All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| schaffen | manage; create | finish a task; create a work | schaffte/geschafft or schuf/geschaffen |
| erschaffen | create or bring into being | a work or imagined world | inseparable er-; erschuf |
| anschaffen | acquire or buy | equipment or lasting possessions | separable an-; angeschafft |
| abschaffen | abolish or remove | a rule or institution | separable ab-; abgeschafft |
schaffen
Meaning and usage: For getting a difficult task done, use the weak forms: Wir haben es geschafft. For creative production, strong schuf/geschaffen are usual. Regional schaffen can also mean work. Not every expression falls into a perfectly neat split: Abhilfe or Platz schaffen allows some variation documented in dictionaries.
Grammar: Managing: schaffte, hat geschafft. Creating: schuf, hat geschaffen. An accusative object names the task or creation. Es schaffen, etwas zu tun adds a zu-infinitive.
Ich habe es geschafft, den Bericht heute fertigzustellen.
I managed to finish the report today.
Die Künstlerin schuf eine neue Figur.
The artist created a new figure.
erschaffen
Meaning and usage: Use erschaffen to emphasize bringing a creation into existence. It suits creative, literary or large-scale descriptions, but need not describe a physical object. It cannot normally replace schaffen when you merely succeed in completing a task.
Grammar: Inseparable er-; erschuf, hat erschaffen. The created thing is accusative. No ge- is inserted into the participle.
Die Autorin hat eine ungewöhnliche Welt erschaffen.
The author created an unusual world.
anschaffen
Meaning and usage: Use anschaffen for obtaining something to keep or use, such as furniture or a machine. Sich etwas anschaffen highlights acquiring it for yourself. Be aware that bare anschaffen gehen has other, potentially sensitive meanings; it is not a neutral phrase for shopping.
Grammar: Separable an-: schafft an, schaffte an, hat angeschafft. The item is accusative. In Ich schaffe mir einen Drucker an, mir is a dative beneficiary.
Wir schaffen einen neuen Drucker an.
We are getting a new printer.
abschaffen
Meaning and usage: Use abschaffen when an existing rule or practice is abolished. It can also describe permanently giving up a possession. Merely switching a device off is a different action and is not usually abschaffen.
Grammar: Separable ab-: schafft ab, schaffte ab, hat abgeschafft. The abolished rule or removed thing is accusative.
Die Schule hat die alte Regel abgeschafft.
The school abolished the old rule.
Overlap and context
Schaffen and erschaffen overlap for creation. Erschaffen concentrates on bringing something into being; schaffen has more everyday accomplishment uses. Anschaffen and abschaffen form a useful acquisition/removal contrast, but they are not opposites in every regional or idiomatic sense. For confident writing, select the intended meaning before choosing both the prefix and the past form.
Common mistakes
- Do not say Ich habe die Aufgabe erschaffen when you mean you completed it.
- Distinguish hat geschafft from hat geschaffen.
- Do not use abschaffen for simply closing an app or switching off a light.
Memory aid: Manage a task, create a world, acquire a printer, abolish a rule. Remember geschafft for getting it done and geschaffen for creating it, while checking fixed expressions individually.
Try it
You finally completed a difficult task. Complete: Endlich habe ich es ___!
Show the answer
geschafft
This is the weak managing sense of schaffen. Geschaffen would suggest creating something rather than succeeding at the task.