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Aussageverben · Verbs for Statements of Thought

Wer hat das nicht im Deutschunterricht gelernt: Man solle nicht immer nur sagen, fragen, denken und meinen, es gebe ja schließlich noch andere Verben für das, was man denkt und sagt. Aufsätze waren allzu oft mit einem großen W (für 'Wiederholung') am Seitenrand garniert. Viele Generationen ehemaliger Schüler beschleicht noch nach Jahrzehnten ein Gefühl stilistischer Minderwertigkeit, wenn sie zweimal dasselbe Wort verwenden. Ein solches Schuldgefühl sollte sich aber niemand einreden lassen, denn es beruht auf einem Mißverständnis: Das Ziel einer solchen Wortfeld-Übung darf nicht sein, Schüler zwanghaft immer neue Worte für dieselbe Sprechabsicht suchen zu lassen, sondern sie zu befähigen, aus einem großen Wortschatz das genau passende auszusuchen. Wer sich seiner eigenen Muttersprache sicher ist, kann und wird sich ohnehin von formalen Vorschriften lösen und sogar ganz bewußt ein Wort immer wieder verwenden, wenn es das richtige ist und wenn seine Wiederholung die Sprechabsicht noch unterstreicht.

Das von Deutschlehrern gesäte Stilempfinden gibt es im Englischen nicht, mangelnde Variation von Verben wird hier nicht negativ goutiert. Das kann aber nicht bedeuten, daß sich der Englisch-Lerner auf "Allerweltsverben" wie think, say, tell und ask beschränken sollte: Auch in einer Fremdsprache sollte man üben und in der Lage sein, Gedanken und Äußerungen präzise wiederzugeben. Diese Liste umfaßt die wichtigsten Verben:

English	German	Examples
to add	hinzufügen	"And I'm sure I'm right," he added.
to admit	zugeben	"I took that slice of cake," she admitted.
to agree	zustimmen	I asked her for more pocket money and she agreed.
to announce	ankündigen	They announced that they were going to emigrate to Australia.
to answer	(be)antworten	He didn't answer (my question). "No, I won't," she answered.
to approve (of)	billigen, gutheißen; annehmen	They approved of the candidate. We approved the minutes.
to argue	streiten; behaupten	"With that attitude you are going to fail the exam," she argued.
to ask	fragen; bitten	"I want to ask a question". He asked his boss for a pay increase.
to assert	behaupten, beteuern	"I am absolutely innocent," he asserted in court.
to assume	annehmen, vermuten	I assume you are innocent. Don't always assume the worst.
to assure	versichern, zusichern	She assured me that it was the shortest way.
to believe	glauben	She did not believe what he was telling him.
to claim	behaupten; sich berufen auf	The doctors claim that working 80 hours a week is dangerous.
to command	befehlen; abnötigen; verfügen	"Do as I command (you)!". She commands our respect.
to comment (on)	sich äußern über; äußern	She commented (on the decision) that 80 hours a were too much.
to conclude (from)	(schluß)folgern	He concludes (from the findings) that 80 hours are dangerous.
to confirm	bestätigen	Can you confirm what happened? Have they ~ed their reservation?
to consider	überlegen, Erwägung ziehen	She is considering buying a car. He considers her (as) an expert.
to declare	erklären, kundtun, versichern	"I'll help you!" she declared. The court declared the action illegal.
to decree	an-, verordnen, dekretieren	The president decreed a week of mourning.
to deny	abstreiten, leugnen	He has denied any responsibility. She denied the reports.
to direct	anweisen; richten, lenken	His boss directed him to answer. He directed our attention to ...
to disagree	nicht einverstanden sein	Even friends may disagree. He disagreed with me and said: ...
to disapprove	dagegen sei, mißbilligen	She strongly disapproved of my plan to buy a new computer.
to dispute	(be)streiten, sich str. über	Nobody is disputing that there's a problem. I dispute these figures.
to enquire / inquire	sich erkundigen (nach)	I'm going to call the station to enquire about the train times.
to explain	erklären, erläutern	Let me explain the rules. She explained to them what to do next.
to express	ausdrücken zum A. bringen.	Let me express my views. He couldn't express himself clearly.
to grapple with	sich auseinandersetzen mit	He had been grappling with that problem for a long time.
to come / get to grips with	angehen, zu Leibe rücken	She was too discouraged to come to grip with the problem. Let's get to grips with this new challenge!
to hint (at)	andeuten; hindeuten (auf)	What are you hinting at? He hinted that there might be a problem.
to indicate	deuten auf, andeuten	The manager indicated that he was going to meet the demands.
to inform	informieren	The manager informed us of dramatic drop in turnover.
to instruct	unterrichten; anweisen, instru.	She instructs us in biology. She has instructed us what to do.
to interrupt	unterbrechen, ins Wort fallen	"I have a question," she interrupted. Sorry to interrupt, but ...
to intervene	einschreiten, intervenieren	"Shouldn't we help them?" she intervened.
to know	wissen, kennen	She knew what he was going to say. He was known as the "King".
to learn	lernen, erfahren	I learn English. I've just learnt/learned who she is.
to let know	wissen lassen	I'll let you know tomorrow if I have time.
to maintain	behaupten, theory vertreten	He maintained (that) he had not killed the victim.
to mention	erwähnen	He didn't mention it. Nobody mentioned anything to me about it.
to murmur	murmeln; murren	"OK," he murmured. She kept murmuring about the accident.
to name	nenne, bezeichnen	Can you name the Belgian capital? Name your price!
to object	Einwände haben, protestieren	They object to this plan. He objected that the price was too high.
to observe	be(ob)achten; feststellen	I observed that it was too late for lunch.
to oppose	ablehnen, entgegensetzen	She opposed her boss / all plans to dismiss the workers.
to order	an-, verordnen; bestellen	The chairman ordered silence. The doctor orders me to take ...
to ponder	nachdenken über; erwägen	I pondered over her words. I pondered the consequences.
to presume	annehmen, vermuten	This notebook is very expensive, I presume? It is presumed that ...
to proclaim	erklären, proklamieren	The president proclaimed a new era of mutual understanding.
to propose	vorschlagen; vorhaben	The manager proposed major changes in the company.
to protest	protestieren; beteuern	We must protest (against/at) this decision. He ~ed his innocence.
to put forward	vorbringen, vorschlagen	Let me put forward another proposal. She put forward a candidate.
to quote	zitieren	Don't quote me! Can you quote any verses of the poem?
to reason (~ out of, into)	logisch denken, vernünftig reden (aus-, überreden)	Only human beings can reason. "This isn't logical," she reasoned. We tried to reason with him / to ~ him out of / into doing ...
to reassure	beteuern; beruhigen	The doctor reassured me that nothing was wrong.
to reflect (on)	reflektieren; nachdenken über	I need more time to reflect. She reflected on the offer.
to reject	ab-, zurückweisen, ablehnen	I have to reject your claim. The candidates were rejected.
to remark	bemerken, eine B. machen	"This is a good idea," she remarked.
to repeat	wiederholen	I had to repeat my question. "Are you sure," he repeated?
to report	berichten	He reports seeing the accident. The crime was ~ed to the police.
to say	sagen	"Hello!" she said. "That's a great idea," said Tom. It is said that ...
to shout	schreien, rufen	He shouted to her across the room. "Watch out!" she shouted.
to speculate	grübeln (on = über)	We speculated about his reasons to quit / why he quit.
to state	vortragen, nennen	He has stated his intention clearly. The facts are clearly stated.
to suggest	vorschlagen, nahelegen	I suggest white wine. This mark suggests that you haven't learnt.
to sum up	zusammenfassen, abschätzen	To sum up: We have three problems. Let me sum up the situation.
to summarize	zusammenfassen	Please summarize the novel! He summarized the findings.
to support	(unter)stützen; erhärten	We all support your proposal. The evidence supports his story.
to suppose	annehmen, voraussetzen	You're right, I suppose. Suppose this is true, what should we do?
to tackle	zur Rede stellen; in Angriff n.	Go tackle him about his debts! It's time to tackle my homework!
to tell	erzählen; beauftragen	He told the news to everybody. She told him what to do.
to verify	überprüfen, bestätigen	The court is going to verify this statement. Her fears were verified.
to want to know would like to know	wissen wollen	The policeman wants to know where you were and what you did on this evening. I'd (= would) like to know what you think about it.
to warn	warnen	He warned us against thieves, i. e. not to leave our ... unattended.
to whisper	flüstern, wispern	"Look, there!" she whispered. He whispered that he felt afraid.
to wonder	sich fragen	They wondered where he was. I wonder what this means.
to yell	schreien, brüllen	"It hurts!" he yelled out in pain. "That's a lie!" she yelled.

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