Word
Die Farben in dieser Ausstellung wirken irreal.
Meaning
The colors in this exhibition appear unreal.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Die Farben in dieser Ausstellung wirken irreal.
in
in
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
die Farbe
the color
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Die Farben in dieser Ausstellung wirken irreal.
Why does German use the prefix ir- in irreal instead of the standard German un-?
Just like in English, German borrowed many words from Latin. The standard Latin negative prefix is in-, but when attached to a root starting with r (like real), the n changes to match the r to make pronunciation smoother. This process gives us irreal. You will see the exact same pattern in words like irrational or irrelevant.
Could I just use the German prefix un- and say unreal instead?
No, the mixed word unreal does not exist in German. However, you can use the native German equivalent unwirklich, which means the exact same thing as irreal. Both are perfectly fine to use, though irreal can sound slightly more formal or artistic, fitting the context of an exhibition.
Why use wirken here instead of aussehen for "appear" or "look"?
While you could say sehen irreal aus (look unreal), wirken is an excellent B2-level verb that means "to come across as" or "to have an effect." It tells us that the colors do not just physically look a certain way, but that they actively create an unreal atmosphere or psychological impression on the viewer.
Can I use irreal as slang to mean "amazing," just like saying "that is unreal" in English?