| 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. | |
| Etwas |
| 1. n. thing, being | |
| 2. n. a quality or talent that is hard to pin down | |
| Sie hat dieses gewisse Etwas. (She has this certain something.) | |
| 3. pron. something | |
| 4. adv. somewhat, slightly | |
| 5. adv. a little, a bit | |
| 6. det. (with unor plural noun) some, a bit of | |
| Hab etwas Respekt vor den Toten. - Have some respect for the dead. | |
| 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. | |
| oder |
| 1. conj. or | |
| Danach alles gestr. oder noch 1–2 Wörter? - Is everything after that crossed out or are there one or two more words? | |
| 2. part. (tag question) right?; is it?; is it not? | |
| Es ist kalt heute, oder? - It’s cold today, isn’t it? | |
| Das war keine so gute Idee, oder? - That wasn’t such a good idea, was it? | |
| Du kommst aus Deutschland, oder? - You’re from Germany, aren’t you? | |
| getan |
| 1. Participle. past participle of tun | |
| tun |
| 1. v. To do (to perform or execute an action). | |
| Tu es! - Do it! | |
| Man tut, was man kann. - One does what one can. | |
| Er tat das, was man ihm gesagt hat. - He did as he was told. | |
| Das einzige, was er je tat, war arbeiten. - The only thing he ever did was work. | |
| 2. v. (with dative) To do something (positive or negative) to someone. | |
| Der tut Ihnen nichts! - He won't hurt you! (said for example about a dog) | |
| Mein Mann hat mir so viel Gutes getan. - My husband has done me so much good. | |
| 3. v. To make a difference; to be different. | |
| Tut sich das viel? - Does that make much of a difference? | |
| Die beiden Kameras tun sich nichts. - The two cameras are no different i.e. neither better than the other. | |
| 4. v. (somewhat informal, with “so” or “als ob”) To fake; to feign; to pretend. | |
| Er hat nur so getan. - He just faked it. | |
| Er tut, als ob er nichts wüsste. - He pretends to know nothing. | |
| 5. v. (chiefly colloquial) To put, to place, to add. | |
| Tu das hier rein. - Put it in here. | |
| Ich würde noch was Salz an die Kartoffeln tun. - I would add some more salt to the potatoes. | |
| 6. v. (chiefly colloquial, with “es”) To work, to function. | |
| Die Uhr tut’s nicht mehr. - The clock doesn’t work anymore. | |
| 7. v. (chiefly colloquial, but acceptable in writing) Used with thepreceding infinitive of another verb to emphasise this verb | |
| Er singt immer noch gern, aber tanzen tut er gar nicht mehr. - He still loves singing, but as to dancing, he doesn't do that anymore at all. | |
| 8. v. (colloquial non-standard) (Used with thefollowing infinitive of another verb, often to emphasise the statement) | |
| Ich tu doch zuhören! - I am listening! (as a response to the reproach that one is not) | |
| Ich tu das jetzt mal aufräumen. - I’m cleaning this up now. | |
| 9. v. (colloquial non-standard) (Used in the past subjunctive with the infinitive of another verb to form the conditional tense (instead of standard würde)) | |
| Ich tät mir das noch mal überlegen. - I would think about that again. | |
| 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. | |
