to confess
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to confess
In a religious context, especially in Christianity, to confess one's sins to a priest in order to obtain forgiveness.
Sie ging einmal im Monat in die Kirche, um zu beichten.
She went to church once a month to confess.
'Beichten' (to confess) is very often used with a dative object (the person to whom one confesses something) and an accusative object (the confession). The structure is: jemandem (dative) etwas (accusative) beichten.
Er hat seinem besten Freund die Wahrheit gebeichtet.
He confessed the truth to his best friend.
The verb 'beichten' (to confess) is inseparable. The prefix 'be-' remains firmly attached to the verb in all sentence forms, including the past participle ('gebeichtet').
Sie beichtete, dass sie einen Fehler gemacht hatte.
She confessed that she had made a mistake.
You can tell from the context whether the religious or everyday meaning is intended. Words like 'Priester' (priest), 'Kirche' (church), or 'Sünden' (sins) point to the religious meaning. Words like 'Geheimnis' (secret) or 'Fehler' (mistake) point to the colloquial meaning.
Der Gläubige beichtet seine Sünden im Beichtstuhl.
The believer confesses his sins in the confessional.
Using 'beichten' (to confess) for everyday secrets or mistakes is informal and belongs to spoken language. It often has a slightly humorous or dramatic undertone.
Na los, beichte! Wer hat das letzte Stück Schokolade genommen?
Come on, confess! Who took the last piece of chocolate?
to sing
'singen' and 'beichten' can both mean that someone admits something they would rather have kept secret. 'singen' is colloquial and fits especially with the police, interrogations, or crime. It can also mean that someone betrays others. 'beichten' originally comes from religion, but it is also used in everyday language when someone admits a mistake, a secret, or something embarrassing. 'beichten' often sounds more personal, while 'singen' sounds more like pressure and investigations.
Tom beichtet seiner Mutter, dass er ihr Fahrrad kaputt gemacht hat.
Tom confesses to his mother that he broke her bicycle.
Wenn einer von ihnen singt, kennt die Polizei bald den ganzen Plan.
If one of them sings, the police will soon know the whole plan.