Is there a difference between the verbs "bieten" and "anbieten" in sense "to offer"?
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1To be able to answer your question we need to know why you had the impression these two distinct verbs are not different.– TakkatDec 7, 2012 at 7:31
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5What did your research tell you?– Em1Dec 7, 2012 at 7:49
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6I don't understand why this question was closed. Seems like it's the whole reason anyone would use this site– CloudyGloudyMar 22, 2018 at 5:05
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IMHO questions like this being closed is one reason German Stack Exchange has little traffic. Often a German learner cannot find the answer to this kind of question from most/all bilingual dictionaries because they only say that both verbs mean "offer" and monolingual dictionaries like DWDS or (especially) Duden are overly complex for a non-advanced learner, partly because (1) non-advanced speakers are unable to understand the definitions in monolingual dictionaries and (2) the meanings of a word are not ordered by usage and it's hard to know which meanings are rarely used and could be ignored– Alan EvangelistaJan 23 at 22:51
3 Answers
There are some typical uses where one fits much more than the other: For example one would say:
Diese (Arbeits-)Stelle bietet ihnen die Möglichkeit, sich persönlich weiterzuentwickeln (This job offers you the opportunity for personal development)
IMO nobody would say "anbieten" in this context. Another case would be such context like offering a seat or refreshments:
Darf ich ihnen eine Tasse Kaffee anbieten? (Would you like a cup of coffee?/May I offer you a cup of coffee?)
Here only "anbieten" fits (I don't know the exact reason, just that I would register "bieten" as odd).
As other answers already stated, there are areas where both are fine.
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Based on yourdailygerman.com/meaning-bieten-anbieten, my understanding is that "bieten" is usually used when it means that something has a feature (e.g. Diese Arbeitsstelle bietet etwas = This job features something; Dieses Haus bietet einen Blick aufs Meer = This house features a view to the sea) and "anbieten" is usually used when someone is offering something to someone else. When money is involved, "bieten" seems usual even if the offer is from a person to another, probably because it can also mean "to bid", which is a similar meaning (e.g. Ich bot Maria 20 Euro für die Kamera). Jan 23 at 3:26
Ich biete Hilfe an.
That means offer help, with using anbieten
. Theoretically, you could say the following, too:
Ich biete Hilfe.
But you can say the following:
Ich biete 30€ bei der Auktion.
Here you can't use anbieten
, because here, the meaning isn't offer.
In general, you can use bieten
every time you can use anbieten
, but not the other way round.
The meaning of bieten can also be bid, grant
which is not given with anbieten.
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2This answer gives only a very narrow view about what bieten and anbieten mean; which are their shared meanings and which meanings are different.– Em1Dec 7, 2012 at 7:54