German Grammar A–Z
Look up German grammar topics A–Z, organized by category and level — with clear explanations and examples.
Distinguishing liegen/legen, sitzen/setzen, stehen/stellen
In German, the verb pairs liegen - legen, sitzen - setzen, stehen - stellen are very easy for learners of German to confuse. In today's article we will distinguish these verbs.
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The verb pairs above are divided into 2 groups: liegen - sitzen - stehen and legen - setzen - stellen
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Distinction
| liegen - sitzen - stehen | legen - setzen - stellen |
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(The ball lies on the floor.) → Answers the question Wo: auf dem Boden (Dativ) → Subject is a thing: der Ball
(The dog sits on the sofa.) → Answers the question Wo: auf dem Sofa (Dativ) → Subject is a thing: der Hund
(The bottle stands on the table.) → Answers the question Wo: auf dem Tisch → Subject is a thing: die Flasche |
(He puts the ball down on the floor.) → Answers the question Wohin: auf den Boden (Akk.) → Subject is a person: er
(He sets the dog on the chair.) → Answers the question Wohin: auf den Stuhl → Subject is a person: Ben
(We put the bottle on the table.) → Answers the question Wohin: auf den Tisch → Subject is a person: Wir |
