Skip to content

anfahren

to start driving, to approach by vehicle

verb AN-fah-ren Rare
Travel & Places Movement

Also means

to hit with a vehicle

Usage Note

anfahren has two distinct senses: to begin moving (a vehicle starting), and to approach/reach a destination. Eine Haltestelle anfahren ('to serve a stop') is standard in public transport. The sense of 'to hit someone with a vehicle' is also established.

Examples

"Der Bus fährt alle zehn Minuten diese Haltestelle an."

Natural Translation

The bus serves this stop every ten minutes.

Literal Translation

The bus drives every ten minutes this stop toward.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore German by topic