| 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. | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Es |
| 1. n. (music) E-flat | |
| 2. n. (psychoanalysis) id | |
| 3. 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. | |
| 4. 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. | |
| 5. art. (regional, colloquial) alt form-lite, das | |
| Soll ich es Fenster zumachen? - Should I close the window? | |
| ist |
| 1. v. third-person singular present of sein | |
| 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. | |
| Ja |
| 1. n. a yes | |
| 2. adv. yes; yea, yeah, aye | |
| Willst du das? Ja. - Do you want that? Yes. | |
| Aber ja! - Yes, of course! | |
| 3. adv. (intensifier) obviously; certainly; of course; really; just; as you know; as is generally known (indicates and emphasises that one is expressing a known fact) | |
| Es kann ja nicht immer so bleiben. - It obviously cannot always remain so. | |
| Der Peter war ja gestern krank. - Peter was sick yesterday, as you know. | |
| 4. interj. yes | |
| Ihr |
| 1. det. your (that belongs to you (when formally or politely addressing one or more people)) | |
| Wo ist Ihr Wagen, Frau Wagner? - Where is your car, Mrs. Wagner? | |
| 2. pron. you, ye (plural, familiar) | |
| 3. pron. dative of sie | |
| Hast du ihr das Buch gegeben? - Did you give her the book? | |
| 4. det. her (possessive) | |
| Laura hat mir ihr neues Auto gezeigt. - Laura showed me her new car. | |
| Die Katze spielt oft mit ihren Spielsachen. - The cat often plays with her toys. | |
| 5. det. its (when the owning object/article/thing/animal etc., referred to, is feminine) | |
| die Sonne und ihre Wärme - the sun and its warmth | |
| 6. det. their | |
| Die Kinder spielen mit ihrem Hund. - The kids are playing with their dog. | |
| die Wolken und ihre Schönheit - the clouds and their beauty | |
| Sofa |
| 1. n. sofa, couch (upholstered seat with a raised back and one or two raised ends, that accommodates at least two people) | |
