verb
to sink, to decrease
B1
sinken: Strong intransitive verb meaning 'to sink' or 'to decrease'. Past: sank; participle: gesunken (stem vowel a→u). It uses sein as auxiliary (bin gesunken). Non‑reflexive and typically intransitive, so standard passive is not applicable. Imperative forms: sinke, sinkt, sinken Sie.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.EXAMPLES
Die Preise sind gesunken.
The prices have fallen.
Die Temperatur sank.
The temperature dropped.
Die Temperaturen der letzten Woche sind deutlich gesunken.
Temperatures dropped significantly last week.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.DETAILS_LABEL
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.MNEMONICS
imagine a boat slowly going down into water, the bow lowering as it sinks
sounds like 'zinken' but start with an 's' — think 'sink' in English
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.NOTES
Intransitive verb. Used for physical sinking (boat) and metaphorical or statistical decreases (prices, temperatures). Uses 'sein' in perfect tenses when indicating movement/change of state (e.g., 'ist gesunken'). There is no normal patient-oriented passive for intransitive 'sinken' (passive forms with 'gesenkt' belong to the transitive verb 'senken'). | Intransitive verb; passive forms are not applicable.