English Translation
She can answer the difficult question.
what is the difference between antworten and beantworten a question
“beantworten” takes a direct object in the accusative case (usually “Frage”), while “antworten” either takes no object at all or an indirect object in the dative case (usually a person).
Ich kann die Frage beantworten. - I can answer the question.
Ich kann das beantworten. - I can answer that (question).
Ich werde nicht antworten. - I will not answer/respond. (i.e. stay silent)
Ich kann dir antworten. - I can answer you. (i.e. respond to you)
Ich antworte die Frage. - I answer the question. This doesn’t work.
The “be-” prefix usually indicates that there needs to be a direct object. You can think of it as “to apply to” or “to bestow upon”, so in the case of “beantworten”, it’s like “to apply an answer to the question”.
Examples with other verb pairs:
Ich werde ein Bild malen. - I will paint a picture. (= create a picture)
Ich werde die Wand bemalen. - I will paint the wall. (= apply paint to the wall)
reisen - to travel
ein Land bereisen - to travel to and within a certain country
leuchten - to emit light
beleuchten - to shine light at something. Also figuratively (examine)
singen - to sing
besingen - to dedicate a song to something
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