Warten, erwarten or abwarten: waiting and expecting
Warten describes waiting; erwarten often describes an expectation or anticipated arrival; abwarten emphasizes waiting until something happens or becomes clear before you act. Use auf with an accusative noun after warten, but normally a direct accusative object after erwarten and abwarten.
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| warten | wait | a bus; someone’s arrival | warten auf + accusative |
| erwarten | expect; await | an anticipated result or visitor | direct accusative object |
| abwarten | wait for; wait and see | a result before deciding | separable; often direct accusative object |
warten
Meaning and usage: Warten means spending time until a person, event or opportunity arrives. It can stand alone when the context supplies what you are waiting for. A warten bis-clause gives the point at which the waiting ends. A separate technical meaning is servicing or maintaining equipment.
Grammar: Not separable; wartet–wartete–hat gewartet. Warten auf jemanden/etwas takes the accusative. Warten, bis … introduces a subordinate clause with its finite verb at the end.
Ich warte vor der Schule auf meine Tochter.
I am waiting for my daughter outside the school.
erwarten
Meaning and usage: Erwarten can mean expecting something to happen, requiring a standard of behaviour or awaiting an anticipated visitor. It does not necessarily mean actively spending time waiting. Ich erwarte eine Antwort can express both anticipation and an expectation that someone should reply.
Grammar: Inseparable er-; erwartet–erwartete–hat erwartet. Jemanden/etwas erwarten; etwas von jemandem erwarten uses von + dative. A dass-clause can state the expected action.
Wir erwarten morgen Besuch aus Hamburg.
We are expecting visitors from Hamburg tomorrow.
abwarten
Meaning and usage: Abwarten commonly means letting a period pass or awaiting an outcome before making a decision. It often suggests patience or deliberate restraint. It can also mean simply waiting for someone; “wait and see” is a useful tendency, not its only dictionary meaning.
Grammar: Separable: wartet ab–wartete ab–hat abgewartet. Einen Zeitpunkt or ein Ergebnis abwarten; also without an object. Abwarten, wie … introduces a subordinate question.
Wir warten die Antwort der Schule ab, bevor wir buchen.
We wait for the school’s reply before we book.
Overlap and context
Warten auf die Antwort and die Antwort abwarten can describe the same delay. Abwarten often makes the next decision relevant; erwarten foregrounds anticipation or a demand. Context can outweigh these tendencies. If a doctor einen Patienten erwartet, the patient is due; if the doctor auf ihn wartet, the sentence foregrounds the wait.
Common mistakes
- Avoid Ich warte dich. Use Ich warte auf dich.
- Avoid Ich erwarte auf deine Antwort. Use Ich erwarte deine Antwort.
- Do not assume erwarten promises that an event will certainly happen. An expectation can be wrong.
Memory aid: Warten: time passes. Erwarten: you anticipate. Abwarten: leave time for an outcome before proceeding.
Try it
Complete: Bitte warte ___ den Bus.
Show the answer
auf
Warten uses auf + accusative for the thing or person awaited.
Sources for meaning and usage
Kosten, ausgeben and verbringen: cost, spend money and spend time
Use kosten when something has a price or requires a resource. Use ausgeben when a person spends money. Use verbringen when a person spends a period of time somewhere or doing something. English spend hides this distinction: I spend twenty euros and I spend the weekend need different German verbs. Kosten is especially different because the thing with the price is normally the subject. Ask who or what the sentence is about before choosing the verb.
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| kosten | cost | Prices; required effort or resources | Weak: kostet, kostete, hat gekostet; no separable prefix. The priced thing is the subject; the amount or resource follows. A person can appear as an additional accusative: Das kostet mich Zeit. |
| ausgeben | spend money | Purchases and budgets | Separable aus-; strong: gibt aus, gab aus, hat ausgegeben. Geld/einen Betrag ausgeben takes accusative; für + accusative names the purchase or purpose. |
| verbringen | spend a period of time | Days, evenings, holidays and life stages | Inseparable ver-. Strong: verbringt, verbrachte, hat verbracht. The time expression is accusative; mit + dative can name a companion or an activity expressed as a noun. |
kosten
Meaning and usage: Kosten describes what an item or activity demands. It can refer to money, time, effort or other resources. Das kostet Zeit says that something requires time; it does not describe how you choose to spend your afternoon. There is also a different verb kosten meaning taste, which is not the price meaning here.
Grammar: Weak: kostet, kostete, hat gekostet; no separable prefix. The priced thing is the subject; the amount or resource follows. A person can appear as an additional accusative: Das kostet mich Zeit.
Die Fahrkarte kostet acht Euro.
The ticket costs eight euros.
Die Suche kostet mich viel Zeit.
The search costs me a lot of time.
ausgeben
Meaning and usage: Ausgeben presents the spender as the subject and the money as what they spend. Für names what the expenditure is for. The verb has other meanings, such as distribute something or issue documents, so Geld or a monetary amount often makes the spending sense explicit.
Grammar: Separable aus-; strong: gibt aus, gab aus, hat ausgegeben. Geld/einen Betrag ausgeben takes accusative; für + accusative names the purchase or purpose.
Ich gebe zwanzig Euro für ein Wörterbuch aus.
I spend twenty euros on a dictionary.
Wir haben dieses Jahr weniger Geld ausgegeben.
We have spent less money this year.
verbringen
Meaning and usage: Verbringen names a stretch of time and often adds where, with whom or how it is spent. It suits a weekend, an evening or several hours. The more formal meaning transport something to a place exists, but it does not turn ordinary spending-money sentences into verbringen constructions.
Grammar: Inseparable ver-. Strong: verbringt, verbrachte, hat verbracht. The time expression is accusative; mit + dative can name a companion or an activity expressed as a noun.
Wir verbringen den Sonntag bei Freunden.
We spend Sunday at friends’ place.
Sie verbringt den Abend mit Lesen.
She spends the evening reading.
Overlap and context
Compare Die Fahrt kostet mich zwei Stunden with Ich verbringe zwei Stunden im Zug. The first stresses the time the journey requires; the second describes what I do with that time. They can describe the same journey from different viewpoints. It is the sentence meaning, not simply the presence of Stunden, that decides.
Common mistakes
- Do not translate I spend money as Ich verbringe Geld.
- Do not use Ich koste zehn Euro for paying ten euros; that would assign a price to you.
Memory aid: A thing costs; a person spends money with ausgeben and time with verbringen. Keep one money sentence and one time sentence together in your notes.
Try it
Complete: Ich ___ meinen Urlaub in Hamburg.
Show the answer
verbringe
The object meinen Urlaub is a period of time, and Hamburg names where you spend it.
Sources for meaning and usage
sinken vs. senken: meanings and usage in German
Sinken describes something moving downward or becoming lower. Senken usually describes someone or something causing that reduction. Compare Die Preise sinken with Die Firma senkt die Preise. Sinken is strong and normally intransitive in these uses; senken is weak and takes the affected thing as an object. Reflexive sich senken also exists, so the subject/object shortcut needs that qualification.
| 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.
Sources for meaning and usage
Steigen or steigern? When a value rises and when you raise it
Steigen describes something rising or increasing: the price is the subject. Steigern describes increasing something: a person or organization may raise output, and the output is the object. Steigern can also be reflexive when something intensifies or someone improves their performance. Both verbs concern an increase, but they organize the participants differently.
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| steigen | rise; increase | prices, temperatures, values | Intransitive; stieg, ist gestiegen |
| steigern | increase something; intensify | production, effort, performance | Transitive or reflexive; hat gesteigert |
steigen
Meaning and usage: With prices, temperatures or other values, steigen states that the level becomes higher. It does not require you to name a person causing the rise. The same verb can describe upward physical movement, but the examples here focus on changes in amount or level.
Grammar: Irregular and intransitive in the increase sense: steigt, stieg, ist gestiegen. The thing increasing is the subject, not an accusative object. Auf + accusative gives a resulting level; um + accusative gives the size of an increase.
Die Nachfrage ist im Sommer gestiegen.
Demand increased in the summer.
Die Temperatur steigt auf zwanzig Grad.
The temperature rises to twenty degrees.
steigern
Meaning and usage: Use steigern when someone or something increases a quantity, intensity or performance. In reflexive use, an emotion or intensity can grow, and a performer can improve. This means the contrast cannot be reduced to 'steigern always has a separate object.'
Grammar: Regular: steigert, steigerte, hat gesteigert. Etwas steigern takes an accusative object. Sich steigern uses an accusative reflexive pronoun. Neither form is separable. An um phrase can specify how much an amount increases.
Das Unternehmen steigert seine Produktion.
The company increases its production.
Die Läuferin hat sich im zweiten Rennen gesteigert.
The runner improved her performance in the second race.
Overlap and context
Die Produktion steigt and das Unternehmen steigert die Produktion can describe the same development. The first focuses on the change; the second names an agent causing it. Die Spannung steigt and die Spannung steigert sich also overlap, with the reflexive form presenting an intensification. Check the whole sentence rather than selecting a verb from an English translation alone.
Common mistakes
- Do not use steigen with a direct object to mean raising it: die Firma steigert den Umsatz.
- Use sein with gestiegen, but haben with gesteigert.
- Do not confuse auf, the new level, with um, the difference between old and new levels.
Memory aid: A value steigt; someone steigert a value; performance can sich steigern.
Try it
Complete with steigen or steigern: Die Firma möchte ihre Produktion ___.
Show the answer
steigern
The company increases its production; the production is an accusative object. With steigen, the production would be the subject: Die Produktion steigt.
Sources for meaning and usage
Beginnen, anfangen or starten? Three ways to start in German
Beginnen and anfangen often both mean beginning an activity or event. Beginnen is common in neutral and formal writing; anfangen is very common in conversation. Starten is especially natural for launching an activity, setting something in motion, or setting off. These are contextual tendencies, not three mutually exclusive kinds of beginning.
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| beginnen | begin | activities, events, processes | beginnt, begann, hat begonnen |
| anfangen | begin; get started | everyday activities and events | Separable; fängt an, fing an, hat angefangen |
| starten | start; launch; set off | projects, engines, journeys | startet, startete; hat or ist gestartet |
beginnen
Meaning and usage: Use beginnen for the beginning of a meeting, season, activity or process. It can take an object, or the event itself can be the subject. Its use is not restricted to a scheduled or formal event.
Grammar: Irregular and inseparable: beginnt, begann, hat begonnen. Common constructions are etwas beginnen, mit + dative beginnen, and beginnen, etwas zu tun.
Die Besprechung beginnt um neun.
The meeting begins at nine.
Wir beginnen mit einer kurzen Wiederholung.
We begin with a short review.
anfangen
Meaning and usage: Anfangen is an ordinary choice when someone starts doing something. It also describes events beginning, so it is not limited to a person's deliberate action.
Grammar: Irregular and separable: fängt an, fing an, hat angefangen. Use mit + dative or a zu-infinitive; etwas anfangen is possible in suitable contexts.
Ich fange heute an, Deutsch zu lernen.
I am starting to learn German today.
Wann fängt der Film an?
When does the film start?
starten
Meaning and usage: Use starten for starting an engine, launching a project, or a vehicle or traveler setting off. It also overlaps with ordinary begin in announcements about courses or activities.
Grammar: Regular. Transitive starten normally uses haben: sie hat den Motor gestartet. Intransitive departure or takeoff commonly uses sein: das Flugzeug ist gestartet. The auxiliary depends on the construction.
Sie startet ein neues Projekt.
She launches a new project.
Das Flugzeug ist pünktlich gestartet.
The plane took off on time.
Overlap and context
Der Kurs beginnt, fängt an and startet can all fit a course announcement. The surrounding register and intended emphasis influence the choice. Beginnen may sound more formal, while starten can emphasize a launch. Avoid inventing a rule that only one verb works with events, people or new activities.
Common mistakes
- Keep anfangen separable: ich fange an, not ich anfange.
- Do not use sein for every perfect form of starten; starting an engine uses haben.
- A dictionary synonym does not guarantee every idiom transfers, such as mit etwas nichts anfangen können.
Memory aid: Beginnen and anfangen mark a beginning; starten often suggests launching or setting off.
Try it
Complete with anfangen: Der Unterricht ___ in zehn Minuten ___.
Show the answer
fängt ... an
Anfangen is separable, and third-person singular changes a to ä: der Unterricht fängt an.
Sources for meaning and usage
Enden, beenden and aufhören: an event ends or someone stops it
Enden usually describes something coming to an end: Der Kurs endet. Beenden describes bringing something to an end: Die Lehrerin beendet den Kurs. Aufhören can describe an event stopping or a person stopping an activity: Der Regen hört auf; Ich höre auf zu arbeiten. The key difference is often grammatical. Enden normally presents the event itself as subject; beenden adds the person or cause that ends it. Aufhören is especially useful for stopping an ongoing action or habit.
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| enden | end; come to an end | Events, periods and routes | Weak: endet, endete, hat geendet; no separable prefix. Intransitive in the main sense taught here. Sein is also colloquially used for a temporal ending, but haben is the dependable general form. |
| beenden | bring to an end | Ending an event or completing an activity | Inseparable be-. Weak: beendet, beendete, hat beendet. Requires an accusative object in this ordinary use: etwas beenden. |
| aufhören | stop; cease | Actions, habits and ongoing events | Separable auf-: hört auf, hörte auf, hat aufgehört. Use mit + dative noun, a zu-infinitive, or no complement when the activity is clear. |
enden
Meaning and usage: Enden presents the end of something without requiring an actor who causes it. Meetings can end at a time, a road can end at a boundary and a story can end happily. A mit phrase can describe its closing element. The verb also has more specialized uses, so the ordinary event pattern is the starting point.
Grammar: Weak: endet, endete, hat geendet; no separable prefix. Intransitive in the main sense taught here. Sein is also colloquially used for a temporal ending, but haben is the dependable general form.
Der Workshop endet um sechzehn Uhr.
The workshop ends at four o’clock.
Der Weg endet an einem See.
The path ends at a lake.
beenden
Meaning and usage: Beenden focuses on an actor or cause making something end. It may describe successful completion or a premature stop; the verb alone does not guarantee success. Ein Gespräch beenden can be neutral, polite or abrupt depending on context.
Grammar: Inseparable be-. Weak: beendet, beendete, hat beendet. Requires an accusative object in this ordinary use: etwas beenden.
Die Leiterin beendet die Sitzung.
The chairperson ends the meeting.
Wir haben die Arbeit früher als geplant beendet.
We finished the work earlier than planned.
aufhören
Meaning and usage: Aufhören describes not continuing. A person can stop working temporarily or stop a habit permanently; surrounding information tells you which. It also works with rain or an unpleasant noise as the subject. It does not take the stopped activity as a bare accusative object.
Grammar: Separable auf-: hört auf, hörte auf, hat aufgehört. Use mit + dative noun, a zu-infinitive, or no complement when the activity is clear.
Ich höre jetzt auf zu lernen.
I will stop studying now.
Sie hat mit dem Rauchen aufgehört.
She has stopped smoking.
Overlap and context
Der Lärm endet and Der Lärm hört auf both describe cessation, but the second is a natural everyday choice for a noise stopping. Ich beende die Arbeit and Ich höre auf zu arbeiten need not mean the same thing: ending the work may imply completing or terminating it, while stopping working can simply mean taking a break.
Common mistakes
- Do not say Ich beende without an understood object when you mean I stop: Ich höre auf fits better.
- After aufhören use mit dem Lernen or zu lernen, not das Lernen as a bare object.
Memory aid: The event ends; a person ends the event; a person stops doing it. First identify the subject, then check whether your verb needs an object.
Try it
Complete: Der Film ___ um zehn Uhr.
Show the answer
endet
The film is the event coming to an end; nobody is named as the actor ending it.