After a long and exhausting day
in the fields of language, the learner sits on a hill under a tree, gazing at the sun as it slowly turns the horizon into a painting of red and yellow and gold. It’s been a long day, working on German is hard labor. But now it is time for the much deserved rest.
Somewhere, in the distance, a shepherd is playing the flute.
Something rustles in the tree. The learner looks up, but sees nothing. Probably just the wind, calm down, the learner says to himself. He bites his grass stalk a little faster than before.
There it was again, the rustling. Probably just the wind. But the air is still. The learner looks around. Silence. The flute has stopped. The sun has stopped, too. And then, suddenly, the learner knows. Part of him had known from the first rustling. His grandmother had been right. There was no escaping.
Slowly, he turns upward to face what he knew was lurking – a German Prefix Verb, mouth gaping, like a gateway to hell as it screeches at the learner.
He recognizes it. It is
anfallen
The learner feels a bit of relief. Anfallen is an especially aggressive specimen, but not too cunning. And the learner had read about it just a few days ago. Quickly, he tries to recollect what he’d read …
Anfallen, which literally would be “to fall at”, is usually translated as to attack and the best way to think of it is to think of an animal jumping its prey. I mean, falling is a big part of jumping, right? If the lion were to jump at a gazelle on the moon, it’d be in for an unpleasant surprise.
And the image doesn’t only help make sense of the meaning, it actually kind of perfectly captures the kind of attack anfallen is used for… sudden, primal, physical and with some “weight” behind it.
- Zum ersten mal seit 10 Jahren hat hier ein Hai einen Surfer angefallen.
- For the first time in 10 years a shark has attacked a surfer.
- „Deine Einhorn-Bettwäsche… ich kann darin nicht schlafen.“
„Wieso nicht? Ist 100% Baumwolle.“
„Ich wurde mal von einem Einhorn angefallen. Ich habe PTBS.“ - „Your unicorn sheets… I can’t sleep in those.“
„Why not? They’re 100% cotton.“
„I was attacked by a unicorn once. I have PTSD.
So yeah, basically animal attacks.
For ANY other kind of attacking, the proper German word is angreifen … sports, wars, any kind of non physical attacks, heck even for a mosquito attacking you you’d use angreifen. That sucker is just too small for anfallen.
- Maria hat mich verbal angegriffen.
- Maria attacked me verbally.
- Die Wildschweine konnten den Angriff der Einhornarmee abwehren.
- The boars could fend off the attack of the unicorn army.
- Die Zwiebel wurde von Hackern angegriffen.
- The Onion was attacked by hackers.
These dumb examples – that is something the learner would rather not remember. They weren’t funny, and they certainly weren’t of any help if a hungry prefix verb is about to pounce on you.
There was a second meaning to anfallen, the learner recalls. The article he had read in that old Almanach said, it was hard to find one translation for it and instead gave the image of stuff falling on a “to deal with”-pile. Kind of like a to do list.
Work and costs were very common contexts, but it was also used for garbage, for example.
- Beim Morgenmeeting besprechen wir, welche Arbeiten an dem Tag anfallen.
- At the morning meeting we talk about which tasks “turn up” are to be done that day.
- In Deutschland sind im Jahr 2015 über 402,2 Mio Tonnen Abfall angefallen.
- In Germany, over 402,2 millions tons of garbage accumulated in 2015.
But it wasn’t very useful either. He sees the creature wiggle. It is going to pounce any second now.
The learner feels his heart pounding his chest. There had to be something, a weakness. Maybe the noun….
The noun for anfallen is der Anfall and it is probably more useful in everyday life than the verb. It is based on the idea of a sudden attack but the attack kind of comes from yourself, or parts of yourself. Sudden feelings, urges, compulsions or physical reactions. All these can be an Anfall and depending on context the translations can be seizure, attack or fit.
- Maria hat einen Asthmaanfall.
- Maria has an asthma attack.
- Der Koch ist berüchtigt für seine Wutanfälle.
- The chef is notorious for his temper tantrums/fits of rage.
- Ich habe in der Oper einen Lachanfall gekriegt.
- I got a laughing fit at the opera.
And last but not least, there’s also the adjective anfällig. And this word kind of turns around the idea because it kind of describes about how well you are defended. Like… the more anfällig you are, the easier the attack. It’s not used in contexts of “real” attacks though and the best translation is probably susceptible.
- Wenn man sich gesund ernährt, wird man weniger verletzungsanfällig.
- If you eat healthy, you get less prone to injuries.
- Präfix-Verben sind sehr anfällig für Kritik.
- Prefix verbs are very susceptible to criticism.
As this example crosses his mind, the learners knows what to do. Firmly, he looks the prefix verb and as it jumps toward him, he and says:
“Hey, anfallen! You’re NOT THAT USEFUL.
The rage in the verb’s eyes turns to confusion. Clumsily, it lands on the ground.
“You think?”, it says.
“Yes, animal attacks are rare and the second meaning is only for the books.”
“But … but… my noun is super useful.”, the creature defends itself.
“Your noun is okay-useful. No more. And don’t get me started on your r-version. That’s the epitome of useless.”
“You’re wrong!!! Ranfallen is useful. It’s the literal meaning of an plus the verb. When a tree leans against a house and you wanna know how it got there, ranfallen is the perf..”
“Oh shushhhh…. yes, it technically means that but we both know how often people use that: NEVER!”
Sad, the prefix verb looks to the ground. The learner almost feels pity.
“Go home!” he says. And off it goes, back into the forest from whence it came, silently sobbing.
The learner sits back down under the tree and watches as the sun sinks below the horizon. He has defeated a prefix verb. Yes, his grandma was right. There is no escaping them. But another truth is… he can best them for they’re not as scary as they seem.
PS.: If you have any questions just leave me a comment. I hope you liked it and see you next time :).
PPS: Sorry for the constant opera bashing, you know who ;)
‘Herzanfall’ – aber gibt es nicht auch ‘Schlaganfall’, was noch mehr zu befürchten ist?
Just wanted to say BIG thanks to all the members who have donated a little bit more money so that people who can’t afford a membership are able to get it for free. On my behalf, THANK YOU!! I was signed up for a membership and I couldn’t be happier to have a chance to read useful articles every day :)
I swear! I looked up Oper and it was neutral. Now, it’s feminine. Ugh.
Ok: it should be: DIE Oper wäre großartig, wenn es nicht das Singen wäre. But I still don’t know if it should be “würde”. Bloody hell, I’m never gonna nail this language…
No, you’re actually spot on!! “wäre” is correct :). You’re nailing it just fine!
Speaking of medical “Anfälle”… https://imgur.com/a/CLRXf
(Comment from my friend who posted the pic: “Ich würde mal sagen, es geht doch nix über eine gelungene Werbung”)
Hahaha… wow, what a fail!
So for Herz one can only have a Herzinfarkt right?
Herzanfall would be a Herz the size of a bear attacking a Unicorn?
Is this the biggest exception for physical reactions?
Haha, no, Herzanfall is also used for heart attack…. Herzinfarkt, Herzanfall, Herzattacke. They all work, though the first one is BY FAR the most common one.
It’s only the verb that is so limited to animal attacks. The noun has a much broader scope.
Hope that helps :)
Ich denke, Sie meinten: “The learner feels a bit of relief.” ;)
Speaking of anfallen, English has a fairly close parallel in the phrasal verb “to fall on/upon”, although it is a lesser-used sense, and is generally found in older or literary works.
(1 Samuel 22:18 KJV)
…Just discovered your site after reading your explanation of wann vs. wenn — very helpful, thanks!
Oh, cool! These parallels are always awesome, thanks!! Und viel Spaß hier :)
The quote below is from the Advent calendar, Türchen 19 „What Remains“. My guess is that „Anfall“ can also be a fit or seizure. „Ich krieg gleich einen Anfall“ cracks me up! As for opera, all that annoying, unmelodious screaching ruins good music. Das Oper wäre großartig, wenn nicht das Singen wäre. Or should that be „würde“?
* Ahhh… im Bett sind überall Krümel. Ich krieg gleich einen Anfall.
* Argh… the bed is full of crumbs. I’m about to flip my shit.
Nice cross-reference!! Did you remember that from the top of your head?!?!
By the way, it is about time you stop writing in English here. Your German seems quite fine, actually. Do it. Leap!
Das Springen ist gruselig ohne eine Sicherheitsleine. Ich fürchte, ich Deutsch brechen werde. Goethe wird sich in seinem Grab krümmen. Ich kann einfach nicht springen! Türchen 9, Freeze und 19 verkrümle kann ich mich erinnern, den Rest muss ich nachslagen.
I’m writing ”den Rest” because ”Rest” is masc but the in the sentence it is really in the accusative; Ich muss DEN REST nachslagen, so even if I switch the order of the words, I think ”Rest” must retain its accusative article. If not, shoot me and back to square eins.
Ubergut!!! Ohne Witz jetzt. Das war echt richtig richtig gut!
– Ich fürchte, dass ich Deutsch (zer)brechen werde… oder
– Ich fürche, ich werde Deutsch (zer)brechen.
“den Rest”… ja, dein Satz ist perfekt richtig. Es ist egal, wo es steht. Der Fall kommt von der Funktion, nicht von der Position.
Ja, “an” fehlt”. Aber ich sage dir nicht, wo es hin muss.
Aber denk dran: Es ist eine Präposition hier, KEIN Präfix. Es verbindet etwas mit dem Verb. Und es muss VOR dem stehen, was es mit dem Verb verbindet.
Jetzt du…. leap more!
Ok, “AN” in diesem Zusammenhang/Kontext = Präp, kein Präf.
Ich kan ich mich AN Türchen 9, ”Freeze” und Türchen 19, Verkrümele erinnern, den Rest muss ich nachslagen.
UMSCHREIBT:
AN Türchen 9, ”Freeze” und Türchen 19, Verkrümele kann ich mich erinnern, den Rest muss ich nachslagen.
Aha, Die Wortfolge is different if not using “dass”. OK – thought it was like in Schwedish, if you omit the subordinate clause marker, the subordinate clause retains its subordinate clause word order. Nicht so auf Deutsch. Roger that.
Genau :)!! Perfekt! Wie lange lernst du schon? Seit herbst, oder?
Ja, seit die zweite Hälfte August. Aber selbst, (But, on my own). Der Unterricht, dafür ich mich gemeldet habe, wurde abgesagt. Anmeldung für Universitäts-Deutsch (Lunds Uni, für Anfänger) öffnet diesen Donnerstag.
Unterricht, Schmunterricht. Da hast du viel Geld gespart :).
Eine Korrektur:
– Der Unterricht, für den/wofür… hier braucht man KEIN da-Wort
3,2,1… questions go!
Muss das Video über ”da-compunds” noch einmal zeigen. Eine Reprise.
Muss mir eine Reprise vom ”Da-Compounds”-Video (German with Jenny) gucken. Ich habe deine Version zehn Mal jeweils geschrieben, in der Hoffnung, dass die richtige Version bleiben wird.
Lies mal meinen Artikel über “wo-words”. Da geht’s genau darum, warum das in deinem Fall kein da-Wort ist. ist ein bisschen “nerdy”, aber ich glaube du kannst es vertragen :)
Nicht überhaupt nerdig! Just the right amount of the perfect sort of humor to make the bitter grammar go down smoothly…
Ok, I get the diff between the What/That and Where/There (wo/da) but I’m getting more of a Gefühl för “damit” in my sentence. Originally, I wanted to use “welchen” but the “da-compound” videos I watched seem to spook at that moment so… Perhaps I’m not getting a “wofür” Gefühl here because der Unterricht is masculine and “wo-words” prefer to associate with neuter words. “Für den” ich mich gemeldet habe, gefühlt right, but I need to re-read your da-article and compare it with your wo-article. Then I need to see a rerun of Jenny’s “da-compound”-video – hope she has a wo-one, as well. Get back to you on this one if it doesn’t kill me first.
Your feeling that “wofür” is not the best is perfect, because it DOES prefer neuter words. The crucial point for you to wrap your head around is that “da-words” can’t be relative pronouns.
But I had to go to Türchen 19 to copy and paste the actual sentences, I just knew it was 19 off the top of my Kopf.
Just watched the Christmas book author‘s video about 10 common mistakes English speakers make in German and now know that there should be an „an“ in the sentence about remembering. But where? My guess? Jist after „erinnern“ but I‘m not sure.
“Wegen des Opernwitzes wurde Emanuel von einem erzürnten Opernfan brutal angegriffen.”
Es war es wert!!
person243, ich stimme dir zu. Hervorragende Genreflexion, Emanuel :) (und wie vorher gesagt) Ich finde, die Kentnisse dieser Vokabeln damit helfen, dem Reden natürlicher, sogar robuster zu werden. Obwohl das keiner natürlicher Satz war.
Danke :).
Ein paar Korrekturen:
– Ich finde, [ ] die Kentnisse dieser Vokabeln damit helfen… here, a “dass” is missing
– …, dem Reden natürlicher zu werden…
that should be “beim Reden… zu werden”
– … kein natürlicher Satz… (instead of “keiner”)
Wenn du Fragen dazu hast, dann her damit :)
I LOVE YOU.
Awww. if I wasn’t a cat, I would blush :)
Emanuel, the hotest novelist in the field of German prefix verbs. :)
It was a very good read, I liked it.
Freut mich, danke :)!