German edit

Etymology edit

ab- +‎ brechen. Cognate with Dutch afbreken (to demolish, to decompose).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [ˈʔapˌbʁɛçn̩], [ˈʔapˌbʁɛçən]
  • (file)
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  • Hyphenation: ab‧bre‧chen

Verb edit

abbrechen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present bricht ab, past tense brach ab, past participle abgebrochen, past subjunctive bräche ab, auxiliary haben or sein)

  1. (transitive, auxiliary haben) to break off (remove by breaking)
    Der Sturm brach die Spitzen und Äste vieler Bäume ab.
    The storm broke off the tops and branches of many trees.
  2. (intransitive, auxiliary sein) to be broken off
    Der Tassengriff bricht ab.
    The cup handle is breaking off.
  3. (transitive, auxiliary haben) to terminate, to end, to stop (especially suddenly or unexpectedly)
    Der Athlet musste das Training wegen einer Verletzung abbrechen.
    The athlete had to stop training because of an injury.
  4. (transitive, auxiliary haben) to pull down (demolish)
    die Brücken hinter sich abbrechento burn your bridges behind you
  5. to discard (throw away)

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • abbrechen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • abbrechen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • abbrechen” in Duden online
  • abbrechen” in OpenThesaurus.de