| 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? | |
| Werden |
| 1. n. (gerund of werden); becoming (coming into being) | |
| 2. v. (auxiliary) will; to be going (to do something); forms the future tense | |
| Ich werde nach Hause gehen. - I will go home. | |
| 3. v. (auxiliary) would; forms the subjunctive tense of most verbs | |
| 4. 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. | |
| 5. v. (copulative, past participle geworden) to become; to get; to grow; to turn | |
| Es wird heißer. - It's getting hotter. | |
| 6. 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.) | |
| 7. 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? | |
| 8. v. (colloquial) to be going to work | |
| Das wird so nichts. - It will not work like that. | |
| All |
| 1. n. cosmos | |
| 2. det. all | |
| Alle Menschen sind gleich. - All people are equal. | |
| Du musst doch nicht allen Unsinn nachmachen, den du hörst! - You needn't reproduce all nonsense that you hear! | |
| 3. det. every (in time intervals, with plural noun) | |
| Wir treffen uns alle zwei Wochen. - We meet up every two weeks. | |
| die |
| 1. art. feminine singular of der | |
| die Frau - the woman | |
| 2. art. plural of der | |
| die Männer - the men | |
| 3. pron. feminine singular of der | |
| 4. pron. plural of der | |
| 5. pron. (in a subordinate clause as a relative pronoun) that; which; who; whom; whose | |
| Ich kenne eine Frau, die das kann. - I know a woman who can do that. | |
| 6. pron. (as a demonstrative pronoun) this one; that one; these ones; those ones; she; her; it; they; them | |
| die da - that one/she/they there | |
| 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 | |
| Dummköpfe |
| 1. n. plural of Dummkopf | |
| die |
| 1. art. feminine singular of der | |
| die Frau - the woman | |
| 2. art. plural of der | |
| die Männer - the men | |
| 3. pron. feminine singular of der | |
| 4. pron. plural of der | |
| 5. pron. (in a subordinate clause as a relative pronoun) that; which; who; whom; whose | |
| Ich kenne eine Frau, die das kann. - I know a woman who can do that. | |
| 6. pron. (as a demonstrative pronoun) this one; that one; these ones; those ones; she; her; it; they; them | |
| die da - that one/she/they there | |
| 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 | |
| am |
| 1. contraction. an + dem, at the, on the | |
| am Ende - at the end | |
| am Rande - on the margin(s) | |
| am Leben - alive | |
| 2. contraction. auf + dem, on the, at the | |
| am Berg - on the mountain | |
| am Fest - at the festival | |
| am Schirm - on the screen | |
| 3. contraction. Forms the superlative in adverbial and predicate use. | |
| am schnellsten - fastest | |
| am schwächsten - weakest | |
| am wichtigsten - most important | |
| Er spielt am besten. - He plays best. | |
| an |
| 1. prep. (local) on; upon; at; in; against | |
| Das Bild hängt an der Wand. - The picture hangs on the wall. | |
| 2. prep. by; near; close to; next to | |
| 3. prep. (temporal, with days or times of day) on; in; at | |
| Wir treffen uns am (an dem) Dienstag. - We're meeting on Tuesday. | |
| Ich werde sie am (an dem) Abend sehen. - I will see her in the evening. | |
| 4. prep. (temporal) a; per; only used with the word Tag, otherwise use in | |
| zweimal am Tag - twice a day | |
| 5. prep. on; onto | |
| Ich hänge das Bild an die Wand. - I hang the picture on the wall. | |
| 6. prep. at; against | |
| Schauen Sie an die Tafel. - Look at the blackboard. | |
| 7. prep. to; for | |
| Ein Brief an Anna. - A letter for Anna. | |
| 8. adv. onward; on | |
| von heute an - from today on | |
| 9. adj. (predicative) on | |
| Ist der Schalter an oder aus? = Ist der Schalter an- oder ausgeschaltet? - Is the switch on or off. Is the switch switched on or off. | |
| dem |
| 1. art. dative singular of der: the | |
| 2. pron. dative singular of der: to whom, to which | |
| Leben |
| 1. n-n. (gerund of leben): living | |
| Die Kunst des Lebens - The art of living. | |
| 2. n-n. life; being alive | |
| 3. n-n. (biology) a state in which organic entities such as animals, plants and bacteria have properties like metabolism, adaption and replication | |
| Das Leben ist nicht an das geistige Bewusstsein gebunden. - Life is not dependent on mental consciousness. | |
| 4. n-n. (biology) the entirety of those who are in this state | |
| Die Erde quillt über vor Leben. - Earth is full of life. | |
| 5. n-n. the time period in which one is in this state; the time between birth and death | |
| Das Leben beginnt mit der Geburt und endet mit dem Tod. - Life begins with birth and ends with death. | |
| Sowas habe ich mein Leben lang noch nicht getan. - I have never done such a thing in my life. | |
| 6. n-n. (religion, philosophy) a state of being in touch or in line with certain metaphysical forces and principles by which biological life is governed | |
| Nicht jeder, der atmet, ist auch wirklich am Leben. - Not everyone who breathes is really alive. | |
| 7. n-n. life; way of life (a particular manner of behaving and passing one’s time, whether real or ideal, and whether self-chosen or not) | |
| Lebensstandard - quality of life | |
| ein angenehmes Leben - a comfortable life | |
| ein christliches Leben - a Christian life | |
| 8. n-n. biography; life; life story (an account of a person’s life, whether real or virtual) | |
| Das Leben der Edelgard. - The life of Edelgard. | |
| Sein Leben weist viele Höhen und Tiefen auf. - There are many ups and downs in his biography. | |
| Das ist ein Buch vom Leben berühmter Musiker. - This is a book about the lives of famous musicians. | |
| 9. n-n. (usually) existence; life (a position one has created for oneself, often manifested in success, prosperity, and standing) | |
| Frau Schmidt hat sich in all diesen Jahren ein bewundernswertes Leben aufgebaut. - Mrs Schmidt has built up an admirable life in all these years. | |
| 10. n-n. (usually) life; precious or beloved thing that someone considers fundamental to their existence | |
| Sie ist mein Ein und Alles, mein Leben! - She is my one and only, my life! | |
| 11. n-n. (video games) a measure of successful play | |
| 12. n-n. life; numbers of times a game can be played | |
| Du hast nur noch drei Leben übrig. - You only have three lives left. | |
| 13. n-n. health; hit points | |
| 14. n-n. (youth slang) used as the object of certain verbs, often ones that are per se intransitive, for emphasis | |
| Chill ma’ dein Leben! - Just chill your life! | |
| 15. v. to live, to be alive | |
| 16. v. to dwell, to reside | |
| Ich lebe in der Schillerstraße in der Nähe des Stadtzentrums. - I live in the Schiller-street near the city's center. | |
| 17. v. to live, to exist, to occupy a place | |
| Die Dinosaurier lebten für Jahrmillionen auf der Erde bevor der Mensch erschien. - The dinosaurs existed on Earth for millions of years prior to the rise of man. | |
| 18. v. to cope with, to live with, to deal with | |
| Du wirst wohl damit leben müssen! - You'll have to cope with it! | |
| Jeder muss mit seinen eigenen Problemen leben! - Everybody has to deal with his own issues. | |
| blieben |
| 1. v. first-person plural preterite of bleiben | |
| 2. v. third-person plural preterite of bleiben | |
| 3. v. first-person plural subjunctive of bleiben | |
| 4. v. third-person plural subjunctive of bleiben | |
| bleiben |
| 1. v. (copulative, with a predicate adjective or predicate nominative) to remain (to continue to be) | |
| Er blieb sein ganzes Leben ein glühender Anhänger der Monarchie. - He remained a devoted supporter of the monarchy for all his life. | |
| 2. v. to keep (on); to continue (see usage notes below) | |
| Ich bleibe noch ein bisschen liegen. - I'll keep lying here for a bit. | |
| 3. v. to stay; to remain in a place | |
| Du kannst ja schon fahren, aber ich bleibe noch. - Feel free to leave, but I'm staying some more. | |
| 4. v. to be; to be stuck; implying tardiness | |
| Wo bleibst du? Wir sind schon seit über einer Stunde da. - Where are you? We arrived more than an hour ago. | |
| 5. v. to be left for someone | |
| Was bleibt ihm jetzt noch, wo seine Frau gestorben ist? - What does he have left now that his wife is dead? (literally: What is left for him...) | |
| 6. v. to stick with; to stay with | |
| Ich hab’s ihm erklärt, aber er bleibt bei seiner Meinung. - I’ve explained it to him, but he sticks with his opinion. | |
| nun |
| 1. adv. now, at this moment | |
| 2. adv. now, then; expressing a logical or temporal consequence | |
| Wir haben abgewaschen, nun müssen wir noch abtrocknen. - We've washed up, now we must dry the dishes. | |
| Was bedeuten nun die geschilderten Entwicklungen für unser Land? - Now what do the aforementioned developments mean for our country? | |
| 3. adv. unstressed and expletive, used for minor emphasis | |
| Was soll das nun heißen? - What's that supposed to mean now? | |
| 4. interj. now, well, so | |
| Nun, das ist eine schwierige Frage. - Well, that's a tough question. | |
| 5. conj. (tlb, literary or dated colloquial) now that, given that it has occurred that the circumstances do not withstand that … | |
| Glauben |
| 1. n. Alternative form of Glaube, , faith | |
| 2. n. singular of Glaube | |
| 3. v. to believe something (consider true) | |
| Glaubst du diese Geschichte? - Do you believe this story? | |
| 4. v. to believe in (think something exists, or have confidence in someone’s ability) | |
| Glaubst du an Engel? - Do you believe in angels? | |
| Woran glaubst du? - What do you believe in? | |
| Ich glaube an dich! Du kannst es schaffen! - I believe in you! You can do it! | |
| 5. v. to believe someone (trust in their statement) | |
| Niemand kann ihm glauben. - No one can believe him. | |
| Das glaube ich dir nicht. - I don’t believe you that. | |
| 6. v. to think, to believe | |
| Glaubst du, das ist so richtig? - Do you think this is right like this? | |
| Er glaubte, dass es auf dem Mars Kanäle gibt. - He believed that there were canals on Mars. | |
| Ich glaube etwas zu hören. - I think I hear something. | |
| Er glaubt zu wissen, wo deine Schlüssel sind. - He believes he knows where your keys are. | |
