anrufen

See also: Anrufen

German

Etymology

From an- +‎ rufen (to call, to shout).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈʔanʁuːfɱ̩], [ˈʔanʁuːfən]
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)
  • Audio (Austria):(file)
  • Hyphenation: an‧ru‧fen

Verb

anrufen (class 7 strong, third-person singular present ruft an, past tense rief an, past participle angerufen, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive or intransitive) to call, to ring (by telephone or similar technology) [with accusative or (Switzerland) dative or bei (+ dative) or in (+ dative) (see Usage notes)]
    Synonym: (dated) antelefonieren
    Ich habe ihn gerade angerufen.
    I've just called him.
    Ich habe gestern beim Arzt angerufen und einen Termin ausgemacht.
    I called the doctor's office yesterday and made an appointment.
    Er wird morgen im Rathaus anrufen und da um Hilfe bitten.
    He'll call the mayor's office tomorrow and ask for help there.
  2. (literary, transitive) to call on (someone, e.g. a divine being); to appeal to; to call upon

Usage notes

  • In Standard German, the callee is in the accusative case: Ich rufe dich an.I call you (by phone).
  • In Switzerland, through influence from Alemannic, the callee can also be in the dative case: Ich rufe dir an.I call you (by phone).
  • For calling companies, organizations and people who are only accessible through intermediate staff, "bei" is often used.
  • When calling somewhere that is primarily associated with a building, "in" is often used

Conjugation

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

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