| 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? | |
| meinen |
| 1. v. to opine, to think; to believe; to suppose | |
| Ich meine, das war letztes oder vorletztes Jahr. - I think it was last year or the year before. | |
| 2. v. to say; to utter; (not used with nouns; not used in the imperative and rarely in the infinitive) | |
| Entschuldige, was meintest du gerade? - Sorry, what did you just say? | |
| 3. v. to mean; to be convinced or sincere about something | |
| Das sagt er nicht nur, das meint er auch. - He doesn’t just say it, he means it. | |
| 4. v. to mean; to have in mind; to convey | |
| Was meintest du damit? - What did you mean by that? | |
| Meinst du das rote oder das gelbe Haus? - Do you mean the red or the yellow house? | |
| 5. v. (now rare) to mean; to signify | |
| Was meint dieses Wort? - What does this word mean? | |
| 6. det. (possessive) masculine accusative singular of mein | |
| 7. det. (possessive) dative plural of mein | |
| 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 | |
| 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. | |
| Groß |
| 1. n-n. Alternative spelling of Gros | |
| 2. Proper noun. surname, from=nicknames | |
| 3. adj. big, large, large-scale | |
| Das ist ein großes Problem. - That is a big problem. | |
| Ich lebe in einem großen Haus. - I live in a large house. | |
| 4. adj. great, grand | |
| 5. adj. (of a person) tall | |
| 6. adj. (childish) pertaining to defecation | |
| Ich muss groß. - I need to poo. | |
| meine |
| 1. pron. feminine singular of meiner | |
| 2. pron. plural of meiner | |
| 3. det. feminine singular of mein | |
| 4. det. plural of mein | |
| 5. v. first-person singular present of meinen | |
| 6. v. first-person singular present subjunctive of meinen | |
| 7. v. third-person singular present subjunctive of meinen | |
| 8. v. singular imperative of meinen | |
| mein |
| 1. det. (possessive) my | |
| meinen |
| 1. v. to opine, to think; to believe; to suppose | |
| Ich meine, das war letztes oder vorletztes Jahr. - I think it was last year or the year before. | |
| 2. v. to say; to utter; (not used with nouns; not used in the imperative and rarely in the infinitive) | |
| Entschuldige, was meintest du gerade? - Sorry, what did you just say? | |
| 3. v. to mean; to be convinced or sincere about something | |
| Das sagt er nicht nur, das meint er auch. - He doesn’t just say it, he means it. | |
| 4. v. to mean; to have in mind; to convey | |
| Was meintest du damit? - What did you mean by that? | |
| Meinst du das rote oder das gelbe Haus? - Do you mean the red or the yellow house? | |
| 5. v. (now rare) to mean; to signify | |
| Was meint dieses Wort? - What does this word mean? | |
| 6. det. (possessive) masculine accusative singular of mein | |
| 7. det. (possessive) dative plural of mein | |
| Tochter |
| 1. n. daughter | |
| 2. n. subsidiary (company) | |
| (synonyms, Tochtergesellschaft, Tochterunternehmen, Tochterfirma) | |
| in |
| 1. prep. (with dative) in, inside, within, at (inside a building) | |
| Es ist in dem Haus. - It is in the house. | |
| Ich habe die Schlüssel im (in dem) Kühlschrank gefunden. - I found the keys in the refrigerator. | |
| Unsere Kinder sind in der Schule. - Our kids are at school. | |
| Er ist in einem Café. - He is at a coffee shop. | |
| Letzte Nacht waren sie im (in dem) Club. - They were at the club last night. | |
| 2. prep. (with dative) in (pertaining to) | |
| in diesem Sinne - in this/that sense | |
| 3. prep. (with dative) in, at, by (at the end of or during a period of time) | |
| Er schloss sein Studium im Alter von vierzehn. - He completed his studies at/by the age of fourteen. | |
| im Alter - in old age | |
| im Mittelalter - during the middle ages | |
| in den 1960er Jahren - in the 1960s | |
| 4. prep. (with accusative) into, to (going inside (of)) | |
| Er geht ins Haus. - He goes into the house. | |
| Wir gehen in die Schweiz. - We are going to Switzerland. | |
| Wir treten in ein neues Zeitalter ein. - We are coming into a new age. | |
| 5. adj. in, popular (in fashion) | |
| Drei |
| 1. n-f. three (digit/figure 3) | |
| 2. num. (cardinal) three (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 3; or describing a set with three elements) | |
| Jahren |
| 1. n. dative plural of Jahr | |
| Jahr |
| 1. n. year (solar year, the time it takes the Earth to complete one revolution of the Sun) | |
| Jahr für Jahr - year after year | |
| 2. n. year (time it takes for any astronomical object to directly orbit its star) | |
| 3. n. year (period between set dates that mark a year) | |
| 4. n. year (level or grade in school or college) | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
