to arrest
Loading your saved state.
to arrest
To detain someone in the name of the law and take them into custody. This is usually carried out by the police.
Die Polizei konnte den Dieb auf frischer Tat ertappen und verhaften.
The police were able to catch the thief in the act and arrest him.
The verb 'verhaften' (to arrest) has the prefix 'ver-' and is inseparable. This means the prefix always remains attached to the verb in all sentence forms.
Die Kommissarin verhaftete den Verdächtigen noch am Tatort.
The detective arrested the suspect at the crime scene.
'Verhaften' (to arrest) always needs an accusative object: the person being detained. The verb is also very often used in the passive to emphasize the action.
Die Polizei verhaftet den Einbrecher.
The police arrest the burglar.
To state the reason for an arrest, the preposition 'wegen' (because of/on charges of) is used with the genitive.
Er wurde wegen schweren Diebstahls verhaftet.
He was arrested for aggravated theft.
The figurative meaning has a fixed grammatical structure: jemand ist einer Sache verhaftet (someone is bound to something). The thing one holds on to is always in the dative.
Manche Künstler bleiben ihr Leben lang einem einzigen Stil verhaftet.
Some artists remain bound to a single style their whole lives.
The expression 'einer Sache verhaftet sein' (to be bound to something) belongs to elevated written language. It is rarely used in normal everyday conversation.
Sein Denken ist alten Traditionen verhaftet.
His thinking is bound to old traditions.
to take
'nehmen' and 'verhaften' can both have to do with holding or detaining a person. In this context, 'nehmen' usually means the fixed expression 'gefangen nehmen' (to take prisoner) or 'in Gewahrsam nehmen' (to take into custody). 'verhaften' is more precise: it means that the police or another responsible authority arrests someone in the name of the law. The words can be confused because both occur in situations involving police, escape, or crime. For a normal legal arrest, 'verhaften' is usually clearer and more natural.
Nach dem Gespräch verhaftet die Polizei den Verdächtigen.
After the interview, the police arrest the suspect.
Die Soldaten nehmen den Spion gefangen.
The soldiers take the spy prisoner.