Hello everyone,
and welcome back to the never ending story of German Prefix Verbs. Today, we’ll have a look at… hold on, my voice looks really weird… let me check the mic-settings … uh… mic check one two eins zwei.. nah, even worse test test… test test testDaF test DaF one two, one two. Okay perfect.
I’ll just start recording agai… what? Oh, we’re live?! Oh I thought we’re recording.
But hey, that actually brings us right to the prefix verb that we’ll look at today:
aufnehmen
Because recording is one of the contexts it is used for.
One of many, many contexts…
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‘Wenn es um’s Wodka-Trinken geht, kann es Maria mit jedem Mann aufnehmen’
Why the ‘um’ got an S there?
are there two ‘es’ in one sentence?
Good question!!
It’s an “s” from “das” but no one would ever actually say “das”. You could also skip the “s”, but it somehow feels more “flowy” with it there.
Damn that was fast cool
Hello! Maybe the English here would be better as “The camera takes good pictures even in low lighting”
Cheers!
Danke :)!
Hallo Emanuel!
I’m a little puzzled by “es aufnehmen mit”. I understand what it means now, but it’s bugging me WHY it means what it does. So this is an etymological quest. Anyway, I’ll paste some dictionary excerpts:
Take on (transitive – informal) = to attempt to fight or compete against someone. To challenge someone.
Example: He took on the neighbourhood bully
Es mit jemandem aufnehmen = Wettbewerb / Wettkampf nicht scheuen
Ergänzungen / Herkunft:
umgangssprachlich; Vor dem Duell lagen die Waffen der Kämpfer so auf dem Boden, dass sie von keiner der Parteien berührt werden konnten. Das Aufnehmen der Waffen geschah ritualisiert und dokumentierte den Willen, sich dem Gegner zu stellen
But they were also throwing gloves: “den Fehdehandschuh hinwerfen/ aufnehmen”
And then there is also the English expression “to pick up a fight with someone “, which looks deceptively similar.
Do you think that all these expressions might have their origins in the middle ages, back when they had duels?
Sorry if I’m being annoying.
Dear Emanuel,
I’ve started to go through this series from the vocab by category part but I got the notion that you have explained the R version of prefixes somewhere else from what you wrote in the article.
Am I correct?
And if yes can you please post the link to it here?
Because i didn’t even know that there is a r version of the prefixes and if there is then i think i need to know that first and then continue with all the verbs.
And to be honest i didn’t understand the raufnehem part completely can you elaborate on it just a bit?
And finally can you also tell me how “Notaufnahme” fits in with the general meaning of aufnehmen?am i right in thinking that it’s like a place for picking up people in a Notfall?!
Thanks a million.
Actually no, I have not yet made a dedicated article for the r-version. I just keep mentioning it, so as to slowly ingrain the concept in people’s minds as they read the series.
But I do want to write an article about the r-version soon. So this is a good nudge :)
As for “raufnehmen”… could you please tell me what exactly is unclear there? I don’t remember what I said in the article and I don’t have time to read it at the moment. So just let me know what’s unclear and I’ll clear it up.
“Notaufnahme” is the area where emergencies are “accepted/taken” into the hospital.
Let me know if that helps.
Yes,it did help.
Thanks Emanuel.
Die Kamera macht sogar bei wenig Licht noch gute Aufnahmen.
The camera takes good pictures even with little light.
I would say “This camera even takes good pictures in low light.”
Is the way I phrased it wrong, or is it also acceptable?
Substitute “low light” for “little light” and yes, it is also acceptable.
My wife (the grammar perfectionist) and I discussed the placement of “even” as to whether it emphasized “taking good pictures” or “low light” and decided it was a distinction without a significant difference.
For the example: “Erzähl mir das ein andermal, ich bin grad nicht aufnahmefähig.”
Does this mean they ‘can’t take it’ as in they are emotionally overwhelmed and the bad news is too much to handle? Or does it mean they are ‘not retentive’ as in not able to process/remember information currently because they’re too tired/drunk?
Definitely the latter.
I primarily use it if I don’t have brain capacity left to concentrate on something new. Like I am doing something with taxes on the computer and my girlfriend walks in and wants to tell me something.
You can also be “nicht aufnahmefähig” because you’re emotionally distressed, but it’s never about not being able to handle another blow. It’s only about not being able to take in new information in a given moment, on a purely informational level.
makes sense thank you!
man. i cant thank you enough for this website. brofist from the other side of the screen, and other side of the world.
Super late brofist back :)!
Very good post, as always. Thanks!
You mentioned that “aufnehmen” is not used in general as “pick up”. In Duden, the meaning 1a of “aufnehmen” is exactly that one, of physically picking up a object: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/aufnehmen
I suppose you meant “aufnehmen” is not the *most usual* translation of “pick up”. What would that be? aufheben?
Exactly. “aufheben” is what you do with stuff lying on the ground.
“aufnehmen” is sometimes used in context of floor cleaning utensils and how well they aufnehmen the dirt. But I have never heard anyone use it for a piece of paper.
Super Post. Ist aber eher B, oder?
Oh, du meinst das Level? Ja, kann sein. Ich kann das nicht so gut einschätzen, von daher ist Feedback SUPER!! :)
Hello, I just came across “entgegennehmen” which seems to be very similar to “aufnehmen”… at least according to Leo. Could you explain a bit the difference? thanks!
Der Hund hat wieder auf den Boden gepinkelt. Wir brauchen mal einen Aufnehmer.
Ja funktioniert :). Klingt aber für meine Ohren SEHR formal/technisch. Ich würde einfach “Lappen” sagen.
I’ve read it and (also after your comment) it makes much more sense :)
Hello, that’s my first post on your blog. I really like the explanation but what I’m missing is the difference between the word “annehmen” which is somewhat similar. Could you explain a bit more? Thanks!
“annehmen” is not as “internal” as “aufnehmen”, if that makes sense. Something you “annehmen” is then carried with you, something you “aufnehmen” is carried in you (not literally, just to give you an idea).
Does that help? Have you read the article on “annehmen”?
Oh wait, you said it’s the first :)… so here’s the link to “annehmen”:
https://yourdailygerman.com/2014/08/29/annehmen-meaning/
The difference between making an activity and doing an activity could be down to American versus British English. I have heard British kids make a test or exam, American kids take one…
Also, in the sentence Die Kamera macht sogar bei wenig Licht noch gute Aufnahmen. Is there a tone of “suprisingly” here? Like the speaker was not expecting it to work well but it does?
Yeah, you could use that phrasing in a context of someone being surprised. It’s the “sogar/even” that add this vibe to it. What I had in mind when I wrote it was more like marketing speech, but I guess the point there is faked surprise.
“Der Hipster nimmt sein Rennrad immer mit in die Wohnung rauf.” This sounds like a mixture of “mitnehmen” and “raufnehmen”. What’s the infinitive? “Raufmitnehmen”?
Wow, that is a REALLY great question!!!
“mitraufnehmen” is not a verb and to my feeling, the verb is “raufnehmen” but yeah… the “mit” is totally dangling and can only really also connect to the verb.
It is a curiosity, that’s really all I can say :). Well spotted!!
es aufnehmen mit
No English word, but the phrase “is a match for” or “is no match for” is essentially the same thing.
Maria is a match for any man.
Your soup is good, but it is no match for mine.
Even though my dog is small, it is a match for bears.
I think the logic is that the two things match each other, as in a pair.
Personally, I play a lot of video games (Street Fighter!), so when I hear this phrase, I think of something that demands my full effort. Two things are so similar that the outcome is uncertain for both sides, and the only way to find a winner is through competition. In that sense, “you’re no match for me” sounds like “one of us has much more skill than the other. One of us will be bored, the other will think it’s unfair,” and “you are a match for me” sounds like “our skills are equal enough that we will both feel we were tested.”
I think “is a match for” works well with the Maria-vodka and soup examples, but it doesn’t seem quite active enough for the dog one.
There’s really not an idiom that fits exactly with all of these. “Hold one’s own against” is pretty good:
– Maria can hold her own against any man.
– Your soup can’t hold its own against mine.
– My dog can hold its own against bears.
“Take on” is really fine for the sort of active, “challenging” meaning. “Take it up with” has a different meaning in English, though. I’m trying to think how to describe it – it’s mostly about presenting a complaint to somebody, and it tends to be used when you’re trying to deflect that process away from yourself.
– If you don’t like how I’m doing my job, you can take it up with my supervisor.
– I don’t know why your pay hasn’t been getting deposited on time – you’ll have to take that up with the payroll department.
Yeah, “es aufnehmen mit” can really be about actually going to fight someone. Like, a drunk guy might yell “Ich nehm’s mit euch allen 3 auf” before throwing the first punch. But that does not mean that he’s actually a match.
As for “take it up with” being about complaint… that’s the impression I got from examples. It’s mentioned as a translation in the dictionary but that’s really misleading.
Das Chaos heute beim Meeting war nur eine Momentaufnahme. Eigentlich sind wir gut organisiert.
The chaos at the meeting today was just a SNAPSHOT/ IMPRESSION OF THE MOMENT. We’re actually pretty organized.
There’s an english word, ‘Glimpse’, that’s perfect for this meaning.
Isn’t a glimpse, albeit short, supposed to give you somewhat of an accurate impression of what is there? Because a Momentaufnahme is not at all representative for the whole thing.
As a native English speaker I would assume ‘glimpse’ means you only got to see a small part of the whole thing, and then only briefly
As with everything there are seemingly billions of ways to say something, but “in low lighting” sounds most natural to me in a photographic context. Great lesson and good discussions too!
Oh das habe ich! Danke : )
Vielleicht erinnere ich mich das Falsch aber hat Aufnahme nicht eine Bedeutung wie “exception” und wenn so, ist diese wort mit die andere Beispiele verwandt? Danke : )
Du denkst bestimmt an “Ausnahme”. :)
Nee, das ist “die Ausnahme” :)
https://yourdailygerman.com/2015/06/16/ausnahme-exception-german-rausnehmen/