vergeben
German
Etymology
From Middle High German vergeben, from Old High German fargeban, from Proto-Germanic *fragebaną. Analyzable as ver- + geben. Cognate with Dutch vergeven, English forgive, Icelandic fyrirgefa.
Pronunciation
Verb
- (transitive or intransitive, + dative) to forgive
- Kannst du mir vergeben?
- Can you forgive me?
- Vergib mir meine Sünden!
- Forgive me my sins.
- (transitive, with an + accusative) to assign; to allocate; to give (a job); to give or set (a task); to award (a contract)
- Wir haben den Auftrag an ein Drittunternehmen vergeben.
- We have awarded the contract to an external company.
Usage notes
- Vergeben implies a greater degree of moral guilt than verzeihen. It is used in the context of sin or crime, or otherwise of severe misbehaviour, such as acts of violence, insult, humiliation, deceit, and the like.
- The noun corresponding to the sense “to forgive” is Vergebung, while that corresponding to the sense “to assign” is Vergabe.
Conjugation
Synonyms
- (forgive): verzeihen
Adjective
vergeben (not comparable)
Further reading
- “vergeben” in Duden online
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms prefixed with ver-
- German 3-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German transitive verbs
- German intransitive verbs
- German terms with usage examples
- German lemmas
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