to contaminate
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to contaminate
To make something clean, pure, or untouched dirty or impure by adding dirt, pollutants, or other unwanted substances.
Ausgelaufenes Öl drohte, den Fluss und das Trinkwasser zu verunreinigen.
Leaked oil threatened to contaminate the river and the drinking water.
The verb is made up of the prefix 'ver-' and the adjective 'unrein' (impure). Literally, it means to make something 'unrein' (impure). The prefix 'ver-' here describes the process of a change of state.
Durch den Unfall wurde das Grundwasser verunreinigt.
The accident contaminated the groundwater.
'Verunreinigen' (to contaminate) is an inseparable verb. The prefix 'ver-' is never separated from the rest of the verb in a sentence.
Die Fabrik hat jahrelang den Boden verunreinigt.
The factory contaminated the soil for years.
To name the substance that causes the contamination, you use the preposition 'mit' followed by the dative.
Das Wasser wurde mit Chemikalien aus der Fabrik verunreinigt.
The water was contaminated with chemicals from the factory.
Common objects for 'verunreinigen' (to contaminate) are things that should originally be pure, such as 'Wasser' (water), 'die Umwelt' (the environment), 'Lebensmittel' (food), or 'eine Wunde' (a wound).
Achten Sie darauf, die Lebensmittel nicht mit Bakterien zu verunreinigen.
Make sure not to contaminate the food with bacteria.
to burden / charge
'belasten' and 'verunreinigen' can both describe pollutants causing a problem. 'verunreinigen' says more precisely that something clean becomes impure because of dirt or unwanted substances, for example water or soil. 'belasten' focuses more on the harmful effect of these substances on the environment, people, or animals. In environmental texts, both words often fit, but with a different focus: substances 'das Wasser verunreinigen' (contaminate the water) and thereby 'die Natur belasten' (burden / harm nature).
Öl aus dem alten Motor verunreinigt das Wasser im Hafen.
Oil from the old engine is contaminating the water in the harbor.
Chemikalien aus der Fabrik belasten die Pflanzen am Fluss.
Chemicals from the factory are harming the plants by the river.