tauchen
to dive
To go underwater and stay there for a certain amount of time, often as a sport or profession with special equipment.
EXAMPLE
Im Urlaub haben wir gelernt, im Meer zu tauchen.
On vacation, we learned to dive in the sea.
tauchen
to dive / dip
Checking...
Loading your saved state.
Meanings
tauchen
to dip
To move something briefly and completely into a liquid or a soft substance.
EXAMPLE
Sie tauchte den Pinsel in die rote Farbe.
She dipped the brush into the red paint.
Usage tips
With or without an object?
The meaning of 'tauchen' depends on whether it has an accusative object. Without an object, it means that a person goes underwater. With an object, it means that you put something into a liquid.
EXAMPLE
Er taucht gerne im Roten Meer.
He likes diving in the Red Sea.
Perfect tense: 'haben' or 'sein'?
For a person going underwater, the perfect tense is usually formed with 'sein', because it is a movement. When you dip something into a liquid, 'haben' is always used.
EXAMPLE
Wir sind gestern zum ersten Mal getaucht.
We went diving for the first time yesterday.
Prepositions with diving
When talking about diving as an activity, the preposition 'in' with the dative is often used to name the location. When searching for something, you use 'nach' with the dative.
EXAMPLE
Die Biologen tauchen im See nach seltenen Wasserpflanzen.
The biologists dive in the lake for rare aquatic plants.
Typical collocations
When moving something into a liquid, 'tauchen' is often used in culinary contexts. Typical phrases are 'in eine Soße tauchen' (to dip into a sauce), 'in Schokolade tauchen' (to dip in chocolate), or 'in den Kaffee tauchen' (to dip into coffee).
EXAMPLE
Zum Nachtisch gab es Früchte, die man in flüssige Schokolade tauchen konnte.
For dessert, there was fruit that you could dip into melted chocolate.
Compare with
tauchen vs eintauchen
to dive in / immerse
Both verbs can describe something entering a liquid. Here, tauchen refers to moving something completely into the liquid briefly. Eintauchen can describe the same process, but it emphasizes more strongly the movement below the surface.
tauchen
Zum Färben taucht Lea das Tuch kurz in die Flüssigkeit.
To dye the cloth, Lea briefly dips it into the liquid.
eintauchen
Zum Färben taucht Lea das Tuch langsam vollständig in die Flüssigkeit ein.
To dye the cloth, Lea slowly immerses it completely in the liquid.
In real life
Loading video examples...