cooperative
Loading your saved state.
cooperative
Describes a person or behavior that is oriented toward cooperation and joint action. Someone is willing to work with others in order to achieve a shared goal.
Er war sehr kooperativ und hat uns bei dem Projekt sehr geholfen.
He was very cooperative and helped us a lot with the project.
The word is an internationalism and derives from the Latin 'cooperari' (to cooperate). The prefix 'ko-' means 'together' and 'operativ' means 'working' or 'active'. A cooperative person is therefore someone who is willing to work together with others.
Für eine kooperative Lösung müssen beide Seiten Kompromisse machen.
For a cooperative solution, both sides have to make compromises.
'Kooperativ' (cooperative) is often used with verbs like 'sein' (to be), 'sich verhalten' (to behave), or 'sich zeigen' (to show oneself / prove to be). The phrase 'sich kooperativ zeigen' (to show oneself to be cooperative) emphasizes that someone is actively demonstrating their willingness to cooperate.
Der Zeuge zeigte sich bei der Befragung sehr kooperativ.
The witness proved very cooperative during the questioning.
In its main meaning, 'kooperativ' (cooperative) often describes people, behaviors, or outcomes. Typical combinations are 'ein kooperativer Partner' (a cooperative partner), 'eine kooperative Haltung' (a cooperative attitude), or 'eine kooperative Zusammenarbeit' (cooperative collaboration).
Wir suchen einen kooperativen Partner für ein neues Projekt.
We are looking for a cooperative partner for a new project.
This special meaning of 'kooperativ' (cooperative) is found almost exclusively in the specialized language of economics or game theory. You can recognize it from context words like 'Spiel' (game), 'System' (system), 'Markt' (market), or 'Theorie' (theory).
Die Spieltheorie unterscheidet zwischen kooperativen und nicht-kooperativen Spielen.
Game theory distinguishes between cooperative and non-cooperative games.
collective
'kollektiv' and 'kooperativ' both have to do with acting together. 'kollektiv' describes a whole group doing or deciding something together as a unit. 'kooperativ' describes more a person, a behavior, or a way of working: someone is willing to work with others. The words can be confused because both occur in group contexts. The important difference is the perspective: 'kollektiv' asks who is acting together; 'kooperativ' describes how someone works with others.
Im Gespräch blieb der Kunde ruhig und kooperativ.
During the conversation, the customer remained calm and cooperative.
Die Mitarbeiter haben kollektiv gegen den neuen Plan gestimmt.
The employees collectively voted against the new plan.