Two verbs for killing, and they are not interchangeable
| verb | register | |
|---|---|---|
| töten | to kill | neutral, and the word a report or a law uses |
| umbringen | to kill, to do away with | concrete and personal; separable, so the prefix leaves |
umbringen comes apart in a main clause the way every separable verb has since L34: Er *bringt ihn um. Its past participle keeps the prefix in front: *umgebracht.
| The perpetrator is said to have killed the witness. | Der Täter soll den Zeugen umgebracht haben. |
der Mord and der Kampf
der Mord is the deed; the person is der Mörder. der Kampf stretches from a physical fight to a political struggle — der Kampf gegen die Armut — and pairs with the verb kämpfen.
schießen, and its vowel
schießen is a strong verb of the ie → o → o class: schießen, schoss, geschossen. Do not let it collide with schließen (to close) @L44, which differs by one letter and takes the same pattern.
Der Polizist schoss in die Luft.
| The policeman shot into the air. | Der Polizist hat in die Luft geschossen. |
befehlen takes a dative person
Like helfen and danken @L39, befehlen puts the person in the dative and the thing commanded in a zu-clause: Er *befahl dem Soldaten zu warten.*
The colloquial layer
der Bulle is literally the bull; as slang for a police officer it is rude, and you will hear it constantly in film dialogue. schnappen — to grab, and of the police, to catch — is equally colloquial.
| The police caught the perpetrator. | Die Polizei hat den Täter geschnappt. |
