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treffen and sich treffen

Today, we'll look at the distinction between treffen and sich treffen

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You may know that the verb treffen means "to meet," but not in the sense of "to make the acquaintance of," which is (sich) kennenlernen. The reflexive verb sich treffen is used when the meet-up is planned, expected, or predictable.

 

Beim Engadin Snow treffen sich die Weltbesten. 

The world's best meet at the Engadin Snow. 

Caption 13, Wintersport: Engadin Snow 2009

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Anne hat sich mit ihrer Freundin im Café getroffen.

Anne met with her friend at the café.

Caption 15, Deutsch mit Eylin: Das Perfekt

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Sie darf sich nicht mit mir treffen!

She's not allowed to meet up with me!

Caption 26, Nicos Weg: Meiner Meinung nach

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The non-reflexive verb treffen is used when the meeting was not planned or expected. It can even be translated as "to run into," or "to see."

 

Weißt du, wen ich gestern getroffen habe?

Do you know who I ran into yesterday?

Caption 9, Deutsch mit Eylin: Menschen beschreiben

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Ich hab dir grade erzählt, dass ich Tarik getroffen habe

I just told you that I saw Tarik.

Caption 60, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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Wir haben jetzt hier auch die Frau von dem Herrn Treiber getroffen.

We've met the wife of Mr. Treiber here now too.

Caption 22, Malerei Benno und Ira Treiber

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Further Learning
There are many more examples to be found on Yabla German, but why not see if you can form some sentences of your own? Think of the last 5 people you have seen and write a sentence that describes meeting them using either treffen or sich treffen.

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