What is the difference between belogen / belügen, and other verbs like anlügen and just lügen? I generally understand these when they’re used in context, but I don’t know when to use one or the other or what the differences in connotation are.
English Translation
You lied to me, didn’t you?
It’s a good question. I see on dict.cc that “anlügen” and “belügen” are listed as synonyms, so it’s likely that “du hast mich angelogen” and “du hast mich belogen” could have the same meaning. But it’s quite possible that there’s some shade of difference between those two that only a native speaker would understand.
As for “lugen” versus “anlügen”, I believe this is the difference between “to lie” and “to lie to someone” in English:
Du lügst! = You’re lying!
Du lügst mich an! = You’re lying to me!
A variant of this is just to yell “Lügner! / Lügnerin!” (liar!) at someone to accuse them of lying, but I think this is extremely direct and almost certainly insulting.
I see no difference between belügen and anlügen. To me they are true synonyms.
And you’re right about lügen vs. anlügen!
And for good measure (isn’t German beautiful that way?), let’s not forget vorlügen…
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Er lügt seiner Mutter vor, dass er krank ist. (He lies to his mother that he is sick.)
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Wir müssen uns nichts vorlügen. (We don’t have to lie to ourselves)
Personally, I haven’t come across “vorlügen”, but the prefix “vor-” in these contexts implies some kind of acting and stresses the intention of “make believe”. It is similar to “vormachen”, or maybe even “einreden”:
Machen wir uns nichts vor. Das Projekt wird nie was werden.
Let’s not kid/delude ourselves. The project is never going to succeed.
Ich habe mir immer eingeredet, dass ich ein guter Künstler bin. Anscheinend lag ich da falsch.
I have always convinced myself that I’m a good artist. Apparently I was wrong about that.
More on the prefix “vor-”:
The core meaning here is “to perform in front of someone”.
Other verbs include:
vorlesen: to read to someone. For example a parent reading a bedtime story to the child. Also, a “Vorlesung” is a lecture. E.g. a professor reads in front of the students, or an author reads their own book to an audience.
vorspielen: to play (to) someone. This can either be about a musical instrument, or literal acting:
Ich habe zufällig meine Gitarre dabei. Soll ich dir was vorspielen?
I happen to have my guitar with me. Do you want me to play something to you?
Er hat dir die ganze Zeit etwas vorgespielt. Er ist gar kein Millionär.
He’s been playing you the whole time. He’s no millionaire at all.
vorsprechen: to speak in front of someone. This can be an audition/casting for a movie, or a job interview, or if the boss calls you to their office.
vormachen: We already had an example (to fool / blow smoke), but it also means “to show how it’s done”:
Du scheinst Probleme damit zu haben. Soll ich es dir vormachen?
You seem to struggle with it. Do you want me to show you how it’s done?
In the same vein as “vorspielen”, “vor-” can be attached to other kinds of performing verbs. For example: vorsingen, vortanzen, etc.