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Welcome to the gallery of optical illusions! To describe mind-bending shapes and shifting perspectives, you will need specialized vocabulary.

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When describing these visual tricks, we often negate adjectives. Native German words typically use the prefix *un-* (like *unmöglich* or *unbekannt*), but adjectives borrowed from Latin retain their original Latin negation prefixes.

The default Latin prefix is **in-**, but its final consonant often assimilates to match the first letter of the adjective.

### Matching consonants: ir- and il-

If a borrowed adjective begins with **r**, the prefix changes to **ir-**.

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If the word begins with **l**, the prefix becomes **il-**.

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### Before M and P: im-

If a Latin adjective starts with an **m** or **p**, the prefix changes to **im-**.

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### The default prefix: in-

For most other Latin-derived adjectives, the prefix remains **in-**. You will see this before vowels and consonants like *s*, *d*, or *t*.

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Latin negation prefixes (in-, im-, il-, ir-)

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
optical	optisch
This optical illusion is totally confusing.	Diese optische Illusion ist total verwirrend.
Is that the optical illusion we are talking about?	Ist das die optische Illusion, über die wir sprechen?
the angle	der Winkel
From this angle, the pattern appears crooked.	Aus diesem Winkel wirkt das Muster schief.
The angle from which I am looking changes everything.	Der Winkel, aus dem ich schaue, ändert alles.
irregular	irregulär
This sculpture is completely irregular.	Diese Skulptur ist komplett irregulär.
There are many irregular patterns here.	Es gibt hier viele irreguläre Muster.
illogical	illogisch
The perspective in the painting is simply illogical.	Die Perspektive auf dem Gemälde ist einfach illogisch.
Why do you find this architecture illogical?	Warum finden Sie diese Architektur illogisch?
irrational	irrational
My fear in the dark is completely irrational.	Meine Angst in der Dunkelheit ist völlig irrational.
That is an irrational worry, we do not need to argue about it.	Das ist eine irrationale Sorge, darüber müssen wir nicht streiten.
the dimension	die Dimension
The third dimension is missing in this picture.	Die dritte Dimension fehlt in diesem Bild.
In a higher dimension, that appears illogical.	In einer höheren Dimension wirkt das illogisch.
unreal	irreal
The colors in this exhibition appear unreal.	Die Farben in dieser Ausstellung wirken irreal.
It is an unreal feeling when one walks through the labyrinth.	Es ist ein irreales Gefühl, wenn man durch das Labyrinth geht.
immaterial	immateriell
The shadow is immaterial, but one can see it.	Der Schatten ist immateriell, aber man kann ihn sehen.
Many artworks here are completely immaterial.	Viele Kunstwerke hier sind völlig immateriell.
imperfect	imperfekt
An imperfect line makes the illusion interesting in the first place.	Eine imperfekte Linie macht die Illusion erst interessant.
I like this painting, especially since it is so imperfect.	Ich mag dieses Gemälde, zumal es so imperfekt ist.
unstable	instabil
The tower in the picture looks very unstable.	Der Turm auf dem Bild sieht sehr instabil aus.
The whole construction appears unstable and unreal.	Die ganze Konstruktion wirkt instabil und irreal.