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All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| schicken | send | messages, parcels, people | jemandem etwas schicken; hat geschickt |
| schenken | give as a gift | birthdays, presents, attention | jemandem etwas schenken; hat geschenkt |
schicken
Meaning and usage: Use schicken for sending a message or parcel, or directing a person somewhere. Sending does not say whether ownership changes, whether the item is a present, or whether payment is involved. An attachment sent for review is geschickt even when it is not a gift.
Grammar: Regular and unprefixed: schickt, schickte, hat geschickt. With a recipient and a thing, the recipient is dative and the thing accusative: jemandem etwas schicken. A destination may instead use an appropriate prepositional phrase.
Ich schicke dir die Rechnung heute Abend.
I will send you the invoice this evening.
Die Ärztin schickt ihn ins Krankenhaus.
The doctor sends him to the hospital.
schenken
Meaning and usage: Use schenken when something is given freely as a present. The gift may be handed over in person, sent by post, or delivered digitally. The verb also appears in established combinations such as jemandem Aufmerksamkeit schenken, giving someone attention.
Grammar: Regular and unprefixed: schenkt, schenkte, hat geschenkt. The recipient normally takes dative and the gift accusative. A reflexive idiom, sich etwas schenken, can mean deciding to skip something, rather than literally buying yourself a present.
Zum Geburtstag schenke ich meiner Schwester ein Buch.
For her birthday I am giving my sister a book.
Er schenkt der kleinen Ausstellung viel Aufmerksamkeit.
He gives the small exhibition a lot of attention.
Overlap and context
Ich schenke dir ein Buch promises a gift. Ich schicke dir ein Buch promises that a book will be sent; it could be a loan, a return or a purchase. For a posted birthday present, both statements can be true. Choose the verb for the part of the situation you want to communicate.
Common mistakes
- Do not use schenken for every emailed document; an invoice is normally sent, not given as a present.
- Keep the cases apart: ich schenke meinem Freund einen Schal.
- Do not confuse geschickt as the past participle of schicken with the adjective meaning skillful; context decides the reading.
Memory aid: Schicken moves something to its destination; schenken makes it a gift.
Try it
A colleague asks you to email a spreadsheet. Complete: Ich ___ dir die Datei gleich.
Show the answer
schicke
The purpose is transmission. Nothing says that the spreadsheet is a present, so schenken would add an unintended meaning.