German Prefix Verbs Explained – “ansprechen”

Hello everyone,

and welcome to episode number 152.167 of Prefix Verbs Explained. That’s how it feels anyway, and feeling is much more accurate than counting because it’s from the heart and the heart always knows.
I mean… except when it comes to grammar. And meanings. Then the heart is nowhere to be found.
“Hey heart, do I need Dative or Accusative here?”
*crickets
Anyway, today, in the 152.167th episode of prefix verbs explained, we’ll take a look at the meaning of

ansprechen

Which is not only useful if you want to bring up an issue in a meeting (#businessGerman$$), it’s also what you should do when you’re single find someone interesting and attractive (#datingadvice♥ #absolutealpha).
“Erm… Emanuel, we wanted to bring up the issue of those hashtags you started using recently? “
Oh, that. I learned that it’s what you gotta do in 2021 if you want to appeal to a young, cool audience. Pretty cutting edge, right?
“No bro, it’s pretty stupid.”
Oh… #sad #realitycheck.
“… and also, Emanuel, even though not all of us are exactly young, we’re already the coolest audience on the planet, Emanuel.”
Oh… you’re actually right!
#truth
Ha… if you’re new here, you’re probably REALLY confused now :)
But the content is usually pretty good. So let’s jump right in…

Sprechen means to speak, that’s pretty much clear. But what about an? Like most prefixes, it has two basic ideas it can add to a verb. The first one is a (broad) sense of “at/on” and the other one is “on” in a sense of being or switching on. That last one is also used in a very vague, abstract notion of starting and that’s what we’re looking at with ansprechen. Because the core idea is that of “starting to speak”. That’s not the translation of course ;). It’s just the abstract core that unites all the uses.
Now you’re like “Oh god, here we go.”
But it’s not that bad for ansprechen. Actually, to address is a pretty good match, but it doesn’t work for all contexts.
Anyway, let’s just take a look what we can do with the verb.

The first use it the sense of bringing a subject or issue into a debate. Or in one word to address. It sounds a tiny bit formal so don’t use it too much with your friends but in a meeting it is perfect.

• “Ja, dann sind wir für heute durch, oder?”
  “Äh… ich würde gerne noch die Kaffeequalität ansprechen.”
• “Well, then we’re done for today, right?”
  “Erm… I would like to address/bring up the coffee quality.”
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Ich bin froh, dass du das angesprochen hast.
• I’m glad you addressed that/brought that on the table.
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But you can not only ansprechen topic, you can also ansprechen someone. If it’s about a particular topic, you’d connect that with auf.

• In letzter Zeit sprechen mich immer wieder Leute auf meine gute Figur an.
• Recently, people keep asking me about/mentioning my good shape.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• “Wie geht’s John? Hat er die Trennung verarbeitet?”
  “Weiß nicht. Er hat nichts erzählt und ich wollte ihn auch nicht drauf ansprechen.“
• “How’s John? Is he over the break up?”
  “Don’t know. He didn’t say anything and I didn’t wanna ask him about it/bring it up either.”
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

But it also works without a particular topic. And one of the most common context is THE context.
And by THE context I mean dating.
Ansprechen is what you wish you had done to that hot someone you had eye contact with in the train. And it’s a pretty useful word in dail…
“Emanuel, what’s this eye contact in the train thing you mentioned? Sounds really weird.”
Oh … that, that was a thing back in the day. You see, we wouldn’t have phones so we’d just look around and every now and then you’d…
“No phones?! Oh my god, no thanks!”
Hmm… I guess my hash tags did attract a younger audience, after all.
Anyway, examples.

• “Wie habt ihr euch eigentlich kennengelernt?”
  “Er hat mich nach einem Workshop angesprochen.”
• “How did you guys meet, by the way?”
  “He approached/talked to me me after a workshop.”
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Du findest ihn süß? Dann sprich ihn an, verdammt noch mal! Es ist 2018.
• You think he’s cute? Then talk to him/(make a move), damn it!! It’s 2018.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

Now, ansprechen someone is not limited to dating. A sales person starting to talk to you in the street would also be ansprechen for example and there’s the really nice adjective ansprechbar, which is about being approachable.

• Wenn Thomas kocht, ist er nicht ansprechbar.
• When Thomas is cooking he is not approachable/you can’t talk to him.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

And actually, it can also be used in a more general sense of appealing to someone.

• Emanuel versucht mit hash tags junge Leser anzusprechen.
• Emanuel is trying to appeal to/attract young readers by using hash tags.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Das Plakat hat mich angesprochen.
• The poster appealed to me/I liked the poster.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Das Essen war ansprechend angerichtet.
• The food was presented/ put on the plate in a pleasing/inviting manner.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

And last and kind of least, ansprechen can also mean to respond. But only in a sense of systems reacting to some sort of excitement.

• Mein neuer Nonsense-Sensor spricht bereits auf kleinste Änderungen des Machtsinnolin-Gehalts an.
• My new Nonsense-sensor responds/reacts to even the smallest changes of the Makessenseolin-content.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

Cool.
Now let’s get to the related words.

Words based on “ansprechen”

And as far as nouns go, there die Ansprache means speech, as in giving a speech. And the difference to die Rede, which also means speech, is that an Ansprache is maybe a bit more “appealing” in a sense of you want something from the audience. And also I feel like an Ansprache is a bit shorter.

• Mein Mitbewohner hält eine Ansprache über Sauberkeit und Respekt, aber niemand hört zu.
• My flat mate gives a speech about cleanliness and respect, but no one is listening.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

But by far the more useful noun is der Anspruch. It’s a bit hard to capture with one word, but the basic idea is that there is a demand, a requirement that needs to be fulfilled. It’s often used in plural contexts where someone has high standards but it’s also used in a sense of demanding and in formal German it is an actual entitlement. It doesn’t really connect to the uses of the verb that we had but if we think of requirements as something that you speak about in the beginning, then it makes at least a little sense. or maybe not, I’m not sure.
Anyway, this word is really really useful and definitely worth adding to your active vocabulary.

• Das Einhorn hat echt hohe Ansprüche, was sein Essen angeht.
• The unicorn is really picky when it comes to its food.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Die Übung war echt anspruchsvoll.
• The exercise was really demanding/difficult.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Auch Minijobber haben gesetzlich Anspruch auf bezahlten Urlaub.
• Even people who only have a mini-job are by law entitled to paid vacation.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

A “mini-job” is the official German name for jobs that pay up to 450 Euro per months. And just in case you’re working such a job: yes, you DO have a right to paid vacation. Oh and you’re entitled to sick money as well, by the way. Not much, mind you, but more than nothing. Many employers “don’t know” this, and will tell you that you don’t have the right to it, but you do.
So if you feel like I am talking about you right now… let me know in the comments, if you wanna know more. I can hook you up with some links ;).
hey and speaking of “feeling talked to”… this brings us right to the last word I want to tell you about… or actually it’s not a word, it’s the phrasing sich angesprochen fühlen which is about exactly that… you feel addressed or spoken about. And it’s pretty common in colloquial German.

• Immer wenn Thomas “hot” hört, fühlt er sich angesprochen.
• Whenever Thomas hears “hot” he feels addressed/referred to.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

• Die meisten Menschen versuchen, Deutsch auf die konventionelle Art zu lernen, im Hamsterrad aus Kursen, Büchern, Apps.
  Aber manche Menschen fühlen tief in sich drin, dass das nicht der richtige Weg sein kann. Fühlen, dass die Sprache schon in ihnen ist; schön, perfekt, natürlich. Und wir müssen sie nur befreien.
  Fühlst du dich angesprochen? Dann komm in mein Deutsch-Retreat nach Bali. Zusammen meditieren wir, tanzen, lachen, weinen, machen ganz ganz ganz ganz ganz viel Yoga und lassen unser Deutsch frei.
• Many people try to learn German the conventional way; the rat race of courses, books, Apps.
  But some people feel deep inside that that can’t be the right way. They feel, that the language is already inside of them; beautiful, perfect, natural. We only have to free it.
  Do you feel “addressed”/like I’m talking to you? Then come to my German retreat on Bali. Together, we’ll meditate, dance, laugh, cry, breathe, do lots and lots and lots of Yoga and let free our German.
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• Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

  

Of course you’re now all like “Where can I sign up?” but I gotta seriously up my Yoga before I do that. Seriously, the only time I can touch my toes is when I watch Titanic with them…. the left one always cries. So there won’t be a hippie retreat anytime soon.
But I do have something in the works that’ll help you learn German. I’m not gonna tell you what it is yet, but if you want a sneak peek … click here

And that’s it for today :).
This was our look at ansprechen, and even though none of the meanings is a must have, you’ll definitely hear it in every day life from now on.
As always, you can recap a little with the quiz I have prepared.
And of course, if you have any questions or suggestions , just leave me a comment.
I hope you liked it and see you next time.
…
…
What… oh… the r-version? Well, there is none ;).
Bis nächste Woche.

Further reading:

• What are r-versions

** vocab **

etwas ansprechen – bring up something (an issue)
jemanden auf etwas ansprechen – ask someone about a topic, bring up a topic to someone
jemanden ansprechen – start talking to someone (usually a stranger), especially in context of flirting
jemanden ansprechen – appeal to someone, be appealing
ansprechend – appealing (nice)

sich angesprochen fühlen – feel addressed, talked to

die Ansprache – the speech

der Anspruch auf – the entitlement (by law)
anspruchsvoll – demanding, challenging
anspruchslos – not demanding anything, also: without depth (for movies for instance)
hohe Ansprüche haben – have high standards