Prefix Advent Calendar – 7

berühren

Rühren is very old, and all throughout history the core idea was “mixing and stirring”, especially in sense of cooking. But people also used it in a broader sense of “to set in motion” with berühren being just a more directed sounding version of that. Now, one way to set something in motion is to touch it. And that’s what berühren is all about today, while rühren stuck with the stirring and moving. It can be both physical and emotional (and in the physical sense it has a very low intensity.)
die Berührung – the (gentle) touch
berührt (ge-form) – touched, emotionally moved
berührend – touching

• Ich berühre dich am Arm/deinen Arm.
• I (slighty) touch your arm.

• Der Film hat mich tief berührt.
• The movie deeply moved me.

• Bitte die Gemälde nicht berühren.
• Please don’t touch the paintings.

EDIT 2019:

If you want a detailed look at all the verbs with rühren, check out my article about it here:

Word of the Day – “rühren”