verb
to operate, to perform surgery
B1
Operieren: mainly to operate or to perform surgery, i.e. carry out an operation as a surgeon. It is a regular (weak), non-reflexive verb. Uses the auxiliary haben in the perfect (hat operiert). Passive is formed with werden (wird operiert). Imperative: operiere!, operiert!
Examples
Er ist operiert worden.
He has been operated on.
Der Arzt operiert den Patienten.
The doctor is operating on the patient.
Der Chirurg operierte den Patienten, obwohl die Bedingungen im Saal schwierig gewesen waren.
The surgeon operated on the patient, although the conditions in the operating room had been difficult.
Details
Mnemonics
Imagine a surgeon saying 'Ich operiere jetzt' while preparing the patient.
Sounds like English 'operate' — same root.
Notes
operieren is a regular -ieren verb commonly used in medical contexts. It is transitive when specifying a patient (jemanden operieren) and can also be used intransitively in some contexts (an etwas operieren).