Hello everyone,
and welcome to a new episode of the most epic series of all time – Prefix Verbs Explained.
Whoop, whoop… they hype train just reached the station. And we’ll all get on board.
And yes! I did have a beer before the show and I will have another one right now, as we look at the meaning of
einstellen
What’s that? You think drinking beer while teaching German is the wrong mindset and you’re not sure whether you should even listen to me?
Well, fair enough, feel free to consult a dictionary about einstellen.
Everybody back? Great :).
Then let’s jump right in.
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I’m thinking if perhaps the ‘stopping’ einstellen can’t be best explained with ‘to put an end to’. Since that is also quite formal and much less common than ‘to stop/cease’, and also needs a noun. So for example ‘please fasten your sestbelts and put an end to the smoking on the plane’.
You can’t ‘put an end to’ a verb.
Unless you mean the noun-ified version of that verb which would refer to all instances of that action: ‘put an end to stealing’. But that sounds weird and a normal person would use ‘theft’
Perfect explaination.
Thank you :)!!
am i right in thinking this is more for digital devices? Like, if you had analog camera that was purely mechanical and you were adjusting the shutter speed with a dial this might be the wrong verb?
No, that’s also “einstellen”. That sense of the verb is older than digital stuff.
danke dir!
Hallo
Ich war neugierig, warum es hier keine reflexive Konstruktion gibt?
Er ist sozial eingestellt.
Hätte sich die Person nicht angepasst, um diese Einstellung widerzuspiegeln? Vielleicht trägt einstellen einen Begriff der Veranlagung? Ich habe bemerkt, dass Sie diese reflexive Konstruktion in Ihrem Satz nicht verwendet haben:
Ach du bist ja schon da??? Ich war jetzt darauf eingestellt dich erst NACH dem Essen zu sehen.
Vielen Dank
Die Formulierung ist KEINE Vergangenheit (past tense)
Es ist eher ein Passiv oder einfach ein Adjektiv.
Es gibt keine Indikation, “wer” mich so eingestellt hat. Vielleicht die Gesellschaft, vielleicht die Eltern, vielleicht die Gene, vielleicht ich selber.
Aber es ist keine Vergangenheit von
Deshalb gibt es kein “sich”.
Hoffe, das hilft.
Hi Emanuel,
Thank you very much for this super-interesting post!
One thing I’m not totally sure of is whether/where you would use einstellen for the straight-forward ‘to put in’ meaning. Does reinstellen only apply when something is put fully inside something else (as in your beer in the fridge example)?
What about when something is partially put into something else? For example, if you are putting your U-Bahn ticket into that validating machine (der Entwerter?), could you say you einstellen your ticket, or does reinstellen work here, or is a different verb altogether required?
Thanks!
Ade
When should you use “einstellen” as a straight-forward “to put in”… NEVER!
It just doesn’t wok and “reinstellen” is the way to go.
And with that, you also have to be careful because “stellen” implies that something is placed upright, vertically and that it stands after.
None of that applies to putting a ticket into the machine, so “reinstellen” is out of place in that context.
“reinmachen” or “einführen” would be the best choices in that context.
That’s really helpful – thanks!
Hi Emanuel,
I visited this page as I was trying to find out the difference between sich auf etw einstellen and einstimmen.
Dictionary says: “sich innerlich auf etw. vorbereiten” (for both verbs)
I’m not sure if they are interchangeable. They’re probably close, but there is probably a difference, oder?
Thank you!
“einstimmen” is about your mood, “einstellen” is more about mindset.
In context of everyday life, “einstellen” is way more common. “einstimmen” is a bit rare, actually.
That makes sense!
like changing or adjusting die “Stimmung” then.
Thanks!
Hallo- schoener Artikel
Ich habe die folgenden Saetze gesehen:
Meistens gehe ich nicht ans Telefon, weil ich es auf lautlos gestellt habe.
Ich habe einfach vergessen, den Wecker zu stellen.
Ich habe mich gefragt, warum “einstellen” in diesen Faellen nicht verwendet wurde?
Was ist der Unterschied?
Vielen Dank
“Wecker stellen” ist eine fixe Phrase, und mit “einstellen” würde es klingen, als ob du die Settings von dem Wecker modifzierst. Also zum Beispiel einen Klingelton oder die Lautstärke.
Bei dem anderen Beispiel ist “auf lautlos” das Ziel für das Verb. Präfixe werden oft dann verwendet, wenn das Verb sonst keine Richtung hat. Sobald es eine gibt, brauchst du das Präfix nicht mehr.
Aber es ist auch einfach eine Frage von was idiomatisch ist. “stellen” und “einstellen” sind für Settings nicht scharf getrennt.
Hallöchen Emanuel,
ich habe in die Kommentare reingeschnuppert und bin auf diese Antwort von dir gestoßen. Ich finde es super interessant!
Also besonders das hier:
Präfixe werden oft dann verwendet, wenn das Verb sonst keine Richtung hat. Sobald es eine gibt, brauchst du das Präfix nicht mehr.
Hast du zufälligerweise einen Artikel, in dem du ein bisschen mehr darauf eingehst? Oder vielleicht ist ein einem anderen Artikel schon behandelt?
Vielen Dank für ALLES!
Sogar eine dreiteilige Serie :)
Hier ist Teil 1:
https://yourdailygerman.com/function-prefixes-languages/
Great article! I just want to point out a mistake in one translation:
Instead of “if you want to get a job”, there should be “if you want to be successful”
Hello Emanuel,
Love your website . I like the vocab explainations you provide.
I have a request for you. Can you please explain the verb “einsetzen”? It seems to be a very dynamic one and has lot of meanings.
Thanks :)
Now that’s a funny coincidence, I actually started an article about that just a couple days ago :D
Wow! Looking forward to it :) Thanks again
Hallo Emanuel
Wie immer treffen deine Erklärungen ins Schwarze! Danke. Ich habe diesen Satz gelesen
Meistens gehe ich nicht ans Telefon, weil ich es auf lautlos gestellt habe.
und mich gefragt, ob du diese Konstruktion verwendest, um auszudrücken, dass du etwas an eine bestimmte Einstellung angepasst hast? Wenn nicht, wie würde man “einstellen” konstruieren, um eine bestimmte Einstellung auszudrücken?
Vielen Dank!!
On the Leo site einstellen was translated also as to abandon. Wonder if anyone has anything to say on this use of the word ?
“abandoning” has a focus on “walking away from” while “einstellen” is about “stopping an activity”.
They do have an overlap idea-wise, but I can’t think of a context where they’d actually be translations. Not saying it’s not possible, but it’s gonna be rare.
1) I am kinda having trouble with meaning 1,but here we go with a miny convo
Einhorn 1 : Ich habe das Kissen eingestellt. Jetzt ist es gemütlich.
Nach 8 uhr
In der Schule
Teacher : Ich hoffe, du bist eingestellt/ du stellest dir auf die Prüfung.
Einhorn 1 : DIE WAS? SIE MÜSSEN DAS EINSTELLEN.
2) What do you mean you won’t say the difference between (an/ein)stellen. The unicorns are not happy ;). Mabye, we could have bigger discussion, when I comment on wending post and talk about Verwenden as well ;
Disaster! You really manage to always find contexts in which the word DOESN’T fit.
“setting the pillow”? “einstellen” is used for things that have settings. A pillow doesn’t.
The bit of the teacher would be okay if you had handled the preposition properly.
The last one is just weird. I think “einstellen” refers to “Prüfung” but that’s not an activity the teacher does. So he can’t einstellen it.
2) That means that there isn’t really a graspabable difference. I would have to think and “run test sentences” to find a minor nuance. Having a discussion about that difference is a waste of time. I know you’re very curious but sometimes you just gotta trust when someone says that it’s not worth the look ;)
1) Let’s try this again. Wir stellen das audio ein ( We can set the volume up or down?)
And how did I mess up the perpostions part?
2) okay. To wendige post then ;) jk. Only the comment is coming soon. Not focused on verwenden of course
Danke
1) That works better, but it’s still a weird sentence. What does “We set the audio” mean in English? What’s your mother tongue, by the way?
The prepositions were messed up because in one of your options you simply forgot to use it. In the other option you forgot the prefix. This is no doubt because you were rushing the comment. If you have two options it’s better to write two sentences and not do some “/”-stuff.
1) “we set the audio” is incomplete. There should be “up” at the end and that is still incomplete. It should be “we set the audio device up”. Hence, I choose the word “volume”
“Set the volume up or down” is the same as increasing the volume or lowering the volume. With the latter being the one. You could also say turn the volume up or down. The latter options are much better. Using the Word “adjust” in the translation would have made it better. I recognize that my example in Deutsch was weird and mabye choosing the word “audio” added to that confusion. My mother tongue is Arabic. Although, my Arabic and English are almost on Par for some reason ( more on that later since the commen is already long). How would you say both the audio and pillow one?
2) It’s not that I am rushing. It’s that i am really horrible at recognizing my own mistakes. I will write 2 sentences next time since that would decrease the number of errors. Thank you for your patience
1) What do you mean by the audio one? And I’m not sure what exactly “setting the pillow” even means, so I can’t give you translations.
2) Thanks for taking my criticism :)
1) For the audio example, I mean that we are adjusting the volume to make it just right
The one with pillow is wierd, Anyway
Here is the meaning: My pillow is in an uncomfy position and I am changing it to a comfy one
– Ich stelle die Lautstärke richtig ein.
– Ich lege mein Kissen so hin, dass es bequem ist.
In the explanation for the first meaning, when you talk about the “prepare” yourself or “attune” yourself, you mention that the “yourself” part is always needed. But one of the examples is:
Ach du bist ja schon da??? Ich war jetzt darauf eingestellt dich erst NACH dem Essen zu sehen.
And I can’t see where the reflexive part is. Shouldn’t it be
Ach du bist ja schon da??? Ich war MICH jetzt darauf eingestellt dich erst NACH dem Essen zu sehen.
Good question!!
The way I said it was imprecise.
The self reference has to be there when the verb is used in a normal “active” mode.
This example, however, has the verb as an adjective. Then, the self reference is not needed because the actual verb is “to be”.
This is not a German thing, but applies to language in general so here’s an example in English:
– I locked myself out.
– I was locked out.
You can add “by myself” to make clear who locked you out in the second example.
What would need the self reference would be a normal past tense:
– … Ich habe mich darauf eingestellt,…
Let me know if that helps :)!
Perfectly clear now, thanks
Perhaps, “einstellen” in the sense of stopping is more like “refraining” in your example “Bitte stellen Sie das Rauchen ein.” So, it would mean not doing something whether you were doing it before or not. On the other hand, “aufhoeren” would mean stopping your current activity. So, “Bitte hoeren Sie mit das Rauchen auf.” would imply that you are currently smoking. Is that correct?
Actually, “einstellen” does imply that you are doing it. I hope I didn’t say something different in the article :). If I did, please let me know, I’d have to change it.
I commented earlier that “stow it in” is conceptually similar to the “stop” meaning of einstellen…”pack it in” would be an equivalent on the UK side of the Atlantic…
Can I just use that for anything? Like… my roommate is smoking in the kitchen, could I be like “Pack it in, mate!”?
A similar usage in English to einstellen in the meaning of to stop is “stow it in”. Admittedly “stow it in” is rare and informal but it shares with einstellen the core concept of stopping by leaving/putting something in place…
Oh, that’s great :). Common or not, these little parallels can be really helpful (for native speakers, anyway)
Hi Emanuel :
Ich suche deine Worteliste, wann Ich ein neues Worte austreffen. Kanst du bitte reinstellen erklaren?
Vielen Dank
Grüße
Vish
Oh ja, stimmt. Der Artikel ist schon alt, und damals hatte ich noch nicht an die r-Versionen gedacht.
Hast du schon ein paar “Prefix Verbs Explained”- Artikel gelesen? Vielleicht hast du ja eine Idee für “reinstellen” und ich sage dir ob du recht hast ;)
Woooooow, great article! Things are a lot clearer now and I feel like new doors have opened in my understanding of the language :D Einstellen is a pretty cool dude! Thanks a lot for the explanations and for your website, great great resource! x
Thank you for the awesome feedback :)!! Glad to hear it’s so helpful!
Ist es wie immer möglich, dass Du aufklärst, wie “ein” plus “stellen” “to adjust” bedeuten? Eine von Deinen tollen Geschichten möchte ich :)
Think of “adjusting” as small scale change of settings. Und “einstellen” kann “to set” heißen.
Hilft das?
Du hast Recht, aber ich habe etwas anderes gemeint. Ich wollte kennen, wie die erste Bedeutung (to adjust) die Hauptbedeutng (to put into) betrifft.
ich glaube, ich verstehe die Frage nicht so gut. Kannst du auf Englisch fragen?
Kleine Korrektur:
“ich wollte wissen” (nicht “kennen”)
Sure. At first, you said that the core meaning of einstellen is “to put into sth” and then you started to go in details. The first meaning of einstellen is “to adjust”. Now my question is that how the first meaning is related to the core meaning. Let’s put it this way, I want an explanation similar to one that you gave for the last meaning of einstellen (to stop). Saying that stop is some kind of putting sth back, you explained the relation between the last meaning and the core meaning, but you didn’t do the same for the first meaning.
Hope I could say what I wanted to! :)
I have read the article about the difference between kennen and wissen but I’ve forgotten which is which :D I should read it again and take some notes.
Excellent article and very interesting comments !