German · A2 · Everyday language
Little Daily Mysteries in German
Talk about small daily mysteries at school and at home. Use jemand and niemand for people, and etwas and nichts for things when you do not know or need to say their names.
What you'll learn
- Use jemand and niemand as subjects to say who is doing something.
- Use etwas and nichts as subjects or direct objects.
- Describe discoveries and offer something to eat.
German phrases for little daily mysteries
Jemand wartet am Schultor auf dich.
Someone is waiting for you at the school gate.
Auf jemanden warten means 'to wait for someone'. German uses the present tense for actions happening now.
Jemand hat eine Brotdose auf dieser Bank liegen lassen.
Someone has left a lunchbox on this bench.
Etwas liegen lassen means 'to leave something behind'. Here, hat … liegen lassen describes a completed action.
Niemand spielt auf den Schaukeln.
Nobody is playing on the swings.
Niemand is the subject and takes the singular verb spielt.
Niemand hat deinen roten Bleistift bis jetzt gefunden.
Nobody has found your red pencil yet.
Bis jetzt means 'so far' or 'up to now'. Niemand already makes the sentence negative.
Etwas bewegt sich in deiner Schultasche.
Something is moving inside your school bag.
Sich bewegen means 'to move'. Etwas is the subject: the thing that is moving.
In deinem Federmäppchen fehlt nichts.
Nothing is missing from your pencil case.
Nichts is the subject, even though it comes after the verb. Fehlen means 'to be missing'.
Möchtest du vor dem Fußball etwas essen?
Would you like something to eat before football?
Möchtest du …? is a friendly way to offer something. Etwas is the direct object of essen.
Ich habe unter deinem Schreibtisch nichts gefunden.
I found nothing under your desk.
Nichts is the direct object of gefunden: it tells us what was found. Do not add nicht.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
jemand
someone; somebody
Refers to a person without saying who they are.
niemand
nobody; no one
Says that there is no person who does the action.
etwas
something
Refers to an unnamed thing. Its form stays the same as a subject or direct object.
nichts
nothing
Means 'not anything'. Its form stays the same as a subject or direct object.
die Brotdose
lunchbox
A box for a packed snack or lunch. Plural: die Brotdosen.
die Schaukel
swing
Plural: die Schaukeln. Schaukeln is also a verb meaning 'to swing'.
das Federmäppchen
pencil case
Plural: die Federmäppchen.
finden
to find
The conversational past form is hat … gefunden.
Jemand and niemand as subjects
The subject tells us who does the action. Jemand and niemand take a third-person singular verb, like er or sie.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Someone | jemand + singular verb | Jemand wartet am Schultor. — Someone is waiting at the school gate. |
| Nobody | niemand + singular verb | Niemand spielt hier. — Nobody is playing here. |
| Completed action | jemand/niemand + hat + … + past participle | Niemand hat den Bleistift gefunden. — Nobody has found the pencil. |
Etwas and nichts: subjects or direct objects
As subjects, etwas and nichts take a singular verb. As accusative direct objects, they answer 'what?' after a verb such as finden or essen. Neither word changes form.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Etwas as subject | etwas + singular verb | Etwas bewegt sich. — Something is moving. |
| Nichts as subject | nichts + singular verb | Nichts fehlt. — Nothing is missing. |
| Etwas as accusative object | subject + verb + etwas | Ich esse etwas. — I am eating something. |
| Nichts as accusative object | subject + verb + nichts | Ich finde nichts. — I cannot find anything. |
Word order and negative meaning
In a statement, the conjugated verb stays in the second position. A place phrase can come first, with the subject later. Niemand and nichts already express a negative meaning, so do not add nicht to mean 'nobody' or 'nothing'.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Place first | place + conjugated verb + subject | Hier wartet jemand. — Someone is waiting here. |
| Negative subject | niemand + verb, without an extra nicht | Niemand kommt. — Nobody is coming. |
| Negative object | subject + verb + nichts, without an extra nicht | Ich sehe nichts. — I see nothing. |
More examples
Jemand sucht eine Brotdose.
Someone is looking for a lunchbox.
Jemand is the subject; sucht is singular.
Unter der Bank liegt etwas.
There is something under the bench.
Etwas is the subject. The place phrase comes first.
Möchtest du etwas trinken?
Would you like something to drink?
Etwas is the accusative object of trinken.
Ich habe nichts gehört.
I heard nothing.
Nichts is the accusative object. No extra negative word is needed.