# What is meant by "Auf Prüfungen lernen"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2020, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414 "2020-04-23T07:52:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414/1 "2020-04-23T07:52:27Z")
Hi What is meant by “Auf Prüfungen lernen”? Does it mean preparing for exams from scratch? I look forward to your feedback ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414/2 "2020-04-23T07:58:23Z")
Literally, it just means revising in preparation for exams. It can be neutral in tone (there’s an exam coming up and you want to be prepared), but it can also have a slightly negative or at least tactical tone: That you study _only_ when an exam is coming up, in order to pass, and when the exam is over you’re happy to forget all that you’ve learnt. It would be a question of context of the whole sentence which of these two meanings would be intended. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414/3 "2020-04-23T08:00:28Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Literally, it just means revising in preparation for exams. I should add that, according to my dictionary, this meaning of “revising” (in the sense of studying specifically for an upcoming exam) that I used in my post appears to be specifically British/Commonwealth. I just wanted to point that out in case there are readers who are not familiar with that usage. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414/4 "2020-04-23T11:02:25Z")
In the UK there is also a concept of “teaching/learning to the test” (usually deprecatory, suggesting that it’s too limited an educational approach, depending on the subject and educational level): might this imply a similar concern (depending on the context)? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414/5 "2020-04-23T20:47:57Z")
British"revising" = American “studying”. We got the British version of Harry Potter and they were always revising. In the American editions it was studying. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-meant-by-auf-prufungen-lernen/852414/6 "2020-04-24T05:20:32Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > British"revising" = American “studying”. We got the British version of Harry Potter and they were always revising. In the American editions it was studying. Not quite. Revising is going back over what you’ve already studied (the clue is the “re”), to make sure it’s all reasonably fresh in your memory for the examination.