lief

Meaning and Usage

"Lief" is the past tense of the verb "laufen," which means "to run" in English. It is used to describe the action of running in the past.

Linguistic Analysis

The word "lief" is the irregular past tense form of the verb "laufen." It does not follow the regular conjugation pattern for past tense in German. The root of the verb is "lauf-" and the suffix "-te" is added to form the past tense.

Comparisons between German and English

The English equivalent of "lief" is "ran," which is also the irregular past tense form of "to run."

Example Sentences

1. Gestern lief ich fünf Kilometer. (Yesterday I ran five kilometers.)
2. Er lief schnell, um den Bus zu erwischen. (He ran fast to catch the bus.)

Memory Tips

To remember the meaning of "lief," you can associate it with the English word "ran," which has a similar irregular past tense form.

Additional Vocabulary

• laufen (verb) - to run
• rennen (verb) - to sprint, to race
• der Läufer (noun) - the runner

Conjugation (for verbs)

• ich lief (I ran)
• du liefst (you ran)
• er/sie/es lief (he/she/it ran)
• wir liefen (we ran)
• ihr lieft (you [plural] ran)
• sie liefen (they ran)

Gender and Plural (for nouns)

N/A