to forgive
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to forgive
To stop holding a mistake, an offense, or guilt against someone and let go of the negative feelings about it. You accept the apology or forgive even without one.
Ich kann dir diesen Vertrauensbruch nur schwer verzeihen.
I can only forgive you for this breach of trust with difficulty.
'Verzeihen' (to forgive) is an inseparable verb. The prefix 'ver-' remains firmly attached to the verb stem in all tenses and sentence constructions.
Sie hat ihm seinen Fehler schnell verziehen.
She quickly forgave him for his mistake.
This verb takes two objects: the person you forgive is always in the dative. The thing you forgive is in the accusative. So the pattern is: jemandem (dative) etwas (accusative) verzeihen.
Ich verzeihe dir (Dativ) deine Lüge (Akkusativ).
Ich verzeihe dir (dative) deine Lüge (accusative).
A typical mistake is to use the accusative for the person. The construction 'Ich verzeihe dich' is incorrect. The dative is always correct for the person: 'Ich verzeihe dir' (I forgive you).
Er hat seiner Schwester den Streit verziehen.
He forgave his sister for the argument.
The form 'Verzeihen Sie' (excuse me) is the formal imperative form (Sie form). It is used to politely apologize for a small interruption or to get the attention of a stranger.
Verzeihen Sie, ist dieser Platz noch frei?
Excuse me, is this seat still free?
to assign / to forgive / to miss
In this context, 'vergeben' and 'verzeihen' mean almost the same thing: you no longer hold a mistake or hurtful action against someone. 'verzeihen' is very common and direct in everyday language. 'vergeben' can sound a little more serious or solemn, but it also fits in personal situations. The words are easy to confuse because they are often interchangeable. The important point is: this meaning of 'vergeben' is not the same as in 'einen Preis vergeben' (to award a prize) or 'ein Platz ist vergeben' (a seat is taken).
Kannst du mir verzeihen, dass ich deinen Geburtstag vergessen habe?
Can you forgive me for forgetting your birthday?
Wir haben ihm vergeben, obwohl seine Worte sehr verletzend waren.
We forgave him, even though his words were very hurtful.