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### 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.

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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.

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When talking about multiple items, use the plural form **blieben**.

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### 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.

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Continuous non-occurrence (bleiben + un-)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the attic	der Dachboden
untouched	unberührt
The old attic remained completely untouched.	Der alte Dachboden blieb völlig unberührt.
In the beginning, everything in the attic remained untouched.	Am Anfang blieb auf dem Dachboden alles unberührt.
undiscovered	unentdeckt
At midnight, everything in the attic remained undiscovered.	Um Mitternacht blieb auf dem Dachboden alles unentdeckt.
the chest (storage box)	die Truhe
unopened	ungeöffnet
The heavy chest remained unopened for many years.	Die schwere Truhe blieb viele Jahre ungeöffnet.
The box remained unopened because the key was missing.	Die Kiste blieb ungeöffnet, weil der Schlüssel fehlte.
In the chest lay a book whose title remained undiscovered.	In der Truhe lag ein Buch, dessen Titel unentdeckt blieb.
the painting	das Gemälde
unnoticed	unbeachtet
The secret of the painting unfortunately remained unnoticed.	Das Geheimnis des Gemäldes blieb leider unbeachtet.
If only the painting could remain untouched!	Könnte das Gemälde doch unberührt bleiben!
unread	ungelesen
The letter in the cardboard box remained unread.	Der Brief im Karton blieb ungelesen.
The letter remained unread, about which she was very sad.	Der Brief blieb ungelesen, worüber sie sehr traurig war.
unanswered	unbeantwortet
In the evening, all questions remained unanswered.	Am Abend blieben alle Fragen unbeantwortet.
The email remained unanswered, which the boss was angry about.	Die E-Mail blieb unbeantwortet, worüber der Chef wütend war.
unchanged	unverändert
The situation in the company remained unchanged for many months.	Die Situation in der Firma blieb viele Monate unverändert.
The diary in the corner remained completely unnoticed.	Das Tagebuch in der Ecke blieb völlig unbeachtet.
The painting in the attic remained unchanged.	Das Gemälde auf dem Dachboden blieb unverändert.