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German B2 Compendium

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 11:12:28 +0200

I can speak extremely fluid (so long as I am not missing relevant words from the topic. Alltags Dialoge kann ich wie ein normal Deutsch sprechen, und viele Menschen erzählen mir, dass meine Aussprache und Flüssigkeit besser sind als die der meisten B2-Prüfungsteilnehmer. I have been told several times my fluency is much higher than my level. One of my biggest challenges was understanding what is allowed and colloquial in German, and what sounds extremely cursed and should be avoided (e.g. “Das Brauchen des Esssens wäre kein Problem.” grammatically correct but not extremely uncolloquial)
I can read extremely fast anything that is not legal text. Funnily enough this really passed to me passively on the last 2 months, without me particularly putting an effort to it. Goes to show that sometimes rest is all you need.
My Grammatik is alright. I still make many colloquial speech errors, and need a lot more knowledge of verb-preposition pairs. But all common tense usage is easy (coming from Spanish, I think of every other language having a very simple tense system). I feel the only tense I still struggle building casually is Passiv Perfekt combined with modals “Der Brief hat geschrieben werden müssen” and this is just barely used in colloquial speech.
Vocabulary: I am here doing quite well too, that is for my level. But I feel as for a B2 level a certain widely-used-vocabulary on many different areas should be known. Not only that, I often find myself uncertain with short trennbare Verbs and Nouns that share a root (Beitrag, beitragen, Vertrag, vertragen). The “nounified” version usually has a twist, and there several ways to “nounify” a verb. Not only that, the prefixes used in building new verbs are not always consistent. Also, sometimes a weird participle is used for existing nouns (e.g. Bezug and Beziehung).

Therefore, I have decided myself to focus more on my Vocabulary; particularly clustering verbs that share a root and different-rooted but similarly sounding. I have written manually a large list of Vocabulary in this way, but I am passing it to my website for further flexibility (I intend to copy these manually until I have them memorized, no easier way to do memorization). As these words are very consensuated language, I am relying on ChatGPT for finding “commonly used verbs” + my own notes, and doublechecking the meaning using https://www.verbformen.com/ or https://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch

On a side note I also build quite the Compendium of vocabulary with Anki(https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1545312567?cb=1748775811019 ), you may want to check it out. It is helpful for testing one-self, but for learning I feel like the clustering I will be doing in this page is more effective (having together nähen, nähern, annähern, ernähern, as an example). Sometimes also verbs have the same root, but their origin is unrelated (erwischen, wischen).

Notes:

I will be making a distinction(using ⚠️) between derived verbs where the preposition changes the core idea vs where it doesn’t. I will also place them earlier than other. Ver- verbs tend to be a bit unintuitive, so I will list them separately without ⚠️
I am not listing the noun, where every verb can be turned into a neutral-gender noun meaning “The action of X”(e.g. essen = das Essen).
Some verbs can be turned into a -ung noun meaning “The action of X”(e.g. lenken = die Lenkung). I will not list the translation for this, only, as it always is the same when such a noun exists. I will however list alternative meanings for said noun.
I am also not listing the -te forms (der Erwischte) for someone who received or did the action, unless they are confusing.
Adding a preposition/reflexive when relevant too
For the sake of consistency, I am using this format: word = translation1/synonyme_translation1 or translation2/synonyme_translation2(clarification_translation2)

Extremely productive Verbs

fahren, führen

schließen

Verb	Relatednouns
⚠️schließen = to close	der Schluss = the conclusion, die Schließung= the closure (of shop or school)
	der Schließer = guard, das Schloss = castle or lock, die Schlüssel = key, Schlosser = metalworker/locksmith
⚠️abschließen = to lock or conclude	der Abschluss = the graduation or completion
⚠️aufschließen = to unlock (with a key)	der Aufschluss = information/insight
⚠️ausschließen = to exclude/expel	der Ausschluss = exclusion
⚠️anschließen = to connect (something)	der Anschluss = connection(physical or emotional)
⚠️beschließen = to decide (as authority/formal)	der Beschluss = resolution/resolve
⚠️einschließen= to include or lock in
⚠️erschließen = to develop(area) or	Erschließung
to make accessible(data/market) or to infer(logic)
⚠️entschließen sich ZU = to resolve oneself to
⚠️verschließen = to lock up/seal
⚠️zuschließen = to lock shut

schlagen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schlagen=to hit	der Schlag=beat
⚠️anschlagen=to hit or to post(notice) or to sound a note	Anschlag=notice/attempt/attack
⚠️aufschlagen=to hit or setup(a tent)	Aufschlag=surcharge or opening strike
⚠️einschlagen=to impact or to embark(on path)	Einschlag=impact(meteor/bullet)
⚠️fehlschlagen=to fail	Fehlschlag=unsuccessful attempt
⚠️abschlagen=to refuse or knock off or cut off	Abschlag=deduction(money)
⚠️ausschlagen=to reject or to sprout or swing out	Auschlag=rash(on skin)/deviation(technical
⚠️überschlagen=to estimate roughly or tumble
⚠️verschlagen=to displace/mislead
⚠️rückschlagen=to retaliate	Rückschlag=setback
⚠️nachschlagen=to retaliate or to look up(info)	Nachschlag=follow up portion(or content)
⚠️umschlagen=to change suddenly	Umschlag=envelope or turnover
⚠️zuschlagen=to act quickly(opportunity) or to slam shut	Zuschlag=supplement/bonus
⚠️vorschlagen=to suggest	Vorschlag=proposal

schieben

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schieben=to shove	die Schub=thrust
⚠️verschieben=to postpone(new date)or reshove (something)	Verschiebung=postponement
⚠️aufschieben=to postpone(delay)
⚠️vorschieben=to push forward(time or physical)	Vorschub=the push-forward(advancement)
⚠️abschieben=to deport or push away	Abschiebung=deportation
hinschieben=to push (in certain place),zuschieben=to push towards
anschieben=to shove,einschieben=to insert(push in)

treiben

Verb	Related noun
⚠️treiben=to push in a direction*
⚠️antreiben=to propel/push forward	der Antrieb=propulsion/drive
⚠️vertreiben=to distribute/expel	der Vertried=distribution or sales
⚠️betreiben=to operate/run	der Betrieb=operation(business) or company
⚠️eintreiben=to collect(debts)
⚠️übertreiben=to exaggerate
⚠️abtreiben=to drift away or abort(medical)

*Note that this one has no direct translation in English, and that when doing a sport that implies movement we would also use treiben

setzen and sitzen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️setzen=to put or set(directional)	der Satz=sentences(grammar) or set(math/sport),Setzung=placement,gesetzt=fixed
⚠️sitzen=to sit (fixed)	der Sitz=seat, die Sitzung=meeting,festsitzend=tight-fitting
⚠️einsetzen=to insert or use or appoint	Einsatz=deployment or effort ,einsetzend=starting
⚠️ersetzen=to replace	Ersatz=replacement
⚠️aussetzen=to expose or suspend	Aussetzung=suspension/exposure, ausgesetzt=exposed
⚠️zusetzen=to bother or add or pressure(figurative)	Zusetzung=stress/load
⚠️absetzen=to take off/remove or sell	Absetzung=removal/dismissal , abgesetzt=discontinued
⚠️versetzen=to transfer(jobs/school) or displace or distract	Versetzung=transfer(job/school)
⚠️durchsetzen=to enforce	Durchsetzung=enforcement/assertion
⚠️aufsetzen=to put on(hat/glasses)or to draft	Aufsatz=essay or add-on,Aufsetzung=attachment/draft,aufgesetzt=artificial/forced/applied
⚠️umsetzen=to implement(plans) to convert(money/energy) to move	Umsetzung=implementation
⚠️übersetzen=to translate	Übersetzung=translation
⚠️nachsetzen=to pursue(someone)
⚠️vorsetzen=to serve(food) or something infront
⚠️voraussetzen=to require	Voraussetzung=requirement
⚠️besetzen=to occupy(territory/seat/role)	Besetzung=occupation(role/territory) or casting/staffing(movie)
⚠️absitzen=to dismount or serve a sentence(prison)
⚠️einsitzen=to serve time in prison	der Insassee=inmate or occupant
⚠️aussitzen=to wait something out(decision)
⚠️herumsitzen=to sit around(doing nothing)

legen and liegen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️legen=to let or lay(directional)	die Lage=situation,gelegentlich=occasional, Einlage=deposit,Niederlage=defeat/loss
⚠️liegen=to lay(fixed)
⚠️ablegen=to discard or complete an exam	Ablage=filing/storage
⚠️anlegen=to invest/create or put on	Anlage=installation(someting in a home ) or investment
⚠️auflegen=to hang up(phone) or to apple(makeup/paint)	Auflage=edition or layer
⚠️auslegen=to display/interpret
⚠️belegen=to cover(general) or to enroll(in course) or proof	der Beleg=proof/evidence,Belegung=occupancy/enrollment,belegt=occupied or proven
⚠️darlegen=to present/explain(formally)
⚠️festlegen=to determine	festgelegt=fixed/determined
⚠️nachlegen=to add more(fuel,etc)
⚠️überlegen=to consider	Überlegung=consideration/reflection, überlegt=deliberate/considered
⚠️verlegen=to misplace or to reschedule or to publish	Verlegung=relocation/postponement,verlegt=misplaced or published or rescheduled,Verlagerung=relocation
⚠️zerlegen=to dismantle/take apart
⚠️loslegen=to get started
⚠️zulegen=to gain(speed/progress) or put on
⚠️anliegen=to be pending	das Anliegen=concern/request/matter
⚠️beiliegen=to be enclosed(in package)	Beilagen=enclosure or supplement
⚠️unterliegen=to be subject to or to lose(competition)	Unterlage=document or base

stellen and stehen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️stellen=to place(directional)	Stellung=position/stance/job
⚠️stehen=to stand(fixed)
⚠️abstellen=to place down or switch off	Abstellung=turning off/putting down
⚠️aufstellen=to set up or switch on	Aufstellung=setup/lineup/arrangement
⚠️darstellen=to represent or portray
⚠️einstellen=to adjust or hire or stop	Einstellung=attitude or adjustment or hiring
⚠️feststellen=to determine/ascertain	Feststellung=determination
⚠️herstellen=to produce/manifacture	Herstellung=manifacturing
⚠️überstellen=to transfer(people/things)	Gegenüberstellung=comparison/confrontation
⚠️verstellen=to adjust or block or disguise	Verstellung,verstellt=adjusted or disguised
⚠️anstellen=to employ/hire	Anstellung=employement/hiring
⚠️vorstellen=to introduce or imagine(SICH)
⚠️zustellen=to deliver	Zustellung=delivery
⚠️bestellen=to order(goods/services)	Bestellung=order(in purchase)
⚠️umstellen=to relocate or surround	Umstellung=rearrangement or conversion
⚠️abstehen=to stand out/protrude
⚠️anstehen=to queue/line up	anstehend=pending/upcoming
⚠️aufstehen=to stand up(morning or from sitting)
⚠️bestehen=to exist or insist or pass(exam)	das Bestehen=existance or passing of exam
⚠️entgegenstehen=to oppose
⚠️feststehen=to be certain/fixed	das Festehen=certainty
⚠️herausstehen=to stick out
⚠️überstehen=to endure/survive
⚠️verstehen=to understand	Verständnis=understanding/comprehension
⚠️vorstehen=to protrude or preside
⚠️zustehen=to be entitled to

kommen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️kommen=to come
⚠️ankommen=to arrive or to depend on AUF	die Ankunft=arrival
mitkommnen,herkommen, zurückkommen,wegkommen,hinterherkommen
⚠️aufkommen=to arise/emerge or cover costs
⚠️auskommen=to get along with MIT or to get by(manage)
⚠️bekommen=to receive
⚠️verkommen=to degenerate(figurative)
⚠️entkommen=to escape
⚠️umkommen=to die(formal)
⚠️nachkommen=to meet obligations or follow later
⚠️dazukommen=to join later
hineinkommen/hereinkommen=come in,rauskommen/herauskommen=come out
⚠️abkommen=to deviate(path/topic)
⚠️vorkommen=to come into existence	das Vorkommen=incidence/appearance or deposit(geology)
⚠️vorankommen=to make progress
⚠️weiterkommen=to progress
⚠️klarkommen MIT=to manage/get by
⚠️zurechtkommen=to get along
⚠️mitbekommen=to notice
⚠️herzukommen=to go towards speaker
⚠️herausbekommen=to figure out or to get something out(stains,profit)
⚠️entgegenkommen=to accomodate to(someone) or to approach
⚠️davonkommen=to get away(unpunished,narrowly)
OTHER	das Einkommen=income,Zukunft=future,zukünftig=future,vollkommen=complete(all-encompassing)

sagen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️sagen=to say/tell	die Sage=myth/legend
⚠️absagen=to cancel/decline	Absage=cancellation/rejection
⚠️zusagen=to agree/accept or commit to	Zusage=acceptance/promise
⚠️vorsagen=to coach(language learning)
⚠️ansagen=to announce	Ansage=Announcement
⚠️nachsagen=to repeat after or gossip
⚠️versagen=to fail or to refuse
⚠️entsagen=to renounce	Entsagung=renunciation
⚠️untersagen=to forbit/prohibit
⚠️vorhersagen=to forecast	Vorhersage=prediction

nehmen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️nehmen=to take
⚠️teilnehmen AN=to participate	die Teilnahme=participation
⚠️annehmen=to accept(gift or assumption)	Annahme=acceptance or assumption
⚠️aufnehmen=to take up/record
⚠️ausnehmen=to take out/exempt
⚠️einnehmen=to take in(money/food) or claim
⚠️mitnehmen=to take along
⚠️wegnehmen=to take away
⚠️übernehmen=to take over (control)	Übernahme=takeover
⚠️entnehmen=to take out/extract	Entnahme=extraction
⚠️zurücknehmen=to take back/retract
⚠️abnehmen=to take away or lose weight
⚠️herausnehmen=to take out(outside)	Herausnahme=removal/extraction
⚠️entgegennehmen=to accept(in a polite situation)
⚠️unternehmen=to action/do something	das Unternehmen=company
⚠️benehmen=to behave SICH	das Benehmen=behavior
⚠️zunehmen=to increase/grow or gain weight	Zunahme=growth/increase

tragen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️tragen=to carry or wear	tragend=fundamental,der Träger
⚠️antragen=to request(a document)	der Antrag=application/request
⚠️vertragen=to tolerate(food or people/things)	der Vertrag=contract,Verträglichkeit=compatibility/tolerability
⚠️betragen=to amount to or to behave(refl.)	der Betrag=amount
⚠️beantragen=to apply for or propose	Beantragung=application process
⚠️eintragen=to register for or fill in	Eintrag=entry/record
⚠️übertragen=to delegate/transfer (a task)
⚠️vortragen=to recite (poem,presentation)	Vortrag=presentation/lecture
⚠️forttragen=to carry away
⚠️beitragen=to contribute	der Beitrag=contribution
⚠️ertragen=to endure/bear	der Ertrag=profit
⚠️austragen=to deliver(things or a baby) or to settle(a conflict)	Austrag=settlement/delivery
⚠️auftragen=to apply(cream,makeup) or comission (a task)	Auftrag=assignment/order
⚠️nachtragen=to bear a grudge or add later	Nachtragung=addition/resentment
⚠️abtragen=to wear down or demolish	Abtragung=demolition

Verb	Related noun
⚠️teilen=to divide or share	der Teil=portion/part,das Teil=piece/component,Teilung=division/separation
⚠️aufteilen=to divide among
⚠️abteilen=to section off/partition	Abteilung=department/section
⚠️einteilen=to assign/schedule (organize)	Einteilung=classification/scheduling
⚠️zuteilen=to allocate/assign (a specific part)	Zuteillung=allocation
⚠️verteilen=to distribute/spread	Verteillung=distribution
⚠️urteilen=to judge	Urteil=judgement(verdict)
⚠️erteilen=to grant/issue
⚠️mitteilen=to inform/communicate	Mitteilung=message/communicate
⚠️austeilen=to hand out/deal	Austeilung=distribution(materials/criticism)

OTHER: die Anteilnahme=sympathy/condolence, der Anteil=share/portion

Somewhat productive verbs

hören und gehören

Verb	Related noun
⚠️hören=to hear	der Hörsinn=sense of hearing,das Gehör=hearing or auditory sense
zuhören=to listen attentively,abhören=to eavesdrop,anhören=to listen to	das Gehören=the belonging
⚠️aufhören=to cease/stop	das Gehören=the belonging
⚠️überhören=to miss hearing/ignore(accidental or not)	das Gehören=the belonging
angehören=to be a member of	Angehörigkeit=membership/belongin to, Staatsangehörigkeit=nationality
zu/zuzu/dazu gehören=to be a part of a group	Zugehörigkeit=membership of group

tauschen, täuschen, tauchen, vertuschen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️täuschen=to deceive	die Täuschung=illusion/deception
⚠️entäuschen=to disappoint
⚠️tauschen=to swap/exchange	der Tausch=exchange/swap
austauschen=swap/exchange(following process)
⚠️abtauschen=trade off/exchange	der Auftaushc=trade-off/exchange
⚠️umtauschen=exchange/return (goods)
⚠️tauchen=to dive	der Taucher=diver, Tauchgang=diving excursion
⚠️auftauchen=to emerge
⚠️untertauchen=to go into hiding
⚠️eintauchen=to dip in/inmerse

EASY TO CONFUSE WITH: vertuschen=to cover up/conceal, der Vertuschung=concealment

eignen, vereinen und vereinigen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️eignen = to be suitable	eigen=own, eigenständig=independent,Eigenschaft=characteristic,Eigenart=individual trait
	Eignung=suitability,das Eigentum=property/ownership,Eigenheit=peculiarity
	das Eigene=one’s own
⚠️aneignen = to acquire
⚠️vereinen = to combine/unite (become one)	der Verein=association/club,Vereinbarung=agreement
⚠️vereinigen SICH = to unify/merge(slightly more process-oriented)	Vereinigung=reunification
⚠️einigen SICH = to come to an agreement	Einheit=unity

zeichnen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️zeichnen=to draw	das Zeichen=sign/symbol or character(letter),Zeichnung=drawing
⚠️bezeichnen=to label/indicate	Bezeichnung=designation/labeli or title/given name
⚠️auszeichnen=to distinguish(honor) or label(with price)	Auszeichnung=award,ausgezeichnen=distinguished(honorable)
⚠️kennzeichnen=to mark/label	das Kennzeichnen=indicator of/labeling/marking
⚠️unterzeichnen=to sign	Unterzeichnung=signing(of a doc)
⚠️verzeichnen=to record/register	Verzeichnis=directory/list
⚠️abzeichnen=to copy(by hand) or become apparent
⚠️aufzeichnen=to record/write down	Aufzeichnung=recording/transcript/note
⚠️einzeichnen=to mark in	Einzeichnung=insertion(of marks)
⚠️nachzeichnen=to trace(redraw)	Nachzeichnung=tracing/redrawing

finden

Verb	Related noun
⚠️finden=to find
⚠️erfinden=to invent	Erfindung=invention
⚠️empfinden=to feel/sense	Empfindung=sensation/feeling
⚠️abfinden SICH=to come to terms with or compensate	Abfindung=severance pay/compensation
⚠️befinden=to decide(publically on something)	das Befinden=the status/condition
wiederfinden,zurückfinden
⚠️vorfinden=to encounter
⚠️auffinden=to locate
⚠️befinden SICH=to be located at
⚠️stattfinden=to take place(event)

lenken

Verb	Related noun
⚠️lenken = to control/steer	Lenkung = Steering mechanism
⚠️ablenken = to distract	Ablenkung
⚠️umlenken = to redirect	Umlenkung
⚠️auslenken = to deflect	Auslenkung

achten

Verb	Relatednouns
⚠️achten= to pay attention(respect)	die Achtung=warning,das Gutachten=expert opinion
⚠️beachten= to pay attention(notice)	Beachtung=attention/observance
⚠️beobachten= to observe (watch closely)
⚠️missachten= to dissregard	Missachtung=disregard

greifen

Verb	Relatednouns
⚠️greifen= to grasp/grab	der Griff=handle
⚠️angreifen= to attack	der Angriff=attack
⚠️aufgreifen= to take up(physical or metaphorical)
⚠️begreifen= to comprehend(grasp)	der Begriff=concept/term/idea
⚠️ergreifen= to seize
⚠️zugreifen= to access(data/resources)	der Zugriff=access

löschen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️löschen=to delete(files) or to extinguish(fire)	Löschung=deletion
⚠️verlöschen=to fade
⚠️erlöschen=to expire/go out(fire/life)	Erlöschung=the expiration(rights/lights)
⚠️auslöschen=to annihilate	Auslöschung=erradication

wischen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️wischen = to wipe/mop	Wischbewegung= wiping motion
⚠️erwischen = to catch (someone in the act of doing something)
abwischen,aufwischen,auswischen, wegwischen
verwischen = to blur

schöpfen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schöpfen=to scoop	der Schöpfer=creator(God or artist), Schöpfung=creation,die Schöpfkelle=laddle
⚠️ausschöpfen=to deplete (resources or possibilities,completely)	Ausschöpfung=full use/exploitation
⚠️erschöpfen=to exhaust(resources or people)	Erschöpfung=exhaustion or fatigue

wandeln

Verb	Related noun
⚠️wandeln=to change(ongoing)	der Wandel=change
⚠️verwandeln=to change(complete)	Verwandlung=transformation,der/die Verwandte=relative(family)
⚠️abwandeln=to modify slightly(method/phrase)	Abwandlung=modification/variation
⚠️umwandeln=to transform(material/energy)	Umwandlung=conversion/transformation

EASY TO CONFUSE: Wand-related nouns: die Wand=wall(in a room), der Einwand=objection, das Gewand=robe,der Vorwand=pretext

schreien

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schreien=to scream	der Schrei=scream
anschreien,ausschreien	der Anschrei=scream(at someone)
⚠️aufschreien=to scream suddenly	der Aufschrei=sream(sudden)

schätzen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schätzen=to estimate	die Schätzung=estimation,der Schatz=treasure(also endearing term)
	Wertschätzung=esteem,appreciation
⚠️abschätzen=to estimate(roughly)
⚠️verschätzen=missestimate
überschätzen,unterschätzen

basteln

Verb	Related noun
⚠️basteln=to craft/tinker	die Bastelei=handcraft piece
herumbasteln,weiterbasteln,zusammenbasteln
nachbasteln=to copy a craft

werben

Verb	Related noun
⚠️werben=to advertise	Werbung=advertisement, das Werbeprospekt=leaflet,werbend=promotional
	das Wettbewerb=competition(group of competitors)
⚠️anwerben=to recruit(workforce)	Anwerbung=recruitment
⚠️abwerben=to poach(employees)	Abwerbung=poaching
⚠️bewerben=to promote/advertise or with SICH UM to apply for (work/uni)	Bewerbung=application(for work/uni)

verzichten

Verb	Related noun
⚠️verzichten AUF=to renounce	der Verzicht=renunciation,verzichtbar=dispensable,not necessary

stufen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️einstufen=to categorize	Einstufung=classification/placement
⚠️hochstufen=to upgrade	Hochstufung=upgrading
⚠️herabstufen=to downgrade	Herabstufung=downgrading
⚠️abstufen=to grade(into different stages)	Abstufung=gradation/differentiation
⚠️zurückstufen=to demote	Rückstufung=demotion
OTHER	die Stufe=level/tier,Stufenplan=step-by-step plan,stufig=tiered/layered/stepped,mehrstufig=multilevel,einstufig=uni-level,abgestuft=layered

SIMILAR: der Stoff=material

schlucken

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schlucken=to swallow	der Schluck=swallow/sip Schluckauf=hiccup
⚠️verschlucken=to choke(while swallowing)
herunterschlucken

fangen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️fangen=to catch	der Fang=catch/capute
⚠️anfangen=to start	Anfang=beginning
⚠️empfangen=to receive(anything or anyone)	Empfang=reception/receiving
⚠️auffangen=to catch(as in support someone)
⚠️einfangen=to capture
⚠️abfangen=to intercept

nähern

Verb	Related noun
⚠️nähern=to approach(SICH)	die Nähe=proximity,die Nahaufnahme=close-up foto
annähern=to approach at	Annäherung=approach/approximation/reconciliation

EASY TO CONFUSE WITH: nähen=to sew,Näherei=sewing schop,ernähren=to feed(nourish)

rühren

Verb	Related noun
⚠️rühren=to stir(liquid or emotional)	Rührung=emotion/being moved,die Rührschüssel=mixing bowl,rührend=touching(emotionally),rührselig=oversentimental
⚠️berühren=to touch(physical or emotional)	Berührung=contact/touch ,unberührt=untouched
⚠️anrühren=to touch(in context of negotiation)
⚠️verrühren=to stir together
umrühren,aufrühren

Almost-to-no productive verbs

beschäftigen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️beschäftigen sich MIT=to occupy oneself with	Beschäftigung=employment/activity
⚠️beschäftigen =to employ (someone)

lieben

Verb	Related noun
⚠️lieben=to love
verlieben=to be in love, entlieben=to stop loving

schwinden

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schwinden=to fade/diminish
⚠️verschwinden=to disapper

schützen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schützen=to protect	der Schutz=protection,die Schutzhülle=(protective)case,der Schützer=protector
	der Schutzraum=shelter, die Schutzbrille=safety goggles,die Schützengräben=trenches
⚠️beschützen=to protect(people,more personal)

kippeln

Verb	Related noun
⚠️kippeln = to tilt	der Kipp=ciggarete
⚠️umkippeln = to fall into the reverse position (180 degrees)
⚠️abkippeln = to unload

schummeln

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schummel= to cheat

meistern

Verb	Related noun
⚠️meistern	der Meister=master

kotzen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️kotzen=to vomit	die Kotze=vomit
⚠️ankotzen=to disgust

ereignen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️ereignen(mostly sich)=take place/happen	das Ereignis=event/incident,ereignisreich=eventful

EASY TO CONFUSE WITH: das Ergebnis=outcome

lüften

Verb	Related noun
⚠️lüften=to ventilate	die Luft=air
⚠️belüften=ventilate(places)	Belüftung
⚠️entlüften=vent(like radiators)	Entlüftung=ventilation/air release

verwirren

Verb	Related noun
⚠️verwirren=to confuse(someone, as in make confused)	Verwirrung=confusion,der Wirrwarr=chaos(informal)

verursachen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️verursachen=to cause/produce	die Ursache=cause/reason,der Versursacher=causer,die Verursachung=causing,ursächlich=causal

RELATED: die Sache=thing/matter/issue,Tatsache=fact(deed)

entfernen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️entfernen=to remove or distance	Entfernung=distance/removal,fern=far/distant

vernichten

Verb	Related noun
⚠️vernichten=to destroy	Vernichtung=destruction/annihilation, das Nichts=nothingness

bereuen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️bereuen=to regret(deeply,personal)	die Reue=remorse

SIMILAR to bedauern=to regret(some external fact)

dauern

Verb	Related noun
⚠️dauern=to last(some time)	die Dauer=duration
⚠️bedauern=to regret(some external fact)
⚠️ausdauern=to perservere	die Ausdauer=endurance/stamina

SIMILAR bereuen=to regret(deeply,personal),verdauren=to digest

meiden

Verb	Related noun
⚠️meiden=to avoid(passively)
⚠️vermeiden=to avoid(actively/prevent	Vermeiduing=avoidance

leugnen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️leugnen=to deny	Leugnung=denial
⚠️verleugnen=to repudiate/disown	Verleugnung=disowning,repudiation

veröffentlichen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️veröffentlichen=to publish/make public	öffentlichen=public/official, Öffentlichkeit=general public,Veröffentlichung=release/publication

schildern

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schildern=to depict/portray	das Schild=sign/shield
beschildern=to provide signs,auschildern=to mark with signs	Beschilderung,Auschilderung

schwitzen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schwitzen=to sweat	der Schweiß=sweat

EASY TO CONFUSE WITH: schweißen=to weld,Schweißer=welder

faulen and faulenzen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️faulenzen=to laze around	Faulheit=lazyness,der Faulenzer=lazy person
⚠️verfaulen= to rot/decay	Verfaulung=rotting/decay
⚠️faulen= to rot(technical)	faul=lazy/rotten

dünsten, bügeln and föhnen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️dünsten=to steam
⚠️bügeln=to iron, ausbügeln=to iron out	das Bügeleisen=iron(tool for ironing),das Bügelbrett=ironing board
⚠️föhnen=to blow dry(hair)	der Föhn(Haartrockner)=hairdryer

EASY TO CONFUSE WITH: der Bügel=hanger(for shirts)

schweißen

Verb	Related noun
⚠️schweißen=to weld	der Schweißer=welder
⚠️verschweißen=to weld/seal together (permanent)
einschweißen,aufschweißen,zusammenschweißen

EASY TO CONFUSE WITH: der Schweiß=sweat

Temporarily unclustered words

lieb =kind (this adjective has the same comparative/superlative as gern)
faul=lazy
das Stimmungstief=depression(soft, not medical)
der Zufall=coincidence
der Wasserhahn=faucet(in a sink)
sachlich=factually
die Hitze=the heat
bloß=mere/bare/naked
schwindlig=dizzy
stets=constantly
ständig=constantly
der Knopft=button
die Tüte=bag
im Großen und Ganzen=in general
der Kofferraum=backpack area(cars)
der Reife=tire
gruselig=scary
niedrig=low
ursprunglich=originally(from origin)
umgestürzt=turned over
überflussig=superfluous
die Ausgabe=the edition(2nd edition of book)
benachteiligend=discriminated
verantwortlich=responsible(the one held accountable)
zuverlässig=reliable(responsible)
der Dolmetscher=interpreter
lebhafte=vivid(color,memory,or person)
fristgerecht=at due date(timely)
eilig=in a hurry
dringend=urgent
der Tatort=crime scene
der Prinz=prince
die Eule=owl
die Laune=mood,übellaunig=bad-tempered
übel=evil,schief=crooked,feig=coward
fröhlich=cheerful,
der Hut=hut
die Pumps=high heels
der Bart=beard
der Schnurrbart=moustache
unentscheiden=even(in a game score)
umständlich=cumbersome
der Umstand=fact/circumstance
aufwendig=costly,aufwändig=complex,auswendig=parrotlike(known by heart)
pflegeleicht=low-maintenance
wetterfest=weatherproof
gehäutet=skinned
die Reihe=series of/bunch
die Reihenfolge=the order/list
Klugheit=smartness
der Rahmen=frame
die Gabel=fork,der Löffel=spoon,das Messer=knife
knusprig=crispy
die Feige=fig,die Heidelbeere=blueberry,Brombeere=blackberry
der Baum=tree,die Wurzel=root,der Stamm=trunk,der Ast=branch,das Blatt=the leaf
genervt=annoyed,nervig=annoying,nervös=nervous
die Vergangenheit=past time,die Gegenwart=present time, die Zukunft=future time, vergangeng,gegenwärtig,zukünftig
ehemalig=former,einmalig=uniquely
fällig=due (in payments)
kurzfristig=short-term
geduldig=patient
rein=pure(also short form of darein)
auswärts=away
flott=dashing(lively and casual), fade=bland
farbenfroh=colourful
gleichweis=likewise
der Besitzer=owner
der Mief=stench
abgrundtief=profound/abysmal

Schemas, and oder verbfocused things

AUS (out) is usually the opposite of AN (on)/EIN (in) AUF (open) is the opposite of ZU (close)

German Idiomatic Expressions

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 19:19:41 +0100

German Idiomatic Expressions (and connectors)

At this point I have overall a good grasp on the general structure of most common daily life german, but I have noticed that many specific connectors require a particular structure. My 2 previous german posts were more on the fundamentals of German, here I will go over more B-level stuff, that should allow my German to go from survival-sufficient to natural-sounding.

Grund + Folge (Cause + Consequence)

Folge: Deshalb | Darum | Deswegen | Aus diesem Grund | Daher (as position 1 of the sentence it introduces)

Es regnet, deshalb bleiben wir zu Hause.

Grund: nämlich (as position 3)

Wir bleiben zu Hause, es regnet nämlich.

Grund: Wegen + GENITIV

Wegen des Regens bleiben wir zu Hause.

Grund: Weil + NEBENSATZ

Wir bleiben zu Hause, weil es heute regnet.

Grund: Denn + HAUPTSATZ

Wir bleiben zu Hause, denn es regnet heute.

Adjectives Partizip I /II (or Gerundium and Participle)

Verbs can produce adjectives in German using their “ongoing”(Partizip I) and “done”(Partizip II) tenses.

E.g. Der lehrende Lehrer.-> The learning teacher
E.g. Der gelernte Lehrer.-> The trained(learned) teacher

“Both” in german

There are 2 ways to make a both-like syntax in Deutsch, they both have a lot of flexibility in what can replace the .... Check in the examples. The 2 ways are:

Sowohl … als auch … -> Both … and …
Nicht nur … sondern auch … -> Not only … but also …

sowohl … als … auch …

Ich habe sowohl Erfahrung mit Datenbanken gesammelt, als auch programmieren gelernt.

Ein guter Politiker sollte sowohl volksnah sein, als er muss auch Verantwortung übernehmen.

nicht nur … sondern … auch …

Ich kann nicht nur allgemeine Texte sondern auch Fachartikel übersetzen.

Either, Neither, however (as 2-part-prepositions)

entweder … oder … (either … or …)

Im Parlament sind die Parteien entweder in der Regierung oder sie bilden die Opposition.

weder … noch … (neither … nor …)

Manche Leute kennen weder die Minister noch die Parteien.

zwar … aber … (indeed … but …)

Ich interessiere mich zwar sehr für Politik, aber wähle nicht.

According to

laut …

Laut Johny sind wir reich.

… zufolge

Johny zufolge sind wir reich.

als … vs wenn …

Als … = One time past event

Wenn … = Repeated something,condition

-keit vs. -heit

When we want to build a noun from an adjective (that denotes the general quality):

The noun ends in -keit iff. the adjective terminates in: “-ig”,"-lich","-bar","-sam".
Else we are using -heit.

-ler vs. -ent

When we want to build a noun, from a verb (that denotes the person who does the action):

The noun ends in -ent iff. the verb is Latin-based or it ends in -ieren.
Else we are using ler.

Je + KOMPARISON (+ optional NEBENSATZ ) + desto|umso + KOMPARISON + HAUPSATZ

Je früher, desto eher werden wir fertig.

Je früher es ist, desto eher werden wir fertig.

Eigentlich|denn -> Soften a question (not an interrogatory)
doch -> Soften a request
ja -> Referring to something we already both know

Mittel + Resultat (Means + end)

Indem + NEBENSATZ Mittel + , HAUPTSATZ Resultat

Er lernt Deutsch, indem er jeden Tag üb.

HAUPTSATZ Mittel, + sodass NEBENSATZ Resultat

Sodass er Deutsch lernt, üb er jeden Tag.

Außerhalb | Innerhalb + GENITIV

Außerhalb der Stadt gab es Bäume. (GENITIVE)

Außerhalb von der Stadt gab es Bäume. (DATIVE)

Connectors with (optional) dass

Ohne|Statt + dass + NEBENSATZ

Er ging, ohne dass er sich verabschiedete.

Ohne|Statt + zu NEBENSATZ

Only when sharing the subject

Er ging, ohne sich zu verabschieden.

Connectors: Zweck (Goal)

damit + NEBENSATZ

Ich lerne Deutsch, damit ich in Deutschland studieren kann.

um + zu NEBENSATZ

Only when sharing the subject

Ich lerne Deutsch, um in Deutschland zu studieren.

Connectors: als ob (as if) + Konjunktiv II

Er tut so, als ob er alles wüsste.

Something depends on Something else

This is extremely useful in any conversation, but I feel like glossed over with most B-level education.

Es kommt darauf an, + (NEBENSATZ|auf +NOMEN)

Es kommt darauf an, was du willst.

Es kommt darauf an, auf deiner Entscheidung.

Es kommt auf + NOMEN + an

Es kommt auf deiner Entscheidung an.

Es hängt davon ab, + NEBENSATZ.

Es hängt davon ab, ob du willst.

Es hängt von + NOMEN + ab.

Es hängt von deiner Entscheidung ab.

Abhängig von

Es ist abhängig von deiner Entscheidung.

NOTE: It is possible that GENITIVE can also be used here, but I have heard different opinions from different Germans.

Interrogative pronouns

Warum = Grunde

Worum = Thema/Gegenstand (from the verb gehen um: “it is about”)

Wozu = Ziel

Skimming Stackoverflow Survey

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 11:21:30 +0100

To have a small break on my daily habit of learning German, I decided today to go through an actual reliable source of information on the job market for developers. Although I am currently on the last courses for my master on NLP~AI, reality is that that to get anything done on an AI project a lot of knowledge is necessary on software development. Stack Overflow has always been and continues to be THE reliable website people that build things go to. With that in mind, let me write that I found interesting on https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2024/

Developer profiling

There is no arguing this, a Bachelor’s (I would guess in CompSci or SoftEng) is by enlarge the dealbreaker. From most criteria I have seen for job applications, this holds true as well; in my personal experience a Master is a “nice plus” if it happens to be in the same specialty as is required for a job position but in most situation is not a hard requirement.

Looking at the rest of the section of learning to code, the documentation is still the preferred choice to consult for the average developer. The trend for the last 20 years has been to create more API-dependant webs and projects. External API/software library changes are going to happen regardless of how error-tolerant your code is; and when you have to actually sit down and adjust things on your end it is worth it to check what the most official source plans on doing (to prevent having to change your code again in the future, or at least prepare your code for it).

We can also see on the demographics, that development pushes out the elder. This is not surprising, the barrier of entry for coding is quite harsh: learning Javascript at 50 with some minor knowledge on programing (a bit of SQL here and there, editing some Python scripts ) is an experience I can only picture as miserable. When you have to begin reasoning on synchronously-run code or infrastructure limitations things get hard to follow quite quickly.

My important take-away from this graph is that coders run on a quick fuse; it is important to understand that you are going to get worse and slower with time and prepare for it (by learning management skills in all likelyhood). Roughly 80% of coders do not code past 45 (at least professionally) and it would be unwise to hope to be one of the few.

Technology

A quick glance at the section shows a very common theme: Relying on external APIs or resources. Main remarks :

Javascript (and all its family) are is #1, irregardless of the specific framework. The movement to more API-dependant infrastructures has made the tool best designed to work with web APIs the most popular.
Python is a close second. Even though Python is more module-based rather than web-API based, this is still using an API.
Containerization (I made this guide on Apptainer) and Cloud platforms are among the most required skills. Containerization was easily the most powerful innovation since non-relational DBs; and while Cloud Computing has proven disadvantages against a classic approach they have been developed at the right timing. Containerization is standardized enough to allow Cloud Computing, and the start-up friendly mantra of Try things and just see if they stick have been the perfect climate for AWS and Azure to flourish.
Languages that focus on being highly performant or covering other niche needs (C++, Rust, Go, Lua) are notably less popular (and have been stable there). These encourage you more to build your own tools rather than importing a module that does everything, and that has clearly out of favor. Here is an example on why overrelying on importing is sometimes a bad idea.
SQL-family tools remain as the #1 databases. They’re tried and true and for most business needs (in my experience up to 200k rows) they work best.

AI

Now on the next section of the review I think that the sentiment is very consensuated; while useful, they are nowhere anywhere near to compete with an even junior programmer.

Most developers consider it a helpful productivity tool, but not an efficacy tool. Let me explain this by showing the graph that seems to disagree with the rest:

Here, the vast majority of developers like using AI-generation to write code, but in the rest of graphs AI the reliability of it is questionable at best. The reason is: they are using AI-generation in order to template their solution better. The average developer wants to solve the meat of the problem, but has to follow then some arbitrary standard (that questionably improves the quality of solution, and will change trends in not that long).

AI-generated text has an extremely consistent grammar and questionable factual information. This applies to coding as well, but that is only helpful when the relevant semantic information of the code is already there. At that point you may want to check what “the standard of doing x” is, but that ONLY solves the problem of appealing to someone else, rather than solve whichever your task was.

This is further evidenced by the fact that an overwhelming majority of developers do not feel close to being replaced. Developing is 55 minutes of staring at lines and doing checks to write what you have to do in 5 minutes. In this analogy, AI generation might be helpful on these last 5 minutes.

Laboral conditions

Not a lot to say about this section other than: technical skills, even when niche and in demand, have a lower compensation cap than management skills.

We can also see from a later section that management does not tend to jump into coding directly (or at least not stack overflow). It is also interesting to see that most people manager report to be happier at work.

Personal notes

As much as grandious claims on AI keep happening, I can only interpret the usage of AI tools. To quote one of the most relevant programmers, Linus Torvalds “You need to be a bit more cynical about this whole hype cycle” link, in regards to GenAI.

The survey also confirms the strong bias towards microservices and cloud computing that has been growing on the last years. While these are more expensive by themselves, I think a lot of companies have found a pleasant use for them. I think for companies with some specialized tech product that they properly “sell” rather than “sell a service to” it just makes sense. In the B2B sector, where a product is sold that “should just work with minimal support” this allows the selling company to wash their hands off the hosting risks and the buying company gets something that “will just work” with a bit of a premium cost.

Seeing these trends, I think that the future will look good for independant consultants. While a product that “just works” is great, maintenance is a necessity for a reason; and in this quickly-changing tech world of APIs accidents will happen sooner or later. I have always been trying different technologies and not specializing too hard, even though most job offers seem to really value a “perfect fit”. I do not have a crystal ball, but I think this over-specialization is not the healthiest state for the sector and leads to less professional products.

Seeing different sides of tech has allowed me to alltogether skip technical requirements and realize the power of using simple tools. This blog uses HUGO because the time I spend on writing an article is the exact same it takes me to do it, a single command-line allows me to rebuild and deploy. My backups are done similarly. I have my own hosting as well because this sets a very low maximum cost for any project I want to deploy. If a project is then successful, migrating it to a microservice architecture is easy, but until that point a minimal environment is good enough.

German Conjugation

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 12:04:11 +0200

Verbs auf Deutsch

Verbs are in most european languages complicated. I plan on moving here most of the Grammar particularities that depend only on verbs. A particular note I will make is that although the various forms are complicated and complex I am mostly doing VIM regex substitutions with 100% efficacy, so they are predictable.

Particularities:

Weak verbs are the ones whose root does not change.

Strong verbs change the root.

Mixed verbs are a minority but change the root in Simple past (and keep it otherwise).denken,kennen,bringen,rennen,nennen,brennen

Prefixes: Weakly linked vs strongly linked

E.g. Aussehen vs Versuchen

Weak: when we conjugate them, the prefix goes at the end of the sentence. E.g. “Ich sehe dem Hund aus.”

Strong: They stay always together. They use ver, ent, zer, be, ge, er, miss. They MIGHT OR NOT use über, unter, um or hinter

Number/Person-less tenses:

Infinitives:

Nearly always ending in -en

May also end in -ern,-eln

Exceptions are sein, tun

Participles:

Regular (and/or weak) verbs: Shape is ge____t. E.g. gemacht. Central part is root from infinitive.

Regulars with infinitive -ieren do not have ge-.

Irregular (and strong) verbs: Shape is ge____n. E.g. gesehen. Central part is your best guess from :

the root in infinitive schlafen, schlief, geschlafen
simple past schreiben, schrieb, geschrieben
or its own thing singen, sang, gesungen

All tenses:

Indicative

Präsense: Du machst

Präteritum: Du machtest

Futur I: Du wirst machen

Perfekt: Du hast gemacht

Plusquamperkeft: Du hattest gemacht

Futur II: Du wirst gemacht haben

Subjunctive

Präsens: Du machest

Präteritum: Du machtest

Futur I: Du werdest machen

Perfekt: Du habest gemacht

Plusquamperkef: Du hättest gemacht

Futur II: Du werdest gemacht haben

Conditional

Present: Du würdest machen

Präteritum: Du würdest gemacht haben

Imperatif

Präsens: mach[e] du

A couple examples of verb conjugation

Auxiliary verbs

Sein

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	bin	war	sei	wäre	—
du	bist	warst	seist	wär(e)st	sei
er/sie/es	ist	war	sei	wäre	—
wir	sind	waren	seien	wären	seien
ihr	seid	wart	sei(e)t	wär(e)t	seid
sie	sind	waren	seien	wären	seien

Haben

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	hab(e)	hatte	habe	hätte	—
du	hast	hattest	habest	hättest	hab[e]
er/sie/es	hat	hatte	habbe	hätte	—
wir	haben	hatten	haben	hätten	haben
ihr	habt	hattet	habet	hätter	habt
sie	haben	hatten	haben	hätten	haben

Werden

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	werd(e)	wurde/ward	werde	würde	—
du	wirst	wurdest/wardest	werdest	würdest	werd[e]
er/sie/es	wird	wurde/ward	werde	würde	—
wir	werden	wurden/warden	werden	würden	werden
ihr	werdet	wurdet/wardet	werdet	würdet	werdet
sie	werden	wurden/warden	werden	würden	werden

Dürfen

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	darf	durfte	dürfe	dürfte	—
du	darfst	durftest	dürfest	dürftest	—
er/sie/es	darf	durfte	dürfe	dürfte	—
wir	dürfen	durften	dürfen	dürften	dürfen
ihr	dürft	durftet	dürfet	dürftet	dürft
sie	dürfen	durften	dürfen	dürften	dürfen

Mögen

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	mag	mochte	möge	möchte	—
du	magst	mochtest	mögest	möchtest	—
er/sie/es	mag	mochte	möge	möchte	—
wir	mögen	mochten	mögen	möchten	mögen
ihr	mögt	mochtet	möget	möchtet	mögt
sie	mögen	mochten	mögen	möchten	mögen

Können

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	kann	konnte	könne	könnte	—
du	kannst	konntest	könnest	könntest	—
er/sie/es	kann	konnte	könne	könnte	—
wir	können	konnten	können	könnten	können
ihr	könnt	konntet	könnet	könntet	könnt
sie	können	konnten	können	könnten	können

Müssen

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	muss	musste	müsse	müsste	—
du	mussst	musstest	müssest	müsstest	—
er/sie/es	muss	musste	müsse	müsste	—
wir	müssen	mussten	müssen	müssten	müssen
ihr	müsst	musstet	müsset	müsstet	müsst
sie	müssen	mussten	müssen	müssten	müssen

Sollen

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	soll	sollte	solle	sollte	—
du	sollst	solltest	sollest	solltest	—
er/sie/es	soll	sollte	solle	sollte	—
wir	sollen	sollten	sollen	sollten	sollen
ihr	sollt	solltet	sollet	solltet	sollt
sie	sollen	sollten	sollen	sollten	sollen

Wollen

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	will	wollte	wolle	wollte	—
du	willst	wolltest	wollest	wolltest	—
er/sie/es	will	wollte	wolle	wollte	—
wir	wollen	wollten	wollen	wollten	wollen
ihr	wollt	wolltet	wollet	wolltet	wollt
sie	wollen	wollten	wollen	wollten	wollen

Lassen

Other verbs

Regular verb example: Machen

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	mache	machte	mache	machte	—
du	machst	machtest	machest	machtest	mache
er/sie/es	macht	machte	mache	machte	—
wir	machen	machten	machen	machten	machen
ihr	macht	machtet	machet	machtet	macht
sie	machen	machten	machen	machten	machen

Irregular verb example: Sehen

Irregular verb example: Tun

Pronoun	Present	Past	Konj I	Konj II (Prät.)	Imperatif
ich	tue	tat	tue	täte	—
du	tust	tat(e)st	tuest	tätest	tu(e)
er/sie/es	tut	tat	tue	täte	—
wir	tun	taten	tuen	täten	tun
ihr	tut	tatet	tuet	täten	tut
sie	tun	taten	tuen	täten	tun

https://www.verbformen.com/conjugation/?w=machen <- Page to look at those

What Helped Me With German

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 18:38:37 +0200

German is hard

Learning German is a difficultish thing. You have to:

Understand the concepts of Person(me, you, her), Plural(me, us) and Gender(masc, feminine, neutral) (easy)
Use declensions. 4x4 combinations of terminations for words that you absolutely have to memorize/internalize (hard)
Memorize or learn to guess the Gender of most nouns (hard)
Memorize the 5 forms a verb can be conjugated(Present, Past, Participle, Konjuntiv I, Konjuntiv II), which can be irregular.

These are the absolute minimum cheatsheets I collected in order to familiarize myself these cases quickly. To memorize/internalize these concepts I will be just doing exercises while looking at the cheatsheets until I do not need to use the cheatsheets.

On concepts to understand:

Use case table:

Use Case	Grammar component	In simple terms	Example Johny (English)	Example Johny (Deutsch)
Nominativ	Subject	Who is doing the action	Johny is …	Johny ist ..
Accusativ	Direct Object	What receives action	I talk about the Johny	Ich spreche über den Johny
Dative	Indirect Object	To who/what the action goes	I talk science to the Johny	Ich spreche mit dem Johny über Wissenschaft
Genitive	Posessive	Ownership from another noun	Johny’s dog	Johny’s Hund

Declension patterns:

None	Strong	Weak	Noun	When to apply
—-	Det.	Adj	Noun	General case
-ein Det.	[Adj]	—	Noun	Only in: ♂️0️⃣nom./0️⃣acc.
—-	Adj	—	Noun	Except ♂️0️⃣gen. is Weak
—-	—	Adj	Noun	♂️0️⃣gen. only

So with determinants we will mostly use Weak declension, without we will use Strong declension, with 3 exceptions in total. Alternatively written like this:

Is there a determinant?

Yes.Is the determinant at use ein (♂️0️⃣nom./0️⃣acc)?

Yes.Yes. Strong declension.

Yes.No. Weak declension.

No. Is it ♂️0️⃣ Genitive?

No.Yes. Weak declension.

No.No. Strong declension.

Bonus:

Declensed quantifiers or pronouns act as determiners. (e.g. jeder,mancher,alle )
Undeclensed quantifiers or nouns do not act as determiners. (e.g. viel, dergleichen, ein wenig, etwas)
Declensed quantifiers only used in plural do not act as determiners. (e.g. viele, wenige, einige)

Declension terminations table ( [None] / Str / Weak ):

Gender	Nominativ	Accusativ	Dative	Genitive
♂️	-/r/e	n	m/n	s/n
0️⃣	-/s/e	-/s/e	m/n	s/n
♀️	e	e	r/n	r/n
👪	e/n	e/n	n	r/n

Note that the indefinite pronoun man declenses according to masculine.

Prepositions

Case	Prepositions	Conditions
Akkusative	durch,für,gegen,ohne,um	Always
Dative	aus,außer,bei,mit,nach,seit,von,zu,gegenüber	Always
2way	an,auf,hinter,in,neben,entlang,über,unter,vor,zwischen	Static(Dat) or Dynamic(Akk) object being referenced. Über is Akk with metaphysical verbs as well (sprechen, diskutieren, nachdenken
Genitive	(an)statt, trotz, während,wegen, außserhalb,innerhalb,oberhalb	Always
	unterhalb,diesseits,jenseits,beid(er)seits, unweit	Always

Connectors

The coordination(conjunctions) are easy to know, but I struggled discerning whether something was a subordination (subjunction) or a coordination that takes position 1(connective adverb). A general rule of thumb to discern them, is that since the latter are adverbs you will see them in other positions(note that damit can just be both).

Coordination: aber, denn, doch, oder, sondern, und
Subordination: als, bevor, bis, da, damit, dass, ehe, falls, indem, nachdem, obwohl, seit, seitdem, sodass, solange, sooft, während, weil, wohingegen, (interrogative pron./adv. : wo, wie, was, warum, ob …)
Coordination(but adding 1 complement to the Coordinated sentence): 0️⃣, allerdings, also, andererseits, aschließend, dabei, dadurch, dafür, dagegen, damit, danach, dann, darauf, darum, davor, dazu, deshalb, deswegen, einerseits, ferner, folglich, genauso, immerhin, inzwischen, jedoch, schließlich, seitdem, später, trotzdem, vorher, weder … noch , zuvor, zwar

Article/ Rel. Pronouns table :

Gender	Nominativ	Accusativ	Dative	Genitive
♂️	der	den	DEM	DES/DESSEN
0️⃣	DAS	DAS	DEM	DES/DESSEN
♀️	DIE	DIE	DER	DER/DEREN
👪	DIE	DIE	DEN/denen	DER/DEREN

Pronouns table :

Nominativ	Accusativ	Dative	Reflexive (Acc/Dat)	Posessive
ich	mich	mir	(mich/mir)	mein-
du/Sie	dich/Sie	dir/Ihn-	(dich/dir)/sich	dein-/Ihr-
er/sie/es	ihn/sie/es	ihm/ihr/ihm	sich	sein-/ihr-/sein-
wir	uns	uns	uns	unsere-
ihr/Sie	euch/Sie	euch/Ihn-	euch /sich	eur-/Ihr-
sie	sie	ihnen	sich	ihr-

Plural terminations:

Credit to https://germanwithlaura.com/plurals/ , section “Plurals According to Hierarchical Rules " for summarizing it nicely. This is just a linear rewriting of the table there:

Priority	Case	Termination
—	—	—
1	♂️ + -ant	-[e]n
	-chen,-lein	Nothing
	♂️ + -er,-el,en	Nothing
	-a,-e,-i,-o,-u,-y	-s
	♂️ + -il,-sal	-e
	♀️ + -ast,-ling,-ich,-ig	-e
—	—	—
2	♀️	-[e]n
	weak nouns	-[e]n
—	—	—
3	English loanwords	-s
—	—	—
4	♂️ Monosyllables	Umlaud + -e
—	0️⃣ Monosyllables	Umlaud + -er
—	—	—
5	Default	-e

Gender table

♂️	0️⃣	♀️
—	—	—
-ant,-ast	-chen,-lein	-a,anz,-enz
-ich,-ig,-ismus	-ich,-il,-it	-ei,-ie,-in,-frau
-ling,-or,-us	-ma,-ment,-tel	-heit,-keit,-ik
	-tum,-um	-sion,-tion,-sis,-tät
		-ung,-ur,-schaft
—	—	—
—	words with Ge-	verbs ending in -t
—	—	—
60% of -en,-el,-er	70% of -nis,-sal	90% of -e
—	—	—
	foreign words:
	-al,-an,-ar,-är,-at
	-ent,-ett,-ier,-iv
	-o,-on

Small note

Im < Am < Um To remember in the silliest way possible think of the word “Umami” (delicious/tasty in Japanese and a work that has infiltrated global culture.First thing that comes to mind with it is “Shiitake”)

Im: Workweek (Arbeitswoche), Week, Month, Seasons

Am: Times of day, Days, Weekends

Um: Hour

Adj

Case	Transformation (besides declensions)
Normal	—
Comparative	-er + DECLENSION
Superlative	am .. -ten/ADJ + -te

A bit of conjugation

Base conjugation

Pronoun	Suffix
ich	-e
du/Sie	-st/-en
er/sie/es	-t
wir	-en
ihr	-t
sie	-en

A small note on weird things:

Double accusative verbs: frage,kosten,bitten,lehrt
Declension does not apply if not in a declension pattern. This means faraway adjectives do not have to be coherent with the noun they refer to. E.g:

“Die Katze ist gross” -> Correct “Die Katze ist grosse” -> Incorrect
My first impression of the word “doch” is that it is utterly broken. Why would you have a word with 4 overlapping meanings that can be combined in a sentence?
- “Kommst du nicht?”
- “Doch, Ich dachte, du kommst nicht, doch du bist doch gekommen und hast doch nichts mitgebracht”

Credit to:

https://germanwithlaura.com/ -> All the grammar is extensively explained there and it is a GREAT resource. If you are like me and need an overall grasp on how a system works before you actually begin with exercises, you may want to spend a weeking going through the entirety of her text.

https://german.net/ -> A ton of practice exercises

https://www.vhs-lernportal.de/ -> Practice exercises as well, more focused towards [A1,B2]

https://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/uebersetzung/%C3%9Cbung.html <- I found this personally the best to get the most accurate equivalent of a word in another language. I alternated between the English and Spanish to Deutsch.

https://www.verbformen.com/conjugation/?w=werden <- Useful, irregular verbs can be tricky to recognize.

https://www.deepl.com/en/translator https://translate.google.com/?sl=de&tl=es&text=entgegenkommen&op=translate <- Best translators.

https://yourdailygerman.com/ <- This guy explains many very-idiomatic things in a thorough way. VERY helpful with prepositions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_modal_particles <- I should add this, but not a priority for a basic lvl

https://de.wiktionary.org/ <- Most official gender noun searcher that exists

Building spoken understanding (with personal rating)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfE_0HMOqOM&list=PL6MDL3np1hEpNCe93HYgBTdo6gY5yM43a -> Slow spoken german playlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=SX7qE7G2e_c -> Slow spoken children tales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjoGmN2CfFY&list=PLOB_20Li2d8jSl9u0fCVragBUn5M99zzK -> Normal speed playlist #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tskf6jmiqqc&list=PLOB_20Li2d8jGz1VN1Lcp34iZW3MbDvrF -> Normal speed playlist #2

10/10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6khA8eZaD4&list=PLM45RE_YsqS5-S58HSmYOhu2m-tRul9jW&index=1 -> “Friends"like short series with easy vocabulary. Humor actually funny, easy vocabulary, and pointing (naturally) to common misconceptions on German learner that come from English

6.5/10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-eDoThe6qo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg5P2w_Ro1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkufozluseI -> Nicos Weg. These are 3 videos that explain a story, used as vehicle to work in some exercises simultaneously. I personally did not like my first interaction with Nicos Weg, as I was in A1.1 and did not follow anything, and things did just not make sense. Now, as I am studying for B1, I should also say that at level B1; the 3 videos feel just right. Some characters speak way too fast for A-level understanding and use complicated grammar, but for B1 it works well enough. Compared to Extra, most misunderstandings feel a lot more artificial(especially early on) and Nico’s understanding of German is completely inconsistent. In summary, good practice for a B-level, not the most fun but forces you to get comfortable with kind-of-standardized B-level vocabulary and German.

Real life practice:

http://pangea-projekt.de/teilprojekte/deutschkurse/

This is just a personal approach to German.

The Password Manager everyone should using for Linux/Android

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 22:29:10 +0200

Today I will show one of the most important tools for any developer or non-developer: The ONE password manager you can trust, pass, the linux utility. It can work unencrypted, but it usually works along GPG. The Android version of pass is Password Store. This app needs to be used along Open Keychain. You can install both from the F-Droid store.

Notable mention to this excellent guide. It is slightly outdated, but had it not been for minor differences in the app it would have been all I needed to do a setup.

This is the main diagram to understand the pieces we are using:

The point of this setup is:

Our passwords are stored in a git repo, but we don’t really care if the file itself is ever compromised. The file is encrypted with a PGP key, so until quantic decryption exists that is not a concern.
The PGP keys only need to be shared ONCE, at the beginning. Once the setup is done the password file can be edited as you wish, the synchronized with git.
We are using pass/Password Store, which follow a minimalistic design philosophy (simpler code == less exploit risk). This applies to GPG/OpenKeychain as well
pass/Password Store copy a password to your clipboard with a timeout. Your clipboard by default clears after 45 seconds, and since the password is not shown (unless you actually paste it elsewhere) you could even be streaming yourself inputting passwords with no risk.
With a small amount of tools (I will mention passmenu for pass) you have one of the safest and more comfortable to use setups.
Pass/GPG are tools that will take FOREVER to get old. They are finished tools that change extremely slow if ever.
Working (temporarily) without internet (or github access) is not an issue since everything is really stored locally, and synced with git.

1. Computer setup:

1.1 Previous setup

Have pass and gpg in stalled in your Linux system (optionally adb to push your key files to your android phone through it). Have a repo setup in some git system like Github.

Initializing all programs

1.2 Generate your keys

After the basic installs, we have to set up everything. The first step if you have no idea on how to use gpg is to generate the keys with it. gpg uses a private/public pair of keys; which right now is considered a best practice in security. We can generate a pair of keys by running:

gpg --full-gen-key

I personally used the option of “ECC (sign and encrypt)” for the kind of key and “Curve 25519” which were the defaults. I made the keys not to expire (which is more dangerous but for this specific tutorial is not so relevant).

To make things simpler, just call your keys “password-store” for Real name and you can input any email you want. Comments are of course for your own reminding.

A big warning is that as of now, OpenKeychain does not support the AEAD mechanism. In order to avoid this issue do as the ArchLinux wiki suggests:

gpg --export --edit-key <FINGERPRINT> -> where FINGERPRINT is the long alphanumeric code of your key

setpref AES256 AES192 AES SHA512 SHA384 SHA256 SHA224 ZLIB BZIP2 ZIP -> We remove OCB as a prefix

exit -> to exit gpg editing mode, and press y to save changes.

1.3 Initialize pass

As simple as: pass init <FINGERPRINT>

Now you can get the full use of a (local) password manager:

pass generate somepassword -> Generate a password on the top level. The password generation system is as good as it gets.

pass generate somepath/somepassword

pass somepassword -> To show on terminal password.

passmenu -> Requires dmenu, but opens a searchbar for your passwords, and upon pressing enter copies it in your clipboard. NOBODY can see your password.

1.4 Link your local pass repo to github

Once again it is very simple to do:

pass git remote add origin git@github.com:your-username/Git-Repo-Name.git

And now we can use pass as if it was a git repo running git commands after it.

pass git add -A && pass git commit -m 'first bunch of passwords' && pass git push <- Try and add your first set of passwords so that we can set it later in Android.

2. Android setup

We must begin by installing both apks(OpenKeychain, Password Store) from the F-Droid store.

2.1 Passing the key, setting up OpenKeychain

You should export your PGP key in a safe way; that means either

Create Another Key (Key 2) on the OpenKeychain, pass the public key in any way (Whatsapp, email, IP over Avian Carrier) to your PC. Now you would encrypt (in the PC) with the password-store keys with Key2, send it to the phone, unencrypt them using OpenKeychain (on the phone); then import them onto OpenKeychain. This method is covered in the tutorial I linked
Alternatively, if you are comfortable with adb, you can just send the unencrypted keys over it:

gpg --export password-store > password-store.sec.asc

gpg --export-secret-keys password-store >> password-store.sec.asc

adb push password-store.sec.asc /sdcard/Download/

And import it directly with OpenKeychain.

2.2 Linking to the repo, setting up Password-Store

This will be done from the Password-Store apk. You will choose “clone a remote repo”. You want to set up your link exactly the same way as you set it for pass, using the link git@github.com:your-username/Git-Repo-Name.git. Besides that, you will have to select your key from OpenKeychain when prompted to do so.

A couple notes on the last setup:

On many Chinese phones, you need to disable some settings for these two apps to work. In my case I used a Unihertz so I had to go “Settings > Intelligent assistance > App blocker” and allow my apps to run freely. Android is a mess.
Optionally, you can set up its own SSH key for pulling from git. For security reasons (phones are the most privacy-aggressive devices with the least control over what they run) I personally do not allow my phone to edit my git repo and only generate passwords from a real PC. You may want to consider that.

3 Warnings:

pass will work just fine with expired keys (you can extend them and decrypt); OpenKeychain will refuse to decrypt with an expired key, or to decrypt a password that has been generated after a key expired. It is usually bad practice but for password-store you may want to set up PGP keys that never expire.
BACKUP YOUR KEYS. BACKUP YOUR KEYS. BACKUP YOUR KEYS. Remember that you will be reliant on them for all your very complicated passwords. If you lost your passwords AND any recovery ways, you can be in a very bad place. To backup your keys on pc, you can regularly copy your .gnupg folder that is in your home (~), in your user to somewhere else.

If this was helpful to you consider dropping a star on some of my projects https://github.com/xarxaxdev/ or donating. I am planning to keep this website as a personal blog and to document my projects or useful tech stuff.

Donation:

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Technical Guide to Answer Set Programming

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 20:07:02 +0100

Here I will go over the main reasons for using ASP, syntax, and best practices. Feel free to check my github repo for working examples (if this is useful to you, consider dropping a star). All the specific syntax I use is from clingo.

What problem does an ASP solve?

ASP is, as the wiki page states, a good approach to solving NP-hard problems where we want to establish a search space and let a solver find a solution without having to design an algorithm (but keeping some explainability). In a more practical way, we write programs that are lists of rules; then we let a solver find solution/s that satisfy all rules.

What does it mean to satisfy all rules?

All rules are in the shape head :- body which roughly translates to the logic statement head <- body, which is a logical equivalence to head or not(body). To satisfy all rules is then equivalent to find a set of variables such that for each rule either the head is true, or the body is false .

If you come from Prolog this is extremely familiar; the advantage being that ASP can deal with circular dependency loops.

Syntax

Let’s go over practical, concise explanations on semantics:

head <- rule.: head is part of a solution if rule is part of a solution
head <-.: head is part of a solution (always)
<- rule.: rule cannot be part of the solution
{head }<- rule.: head is (or not) a part of a solution if rule is a part of a solution
head <- {rule1;rule2}.: head is a part of a solution if rule1 OR rule2 is a part of a solution
{head1;head2} <- rule.: head1 or head2 are a part of a solution if rule is a part of a solution. We can read the ; as an OR.
L{head1;head2;head3}U <- rule.: [L,U] heads are a part of a solution if rule is a part of a solution

Syntax extension with variables

L{var_head_1(A,B):var(B);var_head_2(A,C):var(C)}U <- var_body(A).: for every var_body(A) we guessi a total of [L,U] (summing var_head_1 and var_head_2) are a part of a solution. Each var_head_1(A,B) needs there to be a corresponding var(B)(and the same applies to (var_head_2(A,C) and var(C)). We can read the : as “such that”.

Debugging ASP problems

General methodology

It is just good practice to use the methodology officially recomended. The approach suggested is called generate (rules with {} on the head) and test (rules of the shape :-body). Generate refers to the fact that, in the simplest of cases {a}., the solver will clone every pre-existing solution that didn’t have a and add a to it (if a had not been referenced, duplicating the solutions).

I will add to this methodology that implications head :- body by themselves only extend the current solution by sometimes deducing some variables. If we had 3 solutions prior to an implication, we will keep the same solutions with some more variables on them.

Common pitfalls

I want to create the pairs of different numbers between 1 and 2. I have num(1).num(2).

Wrong solution pair(A,B):- num(A),num(B).
Correct solution pair(A,B):- num(A),num(B),A!=B.
Reason: The body num(A),num(B) will be generated for EVERY possible combination of A and B. If the body was num(A),num(A) we have forced the variable substitution to be the same, but when using difference variables we have to manually enforce it.

I am getting too many incorrect solutions

That is the easiest thing to solve; when you run clingo you can check which invalid solutions appear, and looking at your program you should be able to infer which constraints (:-body.) have to be more restrictive or new ones to add.

Now I am getting an UNSAT

UNSAT have to be caused by constraints. What you can do is add a head error("error text") as a head of a :-body constraint. Next you can add (probably at the end of the program) a constraint of the shape :-error(_).. To identify which constraint is too restrictive, you can test commenting the head error("error text") of the particular error you are testing. If a constraint is filtering all your solutions; it is too restrictive or you were not generating enough solutions.

Let me create this relation that uses 6+ terms and expresses perfectly all the constraints of the problem

Wrong solution: using long rules in general.
Correct solution: split into smaller implications and relations
Reason: #1 it becomes very difficult to identify what exact part of the rule is the one that is breaking. #2 there are rarely relations with so many prerequisites. #3 heads are generated according to the combinations of bodies they have. You are greatly increasing the complexity of the problem.

My program never finishes

You probably have an incremental loop with no ceiling in a rule like this: var(I+1):-var(I)(or the increment involves several rules). A quick test of who is at fault is to add a reasonable cap (100 iterations should be instantaneous) and see if it terminates.

Efficiency tricks

Generally speaking, the easiest way to increase efficiency is to generate less possible variables. Lets use an example from the github on robots.

A specific (but very common) example:

Robots doing some tasks in a map represented by edges edge(Node1,Node2). There is also a time T.

Robots on a map can move to somewhere adjacent.

Inefficient solution:

{at(R,N2,T+1)}=1:-at(R,N1,T)} ,time(T+1).% a robot will be exactly at one place at a time
:- at(R,N2,T+1),at(R,N1,T),edge(N1,N2) . % no teleporting

Efficient solution

{at(R,N2,T): edge(N1,N2);at(R,N1,T)}=1 :- at(R,N1,T-1),time(T).% a robot will exactly be at one adjactent place at a time

Reason: The inefficient solution HAS to generate every possible combination (Robot,Node,Time) which grows cubicly with the problem. The efficient version allows only to generate the adjacent variables.

These robots have to do a series of tasks in a certain order.

Inefficient version

can_be_done(J,O,T2):- %operation O of job J can be done at T2
	operation(J,O-1,_),%the previous operation exists
	done(J,O-1,T1),time(T2),T1<T2.% previos was finished before

Efficient version

done(J,O,T) :- done(J,O,T-1),time(T).
can_be_done(J,O,T2):- %operation O of job J can be done at T2
	operation(J,O-1,_),%the previous operation exists
	done(J,O-1,T2-1).% previos was finished before

Reason: The inefficient version has to check every combination T1,T2; this is very inefficient as bit T values happen. In the efficient version, we generate a lot more “superfluous” done(_,_,_) statements; however that reduces the dimensionality of can_be_done.

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Training AI Models at the Potsdam University Cluster

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 01:06:51 +0100

Prequisites

VPN for Potsdam University set up and working.
Requested and granted access from the HPC Cluster. This means I assume you have managed to connect with ssh or something similar to the cluster.
(for the scripts to work comfy) a way to use ssh without a password (GPG or using ssh-keygen for example).

Containerization (docker) in a Nutshell

If you google what Containerization is, I am certain you will find many tutorials that go over the documentation without any kind of abstract explanation, which is just not that helpful. This is a better video. Let’s see it in a simple drawing:

We can think of recipes as “how can I have a virtual machine that runs things on its own”. We can think of images as a virtual machine “created”. But we don’t want to have to re-do that virtual machine every time to run every separate program right? So we create containers for specfic applications.

In the context of what I will be showing, the rationale for containers is more that we will do small modifications to our python code, and building an image every time would be unnecessarily and costly. We only need to rebuild the image when we are using different libraries (or different base images of course).

A minimal working example

The example can be found at https://github.com/xarxaxdev/example_apptainer.

I go in this section over the relevant parts; you may want to first look at the section “How to work with the example” and then modify the parts of the code you want.

Project-relevant code:

generate_model.py -> Python main code: whatever you are trying to run with this tutorial. I kind of followed an existing tutorial in huggingface; feel fry to modify for whatever NLP task you want to do.

requirements.txt -> Python libraries I needed for the main code of generate_model.py

Container and cluster-relevant code

slurm.job -> Defines the general parameters for running a task in slurm. Relevant lines I modified:

#SBATCH --partition=gpu -> We want to use the partitions (machines) that have a GPU
#SBATCH --gpus=1 -> How many gpus to use. You dont need more than 1.
#SBATCH --chdir=. -> This is where you want to run this job, "." means the folder you are currently in. This is why in this example you will run things from /work/username/projectname
#SBATCH --time=4-11:59 -> I set the time to run the scrip to the max possible.
apptainer run --nv img.sif -> This is the command that actually runs the container we have created. img.sif is the image we will be generating.

recipe.def -> This is where we have the set of instructions that will be used to build the image that we will use for running the containers.Let’s go over the sections it has:

  Bootstrap: docker
  From: pytorch/pytorch

We want to prepare the environment (Bootstrap) for docker-like images. pytorch/pytorch is a specific image for docker; we will use it as base, install some libraries and define the main script. You can find other images in https://hub.docker.com/

  %files
  generate_model.py .
  requirements.txt .

This makes the 2 files available in "." (the main folder of the image).

```
  export PATH="$PATH:"
```

We want to use the current folder, so we define the PATH of the image as evaluating(using $) the current PATH

  %post
  echo "Installing required packages..."
  pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Once we are done cloning the base image, the %post will be run to customize the image before it is saved.

  %runscript
  echo "running main script" 
  python3 generate_model.py

The main script that will run when we run the image in a container.

alias that just made my life easier

You will find them in : readme.md. It is just 4 variables and 3 aliases that make working locally, uploading the code and rerunning it simpler. You may want to add them in your .bashrc . The alias are:

alias ssh_uni="ssh -X $CLUSTER_LOGIN"
alias update_example_apptainer="rsync -av -e ssh --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.git' --exclude='*/generated_models/*' $HOME/$project $CLUSTER_LOGIN:$PATH_IN_CLUSTER "
alias reverse_update_example_apptainer="rsync -av -e ssh --exclude='*.pyc' --exclude='.git*' --exclude='*generate_model.py' --exclude='*.sif' --exclude='*.bin' --exclude='*.pt' $CLUSTER_LOGIN:$PATH_IN_CLUSTER/$project $HOME "

How to work with the example

Clone from github. Would recommend doing so in /home/username.
Customize code, aliases and variables:
1. Change “yourusername”
2. Change “/example_apptainer” for whichever folder you stored it in. You may have to tinker the alias if it’s not in /home/username
3. You should also change generate_model.py for your own code and requirements.txt for the libraries you need.
update_example_apptainer to upload the code from the folder project to the uni cluster’s working directory.
ssh_uni to access the cluster; then navigate to your working folder /work/username/example_apptainer
Now build the image: apptainer build img.sif recipe.def. This is slow.
Now img.sif is in your folder; you could run the image with apptainer run --nv img.sif. Instead use the cluster slurm system and run sbatch slurm.job. Wait for the job to be complete or fail.
Close ssh connection and reverse_update_example_apptainer to get the results from your cluster.
1. The job run successfully, good job!
2. The job run failed; you should check the slurm-*jobid*.out to see what is wrong.
  1. Need to modify requirements.txt and install new libraries? You should do so, then go to step 3 without skipping any steps.
  2. You only needed to modify generate_model.py? You should do so, then go to step 3 but you can skip step 5.

If this was helpful to you consider dropping a star on https://github.com/xarxaxdev/example_apptainer or donating. I am planning to keep this website as a personal blog and to document my projects.

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General Public Laptop/PC App Recommendations

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 04:42:05 +0100

These are some of the apps I have used over the years, and from those they are the ones that are more focused to work with a general public (whoever does not want to use a Terminal). There is a bias towards using open-source, specially for apps that are just extremely common to use (email, browser, etc). These tend to be ad-free and focused on usability.

Open-source simple apps that are available for Windows and Linux:

Thunderbird is the mail client that everyone should be using. Besides being open-source(so not snooping in your data) and donation based, it is very average-person friendly. As an adult you probably have 3+ mails on different websites (company, studies, private, spam, etc). This is a hassle to work with if you are using a browser tab for each mail; Thunderbird solves that.
Redshift is a red light filter (for burning your eyesight less and sleeping better if you look at screens at night).
Libreoffice is like Microsoft Word (but open-source).
Chromium is basically Google Chrome (but open-source).
GIMP is an image editor (like Photoshop, but open-source).
VLC is a music and video player.
Kodi is an media-player more useful for when you are watching a series.
Gparted is a very nice tool for managing your disks/storage/hard drive partitions.
Gedit is a simple text editor like Notepad.
Filelight is a way to check how full your disk is and which folder is taking space.
Texstudio This is a very beginner friendly to use LaTex (format for scientific papers) editor. If you have never heard of LaTex ignore this app.

Android:

Just use Fossify apps, open source and work

Non-open source:

F.lux Is the red light filter you should use if Redshift is not working for you.
Wikiloc is pretty nice for hiking local routes

Apps and webs for Travelling Indonesia

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 04:19:19 +0100

South-East Asia has its own tech ecosystem. If you use apps that are more “tourist-friendly” it is likely you are going to overpay for a lot of stuff, here is my list to prevent that:

MAPS.ME While google maps is great, I have had some issues with it working in some South-East Asian countries, which have been solved by this app. If you decide to travel to Indonesia it is very likely you will transit in Bangkok (Thailand) where there are multiple airports and you don’t want to have to download the app last minute. In more rural areas of Indonesia and Bangkok I found this app very helfpul.
Gojek Grab These are the most used apps for grabbing a taxi in Indonesia by a huge margin. Both work well, and personally the drivers were extremely kind and cheerful. In general, the scooter (Gojek by the locals) is the best option for transport for any local mobility, as traffic can get quite chaotic (especially in Bali) and buses or cars get stuck in traffic jams. As an European I can say that the traffic feels very wild for our standards, but having exclusively grabbed scooters driven by a local for a month I can say it is pretty safe.
Batik Air Fly Garuda Lion Air Air Asia These are all respectable apps for flights in Indonesia, and were you in need of an urgent flight for any reason you can count on them. The prices can widely vary, so if you want the cheapest I recommend you check them all.
Traveloka Tiket Rome2Rio As general purpose apps for booking both activities and transport. When I was travelling Traveloka was notably cheaper. Of course if you want to ask the local people for advice and you can and should, all the people I interacted with was lovely. But English, specially if you are more on the countryside is completely out of the equation.
Ferry Service Bali-Java This is the cheap option for crossing between these two islands. You want to pick Ketapang (Java) and Gilimanuk (Bali) as ports. Also Pejalan Kaki (pedestrian).
Ferry Service Bali-Lombok This is the best option I found to cross between these two islands. You also have to grab the public boat from Gili islands to Lombok, but that is just 1Eur more.

Why study in Germany instead of your country?

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 17:09:49 +0100

Economically

There are many publicly funded Master and Bachelor programs, where the only costs that you will pay are the University fees. For me, studying in a public Bachelor’s in Spain (which is cheaper than a Master) cost me roughly 1.2k euros a semester, assuming I never had to repeat a subject (otherwise I had to pay 200 more euros plus the normal price for that subject) and with only the tuition fees included. Conversely, where I study now I pay slightly above 300 euros a semester that include a transport ticket for the whole Brandenburg region.

You may also find better conditions for work or research in Germany as well. To give an example, it was relatively hard for me to find C++ developer jobs in Barcelona, where as in Germany they are quite requested. The same goes for robotics and some other niche fields.

Wholistic university approach

The student deal on public transport is only one example of how the conditions for living in Germany are quite welcoming in general. Please take into account that the minimum wage is 1584 eur when looking at those. These are other factors well integrated (in Potsdam University):

Student housing (Studentenwohnheim) can cost you as little as 210 euros. Add 5 euros per month more for internet.
Eating at the uni cafeteria (Mensa) will usually cost you 3~5eur for a rather complete (and healthy) dish.
Language courses (although limited) are for free for students. There are also other options in the uni to further help if you want to improve your conversational skills.
Sports classes for 4 months (2h a week) for 20 euros.
Extremely abundant part-time offers intended for students or minijobs
Student bars that are voluntary-managed and have affordable prices

I write this as I am studying my master in Potsdam since 2022. I am physically studying there and my German as of now (12.2023) is still not very good. You can read on the requirements for studying in Germany in my first steps guide

Germany Studying First Steps

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 08:53:04 +0100

Studying in Germany: First steps

There are quire a few steps you have to take before you are properly enrolled and you don’t have to worry about bureaucracy. Some are legal requirements, some will allow you to save up money.

Things that will save you money and you should do AT LEAST a year in advance (even if you are missing many documents and you have not even been accepted on a degree). If you are missing any documents apply anyway and send the documents as you get them:

For applying to the biggest scholarship DAAD. Waiting for an acceptance letter made my application invalid and and lost any chance at this scholarship. This can be easily 900 euros a month .
For student housing if you want to have a place by the time you begin your degree, you should apply a year in advance as well. As far as I understand, each region of Germany has its own Studentwerk/ Studentenwohnheim rules; it is still more than likely that if you have not applied a year prior you will not get a place by the time you wish to move in. I personally waited until getting an acceptance letter, which meant I had to stay many months in limbo regarding housing.

(All transcribed in English or German) Things you will need for applying (or at least that I needed for applying to mine):

A degree you are aiming to apply for (you should fulfill the qualifications for said degree). Use uni-assist for managing the application.
A motivation letter for the degree you are applying.
An official certificate of being qualified enough in the language of the degree you are applying for. Generally speaking, most degrees in German will need a B2 and most degrees in English will need a C1; but you should find it in the degree requirements.
(Only if you are doing a Master’s) Your Bachelor’s full credits transcript (including subjects), with some stamp or signature. You may also need a proof of completion for it.
Your university passing qualifications (high school diploma + entrance university grades) with a stamp or signature (even if you are applying for a Master and have a Bachelor’s). I personally managed to get away without transcribing this, but it is very likely you’ll need to. I will also say that this was only necessary for registering when starting in the university, not for applying to the program itself.
Your local country ID
Your Curriculum Vitae (depends on the degree).

Thing you should be able to provide right before you actually begin your studies:

Proof of you being legally insured by a German company (can be obtained exactly when you begin studying, needs only to be valid for the classes period).
Passport valid to get in Germany or VISA

Good etiquette

While this is not a requirement by any means and I have no proof of how relevant it is when it comes to getting accepted; I was recommended to show some etiquette in the uni-assist when delivering the required files. Delivering the proper files scanned rather than on a phone picture, with proper naming and format (your Curriculum Vitae should be “curriculum_vitae.pdf”) makes the work of whoever is looking at the application easier and shows diligence.

Xarxax.xyz

German B2 Compendium

Extremely productive Verbs

fahren, führen

schließen

schlagen

schieben

treiben

setzen and sitzen

legen and liegen

stellen and stehen

kommen

sagen

nehmen

tragen

teilen

Somewhat productive verbs

hören und gehören

tauschen, täuschen, tauchen, vertuschen

eignen, vereinen und vereinigen

zeichnen

finden

lenken

achten

greifen

löschen

wischen

schöpfen

wandeln

schreien

schätzen

basteln

werben

verzichten

stufen

schlucken

fangen

nähern

rühren

Almost-to-no productive verbs

beschäftigen

lieben

schwinden

schützen

kippeln

schummeln

meistern

kotzen

ereignen

lüften

verwirren

verursachen

entfernen

vernichten

bereuen

dauern

meiden

leugnen

veröffentlichen

schildern

schwitzen

faulen and faulenzen

dünsten, bügeln and föhnen

schweißen

Temporarily unclustered words

Schemas, and oder verbfocused things

German Idiomatic Expressions

German Idiomatic Expressions (and connectors)

Grund + Folge (Cause + Consequence)

Folge: Deshalb | Darum | Deswegen | Aus diesem Grund | Daher (as position 1 of the sentence it introduces)

Grund: nämlich (as position 3)

Grund: Wegen + GENITIV

Grund: Weil + NEBENSATZ

Grund: Denn + HAUPTSATZ

Adjectives Partizip I /II (or Gerundium and Participle)

“Both” in german

sowohl … als … auch …

nicht nur … sondern … auch …

Either, Neither, however (as 2-part-prepositions)

entweder … oder … (either … or …)