The German verbs raten and beraten can both mean "to advise," or "to give advice," but to correctly choose the right word, you need to learn the different ways they are used. Let's take a look at some different ways that raten and beraten are used in the sense of advising, so we can better understand which verb is appropriate to specific situations. Note that raten can also mean "to guess," and beraten can also mean "to discuss," but these are not definitions we're concerned with here.

The verb raten, in its meaning "to advise" or "to recommend," generally has a direct object stating what that advice is: 

Und ich kann unseren britischen Freunden nur raten, sich hier auch nichts vorzumachen.

And I can only advise our British friends not to have any misconceptions.

Caption 15, Brexit-Votum: Merkel warnt vor Spaltung Europas

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Alle meine Freunde raten Dich mir aus dem Kopf zu schlagen.

All of my friends advise me To put you out of my mind.

Captions 23-24, SDP feat. Adel Tawil. Ich will nur, dass du weißt

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Experten raten im Gegensatz zum Gesetzgeber zu mindestens vier Millimeter.

In contrast to legislators, experts advise at least four millimeters.

Caption 25, Winterreifen: Wenn der erste Schnee naht

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Note that with the verb raten, if the person who is being given the advice is stated, it is always in the dative case. The advice itself thus stated as the direct object, and the person to whom it is directed is the indirect object. 

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The verb beraten, on the other hand, has the person being advised as the direct object in the accusative case, and generally the actual advice is not mentioned in the same sentence. Note too that beraten can often be alternately translated as "to receive advice" (to be advised by) or "to give advice" (to advise).

Ein Bankkaufmann muss Kunden beraten.

A banker has to advise clients.

Caption 10, Nicos Weg: Mein Beruf

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Alternately: A banker has to give advice to clients.

Der Apotheker oder die Apothekerinnen beraten die Kunden.

The pharmacist or the pharmacists advise the customers.

Caption 21, Eva erklärt: Gesundheit

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Alternately: The pharmacist or the pharmacists give advice to the customers.

Suchen Sie dann den nächsten Schalter Ihrer Fluggesellschaft auf und lassen sich vor Ort beraten.

Search then for the nearest ticket counter of your airline and let them advise you on the spot.

Captions 7-8, Flugreisen Was mache ich, wenn...

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Alternately: ...let them give you advice on the spot. Note that the form in this case is sich beraten lassen.

To conclude, you should use raten if you want to specifically advise something, but you should use sich beraten lassen if you are suggesting somebody gets advice, and jemanden beraten if you are suggesting somebody gives advice: 

Ich rate dir den Arzt zu besuchen.
I advise you to visit the doctor.

Ich rate dir dich vom Arzt beraten zu lassen. 
I advise you to get advice from your doctor. 

Der Arzt hat mich beraten.
The doctor advised me.
Or: The doctor gave me advice.

We could even translate the next-to-last sentence as "I advise you to be advised by your doctor," but it's a bit clumsy, isn't it?

Further Learning
Go to German Yabla and find other examples of raten and beraten to see them used in a real world context. You can also compare raten and beraten to the similarly-used verb empfehlen.

In German, you will see the adverb erst, along with its synonym zuerst, used to express "first" or "at first" and establish temporal order. 

Dazu müssen wir die Äpfel erst schälen.

For this, we first have to peel the apples.

Caption 21, Apfelpfannkuchen - mit Alina und Sabine

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Zuerst möchte ich euch das Wahrzeichen der Stadt vorstellen.

First, I would like to show you the town's landmark.

Caption 9, Jenny zeigt uns - den Speyerer Dom

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Ich muss sagen, ich hatte erst richtig viel Angst da oben im Flugzeug.

I must say, I was at first really afraid up there in the airplane.

Caption 13, Abenteuer und Sport - Fallschirmspringen

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However, erst is also used as an adverb to express that something didn't occur or will not occur until a particular moment. There isn't a precise English translation for this, but usually a phrase with "only" or "not until" is used. 

Also werden wir uns erst nächste Woche Montag entscheiden.

So, we won't decide until Monday of next week.

Caption 67, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch

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Ich bin gerade erst vor kurzem Veganerin geworden.

I've only just recently become a vegan.

Caption 28, Buchtipp - Aufregen für Fortgeschrittene

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Als Erstes and erstens generally are used when a series of steps is mentioned or at least implied. When erstens is used, zweitens (and possibly drittens) will generally follow, and als Erstes implies that there is a step that comes als Nächstes. 

Als Erstes suche ich mir einen Koffer aus.

First, I'm going to pick out a suitcase.

Caption 3, Christiane - fährt in den Urlaub

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Wo eine Parkscheibe vorgeschrieben ist,

Where a parking disk is required,

darf man erstens nur so lange parken, wie es auf dem Zusatzschild angegeben ist,

you should, first of all, only park as long as indicated on the additional sign,

und zweitens nur, wenn man die Parkscheibe auf die nächste volle halbe Stunde nach der Ankunft einstellt.

and secondly, only if you set the parking disk for the next full half hour after arrival.

Captions 18-20, Richter Alexander Hold - Richtig parken

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The adverb erst mal can be translated as "first," "first of all," "to begin with," or even "for now." 

Aber jetzt gehen wir erst mal zu deiner Tante.

But first let's go to your aunt's now.

Caption 22, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 23: Ich habe kein…

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Aber ich brauche erst mal nichts.

But I don't need anything for now.

Caption 47, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Besuch

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One false friend to keep in mind is the adverb zunächst. Unlike als Nächstes, this word has nothing to do with "next" and actually also means "first" or "initially."

Wenn man sich sehr schlecht fühlt,

If you feel very badly,

geht man in der Regel zunächst einmal zum Arzt.

you generally first go to the doctor.

Caption 5, Eva erklärt - Gesundheit

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Ja, ich habe zunächst auf Werbemuster von Christina Hoffmann gewartet.

Yes, I was initially waiting for advertising samples from Christina Hoffmann.

Caption 16, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

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Further Learning
You can find many examples of all of these adverbs on Yabla German. When you see one, take note of where it is positioned in the phrase and consider whether any of the other adverbs above could also be used.  

Winter in Germany means it's cold season. Luckily, we at Yabla German have you covered if you find yourself needing to discuss your ailments in German.

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With the lack of sunlight in regions of northern Germany, it's normal to feel a bit under the weather or have a low energy level in the winter months. 

„Frederick", jammerte Piggeldy, „ich bin schon ganz schlapp."

"Frederick," yammered Piggeldy, "I am already totally exhausted."

Caption 19, Piggeldy und Frederick - Der Himmel

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But sometimes being particularly exhausted can also be the sign of an impending cold. 

Sie leiden unter Erkältung oder bekommen sogar eine Grippe.

They suffer from a cold, or even get the flu.

Caption 3, Eva erklärt - Gesundheit

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Bei Husten oder Schnupfen kann man in der Apotheke Hustenbonbons oder zum Beispiel Nasentropfen kaufen.

If you have a cough or runny nose, you can get cough drops in the pharmacy or buy nose drops, for example.

Caption 23, Eva erklärt - Gesundheit

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In particular, nausea or fever can be a sign of the flu.

Davon wurde manchem übel.

Some people became sick to their stomachs from that.

Caption 13, Deutsche Welle - Was ist das Reinheitsgebot?

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Wenn man übermäßig schwitzt oder Schüttelfrost bekommt, sollte man auf jeden Fall mit einem Fieberthermometer Fieber messen.

If you sweat excessively or get the chills, you should definitely take your temperature with a thermometer.

Captions 31-32, Eva erklärt - Gesundheit

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The flu can luckily often be prevented with immunization, or die Impfung.

Bist du eigentlich gegen die Schweinegrippe geimpft?

Are you actually immunized against the swine flu?

Caption 24, Deutsche Musik - Thomas Godoj

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Further Learning
Watch the video Eva erklärt: Gesundheit in its entirety to get an overview of various symptoms and cures for winter ailments. If you already have a cold, we at Yabla wish you gute Besserung! Otherwise, bleib gesund!