commander
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commander
A person with the highest command over a military unit, a fortress, a ship, a police station, or a fire station.
Der Kommandant der Raumstation gab die Anweisungen für das Andockmanöver.
The commander of the space station gave the instructions for the docking maneuver.
'Kommandant' (commander) is a noun of the N-declension. It takes the ending '-en' in all cases except the nominative singular. This is important for forming sentences correctly.
Der Kommandant gab den Befehl.
The commander gave the order.
The word 'Kommandant' (commander) belongs to the word family of 'Kommando' (command) and 'kommandieren' (to command). All these words have to do with orders, leadership, and control.
Der General hat das Kommando über die gesamte Armee.
The general has command over the entire army.
To indicate what someone has command over, German usually uses the genitive or the preposition 'von' (of/from). The structure is therefore 'der Kommandant + genitive' or 'der Kommandant + von + dative'.
Er ist der Kommandant der Polizeistation.
He is the commander of the police station.
captain
Both words can refer to the person in charge of a ship. “Kapitän” is the nautical position and emphasizes responsibility for the voyage, while “Kommandant” particularly emphasizes the highest authority over a military or other unit. For a civilian ship, “Kapitän” is usually the more appropriate term.
Der Kommandant gab auf dem militärischen Schiff den Befehl zum Auslaufen.
The commander ordered the military ship to set sail.
Der Kapitän führte das Passagierschiff sicher durch den Hafen.
The captain safely guided the passenger ship through the harbor.
