genug

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German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle High German genuoc, from Old High German ginuog, from Proto-West Germanic *ganōg, from Proto-Germanic *ganōgaz.[1]

Cognate with Dutch genoeg, Low German noog, English enough, West Frisian genôch, Danish nok, Swedish nog. Further Indo-European cognates: Latin nancīscor (to get, to obtain), Slovene nesti (to carry), Albanian kënaq (to satisfy).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɡəˈnuːk/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ɡəˈnʊx/ (northern and central Germany; now chiefly colloquial)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːk

Determiner

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genug

  1. (invariable) enough, sufficient, an adequate number or amount of
    Wir haben nicht genug Geld.
    We don't have enough money.

Usage notes

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  • Genug can never follow an article or another determiner. Moreover, it is commonly used after the referent for emphasis: Die haben Geld genug! (“They have money enough!”)

Pronoun

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genug

  1. (invariable) enough, an adequate number or amount
    Das ist genug.
    That's enough.

Usage notes

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  • Genug can be followed and preceded by a genitive as in genug der Worte, rarer der Worte genug.

Adverb

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genug

  1. enough, sufficiently, in an adequate way
    Die Kinder haben genug gespielt.
    The children have played enough.
    Das Zimmer ist groß genug.
    The room is big enough.

Adjective

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genug (strong nominative masculine singular genuger, not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) enough, sufficient, in an adequate way

Usage notes

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  • In colloquial German, genug can be declined in expressions like: ein groß genuges Zimmer (a big enough room). When used as an adjective, genug must follow another adjective, similar to its use as an adverb. In the standard language proper, ausreichend will be used instead, which precedes the adjective: ein ausreichend großes Zimmer (a sufficiently big room).

Declension

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Interjection

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genug!

  1. enough!
    Genug! Hör auf mit diesem Unsinn!Enough! Quit this nonsense!

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN