Erschüttern

Erschüttern is a German verb that means to shake something violently or to shake something up. It is also used in a figurative sense to describe causing deep emotional disturbance, surprise, or distress in people or a community. The term emphasizes a strong, often unsettling impact.

In usage, erschüttern is mostly transitive: one acts upon a direct object, as in Der Bericht erschütterte die Öffentlichkeit. It can also describe personal emotional impact: Die Nachricht erschüttert mich. In passive constructions or with the verb werden, the event can be described as causing widespread shock: Die Gesellschaft wurde von der Nachricht erschüttert.

Grammatically, erschüttern is conjugated like a standard weak verb with the prefix er-: ich erschüttere, du erschütterst, er erschüttert, wir erschüttern, ihr erschüttert, sie erschüttern. In the past tense: ich erschütterte, du erschüttertest, er erschütterte, wir erschütterteten, ihr erschüttertet, sie erschütterten. The perfect tense uses haben: Die Nachricht hat mich erschüttert. The participle II is erschüttert, which also functions as an adjective in phrases such as eine erschütterte Familie.

Etymologically, erschüttern is formed from schüttern (to shake) with the intensifying prefix er-, yielding a sense of thorough or disturbing shaking. The related noun Erschütterung denotes the tremor or upheaval, physical or metaphorical, and is common in discussions of earthquakes, explosions, or social shock. Synonyms include schocken, bestürzen, bewegen, and schütteln in newer, less precise uses.

In summary, erschüttern describes powerful physical shaking or a profound emotional impact, used both in literal and figurative contexts, with standard German verb morphology and a closely related noun Erschütterung.