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### Two verbs for killing, and they are not interchangeable

| verb | | register |
|---|---|---|
| **töten** | to kill | neutral, and the word a report or a law uses |
| **umbringen** | to kill, to do away with | concrete and personal; separable, so the prefix leaves |

**umbringen** comes apart in a main clause the way every separable verb has since L34: *Er **bringt** ihn **um**.* Its past participle keeps the prefix in front: *umgebracht*.

{{item:888851}}

### der Mord and der Kampf

**der Mord** is the deed; the person is *der Mörder*. **der Kampf** stretches from a physical fight to a political struggle — *der Kampf gegen die Armut* — and pairs with the verb *kämpfen*.

### schießen, and its vowel

**schießen** is a strong verb of the *ie → o → o* class: *schießen, schoss, geschossen*. Do not let it collide with **schließen** (to close) @L44, which differs by one letter and takes the same pattern.

> Der Polizist **schoss** in die Luft.

{{item:888854}}

### befehlen takes a dative person

Like *helfen* and *danken* @L39, **befehlen** puts the person in the dative and the thing commanded in a *zu*-clause: *Er **befahl dem Soldaten** zu warten.*

### The colloquial layer

**der Bulle** is literally the bull; as slang for a police officer it is rude, and you will hear it constantly in film dialogue. **schnappen** — to grab, and of the police, to catch — is equally colloquial.

{{item:888878}}

Crime and justice

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
to kill	töten
The war killed many people.	Der Krieg hat viele Menschen getötet.
Nobody knows who killed the witness.	Niemand weiß, wer den Zeugen getötet hat.
to kill (do away with)	umbringen
The perpetrator is said to have killed the witness.	Der Täter soll den Zeugen umgebracht haben.
She wanted to kill him.	Sie wollte ihn umbringen.
to shoot	schießen
The policeman shot into the air.	Der Polizist hat in die Luft geschossen.
He shot at the car.	Er schoss auf das Auto.
the murder	der Mord
The murder remained unsolved for years.	Der Mord blieb jahrelang ungeklärt.
She is reporting on a murder in the city.	Sie berichtet über einen Mord in der Stadt.
the prison	das Gefängnis
He has been in prison for two years.	Er sitzt seit zwei Jahren im Gefängnis.
The prison lies outside the city.	Das Gefängnis liegt außerhalb der Stadt.
the cop (slang)	der Bulle
The cops are already here.	Die Bullen sind schon da.
He always calls the police officers cops.	Er nennt die Polizisten immer Bullen.
to command	befehlen
The doctor ordered him to stay in bed.	Der Arzt befahl ihm, im Bett zu bleiben.
Nobody can order me what to think.	Niemand kann mir befehlen, was ich denke.
to protect (shield from harm)	beschützen
The fence is meant to protect the garden.	Der Zaun soll den Garten beschützen.
Parents always want to protect their children.	Eltern wollen ihre Kinder immer beschützen.
the fight, the struggle	der Kampf
The fight against poverty has gone on for a long time.	Der Kampf gegen die Armut dauert schon lange.
After the fight he was completely exhausted.	Nach dem Kampf war er völlig erschöpft.
the drug	die Droge
Trade in drugs is forbidden.	Der Handel mit Drogen ist verboten.
The police found drugs in the car.	Die Polizei fand Drogen im Auto.
to grab, to catch (colloquial)	schnappen
The police caught the perpetrator.	Die Polizei hat den Täter geschnappt.
He grabbed my bag and ran off.	Er schnappte sich meine Tasche und rannte davon.
to fire (a weapon)	feuern
The soldier fired twice into the air.	Der Soldat feuerte zweimal in die Luft.
Whoever fires first has already lost.	Wer zuerst feuert, hat schon verloren.

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