atonement
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atonement
An action or effort to make amends for an offense, guilt, or sin; penance or satisfaction.
Der Täter leistete Sozialstunden als Sühne für sein Vergehen.
The offender performed community service as atonement for his offense.
The noun 'die Sühne' (atonement) is closely related to the verb 'sühnen' (to atone for). 'Etwas sühnen' means to make amends for guilt or an offense through an action.
Er versuchte, seine Schuld zu sühnen.
He tried to atone for his guilt.
'Sühne' (atonement) is a very formal and rather rare word. It is found mainly in literary, religious, or legal texts, but hardly ever in everyday colloquial speech.
In der Tragödie geht es um Schuld und Sühne.
The tragedy is about guilt and atonement.
When you want to state the reason for the atonement, use the preposition 'für' (for) followed by the accusative.
Er leistete Sühne für seine Taten.
He made atonement for his actions.
Common verbs used with 'Sühne' (atonement) are 'Sühne leisten' (to make atonement) or 'als Sühne' (as atonement) in combination with an action.
Als Sühne musste er den Schaden ersetzen.
As atonement, he had to compensate for the damage.
punishment / penalty
A Strafe is a negative consequence someone receives for an offense. Sühne, on the other hand, is an action or effort through which someone seeks to make amends for their guilt. Strafe is therefore imposed, while Sühne serves to make amends for the guilt.
Als Sühne für seine Tat half der Mann den Betroffenen.
To make amends for his act, the man helped those affected.
Für seine Tat erhielt der Mann eine Strafe.
The man was punished for his act.
