Prefix Verbs Explained – “einlegen”

 

Hello everyone,

and welcome to another episode of Prefix Verbs Explained. Have you ever wondered what a cucumber, a Blue Ray disc and an afternoon nap have in common? Good news then!! Today we’ll find out because we… what? Oh, you weren’t wondering? Oh.
Uhm… well, we’ll find out anyway because today we’ll take a look at the meaning of
einlegen

Ein is the prefix version of the preposition in and it expresses the idea of “into-ness”. Legen is the German version of to lay but it’s also used in a more general sense of (lay-like) putting.
So, it would make a lot of sense if the meaning of einlegen was to put in.
Well, believe it or not, it actually is.
But because that would be WAAAAY to easy, it’s only idiomatic for a few randomly selected contexts or group of things.

The first group could be called “somewhat small items you place inside of devices” and it’s pretty cell phone. I mean handy.

• Ich habe die SIM-Karte von einem Freund in mein Handy eingelegt, aber es erkennt sie nicht.
• I put the SIM card of a friend into my phone but it doesn’t recognize it.
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• Ich lege eine DVD ein.
• I put in a DVD.
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SIM cards, CDs, films, batteries – for all these small things you put in some device, einlegen is THE word.
Cool.
The second group could be called “objections”. The idea is basically that you write your objection on a piece of paper and then hand (put) it in.
You can einlegen a Widerspruch (objection), an Einspruch (objection in court) or Berufung (appeal in court) or a Dienstaufsichtsbeschwerde …
and no, I don’t think you can einlegen a Beschwerde against words like that anywhere :).
This einlegen is pretty formal and mostly used in writing in context of legal issues. But at least Widerspruch einlegen is definitely useful in daily life for instance if you get a bill you don’t agree with.

• Sie können innerhalb von zwei Wochen Widerspruch einlegen.
• You have two weeks to lodge an objection/to appeal.
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I almost forgot, there’s one use which kind of uses the same logic and which is more positive and less formal.

• Thomas legt beim Chef ein gutes Wort für den Praktikanten ein.
• Thomas puts in a good word for the intern with the boss.
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All right.

The third group or third context for einlegen is a bit harder to pin down but I think a pretty good title is “interludes”. The most common example are breaks.

• Öfter mal eine Pause einzulegen ist wichtig, wenn man produktiv sein will.
• Making/taking a break every now and then is important if you want to be productive.
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But it also works for other things that “break” an activity or routine.

• Auch Langläufer sollten im Training öfter mal eine Sprinteinheit einlegen.
• Also long distance runners should throw in a sprint work out every now and then in their training.
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• Das Parlament legt eine Schweigeminute ein.
• The parliament holds a minute’s silence.
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• Wenn Maria sich nicht konzentrieren kann, legt sie manchmal eine kleine Tanzsession ein. Das hilft.
• When Maria can’t concentrate, Maria sometimes throws in a little dance session. That helps.
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• Um das Projekt fertig zu kriegen, legt das ganze Team eine Nachtschicht ein.
• The entire team pulls an all-nighter (lit.: night shift) to finish the project.
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Cool.
Now, when you einlegen a Pause, you might go to the kitchen to get a little snack. And that kind of brings us to the last context of einlegen.
In the kitchen, einlegen is used for the following: “to put food into liquid, usually to have it sit there for a while and take up the flavor”. One translation is to pickle but einlegen is a bit broader than that, I think.

• Ich lege eine Gurke ein.
• I pickle a cucumber.
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• Ich liebe in Olivenöl eingelegtes gegrilltes Gemüse.
• I love grilled vegetable in olive oil.
  (lit.: grilled veggies that have been put into olive oil)
  
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• Das Fleisch waschen, würzen und dann über Nacht in Bier einlegen.
• Wash and season the meat and then, put it in beer and let it rest overnight.
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All right.
So these were the 4 field of use for einlegen and we finally know what a cucumber, a nap and a Blue Ray have in common…. you can einlege… what? Oh right, nobody cares. I forgot.

Now, the noun for the verb is die Einlage. Literally, it would be inlay I guess but the translation completely depends on context because Einlage is just as broad as the verb: money in your savings account can be called Spareinlage, meat in a soup can be called Fleischeinlage, a little singing session at the meeting can be called Gesangseinlage – there are a few more like this. The one that’s really common daily life is: die Slipeinlage. And for the men who are now wondering what that could be, I’ve prepared a little Google Image Search.
Oh… oh hold on… I mixed something up. These are actually Einlegesohlen. Wait… so I guess in my shoes that’s actually… oh damn I gotta take those ou… but your face tells me that we should move on.

reinlegen

Now, the r-version is usually a very literal, very factual interpretation of the prefix-verb-combination. Reinlegen is no exception. It means to put/lay something into something. No special contexts, just plain and simple. Wanna put a milk in your shopping cart? Go ahead, leg it rein. Wanna lie down in that warm bath? Great idea, just leg yourself rein.

• Das Mousse au Chocolat war so lecker… ich hätte mich reinlegen können.
• The mousse au chocolat was so tasty… I could have bathed in it. (lit.: lie myself down in it)
  not sure if that’s idiomatic
  
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• Ist im Eisfach noch Platz? Ich würde gerne das Bier kurz reinlegen?
• Is there any room in the freezer? I’d like to put the beer in there for a little bit.
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• “Mist, das Bier ist warm.”
  “Wir können es ja kurz ins Eisfach reinlegen.”
• “Crap, the beer’s warm.”
  “Well, we can put it in the freezer for a bit.”
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In the first two examples, the “destination” of the laying had already been specified before and the rein makes reference to that. In the last example, the destination is right there so technically you wouldn’t don’t need the rein. A simple legen would do. But reinlegen is one of those words where people “double up” on their preposition because they think it “sounds cool”. And in fact, it doesn’t stop at two.

• … kurz ins Eisfach hinein einreinlegen
• … kurz inneninein ins Eisfach hininnereinin einreinlegen

In colloquial German, things like these are super uber common and sometimes speakers go on like this for minutes.
Now you’re like “Wait, is German really THAT crazy???”
But don’t worry. Of course the last two examples were bullcrap. I just wanted to trick you. Why? Because that’s the last meaning of reinlegen :)
Yup, that’s right. Reinlegen means to trick and it’s super super common. Think of it as putting someone into a trap…

• Du hast mich reingelegt.
• You tricked me.
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• Ich lasse mich nicht so leicht reinlegen.
• I won’t be tricked (so) easily.
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• Die Enkel-Masche – wie Kriminelle Rentner reinlegen. (newspaper headline)
• The grand child ploy – how criminals trick pensioners.
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• Reingelegt!
• Gotcha! (after someone bought into your bs)
  
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Cool.
And that’s it for today. This was our look at the various meanings of einlegen. It’s a bit tricky because it is so context specific but at least the einlegen in sense of putting in DVDs and SIM cards and stuff is really worth remembering.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions or if I forgot a use of einlegen (which is totally possible) just leave me a comment.
I hope you liked it and see you in 2 months.
And you’re now like “Whaaat? Why two months?” then let me just say
“Reingelegt”;)

** einlegen – fact sheet **

meaning:
put in – for small technical things you “lay” in somewhere (SIM cards, SD cards, DVDs, etc…)
also used for breaks as well as unusual shifts,
also used for appeal, lodge objections (legal talk),
also for putting in gears,
also for putting veggies and other food into oil or vinaguer (pickle)

spoken past:
form of “haben” + eingelegt

written past stem:
legte- ein/einlegte-

related words:
die Einlage – thing put in… most common is “Slipeinlage” but it also works for little interlude like actions (Tanzeinlage, Gesangseinlage)
eingelegt – pickled, in (fin context with oil)
die Einlegearbeiten – inlays ( furniture, construction, not for teeth)
Tanzeinlage – dancing interlude
Rülpseinlage – burping interlude (made up word but everyone would understand)
die Einlegesohlen – the shoe inserts