den Teufel an die Wand malen
to imagine the worst / to tempt fate
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Preposition 'gegen' (against, accusative)Präposition 'gegen' (Akkusativ)
- Plural with -e (der Tisch → die Tische)Plural mit -e
- Plural with -er (das Kind → die Kinder)Plural mit -er
- Plural with -(e)n (die Frau → die Frauen)Plural mit -(e)n
- Conjunction 'und' (and, addition)Konjunktion 'und' (Addition)
- Escalation with 'geschweige denn' (let alone)Steigerung mit 'geschweige denn'
Examples
nicht den an die , klappt .
Don't imagine the worst right away, maybe everything will work out.