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Definition 2024


Nutzen

Nutzen

See also: nutzen and nützen

German

Noun

Nutzen m (genitive Nutzens, plural Nutzen)

  1. benefit

Antonyms

Derived terms

Declension

nutzen

nutzen

See also: Nutzen and nützen

German

Alternative forms

  • nützen (overall less common, but usage varies by sense and region; see lemma)

Verb

nutzen (third-person singular simple present nutzt, past tense nutzte, past participle genutzt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to make use of; to deploy; to exploit; to harness; to take (the opportunity of)
    Du solltest deine Talente nutzen.
    You should make use of your talents.
    Wenn sich ihnen so eine Gelegenheit bietet, dann nutzen sie die.
    When such an opportunity offers itself to them, they’ll take it.
  2. (transitive or intransitive, most often negated or in questions) to be useful, to be of use, to do good
    Er hört mit dem Rauchen auf, weil es nichts nutzt.
    He stops smoking because it is no use.
    Was nutzt es schon, sich anzustrengen?
    What is the use of making an effort anyway?
  3. (transitive or intransitive, + dative) to benefit someone, to help, to do good to
    Er hat sich überall angebiedert, aber das hat ihm auch nicht genutzt.
    He curried favour with everybody, but that didn’t help him either.

Usage notes

  • There is a distinction between nutzen and benutzen. The former is used with opportunities or options, the latter is used with means or instruments. Sometimes this is just a matter of aspect. For example, “He uses the computer” can be phrased as Er benutzt den Computer (mere mechanical sense), or Er nutzt den Computer (implying that the computer is, in whatever way, an opportunity).

Conjugation

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Related terms