No. 491 in German
initiative
The ability to assess and begin things independently; a proposal or action intended to resolve a difficulty or improve a situation.
In a sentence
Die Initiative zur Umweltschutzkampagne wurde von einer Gruppe engagierter Bürger gestartet.
The initiative for the environmental protection campaign was started by a group of committed citizens.
Here, 'Initiative' refers to a specific plan or movement initiated to achieve a particular goal, emphasizing its role as a project.
In einer angeregten Diskussion übernahm er die Initiative und brachte neue Ideen ein.
In an animated discussion, he took the initiative and contributed new ideas.
In this context, 'Initiative' describes the action of taking the lead in a situation, showing proactive behavior.
Selbstständiges Arbeiten erfordert oft eine gewisse Initiative von den Teilnehmern.
Independent work often requires a certain degree of initiative from the participants.
Here, 'Initiative' represents the quality of being able and willing to begin and take responsibility for actions independently.
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “initiative” in actual German podcasts.
Find “initiative” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays German podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Learning English?
LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into Deutsch, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
German books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).