lernen or studieren?

Q: lernen or studieren?

studieren means being enrolled at a university, not *to study* in the sense of revising. That is lernen. Someone cramming for tomorrow’s exam lernt, even if they studieren.

studieren means being enrolled at a university, not to study in the sense of revising. That is lernen. Someone cramming for tomorrow’s exam lernt, even if they studieren.

lernen

Acquiring something: vocabulary, an instrument, a language, the material for an exam. Also at a language course or at school.

Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch.I have been learning German for two years.

studieren

Being enrolled at a university, with a subject: Medizin studieren. Not for school or a language course.

Sie studiert Medizin in Heidelberg.She is studying medicine in Heidelberg.

The mistake

Ich studiere heute Abend für die Prüfung.

Ich lerne heute Abend für die Prüfung.

Studieren describes a status over years, not an activity for one evening. The wrong sentence claims someone is enrolling at a university tonight.

Rule of thumb

Studieren belongs on your CV, lernen in your calendar. Whatever happens tonight is lernen.

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