Question
Updated on
23 Apr 2017
- English (UK)
- Simplified Chinese (China) Near fluent
-
German
Question about German
what are the differences between
gebrauchen,
aufbrauchen,
verbrauchen,
nutzen,
benutzen,
ausnutzen,
benützen,
anwenden, &
verwenden?
my dictionary gave me these translations for the word 'use' :,)
what are the differences between
gebrauchen,
aufbrauchen,
verbrauchen,
nutzen,
benutzen,
ausnutzen,
benützen,
anwenden, &
verwenden?
my dictionary gave me these translations for the word 'use' :,)
gebrauchen,
aufbrauchen,
verbrauchen,
nutzen,
benutzen,
ausnutzen,
benützen,
anwenden, &
verwenden?
my dictionary gave me these translations for the word 'use' :,)
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- German
"Gebrauchen/nutzen/benutzen/verwenden" mean more or less the same, just "use" like a tool you're using.
"Aufbrauchen/verbrauchen" mean to use something in a way that it can't be used again after this. "Aufbrauchen" is also used for a finite resource, for example if you "eat all the butter" you "brauchst die Butter auf".
"Ausnutzen" is a more negative thing, a more close translation would be "exploit".
"Anwenden" is kind of like the first group of words, except that it's less about direct use. For example "to put your knowledge to use" would be "dein Wissen anwenden", whereas "to use a spoon" would be "einen Löffel benutzen".
"Benützen" belongs to the first group of words as well, it's essentially the same as "benutzen", though you could say "Keiner benutzt benützen", no one uses "benützen". It sounds pretty archaic to me.
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- German
difficult :) I'll try to give some distinctions:
gebrauchen: mainly used to say 'I could use X' = "Ich könnte X gebrauchen", in the sense of I'd like to have X
aufbrauchen: to use something (e.g. some material) up, leaving nothing behind
verbrauchen: to consume. Like aufbrauchen, but not necessarily leaving nothing behind. For example used for using energy
nutzen/benutzen: general 'use', but benutzen is negative when used with people. E.g. 'jemanden benutzen' can mean to exploit or even abuse another person
ausnutzen: can mean to use some opportunity, e.g. 'das gute wetter ausnutzen' = 'to take advantage of the good weather', but with people it's similar to benutzen: negative, but more in the 'abuse their generosity or ignorance' way
benützen = benutzen
anwenden: use a method, mathematical rule etc. to do something
verwenden = use some tool to do something
hope that helps a bit :)
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