A2.2 · 24 of 36

Wortbildung: -er, -ung, un-, -los, -bar

Lesson · 4 rules · about 5 min

Spot five little word parts — -er, -ung, un-, -los, -bar — and hundreds of unknown German words suddenly make sense.

  1. 1-er: the doer, always der
  2. 2-ung: the thing or process, always die
  3. 3un-, -los, -bar
  4. 4Gender by suffix — with care
Why this matters

German grows its vocabulary by attaching pieces to words you already know, and five of the pieces are worth knowing early. Verb + -er makes the person who does it, always der (and -erin for a woman): fahren → der Fahrer, lehren → der Lehrer, verkaufen → der Verkäufer (with an umlaut). Verb + -ung makes the abstract noun, always die: wohnen → die Wohnung, erfahren → die Erfahrung, anmelden → die Anmeldung. un- in front of an adjective negates it: glücklich → unglücklich. Noun + -los means 'without': arbeitslos, wolkenlos, kostenlos. Verb + -bar means 'can be …-ed': essbar, lesbar, erreichbar. Knowing these five turns hundreds of unknown words into known ones — which is exactly what you rely on when reading ads, signs and letters.

Question 1 of 10 · eins
eins1zwei2drei3vier4fünf5sechs6sieben7acht8neun9zehn10

Gebildetes Wort

fahren → Person (-er / -erin)

Der hält den Bus an der Haltestelle. (fahren → person)

The driver stops the bus at the stop.