kaufen
to buy
To acquire something in exchange for payment of money.
EXAMPLE
Morgen gehe ich ein neues Fahrrad kaufen.
Tomorrow I'm going to buy a new bicycle.
kaufen
to buy
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Meanings
kaufen
to buy / bribe
To bribe someone with money or other benefits in order to get them to do something dishonest or illegal.
EXAMPLE
Der Angeklagte versuchte, den Richter zu kaufen.
The defendant tried to bribe the judge.
Usage tips
Dative and accusative
'Kaufen' (to buy) is often used with two objects: the person for whom something is bought is in the dative, and the thing bought is in the accusative.
EXAMPLE
Er kauft seiner Freundin einen Ring.
He buys his girlfriend a ring.
Buying oneself something
The reflexive form 'sich (dative) etwas kaufen' (to buy oneself something) is very common and means that you buy something for yourself. It often emphasizes treating yourself or doing something nice for yourself.
EXAMPLE
Nach der harten Woche habe ich mir ein gutes Buch gekauft.
After the hard week, I bought myself a good book.
Context clue
You can recognize the figurative meaning 'bestechen' (to bribe) from the context. The object is then not a product, but a person in a position of power, e.g. a witness, an official, or a referee.
EXAMPLE
Man warf ihm vor, den Schiedsrichter gekauft zu haben.
He was accused of having bribed the referee.
Compare with
kaufen vs lösen
to solve / loosen
Kaufen generally refers to acquiring something in exchange for money and can also be used for tickets. With tickets and admission tickets, lösen has the same basic meaning, but it is a special, fixed expression in this context. Both work, but „lösen“ is restricted to this kind of ticket.
kaufen
Lea kauft am Automaten eine Fahrkarte nach Bonn.
Lea buys a ticket to Bonn at the vending machine.
lösen
Lea löst am Automaten eine Fahrkarte nach Bonn.
Lea buys a ticket to Bonn at the vending machine.
In real life
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