to rearrange / switch
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to rearrange
To change the position or location of something or someone; to put something in a different place. In this meaning, the verb is separable.
Könntest du bitte den Tisch ein wenig umstellen, damit wir mehr Platz haben?
Could you please rearrange the table a little so that we have more space?
This verb has two forms! When it means 'etwas an einen anderen Platz stellen' (to put something in a different place) or 'etwas ändern' (to change something), it is separable: 'úmstellen'. When it means 'einkreisen' (to surround/encircle), it is inseparable: 'umstéllen'. The difference in stress helps distinguish the two.
Wir stellen im Wohnzimmer die Möbel um. (trennbar)
We are rearranging the furniture in the living room. (separable)
In the meaning 'etwas ändern' (to change something), 'umstellen' is almost always used with the preposition 'auf' and the accusative. This structure indicates what the new system or method is.
Wir stellen unsere Heizung auf ein modernes System um.
We are switching our heating to a modern system.
When a person adapts to a new situation, the verb is used reflexively: 'sich umstellen' (to adjust). It describes an inner process of adaptation.
Als ich den neuen Job anfing, musste ich mich erst umstellen.
When I started the new job, I first had to adjust.
The inseparable form 'umstellen' (to surround/encircle) is found almost exclusively in contexts related to the police, military, or hunting. The subject is always the group that surrounds another person or object.
Die Spezialeinheit umstellte das gesamte Gelände.
The special unit surrounded the entire area.
In the literal meaning, 'umstellen' is often used with furniture and furnishings. Typical objects are 'die Möbel' (the furniture), 'den Tisch' (the table), 'das Bett' (the bed), or 'das ganze Zimmer' (the whole room).
Lass uns das Sofa an die andere Wand umstellen.
Let's move the sofa to the other wall.
to change
'ändern' and 'umstellen' both describe that something does not stay the way it was before. 'ändern' is the general word for almost any kind of change. 'umstellen' is more specific: you put things in a different place, switch a system or habit to something new, or adjust yourself to new conditions. That is why 'umstellen' sounds more natural when it is about a new order, a new process, or an adjustment. 'ändern' fits when you simply want to say in general that something becomes different.
Vor der Reise hat sie ihren Tagesplan umgestellt, damit sie früher losfahren kann.
Before the trip, she changed her daily schedule so she could leave earlier.
Selma ändert am Morgen schnell die Einkaufsliste.
Selma quickly changes the shopping list in the morning.