stopfen
to stuff
To press or force something with pressure into a narrow opening or a limited space.
EXAMPLE
Er stopfte seine schmutzige Wäsche einfach in den Rucksack.
He simply stuffed his dirty laundry into the backpack.
stopfen
to stuff / darn
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Meanings
stopfen
to darn
To close a hole in a textile, usually a sock or stocking, by sewing it with thread.
EXAMPLE
Früher lernte man in der Schule, wie man Socken stopft.
In the past, people learned at school how to darn socks.
stopfen
to stuff
To fill a food item, for example poultry, with a stuffing.
EXAMPLE
Zu Weihnachten stopfen wir die Gans traditionell mit Äpfeln und Zwiebeln.
At Christmas, we traditionally stuff the goose with apples and onions.
sich stopfen
to stuff oneself
Colloquial for eating a lot and greedily; to fill oneself up.
EXAMPLE
Am Buffet hat er sich mit Kuchen gestopft, bis ihm schlecht wurde.
At the buffet, he stuffed himself with cake until he felt sick.
stopfen
to constipate
To have an inhibiting effect on digestion and lead to constipation.
EXAMPLE
Bananen und weiße Schokolade sollen angeblich stopfen.
Bananas and white chocolate are supposedly constipating.
Usage tips
False friend
'Stopfen' does not mean 'stoppen' (to stop) or 'anhalten' (to halt). It does look similar to the English 'to stop', but its actual meaning is 'etwas mit Druck irgendwo hineinpressen' (to stuff, to cram something somewhere with pressure).
EXAMPLE
Ich muss noch alle meine Kleider in den kleinen Koffer stopfen.
I still have to stuff all my clothes into the small suitcase.
Word family
The verb 'stopfen' (to stuff) is related to the noun 'der Stopfen' (cork, plug). Both words share the basic idea of filling or closing an opening.
EXAMPLE
Er benutzte einen alten Lappen, um das Loch in der Wand zu stopfen.
He used an old rag to plug the hole in the wall.
Sentence structure with direction
When you want to express that something is being pressed into a tight space, use the preposition 'in' followed by the accusative.
EXAMPLE
Sie stopfte schnell das letzte T-Shirt in die bereits volle Tasche.
She quickly stuffed the last T-shirt into the already full bag.
Typical collocation
In the meaning 'ein Loch flicken' (to mend a hole), 'stopfen' (to darn) is used almost exclusively for textiles. The most common combination is 'Socken stopfen' (to darn socks).
EXAMPLE
Meine Großmutter hat mir gezeigt, wie man Löcher in Socken stopft.
My grandmother showed me how to darn holes in socks.
Reflexive use
The colloquial meaning 'gierig essen' (to eat greedily) is used reflexively: 'sich stopfen' (to stuff oneself). It is often supplemented with the preposition 'mit' plus the dative to say what is being eaten.
EXAMPLE
Die Kinder haben sich auf der Party mit Süßigkeiten gestopft.
The children stuffed themselves with sweets at the party.
Context clue
When 'stopfen' (to constipate) describes an effect that inhibits digestion, the subject of the sentence is a food item and the verb is used without an object. It describes a property of the food.
EXAMPLE
Man sagt, dass zu viel Kakao bei kleinen Kindern stopft.
People say that too much cocoa is constipating for small children.
Compare with
stopfen vs stecken
to stick / to be stuck
Stecken and stopfen can both mean putting something into a limited space. Stopfen, however, emphasizes pushing the object in with force because there is little room, while stecken is more neutral. Use stecken for putting something in normally and stopfen when forcing it in.
stopfen
Sie stopfte die Jacke in den vollen Rucksack, weil kaum noch Platz war.
She stuffed the jacket into the full backpack because there was hardly any room left.
stecken
Sie steckte die Jacke in den Rucksack, weil noch genug Platz war.
She put the jacket in the backpack because there was still enough room.
In real life
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