treiben

drive

verb TRAI-ben Less Common

Also means

drift

Usage Note

treiben is wonderfully versatile: it means to drive (cattle), to drift, and in Sport treiben it means 'to do sports'. The strong verb forms are trieb and getrieben.

Examples

"Das Boot treibt auf dem Wasser."

Natural Translation

The boat is drifting on the water.

Literal Translation

The boat drifts on the water.

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