In this lesson, you will learn everything about the verb schaffen in German, what forms there are, what they mean, how they are formed, where and in what situations they can be used.
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Schaffte or schuf
Regular form of the verb schaffen
Irregular form of the verb schaffen
Schaffte or schuf?
The first confusing thing that students of German encounter with this verb is that they do not know for sure how this verb is formed, but only the meaning, which is a real tangle. An even bigger problem is that we run into it very often. You may have already guessed that this verb has two forms:
Regular form: schaffen, schaffte, hat geschafft
Irregular form: schaffen, schuf , hat geschaffen
Regular form of the verb schaffen
schaffen – schaffte – hat geschafft
Go to the lesson: All forms of the verb schaffen.
Meaning
1. to succeed, to achieve, to cope with … – It means to successfully overcome a difficult task.
For example:
Ich habe das schon mehrmals versucht, aber ich schaffe das einfach nicht. – I’ve tried this several times, but I just can’t do it.
Ich schaffe die Aufgabe nicht. – I can’t complete the task.
Ich schaffe das nicht alleine. – I can’t do it alone.
Ich schaffe es einfach nicht, morgens früh aufzustehen. – I just can’t manage to get up early in the morning.
2. bring/take/put to a certain place
For example:
Ich habe die Fahrräder in den Keller geschafft. – I put the bikes in the cellar.
Er wurde sofort ins Krankenhaus geschafft. – He was immediately taken to hospital.
3. Colloquially: to get on some public transport.
For example:
Wenn wir laufen, schaffen wir die U-Bahn vielleicht noch. – If we walk, we might still make the underground.
4. Again in the colloquial language: to get tired, to be exhausted
For example:
Diese Wanderung hat mich völlig geschafft. – This hike has completely exhausted me.
Ich bin total geschafft. – I am totally exhausted.
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Grammar Contents
Irregular form of the verb schaffen
schaffen – schuf – hat geschaffen
Meaning
The irregular verb schaffen has the meaning: to create, to make, to contribute to the creation of something.
For example:
Gott schuf Himmel und Erde. – God created heaven and earth.
Wir schaffen damit ein Riesenproblem. – We are creating a huge problem with this.
Wir schaffen unsere eigenen Archive. – We create our own archives.
Kannst du hier nicht mal ein bisschen Ordnung schaffen? – Can’t you tidy things up a bit here?
Die Firma wollte neue Arbeitsplätze schaffen. – The company wanted to create new jobs.
Ich muss erst etwas Platz schaffen. – I have to make some space first.
Another important expression:
wie geschaffen sein – be made for, be as if created
For example:
Sie ist für diese Arbeit wie geschaffen. – She is made for this work.
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