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
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.