This section details the construction of
verbal nouns and
verbal adjectives from the main infinitive. The processes are the same both for simple and complex infinitives. For complex infinitives, adverbial phrases and object phrases are ignored, they do not affect this process; except something else is mentioned.
Past participle There are some irregularities when creating the past participle form. Weak verbs form their past participles with
ge- plus the third person singular form of the verb. •
fragen (er fragt) →
gefragt •
passen (es passt) →
gepasst •
antworten (er antwortet) →
geantwortet •
hören (er hört) →
gehört •
fühlen (er fühlt) →
gefühlt Verbs with non-initial stress (practically always the result of an unstressed inseparable prefix, or foreign words ending in stressed
-ieren or
-eien) do not have
ge- added to the verb. •
verführen (er verführt) →
verführt •
miauen (er miaut) →
miaut •
probieren (er probiert) →
probiert •
prophezeien (er prophezeit) →
prophezeit For irregular verbs, the infinitive ending
-en remains. •
gelaufen •
gegeben •
gegangen •
geworfen The separable prefix remains in place. •
weggetragen •
umverteilt : Note:
Ich habe den Baum umgefahren (
I drove over – crashed into – the tree) : Note:
Ich habe den Baum umfahren (
I drove around the tree) The past participles of modal and auxiliary verbs have the same form as their infinitives. But if these verbs are used alone, without an infinitive, they have a regular participle. :
Ich habe den Chef besuchen dürfen (
Chef = boss) (
I was allowed to see the boss) :
Ich habe zum Chef gedurft (unusual) (
I was allowed in to the boss)
Present participle To create the basic form of a present participle, you attach the suffix
-d to the infinitive of the verb. :
laufen –
laufend ("walk" – "walking") :
töpfern –
töpfernd ("make pottery" – "making pottery") :
lächeln –
lächelnd ("smile" – "smiling") :
verraten –
verratend ("betray" – "betraying") :
aufbauen –
aufbauend ("establish" – "establishing")
Future participle or gerundive A gerundive-like construction is fairly complicated to use. The basic form is created by putting the word
zu before the infinitive. This is also the adverb. :
zu suchen ("to be looked for") :
Der Schlüssel ist zu suchen ("the key needs to be looked for") :
zu verzeichnen ("to be recorded") :
Ein Trend ist zu verzeichnen ("A trend is to be recorded") The adjective is more complicated. Instead of the infinitive, one uses the present participle, and then declines it corresponding to gender, number, case and article of the nominal phrase. (Compare the
German declension of adjectives.) :
Der zu suchende Schlüssel ("the key to be looked for") :
Ein zu lüftendes Geheimnis ("a secret to be revealed")
Agent nouns Agent nouns (e.g.
photographer from
photograph in English) are constructed by taking the infinitive, removing the ending and replacing it by
-er,
-ler or
-er(er). If the person is a woman, the endings have an extra
-in on them. In the explicitly feminine form a second syllable
er is omitted, if the infinitive ends on
ern or
eren. • infinitive:
fahren "to drive" • agent noun, masculine:
der Fahrer "the (male) driver" • agent noun, feminine:
die Fahrerin "the female driver" • infinitive:
tischlern "to join (carpentry)" • agent noun, masculine:
der Tischler "the (male) joiner" • agent noun, feminine:
die Tischlerin "the female joiner" • infinitive:
verweigern "to refuse" • agent noun, masculine:
der Verweigerer "the (male) refuser" • agent noun, feminine:
die Verweiger(er)in "the female refuser" This form is hard to build for complex infinitives, therefore it is unusual: • infinitive:
weggehen "to go away" :does not usually become
der Weggeher or
die Weggeherin, but instead
Derjenige, der weggeht ("the one going away") or even • infinitive:
schnell zum Flughafen fahren um die Maschine noch zu erwischen ("to quickly drive to the airport to just catch the flight") :does not usually become:
Der Schnell-zum-Flughafen-um-die-Maschine-noch-zu-erwischen-Fahrer ("the quickly-driving-to-the-airport-to-catch-the-flight-driver") On the other hand, this form is often used in fun or mocking expressions, because the imputed behaviour that is content of the mocking can be merged into a single word. Examples are:
Toiletten-Tief-Taucher ("toilet deep diver", which is an alliteration in German), or
Mutterficker ("motherfucker"). A whole range of these expressions aim at supposedly weak or conformist behaviour, such as
Ampel-bei-Rot-Stehenbleiber ("traffic-lights-on-red-stopper"),
Warmduscher ("warm-showerer"),
Unterhosen-Wechsler ("underpants changer"), or
Schattenparker ("in the shadow parker"). Especially among children there are several fixed terms of this type, like
Spielverderber ("game spoiler"). Note: The suffix
-er is also used to form instrument nouns, e.g.
Salzstreuer and
Bohrer also denote instruments.
Verbal nouns and deverbatives Verbal nouns The two most common forms of verbal nouns are infinitives and gerunds. The bare infinitive, when used as a noun, has no plural (or if it does it is invariable, i.e. identical to the singular), and its gender is neuter. :
arbeiten ‘to work’ –
das Arbeiten ‘working’ ::Note:
die Arbeiten is not the plural of the verbal noun
Arbeiten, it is the plural of the feminine noun
die Arbeit. ;Example for the plural :
„Das Verlegen“ kann verschiedene Bedeutungen haben: Das Verlegen einer Sache (die man dann nicht mehr findet); das Verlegen eines Veranstaltungsortes; das Verlegen einer Zeitung; etc. Diese verschiedenen „Verlegen“ sind ein gutes Beispiel für den Plural des Gerunds. :“
Das Verlegen can have different meanings: the misplacing of a thing (which you'll never find later), the moving of an event location, the editing of a newspaper, etc. These different
Verlegen form a good example of the verbal noun's plural.” Gerunds in -
ung are feminine and have regular plurals in -
en. They are formed as in English, only the ending is -
ung; e.g.,
ableiten ‘to derive’ –
Ableitung ‘derivative (ling.)’;
fordern ‘to demand; claim’ –
Forderung ‘credit; claim’. While German gerunds formerly served the same function as they do in English, they now have concrete, usually technical meanings. Sometimes the German infinitive and gerund convey the same meaning, but this is rare (e.g.
das Laugen –
die Laugung, both ‘
leaching, lixiviation’;
das Kleben –
die Klebung, both ‘chemically bonding, adhering’); usually only the infinitive carries the same meaning as an English gerund. Compare: :
handeln ‘to act; do business, deal with’ –
das Handeln ‘an act, action; dealing’ (in general) –
die Handlung ‘physical act; deed; operation’ :
kochen ‘to cook’ –
das Kochen ‘cooking’ (in general) –
die Kochung ‘boiling of the boiling scheme’ (technical) :
schwächen ‘to weaken’ –
das Schwächen ‘weakening’ (in general) –
die Schwächung ‘attenuation; debilitation, enfeeblement’
Deverbatives One type of deverbative noun is formed by adding
-erei (-lerei or
-(er)ei) and (sometimes) has a slightly derogatory meaning. The grammatically dependent implication (i.e. independent of context, speech, and syntax) of disapproval for this type of deverbative is rather weak, though present. It must be supported either by context or speech. On the other hand, any positive implication from the context or speech will free the deverbative from any disapproval. Its plural ends in
-en, and its gender is feminine. :
arbeiten ‘to work’ –
die Arbeiterei ‘silly working’ :
laufen ‘to run’ –
die Lauferei ‘running around’ :
streiten ‘to argue’ –
die Streiterei(en) ‘tiff, squabble’ :
schlemmen ‘to feast’ –
die Schlemmerei(en) ‘gormandizing; gluttony’ :
malen ‘to paint’ –
die Malerei(en) ‘doodle(s), goofy portrait’ The above form means a loose, vague abstractum of the verb's meaning. It is also often used to designate a whole trade, discipline or industry, or a single business/enterprise: :
die Meierei ‘dairy farm’ :
malen ‘to paint’ –
die Malerei ‘a painting’ (work of art), or ‘painters’ business’ In this form the plural is used just as with any other noun. Cf. also
Metzgerei,
Fleischerei ‘butcher’s shop’,
Malerei (a business of professional painters (of rooms and buildings)) are not derived from verbs. Similar to the form presented above, one may place the prefix
ge- (after the separable prefix), if the verb doesn't have a permanent prefix, and then attach the ending
-e (
-el,
-er ). Most times, this noun indicates slightly more disapproval than the other one (depending in the same way on context, speech etc.). Its gender is neuter. :
fahren ‘to drive’ –
das Gefahre ‘silly driving’ :
laufen ‘to run’ –
das Gelaufe ‘running around (like a child at play)’ A plural form does not exist. To indicate the reference to all instances the pronoun/numeral
all can be added, as in the following example: •
Mother to child: Hör mit dem Geschaukel auf! ("Stop that rocking!") •
Child rocks in a different manner •
Mother: Hör mit allem Geschaukel auf! ("Stop all rockings!") However, a more formal reference to all instances would be
Hör mit jeder Form von Geschaukel auf! (“Stop any form of rocking!”) instead. So this use of
all is merely encountered in colloquial conversations. If this type of deverbative is used to express disapproval, it is typically augmented by the prefix
herum- or (short form)
rum- to make it sound/look even more disapproving. For example:
Das stundenlange Herumgefahre im Bus geht mir total auf die Nerven. ("The silly driving around for hours in the bus is totally getting on my nerves.") These forms are hard to build for complex infinitives; therefore they are unusual. When they occur, all object phrases and adverbial phrases are put before the verbal noun: :
von Allen gesehen werden "to be seen by everyone" –
Das Von-Allen-gesehen-Werden "being seen by everyone" == Tenses ==