Hi, As far as I can tell, both these mean "married". Is there a subtle difference which has escaped me? Thanks.
"Geheiratet" is a conjugation form (present perfect or past perfect) of the verb "heiraten". Example: Ich habe geheiratet. (I have married). Ich hatte geheiratet. (I had married.) (Note: The English translation is similar, but the usage may be different to the German form). "Verheiratet" is an adjective. Ich bin verheiratet. (Literally: I am married.) It is used to describe your status after you have married. The contrary of "verheiratet" is: ledig (if you have not married yet) or geschieden (if you are diforced) or verwitwet (widowed).
Verheiratet is also the past (passive) participle of the transitive verb verheiraten (= to marry two people like in the English sentence The pastor married John and Jane). But Hutschi is right, verheiratet often is used as a adjective being dissociated from its origin as a verb form and referring to the state of being married while geheiratet is always linked to the act of marriage. The difference between Sie sind verheiratet and Sie haben geheiratet is the same as between They are married and They have married.
Thanks. But what about "trauen"? Doesn't that mean "to marry someone" in the sense of " the priest married the young couple."? Are verheiraten and trauen interchangeable?
Almost. Trauen is really only for the ceremony. You could use verheiraten is a wider sense. If you want to say that a marriage has been arranged you could use verheiraten. Example: Sie wurden gegen ihren Willen verheiratet. (They were married against their will.)
I was not aware, but you are right. In "They are married" "married" is used as adjective, isn't it? "Verheiraten" has also a second sense: "Der Pastor verheiratete sie." "Er hat sie verheiratet". (I do not know, how to say this in English. Is "The pastor married them" right?)
Sorry, typo Happens at times to me when switching between English and German too often. I presume Hutschi has the same problem.
Sorry, too. I corrected it in my topic. I do not know how it happened, because I know the correct spelling, and I did read the correct spelling (in my mind) before posting it, I just did not see the "d" in my own posting.
Vielen Dank! Problem solved. Geheirate(emphasize on action) and verheirate(emphasize on status/condition).
