ballern
German
Etymology
From Late Middle High German bollern, from Middle Low German balderen, (with Low German -ld- → -ll-). Compare Dutch bolderen and bulderen. However, independent onomatopoeia is equally possible. The football sense via “to shoot” and through secondary association with Ball (“ball”). See also Bollerwagen.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbalɐn/
Audio: (file)
Verb
ballern (weak, third-person singular present ballert, past tense ballerte, past participle geballert, auxiliary haben)
- to bang (make a loud, dull sound)
- (colloquial) to shoot, particularly: to be trigger-happy
- (soccer) to hammer (shoot hard)
Conjugation
Conjugation of ballern (weak, auxiliary haben)
| infinitive | ballern | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | ballernd | ||||
| past participle | geballert | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich ballre ich ballere ich baller |
wir ballern | i | ich ballere ich ballre |
wir ballern |
| du ballerst | ihr ballert | du ballerest du ballrest |
ihr balleret ihr ballret | ||
| er ballert | sie ballern | er ballere er ballre |
sie ballern | ||
| preterite | ich ballerte | wir ballerten | ii | ich ballerte1 | wir ballerten1 |
| du ballertest | ihr ballertet | du ballertest1 | ihr ballertet1 | ||
| er ballerte | sie ballerten | er ballerte1 | sie ballerten1 | ||
| imperative | ballre (du) baller (du) ballere (du) |
ballert (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of ballern (weak, auxiliary haben)
Derived terms
- Ballerei
- Ballerer
- Ballermann
- Ballern
- Geballer
- verballern
Further reading
- “ballern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “ballern” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.