Word families: learn one verb, get three words
Forschen, der Forscher, die Forschung
German builds nouns from verbs in regular ways. Take the stem (the verb without -en): add -er for the person (masculine, der), -erin for a woman, and -ung for the activity (always feminine, die).
| Verb | Person | Activity or result |
|---|---|---|
| forschen to research | der Forscher / die Forscherin | die Forschung research |
| messen to measure | (das Messgerät, measuring device) | die Messung measurement |
| untersuchen to examine | der Untersucher (rare) | die Untersuchung investigation, examination |
| entdecken to discover | der Entdecker / die Entdeckerin | die Entdeckung discovery |
| erfinden to invent | der Erfinder / die Erfinderin | die Erfindung invention |
The passive in a lab report
Die Probe wird erhitzt
The German passive (where the thing acted on becomes the subject) uses werden + the past participle, which goes to the end of the sentence. For a past report, wurde replaces wird.
Schritt 1dee PROH-be VIRT auf AKHT-tsikh GRAAT er-HITST · “The sample is heated to 80 degrees.”Why: wird + erhitzt (participle at the end). Who heats it doesn’t matter.
Die Probethe samplewirdisauf 80 Gradto 80 degreeserhitzt.heated
Schritt 2dee tem-pe-ra-TOOR VIRT YAY-de mi-NOO-te ge-ME-sen · “The temperature is measured every minute.”Why: messen has an irregular participle: gemessen.
Die Temperaturthe temperaturewirdisjede Minuteevery minutegemessen.measured
Schritt 3dee DAA-ten VAIR-den AUS-ge-vair-tet · “The data are evaluated.”Why: Plural subject, so werden. auswerten is separable, so ge- goes inside: ausgewertet.
Die Datenthe datawerdenareausgewertet.evaluated
Ergebnisdee hü-po-TAY-ze VUR-de be-SHTAY-tikht · “The hypothesis was confirmed.”Why: wurde is the past of wird. bestätigen has no ge- because it starts with the unstressed prefix be-.
Die Hypothesethe hypothesiswurdewasbestätigt.confirmed
Reading numbers and symbols
Drei Komma fünf, zehn hoch sechs
German writes large numbers with a point or a thin space between groups of three: 1.000.000 or 1 000 000 (eine Million). Never use a comma there: 1,000 would mean one point zero.
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