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Copular verbs (werden, bleiben, sein)

Copular verbs in German grammar

(Specifics of copulas in German grammar)

Contents

  1. What are copular verbs?
  2. Further explanations and exercises

What are copular verbs?

In grammar, copula stands for connecting and describes the so-called copulative or copular verbs (in German: Kopulaverben). They connect the subject with the predicative expression in a sentence and, thus, form the predicate. Besides, copulas cannot appear without such a predicative expression. German grammar has only few verbs of this type; the most common ones are ‘sein’ (to be), ‘bleiben’ (to stay), and ‘werden’ (will).

  • Compare the following sentences that illustrate the typical use of the German copular verbs:
    • Example of ‘werden’:
      • „Michaela wird einmal Bäckerin.“ (Michaela will be a baker one day.)
        • Here, a noun is the predicative nominal.
    • Example of ‘bleiben’:
      • „Wir bleiben hier.“ (We are staying here.)
        • This utterance shows an adverb as the predicative expression.
    • Example of ‘sein’:
      • „Die Aussicht ist schön.“ (The view is beautiful.)
        • The predicative expression is an adjective here.
  • Some other verbs exist that may take over the function of a copula. Such a verb is then used similarly and follows the same rules as a copulative verb:
    • Examples are:
      • nennen (to call), schimpfen (scold), finden (find), heißen (call)
        • „Die Schüler finden das Theaterstück langweilig.“ (The students find the play boring.)
        • „Sie nannte ihn einen Dummkopf.“ (She called him a fool.)
    • Examples of a variant of this type of verbs, which require an additional preposition to be present in the sentence:
      • gelten als (to be considered as), sehen als (see as), betrachten als (regard as), bezeichnen als (call, refer to as), anerkennen als (recognize as), erweisen als (prove to be)
        • „Wir bezeichnen das Unglück mal als Pech.“ (We just call this disaster bad luck.)
          • The preposition ‘als’ is necessary here.
        • „Die Autofahrer betrachten die hohen Spritpreise als Abzocke.“ (Drivers see the high gas prices as a rip-off.)
          • Likewise, the preposition ‘als’ cannot be omitted.
      • halten für (to think)
        • „Sie hält ihn für einen Nichtsnutz.“ (She thinks he is a loser.)
          • This verb demands the preposition ‘für’.
        • „Petra hielt Markus für klug.“ (Petra thought Markus was smart.)
          • Again, ‘für’ as a preposition is needed.

Further explanations relating to the ‘Copular verbs’

The following explanations are related to the topic ‘Copulative verbs (copulas) in German grammar’ and may therefore help you too: