Spoon River Anthology — Page 15

Vocabulary

Ihr

You (plural formal or familiar plural pronoun)

saht

Saw (past tense of sehen, second person plural)

mich

Me (first person singular accusative pronoun)

nur

Only, just (limiting adverb)

als

As, when, than (conjunction or preposition)

einen

A, an (masculine indefinite article, accusative case)

heruntergekommenen

Run-down, dilapidated, shabby (adjective describing decline)

Mann

Man (adult male person)

Mit

With (preposition indicating accompaniment or means)

verfilztem

Matted, tangled (adjective describing knotted hair or material)

Haar

Hair (strands growing from the head)

und

And (basic coordinating conjunction)

Bart

Beard (facial hair grown on chin and cheeks)

Und

And (coordinating conjunction, sentence-initial use)

zerlumpten

Ragged, tattered (adjective for worn-out clothing)

Kleidern

Clothes, garments (plural noun for worn apparel)

Manchmal

Sometimes (adverb indicating occasional occurrence)

wird

Becomes, will (third person singular of werden)

das

The (neuter definite article or demonstrative pronoun)

Leben

Life (existence, living experience of a person)

eines

Of a (masculine/neuter indefinite article, genitive case)

zu

To, into, too (versatile preposition or infinitive marker)

einem

A, an (dative indefinite article, masculine or neuter)

Krebsgeschwür

Cancerous tumor, malignant growth (medical or metaphorical term)

Weil

Because (subordinating conjunction giving reason)

es

It (third person singular neuter pronoun)

immer

Always, ever (adverb of frequency or continuity)

wieder

Again (adverb indicating repetition)

verletzt

Wounded, injured, hurt (past participle of verletzen)

zerstoßen

Crushed, pounded (past participle of zerstoßen, to pound)

einer

A, one (indefinite article or pronoun, feminine dative)

violetten

Violet, purple (adjective describing purple-hued color)

Masse

Mass, bulk, substance (large shapeless amount of matter)

anschwillt

Swells up (third person singular of anschwellen)

Wie

Like, as, how (comparison conjunction or interrogative)

Wucherungen

Growths, proliferations (abnormal tissue or plant outgrowths)

an

At, on (preposition of location or attachment)

Da

There, then (adverb of place or time)

war

Was (first/third person singular past tense of sein)

ich

I (first person singular subject pronoun)

ein

A, an (indefinite article, masculine nominative)

Zimmermann

Carpenter (craftsman who builds with wood)

versunken

Sunken, submerged, immersed (past participle of versinken)

in

In, into (preposition of location or direction)

Sumpf

Swamp, marsh, bog (wet muddy low-lying land)

des

Of the (masculine/neuter definite article, genitive case)

In

In, into (preposition indicating place or state)

den

The (masculine accusative or plural dative definite article)

hineingeriet

Got into, fell into (past tense of hineingeraten)

weil

Because (subordinating causal conjunction)

ihn

Him, it (masculine accusative personal pronoun)

für

For (preposition indicating purpose or benefit)

eine

A, an (feminine indefinite article, nominative or accusative)

Wiese

Meadow, field (open grassy area of land)

hielt

Held, considered (past tense of halten)

schmutzigen

Dirty, filthy (adjective describing unclean state)

Frau

Woman, wife, Mrs. (adult female person or spouse)

Gattin

Wife, spouse (formal or literary word for wife)

der

The (feminine genitive/dative or masculine nominative article)

armen

Poor, wretched (adjective indicating poverty or misfortune)

meiner

My (first person singular possessive pronoun, genitive/dative)

Tochter

Daughter (female child in relation to parent)

Die

The (feminine/plural definite article or relative pronoun)

ihr

Her, you (plural personal pronoun or possessive)

gequält

Tormented, tortured (past participle of quälen)

Tod

Death (the end of life)

getrieben

Driven, pushed (past participle of treiben)

habt

Have (second person plural present tense of haben)

So

So, thus (adverb of manner or degree)

kroch

Crawled (past tense of kriechen, to crawl)

wie

Like, as, how (comparison or manner conjunction)

Schnecke

Snail, slug (slow-moving mollusk with shell)

durch

Through (preposition indicating movement through something)

die

The (feminine or plural definite article)

Tage

Days (plural of Tag, units of time)

Meines

My (genitive possessive pronoun, neuter or masculine)

Nicht

Not (basic negation adverb)

mehr

More, anymore (adverb of degree or quantity)

hört

Hears (third person singular present of hören)

meine

My (first person singular possessive pronoun)

Schritte

Steps, footsteps (plural of Schritt, pace or stride)

am

At the, in the (contraction of an + dem)

Morgen

Morning (early part of the day)

auf

On, upon (preposition of position or direction)

dem

The (dative definite article, masculine or neuter)

hohlen

Hollow, concave (adjective describing empty or echoing space)

Bürgersteig

Sidewalk, pavement (pedestrian path beside a road)

widerhallen

To echo, reverberate (sound bouncing back from surfaces)

Auf

On, onto (preposition of location or direction)

Weg

Way, path, road (route or journey to destination)

zum

To the (contraction of zu + dem, dative)

Lebensmittelladen

Grocery store (shop selling food and basic supplies)

wenig

Little, few (adjective or adverb of small quantity)

Speck

Bacon, lard (cured fatty pork product)

Nachdem

After (subordinating conjunction indicating temporal sequence)

zur

To the (contraction of zu + der, feminine dative)

Religion

Religion (system of faith and worship)

gefunden

Found (past participle of finden)

hatte

Had (past tense of haben, auxiliary or main verb)

ruhiger

Calmer, quieter (comparative adjective from ruhig)

geworden

Become (past participle of werden)

Gaben

Gave (past tense plural of geben, to give)

sie

She, they, them (third person pronoun)

mir

Me, to me (first person singular dative pronoun)

Stelle

Position, place, job (specific location or employment)

Konservenfabrik

Canning factory (facility for preserving food in cans)

jeden

Every, each (adjective or pronoun of totality)

musste

Had to (past tense of müssen, modal of obligation)

füllen

To fill (to put contents into a container)

Den

The (masculine accusative definite article)

Tank

Tank (container holding liquid, e.g., fuel)

im

In the (contraction of in + dem, dative)

Hof

Yard, courtyard (open space beside or behind a building)

mit

With (preposition of accompaniment or instrument)

Benzin

Gasoline, petrol (liquid fuel for engines)

Der

The (masculine nominative definite article)

Schuppen

Shed (small outbuilding for storage or work)

speiste

Fed, supplied (past tense of speisen, to feed/supply)

Um

In order to, around (preposition or purpose conjunction)

erhitzen

To heat up (to raise temperature of something)

bestieg

Climbed onto (past tense of besteigen, to mount/climb)

wackelige

Wobbly, shaky (adjective describing unstable structure)

Leiter

Ladder (climbing tool with rungs between two rails)

um

Around, in order to (preposition or infinitive conjunction)

tun

To do (basic verb of action or performance)

Eimern

Buckets, pails (containers for carrying liquids, dative plural)

voll

Full (adjective indicating filled to capacity)

von

Of, from (preposition of origin or possession)

Zeug

Stuff, material, substance (informal word for things/matter)

Eines

One (indefinite pronoun or article, genitive neuter)

dort

There (adverb indicating a specific place)

stand

Stood (past tense of stehen, to stand)

eingoss

Poured in (past tense of eingießen, to pour into)

Luft

Air (gaseous atmosphere surrounding the earth)

wurde

Became, was (past tense of werden, auxiliary or main)

still

Still, quiet, silent (adjective of calm or motionlessness)

schien

Seemed, shone (past tense of scheinen)

sich

Itself, oneself (reflexive pronoun for third person)

heben

To lift, raise (to move something upward)

hochgeschleudert

Hurled upward (past participle of hochschleudern, to fling up)

explodierte

Exploded (past tense of explodieren)

fiel

Fell (past tense of fallen, to fall)

herunter

Down (directional adverb, movement downward)

beiden

Both (adjective or pronoun indicating two things together)

gebrochenen

Broken (past participle of brechen, adjective form)

Beinen

Legs (plural dative of Bein, limbs of the body)

Augen

Eyes (plural of Auge, organs of sight)

verbrannten

Burned (past tense plural of verbrennen, to burn up)

knusprig

Crispy, crunchy (adjective for crackling-texture food or surface)

paar

A few, a couple (indefinite small number of things)

Eier

Eggs (plural of Ei, oval reproductive cells as food)

Denn

For, because (causal coordinating conjunction)

jemand

Someone, somebody (indefinite pronoun for a person)

brennen

To burn (to be on fire or cause to combust)

lassen

To let, allow, leave (modal-like verb of permission)

etwas

Something, somewhat (indefinite pronoun or adverb)

saugte

Sucked, drew in (past tense of saugen, to suck)

Flamme

Flame (burning gas producing light and heat)