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.
excuse me
A polite phrase used to apologize for a small interruption or mistake, or to ask for attention. It is a more formal variant of 'Entschuldigung' (excuse me / sorry).
Verzeihen Sie, können Sie mir bitte sagen, wie ich zum Bahnhof komme?
Excuse me, could you please tell me how to get to the train station?
'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
Vergeben and verzeihen both mean no longer holding someone’s mistake or offense against them. In everyday speech, verzeihen usually sounds more neutral, while vergeben often has a more solemn, moral, or religious tone. So verzeihen is generally the better choice in an ordinary personal conversation.
Nach seiner Entschuldigung konnte sie ihm die unfreundliche Bemerkung verzeihen.
After he apologized, she was able to forgive him for the unfriendly remark.
Nach vielen Jahren konnte sie ihm das schwere Unrecht schließlich vergeben.
After many years, she was finally able to forgive him for the serious wrong he had done.
