The three words above make a nice tongue twister or Zungenbrecher — literally "tongue breaker" in German — though certainly not as difficult as the classic Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz. Best try the latter only if you have a first aid kit around! But I doubt all of us are completely clear on the meanings of the aforementioned "B" words. Let's start with the easiest ones.
Bleibe is the first person singular present tense of the verb bleiben:
Also, "ich bleibe", das ist Präsens, ja.
Well, "I am staying", that is present tense, yes.
Caption 5, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Vorbereitung auf den Test
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Ich bleibe einfach hier in Deutschland und werde eine Fahrradtour machen.
I will just stay here in Germany and will do a bike tour.
Caption 50, Jenny - Reiseziele
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Nein, ich komme nicht mit. Ich bleibe hier in Deutschland.
No, I'm not coming with you. I'm staying here in Germany.
Caption 6, Nicos Weg - A2 Folge 17: Unterwegs
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The verb bleiben is very appropriate this summer, as most of us will be doing our best to enjoy staycations.
The adjective beliebt — most often written as beliebte with the suffix -e when following a definite article in the nominative case — can be translated as "beloved," "favored," or "popular," depending upon the context:
Saint-Tropez am Baggersee,
Saint-Tropez on the artificial lake,
so besangen schon die Rodgau Monotones
as the Rodgau Monotones already sang
vor über 30 Jahren das beliebte
over 30 years ago about the beloved
Badeparadies der Stadt Rodgau.
swimming paradise of the city of Rodgau.
Captions 2-4, Rhein-Main-TV - Badesee Rodgau
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Besonders beliebt ist bei den Berlinern der Wannsee.
The Wannsee is especially popular with the residents of Berlin.
Caption 3, Berlin - Wannsee
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Lastly, we come to the least commonly used of the three B words: beileibe. This adverb is similar in meaning to bestimmt ("definitely") or wirklich ("really"), but is used almost exclusively in the negation beileibe nicht.
Das wird vielleicht was kosten,
It may cost something,
aber beileibe nicht so viel wie der Verlust des gesamten Projekts.
but by no means as much as the loss of the whole project.
Captions 45-46, Marga Engel schlägt zurück - Rache
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Depending upon the context, beileibe nicht can also be translated as "on no account" or "certainly not."
Further Learning
Search for variations of the above three words on Yabla German and practice writing some sentences of your own in German that include these words. For some learning fun, go to the Zungenbrecher page on Wikipedia and, after translating a couple, see how fast you can say them without breaking your tongue!
These German adverbs answer the question of how often something happens or is the case — Wie oft? Let's take a look at how to describe the most frequent to least frequent occurrences.
First of all, we have immer, or "always." Like in English, there are different options for the placement of adverbs in German sentences. In this first sentence, the word einfach is also serving as an adverb, and both adverbs are placed after the verb.
Es ist einfach immer was los und man ist in einer halben Stunde hier oben.
There is simply always something going on and you are up here in half an hour.
Caption 20, 48 h in Innsbruck - Sehenswürdigkeiten & Tipps
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Meistens, häufig and oft describe a relatively common or frequent occurrence. Note that, in this particular example, meistens is in the first position with the verb immediately following, which gives it extra emphasis. In the other two examples, the adverb comes after the verb (although not the participle!).
Meistens sind ja die Fenster dann auch noch recht schmal.
Most of the time, the windows are also really narrow.
Caption 57, Feuerwehr Heidelberg - Löschfahrzeug
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In Deutschland ist das Wetter im Herbst häufig kühl und feucht.
In Germany, the weather in autumn is frequently cool and damp.
Caption 6, Herbst - mit Eva
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Große Erfindungen werden oft von ungewöhnlichen Ereignissen inspiriert.
Great inventions are often inspired by unusual events.
Caption 3, 200. Geburtstag - Die Geschichte des Fahrrads in 2 Minuten
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From manchmal to selten, the frequency of something happening or being the case decreases rapidly.
Es ist nur manchmal einfach etwas schwierig, wenn man zusammenlebt und so gut befreundet ist.
It is just sometimes a bit difficult when you live together and are such good friends.
Caption 34, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Probleme
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Ab und zu kann es aber auch mal ganz schön laut werden.
Once in a while it can, however, get pretty loud too.
Caption 62, Rhein-Main-TV - Badesee Rodgau
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Seinen schicken Umhang trug er gar nicht mehr,
He no longer wore his chic cloak
und mit seinem Pferd ritt er nur noch selten.
and he rode his horse only rarely.
Captions 38-39, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse
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Finally, we come to "never." It is also possible to say fast nie or "almost never."
Also, früher wollt ich nie zum Klavierunterricht gehen.
Well, at the time I never wanted to go piano lessons.
Caption 35, Deutsche Bands - Glashaus
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Further Learning
Many examples of these words can be found on Yabla German, and you can also look up the following German adverbs of definite frequency: täglich, wöchentlich, monatlich, jährlich, morgens, nachmittags, and abends. For more information on adverb placement, take a look at this helpful page.
There are a number of ways to indicate that something is going "up" in German, but today let's take a look at the prepositional phrase nach oben, which can be translated into English in a number of ways, depending on the context. Let's take a look at some different interpretations of the phrase in German Yabla videos.
Vielleicht halten Sie's grad so ein bisschen nach oben.
Maybe you could hold it up a little bit.
Caption 29, Fußball - Torwandschießen
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... dass ein unsichtbarer Faden am Kopf den ganzen Körper nach oben zieht.
... that an invisible thread on top of your head is pulling the whole body upward.
Caption 15, Flirt-Coach-Serie - Die richtige Körpersprache
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Das war ein langer Weg nach oben.
It was a long way to the top.
Caption 3, Preisverleihung - Bestes Magazin
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Nach oben sind dem Preis keine Grenzen gesetzt.
No price limits are set at the top.
Caption 13, Highend-Fashion aus dem Kloster - Ein Mönch als Maßschneider
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Als der Frosch nach oben in ihr Bett getragen werden wollte ...
When the Frog wanted to be carried upstairs to her bed ...
Caption 57, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der Froschkönig
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In the examples above, you see nach oben used to mean "up," "upward," "to the top," "at the top," and "upstairs." Note that when you say in German that you are going upstairs, it is more common to simply say you are going nach oben than to use the more literal die Treppe hinaufgehen.
The prepositional phrase nach oben also has a number of idiomatic usages:
Das heißt natürlich nicht, dass hier alle Leute die Nase nach oben tragen.
Of course, that doesn't mean that all the people here put their noses up [idiom, are conceited].
Caption 5, Rhein-Main-TV - Badesee Rodgau
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Die Nase nach oben tragen means "to be conceited."
Es gibt noch Potential nach oben.
There is still upward potential [room for improvement].
Caption 21, Rhein-Main-TV - Green-Region-Konferenz zur Nachhaltigkeit
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And here, Potential nach oben means there is room for improvement.
Ein Mann will nach oben is the title of a novel by Hans Fallada, whose final novel from 1947, Jeder stirbt für sich allein (English title: Every Man Dies Alone), became a surprise bestseller in its English translation in 2009. Ein Mann will nach oben was made into a 13-part TV film in 1978.
Ein Mann will nach oben.
A man wants to move up.
Caption 1, Mathieu Carriere - Ein Mann will nach oben
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Further Learning
Do a search for nach oben on Yabla German and see some more examples of how this phrase is used in German in a real world context!
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