| 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? | |
| Wissen |
| 1. n. knowledge | |
| 2. v. to know; to be aware of (a fact) | |
| Ich weiß, wo du bist. - I know where you are. | |
| von etwas wissen - to know about something | |
| 3. v. to remember (with noch) | |
| meist |
| 1. adj. superlative of viel, t=much; many; most | |
| 2. adv. (formal) mostly, most often, usually | |
| wenig |
| 1. adj. little, few (a small amount, a small number) | |
| über |
| 1. prep. (accusative, or dative) above, over (spatially) | |
| Über dem Wald ist der Himmel blau. - Over the forest, the sky is blue. | |
| Die Vögel flogen über den Wald. - The birds flew over the forest. | |
| 2. prep. about, concerning, over, at (in reference to) | |
| Die ganze Klasse lachte über ihren Witz. - The entire class laughed at her joke. | |
| 3. prep. (accusative) via, through, by way of | |
| Der Zug fährt über den Hauptbahnhof. - The train goes via the main station. | |
| Ich kaufe alles über das Internet. - I buy everything through the internet. | |
| 4. prep. (accusative) across | |
| Ich fahre mit der Fähre über die Ostsee. - I travel on the ferry across the Baltic Sea. | |
| 5. prep. (accusative) during, for, over a time period | |
| Es regnete über das Wochenende. - It rained over the weekend. | |
| Er hat uns über Jahre belogen. - He's lied to us for years. | |
| 6. prep. (accusative) about | |
| Ich schreibe ein Buch über Goethes Leben. - I'm writing a book about Goethe's life. | |
| 7. prep. around, among | |
| 8. prep. over, more than, above (a quantity) | |
| 9. prep. beyond | |
| Die technischen Probleme in der Welt von heute gehen weit über den Rahmen des Technischen hinaus. - The technological problems in today's world extend far beyond the scope of technology. | |
| 10. prep. at (when 'over' or 'about' could roughly be substituted) | |
| 11. adj. (tlb, colloquial) left over, remaining, (replaces übrig in all its predicative instances, including those lexicalized as verb prefixoids.) | |
| überbleiben - to be left over, to remain | |
| Hier sind noch zwei Gurken über. Willst du die haben? - Here there are two gherkins left. Wanna have em? | |
| 12. adv. over (in certain select phrases) | |
| über und über - over and over | |
| 13. post. (following accusative) throughout | |
| Den ganzen Tag über. - Throughout the entire day. | |
| Aids |
| 1. n. AIDS (disease) | |
| Sprechen |
| 1. n. (gerund of sprechen): "speaking". | |
| 2. v. to speak (some language, the truth, etc.) | |
| Ich spreche Deutsch. - I speak German. | |
| Sprich die Wahrheit oder bleib still. - Speak the truth or remain silent. | |
| Klartext sprechen - to speak plainly | |
| 3. v. to speak, to talk, to give a speech | |
| Sprechen Sie bitte langsam. - Speak slowly please. | |
| 4. v. to say, to speak (a word, phrase, sentence, prayer, etc.) | |
| Was? Du hast kein Wort darüber gesprochen. - What? You haven't spoken a word about it. | |
| 5. v. to have a pronunciation; to be pronounced (some way) | |
| Wie spricht sich das? - How do you pronounce this? | |
| 6. v. to pronounce (a judgment, a verdict, etc.) | |
| Die Geschichte wird das endgültige Urteil über sein Werk sprechen. - History will pronounce the final judgement on his work. | |
| 7. v. to say (something) | |
| 8. v. (Swiss, transitive, officialese) to grant, approve (a loan, funding, etc.) | |
| kaum |
| 1. adv. barely, hardly | |
| Ich kann das kaum lesen. - I can barely read this. | |
| Die Handschrift ist kaum lesbar. - The handwriting is barely legible. | |
| 2. adv. (with zu infinitive) difficult to, nearly impossible to | |
| Das ist kaum zu glauben. - That's difficult to believe. | |
| 3. adv. little | |
| Deutsch |
| 1. Proper noun. German (primary language of Germany and several surrounding countries) | |
| auf Deutsch - in German | |
| Sprechen Sie Deutsch? - Do you speak German? | |
| 2. adj. (relational) German (of or pertaining to the German people) | |
| Meine Mutter ist deutscher Herkunft, aber mein Vater ist Schwede. - My mother is of German origin, but my father is a Swede. | |
| 3. adj. (relational) German (of or pertaining to Germany) | |
| der deutsche Außenminister — das deutsche Patentamt - the German foreign minister — the German patent office | |
| 4. adj. (relational) German (of or pertaining to the German language) | |
| einige deutsche Wörter - a few German words | |
| und |
| 1. conj. (co-ordinating) and | |
| Kaffee und Kuchen - coffee and cake | |
| Ich kam, sah und siegte. - I came, saw, and conquered. | |
| 2. conj. (colloquial) links two nouns, often a person and an activity, in rhetoric questions to express an opposition between them | |
| Er und Abwaschen? Vielleicht einmal im Jahr! - Him doing the dishes? Maybe once per year! | |
| 3. interj. so?, now?, and? | |
| Und? Wie ist es gelaufen? - So? How did it go? | |
| sind |
| 1. v. first-person plural present of sein | |
| Wir sind hier drüben. - We are over here. | |
| 2. v. third-person plural present of sein | |
| Da sind sie. - There they are. | |
| 3. v. second-person plural present of sein | |
| Wo sind Sie? - Where are you? (polite form) | |
| sein |
| 1. 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. | |
| 2. 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. | |
| 3. 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. | |
| 4. v. (auxiliary) forms the present perfect and past perfect tenses of certain intransitive verbs | |
| Er ist alt geworden. - He has become old. | |
| 5. 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. | |
| 6. 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. | |
| 7. 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. | |
| 8. 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. | |
| 9. 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 | |
| 10. det. (informal) Used to express an approximate number, often with so. | |
| Der kostet so seine zweihundert Euro. - That one costs around two hundred euros. | |
| 11. det. one's | |
| Man muss seinem Herzen folgen. - One must follow one’s heart. | |
| mit |
| 1. prep. with (in the company of; alongside) | |
| Ich spiele mit meinen Freunden. - I'm playing with my friends. | |
| 2. prep. with, by (using as an instrument; by means of) | |
| Ich schreibe mit einem Bleistift. - I'm writing with a pencil. | |
| Ich fahre mit dem Bus. - I'm going by bus. | |
| 3. prep. with (as an accessory to) | |
| 4. prep. with (having) | |
| 5. prep. at (with the age of) | |
| 6. prep. with, including, with ... included | |
| 7. adv. among; denotes a belonging of a person or a thing to a group | |
| Hier gibt es mit das beste Essen in der Stadt. - Here they have some of the best food in town. | |
| Ich war mit der erste, der hier war. - I was one of the very first who arrived. | |
| 8. adv. also, too (in addition; besides; as well) | |
| 9. adv. (somewhat, informal) with (something), with it | |
| Ich brauch nicht unbedingt Majonäse zu den Fritten, aber mit sind sie natürlich besser. - I don't necessarily need mayonnaise with the chips, but they taste better with it, of course. | |
| Aufklärungsmaterial |
|
| nur |
| 1. adv. only, just, merely, simply | |
| Nur reife Kirschen dürfen auf den Kuchen. - Only ripe cherries may go on the cake. | |
| Du musst nur die Werte eingeben und den Rest macht der Computer. - You just have to enter the values and the computer will do the rest. | |
| 2. adv. ever; at all | |
| Ich helfe dir, wo ich nur kann. - I’ll help you wherever I can. | |
| 3. adv. however, though | |
| Wir könnten es versuchen. Nur wären die Risiken sehr hoch. - We could try. The risks would be very high, however. | |
| 4. conj. (chiefly colloquial) but | |
| Ich wär auf jeden Fall dabei, nur ich hab echt keine Zeit. - I’d definitely come along, but I really don’t have the time. | |
| schwer |
| 1. adj. heavy, weighty | |
| 2. adj. difficult, hard | |
| eine schwere Aufgabe - a difficult task | |
| 3. adj. serious | |
| 4. adj. (of food) indigestible | |
| 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 | |
| Erreichen |
| 1. n. gerund of erreichen, , achievement, achieving; reaching | |
| 2. v. to reach, to catch, to accomplish | |
