Useful everyday German verbs: 100 more to learn

100 more useful German verbs

Infinitives, with sich where the verb is reflexive. Some English meanings are narrower than the German verb; the sections below say where. This is the second verbs pack in the Contos web app's flashcard review.

Which of these verbs take the dative?

A handful of verbs in this list take their person in the dative, where English uses a plain object. Others take two objects: the person in the dative and the thing in the accusative, as with English give someone something.

Many verbs here form the perfect tense with sein because they describe movement or change: passieren, verschwinden, folgen, fliehen, wachsen, scheitern, klettern and bleiben. Was ist passiert? (What happened?) is one of the first past-tense questions you will need.

Reflexive pairs: verstecken or sich verstecken?

Adding sich often turns a verb back on the subject. Verstecken is to hide something; sich verstecken is to hide yourself.

Sich vorstellen: imagine or introduce yourself?

The list gives sich etwas vorstellen as to imagine, and the etwas matters: the verb means to imagine with a dative pronoun and an object: Ich stelle mir das schwierig vor (I imagine that's difficult), Stell dir vor! (Imagine!). With an accusative pronoun, the same verb means to introduce yourself: Darf ich mich vorstellen? (May I introduce myself?). The pronoun decides the meaning.

• sich beschweren takes über for the problem and bei for the person: Ich beschwere mich beim Vermieter über die Heizung.
• sich streiten takes mit for the person and über for the topic: Sie streiten sich über Geld.
• sich Sorgen machen uses a dative pronoun and um: Mach dir keine Sorgen um mich.
• sich hinlegen is to lie down; sich entspannen is to relax; sich rasieren is to shave.

Stehen bleiben: when two verbs make one

Bleiben (to stay) joins with stehen (to stand) to mean to stop, of a person walking or a clock. It is one of the most useful verb pairs in German storytelling:

Door signs, double meanings and formal words

Some verbs in the list are correct but not what a German would say in that situation. Others carry a second meaning you will meet just as often.

• ziehen is to pull, and it is the word on doors. On the other side, the sign says drücken (push), not schieben. Schieben is for pushing something along, like a bike or a pram.
• scheinen is to shine (Die Sonne scheint) and also to seem (Er scheint müde zu sein).
• raten is to guess (Rate mal!, have a guess!) and also to advise: Ich rate dir, früh zu kommen.
• probieren is to taste or try food: Probier mal den Kuchen! For how something tastes, the verb is schmecken: Das schmeckt gut.
• ausleihen is to borrow (Ich leihe mir ein Buch aus) and also to lend (Kannst du mir dein Fahrrad ausleihen?). The pronoun shows the direction.
• abschließen is to lock a door, and also to complete a degree or a contract.
• klatschen is to clap, and also to gossip.

Joking and preferring: the spoken forms

The list gives Witze machen for to joke; scherzen is correct but bookish. In conversation you will also hear Ich mache nur Spaß (I'm only joking) or Das war ein Witz. For to prefer, the list gives lieber mögen: Ich mag Tee lieber. With any other verb, lieber does the job alone: Ich trinke lieber Tee. Bevorzugen is fine in writing.