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Dictionary > verbs

    Here's a quick overview with translations. For family, examples and more check the details.
  • (d)raufgeben
    ((he)rauf verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat raufgegeben
    Preterite (written past): gab rauf
    1.
    to give upward
    (The literal meaning of handing an object upward. Think of handing a screw driver to someone on a ladder. "hochgeben" is more idiomatic overall, I think.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): runtergeben
    2.
    to put on top of
    (Can be "draufgeben" or "raufgeben". Think of asking an ice cream vendor if they can add some chocolate sirupe on top. Sounds a bit formal, though and "(d)raufmachen" is the more common choice.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (d)raufkriegen
    ((he)rauf verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat raufgekriegt
    Preterite (written past): kriegte rauf
    1.
    to get up
    (In the sense of managing to move something up somewhere. Think of moving a heavy couch.)
    How useful:
    2.
    to get on top
    (Very colloquial. Used in context of getting a topping on your food.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (d)raufsteigen
    ((he)rauf verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist raufgestiegen
    Preterite (written past): stieg rauf
    1.
    to get on (it), to climb on (it)
    (Getting or climbing onto a thing that has been established before. Can be a simple table or a bike. Rare for a mountain. More common in the sense of "stepping on", but that's regional. Either "rauf-" or "drauf-" but pretty much never "herauf-".)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): runtersteigen
    see details >
  • (d)rüberlaufen
    ((he)rüber verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist rübergelaufen
    Preterite (written past): lief rüber
    1.
    to walk across
    (Think of a bridge. With "rüber", the focus is a bit more on A to B, with "drüber" it's on being on it while crossing. But that is some C-Level nuance.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (d)rüberstellen
    ((he)rüber verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat rübergestellt
    Preterite (written past): stellte rüber
    1.
    to put something over there
    (ONLY in the literal sense of putting an object from one "side" to another. Think of putting a chair over into the living room or moving the mirror out of the way, or something.)
    How useful:
    2.
    to put over/above
    ("drüberstellen" - Literally putting something over something. Think of a table over a door in the floor, for example. Can also be "rüberstellen" but "drüberstellen" is more common, because it's about the resulting position, not the motion.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (d)runtersetzen
    (he(runter) verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat runtergesetzt
    Preterite (written past): setzte runter
    1.
    to sit down
    (In the sense of switching seating places from somewhere up to down. Think of someone sitting on a table then switching to the floor. Usually used with a self reference - "sich+Acc runtersetzen".)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): hochsetzen
    2.
    to reduce in price
    (Especially "runtergesetzt" is pretty common in daily life conversations. )
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): hochsetzen
    3.
    to sit down under it
    (In the literal sense of taking a seat under something. Like, think of a tree during a rainfall. Usually used reflexively - "sich+Acc druntersetzen". )
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (da)hintersteigen
    (hinter (sep))
    Perfect (spoken past): ist hintergestiegen
    Preterite (written past): stieg hinter
    1.
    to climb to the rear
    (Technically, it can mean that, but I doubt you'll see it in real life any time soon. Maybe for climbing to the backseat of a car from the front.)
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    2.
    to understand something
    ("dahintersteigen" - the "da" often gets split off and moved elsewhere. Pretty similar to "durchsteigen", but this one is more about one particular "mystery". Think of a magical trick that you can't understand how it's done.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (dr)unterziehen
    (unter (sep))
    Perfect (spoken past): hat untergezogen
    Preterite (written past): zog unter
    1.
    to put something underneath
    ("sich+Dat etwas unterziehen" - in the sense of clothes. Both "runterziehen" and "drunterziehen" work, but "runterziehen" sounds a bit weird.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (he)rausbekommen
    ((he)raus verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat rausbekommen
    Preterite (written past): bekam raus
    1.
    to get out
    (In the literal sense of managing to get something out of somewhere.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): reinbekommen
    2.
    to find out
    (Usually implies a big of digging or at least some sort of secret.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (he)raussteigen
    ((he)raus verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist rausgestiegen
    Preterite (written past): stieg raus
    1.
    to climb out (to rise out)
    (Super literal and barely ever used, except in epic contexts. That's why it's usually also with "her-" and not just "r-". Maybe think of a queen slowly leaving a pool. For most contexts, "rausklettern" is more idiomatic.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): reinsteigen
    see details >
  • (he)rumschlagen
    ((he)rum verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat rumgeschlagen
    Preterite (written past): schlug rum
    1.
    to deal with (a hassle)
    ("sich+Acc rumschlagen mit" - think of a tricky excel problem that you deal with for like three days. Needs to be used in this phrasing, so with self reference and "mit".)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (he)rumspielen
    ((he)rum verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat rumgespielt
    Preterite (written past): spielte rum
    1.
    to play around
    How useful:
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  • (he)rumziehen
    ((he)rum verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist rumgezogen
    Preterite (written past): zog rum
    1.
    to move around
    (Either moving around town with friends, or in the sense of moving from settlement to settlement. Think of a circus for example. Though in the latter context, "umherziehen" is more idiomatic because.... reasons #reasonsarethebest)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (he)runterkommen
    (he(runter) verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): ist runtergekommen
    Preterite (written past): kam runter
    1.
    to come down
    (Works in a factual sense of "going to a lower altitude" but also for coming down from some sort of "trip", be it from stress, anger or drugs. For numbers, "runtergehen" is the more common choice.)
    How useful:
    Opposite (closest): hochkommen
    2.
    to get run down
    (The adjective "heruntergekommen" is more common.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (her)vorgucken
    (vor verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat vorgeguckt
    Preterite (written past): guckte vor
    1.
    to peek out, to stick out
    (An object peeking out from a cover. Think of a unicorn trying to hide behind a bush, but the horn sticks out.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (her)vorholen
    (vor verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat vorgeholt
    Preterite (written past): holte vor
    1.
    to bring out, to take out
    (Take out something you had in your pockets (or personality). "hervorholen" is more probably a bit more common.)
    How useful:
    see details >
  • (sich) ernähren (von)
    (er verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat ernährt
    Preterite (written past): ernährte
    1.
    to feed, to nurture, to nourish
    (ONLY for food. Not in figurative contexts)
    How useful:
    2.
    to eat
    ("sich+Acc ernähren von" - Sounds a bit technical but still, it's fairly common in daily life, especially in context of special diets.)
    How useful:
    see 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.)
    How useful:
    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:
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  • 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!!)
    How useful:
    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.)
    How useful:
    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)
    How useful:
    2.
    to turn off
    (For water and colloquially also electricity. )
    How useful:
    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 >
  • abduschen
    (verb)
    Perfect (spoken past): hat abgeduscht
    Preterite (written past): duschte ab
    1.
    to give a shower, to shower off
    (The focus is a bit more on getting something off. Think of getting of the mud after a mud bath. The verb always takes the person or thing you shower as a direct object, so if you do it to yourself it's "sich+Acc abduschen".)
    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.)
    How useful:
    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".)
    How useful:
    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.)
    How useful:
    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 >


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