fragen
See also: Fragen
German
Etymology
From Middle High German vrāgen, from Old High German frāgēn, frahēn/frāhēn, which is indirectly derived from Proto-West Germanic *frāgēn, from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to ask”).[1] Cognate with Dutch vragen (“to ask”), root-related to Old English freġnan, friġnan (“to ask, inquire, learn”), Old Norse fregna.
Pronunciation
Verb
fragen (weak or mixed, third-person singular present fragt or (dialectal or colloquial) frägt, past tense fragte or (dialectal or colloquial) frug, past participle gefragt, past subjunctive fragte or (dialectal or colloquial) früge, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive, usually with a second accusative object) to ask (someone something)
- Darf ich dich etwas fragen?
- May I ask you something?
- (transitive, with nach) to ask for, to ask after
- (reflexive) to wonder (literally, to ask (oneself))
- Ich frage mich, wer mir helfen kann.
- I wonder who can help me.
Usage notes
- Generally, fragen has always been a weak verb. The strong forms of fragen are secondary and now obsolete in formal writing. They live on in dialects and colloquial varieties.
Conjugation
infinitive | fragen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | fragend | ||||
past participle | gefragt | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich frage | wir fragen | i | ich frage | wir fragen |
du fragst du frägst1 |
ihr fragt | du fragest | ihr fraget | ||
er fragt er frägt1 |
sie fragen | er frage | sie fragen | ||
preterite | ich fragte ich frug1 |
wir fragten wir frugen1 |
ii | ich fragte2 ich früge1,2 |
wir fragten2 wir frügen1,2 |
du fragtest du frugst1 |
ihr fragtet ihr frugt1 |
du fragtest2 du frügest1,2 du frügst1,2 |
ihr fragtet2 ihr früget1,2 ihr frügt1,2 | ||
er fragte er frug1 |
sie fragten sie frugen1 |
er fragte2 er früge1,2 |
sie fragten2 sie frügen1,2 | ||
imperative | frag (du) frage (du) |
fragt (ihr) |
1Dialectal or colloquial.
2Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
References
- ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Frage, fragen”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
Further reading
- “fragen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “fragen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “fragen” in Duden online
- “fragen” in OpenThesaurus.de
West Frisian
Noun
fragen
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:German/aːɡn̩
- Rhymes:German/aːɡn̩/2 syllables
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German weak verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German mixed verbs
- German transitive verbs
- German terms with usage examples
- German reflexive verbs
- West Frisian non-lemma forms
- West Frisian noun forms