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### Honoring a Mentor

When delivering a eulogy or heartfelt tribute, elevated vocabulary helps honor the person's legacy.

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### Formal Ability: "vermögen zu"

In everyday German, you express ability with the modal verb **können**. In a higher, more formal register—such as a public speech—you can use the verb **vermögen**.

Unlike *können*, **vermögen** is not a modal verb and requires **zu** before the infinitive at the end of the clause. 

It conjugates with the same vowel changes as *mögen*:

| Pronoun | Present Tense |
| - | - |
| ich / er / sie / es | vermag |
| du | vermagst |
| wir / sie / Sie | vermögen |
| ihr | vermögt |

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### Talking About the Past: "vermochte"

Because eulogies reflect on a person's life, you will frequently use the Präteritum (simple past) form: **vermochte** (was able to). 

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### Expressing Grief and Sympathy

Meaningful tributes acknowledge the pain of loss and the support of the community using evocative nouns like **die Lücke** (the gap/void), **die Trauer** (grief), and **die Anteilnahme** (sympathy).

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Formal ability (vermögen zu)

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 role model	das Vorbild
to honor	würdigen
We gather today in order to honor a great role model.	Wir versammeln uns heute, um ein großartiges Vorbild zu würdigen.
to be able to (formal)	vermögen
the mentor	der Mentor
Nobody is able to replace this mentor.	Niemand vermag diesen Mentor zu ersetzen.
irreplaceable	unersetzlich
the gap (empty space / missing piece)	die Lücke
He is irreplaceable and leaves a gap that cannot be closed.	Er ist unersetzlich und hinterlässt eine Lücke, die nicht zu schließen ist.
profound	tiefgründig
the wisdom	die Weisheit
His profound wisdom was able to solve every problem.	Seine tiefgründige Weisheit vermochte jedes Problem zu lösen.
Our words are hardly able to honor his legacy.	Unsere Worte vermögen sein Vermächtnis kaum zu würdigen.
He always remained calm, with which he was able to solve many conflicts.	Er blieb immer ruhig, womit er viele Konflikte zu lösen vermochte.
the grief	die Trauer
The gap and the grief are great, but time will surely heal the pain.	Die Lücke und die Trauer sind groß, aber die Zeit wird den Schmerz schon heilen.
the sympathy	die Anteilnahme
According to the family, the sincere sympathy helps them in the grief.	Der Familie zufolge hilft ihnen die aufrichtige Anteilnahme in der Trauer.
We thank the mentor for his irreplaceable wisdom.	Wir danken dem Mentor für seine unersetzliche Weisheit.
This profound mentor was able to inspire us all.	Dieser tiefgründige Mentor vermochte uns alle zu inspirieren.
We are able to appreciate the sympathy, because he remains our role model.	Wir vermögen die Anteilnahme zu würdigen, denn er bleibt unser Vorbild.