Hello everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day, this time with a closer look at the meaning of
tragen
We do it with our shirt, we do it with our groceries, we do it with our lot in life. If you didn’t already know it, you might have guessed it by now – tragen is the German word for to carry.
It’s actual relative English however, is a different word… drag.
Which is exactly what today’s episode is going be, with all the prefix versions of tragen, so you better get yourself some pillow or something… …
Nah, kidding, of course. It’ll be an absolute thrill ride, as usual.
So are you ready to jump in?
Then let’s gooooo.
Join as a member to continue learning
Find out more
Find out more
All lessons, tools and premium features (and there’s a LOT of them :).
Already a member?
Already a member? Log in here
Audio Speed
Dark Mode
Hi Emanuel, what is the meaning of auftragen in your comments on Verfürhen you write, ‘Das zweite Beispiel ist ok, aber ziemlich dick aufgetragen’ in context to the example, ‘Ich möchte dich zu einer Tasse Kaffee verführen’?
It’s a bit like “to lay it on thick”, the phrasing is too pompous for the context. Does that help?
Ja, danke für die Erklärung. Kann ich sagen: “Meine Frau sagt, dass meine verführerische Rede ziemlich dick aufgetragen war?”
Ja, wenn du mit Rede wirklich eine “speech” meinst. Wenn du einfach nur ein paar Saetze gesagt hast, dann lieber meine Worte.
Danke, sehr nützlich.
Can you please give me a gradation ranking or a difference for
Sich vertragen
Auskommen
Klarkommen
Zusammenpassen
I have the idea that because vertragen is more close to tollerate something that “gefällt mir nicht”is not a good choice to speak for example about a friend that I like. Oder?
Danke!
Did you check them in my dictionary by any chance? They all cover slightly different niches.
Hallihallo Emanuel! Wunderbarer Artikel wie immer! :)
My two cents: ein deutscher Freund von mir hat mir auch beigebracht, dass ich “vetragen” so verwenden könnte:
-You looked tired. Would you like a coffee?
-Actually… I could use a coffee.
-Du wirkst müde. Möchtest du einen Kaffee?
-I könnte einen Kaffee vertragen.
Ich liebe diesen Ausdruck :D
Oh yeah, that’s actually a fairly common way of using it. Great example!!
Hallo,
I’m enjoying these in-depth word articles very much. It doesn’t reflect that in the quizzes though, but part of that is technical.
In the matching portions of the quiz, the rectangle portion (‘put answer here’?) changes color, but I can’t bring the translated word choice down, or type in the box. Or, I haven’t figured that out yet, anyway! Hilfe, bitte! Und vielen Dank.
It’s a drag and drop system. Are you using the site on a computer or a phone? You need to drag the verb you think is the answer into the box.
Thanks for answering and I’m sorry it took me 2 days to find it!
I am on a Chromebook. I may have made clumsy attempts to drag it on the laptop version and it resists me. I’ll flip it over as a table and see if that works. Thanks! Maybe I’ll have better quiz scores now :)
Don’t worry about the scores too much. What matters more is that you understand the questions you got wrong and why your answer was wrong.
Exactly, yes.
Hi Emanuel, thanks for another great post!
You sent the following example, below.
So after I stopped wondering about Bestellbestätigung,
I started wondering why one was ERHALTEN, and the other will be BEKOMMEN,
when both mean “receive”.
Like, seriously, what kind of language is this?
▶If you’re wondering why for a Bestellung you get an Auftragsbestätigung and not a Bestellbestätigung, then… WHAT ARE YOU DOING; YOU NERD?!
Stop immediately!
Your time is too valuable to let German waste it with its many little “curiosities”.
Hallo zusammen und guten tag! Thanks to everyone who sponsors some of us, I’m so grateful with you, I won’t throw it out this opportunity, It’s an amazing and kind gesture.
I really really apreciate it.
I hope everybody have a great day!
Hallo lieber Emanuel und danke for tolle Erklärung
“sich mit jdm vertragen” erinnert mich an “sich mit jdm versöhnen”. Sind sie synonyme?
Mir kommen sie unterschiedlich vor, aber ich kann nicht kapieren, wo der Unterschied ist. Vielleicht verwendet man “versöhnen ” wenn man von einem ernsteren Streit spricht? Oder?
Danke!
Sie sind ähnlich, aber Synonyme nicht wirklich. “sich vertragen” ist für kleine Streits, “versöhnen” klingt viel größer. Passt auch für mittlere Streits, aber “sich vertragen” passt zum Beispiel nicht für Dekaden der Feindschaft.
I just got the newsletter. You got my vote for a podcast episode about Bergen. The one about Ljubljana was really interesting (link for the curious).
Btw, for me “grudge on” is the same as “crush on” or “advantage over/on”.
Wow, bonus points for adding the link there :).
So for you “crush on” works, right?
It’s pretty contemporary slang. I’ve never heard “grudge on,” but I’d assume it was in the same category.
Yep, it works :)
Ist es möglich, dass die Feindseligkeiten zwischen Einhörnern und Eichhörnchen auf die reale Welt übergreifen könnten? Wer trägt die Verantwortung für die Überwachung?
Das ist sehr möglich. Die UN führt Gespräche mit beiden und bisher war die Erde neutral. Aber ja… die Gefahr ist da.
His name is JAMES Bond —not Gaymes—interesting article
It’s just some casual everyday homophobic humour from ya man there ^^
“Gay”mes because your clothes obviously determine your sexuality, nothing to do with who you’re attracted to ;)
(P.s. Emmanuel we still love you it’s ok. We being “the gays” <3)
Wait, why is that homophobic? Sure, it’s a caricature the way I describe it, and I’m using stereotypes, but every drag queen does the same, and overall it’s more homophilic than phobic :)
William McLernon, James Bond does not wear makeup and carry a purse.
The thread heats up :)
I know that. This is a fan fiction character, of course.
Danke für die wunderbarer Artikel!
Eine Frage: gibt es irgendeine Beziehung zwichen die trahere aus Latein und tragen? Also kommt es auch von Indo-Europäisch *dhregh-?
Das ist möglich, aber die Etymologen sind nicht 100% sicher, deshalb habe ich es nicht erwähnt. Aber ja… Wörter wie “attract” und so würden sehr gut in die Familie passen (und auch “contract” für “Vertrag”)
Wow! Dieser Artikel war sehr umfassend. Diese verdammten Vorsilben sind sehr verwirrend. Danke vielmals für deine Hilfe beim Deutschlernen
Sehr gerne :)!
OMG. Es ist das erste Mal, dass ich hier ein Kommentar stelle. Wunderbare Post, Manuel! Ich habe es sehr genießen und viel gelernt.
Und natürlich war es total erträglich, HEHE.
Ps. Und es ist sehr schön dich wieder zu hören. Hoffentlich bist du jetzt bereit, um eine neue ,,Schreiben-Saison” zu ertragen.
Vielen Dank :).
Kleine Korrektur… man sagt “Kommentar schreiben” oder “posten” aber nicht “stellen”.
Und… “ich habe es sehr genossen”.
Weiter so! Mehr Kommentare auf Deutsch!
Thanks for the article. I think there are some typos:
on one faithful day -> on one fateful day (unless you were making a pun)
The sat down on a stone -> They sat down on a stone
“has a grudge on me” should be “has a grudge against me” :-) (hope you don’t mind us helping with your English!)
I don’t mind corrections at all, they make the site better :).
However, I found many many instances of “grudge on”. Is it really wrong?
I was gonna say the same, it should be ‘grudge against’. I’ve never heard grudge on, but I don’t profess to be an expert, just a regular native speaker, so maybe it’s something I just haven’t heard before.
„Grudge on“ für mich klingt ein bisschen älter als „grudge against“ zu meinen Englischen-Ohren.
I think when you say “All mass is inert.” you mean to say “All mass has inertia”..?
I guess so :). Is “inert” used in physics at all?
I’ve not seen it in physics (which I studied up at A level) but it is common in Chemistry where it means “doesn’t react”, e.g. Neon is inert.
(Super article BTW :-)
Danke :)
und noch etwas: Bergen is a beautiful city, and I wonder if you visited Grieg’s house that sits by a lake?
No, we didn’t go there. I actually didn’t know about it, but I lokóked it up and it looks beautiful. I’ll check it out next time I’m there.
Komisch: es fällt hier ein R: ” … masks can decease…” und weil es mich nicht zum Tod gelachen hat, ist es sowieso lächerlich.
By the way, gotta represent Bayern here with a little shout-out to die Tracht
Do you own some :)?
Not so far – you have to shell out some serious Kohle… A lady in our church offered to give my wife her old dirndl, but it didn’t fit. :(
Well, it shall find its way to your family in the future. But you MUST at some point take a family picture with all of you in Tracht. That’s your duty as a Texan in Germany :)!!!
Really interesting family of words. Looks like “draw” (in the sense of drawing a card or something) and “trek” are also related. Not sure how useful that knowledge is, but my inner trivia-hoarding squirrel was pleased.
I’ve heard “abgetragen” a few times in the context of shoes or clothes being worn down. I don’t know about the verb itself though, “abtragen” seems maybe on the rarer side? That sounds like I’m talking about a steak, but I’m leaving it.
“abtragen” itself is used in context of construction when you remove a heap of material layer by layer, for example.
But yeah, for shoes, the adjective “abgetragen” is fairly common. I have it in my vocab list, which I totally forgot to put in here :)
Is it correct to use “auftragen” to describe putting on shoes/clothes and “abtragen” to take them off?
“auftragen” is sometimes used for fancy dresses, but it’s REALLY rare. It doesn’t work for general putting on clothes, and “abtragen” never works.
Oh, I really like my steak with some pun, btw :)