German Movement & Position Verbs | Top 100 Verbs #5
If you want to learn German movement verbs in a way that actually sticks, this lesson is for you. In this short A2 story, Max is dealing with the consequences of radioactive fertilizer, and the whole scene is packed with everyday verbs like gehen, kommen, fahren, laufen, and stehen.
Top 100 German Verbs Series
This lesson is part of the Top 100 German Verbs series, which teaches the 100 most common German verbs through one connected story. Choose any episode below to continue learning the verbs in context.
- Episode 1: Meet Max Mustermann
- Episode 2: German Modal Verbs in Context
- Episode 3: German Speaking & Thinking Verbs
- Episode 4: German Reading & Learning Verbs
- Episode 5: German Movement & Position Verbs - You are here!
- Episode 6: German Seeing & Showing Verbs
- Episode 7: German Action & Connection Verbs
- Episode 8: German Result & Outcome Verbs
- Episode 9: German Verbs for Moving Objects
- Episode 10: Max Chooses His New Life
The story at a glance
Max climbs out of the fertilizer, goes home, scares his dog Walter, takes off his clothes, collapses on the sofa, and then discovers that his skin is glowing in the dark. By the next morning, he is at the newspaper office telling the editor what happened. But before the story even appears in print, a man from the factory is already standing at Max’s door.
The most important verbs in the story
This lesson focuses on common German verbs of motion and location. Some verbs show movement from one place to another. Others show where someone is, how they are positioned, or whether they are staying in one place.
Movement verbs
- gehen = to go / walk
- kommen = to come
- fahren = to drive / ride / travel
- laufen = to run
- ziehen = to pull; in ausziehen, to take off clothes
- fallen = to fall
- tragen = to carry / wear
Position and staying verbs
- stehen = to stand
- bleiben = to stay / remain
- liegen = to lie / be lying
- sitzen = to sit
- wohnen = to live
- warten = to wait
Go, come, and drive: gehen, kommen, and fahren
These three verbs are easy to confuse, but they each do something different.
kommen means “to come” toward a place or person. gehen means “to go” or “to walk” away from the speaker. fahren is used for travel by vehicle.
Ich komme langsam aus dem Bottich voller Dünger.
I slowly come out of the barrel full of fertilizer.
Ich fahre langsam nach Hause.
I drive home slowly.
Am Morgen gehe ich ins Büro der Zeitung.
In the morning, I go to the newspaper office.
That combination is great listening practice because the story keeps switching between movement and arrival. You hear Max leave one place, arrive at another, and then move back home again.
Verbs that show position or staying put
German also uses a lot of verbs that describe where someone or something is located. In this story, those verbs help slow the action down so you can picture the scene.
Ich bleibe eine Weile vor dem Bottich stehen.
I stay standing in front of the barrel for a while.
Hinter der Tür liegt mein Hund, Walter.
My dog Walter is lying behind the door.
Ich sitze auf dem Sofa und beobachte, wie meine Haut in der Dunkelheit glüht.
I sit on the sofa and watch my skin glow in the dark.
Er bleibt vor meiner Tür stehen.
He stops and stands in front of my door.
Ich fahre wieder nach Hause und warte auf die Zeitung.
I drive home again and wait for the newspaper.
Er weiß, wo ich wohne.
He knows where I live.
Notice that bleiben often works like “stay” or “remain,” while stehen, liegen, and sitzen describe a physical position. wohnen is not a movement verb, but it is an extremely common everyday verb for saying where someone lives.
Laufen, fallen, and ziehen in context
Some of the story’s most memorable verbs are the ones that show sudden action.
Dann läuft er von mir weg.
Then he runs away from me.
Ich ziehe mir die Kleidung aus und werfe sie in den Mülleimer.
I take off my clothes and throw them in the trash can.
Nach einer warmen Dusche falle ich aufs Sofa.
After a warm shower, I fall onto the sofa.
Ich kann diese Kleidung nicht mehr tragen.
I can’t wear this clothing anymore.
ziehen is especially useful here because it appears in the separable verb ausziehen. In a main clause, the prefix moves to the end of the sentence:
Ich ziehe mir die Kleidung aus.
I take off my clothes.
That tiny detail is easy to miss when you are listening, but it matters a lot in real German.
What to listen for in the story
If you want to use this lesson as German listening practice, try to notice these patterns:
- Which verbs describe movement from one place to another?
- Which verbs describe position, rest, or staying in place?
- Which verbs appear in everyday combinations like nach Hause fahren or ins Büro gehen?
- Can you hear laufen, fallen, and ziehen without translating every single word in your head?
The best part is that you are not just memorizing a list. You are hearing common German verbs inside a story, which makes them much easier to recognize later.
Keep building your verb vocabulary
If you want a broader review of verb forms after this lesson, watch Top 100 Most Common German Verbs (Conjugated in the Present Tense). It is a great companion lesson for this story series.
And if you want a quick grammar refresher before the next video, read how German present tense conjugation works.
Max is glowing, Walter is terrified, and someone from the factory is standing at the door. That is your cliffhanger, but it is also your cue to go back through the story and listen for the verbs again.
Top 100 German Verbs Series
This lesson is part of the Top 100 German Verbs series, which teaches the 100 most common German verbs through one connected story. Choose any episode below to continue learning the verbs in context.
- Episode 1: Meet Max Mustermann
- Episode 2: German Modal Verbs in Context
- Episode 3: German Speaking & Thinking Verbs
- Episode 4: German Reading & Learning Verbs
- Episode 5: German Movement & Position Verbs - You are here!
- Episode 6: German Seeing & Showing Verbs
- Episode 7: German Action & Connection Verbs
- Episode 8: German Result & Outcome Verbs
- Episode 9: German Verbs for Moving Objects
- Episode 10: Max Chooses His New Life
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