references at every turn before committing yourself. Remember, even native speakers do not always get it “right”! Be adventurous and you will be rewarded.

So this book is best regarded as a reference for clarifying those niggling little points that arise from time to time. For beginners at least, this should not be very often. Just “go with the flow”, as they say, and try not to be too pedantic.

But the book is also useful for dipping into, with lots of interesting lists and plenty of illustrative specimens of usage. For example, you will have a much better feel for the various meanings of such commonly used words as bei, nach, schon and mal after studying the treatments here.

Highly recommended for (judicious!) reference.

501 German Verbs by Henry Strutz
ISBN: 9781438075860

This book takes the hard work out of verb conjugation because Professor Strutz has done it all for you. Each verb is given its own page, with all moods, tenses and persons displayed in a consistent format, together with some examples of usage. If you’re not even sure what the future perfect subjunctive means in English, there are a couple of English-language templates towards the front of the book. You may like to place a bookmark there or consider using a photocopy as a homemade bookmark you can place wherever you wish. In any case, this is one book whose Foreword you should go to the trouble of reading.

The fact that this volume extends to almost 700 pages suggests that there are plenty of other goodies here as well, which is indeed the case.

Definitely worth a place on your desk or bookshelf, especially if you intend to do any serious writing in German.

German Verb Conjugator Pro by Ian Tipton
iOS app

No examples of usage — just all the conjugated forms of an extensive list of German verbs, together with the meaning of each infinitive and spoken pronunciation of the conjugated forms. Search facility with wildcard capability. No Internet connection is required, except for the audio component. Very handy to have on your phone, particularly when you are composing a written document. A free version that exhibits advertisements is also available, but it doesn’t cost much to support the developer of such a useful resource directly.