to pull oneself together / gather
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to pull oneself together
To control oneself and bring one's feelings or behavior under control; to concentrate.
Nimm dich zusammen und hör auf zu weinen, wir müssen jetzt eine Lösung finden.
Pull yourself together and stop crying; we need to find a solution now.
to gather together
To gather or bundle several things or people in one place.
Er nahm alle seine Unterlagen zusammen und packte sie in eine Mappe.
He gathered all his documents together and packed them into a folder.
to give someone a telling-off
Colloquial for sharply scolding or reprimanding someone. Often in the form 'sich jemanden zusammennehmen' (to give someone a proper telling-off).
Nach dem schweren Fehler hat der Trainer die Mannschaft ordentlich zusammengenommen.
After the serious mistake, the coach gave the team a proper telling-off.
'Zusammennehmen' is a separable verb. The prefix 'zusammen-' comes at the end in a main clause. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
Er nahm all seinen Mut zusammen und sprach sie an.
He gathered all his courage and spoke to her.
The object of the verb reveals the meaning. With a reflexive pronoun ('sich'), it means 'to control oneself'. With a thing as the object ('etwas'), it means 'to gather'. With a person as the object ('jemanden'), it colloquially means 'to scold someone'.
Nimm dich bitte zusammen!
Please pull yourself together!
In the meaning 'sich beherrschen' (to control oneself) or 'sich konzentrieren' (to concentrate), the verb must always be used reflexively with 'sich'. The reflexive pronoun changes to match the subject (ich nehme mich zusammen, du nimmst dich zusammen).
Ich muss mich wirklich zusammennehmen, um nicht zu lachen.
I really have to pull myself together so I don't laugh.
When it means 'sammeln' (to gather), 'zusammennehmen' is often combined with things that are bundled together. Typical phrases are: seine Sachen zusammennehmen (to gather one's things together), seine Papiere zusammennehmen (to gather one's papers together), or all seine Kraft zusammennehmen (to summon all one's strength).
Sie nahm all ihre Kraft zusammen, um den schweren Koffer zu heben.
She summoned all her strength to lift the heavy suitcase.
to plan / carry out
Both verbs can mean that someone sharply reprimands another person. With „vornehmen“, the person affected appears in the fixed reflexive expression „sich jemanden vornehmen“, while „zusammennehmen“ is usually used directly with „jemanden“. Choose „vornehmen“ for this particular construction and „zusammennehmen“ for a direct reprimand.
Nach dem Streit nahm die Chefin den Mitarbeiter scharf zusammen.
After the argument, the boss sharply reprimanded the employee.
Nach dem Streit nahm sich die Chefin den Mitarbeiter vor.
After the argument, the boss confronted the employee.
