| was |
| 1. pron. (interrogative) what | |
| Was machst du heute? - What are you doing today? | |
| 2. pron. (relative) which ((referring to the entire preceding clause)) | |
| Sie tanzte gut, was er bewunderte. - She was a good dancer, which he admired. | |
| 3. pron. (relative) that, which ((referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives)) | |
| Das ist alles, was ich weiß. - That's all that I know. | |
| Das ist das Beste, was mir passieren konnte. - That's the best that could have happened to me. | |
| 4. pron. (relative, colloquial) that, which ((referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das)) | |
| Siehst du das weiße Haus, was renoviert wird? - Do you see that white house, which is being renovated? | |
| 5. pron. (indefinite, colloquial) something, anything ((instead of standard etwas)) | |
| Ich hab was gefunden. - I've found something. | |
| 6. pron. (interrogative, dated) why (with emphasis, astonishment or disapproval) | |
| Was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht? - Why on earth are you hiding your face so fearfully? | |
| 7. adv. (colloquial) a little, somewhat | |
| Ich komm was später. - I'll arrive a little later. | |
| 8. adv. (interrogative, colloquial) why, what for | |
| Was bist du heute so stumm? - Why are you so silent today? | |
| kann |
| 1. v. first-person singular present of können | |
| 2. v. third-person singular present of können | |
| können |
| 1. v. to be able (to do or be something), to have the possibility of; can. | |
| 2. 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. | |
| 3. 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. | |
| 4. 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. | |
| 5. 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 | |
| 6. 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. | |
| 7. v. (auxiliary) to be in the legal situation of being able to realize a legal effect even if it be legally disallowed | |
| | |
| da |
| 1. adv. (local) there; here | |
| Wir fahren nach Hamburg. Meine Frau hat eine Freundin, die da wohnt. - We’re going to Hamburg. My wife has a friend who lives there. | |
| Die Gäste sind noch nicht da. - The guests aren’t here yet. | |
| 2. adv. (temporal) then; so; at that moment | |
| Ich war gerade eingeschlafen, und da kam ein Anruf. - I had just fallen asleep, and that’s when someone called. | |
| Er hat immer weiter auf mich eingeschrien. Da bin ich einfach gegangen. - He just kept on shouting at me. So I just left. | |
| 3. adv. (colloquial) (replaces any takes a reflexive pronoun adverb when the context is clear) | |
| Ich wollte eigentlich Linsensuppe machen, aber da (= dafür, dazu) hatte ich das Rezept nicht. | |
| I was actually going to make lentil soup, but I didn’t have the recipe for it. | |
| Wir haben jetzt ein Angebot gekriegt, aber da (= darüber) müssen wir noch diskutieren. | |
| We’ve now received an offer, but we’ll still need to have discussion about that. | |
| 4. conj. since; as; because; given that | |
| Da die Stelle mit häufigen Auslandskontakten verbunden ist, sind gute Fremdsprachenkenntnisse unerlässlich. - Since the position involves frequent international contacts, good foreign-language | |
| 5. conj. (literary, dated) when | |
| Am Tag, da die Wahrheit offenbar wird, ist es zur Umkehr zu spät. - On the day when the Truth will become manifest, it will be too late for penitence. | |
| symbolischer |
| 1. adj. form of symbolisch | |
| symbolisch |
| 1. adj. symbolic/symbolical | |
| 2. adj. figurative | |
| 3. adv. symbolically | |
| 4. adv. figuratively | |
| 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. | |
| Als |
| 1. n. creek, drainage channel | |
| 2. conj. (subordinating, referring to time of occurrence) at (approximately) the same moment; when; while; as | |
| Als er ankam, öffnete sie die Tür. - When he arrived, she opened the door. | |
| Als wir jung waren, spielten wir im Wald. - We played in the forest when we were young. | |
| 3. conj. (used with a comparison or as an exception) than | |
| Zwei ist größer als eins. - Two is greater than one. | |
| Die Kopie sieht anders aus als das Original. - The copy looks different than the original. | |
| Er sagt nichts anderes als die Wahrheit. - He tells nothing other than the truth. | |
| 4. conj. as; like; in the function of; in the form of | |
| Als Polizist muss ich es tun. - As a policeman, I must do it. | |
| Wir sind Feinde, aber im Moment müssen wir uns als Freunde verhalten. - We are enemies, but for now we must act like friends. | |
| Sie verkleidete sich als Krankenschwester, um das Krankenhaus zu betreten. - She disguised herself as a nurse to enter the hospital. | |
| 5. conj. as if | |
| 6. conj. (after negative pronoun) but, other than | |
| ein |
| 1. art. a, an | |
| ein Mann - a man | |
| eine Frau - a woman | |
| ein Kind - a child | |
| 2. adv. (now chiefly in compounds) indicating (concrete or abstract/metaphorical) motion into something | |
| ein und aus gehen, weder ein noch aus wissen | |
| darein, derein, feldein, feldein, hafenein, hafenein, herein, herein, hierein, hierein, hinein, hinein, jahrein, jahrein, waldein, waldein (older spellings include Wald-ein), worein, wor | |
| 3. adj. (predicative) on | |
| Ist der Schalter ein oder aus? (d. h., Ist der Schalter ein- oder ausgeschaltet?) - Is the switch on or off. (i.e., Is the switch switched on or off.) | |
| Bagger |
| 1. n-m. excavator (vehicle), digger (gloss, machinery) | |
| 2. v. first-person singular present of baggern | |
| 3. v. singular imperative of baggern | |
| 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 | |
| Auch |
| 1. Proper noun. , common in Southern Germany as an occupational surname for those who watched livestock at night | |
| 2. adv. also; too; as well (in addition to whatever or whoever has previously been listed) | |
| Ich will auch ein Eis. - Stress on “auch”: I too want icecream. | |
| Ich will auch ein Eis. - Stress on “Eis”: I want icecream, too. | |
| 3. adv. Used for emphasis. | |
| 4. adv. (To confirm a preceding statement by someone else): really, actually, indeed, in fact | |
| Ich will auch ein Eis. - Stress on “will”: I do indeed want icecream. | |
| Das ist auch so. - Stress on “ist”: It really is like that. | |
| Du solltest zur Polizei gehen. ― Mach ich auch. - You should go to the police. ― I will. | |
| 5. adv. (To ask for confirmation of something one considers necessary.) | |
| Hast du das Licht auch ausgemacht? - Did you make sure to turn off the light? | |
| 6. adv. (To imply that something is unreasonable.) | |
| Du bist auch witzig... Wie soll ich das denn ohne Auto alles schaffen?! - You’re oh so ingenious... How am I supposed to get all of this done wit | |
| Warum müssen die auch alle ihren Müll hier abladen! - Why do they all have to dump their rubbish here! | |
| 7. adv. even ((implying an extreme example in the case mentioned, as compared to the implied reality)) | |
| Auch wenn das stimmt, ist es noch kein endgültiger Beweis. - Even if this is true, it is no definite proof. | |
| Auch ein Professor schreibt schon mal was falsch. - Even a professor may misspell something at times. | |
| 8. adv. ever (as in whatever, whenever, however, etc.) | |
| Was du auch tust, es wird immer einer besser sein. - Whatever you do, someone will always do it better. | |
| 9. interj. (in answering a yes-no question, used to express that the thing asked about covers part of the truth but not all of it); “yes, and more” | |
| Ach, du bist Bauingenieur. Dann baust du Brücken? — Auch. - Oh, you’re a construction engineer. So you build bridges? — Yeah. And other things, too. | |
| Tief |
| 1. n. (meteorology) low | |
| 2. adj. (also, figuratively) deep | |
| Wie tief ist das Wasser? - How deep is the water? | |
| Sie hat ein tiefes Verständnis der russischen Kultur. - She has a deep understanding of Russian culture. | |
| 3. adj. low (situated close to, or below, the ground) | |
| Du hast das Bild zu tief gehängt. - You hung the picture too low. | |
| 4. adj. (figuratively, Switzerland) low (small, not high in amount or quantity, value, etc.) | |
| tiefere Abgaben - lower taxes | |
| 5. adv. deeply, profoundly | |
| 6. adv. thoroughly, in depth | |
| gräbt |
| 1. v. third-person singular present of graben | |
| graben |
| 1. v. to dig | |
| 2. v. to burrow | |
