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To talk about seeing an artist work or hearing a needle buzz, German uses specific verbs that act like modal verbs: they take a second verb in its **bare infinitive** form (without *zu*) at the end of the sentence.

### Verbs of Perception: sehen and hören

When you see or hear someone or something performing an action, use *sehen* or *hören* as your conjugated main verb. The person or thing you are observing becomes the direct object (in the accusative case), and the action they are doing is placed at the very end of the sentence as an infinitive without *zu*.

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Notice how the objects (*die Nadel* and *den Tätowierer*) sit in the middle of the clause, while the bare infinitives (*surren* and *arbeiten*) are pushed to the end.

If the observed action has a direct object of its own, that object simply goes before the infinitive at the end of the sentence.

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### The Verb "bleiben"

The verb *bleiben* (to stay) also pairs directly with a bare infinitive. This is most commonly used with verbs of posture like *sitzen* (to sit) or *liegen* (to lie) to express remaining in a certain physical position.

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Just like with the verbs of perception, *bleiben* is conjugated to match the subject, and the bare infinitive sits patiently at the end of the clause.

### Verbs of Motion: gehen and kommen

Finally, verbs of motion like *gehen* (to go) and *kommen* (to come) can take a bare infinitive to show the purpose of the movement. Instead of using a complex phrase like "goes in order to work," German smoothly pairs the motion verb with the bare infinitive.

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By placing the bare infinitives (*arbeiten* and *helfen*) at the end, these sentences clearly and concisely describe the flow of action.

Infinitives without zu (sehen, hören, bleiben)

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 tattoo parlor	das Tattoostudio
the needle	die Nadel
to buzz	surren
Since the tattoo parlor is full, we hear the needle buzzing loudly.	Da das Tattoostudio voll ist, hören wir die Nadel laut surren.
the tattoo artist	der Tätowierer
the tattoo	das Tattoo
to prick	stechen
Who sees the tattoo artist inking the tattoo?	Wer sieht den Tätowierer das Tattoo stechen?
painful	schmerzhaft
still (quiet, motionless)	still
Since the tattoo is painful, the customer stays seated quietly.	Da das Tattoo schmerzhaft ist, bleibt der Kunde still sitzen.
the template	die Vorlage
the shoulder	die Schulter
We see the tattoo artist lay the template onto the shoulder.	Wir sehen den Tätowierer die Vorlage auf die Schulter legen.
Does the woman stay lying still when the tattoo is painful?	Bleibt die Frau still liegen, wenn das Tattoo schmerzhaft ist?
Since the tattoo parlor is full, the tattoo artist comes to help.	Da das Tattoostudio voll ist, kommt der Tätowierer helfen.
What do you hear buzzing in the tattoo parlor?	Was hörst du im Tattoostudio surren?
I see the tattoo artist inking, but I stay seated quietly.	Ich sehe den Tätowierer stechen, aber ich bleibe still sitzen.
I knew that it was getting painful, but the man stayed lying still.	Ich wusste, dass es schmerzhaft wurde, aber der Mann blieb still liegen.
We see the tattoo artist working.	Wir sehen den Tätowierer arbeiten.
I see the template lying on the shoulder.	Ich sehe die Vorlage auf der Schulter liegen.
The customer stays seated and hears the needle buzzing.	Der Kunde bleibt sitzen und hört die Nadel surren.
I hear the needle buzzing in the tattoo parlor.	Ich höre die Nadel im Tattoostudio surren.
The customer stays sitting still.	Der Kunde bleibt still sitzen.
The tattoo artist goes to work now.	Der Tätowierer geht jetzt arbeiten.
We see the template lying on the table.	Wir sehen die Vorlage auf dem Tisch liegen.
to watch, to have a look at	sich ansehen
We are watching the film.	Wir sehen uns den Film an.
I had a look at the apartment.	Ich habe mir die Wohnung angesehen.

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