erfahren

Erfahren is a German verb with two closely related core senses: to experience something and to learn about something. In the sense of gaining knowledge through personal experience, it often describes what someone has undergone or learned indirectly through information. A common usage is to say that someone learned about something from a source, for example: Ich habe davon erfahren. This can be expanded with a source phrase: Ich habe es von meinem Freund erfahren.

Conjugation and forms: erfahren is a strong-ish verb with ordinary present-tense forms: ich erfahre, du erfährst, er erfährt, wir erfahren, ihr erfahrt, sie erfahren. The preterite is erfuhr (ich erfuhr, du erfuhrest, er erfuhr, wir erfuhren, ihr erfuhret, sie erfuhren). The past participle is erfahren and it is used with the auxiliary haben to form the perfect: Ich habe davon erfahren. The verb is not separable.

Usage nuances: erfahren emphasizes learning or discovering rather than deliberate investigation. It can refer to both factual information and personal experience. For stating a direct experience, German often uses related verbs such as erleben (to experience) or durchmachen (to go through). The phrase Ich habe davon erfahren is common for reporting secondhand knowledge, whereas Ich habe es selbst erfahren stresses personal experience.

Adjective form and related meaning: erfahren can also function as an adjective meaning experienced or knowledgeable. In attributive position, it inflects like other adjectives: ein erfahrener Fahrer, eine erfahrene Ärztin. Predicative use is possible as well: Er ist erfahren.

Etymology: the prefix er- combined with fahren yields a sense of obtaining knowledge or undergoing an experience, a development that evolved in German over time.