begraben
to bury
To place the body of a person or animal in the ground; to inter.
EXAMPLE
Er wurde im engsten Familienkreis begraben.
He was buried in the closest family circle.
begraben
to bury
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Meanings
begraben
to bury
To completely cover something with earth, snow, rubble, or something similar.
EXAMPLE
Die Lawine hat das Auto vollständig unter sich begraben.
The avalanche completely buried the car beneath it.
begraben
to bury
To finally give up a hope, plan, dispute, or feeling and consider it settled or finished.
EXAMPLE
Nach der endgültigen Absage mussten wir die Hoffnung auf eine Förderung begraben.
After the final rejection, we had to bury our hopes of receiving funding.
Usage tips
Inseparable verb
The verb 'begraben' (to bury) has the inseparable prefix 'be-'. It stays firmly attached to the stem 'graben' (to dig) in all sentence forms. The prefix 'be-' makes the verb transitive, so it always needs an accusative object.
EXAMPLE
Sie begrub den toten Vogel im Garten.
She buried the dead bird in the garden.
Context clue
You can recognize the meaning of 'begraben' (to bury) from the object: if it is a person or animal, it refers to a burial. With an object, it is about covering something. With an abstract noun ('Hoffnung' (hope), 'Plan' (plan)), it has the figurative meaning.
EXAMPLE
Der Hund hat seinen Knochen im Garten begraben.
The dog buried its bone in the garden.
Use with 'unter'
In the meaning 'bedecken' (to cover), the preposition 'unter' (+ dative) is often used to indicate what something was covered with. The person or thing being covered is the accusative object of the sentence.
EXAMPLE
Die Rettungskräfte suchten nach den unter dem Schnee begrabenen Skifahrern.
The rescue workers searched for the skiers buried under the snow.
Typical collocations
In the figurative meaning, 'begraben' (to bury) is often used with abstract nouns. Typical phrases are 'die Hoffnung begraben' (to bury a hope), 'einen Streit begraben' (to bury a dispute), or 'einen Traum begraben' (to bury a dream).
EXAMPLE
Lass uns den alten Streit endlich begraben und wieder Freunde sein.
Let's finally bury the old dispute and be friends again.
Compare with
begraben vs aufgeben
to give up / submit
Aufgeben and begraben can both express giving up on a plan or hope. Aufgeben leaves open the possibility of taking it up again later; begraben presents it figuratively as definitively finished. For a clear ending, begraben is therefore more appropriate.
begraben
Nach der endgültigen Ablehnung begräbt Lea ihren Plan für immer.
After the final rejection, Lea buries her plan forever.
aufgeben
Nach der dritten Absage gibt Lea ihren Plan für dieses Jahr auf.
After the third rejection, Lea gives up on her plan for this year.
In real life
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