[gatitoverde]

So I was writing in my German journal about a little incident from a few weeks back and I came to a point where I wanted to say:

- I was hit by a car while standing in the street, trying to catch a bus driver's attention.

Well, I got almost to the end and was stuck on the one word I needed to complete my sentence--something meaning to catch, or grab--so that I had:

- Ich wurde von einem Auto angefahren, als ich in der Straße stand, um die Aufmerksamkeit von einem Bustreiber zu _________.

Well I embarked on search engine word hunt but never quite found what I was looking for, though erhaltan might do but I thought I'd share my list of all the various things that one can do to someone's Aufmerksamkeit, their attention or interest:


Aufmerksamkeit zu +

beanspruchen - to claim, demand
behalten - to keep
binden - to "bind," lock
entwickeln - to generate
erhalten - to get, receive
erhöhen - to increase
erregen - to excite, stimulate
fesseln - to grip, absorb
fokussieren - to focus
halten - to keep, retain
lenken - to guide, direct
minimieren - to minimize
steuern - to steer
stimulieren - to stimulate
verlagern - to shift
vermeiden - to avoid
unterstützen - to encourage


And If someone could suggest a word or phrase to say what I'm trying to say, I'd appreciate that.