autobiography
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autobiography
The life story of a person, written by that person themself. It describes events, experiences, and developments from the person's own perspective.
In seiner Autobiographie blickt der berühmte Schauspieler auf eine bewegte Karriere zurück.
In his autobiography, the famous actor looks back on an eventful career.
The word comes from Greek and is internationally understandable. It is made up of 'auto' (self), 'bio' (life), and 'graphie' (writing), so it literally means 'one's own life story'.
Viele Politiker veröffentlichen nach ihrer Karriere eine Autobiographie.
Many politicians publish an autobiography after their career.
The word belongs to the word family of 'Biographie' (biography). The prefix 'Auto-' emphasizes that the author is writing about their own life, in contrast to a biography, which is written by another person.
Die Biographie über den Künstler war interessant, aber seine Autobiographie ist viel persönlicher.
The biography about the artist was interesting, but his autobiography is much more personal.
Common verbs used with 'Autobiographie' (autobiography) are 'eine Autobiographie schreiben' (to write an autobiography), 'veröffentlichen' (to publish), or 'lesen' (to read).
Er hat zehn Jahre gebraucht, um seine Autobiographie zu schreiben.
He took ten years to write his autobiography.
diary
'das Tagebuch' and 'die Autobiographie' both have to do with one's own life and personal experiences. A diary is usually written regularly and directly in everyday life: you write down experiences, thoughts, or feelings, often only for yourself. An autobiography, by contrast, is a life story that a person writes themself, usually looking at their whole life or important periods of their life. Learners may confuse the words because both can be told from the first-person perspective. The practical difference is: a diary accompanies everyday life day by day, while an autobiography looks back on life later in an organized way.
Nach ihrer langen Karriere veröffentlichte die Ärztin eine Autobiographie über ihr Leben und ihre Arbeit.
After her long career, the doctor published an autobiography about her life and work.
Im Urlaub schreibe ich abends in mein Tagebuch, damit ich die kleinen Erlebnisse nicht vergesse.
On vacation, I write in my diary in the evenings so I do not forget the little experiences.