jdm. einen Bärendienst erweisen

to do someone a disservice

Türkçe: birine kötülük etmek

Not jdm. einen Bärendienst machen

English says to do, so machen is the verb that comes to mind. German does not take it here. Bärendienst goes with erweisen, and the pairing is fixed — it is not a rule you can work out, only one you can learn.

Noun

Bärendienst m.

Verb

erweisen

Topic

Arbeit und Beruf

In a sentence

Der Kollege erweist mir mit seiner voreiligen Hilfe einen Bärendienst.

How it is used

Means 'to do someone a disservice' (core: help that backfires). Colloquial register. Use when lending money enables bad habits. Nuance: the helper's intention is good, but the outcome harms.

Other collocations built on erweisen

• jdm. Achtung erweisento pay respect through a specific action, like bowing or a toast
• jdm. einen Dienst erweisento perform a helpful act or favor for someone
• jdm. Ehre erweisento pay tribute or honor someone publicly
• jdm. eine Gnade erweisento grant someone a favor