perfektionieren
to perfect
To improve something so that it becomes perfect, flawless, or as good as possible.
EXAMPLE
Sie hat jahrelang geübt, um ihre Technik am Klavier zu perfektionieren.
She practiced for years to perfect her piano technique.
perfektionieren
to perfect
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Meanings
Usage tips
Word family
The verb 'perfektionieren' (to perfect) belongs to the word family of 'perfekt' (perfect, adjective) and 'die Perfektion' (perfection, noun). The ending '-ieren' turns the stem into a verb, as with many words of Latin origin.
EXAMPLE
Er arbeitet an der Perfektion seiner Methode.
He is working on the perfection of his method.
Past participle without 'ge-'
Verbs ending in '-ieren' form the past participle without the prefix 'ge-'. So it is 'hat perfektioniert' (has perfected), not 'hat geperfektioniert'. This is a common mistake.
EXAMPLE
Der Künstler hat seine Technik über viele Jahre perfektioniert.
The artist perfected his technique over many years.
Sentence structure
'Perfektionieren' (to perfect) is a transitive verb and always needs an accusative object. You always perfect something.
EXAMPLE
Die Köchin will ihr neues Rezept perfektionieren.
The chef wants to perfect her new recipe.
Compare with
perfektionieren vs optimieren
to optimize
Optimieren and perfektionieren both mean improving something as much as possible. With Optimieren, the focus is on achieving the best result according to particular goals or conditions. Perfektionieren, by contrast, emphasizes execution that is as complete or error-free as possible.
perfektionieren
Wir perfektionieren das Verfahren, bis jeder Arbeitsschritt fehlerfrei ausgeführt wird.
We are perfecting the process until every step is carried out without errors.
optimieren
Wir optimieren das Verfahren, damit es trotz des kleinen Budgets möglichst effizient arbeitet.
We are optimizing the process so that it operates as efficiently as possible despite the small budget.
In real life
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