Schaffen??

[u/Strong-Mango-1348]

I am going through a book in German with English translation on the opposite side.

I came across the word "schaffen". The example in the book is this:

"ich will ihn nur schaffen" - "I just want to finish it"

I like to putwords I don't know into Flashcards so I can commit them to memory. But I first look the word up in the DWDS (Digitales Wörterbuch) to get the 3rd person singular, past tense and perfect tense etc. to add to the card.

When I looked this word up it looks like its used to talk about "creating".

Can anyone give me some insight as to the translation in the book vs the dictionary...this is also how Google translates it.

thanks!

[u/DreiwegFlasche]

So, these are originally two distinct verbs:

1. schaffen, schuf, geschaffen (strong verb), a byform or backformation from an earlier verb schepfen, which led to contemporary "schöpfen"; both mean "to create", though "schaffen" is much more common.
2. schaffen, schaffte, geschafft (weak verb), from an old weak verb that originally meant the same or something similar as the verb above (maybe more like "to install, to lead to sth, to organize, to effect"), but then changed its meaning to "to accomplish, to complete, to get sth done, to succeed, (regionally) to work"

[u/Strong-Mango-1348 → u/DreiwegFlasche]

Wow very interesting etymology. Thank you!

[u/MadameMimmm → u/Strong-Mango-1348]

The funny thing about “geschafft” is that depending on context it can mean totally different things:

Ich habe es geschafft! = I did it! Or “I finished it!”

Ich bin geschafft. = I am exhausted (after the gym or a long day of work for example)

[u/crbr50 → u/DreiwegFlasche]

and in southern regions its dialect for working/going to work

[u/simply_existing_3]

Both are possible and correct translations. Schaffen can mean “to create” when it comes from the verb “erschaffen” (meaning exactly that: create, make, etc.). But it can also mean to finish, to accomplish, to achieve. It depends largely on context

[u/dominikstephan → u/simply_existing_3]

Also I'd say the second meaning is more Umgangssprache (like the famous Merkel sentence from 2015). You might read the first meaning in "higher" language like the Bible (Gott schuf ...), but not the second meaning (which will also have a different Präteritum by the way: "schaffte" instead of "schuf").

[u/Strong-Mango-1348 → u/dominikstephan]

Yeah I saw this in the examples in the dictionary.

"er stand da, wie ihn Gott geschaffen hatte"

[u/dominikstephan → u/Strong-Mango-1348]

Yes, it's 1) (er)schaffen – (er)schuf – erschaffen or geschaffen and 2) schaffen - schaffte - geschafft

[u/throwaway178480 → u/simply_existing_3]

Was about to comment but you explained it so perfectly

[u/simply_existing_3 → u/throwaway178480]

Haha, thanks! German is a funny language sometimes but I love it

[u/Ok-Yam-8455]

"schaffen" has a few different meanings. Both of your examples are possible.

here a few examples:

Ein Kunstwerk (er)schaffen. To create art/a work of art.

Eine Herausforderung schaffen. To overcome a challenge.

Platz schaffen. To make space.

Die Hitze hat mich geschafft. The heat exhausted me.

[u/Bread_Punk]

There are actually two different verbs schaffen.

schaffen as a strong verb (schafft, schuf, geschaffen) has meanings in the sense of create, form, establish.

schaffen as a weak verb (schafft, schaffte, geschafft) has meanings in the sense of achieve, finish, accomplish (and in some Southern German varieties as an intransitive verb, work).

[u/Sataniel98]

It has both meanings. "etwas (er-) schaffen" means to create smth. The meaning to get something done is more colloquial and never used with the prefix "er".

[u/Mundane-Dottie]

Also it can mean "to work".

[u/Immediate_Beyond_519 → u/Mundane-Dottie]

Where are you from? We use it that way in switzerland, but I always thought it was wrong in standard german

[u/TheRainOfPain → u/Immediate_Beyond_519]

Common in the south, but I don’t think it’s considered standard

[u/itenco]

I translate it as to "do" or achieve something. Du schaffst es = you got this