Fügen is a verb that means "to join," "to fit," or "to add." In its reflexive form, sich fügen, it means "to comply" or "to submit." You will often see it with a prefix, and that is what we want to talk about today. Here are three particularly common verbs:
Es gibt drei weitere Wörter, die du einfügen kannst.
There are three more words that you can insert.
Caption 52, Deutsch mit Eylin: Höflich sprechen, Konjunktiv 2 benutzen
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Als Nächstes können wir die Nudeln und den Blumenkohl hinzufügen.
Next, we can add the pasta and the cauliflower.
Caption 29, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Niedersachsen
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Zudem verfügen sie über einen ausgezeichneten Geruchssinn.
They also have an excellent sense of smell.
Caption 55, Evolution: Meeresbewohner
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There is also the related expression zur Verfügung stehen ("to be available"). The noun die Geringfügigkeit, on the other hand, refers to insignificance.
Der Computer steht Ihnen zur Verfügung.
The computer is available to you.
Caption 24, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch
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Und wenn es nur um fiese E-Mails geht, dann wird es bei Gericht wegen Geringfügigkeit abgelehnt.
And if it's only about nasty emails, then it will be rejected in court because of insignificance.
Captions 20-21, Die Pfefferkörner: Gerüchteküche
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The verb (sich) fügen should not be confused with fugen, which is more of a technical verb used in construction and craftsmanship. It most often refers to creating or filling joints between tiles, bricks, or other building materials. It is rarely used with a prefix or in its reflexive form. If you can remember that die Fuge (without an umlaut) means "the gap" or "the joint," this can perhaps help you to not get the verbs mixed up.
Die Fliesen müssen noch gefugt werden.
The tiles still need to be grouted.
Der Tischler fugte die Holzbretter perfekt ineinander.
The carpenter joined the wooden boards perfectly.
Interestingly, the other meaning of die Fuge is a type of musical composition featuring a main melody that is imitated and joined by additional melodies that are woven together. As you may have guessed, this is known as a "fugue" in English.
Further Learning
You will find many more versions of the words above used in context on Yabla German.
One of the first phrases you learned in German was likely similar to the following:
Hallo, mein Name ist Julia und ich komme aus Düsseldorf.
Hello, my name is Julia and I'm from Dusseldorf.
Caption 1, Die Wohngemeinschaft: Besuch
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Several German prepositions can be translated as "from," but when talking about the permanent fact of your country of origin or hometown, you will always use aus.
There are instances, however, where von is used with the verb kommen to reference location. One is when you are talking about getting from place to place:
Aber wie komme ich von Deutschland nach England oder Schottland?
But how do I get from Germany to England or Scotland?
Caption 16, Jenny: Reiseziele
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Wie komme ich von Stuttgart zum Europapark?
How do I get from Stuttgart to Europapark?
Caption 12, Reiseplanung: Anruf bei einem Reisebüro
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Kannst du mir bitte den Weg erklären, wie ich von hier aus am besten zur Stadthalle komme?
Can you please explain to me the way to get to City Hall most easily from here?
Captions 31-32, Melanie und Thomas: treffen sich
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In these sentences, von is paired with the appropriate preposition for the place that follows.
Another instance in which the preposition von is used is when a person has just been somewhere and expresses that they have come directly from that location.
Ich komme gerade von der Agentur für Arbeit.
I have just come from the employment agency.
Caption 19, Nicos Weg: Weiterbildung
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One thing to be aware of is that there are also two separable verbs, davonkommen and auskommen, which have distinct meanings. In this case, what looks like a preposition is actually part of the verb.
Ich weiß gar nicht, wie die Menschen früher ohne Kreditkarte ausgekommen sind.
I have no idea how people got by before without credit cards.
Caption 18, Kein Kredit: im Land der Klone
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Das heißt, so ein Verleumder kommt einfach ungeschoren davon?
That means such a slanderer easily comes away unscathed?
Caption 22, Die Pfefferkörner: Gerüchteküche
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Further Learning
After looking at these examples from Yabla German, create your own sentences or questions (one of each type!) to practice saying out loud.
There are many German verbs that consist of a rather common or basic verb combined with a prefix. Their meaning may then be somewhat or completely different from the verb they contain. You may have read our lessons about verbs related to gehen and verbs with holen. We also have overviews for sprechen and kaufen. Today, let's have a look at some verbs that stem from the verb laufen.
By itself, the verb laufen is sometimes synonymous with the translation of gehen as "to walk." However, it also means "to run," and can be used to describe a human or animal running, but also a machine that is "running." It is often used to describe something that is in progress, happening, in operation, or proceeding. Take a look at how the following sentences are translated:
Wir laufen durch die Straßen.
We walk through the streets.
Caption 39, Christina Stürmer: Wir leben den Moment
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Ja, und wie läuft's bei dir so in der Wache? Nein, sag bloß!
Yes, and how is it going with you at the station? No way!
Caption 46, Großstadtrevier: Von Monstern und Mördern
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Und das sind die drei Kriterien, wenn die gut laufen, dann läuft auch der Blindenfußball gut.
And these are the three criteria, if they go well, then blind football also goes well.
Caption 22, Blindenfußball Treffen nach Ton
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Die meisten kennen mich wahrscheinlich aus der Sendung „Der Bachelor“, die sehr erfolgreich auf RTL läuft.
Most of you probably know me from the series "Der Bachelor," which is having a very successful run on RTL.
Captions 11-12, Anja Polzer: Interview
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Sorry, das läuft auf meinem alten Laptop nicht. Da müssen wir zu dir.
Sorry, this won't run on my old laptop. We'll have to go to your place.
Caption 35, Die Pfefferkörner: Gerüchteküche
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And now for some related verbs. Let's begin with ablaufen, which can mean "to go," "to proceed," "to lapse," or "to expire."
Bei manchen Leuten läuft's sogar komplett ohne Symptome ab.
For some people, it even runs its course completely without symptoms.
Caption 23, Coronavirus: Schutzmasken zum Selbermachen
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Jetzt werde ich euch erzählen, wie ein Tag in meinem Leben abläuft.
Now I will tell you how a day in my life goes.
Caption 16, Jenny erklärt: Zeitintervalle
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Deine Zeit ist gleich abgelaufen.
Your time will be up soon.
Caption 21, Küss mich, Frosch: Für immer Frosch?
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Among its many meanings, verb auslaufen can mean "to spill" or "to leak," but also "to run out" or "to peter out."
Die Ostalgie-Welle ist auch langsam ausgelaufen.
The wave of "Ostalgie" has also slowly petered out.
Caption 2, Der Trabi: Das Kultauto aus dem Osten
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Then there are the verbs verlaufen and sich verlaufen. As you can see, these have very different meanings!
Bis jetzt ist alles wirklich gut verlaufen.
Up until now, everything has really gone well.
Caption 7, Berufsleben: Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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Du sagst, wir haben uns nie verlaufen.
You say we've never gotten lost.
Caption 21, Philipp Dittberner: Das ist dein Leben
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Further Learning
You can find many other verbs in this list, some of which are more common than others. You will find many of these on Yabla German as well. Try to make your own examples with the following verbs: davonlaufen, fortlaufen, entlaufen, and herumlaufen.
For our beginners, we are devoting this week's newsletter to expressing probability, or the likelihood that something will occur or be the case. There is a range of adverbs that can help you express this in German.
When something is certain, common adverbs used are definitiv, sicher, or bestimmt. "Definitely" is also among the common translations of the phrase auf jeden Fall.
Für Kerber steht fest,
For Kerber it is certain
dass sie die Abstiegsrunde im April definitiv spielen wird.
that she will definitely play at the relegation round in April.
Caption 19, Angelique Kerber - Fotoshooting mit Porsche
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Na ja, es wird sicher kein Problem sein,
Well, it will certainly not be a problem
den Internetbetreiber zu zwingen, den Film zu löschen.
to compel the internet provider to delete the movie.
Captions 6-7, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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Die Kündigung hat bestimmt andere Gründe.
The layoff surely has other reasons.
Caption 30, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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Oh, wow! Dann wirst du ihn auf jeden Fall wiedersehen, oder?
Oh, wow! Then you will definitely see him again, right?
Caption 47, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Die Verabredung
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The best translation of "likely" and "unlikely" or "probable" and "improbable" in German is wahrscheinlich and unwahrscheinlich.
Wahrscheinlich brauchen wir noch ein bisschen Nachhaltigkeitsunterstützung.
We likely still need a little bit of support with sustainability.
Caption 77, Angela Merkel - beim Nachhaltigkeitsrat
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Dass der Winter noch mal in voller Wucht zu uns zurückkommt,
That winter will return to us in full force
ist im Moment aber ohnehin eher unwahrscheinlich.
is, momentarily, however, without a doubt rather improbable.
Captions 41-42, Rheinmain im Blick - Frühling im Zoo
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Like wahrscheinlich, the word wohl as an adverb also signifies that something is likely or probable. Eventuell, vielleicht and möglicherweise are used when something is possible but can't be guaranteed.
Und das wird wohl auch erst mal so bleiben.
And it will first also likely stay like that.
Caption 19, Andreas Bourani - Startet durch
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Es kann sein, dass wir eventuell etwas Milch brauchen.
It could be that we'll maybe need some milk.
Caption 12, Sallys Tortenwelt und Kochwelt - Apfelkuchen mit Marzipan und Mandelsplittern
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Vielleicht wird's morgen für mich regnen.
Maybe it will rain for me tomorrow.
Caption 15, Andreas Bourani - Eisberg
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Das Kartengerät ist möglicherweise schon seit Wochen angezapft.
The card reader was possibly tapped for weeks.
Caption 44, Großstadtrevier - Neben der Spur
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Just as auf jeden Fall means definitely, auf keinen Fall means that something definitely will not occur, by no means.
Na, du wirst auf gar keinen Fall arbeiten.
Well, you won't work in any case.
Caption 45, Küss mich, Frosch - Für immer Frosch?
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Further Learning
Create your own sentences in which you describe how likely certain events are to happen, from the definite or most likely to the most improbable. If you need more guidance, you can find many more examples of these adverbs in use on Yabla German.
This week we're going to continue to go through cases used with German prepositions. If you are an advanced German speaker, this will be nothing new for you, but will hopefully be helpful for beginners as a learning tool and for intermediate German speakers as a refresher. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that are modified by prepositions take either the accusative, dative, or genitive case, but to make things slightly confusing, some prepositions require either the accusative or dative case, depending upon the context. In Part II today, let's examine the prepositions that always require the dative case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives.
Let's start out by taking a look at the dative case for nouns as follows for the definite article "the," with the nominative case followed by the dative case:
der => dem
die => der
das => dem
And for the indefinite article:
ein (masculine) => einem
eine => einer
ein (neuter) => einem
And for the singular and plural personal pronouns "I," "you," "he," "she," , "it," "we," and "they":
ich => mir
du => dir
Sie (formal "you") => Ihnen
er => ihm
sie => ihr
es => ihm
ihr => euch
wir => uns
sie => ihnen
Sie (formal "you" plural) => Ihnen
Remember too that if there is no definite or indefinite article, the adjective must still take the case appropriate for its gender with the preposition.
The common German prepositions that require the dative case of nouns and pronouns are aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, and zu. Here are some examples from Yabla German. The article in the feminine noun die Mode becomes der in the dative case.
Die gute alte Kaffeemaschine
The good old coffee machine
ist dabei etwas aus der Mode geraten.
has to some extent gone out of style in the process.
Caption 12, Eva zeigt uns - wie man Kaffee kocht
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Here, the nominative pronoun ich becomes mir in the dative case:
In diesem Haus wohnen außer mir
In this house live, other than me,
noch mehrere Familien in Mietwohnungen.
several other families in rental apartments.
Captions 5-6, Zu Besuch bei Jenny - Am Hauseingang
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Here, the indefinite feminine article eine (for die Flasche) becomes einer in the dative case, and the neuter ein (for das Glas) becomes the dative einem:
Ob es sich bei einer Flasche oder einem Glas um eine Mehrweg- oder Pfandflasche handelt...
With a bottle or a jar, whether it happens to be returnable or a bottle with a deposit...
Caption 48, Eva erklärt - Mülltrennung
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The dative preposition gegenüber is a bit unusual, in that when it is used on its own, it falls after the item it modifies:
Dem Clubhaus gegenüber liegt ein feiner Sandstrand.
Across from the clubhouse lies a fine sandy beach.
Caption 31, Golf - in Wien
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You can see this above in the correct word order dem Clubhaus gegenüber (not gegenüber dem Clubhaus!). If you wanted to place gegenüber before das Clubhaus, however, you must add the dative preposition von to the mix. So it would also be acceptable to formulate the sentence above as Gegenüber von dem Clubhaus liegt ein feiner Sandstrand. This would be translated exactly the same into English.
Here, the nominative pronoun ihr becomes euch in the dative case:
Jasmin und ich werden heute mit euch üben.
Jasmin and I will practice with you today.
Caption 2, Diane erklärt - Fragewörter
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And here, the masculine indefinite article ein (for der Monat) becomes the dative einem:
Erst nach einem Monat bleibt das Küken fast den ganzen Tag alleine.
Only after a month, the chick stays alone almost all day.
Caption 30, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten
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The feminine definite article die (for die Römerzeit) becomes the dative der:
... seit der Römerzeit ein befestigter Alpenübergang.
... since Roman times a fortified Alpine crossing.
Caption 23, Die letzten Paradiese - Die Schönheit der Alpen 2
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With the preposition von, the nominative pronoun er becomes the dative pronoun ihm:
Es ist genau das, was seine Anhänger von ihm hören wollen.
It is exactly what his supporters want to hear from him.
Caption 25, Tagesschau - Amtseinführung von Donald Trump
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And finishing up our A to Z of dative pronouns, the nominative pronoun du becomes dir in the dative:
Sorry, das läuft auf meinem alten Laptop nicht. Da müssen wir zu dir.
Sorry, this doesn't run on my old laptop. We'll have to go to your place.
Caption 35, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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Further Learning
To recap, the common German prepositions that require the dative case of nouns and pronouns are aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, and zu. Go to Yabla German to look for more examples of prepositions whose nouns, pronouns, and adjectives take only the dative case. Also review Part I in this series about prepositions that require the accusative case.
The German verbs zwingen and erzwingen look very similar (especially in the past tense as gezwungen and erzwungen) and have similar meanings, but there are some fine points in distinguishing their proper usage. Let's take a look first at some examples of zwingen:
Na ja, es wird sicher kein Problem sein,
Well, it will certainly not be a problem
den Internetbetreiber zu zwingen, den Film zu löschen.
to compel the internet provider to delete the movie.
Captions 6-7, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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Und wir waren gezwungen, einige Kürzungen vorzunehmen.
And we were forced to make some cuts.
Caption 14, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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Es ist aber auch keine Mutter jemals gezwungen worden
There, indeed, has never been a mother [who was] forced
im Fortuna-Kreißsaal zu entbinden.
to deliver in the Fortuna delivery room.
Captions 34-35, Fortuna Düsseldorf - Kreißsaal für Fußballfans
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Thus, the verb zwingen refers to the person or company etc. that is being forced or compelled to do something.
The verb erzwingen is also usually translated as "to force" or "to compel," as well as "to enforce," but with erzwingen it is not about who is being forced, but what is actually being enforced, be it a situation, arrangement, or law etc.
Er hat die Entscheidung erzwungen.
He forced the decision.
Sie erzwingt ein Versprechen.
She is forcing a promise to be made.
An easy way to remember the difference between the two verbs is that zwingen is always about who is being forced or compelled to do something, and erzwingen is always about what is being forced, compelled, or enforced upon somebody:
Die Regierung wurde gezwungen, die neuen Gesetze zu erzwingen.
The government was compelled to enforce the new laws.
Further Learning
Search for more examples of zwingen in its various conjugations on Yabla German and try writing some sentences on your own using both verbs.
In German, there are many different salutations and closings for letters and emails. Which one you choose will depend on your relationship with the person you are writing and whether they identify as male or female.
Friends who write each other emails may simply write Hallo Gitta, or Hallo Micha, or Hallo zusammen, (if addressing a group). For this salutation, the comma comes after the name and not after Hallo as it would in longer sentences.
However, unless you are on very casual terms with someone, you will need to use the other salutations and make sure you use the appropriate declension. If you have never met a person and know that the circumstances are formal, you will want to use Sehr geehrter or Sehr geehrte which literally translates as "Very honored..." If you don't know exactly who will receive your letter, Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, is the German version of "Dear sir or madam."
Gut. Also... „Sehr geehrte Frau Larsen, vielen Dank für Ihre Rückmeldung“.
Good. So... "Dear Ms. Larsen, Many thanks for your response."
Captions 17-18, Das Lügenbüro - Die Bewerbung - Part 1
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„Sehr geehrter Herr Frederick“, sagte er, „lassen Sie das sofort nach, sonst hau ich Ihnen eins auf die empfindliche Nase“.
"Very honorable Mister Frederick," he said, "stop that immediately, otherwise, I'll sock you one on [your] sensitive nose."
Captions 32-33, Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Brief
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Lieber or Liebe which translates simply as "Dear" is more flexible. It may be followed by a first name (Lieber Hans,) or a formal term of address (Liebe Frau Hoffmann,), and is used for different types of friends and acquaintances.
„Lieber Tiger, teile dir mit, dass es mir gut geht“.
"Dear Tiger, I'll share with you that I'm doing well."
Caption 17, Janoschs Traumstunde - Post für den Tiger
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One important thing to remember is that the first word after the comma is usually not capitalized like it would be in English.
When concluding your letter or email, there are a number of options. The typical closing for formal letters is Mit freundlichen Grüßen, which the Schlager star Heino recently used as an album title when he covered other musicians' songs.
Er covert auf seinem Album „Mit freundlichen Grüßen“ Rock- und Popsongs.
He is covering rock and pop songs on his album "With Friendly Greetings."
Captions 5-6, Heino - Neue Volkslieder
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Other closings for formal acquaintances include Herzliche Grüße, ("Heartfelt greetings") and Viele Grüße, ("Many greetings"). Between friends or informal acquaintances, Liebe Grüße, or simply Lieben Gruß, or Grüße, are more common options.
„Liebe Grüße, Elisabeth“. -Elisabeth?
"Kind Regards, Elisabeth." -Elisabeth?
Caption 46, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche - Part 3
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Further Learning
For more vocabulary related to letter-writing, go to Yabla German and watch the full episode of Piggeldy and Frederick in which the brothers tackle the topic. More salutations and closings can be seen on this informative website. For a more detailed account of how to use punctuation with the word Hallo, you can look at this Duden article.
Irgendwie fängt irgendwann irgendwo die Zukunft an.
Somehow, somewhere the future begins sometime.
Caption 4, Nena - Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann
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Again, we are happy to respond to a subscriber request! The lyrics above by German singer Nena are a good point of departure for a lesson on irgend, which as a prefix has a similar function to “some-” or “any-” in English. It is used to augment adverbs and pronouns to demonstrate a lack of specificity or information.
Irgendwo is perhaps the simplest of these words, translating to “somewhere.”
Du wirst bestimmt irgendwo am Strand sein. -Ja, genau. Am Meer.
You will surely be somewhere at the beach. -Yes, exactly. At the sea.
Caption 50, Konjugation - Das Verb „sein“
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Irgendwie translates to “somehow,” but is also used in spoken German to express “in some way,” “in any way,” or even “sort of.”
Irgendwie muss man ihr ja helfen.
Somehow she has to indeed be helped.
Caption 5, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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The adverb irgendwann covers the English phrases “someday,” “sometime,” or “at some point,” which means it can refer to a non-specific time in either the past or the future.
Aber irgendwann, als man mich nicht mehr gezwungen hat,
But at some point, when I wasn't forced to anymore
hab ich dann meine persönliche Liebe zur Musik entdeckt.
I discovered my own love for music.
Captions 36-37, Deutsche Bands - Glashaus
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But let’s not stop here! You have also probably seen irgendein and irgendwelche, which translate to “any” or “some.” The important thing to remember is that they behave similarly to adjectives and will always have the appropriate ending based on the conditions of the sentence. As you might guess, irgendein is never used in the plural.
Nun, wenn Sie irgendwelche Fragen haben:
So, if you have any questions,
Ich werde in meinem Büro sein.
I will be in my office.
Caption 49, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch
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Haben Sie den Namen von irgendeiner Autovermietung?
Do you have the name of any car rental [company]?
Caption 16, Reiseplanung - Anruf bei einem Reisebüro
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For the pronoun “someone” or “somebody,” it is common to see both irgendwer and irgendjemand.
Irgendjemand kocht Kaffee In der Luftaufsichtsbaracke.
Someone is making coffee In the air traffic control hut.
Captions 29-30, Reinhard Mey - Über den Wolken
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You may also have seen irgendwas and irgendetwas. These are more or less synonyms, which are even less specific than etwas (“something”) and are usually translated as “anything.”
Sagen Sie mir Bescheid, wenn ich irgendetwas tun kann.
Tell me if I can do anything.
Caption 58, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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Further Learning
There are a myriad of examples on Yabla German where you can see these words in use. Make sure you understand the declensions required for irgendein and irgendwelche. Irgendjemand and irgendwer also sometimes require a different ending — can you figure out when this might occur?
Understanding which words to capitalize in German is, for the most part, easier than English. In German, all nouns are capitalized. There are, however, a few cases where words that at first appear to be nouns are not capitalized. When used with the verbs sein, bleiben, or werden, the words angst, leid, pleite, recht, and schuld become predicate adjectives and are written lower case:
Sie hat geantwortet. „Lieber Unbekannter, Sie haben völlig recht.“
She replied. "Dear stranger, you are absolutely right".
Caption 43, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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As a noun, the word das Recht is written starting with upper case, but in this case the word recht is in fact a predicate adjective, not a noun. If you deconstruct the sentence and replace recht with a noun, it is immediately clear that the sentence makes no sense with anything but an adjective.
Aber hey, ich bin nicht schuld dran, ganz bestimmt nicht.
But hey, I am not to blame for it, definitely not.
Caption 55, Rapucation - Guten Appetit
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Here again, in some expressions with the verb "to be" (sein), what may appear to be a noun is actually a predicate adjective. So other than these few exceptions, capitalizing nouns in German is easy. If only noun genders were so simple!
Further Learning
Read more here about the rules of German upper and lower case. Search on Yabla German for forms of the words listed above in a real world context.
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