verb
to lose, to misplace
A2
Verlieren means 'to lose' or 'to misplace'. It's a strong (irregular) verb: present stem verlier- but preterite/participle use verlor-/verloren. Uses auxiliary haben for perfect tenses. Non‑reflexive in basic use (but 'sich verlieren' exists with different meaning). Not separable. Common everyday verb.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.EXAMPLES
Ich verliere mein Portemonnaie nicht.
I won't lose my wallet.
Ich habe mein Handy verloren.
I lost my phone.
Obwohl die Mannschaft hart spielte, verlor sie das Spiel, weil der Gegner cleverer agierte.
Although the team played hard, it lost the match because the opponent acted more cleverly.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.DETAILS_LABEL
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.MNEMONICS
Imagine a person dropping a ticket into a box labelled 'LOST' with a big VERLIEREN sign above it.
Think 'ver-LOSE-en' — the verb ends with a sound like 'lose'.
VOCABULARY.DETAILS.NOTES
Used for losing objects, competitions, or abstract things (e.g., 'Mut verlieren'). Past participle is 'verloren' and the perfect tense uses haben (hat verloren). Common confusion: 'verlieren' (to lose) vs. 'verpassen' (to miss). In colloquial speech you may hear the short imperative 'Verlier nicht!' instead of the fuller 'Verliere nicht!'.