All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| sinken | fall, sink or decrease | the price or level goes down | sank; ist gesunken; no direct object |
| senken | lower or reduce | someone lowers a price or level | senkte; hat gesenkt; accusative object |
sinken
Meaning and usage: Use sinken when the subject itself goes down: a ship, temperature, price or demand. The sentence states the decrease without making the cause its grammatical subject. There can still be a real external cause; intransitive does not mean the event happens without one.
Grammar: Strong verb: sinkt, sank, ist gesunken. The thing decreasing is nominative as the subject. An amount can use um + accusative; an endpoint can use auf + accusative. Sinken does not take the lowered item as a direct accusative object.
Die Temperatur ist in der Nacht gesunken.
The temperature fell during the night.
Der Preis sank auf zwanzig Euro.
The price fell to twenty euros.
Der Verbrauch sinkt um zehn Prozent.
Consumption is decreasing by ten percent.
senken
Meaning and usage: Use senken when you name the cause or actor that makes something lower. A company can reduce a price, and dry weather can lower the water level. The cause need not be human or intentional. Sich senken describes something settling or becoming lower, such as a ground surface or water level.
Grammar: Weak verb: senkt, senkte, hat gesenkt. The reduced thing is accusative: den Preis senken. In Der Boden senkt sich, sich is a reflexive pronoun. Um names the reduction amount, while auf names the resulting level.
Die Firma senkt den Preis auf zwanzig Euro.
The company is reducing the price to twenty euros.
Die Trockenheit hat den Wasserstand gesenkt.
The drought lowered the water level.
Der Boden hat sich an dieser Stelle gesenkt.
The ground has subsided at this spot.
Overlap and context
A falling price can be described with either verb when you change the grammar: Der Preis ist gesunken versus Die Firma hat den Preis gesenkt. The second names an actor; the first does not. Reflexive senken overlaps with becoming lower, but it is not a reason to write Die Firma sinkt den Preis. Focus on the sentence roles and the selected verb form.
Common mistakes
- Do not write Die Firma sinkt die Kosten; use senkt.
- Distinguish ist gesunken from hat gesenkt.
- A reduction um zehn Euro is by ten euros; auf zehn Euro is to ten euros.
Memory aid: If the level is your subject, it sinkt. If someone lowers that level as an object, they senken it. Add the separate memory note sich senken for settling or subsiding.
Try it
Complete both: Die Kosten ___, weil wir den Energieverbrauch ___.
Show the answer
sinken; senken
The costs decrease as subject of sinken. We cause a reduction in the accusative object den Energieverbrauch, so senken fits the second clause.