adverbprepositionpreposition

aus

from · off

Dieses Wort zeigt an, dass etwas nicht mehr an ist oder beendet wurde.

Definition & meaning

The word aus is a fundamental German preposition and adverb with several primary meanings:

Origin or source: It indicates the point of origin, meaning "out of" or "from." (e.g., "Ich komme aus Deutschland" – I come from Germany).
Material: It indicates what something is made of. (e.g., "Ein Tisch aus Holz" – A table made of wood).
Completion/Finished: It describes that something has come to an end or is no longer functioning. (e.g., "Das Spiel ist aus" – The game is over; "Das Licht ist aus" – The light is off).
Direction: Used with verbs of motion to indicate movement from the inside to the outside. (e.g., "Er geht aus dem Haus" – He is going out of the house).

Grammar & Word origin

Grammatically, aus is a preposition that always requires the dative case in German. It is also frequently used as a separable prefix in compound verbs (e.g., ausgehen , aussehen ).

Etymologically, it shares the same Germanic roots as the English word "out." It has been part of the German language since Old High German (ūz) and originally denoted movement away from a place.