verb
to calm, to soothe
B1
beruhigen: regular weak verb meaning 'to calm' (someone) and reflexively 'to calm down'. Uses auxiliary haben for perfect (hat beruhigt). Can be transitive (jemanden beruhigen) or reflexive (sich beruhigen). Not separable; present participle beruhigend, past participle beruhigt. Commonly used to soothe people or animals.
Examples
Ich beruhige das Kind.
I calm the child.
Die Ärztin beruhigte die Patientin, weil die Risiken zuvor deutlich erklärt wurden.
The doctor calmed the patient because the risks had been explained clearly beforehand.
Die Mutter versucht, das weinende Kind zu beruhigen.
The mother tries to calm the crying child.
Details
Mnemonics
Picture a soft hand gently patting someone's shoulder with the word 'beruhigen' floating above.
Sounds like 'bear-OO-he-gen' — imagine saying 'be calm, you gen' to calm someone.
Notes
A regular (weak) transitive verb. Often used with direct objects (jemanden beruhigen) or reflexively (sich beruhigen) when someone calms down themselves.