Definition
The father of one’s mother or father.
Translations
- English
- grandfather
- Français
- grand-père
- Türkçe
- büyükbaba
- Polski
- dziadek
- Русский
- дедушка
- Українська
- дідусь
Also: grandpa
GERMAN DICTIONARY
der Großvater
- A1
- Noun
- People & Family
grandfather, grandpa
/deːɐ̯ ˈɡʁoːsˌfaːtɐ/
Meaning and translations
Meaning, definition and translations of this sense.
Grammar & classification
Main grammatical and classification properties of the word.
- Article
- der
- Gender
- Masculine
- Plural
- Großväter
- Part of speech
- Noun
- CEFR level
- A1
- Topics
- People & FamilyPrimary
Usage examples
Examples showing real usage and grammatical forms.
- Mein Großvater geht jeden Tag spazieren.NominativSing.My grandfather goes for a walk every day.
- Ich besuche meinen Großvater.AkkusativSing.I visit my grandfather.
- Er spricht mit seinem Großvater.DativSing.He talks to his grandfather.
- Das Haus meines Großvaters steht am Ende der Straße.GenitivSing.My grandfather's house is at the end of the street.
- Seine beiden Großväter leben noch.NominativPlur.Both of his grandfathers are still alive.
- Wir holen unsere Großväter am Sonntag vom Bahnhof ab.AkkusativPlur.We pick up our grandfathers from the station on Sunday.
- Ich schicke meinen Großvätern jedes Jahr eine Karte.DativPlur.I send my grandfathers a card every year.
- Die Fotos unserer Großväter hängen im Flur.GenitivPlur.Photos of our grandfathers hang in the hallway.
Pronunciation and forms
Pronunciation and audio for the lemma and important forms.
-
Lemma
Großvater/ˈɡʁoːsˌfaːtɐ/
-
Article phrase
der Großvater/deːɐ̯ ˈɡʁoːsˌfaːtɐ/
-
Plural
Großväter/ˈɡʁoːsˌfɛːtɐ/
Declension / Forms
How the noun changes across German cases and singular or plural.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | der Großvater | die Großväter |
| Akkusativ | den Großvater | die Großväter |
| Dativ | dem Großvater | den Großvätern |
| Genitiv | des Großvaters | der Großväter |
Usage and collocations
Typical constructions, prepositions and word combinations.
- Verb constructionden Großvater anrufen + Akkusativ
Anrufen takes Großvater as the direct object in the accusative.
- Collocationmein Großvater
The possessive pronoun mein makes it clear that this is about one's own Großvater.
- Collocationden Großvater besuchen
Besuchen is used here with Großvater as the direct object in the accusative.
- Prepositional constructionmit dem Großvatermit + Dativ
Mit refers here to a companion and takes the dative.
- CollocationGroßvater werden
You say this when your own child has a child.
- Prepositional constructionbei seinem Großvater übernachtenbei + Dativ
Bei refers here to the place where one spends the night.
Semantic relations
How this meaning relates to other meanings and easily confused words.
- Near-synonymOpa — grandpa
Großvater is the neutral term; Opa usually sounds more familiar and colloquial.
- Broader termGroßelternteil
Großvater is a male Großelternteil and therefore a specific kind of Großelternteil.
- Related termGroßmutter — grandmother
Großvater and Großmutter are both grandparents; Großvater refers to the man.
- Semantically relatedEnkel — grandson
A Großvater is one generation above his Enkel and is directly related to him.
Word formation and word family
How the word is formed and its reviewed lexical family.
Word family
- Urgroßvater