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Dictionary > ab verbs

    Here's a quick overview with translations. For family, examples and more check the details.
  • abändern
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgeändert
    Preterite (written past): änderte ab
    1.
    to modify, to alter
    (Make small changes or adjustments in a bigger whole. Think of changing a route slightly or shifting around a few slides in a presentation.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abarbeiten
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgearbeitet
    Preterite (written past): arbeitete ab
    1.
    to work, to get done
    (For a heap of work that you slowly "ablate" through work. )
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    2.
    to work off
    (Paying a debt through work.)
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    3.
    to wear oneself out with working
    ("sich+Acc abarbeiten an+Dat" - fixed phrasing for the idea of putting a lot of energy into a difficult and maybe futile endeavors. )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbauen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebaut
    Preterite (written past): baute ab
    1.
    to take down, to deconstruct
    (methodically remove something that was built, like a stage or a tent)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): aufbauen
    2.
    to decompose, to reduce, to break down
    (for substances and energies)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbeißen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebissen
    Preterite (written past): biss ab
    1.
    to bite off, to take a bite
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbekommen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abbekommen
    Preterite (written past): bekam ab
    1.
    to get a share
    ("etwas abbekommen von" - sounds a bit clumsy and needy, so don't use it in a professional business context.)
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    2.
    to get hit
    (Same idea as before, only that now you get a share of something you didn't want. Think of someone throwing mud at party. )
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    3.
    to (manage to) get off
    (The idea is that you're succesfully trying to get something of from somewhere. Think of a sticker from a car. )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbestellen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abbestellt
    Preterite (written past): bestellte ab
    1.
    to cancel
    (ONLY for subscriptions where something is sent to you - either mail or a newsletter. Does NOT work for Netflix, for example.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): bestellen
    see details >
  • abbiegen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebogen
    Preterite (written past): bog ab
    1.
    to turn
    (in the sense of changing direction in traffic)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbilden (auf)
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebildet
    Preterite (written past): bildete ab
    1.
    to depict
    (Capture in pics, sounds a bit formal)
    How useful:
    2.
    to map, to transform
    (In the mathematical sense)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbinden
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebunden
    Preterite (written past): band ab
    1.
    to tie off, to untie
    (Pretty much only in the context of losing the leash or a dog from a tree. Most other contexts will be "losbinden".)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): anbinden
    2.
    to bind, to thicken
    (For binding a sauce!!)
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    3.
    to put on a tourniquet, to secure
    (Put on a pressure bandage or tourniquet. You "bind off" that body part or artery.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abblasen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgeblasen
    Preterite (written past): blies ab
    1.
    to blow off
    (ONLY for literally blowing an object off from somewhere. SUPER rare!!)
    How useful:
    2.
    to cancel, to call off
    (Colloquial phrase for cancelling an event or project.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abblättern
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgeblättert
    Preterite (written past): blätterte ab
    1.
    to peel off, to flake off
    (Pretty much only used for paint.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbleiben
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgeblieben
    Preterite (written past): blieb ab
    1.
    to stay/remain off
    (in the sense of "not attached")
    How useful:
    2.
    to be
    (Pretty much only in questions for the location of an object like "Wo ist ... abgeblieben?")
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbrechen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebrochen
    Preterite (written past): brach ab
    1.
    to abort
    (In the sense of "stopping an ongoing process". NOT for abortions in context of pregnancy.)
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    2.
    to break off
    (in the literal sense of breaking something off of something)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbremsen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebremst
    Preterite (written past): bremste ab
    1.
    to brake
    (Sounds a bit more sudden than "bremsen" but the difference is mostly based on what's idiomatic in a context.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbrennen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgebrannt
    Preterite (written past): brannte ab
    1.
    to burn down
    (Not for burning something completely, but rather burning to the "foundation". Can be a building or an incence stick. If you "abbrennen" something, the spoken past goes with "haben". If something "abbrennen" by itself, it goes with "sein".)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbringen (von)
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebracht
    Preterite (written past): brachte ab
    1.
    to talk sb out of sth
    ("jemanden (Acc) von etwas (Dative) abbringen); always needs to come with the von-part.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abbuchen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgebucht
    Preterite (written past): buchte ab
    1.
    to debit
    (Lit.: "to book off" - it's when some other party draws money from your account. NOT for you withdrawing cash at an ATM.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): überweisen
    see details >
  • abdanken
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgedankt
    Preterite (written past): dankte ab
    1.
    to demit, to abdicate
    (The formal term for ruler officially stepping back. Can be a king but also a government. Sounds big. Für single politicians, "zurücktreten" is the better choice.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abdecken
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgedeckt
    Preterite (written past): deckte ab
    1.
    to cover, put a cover over
    (so that others can’t see it or so that it’s away from the air or the rain)
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    2.
    to cover
    (for topics)
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    3.
    to remove a roof
    (Think hurricane ;))
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abdichten
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgedichtet
    Preterite (written past): dichtete ab
    1.
    to seal
    (A leakage of some kind.. NOT for sealing documents.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abdrehen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgedreht
    Preterite (written past): drehte ab
    1.
    to turn away
    (For boats and planes only)
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    2.
    to turn off
    (For water and colloquially also electricity. )
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    3.
    to screw off
    (For lids. Rarely actually used.)
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    4.
    to wrap up
    (In the context of finishing filming a movie.)
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    5.
    to go crazy
    (Colloquial, often in a positive sense.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abdriften
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgedriftet
    Preterite (written past): driftete ab
    1.
    to drift of, to get carried away
    (Works in the literal sense of a piece of wood drifting in a stream, but the main use is for going of on a tangent in thoughts or a conversation.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abdrucken
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat
    Preterite (written past):
    1.
    to print
    (With a focus on the fact that it'll be published. Think of a juicy celebrity photo and the editors are debating whether they should print it.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abdrücken
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgedrückt
    Preterite (written past): drückte ab
    1.
    to pull the trigger
    How useful:
    2.
    to pay money
    ("abdrücken (für)" - very colloquial and usually in contexts where you think something is quite a lot of money.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • aberkennen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat aberkannt
    Preterite (written past): erkannte ab
    1.
    to revoke, to abjudicate, to strip
    (Officially taking a title or privilege from someone. Not necessarily the direct opposite of "anerkennen" because that one is more about accepting reality.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abernten
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgeerntet
    Preterite (written past): erntete ab
    1.
    to harvest, to reap
    (Slightly technical term that includes the idea of completion. So you harvest a field or tree completely. )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfahren
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgefahren
    Preterite (written past): fuhr ab
    1.
    to start driving
    (With a focus in leaving. Often used for trains leaving a station. For starting your car ride, "losfahren" is the better choice.)
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    2.
    to dig, to really like
    ("abfahren auf+Acc" - quite colloquial and not easy to use idiomatically, because it doesn't always work.)
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    3.
    to drive off
    (In the sense of leaving a highway.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): auffahren
    4.
    to drive along
    (ONLY in the sense of driving a full course of something, usually in a context of some sort of inspection.)
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    5.
    to drive down
    (For mountains and hills and primarily used in context of biking or skiing.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfallen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgefallen
    Preterite (written past): fiel ab
    1.
    to decrease, to drop, to decline
    (For certain metrics like quality, energy, performance and voltage, but it's overall pretty rare. You need to know the idiomatic phrasings.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): ansteigen
    2.
    to descend, to slope down
    (For terrain only. And it's what the terrain does, not what you do on the terrain. )
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): ansteigen
    3.
    to come out of, to be yielded
    (Mainly for financial gains or other compensations. The benefits are what does the "abfallen".)
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    4.
    to fall off
    (Something literally falling off of something. Think of a bumper of a car, for example. Also for figurative loads that fall off of you. If the focus is on hitting the floor, then "runterfallen" is the better choice.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfangen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgefangen
    Preterite (written past): fing ab
    1.
    to intercept
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfärben
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgefärbt
    Preterite (written past): färbte ab
    1.
    to bleed into
    (In the sense of a colored item "sharing" its color with other things. Think of a new shirt that might ruin your clothes if washed together.)
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    2.
    to rub off on, to influence
    ("abfärben auf+Acc" - a figurative use where a person's character or behavior starts influencing others to behave the same way.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfedern
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgefedert
    Preterite (written past): federte ab
    1.
    to cushion, to absorb (a shock)
    (Softening an impact. Also used figuratively. )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfeiern
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgefeiert
    Preterite (written past): feierte ab
    1.
    to party really hard
    (kind of slang)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfinden
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgefunden
    Preterite (written past): fand ab
    1.
    to pay off, to compensate
    (Usually used in the context of severance payments for jobs)
    How useful:
    2.
    to make peace with
    („sich+Acc abfinden mit“ - ONLY in the sense of getting to terms with a situation. NOT making peace with someone)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfliegen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgeflogen
    Preterite (written past): flog ab
    1.
    to fly off
    (In the sense of being blown off by pressure. Think of a lid of a bottle. NOT for a hat being blown off by the wind.)
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    2.
    to depart
    (For planes. The verb "starten" is more idiomatic, but the noun "der Abflug" is pretty common. )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfließen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgeflossen
    Preterite (written past): floss ab
    1.
    to flow away, out
    (Primarily for water that is "stuck" somewhere (sink or low area of land) but it's also used in a financial context for funds or liquidity.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abfragen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgefragt
    Preterite (written past): fragte ab
    1.
    to ask, to question, to quiz
    (In the sense of running through a list of questions. Mostly used in the context of practicing with someone for an exam)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abgeben
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgegeben
    Preterite (written past): gab ab
    1.
    to give a share
    ("abgeben von" - usually for small scale things like sharing a piece of your pizza)
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    2.
    to hand over, to turn in
    (For items that you "turn in", like a phone at the door of a yoga retreat. Also for some borrowed things like a bike or a car. And for roles and responsibilities.)
    How useful:
    3.
    to be, to make for
    ("etwas+Acc abgeben" - Colloquial phrase for objects and people doing a surprisingly good job in a function that they weren't made for.)
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    4.
    to deal with, to occupy oneself with
    ("sich+Acc abgeben mit" - Usually used in the negative, either for tasks you don't want to deal with or people you (don't) want to get involved with.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abgehen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist abgegangen
    Preterite (written past): ging ab
    1.
    to come off
    (stickers, pictures on a wall, etc)
    How useful:
    2.
    to go crazy/wild
    (for example people dancing or throwing a fit, but also for songs that are really energetic)
    How useful:
    3.
    to leave the stage or the scene
    (ONLY in context of theater)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): aufgehen
    4.
    happen, take place
    (Quite common colloquial option for "to happen". Also used to ask "What's up?")
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    5.
    to be lacking from
    ("jemandem abgehen" - more common in the South of Germany)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abgewinnen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgewonnen
    Preterite (written past): gewann ab
    see details >
  • abgewöhnen (sich+Dative)
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgewöhnt
    Preterite (written past): gewöhnte ab
    1.
    to break a habit, to stop
    ("sich (Dativ) abgewöhnen"... literally once used to be "to wean off")
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): angewöhnen (sich+Dative)
    see details >
  • abgießen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgegossen
    Preterite (written past): goss ab
    1.
    to drain
    (For pasta, rice and other things you cook. You "pour off" the water.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): aufgießen
    see details >
  • abgleichen
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgeglichen
    Preterite (written past): glich ab
    1.
    to square, to align, to check for matches
    (Comparing two things to see if they align like they're supposed to.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abgrenzen (von)
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgegrenzt
    Preterite (written past): grenzte ab
    1.
    to separate from, to delineate, to set apart
    (The core idea is consciously creating or emphasizing a boundary to clearly distinguish A from B. Also often used reflexively "sich+Acc abgrenzen")
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abgucken (sich)
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgeguckt
    Preterite (written past): guckte ab
    1.
    to crib, to peek
    (The idea is "to learn or find out by watching someone". The self reference needs to be there and it's in Dative. In South Germany, also with "schauen" instead of "gucken")
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abhaben
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgehabt
    Preterite (written past): hatte ab
    1.
    to get a piece/share
    (Colloquial, mostly used to ask if you can have a piece or state that you'd like to have a share. Not used to talk about actually getting one. Pretty much always with a modal verb and virtually never alone in pure present or past tense.)
    How useful:
    2.
    to (not) like, to (not) stand
    (Only in combination with "können", very colloquial. )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abhacken
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgehackt
    Preterite (written past): hackte ab
    1.
    to hack off
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abhaken
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgehakt
    Preterite (written past): hakte ab
    1.
    to tally, to check off
    (To put a check mark behind something. Mostly used in figurative contexts for stuff that was on the agenda. NOT used for checking and actual test.)
    How useful:
    2.
    to forget
    (In a sense of "Forget about it, not gonna happen". The idea is that you check it off instead of waiting forever.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abhalten
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgehalten
    Preterite (written past): hielt ab
    1.
    to deter, keep someone from doing something
    ("abhalten von" - Similar idea to preventing, but not as definite)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): anhalten
    2.
    to hold
    (For meetings and conferences. Sounds a bit formal)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abhandeln
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgehandelt
    Preterite (written past): handelte ab
    1.
    to fully discuss a topic
    (Mostly in context of a monologue or text, not for an engaging conversation among friends.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • abhängen (von)
    (ab verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgehangen/abgehängt
    Preterite (written past): hing ab/hängte ab
    1.
    to depend
    ("abhängen von" ... actually, this is a literal translation because the Latin "pendere" meant "to hang". ge-form is "abgehangen" but the verb is usually used in the real past, so "hing ab")
    How useful:
    2.
    to lose a pursuer
    ("jemanden abhängen" - works for actual car chases as well as in a figurative sense of leaving the competition behind. ge-form is "abgehängt".)
    How useful:
    3.
    to take down, "unhang" laundry
    (ge-form is "abgehängt".)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): aufhängen
    4.
    to chill, to hang out
    (VERY colloquial. ge-form is "abgehangen".)
    How useful:
    see details >


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