| auf |
| 1. prep. (with dative) on, upon (positioned at the top of) | |
| Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. - The book is lying on the table. | |
| 2. prep. (with accusative) on, onto, up (moving to the top of) | |
| Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch. - I’m putting the book on the table. | |
| 3. prep. (with accusative) on (indicating responsibility) | |
| Das erste Getränk geht aufs Haus. - The first drink is on the house. | |
| Das fällt nicht auf dich zurück, sondern auf mich. Ich hab's vermasselt. - That's not on you but on me. I messed up. | |
| 4. prep. (with dative) in, at; used with certain nouns instead of bei or in | |
| Niemand auf der Welt hätte das voraussehen können. - No one in the world could have predicted that. | |
| auf dem Stadtplatz - in the town square | |
| Das Schiff ist auf See - The ship is at sea. | |
| auf der Kirmes - at the fun fair | |
| auf der Post - at the post office (also: bei der Post) | |
| 5. prep. (with accusative) to; used with certain nouns instead of zu or in | |
| auf die Kirmes - to the fun fair | |
| auf die Post - to the post office (also: zur Post) | |
| 6. prep. (with a language name) in (see usage note below) | |
| Was heißt das auf Deutsch? - What’s this in German? | |
| 7. prep. (linguistics) in (of a word: ending with some sound or syllable) | |
| Wörter auf -heit sind weiblich. - Words in -heit are feminine. | |
| Du kannst doch auf (’n) Sonntag nich’ den Rasen mähen! - You can’t mow the lawn on a Sunday! | |
| 8. prep. (with accusative) for (during the continuation of) | |
| auf Jahre hinaus - for years to come | |
| 9. prep. (with accusative) to, for (indicating purpose, goal or wish) | |
| Lasst uns auf deine Gesundheit drinken! - Let's drink to your health! | |
| Sie spielen auf Zeit. - They are playing for time. | |
| 10. prep. (with accusative) by (used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something) | |
| X auf Y Meter groß | |
| 11. adv. (somewhat, informal) open | |
| Die Tür ist auf. - The door is open. | |
| 12. adv. (colloquial) finished; gone (food) | |
| Hast du deine Suppe auf? - Have you finished your soup? | |
| Die Milch is’ auf. - The milk is gone. (consumed) | |
| 13. adv. (colloquial) up; awake; out of bed | |
| Ich war um sechs Uhr auf. - I was up at six o'clock. | |
| 14. interj. carry on (continue or proceed as before) | |
| 15. interj. have a go | |
| der |
| 1. art. the | |
| 2. art. feminine singular of der | |
| 3. art. genitive plural of der | |
| 4. pron. who; that; which | |
| Ich kenne einen Mann, der das kann. - I know a man who can do that. | |
| 5. pron. feminine dative singular of der: (to) whom, which, that | |
| 6. pron. (attributive, stressed) that | |
| Der Mann war es! - It was that man! | |
| 7. pron. (indicative) him, he | |
| Der hat es getan! - It was him who did it! | |
| 8. pron. (differential) the one, him | |
| Der mit dem Mantel - The one with the coat | |
| 9. pron. feminine dative singular of der: (to) that, (to) her | |
| Matratze |
| 1. n-f. mattress (a pad often of soft cushiony material for sleeping on) | |
| 2. n-f. (vulgar, pejorative slang) clipping of Dorfmatratze: town bicycle | |
| stapelten |
| 1. v. first-person plural preterite of stapeln | |
| 2. v. third-person plural preterite of stapeln | |
| 3. v. first-person plural subjunctive of stapeln | |
| 4. v. third-person plural subjunctive of stapeln | |
| stapeln |
| 1. v. to pile up; to stack | |
| sich |
| 1. pron. Reflexive pronoun of the third person singular: herself, himself, itself, oneself (direct or indirect object). | |
| 2. pron. Reflexive pronoun of the third person plural: themselves (direct or indirect object). | |
| ungefähr |
| 1. adj. approximate | |
| 2. adv. about | |
| 3. adv. approximately | |
| Fünf |
| 1. n-f. five | |
| 2. num. (cardinal) five (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 5; or describing a set with five elements) | |
| oder |
| 1. conj. or | |
| Danach alles gestr. oder noch 1–2 Wörter? - Is everything after that crossed out or are there one or two more words? | |
| 2. part. (tag question) right?; is it?; is it not? | |
| Es ist kalt heute, oder? - It’s cold today, isn’t it? | |
| Das war keine so gute Idee, oder? - That wasn’t such a good idea, was it? | |
| Du kommst aus Deutschland, oder? - You’re from Germany, aren’t you? | |
| Sechs |
| 1. n-f. six | |
| 2. n-f. A failing grade in a class or course at school. The grades range from 1 (best) to 6 (worst). | |
| 3. num. (cardinal) six (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 6; or describing a set with six elements) | |
| Bettdecken |
| 1. n. plural of Bettdecke | |
| Bettdecke |
| 1. n-f. a covering that warms the body during sleep; especially a duvet (being the commonest in German-speaking Europe), but also a blanket, coverlet, quilt, etc. | |
| 2. n-f. bedspread | |
| 3. n-f. (uncommon, illiterate) bed sheet | |
| Sie |
| 1. pron. you (polite; singular and plural) | |
| Was möchten Sie, Frau Wagner? - What would you like to have, Mrs. Wagner? | |
| 2. pron. she | |
| Ist sie noch krank? - Is she still sick? | |
| Das ist meine Katze. Sie heißt Lili. - This is my cat. Her name is Lili. | |
| Ich suche Vanessa. Hast du sie gesehen? - I'm looking for Vanessa. Have you seen her? | |
| 3. pron. it (when the object/article/thing/animal etc., referred to, is feminine die) | |
| Scheint die Sonne noch? Nein, sie ist schon untergegangen. - Is the Sun still shining? No, it has already gone down. | |
| Ich suche meine Brieftasche. Hast du sie gesehen? - I'm looking for my wallet. Have you seen it? | |
| 4. pron. he (when the grammatical gender of the noun being referred to and designating a male person, is feminine die) | |
| Die Geisel Richard Meier versuchte, sich zu befreien, aber sie schaffte es nicht. - The hostage Richard Meier tried to break free, but he didn’t succeed. | |
| Die Wache Michael Müller beschädigte ihr Gewehr, wofür ihr Vorgesetzter sie bestrafte. - The guardsman Michael Müller damaged his rifle, and his supervisor punished him for that. | |
| 5. pron. they; them | |
| es |
| 1. pron. Nominative and accusative neuter third-person singular personal pronoun | |
| Wo ist das Buch? Es liegt auf dem Tisch. - Where's the book? It’s on the table. | |
| Wo ist das Kind? Ich habe es. - Where is the child? I have it. | |
| Welche Farbe hat das Pferd? Es ist weiß. - What color is the horse? It is white. | |
| Ich bemerkte ein merkwürdiges bärtiges Individuum und beschloss, es im Auge zu behalten. - I remarked a strange bearded individual and decided to keep an eye on him. | |
| Das Mädchen wusste nicht, dass es beobachtet wurde. - The girl didn’t know that she was being observed. | |
| Jedes Vorstandsmitglied kann das Wort ergreifen, wenn es dies wünscht. - Any board member may take the floor if they so wish. | |
| 2. pron. (Impersonal pronoun used to refer to statements, activities, the environment etc., or as a placeholder/dummy pronoun) — it | |
| Das kann es nicht geben. - This is nothing that could possibly exist. | |
| Sie begann zu laufen, und ich tat es auch. - She began to run, and I did it also. | |
| Es war einmal eine schöne Prinzessin. - There was once a beautiful princess. | |
| Es ist gut zu leben! - It's good to be alive! | |
| Es regnet. - It’s raining. | |
| Es ist sicher, dass morgen die Sonne scheinen wird. - It's certain that the sun will shine tomorrow. | |
| Wie geht es dir? - How are you doing? | |
| Ich bin es, Michael. - It's me, Michael. | |
| Es spielt das Fernsehorchester. - The television orchestra is playing. | |
| Sie wird es noch weit bringen. - She is going to go far. | |
| 3. art. (regional, colloquial) alt form-lite, das | |
| Soll ich es Fenster zumachen? - Should I close the window? | |
| Schienen |
| 1. n. plural of Schiene | |
| 2. v. to splint | |
| 3. v. first-person plural preterite of scheinen | |
| 4. v. third-person plural preterite of scheinen | |
| 5. v. first-person plural subjunctive of scheinen | |
| 6. v. third-person plural subjunctive of scheinen | |
| scheinen |
| 1. v. to shine; to gleam | |
| 2. v. (copulative) to seem; to appear; to look | |
| Es scheint mir, dass … - It seems to me that … | |
| Du scheinst erschöpft. - You seem exhausted. | |
| sehr |
| 1. adv. very | |
| Ich bin sehr glücklich. - I am very happy. | |
| 2. adv. a lot, much | |
| Ich vermisse dich sehr. - I miss you a lot. | |
| leicht |
| 1. adj. light (not heavy) | |
| Nur leichte Autos sollten diese Brücke befahren. - Only light cars should drive on this bridge. | |
| 2. adj. easy (not difficult) | |
| eine leichte Aufgabe - an easy task | |
| 3. adj. light, lite, diet (of food which is low in calories) | |
| Usage note: normally the english term light is used, e.g. in Light-Produkte = food with low sugar or calories | |
| 4. adj. slight | |
| ein leichter Unterschied - a slight difference | |
| 5. adv. slightly | |
| 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 | |
| Sein |
| 1. n. existence, being, essence (the state and the conditions of being, existing, occurring) | |
| 2. v. (copulative, with a predicate adjective or predicate nominative) to be | |
| Das ist schön. - That is beautiful. | |
| Das ist ein Auto. - That is a car. | |
| 3. v. (with a dative object and certain adjectives) to feel, (to experience a condition) | |
| Usage: In this sense sein 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. For example: "Mir i | |
| Ist dir kalt? - Are you cold? | |
| Mir ist schlecht. - I'm sick. | |
| Dem Mann ist schwindelig. - The man feels dizzy. | |
| Den Kindern ist langweilig. - The children are bored. | |
| 4. v. (with a dative object and nach or danach, sometimes with zumute) to feel like, to be in the mood for | |
| Usage: As in the previous sense sein takes a Dative noun and is always conjugated according to the impersonal subject es, although it is usually omitted. | |
| Uns ist nach einem Film zumute. - We feel like watching a movie. | |
| Mir ist nicht danach. - I don't feel like it. | |
| 5. v. (auxiliary) forms the present perfect and past perfect tenses of certain intransitive verbs | |
| Er ist alt geworden. - He has become old. | |
| 6. v. to exist; there to be; to be alive | |
| Was nicht ist, kann noch werden. (a common proverb) - That which does not exist now, may come into existence. | |
| Wenn ich nicht mehr bin, erbst du das Haus. - When I am no more, you'll inherit the house. | |
| 7. v. to have the next turn (in a game, in a queue, etc.) | |
| Du bist. - It’s your turn. | |
| Du bist nach mir. - Your turn is after mine. | |
| 8. v. to be "it"; to be the tagger in a game of tag | |
| Du bist! - You're it! | |
| Ich bin nicht mehr. - I'm not it anymore. | |
| 9. det. his | |
| Daniel schickt seiner Schwester eine SMS. - Daniel is sending a text to his sister. | |
| Der Kater spielt oft mit seinen Spielsachen. - The cat often plays with his toys. | |
| 10. det. its (agreeing with a masculine or neuter noun) | |
| der Mond und sein Licht - the moon and its light | |
| das Schaf und seine Lämmer - the sheep and its lambs | |
| 11. det. (informal) Used to express an approximate number, often with so. | |
| Der kostet so seine zweihundert Euro. - That one costs around two hundred euros. | |
| 12. det. one's | |
| Man muss seinem Herzen folgen. - One must follow one’s heart. | |
