Expressing Continuous States of Non-Occurrence
When exploring a forgotten place like a dusty old attic, you might find things that have sat untouched for years. To express that something "remained" in a not-done state, German pairs the verb bleiben (to remain or stay) with a past participle starting with the negative prefix un-.
Because these descriptions often happen in past narratives, you will frequently see the simple past (Präteritum) forms of bleiben: blieb for singular subjects and blieben for plural subjects.
| The old attic remained completely untouched. | Der alte Dachboden blieb völlig unberührt. |
| The heavy chest remained unopened for many years. | Die schwere Truhe blieb viele Jahre ungeöffnet. |
Notice how words like unberührt (untouched) and ungeöffnet (unopened) are formed simply by adding un- to the standard past participle. They sit at the end of the clause, acting just like regular adjectives describing the subject.
| The letter in the cardboard box remained unread. | Der Brief im Karton blieb ungelesen. |
| The secret of the painting unfortunately remained unnoticed. | Das Geheimnis des Gemäldes blieb leider unbeachtet. |
When talking about multiple items, use the plural form blieben.
| In the evening, all questions remained unanswered. | Am Abend blieben alle Fragen unbeantwortet. |
Word Order Variations
Remember the golden rule of German main clauses: the conjugated verb must always sit in the second position. If you start your sentence with a time phrase or a location rather than the subject, blieb or blieben must immediately follow it.
| At midnight, everything in the attic remained undiscovered. | Um Mitternacht blieb auf dem Dachboden alles unentdeckt. |
| In the beginning, everything in the attic remained untouched. | Am Anfang blieb auf dem Dachboden alles unberührt. |