to censor / to grade
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to censor
To have media content such as books, films, or news checked by the state or an institution and to remove or make inaccessible unwanted or forbidden parts of it.
In manchen Ländern wird das Internet stark zensiert.
In some countries, the internet is heavily censored.
The meaning of 'zensieren' depends strongly on the context. If it is about control of media, politics, or the internet, it means 'to check and block'. In the context of school or university, it means 'to evaluate and grade'.
Die Regierung versucht, kritische Meinungen im Netz zu zensieren.
The government is trying to censor critical opinions online.
The meaning 'to give a grade' is used mainly in Austria and southern Germany. In other parts of Germany, the verbs 'benoten' (to grade) or 'korrigieren' (to correct) are more common.
In Österreich zensiert der Lehrer die Schularbeiten.
In Austria, the teacher grades the school assignments.
In the context of media control, 'zensieren' is often used with objects such as 'Filme' (films), 'Bücher' (books), 'die Presse' (the press), or 'das Internet' (the internet).
Der Diktator ließ alle Bücher zensieren, die seine Macht kritisierten.
The dictator had all books that criticized his power censored.
to forbid
'verbieten' and 'zensieren' both have to do with something not being allowed or not being freely accessible. 'verbieten' is the more general word: a rule, a law, or a person says that you are not allowed to do something. 'zensieren' is used mainly for media such as texts, films, or news. In this case, content is checked and certain parts are removed or not shown. Learners may confuse the words because censorship is often connected with bans. But 'zensieren' does not mean every kind of prohibition; it specifically means intervening in content.
Die Redaktion durfte den Bericht nur stark zensiert veröffentlichen.
The editorial team was only allowed to publish the report in a heavily censored form.
Die Schule verbietet Handys während der Prüfung.
The school forbids mobile phones during the exam.