Difference between abfliegen,abfahren, losfahren and wegfahren?
Hi, everyone🙂🥲, I’m a bit confused about some German transport verbs and would like to check my understanding.
First, is it okay to simplify it for learners like this?
- abfahren = departure by train/bus/car (land transport)
- abfliegen = departure by airplane
- Abfahrt = departure of train/bus/car (land transport)
- Abflug = departure of an airplane
They basically share the same core meaning of “departure”, the difference is that:
- abfahren / Abfahrt are used for Bus/Auto/Taxi/Zug/S-Bahn/U-Bahn etc.
- abfliegen / Abflug are used for airplanes
I’m not sure if my simplified understanding is correct, so please let me know if it’s not.
My second question is about the difference between losfahren, abfahren and wegfahren.
My current understanding is this:
abfahren and losfahren basically share the same core meaning of “departure”, but there is a difference:
- abfahren is mainly used for public transport like Bus/Zug etc., where you are just a passenger and not the driver.
- losfahren is more for your own private vehicle like an Auto, where you can decide when the vehicle leaves.
Is my understanding correct, or is this too simplified?
Then I also have a question about wegfahren.
My understanding is that wegfahren commonly has three meanings:
- to go away / leave for a trip or vacation
- to drive away from somewhere
- to drive something away / move something away by driving it
Is this correct?
I would really appreciate it if someone could explain the differences between abfahren, losfahren and wegfahren.🙏🙏
And finally, I have one more question:
If someone parks their car right in front of your car and blocks you, and you call the driver and say:
“Können Sie Ihr Auto bitte wegfahren?”
does this usually mean:
the driver comes back, gets into their own car, starts it, and moves it away so that you can leave?
In other words, does wegfahren here normally mean driving the car away yourself, and not towing/pulling it away with another vehicle?
Thanks .❤️