10 A2 Verb Pairs Even Good Students Mix Up

There are two verb pairs, which confuse almost everyone. And yes, we did our eins already. If you haven't seen the video, then you can go down into the description. You will find a link there. Let's start in the back. Nummer zehn. Leihen versus sich Reflexiv sich leihen. Leihen ist this to lend. So you give something to somebody. Sich leihen is to borrow. So you get something from somebody. Zum Beispiel, ich leihe dir mein Fahrrad, Ich leihe dir mein Fahrrad. I lend you my bike. Leihen is mit Dativ, is ein Dativ-Verb. So you lend something to somebody else. This is the reason or this is the situation when you have to use Dativ. Something to a person. Kann ich mir dein Rad leihen? Kann ich mir dein Rad leihen? Can I borrow your bike? So here we have it reflexiv. Sich leihen. So sich etwas leihen is used when you use this to borrow. You borrow something from somebody. Kann ich mir dein Rad leihen? And you see, Rad und Fahrrad, one time is the complete, the long version Fahrrad, and the other one is Rad, both are correct, both are commonly used, spoken German, Rad, probably more. So, same word, two directions. Jemandem etwas leihen, jemandem, Dativ, etwas leihen is to lend, you give something to somebody. Sich etwas leihen, to borrow, so you get something. Nummer neun, ändern versus wechseln. Ändern is this change when you make something different. Wechseln is this change in English, but when you do, you swap something for another one. Zum Beispiel mit ändern. Ich ändere meinen Plan. So I make something different. I change my plan. I'm changing my plan. Ich ändere meinen Plan. Mit wechseln, er wechselt seinen Beruf. Er wechselt seinen Beruf. He is changing his job, his profession. So, ändern means a thing itself becomes different. It can be a plan, a text, a date. Wechsel means you replace it or something with another one. The most common one is wechseln, Geld wechseln, to change money from one currency into another. You can fix in that job, your job, a topic, you can change a topic or your clothes. Ich muss meine Kleider wechseln, sie sind dreckig, sie sind schmutzig. I have to change my clothes, they are dirty. Nummer 8, versuchen versus probieren. Versuchen is to try. When you make an effort. Now in most situations this is this to make an effort. You try to make an effort usually with zu plus infinitiv. Probieren is also this try but it's mostly used when you taste or test something. So of course tasting something is food or drinks or testing something like a device. Zum Beispiel. Ich versuche pünktlich zu sein. Ich versuche, pünktlich zu sein. I try to be on time. Here we have this zu plus infinitive construction. Ich versuche, pünktlich zu sein. I try to be on time. probieren Probier mal den Kuchen. Probier mal den Kuchen. Try the cake. So here we have something to eat. Versuchen means to making an effort to do something. Usually, in most situations, this is really this trying to make an effort to do, to achieve something. Usually with zu plus infinitiv. Probieren means testing something to see what it's like. Mostly common with food or drinks. Number 7, aufhören versus beenden. Aufhören is this to stop with no object. Commonly used with mit plus dativ. Und beenden is to finish or end something. So here we have a direct object. Zum Beispiel, der Regen hört bald auf. Der Regen hört bald auf. The train will stop. The rain will stop soon. Not train, the rain. Der Regen hört bald auf. Beenden. Wir beenden das Meeting um zehn. Heute beenden wir das Meeting um 10. Today we are ending the meeting at 10. So here we end something, which is the direct object in Akkusativ, which is das Meeting. So aufhören has no direct object. Ich höre auf. I stop doing something. Ich höre mit dem Rauchen auf, zum Beispiel. I stop smoking. I did. If you're watching this channel for quite some time, I have been a long smoker for many, many years. Jetzt habe ich aufgehört zu rauchen, oder ich habe mit dem Rauchen aufgehört. Beenden always needs a direct object, so you end something, for example a game, das Spiel, den Kurs, the course, or a conversation, das Gespräch. Nummer 6, meinen versus bedeuten. Meinen is this to mean, and actually is meaning what a person means. And bedeuten is this mean meaning what a word means or a thing means. Machen wir Beispiele. Was meinst du damit? What do you think about that? What do you mean by that? Was meinst du damit? Oder was meinst du? Was meinst du? If you just ask somebody, was meinst du? What do you mean? Please explain yourself a little bit. Give more detail about something. Was meinst du? Mit bedeuten, was bedeutet, zum Beispiel dieses Wort. Was bedeutet dieses Wort? What does this word mean? So people meinen, words bedeuten. So ask, was meinst du, when you don't understand a person? Und was bedeutet, blah, blah, blah, something, when you don't understand a word? Nummer fünf, sprechen versus reden. Sprechen, you know this already from A1. Speak, usually a language, neutral, useful languages mostly. Reden is this to talk, is the act of talking itself. Zum Beispiel, sprichst du Deutsch? As you know already, sprichst du Deutsch? Do you speak German? And you can say, ja, ich spreche schon sehr gut Deutsch. Wir reden über Politik. We're talking about politics. Wir reden über Politik. We're talking about politics. We talk about something, talking, dann reden. Sprechen is the general word for any kind of speaking and the only one used for languages. Reden focuses more on the act of talking and chatting about a certain topic. Nummer vier, anziehen versus tragen. Anziehen, to put on, that's the action itself. Clothes, to put on clothes. Und tragen is to wear clothes. Or it's also used for to carry something. Zum Beispiel, ich ziehe meine Jacke an. Ich ziehe meine Jacke an. I'm putting on my jacket. Sie trägt heute ein Kleid. Sie trägt heute ein Kleid. She is wearing a dress today. So, this anziehen is the moment you put clothes on. And it's reflexive, so sich anziehen, ich ziehe mich an, und ich ziehe mir eine Jacke an. If you put something on, then you have to use the reflexive pronoun in dative, ich ziehe mir eine Jacke an, aber ich ziehe mich an. Und tragen describes what you have on right now, which kind of clothes. And it also means to carry something. So you can say, Ich komme, ich helfe dir. Ich trage deine Tasche. Ich trage deine Tasche. Come, I will help you. I will carry your bag. Nummer drei. Hören versus zuhören. Hören, the general one is to hear. Simply perceive a certain sound. Zuhören is to listen, pay attention. Mit Dativ, therefore there's also a person involved. Ich höre laute Musik. Ich höre laute Musik. I hear loud music. Somewhere over here there must be some music. Ich höre laute Musik. Ich will dir zuhören. Ich will dir zuhören. I want to listen to you. Kannst du mir bitte zuhören? Can you please listen to me? So, hören just means a sound reaches your ears. You can hear something without trying. Zuhören means you're actively paying attention. And the person you listen to takes always the dative case. So, ich höre dir zu. I'm listening to you, what you're saying. And at the moment, what are you doing? Du hörst mir zu. Nummer zwei. Erinnern versus sich erinnern. Auch reflexiv. Erinnern is to remind somebody, someone else. And usually often used with an plus accusative. Und sich erinnern is to remember. Often also used with accusative. An plus accusative. Zum Beispiel, erinnerst du mich morgen? Erinnerst du mich morgen? Will you remind me tomorrow? So, this is used when you talked about a certain thing, so the other person you talked to already knows what you mean, then you can just say, erinnerst du mich morgen? If you want to be more specific and remember it, kind of remind the person what you mean, then you have to add it with an. So, erinnerst du mich morgen an den Schlüssel? Will you remind me tomorrow for the key? Und ich erinnere mich an dich. Ich erinnere mich an dich. Now it's reflexive used. This means remember. I remember you. Or as a question. Erinnerst du dich an mich? Erinnerst du dich an mich? Do you remember me? So without sich, then you remind someone else. Erinnere mich an den Termin. Remind me of this appointment. With sich, reflexive, you remember something yourself. Ich erinnere mich an den Urlaub. I remember the holidays. And both take accusative. Both an plus accusative. Und Nummer eins. There's actually six. Stehen, stellen, liegen, legen, sitzen, setzen. Very, very common topic. Stehen is to stand. Stellen is to put something up right. Liegen is to lie and legen is to lay something flat, horizontally. Sitzen is to sit and setzen, often used as a reflexive. Sichsetzen is to seat someone or reflexive seat yourself. Stehen, liegen, sitzen, Beispiele. Die Flasche steht auf dem Tisch. Die Flasche steht auf dem Tisch. The bottle is on the table. Standing on the table, literally. Das Handy liegt auf dem Bett. Das Handy liegt auf dem Bett. The phone is lying horizontally on the bed. Und die Katze sitzt auf dem Sofa. Die Katze sitzt auf dem Sofa. The cat is sitting on the couch on the sofa. So they describe where something already is based on its position. Stehen for upright things. Liegen for flat things. And sitzen for things sitting in or on something. And they all answer the question wo. Meaning, wo, answering the question wo, always takes the dative case. Now, stellen, legen, setzen. Ich stelle die Flasche auf den Tisch. Ich stelle die Flasche auf den Tisch. I put the bottle on the table. Ich lege das Handy aufs Bett. Ich lege das Handy aufs Bett. I put the phone on the bed. Und ich setze das Kind auf den Stuhl. I sit the child on the chair. So they are all action versions. They're all verb of actions. We use them when someone actively puts something into a position. Stellen to place it upright. Vertical. Legen to lay something flat. Horizontal. And setzen to sit someone down. And they answer the question wohin. And wohin is always used when you answer the question wohin. Then you have to use the accusative case. Bonus tip. Hören versus zuhören. We just had it. Both mean to listen. But there are some specific rules. Musik, Radio, Podcast is Hören. Einer Person is zuhören. So you listen to a person is always zuhören. Und genau aufpassen. This is important. Especially in schools or classes. Genau aufpassen is also zuhören. So you pay attention. Zum Beispiel, ich höre im Autoradio. Ich höre im Autoradio. I listen to the radio in the car. Oder ich höre beim Autofahren einen Podcast. I listen to a podcast while driving. Bitte hör mir zu. Bitte hör mir zu. A useful sentence for any kind of parent out there and they want to talk German to their child. Please listen to me. Bitte hör mir zu. And if you want to continue with B1 level and 10 confusing verb pairs, then we have here the video for you. Or if you want to practice what we did in number one here in this video, then you can watch this video here. I hope you learned something. I hope you liked it. Bis zum nächsten Mal. Tschüss und bye bye.