to comfort
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to comfort
To help a sad or unhappy person ease their pain or sorrow through encouragement, sympathy, or gestures.
Nach der Niederlage versuchte der Trainer, die weinenden Spieler zu trösten.
After the defeat, the coach tried to comfort the crying players.
to console oneself with
To calm or cheer oneself up through a thought or action in order to compensate for a loss or disappointment.
Da der Urlaub ausfiel, tröstete sie sich mit einem ausgiebigen Einkaufsbummel.
Since the vacation was canceled, she consoled herself with an extensive shopping trip.
The verb 'trösten' (to comfort) is closely connected to the noun 'der Trost' (comfort, consolation). When you comfort someone, you give comfort.
Seine Worte waren ein großer Trost für mich.
His words were a great comfort to me.
The structure of the sentence shows who is being comforted. 'Jemanden trösten' (to comfort someone) means helping another person. 'Sich trösten' (to comfort oneself) means helping yourself deal with sadness.
Die Mutter tröstet ihr weinendes Kind.
The mother comforts her crying child.
When you comfort another person, that person appears as the direct object in the accusative. The sentence pattern is: subject comforts accusative object.
Ihre beste Freundin rief an, um sie zu trösten.
Her best friend called to comfort her.
When you comfort yourself, the verb is used reflexively ('sich trösten') and is often combined with the preposition 'mit' + dative to name the source of comfort.
Sie tröstete sich mit dem Gedanken, dass sie es zumindest versucht hatte.
She consoled herself with the thought that she had at least tried.
to calm
Beruhigen and trösten can both help an emotionally upset person, but they focus on different things. Beruhigen mainly reduces agitation, fear, or excitement, whereas trösten responds to sadness, pain, or sorrow. Choose „beruhigen“ for agitation and „trösten“ for emotional distress.
Die Mutter tröstete ihr trauriges Kind nach dem Verlust seines Lieblingsspielzeugs.
The mother comforted her sad child after it lost its favorite toy.
Die Mutter beruhigte ihr ängstliches Kind nach dem lauten Knall.
The mother calmed her frightened child after the loud bang.
