Some time ago we added a German Quick Language Game called “2 Verb Pairs with 'ver-'.” Soon after, a few players contacted us with some questions about the Prefix "ver".
No wonder: Among the many German prefixes, “ver-” is a very confusing one. If you agree, you're not alone: in Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals, Volume II (1877-1883), page 253, the author laments about the many “fragmental elements” of the German language:
"German language is a dozen fragments of words flung into an octagonal cylinder …. up spring your fragmental elements with Ver's & Be's & Ge's & Er's & lein's & schen's & gung's & heit's & zu's & a thousand other flashing & blazing prefixes, affixes & interjections broiderd on them or hung to them."
Well, even if Twain was exaggerating just a bit, the “ver-” prefix can indeed be tricky and somewhat misleading.
Moreover, “ver-” is just one of a number of inseparable prefixes. (Others are “er-”, “ent-” “emp-“, ”be-”, “ge-”, “zer-”.) At least the inseparable prefixes don't add to a learner's word-order woes.
A Little Prefix "ver-" Language History
Today's German inseparable prefix “ver-” can be traced back to the Old High German “far-”, which originates from a mixture of Proto-Germanic “fer-”, “fur-”, “fra-” and other similar particles. And it's no coincidence that you'll recognize the “ver-” also in the “pro-”, “per-”, “pre-”, “for-” of English and other European languages.
In German the inseparable prefix “ver-” appears in four basic ways:
1. As a simple prefix. 2. As a Prefix that makes the root verb a “faulty action,” or somewhat the opposite of what the root verb implies. 3. As a Prefix that makes the root verb an action (often new, different, but somewhat related). 4. There are a number of verbs starting with “ver-”, where the root verb doesn't have a meaning of its own. Look at the examples below:
1. As a Simple Prefix
Examples: • geben – (to give) vs vergeben – as in: Ich vergebe dir. (I forgive you.) • kehren – (to sweep) vs verkehren – as in: Er verkehrt in besten Kreisen. (He socializes with high society.) • gehen – (to go, walk) vs vergehen – as in: Die Zeit vergeht. (The time goes by.) [Note however, “sich vergehen” means to abuse someone sexually and “ein Vergehen” is a minor offense.]
In the above examples, the prefix “ver-” creates a new meaning with the root verb. Even if you know the meaning of the core verb, you may find the new meaning with the prefix hard to guess.
Many of the root verbs in this category also take other (inseparable) prefixes, such as “er-”, “be-”, “ent-”, etc. • ergeben – as in: Ich ergebe mich. (I give up, surrender.) • bekehren – as in: Er bekehrt die Ungläubigen. (He converts the unbelievers.) • entgehen – as in : Er entgeht einer Gefahr. (He escapes a danger.)
2. As a Prefix that makes the root verb a “faulty action,” or somewhat the opposite of what the root verb implies.
Examples: • kaufen – (to buy) vs verkaufen – as in: Ich verkaufe mein Auto. (I am selling my car.) • zählen – (to count) vs (sich) verzählen – as in: Ich habe mich verzählt. (I miscounted.) • fahren – (to drive) vs (sich) verfahren – as in: Ich habe mich verfahren. (I got lost driving.)
In these cases, the somewhat opposite meaning can be guessed from the root verb. Here the “ver-” prefix sometimes corresponds to the English “mis-” prefix, as in “miscount” above, to misspell (sich verschreiben), to miscalculate (sich verrechnen), etc.
These root verbs combine only with a few inseparable prefixes. But they do combine with a number of separable prefixes, such as “auf-”. Often these change the root meaning just slightly. • aufkaufen – as in: Er kaufte halb Las Vegas auf. (He bought up half of Las Vegas.) • aufzählen – as in: Sie zählte alle seine Fehler auf. (She enumerated all his faults.) • auffahren – as in: Er fuhr auf das Auto vor ihm auf. (He rear-ended the car in front of him.)
3. As a Prefix that makes the root verb an (often new, different, but somewhat related) action.
This is the most frequent use of “ver-”.
Examples: • suchen - (to seek, search) vs versuchen – as in: Ich versuche es. (I'm trying it.) • binden – (to tie, bind) vs verbinden – as in: Ich verbinde Sie. (I'll connect you.)(Note that there is second meaning of • verbinden: to wrap, bandage.) • folgen – (to follow) vs verfolgen as in: Ich verfolge ihn. (I pursue him.)
With most of these there are many other separable and inseparable prefixes that let you guess the meaning quite easily.
4. There are a number of verbs starting with “ver-”, where the root verb doesn't have a meaning of its own.
Examples: • verdächtigen – to suspect • verdeutlichen – to make clear • vergessen – to forget
There are just a few verbs in this category and the root verbs typically don't work with any of the other separable or inseparable prefixes. So you'll just have to learn their meaning.
While prefixes can be confusing at times, they can also provide you with an initial clue of their meaning – especially when you understand the context in which they are used.
Test Your German with the Prefix "ver-"
Depending on how good your German is, you may have fun guessing the meaning of these “ver-” verbs below. You can look up the translation on Google translate or send us a note and we'll return the answers.
Root verb
English
“ver-” Prefix Verb
English
Category
achten
to respect
verachten
ändern
to change
verändern
ärgern
to annoy
verärgern
arbeiten
to work
verarbeiten
bauen
to build
verbauen
bergen
to recover
verbergen
beugen
to bend
verbeugen
bieten
to offer
verbieten
bitten
to ask
verbitten
brechen
to break
verbrechen
danken
to thank
verdanken
decken
to cover
verdecken
dienen
to serve
verdienen
drehen
to turn
verdrehen
And often, when you learn and remember the root verb, you'll also have an easier time remembering the many derivatives with the “flashing and blazing prefixes”.
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Learning from mistakes is a well-known teaching tool. And succeeding (winning!) in games is powerful motivation for us to try again and again until we have mastered them. Both aspects of learning play an important role in our Games For Language courses and Quick Games.
Gender of “the tower” in Spanish
This morning I was replaying one of our Spanish 1 Scenes. In the Writing Game, I was asked to write “the tower” in Spanish. Now, I have seen and said the correct translation quite a few times before and I knew the word “torre.” However, I did not recall a rule for nouns ending with “e.”
Because in my native language (German), “the tower” is masculine (“der Turm”), I was uncertain for a moment and started out with “e” for “el,” to be reminded immediately by the error warning that I was wrong. While I was annoyed that I got it wrong, I am quite confident that I will know it the next time.
Why? Because now I'll likely remember not only that in Spanish “tower” is feminine (“la torre”), but also that I should have recalled that it's the same word in Italian (“la torre”) and feminine as well in French (“la tour”).
Basic Spanish Gender Rules
Quite early on in Spanish, we learn a few basic rules: Words ending with “o” are often masculine, those ending in “a”, often feminine, etc. This Spanish language chart, which I discovered on the web some time ago, quite nicely summarizes the important Spanish gender rules.
There are other, very concise Spanish grammar charts that we have sent to our users. If you'd like to receive the whole set of 6 Spanish Grammar charts, just contact us. We also welcome any information in regard to its author and origin for proper attribution.
Games for Language Learning and Associations...
In the case of “the tower,” my association will be that the Spanish (or Italian and French) word has a different gender from the German one. I realize that English speakers will have other associations for memorizing genders in foreign languages that don't follow the basic rules. It may be the type or shape of the first letter ( “t” for the “l” in “la”), the sound of the word, etc. , or whatever “mnemonic” works to connect to the correct gender of a word.
Just for fun, I entered “la torre” in the online Mnemonic Generator and one of the suggestions was “Lame Thor”, just in case this helps you remember the gender and Spanish word for "tower''...
“Winning” Games
I don't like to lose games. When I make a mistake and see at the end of a game, e.g. in “Writing Clowns” or “Word Invaders” that I only got 26 of 30 possible points, I'll repeat the game again until I get 30.
This is the same motivation which drives Duolingo learners to repeat a lesson: If you make more than 3 mistakes, you lose your hearts, e.g. you are “out” and have to repeat the lesson before you can go on.
Postscript: Since we wrote this post, we've noticed that Duolingo changes its format from time to time.
Making Mistakes
Yes, we sometimes make mistakes, just by clicking on the wrong item accidentally or not taking enough time to read all options. But replaying a lesson or a Scene has benefits beyond just “winning”: With words or phrases you already know, you can focus on pronouncing (ideally aloud) before clicking through; and those you missed, you now will be able to correct and remember better next time.
In our “Word Hero” game, you have to pick the correct English translation for foreign words that cascade down. You need to concentrate and for me, once I make a mistake, it's hard to recover.
While this game requires you to focus and decide quickly, it also allows you to say the correct foreign word as it comes down, giving you the satisfaction not only of getting the word/phrase right, but also of letting you check immediately whether your pronunciation is close to that of the native speaker.
In the “Word Invaders” or Shootout” games, you have to pick the correct foreign words for the translation of an English sentence. By clicking on the wrong word, gender, or conjugation, you lose points. If you want to win 100% of those games, you'll have to correct all the mistakes you made in the first go-around.
Correcting and remembering mistakes is one of the key reasons Games are so effective for language learning.
The ultimate prize: Speaking the Language
Making mistakes and learning from them, as well as devising strategies to avoid traps, gain strength, and acquire assets, etc. are all part of the the ubiquitous video game universe that keep millions of people engaged today.
While language learning has come a long way from boring drills and verb conjugations, we still need to progress further to create a “Language Minecraft” type of game that has speaking the language as the ultimate prize!
I recently read again that the “Grammar Translation Method” was first used in teaching Greek and Latin before being also applied to modern languages.
Sure, it can be comforting to know grammar rules. But to put that knowledge into fluently speaking a language is pretty difficult.
Rules are abstract, and to top it off, languages are full of exceptions to the rules. Plus, you still have to learn how to SAY the words, so that others will understand you. By learning a language with this method, you're making it very hard for yourself.
These were some of the 'techniques' of the method: - Read the sentence and translate - Let's look at this sentence and find the grammar rule - Do the exercise on page 43 of your grammar/text Book - Memorize the vocabulary list - Translate the first paragraph on page 45 - Where do you see the grammar rule X applied in this paragraph
Maybe that's why many (including myself) have tough memories of their language learning days in school.
Our First Language
We certainly don't learn to speak our first language from a grammar book. We learn our first language and its grammar – the rules by which the language works – mostly just by listening to and imitating other speakers.
Research suggests that our brains are wired to do this. (Multiple Brain Regions Wired For Language, Study Finds). We seem to grasp the grammar idiosyncrasies of our first language without much effort early on and then learn the rules in school later. However, grammar rules themselves are not set in stone. Many of them even change over time and people often argue about them.
Our Second (or Third) Language
Learning a second or third language typically starts in school - for most of us and excepting children who grow up bilingual - after we have acquired the basics of our first language. And here the teaching methods (such as the “Grammar Translation Method”) may have a lot to do with how children or teenagers, and for that matter, even adults learn a foreign language.
Knowing certain grammar rules is obviously an essential part of mastering a language. But consciously learning grammar rules is a different type of activity from engaging in a language. Grammar rules are memorized and applied. Engaging in a language means actively using it, starting with listening/understanding, then reading, speaking, and writing it.
We agree with Ron Davidson's Making a Game of Education where he argues that “games and education are a natural fit.”
Language Games and Grammar
The question is how one can teach grammar with language games. For now, we go as far as adding brief grammar “tips” in a translation game. But mostly we set up the language games in such a way that the player makes grammar connections intuitively.
When you get curious enough about a grammar point, it is interesting to check up on it. Sometimes that's the only way that you can figure out the meaning of something. But while you're talking or listening to someone talking to you, it's not usually possible to say “Hey, let me look that up.” Language games intend to put you right into the flow of understanding and using a language. That's not a bad skill to practice.
In an earlier blog post Heidelberg & Mark Twain, I speculated why Mark Twain had liked the name “Heidelberg,” the city where he stayed with his family for several months in 1878.
This topic had offered itself, as our German 1 traveler during his visit to Heidelberg learns the English translation of the city's name and its relevance to Mark Twain.
Twain's love-hate relationship with The Awful German Language, published as an Appendix to his “A Tramp Abroad,” makes for amusing reading for anyone grappling with the German language – and is especially hilarious to a native German speaker as he looks at German though Twain's eyes!
A Few of His Observations
"Declining a noun" may be the crabgrass on the lawn of many who are learning German. Twain uses “rain” as an example and has some funny explanations for when “der Regen” (nominative) changes to “den Regen” (accusative), “dem Regen” (dative), or “des Regens” (genitive).
If you add adjectives, it gets even worse and Twain is at his satirical best when he notes:
“When a German gets his hands on an adjective, he declines it, and keeps on declining it until the common sense is all declined out of it. It is as bad as Latin." He says, for instance:
Singular
Nominative -- Mein guter Freund, my good friend. Genitive -- Meines guten Freundes, of my good friend. Dative -- Meinem guten Freund, to my good friend. Accusative -- Meinen guten Freund, my good friend.
PLURAL
Nominative -- Meine guten Freunde, my good friends. Genitive -- Meiner guten Freunde, of my good friends. Dative -- Meinen guten Freunden, to my good friends. Accusative -- Meine guten Freunde, my good friends
"Now let the candidate for the asylum try to memorize those variations, and see how soon he will be elected.”
Twain also notes, correctly, that “the same sound, SIE, means YOU, and it means SHE, and it means HER, and it means IT, and it means THEY, and it means THEM.”
Ah, yes, the only way to discover the right meaning is to understand the context in which they are used.
There are a lot more funny and perceptive passages about the German way to create word-monsters, assign genders, separate verbs, etc. (Note also that there are some spelling and grammar changes that have occurred since 1876 e.g. to let, lease, hire is now spelled “vermieten” - not “vermiethen.”)
If you are learning German, his essay - as well as his 4th of July speech at the Banquet of the Anglo-American Club of Students - might amuse you.
And perhaps it also encourages you to keep practicing. Even though German has its tricky moments, it definitely can be learned!
You Want to Learn German Fast and Playfully?
With our German 1 and 2 courses you'll learn practice German for FREE - with stories of a young man traveling through Germany and - its sequel - solving a "Blüten"-mystery in Berlin.
"The Story" and easy games will let you forget that you are actually learning German!
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
A recent blog post "Learning Grammar with WordDive” reminded me that indeed there are many ways for adults to learn a foreign language.
The author notes: “WordDive is primarily about 'diving' into language through its vocabulary” and “When studying with WordDive, you are exposed to grammar structures integrally in the course of the learning process.”
We agree that adults can learn grammar structures “integrally,” somewhat similar to the way children learn them "through numerous repetitions and imitations.”
Games and “The Story”
Our approach at GamesforLanguage is different: We teach vocabulary and grammar structures with short games and “The Story” - a sequential and connected series of dialogs and short narratives that tell of a young man traveling in European countries.
While the various games help the learner to practice all four skills (listening, reading, writing, and speaking), the dialogues and narratives introduce and repeat grammatical structures, which he or she will recognize and/or, at times, be alerted to.
For example, already in the second Scene (lesson) of our French 1 course, we bring in the subjunctive, with the sentence “Je suis contente que vous parliez...” in our dialogue. We then briefly explain it in our“Deal no Deal” game.
Twenty Scenes later, the expression “je suis contente" is used again, but with the subjunctive of another verb. Will we teach all subjunctive forms of these particular verbs? No, but the learner is alerted to the context in which such forms are used and will start to recognize new subjunctive forms as they come up.
Context Learning
Learning the vocabulary, i.e. the foreignlabels of objects, actions, feelings, etc. (see also our post: Language Learning with Pictures and/or Words) is clearly important and necessary.
Romance and Germanic languages have many similarities to English, which help English speakers to remember words and phrases, even if certain grammatical constructions are different. For example, in our story our traveler is asked : “Do you also need something?” and he answers: “I need a travel guide.”
In Spanish one would say: “¿Necesitas también algo?” and “Necesito una guía de viajes.” And in Italian: “Hai bisogno di qualcosa anche tu?” and “Ho bisogno di una guida turistica.”
Rather than drilling the conjugations for “necesitar” and “avere bisogno,” the learner picks up the second and then the first person singular as part of the question and answer.
And he or she remembers the meaning of “you need” and “I need,” because it is connected to the “travel guide” of the story, with “guía”/ “guida” (guide), “viajes” (voyage), and “turistica” (tourist) being closely related to their English meanings.
Based on our own experience of learning several foreign languages as adults, we know that we can best retain and apply words and phrases, when they relate to objects, actions, feelings, etc. that we encounter in our own life. (That's why we chose a travel story.)
And while our approach is somewhat different from WordDive's, we agree that the discovery of grammatical structures during the learning process is rewarding and more effective than drilling conjugations, tenses, etc.
For some learners, more detailed explanations are necessary, for others explanations are just confirmations of their own discoveries. The extensive offering of free or inexpensive apps and online courses allows learners to choose and combine different approaches that fit their needs and learning styles.
The French pronoun "en" may be short, but it's not to be ignored! It's a very common and useful word, and worth the effort to get to know better.
In a recent Facebook post, we listed the following uses: Meaning "from there" / "from it": - Tu as été à Londres? Oui, j'en arrive. - You've been to London? Yes, I just came from there.
Meaning "about it" / "of it": - Il parle beaucoup de son voyage. Il en parle beaucoup. - He speaks a lot about his trip. He speaks a lot about it.
Meaning "some" / "any": - Je viens de faire du café. Tu en veux? - I just made coffee. Do you want some?
With expressions of quantity: - Est-ce que tu as vu beaucoup de films de Truffaut? Oui, j'en ai vu beaucoup. - Have you seen a lot of Truffaut's films? Yes, I've seen a lot of them.
Our Quick French: "On y va" introduces you briefly to "y." Check that one out, too and you'll know two of the most common words of the French language!
Let's have a quick look at the Spanish expression: Que tengas ... (May you have ...) It's a set phrase and it's used frequently in daily conversation.
In English, when you say to someone: "Have a good day!" you're not ordering them to have a good day, you are expressing a wish: "I hope you have ...." or "May you have ..."
When you wish someone a good day, etc. in Spanish, you are saying something similar: "¡Que tengas un buen día!" (familiar) and "¡Que tenga un buen día!" (formal) both mean "[May you] have a good day!"
The verb form that is used in such wishes that start with "Que tengas ..." is the subjunctive mood.
Look at the difference in the following Spanish expressions: •Tienes un buen día. - You are having a good day. (a statement) • ¡Que tengas un buen día! - Have a good day! (a wish)
Note: The combination "que+subjunctive" implies "may ..." or "I hope that ..."
A few other common wishes in Spanish:
• ¡Que tengas una buena estancia! - Have a good stay! • ¡Que tengas suerte! - Good luck! (May you have luck!) • ¡Que tengas buen viaje! - Have a good trip! • ¡Que te mejores! - Get well soon! (May you get better!) • ¡Que (te) vaya bien! - Good luck (to you)! / I hope it goes well (for you)! • ¡Que aproveche! - Enjoy your meal! (Spain)
Getting the feel for the context in which the subjunctive is used (rather than learning a bunch of rules) is a good way to start learning this verb form. ¡Que te vaya bien!
When you're learning a new language to communicate, grammar should not be your main worry.
Focus rather on understanding and speaking, and discover grammar points along the way. Grammar is best consumed gradually, in small doses, and in little steps.
My current experience with learning Swedish reinforces this notion for me again and again.
Simple Grammar Explanations
Find a book or site that gives you simple explanations, ones that you can relate directly to the vocabulary you're learning. For example, as you're practicing basic phrases and sentences, you can discover, little by little: - the gender of nouns - articles (definite & indefinite) - pronouns (including the familiar and formal "you," and when to use these) - present tense verb endings; conjunctions (and, but or) - question words (who, what, where, when, etc.) - the word order of simple statements and questions.
Reinforcement Steps
Once you've grasped a grammar point, you'll reinforce your understanding every time you see the structure again - as you're learning new words and phrases or reviewing old ones.
For example, in Swedish, I learned that the definite article is attached to the end of a noun. So now I know the difference between "torg" (square) and "torget" (the square). Whenever I see the “-et / -t" (neuter gender) or the “-en / -n” (common gender) ending, I keep this in mind for understanding the meaning of the word.
Prepositions
With a knowledge of some essential phrases and grammar basics, you're now ready to learn a handful of prepositions, as they're used in common expressions. Some of them you may have encountered already in phrases you learned, others may be new or have a second, less obvious meaning.
Each language has its own favorites. For example, in Swedish I started with: av (of, by); från (from); hos (with, at); i (in, on, before [time]); på (on, in, at); till (to [a place]); med (with); över (over, above, across, past [time]); åt (to [a person]).
Research & Discovery
As a next step, choose a simple text that interests you, about half a printed page long. Now, using a dictionary, try to read it for meaning, or even try to translate the sentences into English.
Pay special attention to what holds the text together: the connecting words (and, but, also); negative words (not, never, no one); time markers (today, tomorrow, yesterday, soon, earlier, etc.); verb tenses. At this stage, you're beginning to understand how the language works.
Keep Notes
I'm a huge fan of keeping a small spiral (3"x5") notebook in which I write down, in pencil, phrases I want to memorize. I also list essential grammar points.
For example, for Swedish, I noted down the phrases: "en kvart över twå" (a quarter past two) and "en kvart i twå" (a quarter to two).
This phrase pair helps me recall that, in the context of time, "över" means "past the hour" and "i" means "before the hour."
In my experience, grammar is something you build from the ground up, slowly, step by step. As you're learning your new language, you become aware of and want to understand grammar points - all in the context of phrases and sentences that you are reading or hearing.
In short, grammar is not something you learn first and then apply but rather something that you discover and learn over time.
The use of the single letter "y" and its combination with forms of the verb "aller" "rester" etc. is confusing to many French beginners. However, it's really not that difficult.
(The picture on the left shows the cover of “On y va!”, a French lesson book used by Swiss high school students in the 80s and 90s.)
Recently, we listed a number of phrases with “y” in a Facebook post. "y" = here, there; about it, on it (referring to something that was mentioned). Some of these come up as part of our French 1 travel-story course.
Adverb "y" - here, there
• "J'y suis, j'y reste." - Here I am (and) here I'm staying. • "Marseille? Oui, je vais y aller." - Marseille? Yes, I'm going there. • "Le pont d'Avignon ? On ne peut plus y danser." - Avignon Bridge? You can't dance on it/there any more. • "La Tour Eiffel ? Est-ce que tu y es déjà monté ?" - The Eiffel Tower? Did you already go up on it/there? • "Allez-y !" - Go!; Go on!; Go ahead! (Lit: Go there!) • "On y va." - Let's go (Lit: We are going there.)
Pronoun "y" - about it /that, on it /that
• "Trois jours à Paris! Penses-y !" - Three days in Paris! Think about it! • "Il faut y penser. - We have to think about that. • "J'y compte." - I'm counting on it. • "Je n'y crois pas." - I don't believe it. • "Je m'y attendais." - I was expecting that. • "J'y tiens." - It matters to me. (Lit: I'm holding to it.)
The Expression "il y a" - there is, are; it's
"Il y a du monde.- There are a lot of people. /It's busy. "Il y avait du monde. - There were a lot of people. /It was busy.
"Il y a du soleil." - It's sunny. "Il y avait du soleil." - It was sunny.
"Il y a erreur." - There's a mistake. "Il y avait erreur." - There was a mistake.
The Expression "il y a" - ago
"Il y a plus de deux ans." - More than two years ago. "Il y a mille cinq cents ans." - Fifteen hundred years ago. "Il y a quelques années." - A few years ago. "Il y a longtemps." - Long ago. / Ages ago. "Il y a quelque temps." - A while ago. "Il y a peu." - Not long ago.
Moreover, you can combine various forms of the verb “aller” (to go) and “y” (there) to create commands that are commonly used in daily life.
Let us know any comments or questions you have and - keep on learning as playfully as you can. Language learning should be first and foremost enjoyable, a quest of discovery, not a chore.
Do you want to know what "On ne peut plus y danser, mais on peut encore l’admirer." mean in French? Just click HERE.
There's nothing wrong with Flashcards, I love them for practicing vocabulary and we use them in our games as well.
But learning only with traditional flashcards - or sticking only to list learning, for that matter - is bound to keep you in the rank of beginner.
To bust through the beginner ceiling, you have to learn to use phrases and sentences as part of communication. That's where context learning comes in. Here are three simple reasons for learning German in context.
Pronouns
German consistently uses pronouns with specific verb forms (as opposed to Italian or Spanish, for example). But because some of the German pronouns are multi-functional or are part of an idiom, you need the context to understand what's going on.
A perfect example is “sie/Sie”: • Wann kommt sie? - When is she coming? [she - subject] • Wann kommen sie? - When are they coming? [they - subject] • Und kommen Sie auch? - And are you also coming? [you(formal) - subject] • Ich kann Sie nicht sehen. - I can't see you. [you(formal) - direct object] • Ich kenne sie nicht. - I don't know her/them. [her/them - direct object]
The word "sie" can also refer to a "feminine gender" object or animal: • Die Hütte dort, siehst du sie? - The hut over there, do you see it? [it(f) - direct object] • Die Katze dort, sie wartet auf ihre Milch. - The cat over there, it's waiting for its milk. [it(f) - subject]
And the German “ihr/Ihr” could mean in English: “you” [plural familiar], “her” [indirect object], “their” [possessive pronoun], “your” [formal] or also “to her” in various German idioms.
When learning the various uses of “sie/Sie” or “ihr/Ihr,” it is useful to have specific phrases or sentences in mind.
Articles and Cases
In German, articles and noun cases are matched – often in mysterious ways for beginners: • “der” is not only the masculine article, as in : [der See] Der See ist .... - The lake is .... [m – subject), • "der" can also can precede a feminine noun, as in: • [die Frau] Ich gebe der Frau ... - I give (to) the woman ... [f, indirect object] • [die Kirche] Das Tor der Kirche ist .... - The door of the church .... [f , possessive] • [die Stimme] Die Anzahl der Stimmen ... - The number of votes ... [f pl, possessive]
Similarly, “die” is not only the feminine article, "die" is also the plural form for all nouns that are a subject or a direct object, as in: • [das Haus] Die Häuser sind ... - The houses are ... [neuter, pl subject] • [der Baum] Die Bäume sind ... - The trees are ... [m, pl subject] • [die Straße] Die Straßen sind ... - The streets are ... [f, pl subject] • Ich sehe die Häuser, die Bäume, und die Straßen. - I see the houses, the trees, and the streets. [direct objects]
Idiomatic meanings
Some words change their meaning, depending on the context. For example (as shown by a post circulating on Facebook), the word “Bitte" has multiple meanings.
As a simple statement, “Bitte” basically means “Please”. But it can also mean “Go ahead.”; or “I don't mind”; or “You're welcome.”; or “Here you are.”; or “Not at all.” In addition, the question “Bitte?” is often used as “Pardon me?”
While “Danke” simply means “Thank you,” in a specific context, it can mean: “Yes, thank you.” or “No, thank you.”
And, the much-used word “gut” (good) can change its meaning in idioms such as: • “Gut, das machen wir.” - Okay, we'll do that. • “Mir geht's gut.” - I'm feeling great. • “Mir ist nicht gut.” - I'm not feeling well. • “Jetzt ist es aber gut.” - That'll do. • “Schon gut.” - That's enough.
Learning vocabulary is clearly necessary – and Flashcards are a great tool for that – but simply knowing groups of words is not enough to really understand and speak German. It's best to learn those words in the context of a topic that interests you.
You will better remember the words when you recall them as part of meaningful phrases and sentences. Moreover, when you use them in new sentence combinations, applying the grammar rules will be much easier.
And we certainly agree with author Andy Hunt (co-author of “Pragmatic Thinking and Learning”) whom we had quoted in My Rosetta Stone Blog - 3: “Always Consider the Context ... because it is important for understanding the world around us."
Some time ago we added a German Quick Language Game called “2 Verb Pairs with 'ver-'.” Soon after, a few players contacted us with some questions about the Prefix "ver".
Examples:
Examples: 
