I’ve often had confusion regarding the verb ‘rufen’. It is used when you call someone who is in a different room, someone who is far away and you want to make a telephone call, or when you want to retrieve information or data from a database. Isn’t that crazy? Or amazing, that just one word, with different prefixes and sometimes without a prefix, is used for different purposes.

rufen

This verb is when you physically call someone and there is no telephone or mobile phone or a skype call involved. For example, you are going to your room and you tell your mom to call you for lunch when it is ready.

I have called you. >> Ich habe dich gerufen.
I called you 5 minutes ago. >> Ich habe dich 5 vor Minuten gerufen.

(an)rufen

This is used when you’re calling someone on their phone (landline or mobile) and not physically.

I have called you 10 times on your phone. >> Ich habe dich 10 mal auf deinem Handy angerufen.
I will give her a call. >> Ich werde sie anrufen.

(ab)rufen

This verb has a completely different meaning but you will understand it the moment you know it. It means to retrieve the data from somewhere. You can look at it in a way that the data is being called (crazy, I know)!

We can retrieve the information from it. >> Wir können die Informationen daraus abrufen.
I am unable to retrieve the data. >> Ich kann die Daten nicht abrufen.