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When dealing with a terrible new software update, you need the right words to express your frustration. In German, you can easily flip the meaning of words to their negative counterparts by attaching the simple prefix **un-**.

### Negating Adjectives

Adding **un-** to the beginning of a German adjective turns it into its exact opposite, perfectly mirroring how "un-", "im-", or "in-" work in English.

For example, *logisch* (logical) becomes *unlogisch* (illogical), and *brauchbar* (usable) becomes *unbrauchbar* (unusable).

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Similarly, *möglich* (possible) flips to *unmöglich* (impossible), and *zufrieden* (satisfied) becomes *unzufrieden* (dissatisfied).

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### Negating Nouns

Unlike in English, where "un-" is mostly reserved for adjectives and verbs, German freely attaches **un-** directly to nouns.

Sometimes this creates a direct opposite state. For instance, *die Zufriedenheit* (the satisfaction) becomes *die Unzufriedenheit* (the dissatisfaction).

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In other cases, adding **un-** implies a "bad" version of the root noun, or a complete lack of it. *Der Sinn* (the sense or meaning) turns into *der Unsinn* (the nonsense), and *die Ordnung* (the order or tidiness) turns into *die Unordnung* (the mess or disorder).

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The negative prefix (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 software	die Software
to install	installieren
I installed the new software yesterday.	Ich habe gestern die neue Software installiert.
illogical	unlogisch
unusable	unbrauchbar
The software is completely illogical and unusable!	Die Software ist völlig unlogisch und unbrauchbar!
Although the boss knew it, he installed the update.	Obwohl der Chef es wusste, hat er das Update installiert.
impossible	unmöglich
The new function is illogical and impossible.	Die neue Funktion ist unlogisch und unmöglich.
It is impossible to work within the firm!	Es ist unmöglich, innerhalb der Firma zu arbeiten!
dissatisfied	unzufrieden
We became dissatisfied because the system is unusable.	Wir wurden unzufrieden, weil das System unbrauchbar ist.
the nonsense	der Unsinn
I knew that this program is nonsense.	Ich wusste, dass dieses Programm Unsinn ist.
This nonsense makes me angry.	Dieser Unsinn macht mich wütend.
the mess	die Unordnung
The update caused a mess.	Das Update hat eine Unordnung verursacht.
In the past, there was no mess.	Früher gab es keine Unordnung.
the dissatisfaction	die Unzufriedenheit
The dissatisfaction outside the department is growing.	Die Unzufriedenheit außerhalb der Abteilung wächst.
The dissatisfaction was huge yesterday.	Die Unzufriedenheit war gestern groß.
impatient	ungeduldig
The user clicked on the file and became impatient.	Der Nutzer klickte auf die Datei und wurde ungeduldig.
I am impatient, although I installed the software.	Ich bin ungeduldig, obwohl ich die Software installierte.
The boss became dissatisfied and deleted the program.	Der Chef wurde unzufrieden und löschte das Programm.