The separable verbs anheben and aufheben look very similar and have meanings related to the base verb heben, which is usually translated as "to lift," or "to raise," and is the Germanic root of the English verb "to heave."
Let's first take a look at anheben:
Heb einfach den Riegel an und komm herein!
Simply lift the latch and come inside!Caption 48, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Rotkäppchen und der Wolf
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Die Hüfte hebt der Springer an,
The jumper lifts his hips
indem er die Hacken Richtung eigenes Kreuz drückt.
by pressing his heels toward his own lower back.
Captions 29-30, Olympische Spiele - Hochsprung
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Dazu hebst du ein Ski-Ende an und versetzt es auf die Seite.
For this, you'll lift the back of the ski and shift it to the side.Caption 14, Skifahren lernen - Erste Vorübungen im flachen Gelände
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Dieses Bein anheben. Ah, ja, genau.
Lift that leg. Oh, yes, exactly.Caption 17, TEDx - Lebenslange Fitness
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Anheben is used when you want something to be lifted just a little or for a short amount of time, such as asking somebody to lift up the sofa so you can vacuum under it.
Let's contrast that now with aufheben:
Oma, kann ich die Münze aufheben?
Grandma, can I pick up the coin?Caption 4, Ivana erzählt Witze - Fritzle und die Oma
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Fritzle, heb mich auf.
Little Fritz, pick me up.Caption 14, Ivana erzählt Witze - Fritzle und die Oma
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Aufheben is usually translated as "to pick up" but can also mean "to save" in the sense of aufbewahren. It is also used in an idiomatic expression that can be useful:
Ich hebe es mir für einen anderen Tag auf.
I'll save it for another day.Caption 12, Hausputz - mit Eva
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Further Learning
In a forthcoming lesson we'll explore the differences between abheben and hochheben, yet more variations of the root verb heben. Das hebe ich mir aber für einen späteren Newsletter auf!
Frohes neues Jahr from all of us at Yabla German!
If a German friend had asked you what your plans were for New Year's Eve, would you have said Ich gehe aus or Ich gehe raus? As you may already know, rausgehen means simply “to exit,” while ausgehen means “to go out” in the sense of going out on the town.
There are many verbs that contain the verb gehen in German, and only some of them involve the physical act of going somewhere. Let’s look at some examples.
The verb aufgehen has many possible meanings, from simply “to open,” to “to rise” or “to expand.”
Man muss viele Türen öfter probieren, bis sie aufgehen.
One has to try many doors more times till they open.
Caption 65, Singer-Songwriter - Sebastian Niklaus
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The verb eingehen can mean "to shrink," but auf etwas eingehen or auf jemanden eingehen means "to respond to" or "to agree to."
Ich hoffe, ich konnte Ihnen so ein bisschen zeigen, dass man auf unterschiedliche Zielgruppen unterschiedlich eingehen muss.
I hope I was able to show you a little bit that you have to respond differently to different target groups.
Caption 56, TEDx - Lebenslange Fitness - Part 3
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Umgehen means "to go around" in the sense of "to circumvent", but mit etwas/jemanden umgehen means "to deal with someone or a situation."
Wir wussten eigentlich nicht so richtig, wie wir damit umgehen sollten.
We actually didn't really know how we should deal with it.
Caption 14, 3nach9 - Ehrlich Brothers - Show-Magier - Part 1
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Further Learning
Look up the following related phrases and additional verbs: davon ausgehen, in Flammen aufgehen, das Risiko eingehen, fremdgehen. You can see a large list of verbs that include gehen here and search for them on Yabla German.