ID and ID* both mean that you have made a mistake with an IDiomatic expression. This usually means you've tried to translate an English idiom literally into German when that can't be done, e.g. "It was fun" = "Es hat Spaß gemacht" and not "Es war Spaß";"the first time" = "das erste Mal" and not "die erste Zeit." ID* indicates that the error is especially serious or distracting.

The following combinations of ID + number indicate some common idiomatic mistakes to avoid:

• ID1: There is/are = Es gibt; There was/were = Es gab. Always wrong is "Es geben". Use "Da ist/sind" only if you're pointing out some object(s) that is/are located "there."
• ID2: When saying how you're doing, remember to use "Es geht mir gut/schlecht/fantastisch/prima/OK" for anything on the good/bad continuum, but "Ich bin müde/alt/krank/gesund/fit" for other states.
• ID3: Use zu Hause when someone is at home; use nach Hause when someone is headed home.
• ID4: Note how one states the year when something occurred: Mozart wurde 1756 geboren/Mozart wurde im Jahre 1756 geboren/Mozart wurde in 1756 geboren

• Written next to a pronoun: Wrong PRoNoun (e.g. "sein" instead of "ihr," "uns" instead of "ihr," but not for e.g. "ihm" instead of "ihn")
• Written next to a noun: Use a PRoNoun to replace this noun

W* and W both indicate that you've chosen the wrong word, but W* indicates that the mistake is especially serious. Examples are:

• Funny mistakes, like using "Dattel" for a romantic date, or "Ventilator" for a sports fan
• Mistakes that indicate unthinking use of a dictionary or use of an online translator, such as translations of proper names (Ludwig Dienstwagen Beethoven), or improbable literal translations
• Choosing the wrong part of speech, e.g. translating the verb "to lead" by the noun "Blei," or translating the verb in "she left" by the adverb "links."

Most such errors can be avoided by

• browsing the dictionary entries carefully, as opposed to just picking one of the suggested words at random
• checking the word you've found in the "other half" of the dictionary to see if it generally seems to mean what you think it means
• typing the word or phrase you've found into Google using quotation marks to see if it is really used in the way you plan to use it

The following combinations of W + number indicate some common word choice mistakes to avoid:

• W1: Stunde = hour; Uhr = o'clock
• W2: sagen = to say: "Sie sagt, sie hat keine Zeit"; reden (über) & sprechen (über) = to talk (about): "Er redet/spricht über Elvis." "Du redest zu viel."
• W3: jemand = someone; jeder = everyone
• W4: töten = to kill; sterben = to die

• Word order with the Genitive is reversed compared to English: The man's cat = Die Katze des Mannes, not (except in poetry) "des Mannes Katze."
• Add a Genitive -(e)s (no apostrophe!) to masculine and neuter singular nouns only
• For proper names, add an "-s" without an apostrophe: Annas Katze, Schrödingers Katze; if the name ends in an -s sound, add an apostrophe: Gauss' Katze, Lorenz' Katze

The word you need is SIMilar to the word you have used. We'll use this if you've confused similar words like "dass" and "das," "antworten" and "beantworten," "Strahlen" [=rays] and "Strahlung" [=radiation].