Hello everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day. This time we will have a look at the meaning of:
dauern
And although dauern doesn’t really have a direct one word counterpart in English, explaining it… ahem… won’t take long. Because… that’s basically what it is… to take in the sense of taking an amount of time.
But of course there’s a little more to say about it than that, so let’s jump right in :).
The origin of dauern are in Latin. There was the word durus, which meant hard, solid and there was the related verb durare.
Durare first meant to become hard, solid and then slowly shifted toward the result of being solid… the sense of lasting. And from there is finally moved toward to take an amount of time.
Now, the Germanic tribes had their own word for the concept of taking an amount of time: the ancestors of the verb währen. Which is still very much around in German. The verb itself is still around in some fixed expressions…
- Ehrlich währt am längsten.
- Honest lasts the longest.
- Was lange währt wird gut.
- What takes a long time (to finish) will turn out good.
… but what’s REALLY common is the word während, which is German for during and while.
- Während meiner Präsentation sind die Leute eingeschlafen.
- During my presentation people fell asleep.
- Ich bin sauer, weil du, während ich den Abwasch gemacht habe, nur dumm rumgesessen hast.
- I am mad because while I was doing the dishes you did but sit around like an idiot.
But also the Latin durare made its way into German and English. In English, we see it words like during, endure or duration.
And just as a side note (nerd on) have you noticed that während and during are literally the same form? The present participle? Like… during the day originally meant “lasting/taking the day“.
Anyway (nerd off)… the Germans added an a to it because they felt like it had too many “r” sounds (yeah, suuuuuure) and they liked dauern so much that left währen aside and made dauern their new number one word for to take an amount of time.
Time for examples :)
- Es hat eine Weile gedauert, sich an die Deutsche Satzstruktur zu gewöhnen.
- It took a while to get used to the German sentence structure.
- “Dauert das lange?”
“Nee, nur 5 Minuten.” - “Is it gonna take long?”
“Nah, just 5 minutes.”
- Da bist du ja endlich… das hat ja ewig gedauert.
- There you are, at loooong last… that sure took forever.
- Irgendwann will ich perfekt Spanisch sprechen, aber das dauert noch.
- I want to be able to speak Spanish fluently at some point, but it’ll take a while (still).
- Das hat ganz schön gedauert.
- That sure took a while.
Seems like taking amount of time as a translation works pretty well, but there a really big difference.
mistakes with “dauern”
In English you can easily add a person to the whole thing by saying “it takes someone [amount of time]“. Makes sense to add that information but from a grammar point of view it is kind of a strange phrasing. Or maybe it just feels strange to me.
Either way, it does NOT work in German. You have to use brauchen (to need) in these sentences.
- That takes 5 minutes.
- Das dauert 5 Minuten… correct
- That takes me 5 minutes.
- Das dauert mich 5 Minuten…. HORRIBLY WRONG!!!
- Dafür brauche ich 5 Minuten.
Using dauern in the second example is so weird, there is a good chance that they won’t even be able to guess what you’re trying to say.
And there’s a variation of that pitfall, actually. Dauern also DOESN’T work for the phrasing:
“X takes [amount of time] to do.”.
Like here….
- The cake takes 10 minutes to prepare.
- Der Kuchen dauert 10 Minuten um gemacht zu werden…. is pretty wrong.
In German, you’d rephrase that to “It takes 10 minutes to…”
- Es dauert 10 Minuten, den Kuchen zu backen.
Den Kuchen zu backen, dauert 10 Minuten. (also possible) - It takes 10 minutes to bake the cake.
And then there’s a third mistake with using dauern that I also hear quite often. And that is about people using dauern as a translation for to last.
It CAN be translation, but the focus of to last is the idea of just being there over time, which the idea of dauern is CONSUMING time.
- Oh god, this presentation lasted forever.
- Oh Gott, diese Präsentation hat ewig gedauert.
- Flex Tape – and the boat will last forever.
- Flex Tape – und das Boot hält für immer.
In the first one, the presentation is taking up everyone’s time. The focus is consumption. So here, dauern works perfectly. In the second example, the focus is NOT on taking up time. It’s about just being there. And using dauern here would be really weird. Like… a building can last for centuries but it cannot dauern for centuries.
So I think the best and most precise translation for dauern is the phrase “to take up time”.
All right.
So now we have a pretty good idea what dauern is and how to use it.
But there’s not only the verb. There are also quite a few really cool related words to discover. And some of them don’t seem to fit in. So let’s take a look.
the dauern-family
First up, we have dauernd and it’s brother andauernd. Both words mean about the same and their translation, at least to me, is a slightly negative sounding casual all the time…. in sense of not literally all the time but a lot and reoccurring.
- Es hat (an)dauernd geregnet.
- It was raining all the time.
- Mein Computer stürzt (an)dauernd ab.
- My PC keeps freezing like every 10 minutes.
- Ich kann nicht arbeiten, wenn ich (an)dauernd E-Mails kriege.
- I can’t work when I get E-Mails all the time.
- “Dauert’s noch lange bis das Essen fertig ist?”
“Wenn du dauernd fragst, dann ja.” - “Is it going to be a while longer until the food’s ready?”
“If you keep asking all the time, then yes.”
A similar word is dauerhaft but this carries no negative overtones and the meaning is more like lasting or there to last (dict.cc has like 20 translations for it). But it’s more for the newspapers and you will understand it when you see it so we’ll skip the examples.
Another really really useful word is die Ausdauer. It can mean endurance or stamina, in a fitness context it also means cardio. But it is not limited to the physical so it can also be perseverance or similar words.
- What’s an MC if he doesn’t have stamina…
- Was ist ein MC wenn er keine Ausdauer hat/ohne Ausdauer…
- Ich mache Ausdauertraining.
- I’m doing cardio.
- Es braucht einiges an Ausdauer um Deutsch zu lernen.
- Quite some patience/persistence is needed to learn German.
And of course, there are also prefix version.
For instance andauern and überdauern. And do you remember how dauern by itself wasn’t a translation for the idea of just being there over time? Well, these two are about that very idea.
Überdauern means to outlast or outlive.
- Die alten Kathedralen haben viele Jahrhunderte überdauert.
- The old cathedrals (out)lasted many centuries (and are lasting still).
Andauern can have various translations, depending on context (continue, last, hold up, stand or linger). But that makes it sound like it’s really common, which it actually isn’t. It’s enough if you keep it in your passive vocabulary, but you won’t need to use it actively. So I’ll skip the examples for this one because there’s a much much more useful one waiting for us.
I am talking about bedauern. And bedauern is the (soft) German version for to regret or to be sorry for. It often sounds slightly formal and it is not as strong and “personal” as bereuen, but still you’ll probably hear it in everyday life.
- Ich bedaure, dass ich nicht zum Meeting kommen kann.
- I feel (slightly) sorry that I can’t come to the meeting.
- Vielen Dank für ihre Bewerbung. Bedauerlicherweise müssen wir Ihnen mitteilen, dass wir schon jemanden gefunden haben.
- Thanks a lot for your application. Unfortunately we have to inform you that we’ve already found someone.
And now the big question is of course: how?
How does this meaning of bedauern tie in with the core idea of lasting?
And the answer is: it doesn’t.
Bedauern is actually related to teuer (expensive) and has nothing to do with the lasting.
And making a connection between expensive and regret is not that hard. I just need to look at my new yacht for instance. So much money and it’s not even that big. I should have gotten the kebab instead. It was either the yacht, or the kebab. Well, I’ll never listen to you again, whispering unicorn of spending.
Anyway, things are getting weird fast and reading this post has gedauert long enough. Time to wrap this up :).
This was our little look at the meaning of dauern.
As always, if you want to check how much you understood you can take the little quiz we have prepared for you.
Well… we will have prepared. It’ll take a little while longer, but it’ll come.
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.
** vocab **
dauern – take [amount of time]
die Dauer – the duration
jemand braucht [amount of time] – takes someone [amount of time]
dauernd/andauernd – incessantly, continuously, all the time (often with a slightly negative tone)
überdauern – outlast
die Ausdauer – the stamina, cardio, perseverance
bedauern – to be sorry for (deed/person
das Bedauern – regret, compunction
bedauerlich – [it’s a] pity
bedauerlicherweise – unfortunately
Another member of this family is durable – I’ve never noticed the connection between this and during before, etymology can be so cool!
Yeah, I love these moments where you realize something and then it’s super obvious all of a sudden :)
Ich glaube, eine Bedeutung des Verbs dauern ist vergessen worden. Zum Beispiel: „Das arme Tier dauert mich.“
Vielen Dank für Ihren Artikel.
Ja, das habe ich rausgelassen, weil man das im normalen Leben nie hört.
Es ist dieselbe Familie wie “bedauern”, was im Post erwähnt ist (verwandt mit “teuer”).
Beispiele mit “bedauern” sind fast am Ende des Artikels :).
Do you know why Dauer is feminine when most -er words are masculine? Does this follow a pattern of words that come from verbs somehow? I’ve also noticed that some -e words are neuter. So far, I’m looking at the possible pattern that they come from past participles that are turned into nouns, but I haven’t read anything that backs that conjecture. Do you have an idea about that? e.g. Gebirge, Gebilde, Gebäude,Gebinde…?
You’re spot on about the “das Ge—e” theory. These ones that are based on a verb are neuter.
As for “die Dauer” though, I don’t think there’s a pattern it follows. I think it used to be “die dur”, so it’s not the “-er” ending that we have in person based nouns like “der Fahrer” or so on.
Dauert = durer. In French
Cela dure x temps & take X Time
Nice essay, but not mentioning cases you use after “dauern”? Meh
Point noted. This one is due a do-over anyway, so I’ll add that.
It’s Accusative, but it rarely matters because you’re using numbers or “bis”.
Zählgeschwidigkeit – spelling mistake, I assume? (missing n)
Yup, danke :)
….so maybe a cool blog or site? Also been consistengly reading spiegel but don’t really know if it would be thé best idea..juste something u considéré fun ..because i live near thé Germán border and alsacien is another thing completely…also in belgium their german papers and stuff just throw me off. Hey danke voraus again …so in french you have this verbe remercier ..to enfasize the merci…in a polite way…is what i want to say to you…something like uber danke
hey…thanks for your response..so i did the whole duolingo..ans psycologocally (or whatever) it got me started so i keep doing the tree sometimes…but i did (or am doing assimlingua) ..also great..but i tripped onto to your blog cuz i was looking for something to kind of keep me motivated..(which i know to be the most important thing in language learning) and so i im finishing ur stuff and i know i’lle coming back to it ..it reminds me of a swedish friend of mine..so germans do have a good sense of humour i suppose ..i would like some vocab work and listening that does not make me feel like retard.pausing a thousand times…i’me in my third month on my own and i would love not.to get stuck..’so i guess i’m just asking for that kind of advice..
Vielen danke vorhaus fur dein helf emmanuel…sorry to bother you brother
Yes…hahha i had the dame question about your age man…i was like this must the hippest 90 year old dude von Berlin… Hey i’m complementing this with easy german in youtube…do you have any other suggestions for exercices…also i fond thé Duden site kind of confusing
Vielen dank Emmanuel (how do u say thanks in advance..?). Gracias dude
Easy German is great. I guess you could do Duolingo. And Slow German. But… what kind of exercises are you looking for? Grammar, Vocab or listening? Oh and it would be “Danke im Voraus.”
Keep it up..you my friend are motivating people…
That’s great to hear, vielen Dank!!
Hey…sorry for the grammatical errors.. I really do apologize…i live in paris so i started learning german in french. .. A very big thank you for your posts… Grammar in iphones and such should be a theme for later posts…how the telephone could predict what you want to say
..and german keyboards…hope this arrives as intended..
Oh god, iPhone “predicting” what I want to write… you have no idea how much I hate that function :D.
Thank you vert much for jour posts..il from colombia and i’ve been watching jour postes for a while…you make it easier and juste felt like saying thanks…un french they say bon courage..means keep it up…do you work in bar dude?
Yeah, I do… I need a balance to German teaching. Thanks for the nice feeback and Gruss nach Kolumbien.
I study worms. Weird, right? What landed me here? I’m currently living in Germany and trying to improve my verb word bank. I also study proteins in worms during their different life stages. One of the worm’s life stages is the Dauer stage. It is sort of a hibernation stage that begins when there is no food around and lasts (dauern!) until food becomes available. I was surprised when I found out “dauer” has German roots and loved reading your blog about it. I can’t wait to explore the rest of your blog. This post was excellent.
Wait… it’s called Dauer stage in English??!! Another Germanism :). Thanks for the nice feedback und viel Spaß beim Lesen!
“Its origins are Latin”
Ops… I often correct myself while typing but sometimes one makes it through … thanks :)
This is so informative! I like the casual way in which you do these segments. It makes it much easier to remember. Also, knowing the root of the word as well as the origins helps out a ton!
Yeah, the word etymology sounds intimidating but looking up where words come from makes them sooooooo much easier to remember because we can kind of fit them into our mental system, use connections that are already there… might not work for all language-couples, but related ones it can really help, Anyway…thanks for the feedback :)
I stumbled across this blog while trying to search for a better understanding of the distinctions between nach, nachher, dannach, etc. and since then I am infatuated with this blog. You are doing an incredible service to so many people out there who are looking for more than just dictionary definitions, but rather the subtle nuances involved in choosing, using (and not abusing) certain words and phrases (feel free to reach out to me for anything I can help with on the English side)!
Thank you for this!
P.S. Am I the first one to catch your bedauern joke? ;)
haha… you might actually be :)…
it comes from just “dauern” which comes from the same origin as “teuer”. “Dauern” used to be “it seems expensive to me”. From there it changed to “overpriced” to “the fact that you made this bad deal makes me feel pity”… kind of. The phrasing was impersonal.
– Es dauert mich, dass der König krank ist.
– It seems overly costly/a bad deal to me that the king is sick (very literal)
– I feel bad for the kings being sick.
The be-prefix was first added to just emphasis it but soon the grammar changed to match the usual be-verb pattern.
– Ich bedaure, dass….
– I regret/I feel bad that…
So it has absolutely nothing to do with duration or any of that but with “teuer” or “bad deal” :). It is used regularly whenever an formal sounding sympathy needs to be expressed (in sense of regret or remorse).
Wow, that is really interesting to know! I am always intrigued by etymologies and other aspects of languages and grammars. I really can’t thank you enough for your incredible blog!
(Just one question: your “About” page first says you’re 32 years old, then says you have been teaching German for “72 years”… how old *are* you anyway? haha)
haha…. 32 is accurate…. or is it? (mysterious sound)
Ihre Blog ist super!! Und danke für die Erklärung, es ist eine sehr brauchbare und klare Erklärung. Es ist richtig? :) Anyway, thanks again, it’s a great way to learn some vocabulary in German. Danke Schön!
Haha… “brauchbar” has kind of a negative overtone… or maybe not negative but of the following 3 “brauchbar” is the least useful:
– brauchbar
– nützlich
– hilfreich
Maybe a good translation for “brauchbar” be “good enough”
– Das ist brauchbar…
– That is good enough…
Hi! I’ve been following your blog for a couple of weeks, as I am preparing for the Zertifikat Deutsch B1 Prüfung. I find it to be pretty entertaining, and when I read it, the sentences and constructions remain with me; it is helping me.
Regarding “dauern”, when I learned it during German classes, I could not believe it, I laughed of the close relationship that it has with my mother tongue “durar”, Spanish for “to take an amount of time”; “Sicher?” I said, “dauern=durar”, no kidding!
Congratulations on your blog, keep posting, it is very well written and amusing!
Viele Grüße aus der Dominikanischen Republik!
Arturo
When I tried to tell English native speakers what “dauern” means I often said “to durate”… I don’t know if that actually made sense to anyone but to me it was so obvious :)
Thanks for your comments und viel viel Glück mit dem B1 test :) !!
That’s really funny, when I explain it to people I also say “to durate”! It makes a lot of sense to me, too. Although, when you give it a proper think, it should really be simply “to dure” in modern English. (like endure, also looks a lot like ‘düren’)
Also, one more translation for that sentence, from down under. ;)
‘The game is/will last till 12. (how to say that in English??)’
‘The game is on until 12.’ (I would use this in the context of TV, and probably in real life contexts too. However, as someone else mentioned, it’s more frequently stressed that the event/game/whatever will *end* at a particular time.)
And this one here, as well.
“Dauert’s noch lange bis das Essen fertig ist?”
“Wenn du dauernd fragst, dann ja.”
“Is it going to be a while longer until the food’s ready?”
“If you keep asking all the time, then yes.”
If you translate the German one a little more literally, then it all makes sense. ;)
Oh so would this be a common phrasing in English too for the food-example? I wasn’t sure, and all literal translations I could think of felt Denglish to me :)
“The game continues until 12,” would be a good translation, but maybe a bit formal. “The game ends at 12,” would emphasize when the game is over — say your girlfriend is nagging you to go to the grocery store but you want to wait to see how it ends. The kids would say, “It goes to 12,” which would be informal and short, but get the point across.
Cool, thanks for the input. So at least the informal version is actually the same as the German phrasing :)
That was great. :) I love how with these word of the day sections, by the end, you’ll kind of be able to work out any word that has a certain stem in, even if it wasn’t mentioned in the post, or you can’t remember it.
Does this mean that you’ll never use ‘dauern’ with a noun before it? So you could never say ‘Der/Die/Das (Insert Noun) dauert… blah blah’? Always es or das? That’s interesting if it’s true, and will probably take a while for it to become natural when I’m speaking in German.
Also:
‘The game is/will last till 12. (how to say that in English??)’
Your translations are fine, I’d probably normally say ‘The game runs/will run till 12’.
Thanks again :)
Hey Callum,
so technically you can put a noun in front of “dauern”. I entered it in Linguee.com and there are many examples with a noun:
http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?source=auto&query=dauert
But I think for everyday things it is safer to stick with the es-version. I don’t know why, I just feel like many many basic examples (Der Kaffee dauert 5 Minuten) are weird sounding to me. It is not a grammatical rule or anything. If you use it with a noun people will understand. It just might sound a little off and maybe someone will correct you and suggest a different phrasing… then you know why… not because it’s wrong but just because that’s how we roll :)
My guess is that it depends on the noun. Anything that “lasts” should be OK. “Das Spiel dauert 90 minuten”. “Der Kuchen” does not last (at least not in this sense), so you cannot say “Der Kuchen dauert …”. The process of baking “lasts”, so maybe, we can say “Das Kuchen Backen dauert 10 Minuten.”
I think the expressions with “it takes” are idiomatic, so I would totally avoid them in these translations, since this is where we get in trouble.