Distinguishing kennen and wissen; nutzen and benutzen; antworten and beantworten

In this lesson you will clarify three verb pairs that are very often mixed up: kennen / wissen, nutzen / benutzen and antworten / beantworten. All of them appear already at A1–A2 level.

1kennen and wissen

Both talk about knowledge, but the grammar is different.

a) Core meaning

• kennen: you are familiar with a person, place or thing; you have experience with it.

  • Used with nouns or pronouns, no subordinate clause.
  • Example: Ich kenne ihn. (I know him personally / he is not a stranger.)

• wissen: you know a fact or information.

  • Very often with a subordinate clause (dass, wo, wann, warum …).
  • Example: Ich weiß, wo er wohnt. (I know where he lives.)

Key contrast:

b) Typical structures

• kennen + Akkusativ

  • Kennst du dieses Lied? (Are you familiar with this song?)
  • Sie kennt das Problem. (She knows / is familiar with the problem.)

• wissen + question word / dass-clause / pronoun

  • Ich weiß, dass er krank ist. (I know that he is ill.)
  • Weißt du, wann der Kurs beginnt? (Do you know when the course starts?)
  • Ja, ich weiß das. (Yes, I know that.)

Important: no clause after kennen, and no concrete person/thing as object after wissen:

• Not: Ich weiß ihn. → correct: Ich kenne ihn.

2nutzen and benutzen

Both can mean “to use”, but with a small nuance.

a) Core meaning

• nutzen: to make use of something, to benefit from it; often more abstract.

  • Wir sollten die Chance nutzen. (We should use / take the chance.)
  • Ich nutze meine Freizeit. (I make use of my free time.)

• benutzen: to use a concrete object.

  • Ich benutze mein Handy. (I use my phone.)
  • Sie benutzt einen Stift. (She uses a pen.)

b) Comparison and overlap

Often both are possible in everyday speech:

• Ich nutze / benutze den Computer jeden Tag. (I use the computer every day.)

But these combinations are typical:

3antworten and beantworten

Here the difference is mostly grammatical.

a) antworten

• No accusative object, or used with auf + Akkusativ.
• The person is in dative.

Examples:

• Ich antworte dir später. (I will answer you later.)
• Ich antworte auf deine E-Mail. (I answer your email.)

b) beantworten

• Always with an accusative object (the thing, not the person).
• No preposition.

Examples:

• Ich beantworte deine E-Mail später. (I will answer your email later.)
• Kannst du meine Frage beantworten? (Can you answer my question?)

Comparison:

Remember:

• antworten: dative person, often auf + Akkusativ for the thing.
• beantworten: accusative thing, no preposition; the person appears only via a possessive: deine Frage, seine E-Mail.

summaryEn: After this lesson you can reliably distinguish and correctly use the verb pairs kennen/wissen, nutzen/benutzen and antworten/beantworten in everyday German.