In a previous lesson, we discussed the difference between the German verbs zählen and zahlen. Although only an umlaut differentiates the two words—and their meanings can both relate to numbers or money—let's quickly recap the distinctions in meaning. The verb zählen means "to count," and the verb zahlen means "to pay." The first video below talks about counting money (zählen), and the second about paying money (zahlen):

Ja, manchmal muss ein Bankkaufmann auch Geld zählen.

Yes, sometimes a banker has to count money too.

Caption 9, Nicos Weg - A1 Folge 38: Mein Beruf

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Wer eine Bar, eine Disco oder ein Fitnessstudio weiterbetreibt,

Anyone who continues to run a bar, club, or gym

muss 5.000 Euro zahlen.

will have to pay 5,000 euros.

Captions 16-17, Die Corona-Krise - Null Toleranz & Strafen bei Verstößen in NRW

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But what about the verbs bezahlen and zahlen? In their infinitive forms, they are easy enough to differentiate, but in their Partizip Perfekt form, they look very similar (bezahlt / gezahlt) and even rhyme:

Du hast mir monatelang kein Gehalt bezahlt!

You have paid me no salary for months!

Caption 22, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kompromisse zu finden ist nicht einfach

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Süß. Aber du hast nur 50 gezahlt.

Cute. But you have only paid 50.

Caption 31, Die Pfefferkörner - Cybermobbing

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Whether to use bezahlen or zahlen is a complicated topic indeed, but there are a few general rules that make it easier.

1. When a person is being paid (in the case below, the models), you always use bezahlen:

Übrigens, wir haben nur zwei Models bezahlt.

By the way, we only paid two of the models.

Caption 25, Bausa - Was du Liebe nennst

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2. The verb bezahlen generally suggests that something has been fully paid or "paid up," whereas zahlen means a payment has been made, but it may have been just a partial payment. A clever article entitled "Haben Sie schon gezahlt oder bezahlen Sie erst später?" illustrates this well. A literal translation could be: "Have you already partially paid or are you going to completely pay up later?"

A more literal translation of the following could be: "I don't have to pay for all of it, the German Film Academy is making payments for that."

Keine Ahnung, ich muss das nicht bezahlen,

No idea, I don't have to pay for it,

das zahlt die Deutsche Filmakademie.

the German Film Academy is paying for it.

Caption 38, Ball des Weines - Barbara Schöneberger

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3. The verb zahlen is usually used for more general purposes, such as "to pay any price":

Die kleine Meerjungfrau war bereit, jeden Preis zu zahlen,

The Little Mermaid was ready to pay any price

um bei dem Prinzen zu sein.

to be with the Prince.

Caption 50, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Die kleine Meerjungfrau

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4. In many cases, either bezahlen or zahlen will work. It would be somewhat more correct to use gezahlt and zahlen in the second sentence, but it works either way:

Wurde der Computer schon bezahlt? –Nein, er hat vorerst nur 500 Euro bezahlt / gezahlt und wird den Rest nächsten Monat bezahlen / zahlen.
Has the computer already been paid for? –No, he has only paid 500 euros for now and will pay the rest next month.

To conclude: Always use bezahlen when paying a person—as a rule, use bezahlen for paying something completely and zahlen for a partial payment and just paying in general. However, it's not a serious grammatical mistake in most cases to use either one.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and search for variations of bezahlen and zahlen. Tip: add an asterisk in your search (bezahl*, zahl* and gezahl*) and you will get all of the cases in the search results. Be careful to note the different contexts in which the verbs appear. Then read the above-mentioned article "Haben Sie schon gezahlt oder bezahlen Sie erst später?" It's pretty funny, considering it's about grammar!

In parts I and II of this lesson, we talked about office supplies that are not specifically related to the ever-present digital devices in the workplace and at school. Let's take a look today, in the final installment of this topic, at some more German names for office items that may be new to you.

Das ist ein Umschlag und das ist die Briefmarke.

This is an envelope and this is the stamp.

Caption 22, Nicos Weg: Das hört sich gut an!

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You probably knew der Umschlag (or der Briefumschlag) and die Briefmarke already, although these days we use them far less frequently than in the stone age of the pre-digital era.

Die häng ich immer an so eine Pinnwand und dafür brauch ich eine Pinnnadel.

I always hang them on a pinboard like this one, and for that I need a push-pin.

Captions 57-58, Deutsch mit Eylin Dinge auf meinem Schreibtisch - Part 2

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Die Pinnnadel is one of those German words with three consonant letters in a row, although in this case, the spelling Pinn-Nadel is also grammatically acceptable. Eine Pinnnadel usually has a round or oblong plastic head, as opposed to its flat-headed cousin der Reißnagel (or die Reißzwecke), which is a thumbtack. The advantage of push-pins is that they are much easier to pull out of harder surfaces like wood than thumbtacks are.

O nein, das ist Lisas Mappe. Bringt Lisa die Mappe.

Oh no, that's Lisa's folder. Bring the folder to Lisa.

Captions 22-23, Nicos Weg: Mein Beruf

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Eine Mappe is usually a simple folder that can hold loose papers.

Auf Ihrem Arbeitsplatz werden Sie einen Ordner namens „Deutsche Werbung“ finden.

On your desktop, you'll find a folder with the name "German Advertising."

Caption 39, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch

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So while both die Mappe and der Ordner are usually translated as "folder," eine Mappe usually means a large ring binder that most Germans use to store important paperwork such as tax documents. In Berlin, I've often noticed that non-Europeans tend to prefer filing cabinets or pouches, but somewhere in most German homes you will find a wall of bookshelves filled with Ordner. I'm doing my best to avoid an unfortunate pun on the unfortunate German cliché Ordnung muss sein. It's just not true, at least if you're creatively inclined.

Du siehst, ich liebe Büromaterial, und ich liebe es auch, Ordnung zu halten auf meinem Schreibtisch.

You see, I love office supplies, and I also love keeping order on my desk.

Captions 68-69, Deutsch mit Eylin: Dinge auf meinem Schreibtisch

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At least some people are capable of keeping their desk clean! The term der Schreibtisch is outdated for many of us, as we barely even write anymore, at least in the sense of taking a pen or pencil in hand. Another common German word for "office supplies" is der Bürobedarf, which is usually also what shops are called that sell them.

Further Learning
Review our other two newsletters about office supplies and test your knowledge of the German words for the vast array of articles that are commonly used in office situations. Then go to the videos above on Yabla German and see these words in the context in which they are used.

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.