Breakdown of Ich habe den Termin total vergessen.
ich
I
haben
to have
vergessen
to forget
der Termin
the appointment
total
totally, completely
Questions & Answers about Ich habe den Termin total vergessen.
Since this lesson is about '-weise' adverbs, how could I add one to this sentence to express my attitude about forgetting?
You can add an adverb like dummerweise (stupidly) to show regret. If you place it at the start of the sentence for emphasis, remember that the conjugated verb must stay in the second position, pushing the subject to position three: Dummerweise habe ich den Termin total vergessen. (Stupidly, I completely forgot the appointment.)
Does der Termin cover all types of appointments and dates?
No, Termin is specifically used for professional, medical, or official appointments. If you are casually meeting friends, you would use die Verabredung, and for a romantic date, you use das Date. Because the appointment is the direct object receiving the action here, the masculine noun takes the accusative case: den Termin.
Why doesn't the past participle vergessen have a ge- at the beginning?
Verbs that start with an inseparable prefix like ver- never take the ge- prefix in the past participle. Furthermore, vergessen is an irregular (strong) verb where the past participle happens to look exactly like the infinitive form, which is why it might look like you're just putting an infinitive at the end of the sentence.
Is total the best word to use here for 'completely'?
In conversational German, total is extremely common and natural as an adverb meaning 'completely' or 'totally'. If you were writing a formal letter or essay, you would likely prefer words like völlig or komplett, but total is perfect for everyday speech.
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