| Niemand |
| 1. n-m. nobody (unimportant person) | |
| Du bist ein Niemand! - You're a nobody! | |
| 2. pron. (now proscribed) Alternative form of niemand | |
| 3. pron. nobody, no one | |
| Es ist gar niemand da. - There's no one at all. | |
| wird |
| 1. v. third-person singular present of werden | |
| werden |
| 1. v. (auxiliary) will; to be going (to do something); forms the future tense | |
| Ich werde nach Hause gehen. - I will go home. | |
| 2. v. (auxiliary) would; forms the subjunctive tense of most verbs | |
| 3. 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. | |
| 4. v. (copulative, past participle geworden) to become; to get; to grow; to turn | |
| Es wird heißer. - It's getting hotter. | |
| 5. 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.) | |
| 6. 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? | |
| 7. v. (colloquial) to be going to work | |
| Das wird so nichts. - It will not work like that. | |
| So |
| 1. n. (nonstandard) abbreviation of Sonntag, t=Sunday Alternative form of So. | |
| 2. adv. so, such, that | |
| Die Leute sind so nett. - People are so nice. | |
| Dieser Hammer ist nicht so gut. - This hammer is not that good. | |
| Das ist so eine gute Idee! - That is such a good idea! | |
| so und so - such and such | |
| 3. adv. as (followed by an adjective or adverb plus wie in a statement of equality) | |
| Er rennt so schnell wie der Blitz. - He runs as fast as lightning. | |
| 4. adv. thus, like this/that, in this/that way, in this/that manner | |
| Wenn du den Ball so wirfst, triffst du die Zielscheibe. - If you throw the ball like this, you'll hit the target. | |
| 5. adv. then (in that case) | |
| Wirst du wieder gesund, so freue ich mich. - If you get healthy again, then I'll be happy. | |
| 6. adv. (colloquial) expletive; sometimes intensifying, sometimes with no noticeable meaning | |
| Wir sind runtergegangen und haben uns hier so hingesetzt. - We went downstairs and, like, sat down here. | |
| 7. conj. (coordinating) thus, so, pursuant to the aforementioned premises | |
| 8. conj. (subordinating, chiefly archaic, sometimes legal and regional) an, if | |
| So es Euch beliebt. - If it pleases you. | |
| 9. part. (colloquial) (quotative particle, somewhat similar to be like but also combinable with other verbs) | |
| Ich so: "Mach mal dalli!", und er dann so: "Ich bin ja schon dabei!" - I was like, "Hurry up!" and he was like, "I'm already on it!". | |
| Ich dachte mir nur so: "Ja komm, lass stecken." - All I thought to myself at that moment was, "Yeah whatever, forget about it.". | |
| 10. pron. (obsolete, relative) that, which, who | |
| Derhalben sind die Christen schuldig, der Obrigkeit unterthan ... zu seyn in Allem, so ohne Sünde geschehen mag. - That do the Christians owe: to be obedient to the authority ... zu seyn in All | |
| 11. interj. (tlb, colloquial) (a discourse marker in the beginning of a sentence indicating a topic having been dealt with and another being tackled) | |
| viel |
| 1. pron. much, a lot | |
| Es ist viel passiert. - Much has happened. | |
| 2. det. much, many | |
| Er hat viel Geld verloren. - He lost a lot of money. | |
| 3. det. In the singular, the adjective is usually left unchanged when it is not preceded by an article or determiner (see example sentence above). Otherwise it is declined like a normal adjective: das viele | |
| 4. det. In the plural, the adjective is usually declined even without a preceding article or determiner: viele Kinder. However, it may be left unchanged when modified by a preceding adverb, e.g. in the combi | |
| 5. det. The comparative form mehr is invariable and never declined; it cannot be preceded by any article or determiner (note however mehrere, mehreres, and obsolete mehre, mehr | |
| 6. adv. much, a lot | |
| Wir haben viel gelacht. - We laughed a lot. | |
| 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 | |
| einmal |
| 1. adv. once, one time (one and only one time) | |
| Ich werde das nur einmal sagen. - I'm only going to say it once. | |
| 2. adv. once (formerly; during some period in the past) | |
| Es war einmal eine schöne Prinzessin. - There was once a beautiful princess. | |
| 3. adv. sometime (at an indefinite but stated time in the past or future) | |
| 4. adv. first of all, for starters, firstly (as an initial point; before any other considerations) | |
| auf einmal |
| 1. adv. at once, at a time, in one go | |
| Das mach ich alles auf einmal. - I’ll do all of that at once. | |
| 2. adv. all at once, all of a sudden, suddenly | |
| Auf einmal schlägt er mir ins Gesicht. - All at once, he punches me in the face. | |
| 3. interj. Expresses surprisal and scepticism at a new development, especially someone’s changing their opinion | |
| Ich bin ja auch dafür... — Auf einmal! - I’m for it, too, actually... — Oh, so now you are?! | |
| Verschlingen |
| 1. n. gerund of verschlingen | |
| 2. v. to devour, to swallow up, to eat without chewing | |
| 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 | |
| | |
| wie |
| 1. adv. how | |
| Wie groß bist du? - How tall are you? | |
| Ich weiß nicht, wie die Katze hereingekommen ist. - I don't know how the cat got in. | |
| Wie wunderbar! - How wonderful! | |
| 2. conj. like | |
| Freunde sind wie Sterne in der Nacht. - Friends are like stars in the night. | |
| 3. conj. as | |
| Wie ihr wisst, bin ich in Dortmund aufgewachsen. - As you know, I grew up in Dortmund. | |
| Ich bin so schnell wie du. - I’m as fast as you are. | |
| 4. conj. (colloquial nonstandard) than | |
| Der Junge ist größer wie sein Vater. - The boy is taller than his father. | |
| 5. conj. (chiefly colloquial) when referring to the past | |
| Ich hab ihn gesehen, wie ich in Köln war. - I saw him when I was in Cologne. | |
| Wie ich zur Tür herauskomme, steht da mein alter Schulfreund. - When I came out the door, my old school-day friend was standing in front of me. | |
| Ich |
| 1. n. (psychoanalysis) ego | |
| 2. n. self, me, him, etc. | |
| das wahre Ich - the real me | |
| 3. pron. I (first person singular nominative (subject) pronoun) | |
