Etymology

Question 1

Sprich

Answer 1

That is to say/in other words/hence

Sie ist die Tochter meiner Tante, sprich, meine Cousine

Question 2

(Sich) Versprechen (x2)

Answer 2

To promise : to misspeak

Entschuldigung, ich habe mich versprochen (sorry, i misspoke)

I can’t really tell you why it is that way but without the self reference it will sound like the other versprechen.

Ich verspreche (mich) 4 mal in einem Satz (i promise/(misspoke) 4 times in a sentence)

Ich verspreche mir viel (I promise a lot to myself/my hopes are high)

Ich verspreche mich viel (I misspeak a lot)

Er verspricht sich viel (confusing as could be either direct or indirect object: he often has high hopes OR he often misspeaks)

Question 3

Vielversprechend

Answer 3

Promising

Das sieht vielversprechend aus

Question 4

Versprochen

Answer 4

Promised

Ich bringe dir die versprochenen DVDs mit

Question 5

Sich treffen mit

Answer 5

To meet with someone on purpose

So… what is the difference between just treffen and the reflexive sich treffen mit? Well… the essence of the 2 is the same. All 3 sentences in the examples above do convey the same information. But there is a difference in use. I would say, that in everyday speech sich treffen mit is WAY MORE USED. A possible reason is to avoid confusion with the hitting-treffen

Thomas trifft seinen Professor

Wir treffen uns um 9

Wir treffen um 9… WRONG
We have to say what we treffen… either something, someone or ourselves.

Question 6

Wann können wir uns treffen?

Answer 6

When can we meet?

The uns has to be there. Without it the phrase sounds really odd to a German. What??? What can we hit???

So to wrap this up let’s do one of those constructions, that make German seem so difficult.

”Hat Thomas schon mit seinem Professor gesprochen?”
“Nein, aber er trifft sich mit ihm am Donnerstag.”
“Did Thomas speak with his professor yet?”
“No, but he will meet him on Thursday.”

Question 7

Ich treffe eine Entscheidung

Answer 7

I hit (make) a decision

I don’t really know why that is, but it is a very very common phrasing and you should know it. Vice versa there is one thing that is met in English but not getroffen in German… expectations and all related things, like specifications or demands. The German word for this version of to meet depends on the thing met, but erfüllen (fulfill) is probably a good choice most of the time.

Question 8

Er konnte die Erwartungen nicht erfüllen

Answer 8

He could not fulfil (meet) expectations

Vice versa there is one thing that is met in English but not getroffen in German… expectations and all related things, like specifications or demands. The German word for this version of to meet depends on the thing met, but erfüllen (fulfill) is probably a good choice most of the time.

Question 9

Der Vorwand

Answer 9

False pretense

Thomas lädt die neue Kollegin unter einem Vorwand zum Dinner ein.

Thomas invites the new colleague for dinner under a false pretense.

Question 10

Auswendig

Answer 10

By heart/parrotlike

Question 11

Der Aufwand

Answer 11

The effort/expenditure/outlay

aufwenden is about coming up with some resources for a purpose. The verb itself is quite rare though. What’s really gonna be useful for you are the two related words. The noun der Aufwand means something like effort you have to invest for a certain goal and usually it’s used in contexts where the effort is significant.

Question 12

Aufwendig

Answer 12

Complicated/intricate/costly/elaborate/too much work

The noun der Aufwand means something like effort you have to invest for a certain goal and usually it’s used in contexts where the effort is significant. This notion is even more clear in the adjective aufwendig which means “requires lots of effort/work” and depending on context translates to complicated, lavish or elaborate.

Nudeln selber zu machen, ist mir zu aufwendig.
Making pasta myself is too much work for me.

Question 13

Sich zuwenden/sich abwenden

Answer 13

To turn to/away

Zuwenden is yet another verb that is about turning toward. But zuwenden is not as abstract as verwenden or anwenden. Still, it is tricky because zuwenden always comes with a self reference. So it’s actually sich zuwenden and it’s used in sense of turning yourself to someone or something. And it’s more than just turning your head or your body. Zuwenden implies that your focus is entirely on the person or the thing. The noun die Zuwendung actually even means something like affectionate/caring attention.

Question 14

Abwenden

Answer 14

To avert

Er wendete erfolgreich eine Katastrophe ab

Beim Parteitag haben einige versucht, die Wahl des komischen Mannes abzuwenden.
(At the party convention, some tried to avert/prevent the election of the odd man)

Das Unternehmen hat die Pleite gerade noch abgewendet.
(Just barely the company managed to avert bankruptcy)

Oh and by the way… guess where vert in avert comes from. Exactly, from Latin and it meant to turn. Cool, next.

Question 15

Verwenden

Answer 15

To use

The other common verb for to use is benutzen and there’s not really a big difference between benutzen and verwenden. It’s more the tone. Benutzen sounds a bit more hands-on and “rough”. So for abstract items or if you it sound elegant, verwenden is the slightly better choice.

Bitte nur im Freien verwenden.
(Please only use outside)

Forscher der BS University haben wiederverwendbares Toilettenpapier entwickelt (Scientists of the BS University have developed reusable toilet paper)

Verwenden means to use and the logic behind the meaning is actually quite simple. The ver- expresses the idea of for, toward and verwenden once simply meant “to turn something toward something”. And when you mix in a little abstract … and then some more abstract you’ll end up with to use. Think about it… you want to open your beer and you have a lighter. Then you’ll “turn” the lighter toward opening the beer”… you use it to open the beer. Tadah.. dunno… to me it makes sense :)

Question 16

Anwenden

Answer 16

To put into practice/apply

The logic of anwenden pretty much the same as that of verwenden… you “turn” an item toward a purpose. But anwenden is a bit more targeted and means to apply; in the sense of applying some sort of tool to a purpose. Anwenden, apply

Thomas geht nach dem Sprachkurs immer in eine Bar, um das, was er gelernt hat, anzuwenden (After the language course Thomas always goes to a bar to put into practice/apply what he has learned)

Bitte schließen Sie die Anwendung. (also: das Programm). (Please close the application)

Was ist der eigentlich Unterschied zwischen Design und angewandtem Design?
(What’s the difference between Design and applied design)

Question 17

Wenden : drehen

Answer 17

To turn (from one side to the other) : (directional)

The focus of drehen is circular movement, the focus of wenden is turning from one side to the other… or in a more abstract sense, from one direction to another direction

Ich wende mein Steak (i turn my steak from one side on the other)

Ich drehe mein Steak. (I spin my steak)

The distinction between the two is not super strict. Umdrehen for instance means pretty much the same as wenden.

wenden sounds a tiny bit technical and is not too common in daily life. But you can definitely find it in context of navigation and in a couple of idioms. Oh, and sich wenden an it means to turn to someone

Wenn Maria eine Rezeptidee braucht, wendet sie sich an ihre Cousine. (Whenever Maria needs an idea for a dish, she turns to her cousin)
Lit.: she turns herself to her she-cousin

Question 18

Die Energiewende

Answer 18

The energy turnaround

Nach der Wende waren viele Menschen zuerst euphorisch.
After the fall of the wall (“the turn”) many people were euphoric.

Question 19

Der Einwand

Answer 19

The objection/turning in an argument/opposition

Im Anhang mein Entwurf für einen Putzplan… wenn einer Einwände hat, einfach aufschreiben. Wir diskutieren das dann beim nächsten WG-Meeting.
(Attached is my draft for a cleaning roster… if you have objections, just note ’em down. We’ll discuss all this at the next flat mate meeting)

Question 20

Verwandt

Answer 20

Related/akin/kin

Klingt verrückt aber: die Wörter “Scheiße” und “Science” sind verwandt.
(Sounds crazy but: the words “shit” and “science” are related/family)

what does that have to do with wenden and verwenden? Well, it’s actually quite simple. Do you remember the original idea of verwenden? It was “turning toward”. And this was also used in sense of people and verwandt simply meant turned toward each other. This then slowly shifted toward liking each other and then it became even more close until it had the meaning it has today. Pretty cool, right?

Question 21

Das Gewind

Answer 21

Nappy/diaper

And there are actually a LOT of cool related words to wenden and its brother winden and they all have some form of the core idea of winding, changing sides constantly in them… das Gewinde is the thread of a screw, die Winde is a winch, die Windel is a diaper because… you wrap it around your baby’s butt, die Wendeltreppe is a circular staircase, das Gewand is a garment, robe (a piece of fabric you wrap around yourself) and then there are wandern and wandeln…. but I think we’ve really learned enough for one day so let’s wrap this up here :)

Question 22

Treu : wahr

Answer 22

True (loyal/faithful) : True (correct)

Treu is only true in the sense of being faithful, loyal and that is actually pretty much the meaning of original Germanic word *treuwaz.

Der Sänger bleibt sich treu. (The singer stays true to himself)

Sammeln sie Treuepunkte? (Do you collect loyalty points?)

Sag mir die Wahrheit! (Tell me the truth!)

Die Geschichte, die Maria Thomas erzählt hat, war ein bisschen wahr. (The story Maria told Thomas was a little bit true)

Question 23

Vertrauen

Answer 23

To trust

Wait, vertrauen? Why not just trauen? Well, trauen used to mean to trust and vertrauen, with the for-idea of ver, was just a slightly more personal sounding version of it.

Das ist nicht scharf. Vertrau mir! (It’s not spicey. Trust me!!)

Ich vertraue meinem Bauchgefühl und gehe auf Toilette. (I trust my gut feeling and go to the toilet.)

Question 24

Anvertrauen

Answer 24

To confide/entrust

Maria hat ihrer Frisörin ein Geheimnis anvertraut.
Maria trusted her hair dresser with a secret/confidentially told her ….

Question 25

Das Vertrauen (selbst/un-)

Answer 25

The trust/confidence

Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser. (Trust is good, control is better.)

Du hast mein Vertrauen misbraucht. (You betrayed my trust.)

Der Erfolg war gut für Marias Selbstvertrauen. (The success was good for Maria’s self confidence.)

Eine Ursache von Paranoia ist fehlendes Urvertrauen. (One cause of paranoia is missing basic trust (psychological term))

Question 26

Trauen : sich trauen

Answer 26

Trust/to be suspicious : to dare

By itself, it can still mean to trust, but that’s rare and I think you only ever see it in context of not trusting a stranger, being suspicious.

I traue ihm nicht. (I’m suspicious of him/ I don’t trust him.)

What’s useful is the trauen with a self reference – sich trauen. A few hundred years ago, this simply meant to trust yourself. But slowly the phrasing shifted more and more toward what you might do when you trust yourself… taking a risk. Or in one word… to dare. THAT’S what sich trauen means today and it’s pretty common because Germans also use the negative version to express that they’re scared.

Ich habe mich nicht getraut, ins Wasser zu springen. (I didn’t have the guts to jump in the water.)

Seitdem er die Einhorndoku gesehen hat, traut sich Thomas nachts nicht, auf Toilette zu gehen. (Ever since he saw the documentary about unicorns, Thomas doesn’t dare to go to the toilet at night.)

Question 27

Treten (x3)

Answer 27

To tread : to step : to kick

Treten is the German brother of the English verb to tread and together with words like trample, trampoline or the German word for staircase, die Treppe. Because not only is it THE word for tread AND step, it’s also the word for kicking. Not to far fetched, I think. It’s just the intent that’s different. The motion is kind of similar for stepping and kicking. You bring your foot forward.

Die Prinzessin tritt auf den Balkon (The princess steps onto the balcony)

Thomas ist in Hundescheiße getreten (Thomas stepped in dog shit)

Question 28

Der Tritt : Der Schritt

Answer 28

The kick : the step

“What do we do for nouns?”
“I don’t know. I was just gonna use step again.”
“Hmmm…. okay, I’m gonna make Tritt NOT the translation for step then but only for kick. For step I’ll use the noun of schreiten. And I’m not gonna use schreiten itself.”
“Hahah man, they’ll hate you.”

And so it was. Der Tritt is the kick and for step German says der Schritt.

Anyway, while we’re at kick… in English, there’s also the metaphorical kick. No so in German. Tritt is really only a kick with the foot, while the metaphorical kick is … der Kick. How creative!

Question 29

Eintreten (x3)

Answer 29

To step in/enter : to kick in : to happen/take place

Die Polizistin tritt die Tür ein.
The police officer kicks in the door.

“Und? Wie lief dein Date?”
“Alles ist so eingetreten, wie das Einhorn vohergesagt hast.”
(“And how’d your date go?”
“Everything happened as the unicorn had foretold.”)

“Herr Präsident, warum sind sie damals als junger Mann in die Feministische Partei eingetreten.”
“Ganz klar um Frauen kennenzulernen.”
(“Mr. President, why did you join/enter the feminist party back then as a young man.”
“Clearly, to get to know women.”)

(beitreten+etwas is another option here. It might be a bit more common actually)

Eintreten taken literally would be to step in or in one word: to enter (by making a step). Eintreten does carry that meaning BUT it’s rarely used and sounds kind of lofty. Probably because eintreten has so many other meanings. And eintreten is super common for more abstract “enterings”. For example in contexts of joining parties, clubs or societies.

eintreten also mean to happen, to take place. Yup, another one. I guess there’s so much happening in the world, passieren, geschehen, stattfinden, sich ereignen and vorkommen just weren’t enough. We needed eintreten. Half a dozen words. Great job, German. Most verbose language on the freaking planet.
Anyway, the idea behind it is simply that something “steps into reality” and the context you find it in are predictions becoming reality. So you wouldn’t use it for just random events.

Question 30

Der Eintritt

Answer 30

The entry/ticket

Ich habe Maria eine Eintrittskarte für das Museum geschenkt (I gave Maria a ticket for the museum as a present)

Eintritt frei (Entrance/admission free)

What’s useful is the noun der Eintritt which is entrance in a financial sense… like tickets and stuff. “Wait, you just said that Tritt only meant kick… ”
Well, that was just for the stand alone. With a prefix, Tritt works fine as step.
“Oh… “

Question 31

Austreten (x3)

Answer 31

To leave (party/club/society) : to leak out : to kick out (horses/fires)

Das Austreten (the leakage)

Seit dem Interview sind viele aus Protest aus der Feministischen Partei ausgetreten (Since the interview, many have left the party in protest)

Another non-surprise is that this isn’t the only meaning. You’re ready? It also means to kick out in context of horses, to extinguish a fire by stepping on it and – get a load of this – leaking for liquids and gasses. In German these things “step out” of a container

Wie durch ein Wunder ist bei dem Tankerunfall kein Öl ausgetreten (Miraculously, no oil leaked “stepped out” at the supertanker accident.)

Question 32

Auftreten

Answer 32

To step on/tread/put foot down : to appear on stage (literal/metaphorical)

The most literal meaning of auftreten has is capturing the moment of putting your foot down.

Mein Arzt sagt, meine Kreuzschmerzen kommen davon, dass ich falsch auftrete. (My physician says, that my back pain comes from the fact that I put my foot down the wrong way.)

What makes auftreten really useful and a word you’ll definitely see is the idea of going onto some kind of stage. It has a pretty broad range, from music shows to how you present yourself, but I think it’s always clear when you see it.

Thomas tritt im Zirkus auf. (Thomas appears/performs at the circus.)

Wegen einer Grippe hat die Band den Auftritt abgesagt. (Because of a flu, the band canceled the show.)

Maria hat ein sehr selbstbewusstes Auftreten.
(Maria has a self-confident demeanor.)
(she carries herself in a confident manner)

In der Region treten oft Erdbeben auf. (In that region, earth quakes occur (“appear on stage”) very often.)

Question 33

Vertreten

Answer 33

To represent/stand in for/support

If you’ve read my article on the ver-prefix, you’ll know that ver- can carry four notions. But here, it only carries one… the idea of for. So, literally vertreten means “to step for”. It’s kind of the same idea as eintreten in the sense of stepping up for, but vertreten is MUCH more useful. Because it works for all kinds of contexts… representing and defending ideas, representing people, representing products. Heck, represent is a good translation actually.

Maria hat ihren Standpunkt beim Meeting gut vertreten (Maria defended/represented her position/point of view well at the meeting.)

Um sechs aufstehen halte ich für vertretbar.
(I find getting up at six tenable/acceptable.)

Thomas tritt dem Versicherungsvertreter aus Versehen auf den Fuß. (Thomas accidentally steps on the insurance sales rep’s foot.)

Die Klasse nimmt den Vertretungslehrer nicht ernst. (The class doesn’t take the substitute teacher seriously.)

Politiker werden gewählt um das Volk zu vertreten. (Politician get elected to represent/stand in for the people.)

Question 34

Betreten

Answer 34

To enter

Be- carries the notion of “do onto” and one effect of that is that it does away with the need for prepositions that indicate direction and having a direct object instead a prepositional blah blah blah… so much Latin. Here’s what I’m trying to jargon…

Ich trete in den Raum. (Ich betrete den Raum.)

Both sentences mean that you enter the room, they’re just using different grammar to express that. As we mentioned in the beginning, treten in isn’t used that much in sense of entering spaces. But that’s different for betreten. Like many be-verbs it does sound a tad bit technical and dry, but you can definitely find it in daily life, especially in formal or scripted contexts.

Wenn Maria das Büro betritt, hören alle auf zu arbeiten und verbeugen sich. (Whenever Maria enters/sets foot into the office, everyone stops working and bows.)

Mit dem Mac-Vegan betritt McDonalds neues kulinarisches Terrain. (With the Mac Vegan, McDonalds sets foot into new culinary territory.)

Question 35

Aussehen

Answer 35

To appear

German offers different possibilities for this but they all involve als. Wie alone does NOT work and will NOT be understood.

Du siehst aus, als ob du ein Glas Sojamilch gebrauchen kannst.

Du siehst aus, als wenn du ein Glas Sojamilch gebrauchen könntest/kannst.

Du siehst aus, als könntest/kannst du ein Glas Sojamilch gebrauchen.

Du siehst aus, wie als wenn du ein Glas Sojamilch gebrauchen könntest.

There are no real big differences between all these versions so you can just use one. What is important to realize is a special feature of the sentence structure of the 3rd example. If you just use als, the verb remains in the 2nd position. In all the other version it goes to hang out at the end.

Question 35

Aussehen nach

Answer 35

To look like (not visually)

The last way to use aussehen is aussehen nach… this is used to express that the visuals give clues to something without being visually equal to that thing. They just hint at it. The first example that comes to my mind is connected to weather.

Es sieht nach Regen aus.

This does not mean that something literally looks LIKE rain. It means that it looks like it is going to rain.

Das sieht nach einer schweren Aufgabe aus.
(That looks like it is going to be a difficult task.)

This works also in past tense. When you enter a flat that is totally trashed you may say:

Das sieht nach einer sehr guten Party aus. (That looks like it was a very good party.)

Aussehen is actually one of the verbs where the real past is used.

The food looked weird but it was very tasty.
Das Essen sah komisch aus, aber es war sehr lecker.

Das Essen hat komisch ausgesehen, aber es war sehr lecker.

The first translation is definitely the better choice here. As you can see the real past stem is sah aus so the conjugation would be:

Ich sah müde aus.
Du sahst aus.
Er sah müde aus.

The ge-form is ausgesehen and the spoken past is built with haben but go for the real past here.

Question 36

Treffen (x2)

Answer 36

To meet : to hit/get to someone (abstract)

Ich treffe dich am Kinn. (I hit you on the chin.)

Ich treffe dich am Brunnen. (I meet you at the fountain.)

The context will make it clear, which treffen is intended. However, a statement like this will raise questions:

Ich habe meinen Freund auf dem Schießplatz getroffen. (I met/ hit my friend on the firing range.)

In German, you do not need a physical object to hit someone… you can also do it with an insult or with disrespectful behavior. Also events can hit someone in a more abstract sense. In those cases the English translations would be to hurt or maybe to get to someone.

Was du gesagt hast, hat mich sehr getroffen.
It really hurt me, what you said.

Der Tod seines Hamsters hat den kleinen Timmy sehr getroffen.
(The death of his hamster really got to little Timmy.)

Question 37

Lassen

Answer 37

To not do something/leave something : to not change something/leave something : to allow something to be/let/allow : to have/make someone do something (demand in disguise)

Eigentlich wollte ich heute abend Fussball spielen gehen, aber ich glaube ich lass das lieber. Mein Knie tut weh. (Originally I wanted to go play soccer tonight but I think I’m not going to do it. My knee hurts.)

Lass das! (Stop that/Don’t do that!)

Lass es. (Don’t do it. Don’t bother.)

Lass mal (no thanks/no [casual])

The es makes it sound less determined and harsh. You’d use the first if you kid was messing with your phone for example and the second if you’re friend, who recently broke up, ponders calling the ex again and you think it’s a waste of time (and energy). You wouldn’t use lass mal with a waiter who asks you if you’d like anything else… that would come across a bit arrogant. But you could definitely use it with a friend who suggest something that you don’t want to do.

“Hey, ich gehe ins Kino. Kommst du mit? Ich hab’ Freikarten.”
“Ne, lass mal … ich muss noch voll viel lernen.”
“Hey, I’m going to the movies. Wanne come? I have free tickets.”
“Nah, thanks… I still have a LOT of studying to do.”

On to the next aspect. I said earlier that it would be just a tiny step so here it is … not doing something also means that we’re not changing the something. We’re not changing the status quo…. or in other words: we’re leaving things as they are.

Ich lasse das Bild wie es ist. (I leave the picture as it is.)

Lass mich in Ruhe! (Leave me alone!)

Weil das Wetter so gut ist, lasse ich das Fenster auf, während ich weg bin. (Because the weather is so good, I’m leaving the window open while I’m out of the house.)

Kann ich die Schuhe anlassen? (Can I leave my shoes on?)

Thomas lässt seinen Teller auf dem Tich stehen. (Thomas leaves his plate standing on the table.)

Ich lasse meine Sachen überall in der Wohnung rumliegen. (I leave my things lying all over the apartment.)

In a way, we can see not changing something as not doing something against something. And that is pretty much the same as to allow for something to be or to happen or simply to let. Tadah. Here we have it. To let has lost most of the aspects of lassen and has focused almost completely on the permission idea.

Lass mich rein. (Let me in.)

Mich hat heute im Supermarkt jemand vorgelassen…. voll nett. (Someone let me go ahead in the supermarket line today… so nice.)

Ich lasse mich nicht verarschen. (I won’t let people bullshit me.)

“Ich komme 5 Minuten zu spät.”
“Lass dir Zeit, ich bin eh noch nicht fertig..
“I’ll be 5 minutes late.”
“Allow yourself some time… (lit.)”
(“Take your time, I’m not ready yet anyway.)

“Ich hab’ Eintopf gemacht. Willst du was?”
“Ne, ich muss los, aber lass mir was übrig.”
(“I’ve made a stew. You want some?
“No, I gotta go, but leave some for me, please.”)

Der Chef lässt seine Sekretärin hohe Schuhe tragen. (The boss lets /has his secretary wear heels.)

Maria lässt Thomas warten. (Maria makes Thomas wait.)

Der Bauer wünscht sich, er könnte es regnen lassen. (The farmer wishes he could make it rain.)

So… lassen can turn from letting someone do something to have someone do something without any change to the structure.

There is one last meaning, one last aspect and that is… invitation.

“Let‘s have a beer.” (“Lass uns ein Bier trinken.”)

Lass es uns machen.
(Let us do it, (please). Let’s do it.)

Question 38

Sich lassen

Answer 38

Now let’s get to the second structure, a structure which in German course jargon is sometimes called “Passiversatzform für Passiv mit Modalverb ‘können’” which roughly translates to “term that no German has ever heard of… seriously”.

Die Tür lässt sich nicht öffnen.

Das Licht lässt sich nicht dimmen.
(You can’t dim the light./The light ain’t dimmable.)

The fly can’t be caught. (Die Fliege lässt sich nicht fangen.)

Die Katze lässt sich nicht streicheln.
(The cat won’t let people pet it.)

This sich lassen phrasing is really just the plain straight-forward allow-meaning of lassen combined with a verb that has a self reference… and only that when used with a thing, like for example a door, the whole notion of permission makes no sense and it’s about possibility instead. I

Question 39

Die Weinlese

Answer 39

The grape harvest

The verb lesen comes from a root that meant collecting/selecting berries and so basically describes our eyes collecting letters.

Now, German also had this old *les root in the meaning of collecting which then took on the meaning of reading. Maybe at first it referred to the picking up of runes… I don’t know for sure.Either way, while the English reading is about interpreting, the German lesen, as well as reading in most of the Romance languages are based on the idea of collecting… picking up the letters with your eyes if you will.

Now, this collecting-idea is actually still part of lesen and food advertising is especially fond of it… verlesen, erlesen auserlesen… they don’t use it as verbs but as ge-form adjectives and it’s always about how special and fancy something is.

Question 40

Ablesen

Answer 40

To read off

Ich muss den Stromzähler ablesen. (I have to read off the electricity meter.)

Question 41

Lesenswert : lesbar

Answer 41

Worth reading : readable

Question 42

Sich verlesen : verlesen

Answer 42

To read wrong : to read out/call out

Because it’s ver, it doesn’t only add one notion to lesen but two verlesen has 3 meanings… the for-notion and the wrong-notion.

Der Manager verliest sich während er das Protokol verliest. (The manager makes reading mistakes while reading out the minutes.)

There’s also überlesen (to over-read, to miss something of the writing) , querlesen (to skim, to diagonally read) and mitlesen (to read along) or einlesen and auslesen which are used a lot in context of computers.

Question 43

Nachlesen

Answer 43

To look up/check/reread

Bist du sicher? Ich glaube, da musst du nochmal nachlesen.
Are you sure? I think you have to read up on that again.

Nachschlagen - to look up/consult/to retaliate

In einem Buch nachschlagen - to consult a book

Question 44

Werben

Answer 44

To advertise/‘be busy in order to get something’

Now, werben very early on shifted from the idea of turning in circles to the idea of running around and back and forth. Not much later people started adding the notion that you do all the busy running because you want to get something and so the word eventually became “to be busy in order to get something“. And very soon this took up the core notion of advertising.

Der Ritter wirbt um die Liebe der Prinzessin.
(The knight courts the princess.)

Literally, this means that the knight is all around the princess, being all nice, bringing her flowers, singing her songs, writing her poems, slaying her dragons and opening her gown… well actually, that last bit is why he does all the courting. Anyway, this courting the knight does is kind of what ads do today. They follow us everywhere and promise us things. In the car, on the web, on the paper towels at the gas station, sometimes on the toilet paper and for sure at home on the couch. They’re around us all day being like “Buy this, buy this, come on, it’s really good.”.
And that’s the core idea of werben…advertising something, both in the narrow sense of real ads as well as for more general promotion.

Der Blogger wirbt für das neue Hisptermüsli.
(The blogger promotes/endorses the new hipster musli.)

Der Politiker hat in seiner Rede um Zustimmung zu seinem Gesetz geworben.
(In his speech, the politician made a case for/tried to convince the people of his new bill.)

Question 45

Die Werbung

Answer 45

The promotion(s)

The difference between werben für and werben um is that the um-version has expresses that you personally want to get something while with für it’s really just making promotion. But in that latter sense, it’s probably more idiomatic to say Werbung machen. Literally means to make advertisements but it’s not about actually planning and producing it.

Die Band macht Werbung für die neue CD.
The band promotes their new CD.
Hmmm… I actually don’t really know what a CD is. But anyway… The noun die Werbung is super common and it’s used for all kind of promotion be it in print or on TV.

“War was im Briefkasten?”
“Nur Werbung.”
“Anything in the mail?”
“Just ads/promotional material“
Die Werbung auf Youtube fängt an zu nerven
The commercials on Youtube are starting to be annoying.

Question 46

Die Werbepause : das Werbegeschenk

Answer 46

The ad break : the promo gift

There are also a lot of compounds like Werbepause (commercial break), Werbegeschenk (give-away for commercial purpise) or Schleichwerbung, which literally translates “sneak ad” and mea…. oh hold on, I need to plug in my laptop, actually… just a second… I’m at Starbucks, you know. It’s such a great place to work. And I really really love their coffee. Soooo good. Starbucks.

Question 47

Anwerben : Abwerben

Answer 47

To recruit/hire : to headhunt/poach

First of, there are anwerben and abwerben. The core idea of anwerben is that a company hires or recruits someone but the word has the added notion that the company makes kind of an effort. Much like the knight in the first example, they have to do some courting. Like… extra vacation, special benefits, guaranteed office flings and other perks. You wouldn’t talk about anwerben if a company gets a new receptionist. Or if you did that would sound like it’s really a kick ass receptionist.

Für sein Autoprojekt wirbt Apple tausende Ingenieure an.
Apple hires thousands of engineers for their new car project.

Abwerben is pretty much the same idea, just from the perspective of the companies who’s losing the employee.

Ich war bei BMW aber Apple hat mich abgeworben.
I was at BMW but Apple poached me.

Question 48

Bewerben : sich bewerben

Answer 48

Advertise/promote : to apply for

Now, unless you’re working as a head hunter anwerben and abwerben are not going to be all that useful. But they are they’re the perfect transition to the one prefix version that is: bewerben.
Taken super literally, this means “to inflict advertising on something” and it’s essentially a more direct sounding version of werben.

Das Einhorn wirbt für/bewirbt die Zigarettenmarke.
The unicorn makes promotion for the cigarette brand.

Both mean the same, only that one uses a preposition and the other one has the target as a direct object. The version with für is much more idiomatic though because bewerben is used in a very specific context… making promotion for yourself.

Ich bewerbe mich bei Starbucks. (they’re awesome). I apply for the job at Starbucks.

Thomas hat sich für das Stipendium beworben.
Thomas applied for the scholarship.

Ich bewerbe mich um den Studienplatz.
I apply for college (literally: the place in the studies)

This meaning of bewerben has been around for quite a while and most native speakers are not aware of the connection. But it totally makes a lot of sense. .. there’s really no difference between you pimping your CV and lying in the interview and McDonalds using fake picture of burgers that look like there’s a whole salad bar on them.
You advertise yourself. That’s why sich bewerben means to apply and that’s why there’s this annoying self reference.

Thomas hat sich schon 4 mal beworben.
Thomas has applied 4 times.

Now, besides the verb there are also two nouns, namely die Bewerbung, which means application and der Bewerber, die Bewerberin, which are the persons applying.

Maria hat 300 Bewerbungen geschrieben.
Maria has written/sent out 300 applications.

Now, the word to apply is actual broader than bewerben. For example you totally wouldn’t use sich bewerben in context of unemployment benefit or other governmental stuff like a visa or something. That would be beantragen and the respective noun would be der Antrag.

Maria beantragt Wohngeld weil ihr Antrag auf Arbeitslosengeld abgelehnt wurde.
Maria applies for housing assistance because her application for unemployment benefit has been rejected.

Using bewerben in these context sounds really odd because this stuff is NOT about advertising yourself.

Question 49

Beantragen : der Antrag

Answer 49

To apply : the application

Now, the word to apply is actual broader than bewerben. For example you totally wouldn’t use sich bewerben in context of unemployment benefit or other governmental stuff like a visa or something. That would be beantragen and the respective noun would be der Antrag.

Maria beantragt Wohngeld weil ihr Antrag auf Arbeitslosengeld abgelehnt wurde.
Maria applies for housing assistance because her application for unemployment benefit has been rejected.

Using bewerben in these context sounds really odd because this stuff is NOT about advertising yourself.

So… if it’s based on some sort of law then use beantragen, if it’s more about people deciding based on your face qualifications the bewerben is the word of choice.

Question 50

Das Gewerbe

Answer 50

Business/trade

There are two more words that deserve a mention: erwerben and das Gewerbe. They’re both based on the older notion of running around and being busy in order to get something in sense of doing actual work.

A Gewerbe is the official German word for some sort of business and if you dive into the financial bureaucracy you’ll see plenty of scary ass compounds like Gewerbesteuerfreibetrag (no idea… something like some fixed deduction of the main business tax) or Gewerbeaufsichtsamt (again, no idea… the office that overlooks businesses)

Maria hat ein Gewerbe angemeldet.
Maria registered a business.

Question 51

Erwerben

Answer 51

To acquire

Erwerben, which is best translated as to acquire , is either used as a fancy alternative for to buy, in sense of gaining experience or skill and it’s an official term for making a living (through work).

Ich habe das Fahrrad gebraucht erworben. (fancy)
I bought that bike second hand.

Im Laufe des Spiels erwirbt ihr Held zahlreiche neue Fähigkeiten und Gegenstände.
Throughout the course of the game your hero acquires numerous new skills and items.

Maria’s Bruder ist seit 3 Monaten erwerbslos.
Maria’s brother has no income/no job.

Die Zahl der Erwerbstätigen ist im dritten Quartal leicht gestiegen.
The number of people having a job/having their own income has risen slightly in the third quarter.

There’s actually an incredibly fascinating difference between arbeitslos and erwerbslos. It has something to do with international statistics but I think we’ll have to save that for another time because… I

Question 52

Zu

x3 uses of preposition

Answer 52

1. persons (and personifications)
2. occasions (events, points in time)
3. activities

This is not super strict and there are exceptions. And oh… there’s one use we should mention, because it’s super confusing.

Ich bin zuhause.
I am at home.

1. People

One important group of zu-destinations are…. people.

Thomas kommt zu Maria.
Thomas comes to Maria.

Anyway, people doesn’t only mean names but also extends to job titles

Maria fährt zum Bäcker/Arzt/Frisör…
Maria drives to the bakery (lit.: baker)/doctor/hair dresser

2. Occasions

Zu is also used for events like parties, festivals, concerts, meetings and so on.
(often auf is also an option for events)

Thomas geht heute nicht zum Meeting.
Thomas is not going to the meeting today.

Maria schenkt Thomas zum Geburtstag ein Happy Meal. (zu+dem)
Maria gives Thomas a Happy Meal for his birthday.

Glückwunsch zur bestandenen B2-Prüfung.
Congratulations for the successfully passed B2 exam.

Ich hab’ heut nichts zum Mittag gegessen.
I didn’t eat anything for lunch today.

3. Activities
   And if we think of events and occasions as a general idea of “stuff happening, stuff going on”, we’re pretty much right right at the last group of zu-destinations: activities.

Maria geht 536 mal in der Woche zum Hatha-Yoga.
Maria goes to Hatha-Yoga 536 times a week.

Ich brauche Ruhe zum Arbeiten.
I need silence for working.

Activities… hmm… those are usually represented by verbs, right? Let’s make a mental note of that for later ;).

Question 53

Kommen zu (x3)

Answer 53

To come to (lit) : to come to (in addition) : to find the time to/get to

Of course, there’s the literal meaning of coming to a location. But it’s also used in a more abstract sense of addition; this one is especially common in stores.

“Ich hätte gerne zwei Brötchen ein Stück Mohnkuchen.”
“Kommt noch was dazu?”

“I’ll have two buns and one piece of poppy seed cake.”
“Will there be anything else?” (lit.: “is there something coming to that?“)

“Wie lief die Prüfung?”
“Meh… nicht so gut. War komplett anders als, was wir geübt hatten. Und oh… es war super laut in dem Raum, das kam noch dazu.”

“How did the exam go?”
“Meh… not so well. It was completely different than what we had practiced. And oh… the room was SUPER noisy. That came on top of it.
(usually used in the sense of difficulties piling up)

And then, kommen zu is also a common, colloquial way to express the idea of finding the time to do something. So again, activities.

Ich bin sooo busy in letzter Zeit, ich komm’ zu nichts.
I’m sooo busy lately, I don’t find the time for anything.

Ich komm’ nicht dazu, den Abwasch zu machen.
I can’t find the time to do the dishes.

“Hast du meine Han Solo Fan Fiction schon gelesen?”
“Nein, ich bin echt immer noch nicht dazu gekommen.”
“Have you read my Han Solo fan fiction yet?”
“No, I still really haven’t found the time for that.”

Question 54

Passen zu

Answer 54

To fit/be a good match

Die Bilder sind schön, aber die Musik passt überhaupt nicht dazu.
The images are beautiful but the music doesn’t match at all.

Dieser Rotwein passt extrem gut zum Ausguss.
This red wine is an excellent fit for/goes very well with the sink.