What’s the main difference between die Gegend and das Gebiet?
As similarity, I see that both mean AREA, and REGION.
But then, they have some differences on what you might mean with that.
What would you use for things like:
I live in this area.
My house is in this area or region.
I live in this region.
That building is in that area.
and so on…
Are interchangeable?
Thanks.
Hi David,
This thread might help. Gegend vs. Gebiet | WordReference Forums
It’s still a little fuzzy to me so maybe someone can offer more clarity.
I have seen “Gebiet” used more frequently. Also you will see regions of German referred to as Gebiet…eg. Ruhrgebiet which encompasses a bunch of cities in the northwest of Germany.
Thank @Eric.
According to that, and to make it simple:
die Gegend: small areas - colloquial - areas where we live - body areas.
das Gebiet: bigger areas, also used for small areas, used for areas seen as a unity - territory - more formal - used figuratively
To add to the mix (with the pleasure of articles):
der Bereich
die Stelle
das Viertel
I’ve also found der Bezirk that could be used like the others?
Is it more used as district? More in cities?
I hadn’t heard that one, or at least I’m not remembering having seen it.
I did see this:
Interesting, I’ve read the German version and I think it’s mostly used as District or political city administration. But the word has also other meanings in my dictionary similar to the two above.
Something for you:
In den USA werden die Wahlkreise als districts bezeichnet. Und weil das Gebiet der amerikanischen Bundeshauptstadt District of Columbia genannt wird, bezeichnen auch mehrere andere Staaten ihr Hauptstadtterritorium in der jeweiligen Landessprache als „Bundesdistrikt“ oder „Nationaldistrikt“.
GEBIET
der deutsche Begriff Bezirk bezeichnet ein abgegrenztes Gebiet.
STADTEILEN
In anderen Städten wie etwa Salzburg spricht man hingegen von Stadtteilen.
STADTKREIS
In der Schweiz ist für einen Stadtbezirk der Begriff Stadtkreis üblich.
Der Begriff Stadtteil bezeichnet vorrangig eine geographische Einteilung. In kleineren Städten werden die Begriffe häufig synonym verwendet.
And now I’ve found also das Gelände. That’s also used as “area”. and it should be synonymous with das Gebiet. Probably most generic I would say.
Based on the translations I see it is “the site” (in English). Which to me means something very specific…the site of the rocket launch. The site of the concert. The site of the protest. Here’s another link with an answer from “MarioZ” that maybe makes it more helpful:
Ich lebe in dieser Gegend.
Mein Haus befindet sich in dieser Gegend. (Region is bigger than Gegend.)
Ich lebe in dieser Gegend/ Region. (Region is bigger than Gegend.)
Das Gebäude befindet sich in dieser Gegend.
As with a lot of other words Gegend/ Region/ Gebiet/ Gelände/ Bezirk/ Stelle/ Bereich and Viertel can be interchanged sometimes.
There are still differences.
Stadtviertel and Bezirk (and sometimes Region) usually have their strict borders made by governments and cities.
Gegend is a bit vage without known borders.
Stelle is s specific point somewhere, not an area.
Gebiet is not an official area, but you use the word when you have a clear border around it in you vision (or the map). In a war you could circle a random part of a map and say: Wir wollen dieses Gebiet erobern. Or a researcher coud point to this circle on the map and say: In diesem Gebiet haben wir die neu entdeckte Pflanze XY gefunden.
Thanks Eric, I copy/paste this short answer that looks quite good.
MarioZ:
Here’s DWDS:
Very useful examples, thank you.
Stadtviertel, Bezirk, Region, Stelle are the ones that are easy to understand for me.
But Gebiet, Gegend, Gelände, Bereich are blurry.
Maybe there is also Zone but I’ve found it only in the dictionary.
I keep paying attention though.