Dictionary > auf verbs
- Perfect (spoken past): ist abgewichenPreterite (written past): wich absee details >2.
- to soak off
- (a label from a bottle for instance. This meaning really isn't all that usefull.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgearbeitetPreterite (written past): arbeitete aufsee details >1.
- to "work the past
- (Do the work to understand and come to terms with something that happened in the past)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeatmetPreterite (written past): atmete aufsee details >1.
- to take a breath of relief
- (Quite common in a figurative sense of relaxing after a moment of danger or tension. )
How useful: - see details >Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebautPreterite (written past): baute auf
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebäumtPreterite (written past): bäumte aufsee details >1.
- to rear up, to prance, to rise up against
- ("sich+Acc aufbäumen (gegen)" - originally, what animals do if they want something off their back, but it's also used figuratively for societal movements. Always used reflexively.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufbekommenPreterite (written past): bekam auf1.
- to manage to open
- ("aufkriegen" is more common in daily life for all ideas.)
How useful:2.- to get put on
- (ONLY in the sense of someone getting headphones, glasses or a hat from someone.)
How useful:Opposite (closest): zubekommensee details > - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufbereitetPreterite (written past): bereitete auf1.
- to process, to prepare
- (Mainly for information. The idea is that you organize it and bring it into a presentable, understandable form. )
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufbewahrtPreterite (written past): bewahrte aufsee details >1.
- to keep, to store
- (The main idea is that you don't throw or give something away. Sounds a bit „caring“. Used for small items and documents.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebotenPreterite (written past): bot aufsee details >1.
- to mobilize, to call on, to summon, to "deploy"
- (The core idea is that you bring a substantial amount of resources to a task. Used for "forces" in some way, but it would also work for a crazy amount of wedding cakes at a wedding. Rare overall.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeblasenPreterite (written past): blies aufsee details >1.
- to blow up, to inflate
- (ONLY in the sense of blowing air into something, like a ballon for example. And sometimes in a figurative sense of making bigger than it needs to be. But NOT for "blowing up" in the sense of disruption and also not "inflating" for numbers.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeblättertPreterite (written past): blätterte aufsee details >1.
- to open
- (ONLY for books or physical notebooks. NOT for laptops and other stuff that can be opened. The core is "turning pages")
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): ist aufgebliebenPreterite (written past): blieb aufsee details >3.
- to stay where it is
- (For stuff you wear on your head like headphones, glasses or caps)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeblicktPreterite (written past): blickte auf1.
- to look up from
- ("aufblicken von" - looking up from having your eyes in a book for instance. "hochgucken" is more idiomatic in daily life.)
How useful:see details >2.- to look up to
- ("aufblicken zu" - in the sense of admiring or taking as a role model. )
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebrauchtPreterite (written past): brauchte aufsee details >1.
- to use up
- (Not too common. Usually in sense of food, and it puts a slight stress on using as opposed to throwing it away.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebrochenPreterite (written past): brach aufsee details >2.
- to head out
- (quite common in context of starting to a bigger tour, like hiking)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebrachtPreterite (written past): brachte auf1.
- to upset someone
- (ONLY for upsetting people. Not for a stomach. Not very common and not very strong mostly people use the adjective "aufgebracht".)
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgebrummtPreterite (written past): aufbrummendsee details >1.
- to give someone
- ("jemandem+Dat etwas aufbrummen" - colloquial phrase for the idea of giving someone unwanted work or tasks.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgedecktPreterite (written past): deckte aufsee details >
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgedrängtPreterite (written past): drängte aufsee details >1.
- to push something on someone
- ("jemandem etwas aufdrängen" - not very common. Also works for pushing yourself into someone's space. It's not used for context that are actually threatening.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgedrehtPreterite (written past): drehte aufsee details >
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgedrucktPreterite (written past): druckte aufsee details >1.
- to print on
- (Not very common. Used in context of good with prints, like cups or shirts, but from the "perspective" of the print, not the object. The derived noun is more useful.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgedrücktPreterite (written past): drückte auf2.
- to force onto
- ("jemandem etwas aufdrücken" - usually in context of unwelcome work or responsibilities)
How useful:see details >3.- to press down
- (Pretty much only used in context of pressing down with a pen.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgegessenPreterite (written past): aß aufsee details >
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefahrenPreterite (written past): fuhr auf1.
- to tailgate
- (Usually in combination with "dicht". When it's too close, you could end up in an "Auffahrunfall" )
How useful:2.- to muster, to put up
- (In the sense of making quite a material effort while hosting an event or something. You "bring a lot to the table" if you will. )
How useful:3.- to rise up, to flare up
- (ONLY in the sense of a person suddenly getting activated and agitated. Not very common.)
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): ist aufgefallenPreterite (written past): fiel auf1.
- to catch someone’s attention, to be noticed by someone
- ("jemandem auffallen" - it's often used where English would say "to notice". The roles are basically reversed in German.)
How useful:see details >2.- to stand out, to catch the eye, to be noticeable
- (Doesn't take a direct object.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefaltetPreterite (written past): faltete aufsee details >1.
- to unfold
- (Pretty much only used for actually unfolding a folded piece of paper. Like a map for example. NOT used in the figurative sense that "unfold" is used.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefangenPreterite (written past): fing aufsee details >1.
- to catch (from falling)
- (The idea of falling is crucial, but it can be literal and figurative catching)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefasstPreterite (written past): fasste aufsee details >1.
- to interpret, to take something, to understand
- (The core theme of the verb is the way you take something, like a comment or a text. The way you "auffassen" it is how you understand it subjectively, not about understanding the facts of it.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefundenPreterite (written past): fand aufsee details >1.
- to find
- (Pretty formal sounding version. Not common at all, and pretty much only used in contexts of going somewhere and "finding" someone or something half expected there. Think of a police report. The adjective "auffindbar" is more common.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): ist aufgeflogenPreterite (written past): flog aufsee details >3.
- to get busted, to get exposed
- (For conspiracies or schemes or secret societies that get uncovered. Fairly common phrasing. )
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefordertPreterite (written past): forderte aufsee details >
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefressenPreterite (written past): fraß aufsee details >1.
- to eat up
- (For animals eating their food completely. Colloquially, sometimes used in an endearing sense for "I could eat you.".)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefrischtPreterite (written past): frischte aufsee details >1.
- to refresh, to boost
- (For refreshing knowledge and vaccinations. NOT for people refreshing themselves and NOT for refreshing web pages.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeführtPreterite (written past): führte auf1.
- to present, to show
- (In the context of presenting a play or opera or something similar. The original sense was probably "leading onto the stage". Sounds a bit "classy" so it's not a good fit for stand-up comedy.)
How useful:2.- to list, to give
- (In the context of listing reasons or arguments. Sounds a bit formal.)
How useful:see details >3.- to behave
- ("sich+Acc aufführen" - usually used in contexts where someone behaves in a way that DOESN'T fit. )
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgefülltPreterite (written past): füllte aufsee details >1.
- to refill, to top up
- ((Re)fill something completely, usually used in contexts where something WASN'T completely empty. )
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgegebenPreterite (written past): gab auf1.
- to give up
- (Works like in English, so you can just "aufgeben" or you can "aufgeben" something.)
How useful:Opposite (closest): durchhalten2.- to send, to "place"
- (Official terms for sending parcels at the post office and for placing a classified ad in a newspaper. Both uses are a bit out of date these days. )
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): ist aufgegangenPreterite (written past): ging auf2.
- to rise, to go up
- (For the sun, the moon and dough. And a figurative "light".)
How useful:Opposite (closest): untergehen4.- to find (complete) fulfillment, to get lost in
- ("aufgehen in+Dat" - in a positive sense for jobs, activities and hobbies where you really lose yourself in a good way. Also for something being integrated into something else, like a company for instance, but that's hard to use idiomatically)
How useful:see details >6.- to suddenly "be understood" by someone
- ("jemandem+Dat aufgehen" - Used for facts or connections that become clear to someone, a bit like an epiphany. You can think of it as a light rising, or as a "flower of knowledge" opening.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgegossenPreterite (written past): goss aufsee details >
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgegriffenPreterite (written past): griff auf1.
- to pick up
- (ONLY for topics, thoughts and similar things in the sense of "taking them" to talk about them or deal with them. NOT for actual objects. And not for "picking up" in a sense of learning or understanding.)
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgehabtPreterite (written past): hatte auf2.
- to wear
- (For things you put on, like caps and hats. NOT for condoms, though :).)
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): ist aufgehaltenPreterite (written past): hielt auf2.
- to stop
- (In the sense of stopping something from happening or someone from doing something. Think, super villains or technical progress.)
How useful:3.- to slow down, to hold up
- (In the sense of holding up someone, stopping them from progressing. Also used reflexively for contexts of (not) delaing with something - "sich+Acc aufhalten mit")
How useful:see details > - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgehängtPreterite (written past): hängte auf1.
- to hang up
- (For picture and laundry. For phone, the more common term is "auflegen". "aufhängen" is only used in some regions for phones.)
How useful:Opposite (closest): abhängen (von)see details >2.- to freeze, to get stuck
- ("sich+Acc aufhängen" - For computers and apps. And people hanging themselves.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgehobenPreterite (written past): hob auf1.
- to pick up
- (In the sense of lifting up small not too heavy, inanimate objects that are laying on the floor)
How useful:Opposite (closest): liegen lassensee details >3.- to cancel
- (German has several options for to cancel and this one is mostly used for lifting government restrictions or similar things.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeheitertPreterite (written past): heiterte auf1.
- to cheer someone up
- (MUST have a direct object, so it doesn't work for cheering up by yourself. You do it to someone.)
How useful:see details >2.- to clear up
- (Cloudy weather changing toward sunny. Common phrase in weather forecasts.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgehetztPreterite (written past): hetzte aufsee details >1.
- to rile someone up against
- (Generally negative sounding. So not a good fit for an inspiring revolutionary speech that comes from a good heart. )
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgehörtPreterite (written past): hörte aufsee details >
- Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeholtPreterite (written past): holte aufsee details >1.
- to catch up, to gain
- (In a sort of race or competition. Does NOT include getting equal.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgehorchtPreterite (written past): horchte aufsee details >1.
- to start listening attentively
- (momentary action, not in sense of longer periods)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgekauftPreterite (written past): kaufte aufsee details >1.
- to buy up
- (Used for "bigger" things like buying lots of land or the whole stock of something.)
How useful: - Perfect (spoken past): hat aufgeklapptPreterite (written past): klappte aufsee details >
Here's a quick overview with translations. For family, examples and more check the details.