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Levels of Understanding

In German, the verb verstehen is used in a wide variety of contexts, from hearing what someone says to understanding a fact or the nature of a particular situation or circumstances.

 

Habt ihr es verstanden? -Ja.

Have you understood it? -Yes. 

Caption 26, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Relativsätze mit Präpositionen

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Wenn du ein Wort im Untertitel nicht verstehst,

If you don't understand a word in the subtitle,

dann kannst du es anklicken.

then you can click on it.

Captions 27-28, German Intro - Jenny

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Trotzdem kann ich verstehen,

Nevertheless, I can understand

dass es nicht fair für sie ist, alles bezahlen zu müssen.

that it is not fair for her to have to pay for everything.

Caption 40, Die Wohngemeinschaft - Probleme

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Das kann ich gut verstehen, ich habe selbst zwei Kinder.

I can understand that well, I have two children myself.

Caption 25, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

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When you are expressing a deeper level of comprehension, for example being able to follow why something happened the way it did, reconstruct a line of thought, relate to something, or grasp connections, there are additional verbs you can use.

 

Zwar ist das Wort „Nachhaltigkeit“ in aller Munde,

Indeed, the word "sustainability" is in all mouths (on everyone's lips),

Kinder können das aber kaum nachvollziehen.

but children are hardly able to understand it.

Captions 4-5, Schüler lernen Nachhaltigkeit - Bildungsinitiative gestartet

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Und das müssen wir wirklich alle begreifen.

And that's what we all really need to understand:

Im Moment ist nur Abstand Ausdruck von Fürsorge.

At the moment, distance is the only way to express care.

Captions 41-42, Coronavirus - Fernsehansprache von Angela Merkel

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Da begriffen die drei Brüder, dass alles nur ein Trick gewesen war.

Then the three brothers realized that it had all just been a trick.

Caption 85, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die drei Brüder

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One verb that you may encounter is kapieren. In English, we use "to get" to mean "to understand" and this is a similar slang expression. 

 

Und es wäre schön, wenn du es endlich mal kapieren würdest.

And it would be nice if you would finally understand that.

Caption 48, Oskar - Gehen, wenn es am schönsten ist - Der Panther

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Mann, du kapierst es einfach nicht. Ich war das nicht!

Man, you just don't get it. It wasn't me!

Caption 31, Die Pfefferkörner - Alles auf Anfang

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Further Learning
You can find many examples on Yabla German, but also consider the first four above. Which of these could be replaced with a verb other than verstehen?

Bieten versus Anbieten

I have been speaking German for well over three decades, and although I've only lived in Germany and spoken German on a daily basis for about 15 of those years, I still get confused occasionally by verb prefixes. As I was formulating a freelance job offer the other day, it struck me that I wasn't entirely sure about the difference between bieten and anbieten, both of which are commonly defined as "to offer" in English.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

To confuse matters even further, the Duden dictionary, which sets the standards for the German language, gives the primary definitions as: anbieten: zur Verfügung stellen und seine Bereitschaft dazu erkennen lassen, zeigen and bieten: anbieten, zur Verfügung, in Aussicht stellen. As you see, the meanings seem nearly identical; in fact, the first definition of bieten is anbieten!

 

There is, however, a rule of thumb that can help you remember the main difference between the two: anbieten is the specific process or act of making an offer, whereas bieten is a general state or condition, that is, a standing offer or a feature.

 

To illustrate, here are a few examples of anbieten from Yabla German, first in present tense, then in past tense, then in simple tense as a separable verb:

 

Kann ich Ihnen einen Kaffee anbieten?

Can I offer you a coffee?

Caption 19, George und Donna - Die Milch macht's

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Deutsch wird als zweite Sprache ab Stufe eins angeboten.

German is offered as a second language from the first grade.

Caption 40, Strothoff International School - Imagefilm

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Wir bieten unseren Tieren saisonale Produkte an, wie beispielsweise Weihnachtsbäume.

We offer our animals seasonal products like, for example, Christmas trees.

Caption 48, Umfragen - Zootiere im Winter

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And some examples of bieten from Yabla German, first in present tense, then in past tense:

 

Yabla bietet dir das weltweit fortschrittlichste System.

Yabla offers you the most advanced system worldwide.

Caption 3, German Intro - Jenny

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Und auch dieses Jahr ist wieder allerhand für Jung und Alt geboten.

And this year too, a lot is offered again for young and old.

Caption 5, Das Tollwood-Festival - BAP und Clueso in der Musik-Arena

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Lastly, when someone is bidding in an auction you would always use the word bieten (or steigern), but never anbieten.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

Further Learning
Make up some sentence examples in English using the word "offer" and then translate them into German to see if you understand the principal difference between bieten and anbieten.  Also, do a search on German Yabla for both of the words to find some examples of their usage in a real-world context.

 

Bist du dir sicher? German Expressions of Certainty

English adjectives for being sure or certain about something are often interchangeable, but German expressions like bestimmt, gewiss, and sicher are more specific to the particular context in which they are used. Let's take a look at all three.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Bestimmt can mean either "definitely"

 

Du machst Filme und die Leute sagen „Das wird bestimmt so“,

You make films and the people say, "It will definitely be like this",

Caption 34, Berlinale - Schauspieler Jürgen Vogel

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or in the nominalized noun something specific or in particular:

 

Wenn du mal was Bestimmtes vorhaben würdest...

If you were up to something specific...

Caption 12, Wahlspots - Szenen einer Ehe

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Gewiss can mean "certain" in the standard sense

 

Die Unterstützung des Schirmherrn

The support of the patron

ist den Fußballfrauen also gewiss.

for the women's soccer [team] is certain.

Captions 13-14, Frauenfußball-WM - Der Bundespräsident am Ball

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or as a suggestion of vagueness or uncertainty, a "certain something":

 

Aber ein gewisser Druck bleibt trotzdem.

But a certain [amount of] pressure remains nevertheless.

Caption 23, Cro - mit „Melodie“ an Chartspitze

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Sicher can mean "certain"

 

Ich bin mir sicher, es wird klappen.

I am sure it will work out.

Caption 49, German Intro - Jenny

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but in other contexts it means "safe":

 

Es is' 'n sicherer Standplatz.

It is a safe location.

Caption 36, Für Tierfreunde - Falknerei Feldberg

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The words bestimmt, gewiss, and sicherlich can be used interchangeably when meaning "of course" or "certainly": Sicherlich / Bestimmt / Gewiss werden wir die Deutschprüfung bestehen. (We will certainly pass the German test.)

BANNER PLACEHOLDER


Further Learning
Search for some uses of bestimmt, gewiss, and sicher (sicherlich too) on Yabla German to learn about the ways some of these expressions are used in context.

Vocabulary