to respect
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to respect
To acknowledge and value a person or their achievements, opinions, and qualities; to have respect for someone or something.
Ich respektiere sie sehr für ihre ehrliche und direkte Art.
I respect her very much for her honest and direct manner.
'Respektieren' (to respect) is a transitive verb and always needs a direct object in the accusative. No preposition is used between the verb and the object.
Wir müssen die Natur respektieren.
We must respect nature.
Verbs ending in '-ieren' often come from Latin or French. They are always regular and form the perfect tense with 'haben' (to have) and the ending '-t' (e.g. 'hat respektiert' — has respected).
Er hat meine Entscheidung immer respektiert.
He has always respected my decision.
To indicate the reason for respect, use the preposition 'für' (for) followed by the accusative.
Ich respektiere ihn für seine Geduld und sein Engagement.
I respect him for his patience and his commitment.
In the meaning of 'befolgen' (to follow/obey), 'respektieren' (to respect) is often combined with abstract nouns such as 'die Regeln' (the rules), 'die Gesetze' (the laws), 'die Grenzen' (the boundaries), 'die Wünsche' (the wishes), or 'eine Entscheidung' (a decision).
Bitte respektieren Sie den Wunsch nach Privatsphäre.
Please respect the wish for privacy.
serious
'ernst' and 'respektieren' overlap especially in the expression 'jemanden oder etwas ernst nehmen' (to take someone or something seriously). When you take someone seriously, you consider their words, feelings, or concerns important. 'respektieren' means to acknowledge a person, opinion, boundary, or rule. However, the words are grammatically different: here, 'ernst' appears in a fixed expression with 'nehmen', while 'respektieren' is a verb. They can be confused because both have to do with respect and recognition. 'ernst nehmen' fits especially with concerns, complaints, or opinions. 'respektieren' fits more with people, decisions, rules, or boundaries.
Im Team respektieren alle die Entscheidung der neuen Kollegin.
On the team, everyone respects the new colleague's decision.
Die Lehrerin hat die Sorgen der Schülerin ernst genommen.
The teacher took the student's concerns seriously.