Breakdown of Wir begegnen einander oft im Park und grüßen freundlich.
Questions & Answers about Wir begegnen einander oft im Park und grüßen freundlich.
begegnen means to encounter or run into someone, typically by chance. So Wir begegnen einander oft im Park suggests unplanned encounters.
By contrast, (sich) treffen implies a planned meeting: Wir treffen uns oft im Park = We meet up (by arrangement) often in the park.
English “meet” is ambiguous; German distinguishes the chance encounter (begegnen) from the arranged meeting (treffen).
Yes. einander is the reciprocal pronoun “each other.” uns can also express reciprocity, so Wir begegnen uns oft im Park is also correct.
- einander makes the “each other” meaning explicit and is stylistically a bit more formal/clear.
- Do not combine them: not ✗ Wir begegnen uns einander.
begegnen governs the dative: jemandem begegnen.
Examples: Ich begegne ihm, Sie begegnet ihnen.
With einander, the form doesn’t change, but it’s still dative in this sentence: Wir begegnen einander … (dative).
In careful grammar, grüßen is transitive (you greet someone), so adding an object is very natural: … und (be)grüßen uns freundlich or … und grüßen einander freundlich.
That said, native usage often omits the obvious object: … und grüßen freundlich is widely understood as “we exchange greetings.” For learners, adding the object is a safe, clear choice.
Here freundlich is an adverb modifying the verb grüßen, and adverbs use the base form: freundlich.
The adjective would take endings only before nouns: ein freundlicher Gruß.
Compare: Wir grüßen freundlich vs. ein freundlicher Mann.
Because it’s location (dative) rather than movement (accusative).
- Location: im Park (= in dem Park)
- Movement: in den Park (e.g., Wir gehen in den Park)
Use sein: Wir sind einander oft begegnet.
By contrast, treffen uses haben: Wir haben uns oft getroffen.
- Planned meeting: Wir treffen uns oft im Park und begrüßen uns freundlich.
- Chance encounter using a more formal verb: Wir begegnen einander oft im Park und begrüßen uns freundlich.
Note: begrüßen is a bit more formal than grüßen but both mean “to greet (someone).”
No, einander is invariant; its form doesn’t change. The governing verb or preposition determines the case logically, but einander itself stays einander.
You’ll also see compounds like miteinander, füreinander, gegeneinander with prepositions built in.
- häufig (neutral, a touch more formal)
- öfter (comparative of oft = “more often”)
- des Öfteren (set phrase, somewhat formal)
- öfters (colloquial; some style guides discourage it)
Not exactly.
- freundlich = friendly, warm, kind in manner.
- höflich = polite, courteous (focused on manners/etiquette).
In this context either could work, but freundlich emphasizes warmth; höflich emphasizes politeness.
- begegnen: three syllables be-GEG-nen; the middle e is long: be-geeg-nen.
- grüßen: the ü is the fronted vowel (shape lips for “u” while saying “ee”), and ß marks a long vowel: grüü-sen.