kürzen

Kürzen is a German verb meaning to shorten, reduce the length of something, or trim. It can refer to physically shortening objects such as fabric or hair, as well as to reducing duration, quantity, or extent (for example time, numbers, or a text). In writing or technical contexts, kürzen can also mean to abbreviate by removing parts of a word or phrase. The related nouns Kürze and Kürzung express breivity or conciseness, and a concrete shortening or cutback, respectively (for example a budget cut or a reduction in staff).

Morphology and usage: Kürzen is a regular weak verb. Present tense forms are ich kürze, du kürzt, er kürzt, wir kürzen, ihr kürzt, sie kürzen; perfect tense is gekürzt (ich habe gekürzt). The prefixed form abkürzen means “to abbreviate” or “to shorten by using an abbreviation”; this prefix is separable in the present tense (ich kürze den Text ab). In everyday language, kürzen is commonly used with objects like Texte, Absätze, Haare, oder Kleidungsstücke.

Contexts and examples: In editing or publishing, texts are often gekürzt to fit space or layout constraints (Der Text wurde gekürzt, damit er ins Layout passt). In finance or policy, Kürzungen refer to reductions in budgets or subsidies (Kürzungen im Haushalt). In everyday life, one might kürzen Haare oder Kleidung, or kürzen Zeit on tasks to save time.

Nomen and related terms: Kürze denotes brevity or conciseness; Kürzung denotes the act or result of shortening. Synonyms include stutzen and reduzieren; antonyms include verlängern and erweitern.