der Freundeskreis
circle of friends
A group of people who are friends with one another.
EXAMPLE
Er feiert seinen Geburtstag nur im engsten Freundeskreis.
He is celebrating his birthday only with his closest circle of friends.
der Freundeskreis
circle of friends
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Meanings
Usage tips
Compound word
The word is made up of 'Freund' (friend), in the genitive 'Freundes', and 'Kreis' (circle). It describes a group of friends figuratively as a circle to which one belongs.
EXAMPLE
Mein Freundeskreis ist nicht sehr groß, aber dafür sehr eng.
My circle of friends is not very large, but it is very close.
Typical collocations
'Freundeskreis' is often combined with adjectives such as 'groß' (large), 'klein' (small), 'eng' (close), or 'weit' (wide). Typical verbs are 'einen Freundeskreis haben' (to have a circle of friends) or 'zum Freundeskreis gehören' (to belong to the circle of friends).
EXAMPLE
Sie hat einen großen Freundeskreis und ist immer unterwegs.
She has a large circle of friends and is always out and about.
Use with 'in'
To express that something happens or is known within the group of friends, the preposition 'in' with the dative is almost always used: 'im Freundeskreis' (within one's circle of friends).
EXAMPLE
Im Freundeskreis helfen wir uns immer gegenseitig.
In our circle of friends, we always help each other.
Compare with
Freundeskreis vs Förderverein
support association
A Freundeskreis consists of people who are friends with one another. A Förderverein, by contrast, is an organization whose members support a particular institution morally or financially. The key question, then, is whether friendship or shared support is the focus.
Freundeskreis
Zu meinem Freundeskreis gehören mehrere Eltern aus der Schule.
My circle of friends includes several parents from my child's school.
Förderverein
Der Förderverein sammelt Geld für neue Bücher der Schule.
The support association is raising money for new books for the school.
In real life
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