C1 · 37 words

Saving energy at home

What really cuts the bill, and what only looks as if it does.

Der Schein trügt could stand as the motto of this list, and its noun does more work than any single English word. Der Schein is first of all light: der Kerzenschein is the glow of a candle, der Lichtschein the strip of light under a door. It comes from scheinen, which means both to shine and to seem, and from there the noun moves to appearance — how a thing looks as against what it is, as in zum Schein, for show. Then it turns into paper. Der Führerschein is a driving licence, der Geldschein a banknote, and students used to collect Scheine, the certificates for courses they had passed. So one noun covers the glow of the lamp, the look of a saving, the licence and the note in your wallet. An English reader has to pick between light, appearance, certificate and note every time; the sentence always decides, and in der Schein trügt it is always the appearance.

The words

Verb (6)

stoßlüftento air a room with the windows wide open for a few minutesVerbC1

Im Winter sollte man lieber mehrmals am Tag ein paar Minuten stoßlüften, als ein Fenster stundenlang gekippt zu lassen.In winter it is better to open the windows wide for a few minutes several times a day than to leave one tilted for hours.

Used almost only in the infinitive and the participle (stoßgelüftet); otherwise people say stoßweise lüften.

auskühlento cool right down (of a room or building)VerbC1

Lässt man die Wohnung übers Wochenende auskühlen, braucht die Heizung danach lange, um die Wände wieder zu erwärmen.If you let the flat cool right down over the weekend, the heating then takes a long time to warm the walls up again.

Separable; perfect with sein when nobody does it: die Wohnung ist ausgekühlt.

überheizento keep (a room) too warmVerbC1

In vielen Büros wird im Winter so überheizt, dass die Leute mittags die Fenster aufreißen.Many offices are kept so hot in winter that people fling the windows open at lunchtime.

Inseparable: überheizt, hat überheizt. An engine or an economy überhitzt.

abtauento defrostVerbC1

Ein Gefrierfach mit dicker Eisschicht braucht spürbar mehr Strom, also sollte man es regelmäßig abtauen.A freezer compartment with a thick layer of ice uses noticeably more electricity, so it should be defrosted regularly.

Separable: taut ab, hat abgetaut.

sich amortisierento pay for itselfVerbC1

Die neue Umwälzpumpe hat sich nach wenigen Jahren amortisiert.The new circulation pump paid for itself within a few years.

Reflexive; the investment is the subject. Everyday German says sich rechnen.

verpuffento fizzle out, to come to nothingVerbC1

Die Ersparnis durch das neue Fenster verpufft, wenn es den ganzen Tag gekippt bleibt.The saving from the new window comes to nothing if it stays tilted all day.

Perfect with sein: ist verpufft. Literally of gas burning off with a soft bang.

This list belongs to Home and the building — 19 lists and 696 words that can also be practised as a whole.

Practise this list

Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 37 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.