| um |
| 1. prep. about | |
| Es geht um den Kuchen. - It's about the pie. | |
| 2. prep. around | |
| Um die Ecke - around the corner | |
| 3. prep. at, by (qual, when relating to time) | |
| Um acht Uhr reisen wir ab - At eight o’clock we depart | |
| 4. prep. by (qual, percentage difference) | |
| Die Verkaufsmengen gingen um 6% zurück. - Sales in volume has decreased by 6%. | |
| 5. prep. (Austria) for qual, amount of money | |
| Um einen Euro bekommt man heute nicht besonders viel. - You can't buy much for one euro these days. | |
| Heute im Sonderangebot um nur 99 Euro. - Special offer today for only 99 euros. | |
| 6. conj. in order to, so as to | |
| Wir sind gekommen, um zu helfen. - We’ve come (in order) to help. | |
| 7. adj. (predicative, not attributive) up, in the sense of finished | |
| Werden dich in kurzem binden/ Erdgeist, deine Zeit ist um - source=Friedrich von Hardenberg, Novalis | |
| 8. adv. around, about | |
| 9. adv. turned over, changed, from one state to another | |
| Dirigent |
| 1. n. director, conductor, maestro, choirmaster | |
| zu |
| 1. prep. to, towards (indicates directionality) | |
| zum Bahnhof - to the train station | |
| 2. prep. with respect to; regarding | |
| Zu Punkt 1 möchte ich bemerken, dass... - With respect to item 1, let me remark that... | |
| 3. prep. along with; with (accompanying (the main thing in question)) | |
| Wasser zum Essen trinken - to drink water with one’s meal | |
| 4. prep. at, on (indicates location) | |
| zu Hause - at home | |
| 5. prep. at (indicates time) | |
| zur richtigen Zeit - at the right time | |
| zu Beginn - at the beginning | |
| 6. prep. by, in, on, at (indicates mode (of transportation, speech, etc.)) | |
| zu Pferd - on horseback | |
| 7. prep. (with a verb) for; (with a noun) as, by way of (for the purpose of) | |
| 8. prep. for (in honor of, or directed towards the celebration or event of) | |
| 9. prep. into (indicates transition into another form or substance) | |
| 10. prep. as, for, to be (to take on the role of) | |
| 11. prep. to (used to indicate ratios) | |
| 12. prep. at (denotes a price or rate) | |
| 13. part. (with infinitives of verbs) to | |
| etwas zu essen - something to eat | |
| 14. adv. (with adjectives and adverbs) too (excessively) | |
| zu schnell - too fast | |
| 15. adv. (by extension, slang) (An intensifier.) | |
| Dieses Essen ist zu lecker! - This food tastes so good! | |
| 16. adv. towards; at | |
| 17. adv. (somewhat, informal) shut; closed; locked | |
| 18. adv. ahead, on (along, forwards (continuing an action)) | |
| 19. adj. (somewhat, informal) shut, closed (made inaccessible or impassable; not open) | |
| Das Geschäft war zu. - The shop was closed. | |
| Die Tür muss aus Brandschutzgründen immer zu sein. - This door must be shut at all times for reasons of fire safety. | |
| Die Tür ist zu, ich komm nicht rein. - The door is locked, I can’t get in there. | |
| 20. adj. closed (not operating or conducting trade) | |
| 21. adj. done up (fastened) | |
| 22. adj. (slang) hammered; very drunk | |
| Werden |
| 1. n. (gerund of werden); becoming (coming into being) | |
| 2. v. (auxiliary) will; to be going (to do something); forms the future tense | |
| Ich werde nach Hause gehen. - I will go home. | |
| 3. v. (auxiliary) would; forms the subjunctive tense of most verbs | |
| 4. v. (auxiliary) to be done; forms the passive voice | |
| Das Buch wird gerade gelesen. (present tense) - The book is being read. | |
| Ich wurde in Europa geboren. (preterite tense) - I was born in Europe. | |
| Er war geschlagen worden. (past perfect tense) - He had been beaten. | |
| 5. v. (copulative, past participle geworden) to become; to get; to grow; to turn | |
| Es wird heißer. - It's getting hotter. | |
| 6. v. (with a dative object and certain adjectives) to begin or come to feel or experience (a condition) | |
| Usage: In this sense werden is always conjugated in the third person singular and takes a dative noun. The impersonal subject es may be present, but is often taken as implied. (See the usage no | |
| Wird dir kalt? - Are you getting cold? | |
| Den Kindern wird langweilig. - The children are getting bored. | |
| Von Mayonnaise wird mir schlecht. - Mayonnaise makes me sick. (Literally: From mayonnaise I become sick.) | |
| 7. v. (copulative, colloquial) to be, to happen, to occur (in the future) | |
| Wir werden zusammen glücklich. - We will be happy together. | |
| Was wird aus mir? - What will become of me? | |
| 8. v. (colloquial) to be going to work | |
| Das wird so nichts. - It will not work like that. | |
| Muss |
| 1. n. necessity, a must | |
| 2. v. first-person singular present of müssen | |
| 3. v. third-person singular present of müssen | |
| müssen |
| 1. v. (auxiliary) to have to (do something); must; to be obliged (to do something); to need (to do something). | |
| Wir müssen es machen. - We must do it. | |
| Wir müssen es nicht machen. - We need not do it. / We do not need to do it. | |
| Ich musste es machen. - I had to do it. | |
| 2. v. to have to do something implied; must; to be obliged. | |
| Ja, ich muss. - Yes, I must. | |
| Ja, ich habe gemusst. - Yes, I had to. | |
| 3. v. (colloquial euphemism) to need to go to the bathroom. | |
| man |
| 1. pron. one, you (indefinite pronoun; construed as a third-person singular) | |
| Man kann nicht immer kriegen, was man will. - You can’t always get what you want. | |
| Manchmal muss man Kompromisse machen. - Sometimes one must compromise. | |
| 2. pron. they, people (people in general) | |
| Zumindest sagt man das so... - At least that’s what they say... | |
| 3. pron. someone, somebody (some unspecified person) | |
| 4. pron. they (some unspecified group of people) | |
| 5. adv. (colloquial regional northern Germany) just; only | |
| Komm man hier rüber! - Just come over here! | |
| Das sind man dreißig Stück oder so. - These are only thirty or so. | |
| Klavier |
| 1. n. (music) piano | |
| Spielen |
| 1. n. gerund of spielen | |
| 2. n. dative plural of Spiel | |
| 3. v. to play (engage in some activity for fun or entertainment) | |
| Die Kinder spielen draußen. - The children are playing outside. | |
| Die Katze spielt mit einer Schnur. - The cat is playing with a string. | |
| 4. v. to play, to engage in (a game, a sport, etc.) | |
| Karten spielen - to play cards | |
| 5. v. to play, to perform (a piece of music, a role in theater or a movie) | |
| 6. v. to play, to listen to (a radio, a recording, etc.) | |
| 7. v. to play, to perform on (a musical instrument) | |
| 8. v. to act like, to behave like | |
| den Narren spielen - to play the fool | |
| 9. v. to take place , to be set (in a particular time or place; of fiction) | |
| Das Spiel spielt in einer postapokalyptischen Zukunft. - The game is set in a post-apocalyptic future. | |
| Können |
| 1. n. (gerund of können); skill, ability | |
| 2. v. to be able (to do or be something), to have the possibility of; can. | |
| 3. v. (auxiliary) | |
| Kannst du ihm helfen? - Are you able to help him? | |
| Ich hätte das machen können. - I could have done that. | |
| Das kann sein, kann aber auch nicht sein. - This may be and may also not be. | |
| Das kann es nicht geben. - This is nothing that could possibly exist. | |
| 4. v. to be able to do something implied; can. | |
| Nein, ich kann nicht. - No, I can’t. | |
| Er hat gekonnt. - He was able to do it. | |
| 5. v. to know how to do (something); to know; to understand; to be able to do (something); to be capable of; can do (something), to have a specific skill. (w | |
| Ich kann Deutsch und Englisch. - I know German and English. | |
| Kannst du es? - Can you do it? | |
| Das hätte ich nicht gekonnt. - I couldn’t have done that. / I wouldn’t have been capable of that. | |
| 6. v. to be possible, to make sense | |
| Nächstes Jahr is’n Schaltjahr. – Das kann nich’. Letztes Jahr war doch Schaltjahr! - Next year is a leap year. – That’s not possible. Last year w | |
| 7. v. (auxiliary) to be allowed (to do something); to be permitted (to do something); may. | |
| Kann ich mitkommen? - May I come along? | |
| Er hat nicht ins Kino gehen können. - He was not allowed to go to the cinema. | |
| 8. v. (auxiliary) to be in the legal situation of being able to realize a legal effect even if it be legally disallowed | |
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