to threaten
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to threaten
To hold out the prospect of a negative consequence, punishment, or violence to someone in order to intimidate that person or get them to behave in a certain way.
Der Vermieter drohte ihm die Kündigung an, falls die Miete nicht pünktlich bezahlt wird.
The landlord threatened him with termination of the lease if the rent was not paid on time.
'Androhen' (to threaten) is a separable verb. The prefix 'an-' comes at the end in a main clause. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
Er drohte seinem Nachbarn Konsequenzen an.
He threatened his neighbor with consequences.
This verb is typically used with two objects: The person being threatened is in the dative, and the thing being threatened is in the accusative. The pattern is: jemandem (dative) etwas (accusative) androhen.
Der Chef drohte dem Mitarbeiter (Dativ) die Kündigung (Akkusativ) an.
The boss threatened the employee (dative) with dismissal (accusative).
It is often used to express the threat of negative consequences. Typical combinations are 'Konsequenzen androhen' (to threaten consequences), 'eine Strafe androhen' (to threaten a punishment), 'Gewalt androhen' (to threaten violence), or 'rechtliche Schritte androhen' (to threaten legal action).
Das Unternehmen drohte mit rechtlichen Schritten, falls die Rechnung nicht bezahlt wird.
The company threatened legal action if the invoice was not paid.
to threaten
Both drohen and androhen can announce a punishment or another negative consequence as a means of pressure. With „drohen“, the affected person is in the dative and the consequence usually follows with „mit“; with „androhen“, the consequence itself is the accusative object. The choice therefore depends mainly on the sentence structure.
Der Chef drohte dem Mitarbeiter eine Kündigung an.
The boss threatened the employee with dismissal.
Der Chef drohte dem Mitarbeiter mit einer Kündigung.
The boss threatened the employee with dismissal.
