to prepare
Loading your saved state.
to prepare oneself for
To get oneself ready for an upcoming situation, exam, or event through studying, practicing, or planning.
Die Sportler bereiten sich intensiv auf die Olympischen Spiele vor.
The athletes are preparing intensively for the Olympic Games.
to prepare
To get something ready, organize it, or plan it for a future purpose or event.
Kannst du bitte schon mal den Tisch für das Abendessen vorbereiten?
Could you please go ahead and prepare the table for dinner?
'Vorbereiten' (to prepare) is a separable verb. The prefix 'vor-' comes at the end in main clauses. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
Ich bereite das Abendessen vor.
I am preparing dinner.
There are two main patterns: When you prepare yourself, you use 'sich vorbereiten auf' (to prepare oneself for; reflexive). When you prepare a thing, you use 'etwas vorbereiten' (to prepare something; transitive).
Er bereitet sich auf seine Reise vor.
He is preparing for his trip.
When you prepare yourself for something, you always need the reflexive form with the fixed preposition 'auf' and the accusative.
Die Mannschaft bereitet sich auf das wichtige Spiel vor.
The team is preparing for the important game.
to provide / deploy
When referring to documents, vorbereiten emphasizes processing their content or handling them practically before a meeting. Bereitstellen emphasizes that the documents are then available and ready to use. So the same documents can first be prepared and then made available.
Ich bereite die Unterlagen für die Besprechung vor und prüfe dabei alle Zahlen.
I am preparing the documents for the meeting and checking all the figures as I do so.
Nach der Prüfung stelle ich die Unterlagen für die Besprechung bereit.
After checking them, I will make the documents for the meeting available.
