All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| arbeiten | work | Jobs, tasks and ongoing effort | Regular, nonseparable: arbeitet, arbeitete, hat gearbeitet. |
| ausarbeiten | develop fully; work out details | Plans, drafts, methods and proposals | Regular and separable: arbeitet aus, arbeitete aus, hat ausgearbeitet. |
| erarbeiten | produce or acquire through effort | Solutions, knowledge and joint results | Regular and inseparable: erarbeitet, erarbeitete, hat erarbeitet. |
arbeiten
Meaning and usage: Arbeiten names the activity of working without promising a finished product. It can refer to employment or to work on a particular problem. The topic often follows an, and the employer or workplace may be named with bei or in. It is useful for reporting what someone is doing rather than presenting a completed deliverable.
Grammar: Regular, nonseparable: arbeitet, arbeitete, hat gearbeitet. Usually no direct object; an + dative names a project; bei + dative can identify an employer.
Wir arbeiten gerade an einem neuen Kurskonzept.
We are currently working on a new course concept.
Nina arbeitet seit März bei einem Verlag.
Nina has worked for a publisher since March.
ausarbeiten
Meaning and usage: Ausarbeiten often means turn an outline into a detailed form. You may specify steps, arguments or wording. It can also mean create or develop something more broadly, so it does not require that someone else supplied a first draft. What matters in its common professional use is the worked-out result, often with detail or completeness in view.
Grammar: Regular and separable: arbeitet aus, arbeitete aus, hat ausgearbeitet. Usually direct accusative object; infinitive with zu is auszuarbeiten.
Bis Freitag arbeitet das Team den Ablaufplan aus.
By Friday the team will work out the schedule in detail.
Der Entwurf ist noch nicht vollständig ausgearbeitet.
The draft has not yet been fully developed.
erarbeiten
Meaning and usage: Erarbeiten emphasizes arriving at a result through effort. A team can develop a solution together, and a learner can acquire knowledge through study. A dative reflexive pronoun can mark acquiring something for yourself. Do not automatically translate it as earn money: although work can bring a material benefit, knowledge and collaborative intellectual results are central uses too.
Grammar: Regular and inseparable: erarbeitet, erarbeitete, hat erarbeitet. Accusative object; sich etwas erarbeiten uses a dative reflexive pronoun when another object is present.
Die Gruppe erarbeitet gemeinsam eine Lösung.
The group develops a solution together.
Ich erarbeite mir das Thema Schritt für Schritt.
I work through the topic step by step to understand it.
Overlap and context
You can an einem Plan arbeiten, then den Plan erarbeiten or ausarbeiten. Erarbeiten emphasizes the effort producing it; ausarbeiten often emphasizes the detailed form. Dictionaries also record direct overlap. These are useful perspectives, not a mandatory three-step process.
Common mistakes
- Use an einem Plan arbeiten, with dative, rather than treating the plan as an ordinary direct object of arbeiten.
- Separate ausarbeiten: Sie arbeitet den Vorschlag aus. Keep erarbeiten together.
- In Ich erarbeite mir Kenntnisse, mir is dative and Kenntnisse is the accusative object. Do not replace mir mechanically with mich.
Memory aid: Arbeiten is the activity; ausarbeiten often fills in details; erarbeiten earns a result through effort.
Try it
Complete: Ich ___ mir die Grundlagen selbst: arbeite or erarbeite?
Show the answer
erarbeite
Erarbeiten supports acquiring knowledge through effort, with the dative reflexive mir and the accusative Grundlagen.