treffen vs begegnen
German word comparison
Listen to treffen
Listen to begegnen
| treffen | begegnen |
|---|---|
TREF-fen verb | bəˈɡeːɡnən verb |
| to meet (someone); to hit/strike; to apply or be relevant (context-dependent) | to encounter; to meet someone (usually by chance) |
How they differ
Begegnen is intransitive and takes a dative object (jemandem begegnen); it usually implies an encounter, often by chance, whereas treffen can be transitive (jemanden treffen) or reflexive (sich treffen) and covers both planned meetings and hitting a target.
When to use each
When to use treffen: Prefer treffen when you mean to meet someone intentionally (e.g. arrange to meet) or when talking about hitting a target.
When to use begegnen: Prefer begegnen when you want to describe an encounter (especially an unplanned one) and use the dative construction.
Side-by-side examples
- Ich habe gestern Maria getroffen.
(I met Maria yesterday.) - Ich bin Maria gestern begegnet.
(I encountered/met Maria yesterday.)
Register & nuance: Begegnen is slightly more formal/literary than treffen and is common in written German; it requires the dative case.
- See the full Word of the Day entry for treffen
- See the Word of the Day entry for begegnen
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