anfahren

German

Etymology

an- +‎ fahren

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈanˌfaːʁən/
  • Audio (Germany):(file)

Verb

anfahren (class 6 strong, third-person singular present fährt an, past tense fuhr an, past participle angefahren, past subjunctive führe an, auxiliary haben or sein)

  1. (intransitive) to start moving (of a vehicle; only of the very initial movement) [auxiliary sein]
    Synonym: losfahren
    Der Zug fuhr langsam an.The train slowly started moving.
    Bergauf muss man im Auto mit viel Gefühl anfahren.
    Uphill, you have to start the car just right.
  2. (intransitive, only as Past Participle with kommen) to approach, to come driving
    Der Zug kommt angefahren.The train is approaching.
  3. (intransitive) to drive, go against [with gegen (+ accusative) ‘something, e.g. the wind, current’] [auxiliary sein]
    gegen den Wind anfahrento go against the wind
  4. (transitive) to drive into, to hit (typically with only light damage to the vehicle, not a severe crash) [auxiliary haben]
    Er hat eine Katze angefahrenHe hit a cat [with his vehicle].
  5. (transitive) to drive towards, to go to (a destination, typically as part of a schedule or range of operation) [auxiliary haben]
    Es gibt mehrere ICEs, die München anfahren.There are multiple ICEs that go to Munich.
  6. (figurative, transitive) to rebuke, to snap at someone [auxiliary haben]
    Synonyms: zurechtweisen, anschnauzen
    Ich wurde vom Chef angefahren, dass ich zu langsam wäre.
    My boss snapped at me about how I was too slow.
  7. (transitive) to start up, to spin up (a process, especially manifacturing)[auxiliary haben]
    Synonym: hochfahren
    die Produktion wieder anfahrento start production again

Conjugation

Further reading

  • anfahren” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • anfahren” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • anfahren” in Duden online
  • anfahren” in OpenThesaurus.de