heilen
to heal
To cause a person or animal to recover from an illness or injury (transitive).
EXAMPLE
Der Arzt konnte die Infektion mit einem neuen Medikament heilen.
The doctor was able to heal the infection with a new medication.
heilen
to heal
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Meanings
heilen
to heal
Of a wound or illness: to return to a healthy state on its own (intransitive).
EXAMPLE
Der Knochenbruch heilt gut, aber es wird noch einige Wochen dauern.
The broken bone is healing well, but it will still take a few weeks.
heilen
to heal
To overcome or resolve emotional pain, a conflict, or psychological harm.
EXAMPLE
Es braucht Zeit, bis solche seelischen Wunden heilen.
It takes time for emotional wounds like that to heal.
Usage tips
Transitive vs. intransitive
'Heilen' (to heal) can be used transitively (with an accusative object) or intransitively (without an object). A person heals an illness (transitive), but a wound heals on its own (intransitive).
EXAMPLE
Die Kräuterfrau heilt die Kranken des Dorfes.
The herbal healer heals the sick people of the village.
Perfect tense with 'haben' or 'sein'
The perfect tense is formed differently. The transitive action (healing someone) uses 'haben'. The intransitive process (a wound heals) uses 'sein', because it is a change of state.
EXAMPLE
Der Arzt hat den Patienten geheilt.
The doctor healed the patient.
Word family
'Heilen' (to heal) belongs to the word family of 'heil', which means 'whole' or 'uninjured'. The goal of healing is to become whole again. The noun 'die Heilung' (healing) also belongs to this family.
EXAMPLE
Nach der Heilung war sein Arm wieder vollkommen heil.
After the healing, his arm was completely whole again.
Use with 'von'
When you want to express what someone is healed of, you use the preposition 'von' followed by the dative.
EXAMPLE
Er wurde von seiner Angst vor Spinnen geheilt.
He was healed of his fear of spiders.
Emotional healing
In the figurative sense, 'heilen' (to heal) is often connected with emotional pain. A well-known saying is: 'Die Zeit heilt alle Wunden.' (Time heals all wounds.)
EXAMPLE
Nach der Trennung braucht ihr Herz Zeit, um zu heilen.
After the breakup, her heart needs time to heal.
Compare with
heilen vs überwinden
to overcome
Both words can refer to emotional pain. Überwinden emphasizes successfully coping with the pain and leaving it behind, while heilen highlights a process of inner recovery or removal. Use überwinden for coping with something and heilen for gradual recovery.
heilen
Offene Gespräche halfen ihr, ihren seelischen Schmerz langsam zu heilen.
Open conversations helped her slowly heal from her emotional pain.
überwinden
Nach dem Verlust konnte sie ihren seelischen Schmerz langsam überwinden.
After the loss, she was slowly able to overcome her emotional pain.
In real life
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