German Breaking & Repairing Vocabulary
This set covers the vocabulary of things going wrong and getting fixed, from basic brechen (to break) up to specific damage verbs like verkohlen (to char) and zerbeulen (to dent). English speakers often lump all these into "break" or "damage," but German splits the same event by cause and result: kaputtgehen is something breaking on its own, kaputtmachen is someone breaking it, and zertrümmern or zerschmettern already imply total destruction, not just a crack.
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All 22 words
plural: die Reparaturen
repair
Die Reparatur ist sehr teuer. — The repair is very expensive.
repair
Er hat das Fahrrad repariert. — He repaired the bicycle.
has fallen
Das Glas ist vom Tisch gefallen. — The glass has fallen off the table.
cut
Das Messer schneidet nicht gut. — The knife doesn't cut well.
damage, harm
Bitte machen Sie eine Liste davon, was die Einbrecher beschädigt haben. — Please make a list of what the burglars damaged.
- brechenB1
to break
Er hat sich beim Skifahren verletzt, sein Bein ist gebrochen. — He was injured while skiing, his leg is broken.
to break
Pass bitte mit diesem Glas auf. Es geht leicht kaputt. — Please be careful with this glass. It breaks easily.
to break
Wer hat die Lampe kaputtgemacht? — Who broke the lamp?
plural: die Schäden
damage
Ich hatte einen Unfall mit dem Auto. Jetzt muss ich den Schaden der Versicherung melden. — I had an accident with the car. Now I have to report the damage to the insurance.
to cut through / sever / cut in two
Das Messer durchtrennt das Seil sauber. — The knife cleanly cuts through the rope.
to discolor / color
Die Sonne hat das Holz verfärbt. — The sun has discolored the wood.
to make a mess of / upset / ruin
Sie hat das Projekt völlig verkorkst. — She completely ruined the project.
to scrap / discard
Das alte Auto wurde verschrottet. — The old car was scrapped.
to blur / efface efface = 1) erase (a mark) from a surface, 2) make oneself appear insignificant or inconspicuous.
Der Regen verwischte die Kreidezeichen. — The rain blurred the chalk marks.
to distort / skew
Der Sturm verzerrt die Bäume. — The storm distorts the trees.
to dent
Der Stoß zerbeulte die Autotür. — The impact dented the car door.
plural: die Zerlegungen
cutting apart / taking apart / stripping down
Die Zerlegung des Motors dauert lange. — The taking apart of the engine takes a long time.
to smash / crush / shatter
Die Explosion zerschmetterte das Gebäude. — The explosion smashed the building.
to smash up / shatter
Der Sturm zertrümmert die Häuser. — The storm shatters the houses.
to pile up / build up
Die Arbeiter schichteten die Steine aufeinander auf. — The workers piled up the stones on top of each other.
- lädierenC1
to damage (wenig benutzt)
Der Sturm lädiert das Dach des Hauses. — The storm damages the house roof.
to char / burn to a cinder
Das Holz verkohlt im großen Feuer. — The wood chars in the large fire.
How to learn this set
Group these by the zer- prefix first: zerbeulen, zerschmettern, zertrümmern, and die Zerlegung all share the idea of taking something apart or reducing it to pieces, so learn zer- as "apart/to bits" and the rest of the word tells you how. Then separate the ver- verbs, which mostly describe damage as a side effect rather than an act of violence: verfärben (discolor), verwischen (blur), verzerren (distort), verkorksen (mess up), verkohlen (char) and verschrotten (scrap) all quietly ruin something rather than smash it. Drill kaputtgehen against kaputtmachen with real sentences about your own broken objects, since that pair trips up learners the most. Für der Schaden and die Reparatur, memorize the gender with a short fixed phrase (der Schaden am Auto, die Reparatur der Uhr) rather than the article alone.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between kaputtgehen and kaputtmachen?
kaputtgehen is intransitive: the thing breaks by itself, no one is to blame (Mein Handy ist kaputtgegangen). kaputtmachen is transitive: someone breaks it (Er hat mein Handy kaputtgemacht). Same root, different auxiliary logic: gehen for things that just happen, machen for things someone causes.
What is the difference between reparieren and Reparatur?
reparieren is the verb (to repair), die Reparatur is the noun (the repair). Die Reparatur dauert zwei Tage vs. Ich repariere das Fahrrad. Note Reparatur is feminine, so it's die Reparatur, not der.
What's the difference between brechen and zerbrechen or zertrümmern?
brechen is the plain verb for breaking something rigid, like a bone or a stick: Er hat sich das Bein gebrochen. zertrümmern and zerschmettern add violence and total destruction, closer to smash or shatter: Er zertrümmerte die Vase mit einem Hammer. The zer- prefix in general signals breaking into pieces, which plain brechen doesn't require.
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