helfen
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle High German hëlfen, from Old High German helfan, from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, from Proto-Germanic *helpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp-. Cognate with Low German helpen, Dutch helpen, English help, Danish hjælpe, Norwegian Bokmål hjelpe.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈhɛlfn̩/
Audio (Germany): (file) Audio (Germany): (file) Audio (Austria): (file) - Hyphenation: hel‧fen
Verb
[edit]helfen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present hilft, past tense half, past participle geholfen, past subjunctive hülfe, auxiliary haben)
- [with dative] to help (someone); to assist; to aid [with bei (+ dative) ‘with’]
- Ich habe ihnen bei der Reparatur des Wagens geholfen.
- I helped them with the repair of the car.
- Dieses Mittel hilft dabei, Probleme beim Wasserlassen und Inkontinenz zu reduzieren.
- This product helps to reduce urinary problems and incontinence.
- Hat der Krieg diese drei Hauptschäden bekämpfen helfen?
- Did the war help combat these three main harms?
Usage notes
[edit]- When used as a catenative verb, helfen can be either take zu + infinitive or the bare infinitive.
- Similarly as in modal verbs like müssen and können, when used with a bare infinitive, the past participle geholfen can be replaced by the infinitive helfen (as shown in the third example), but this phenomenon does not occur unless in obsolete or archaic speech.
Conjugation
[edit]infinitive | helfen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | helfend | ||||
past participle | geholfen | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich helfe | wir helfen | i | ich helfe | wir helfen |
du hilfst | ihr helft | du helfest | ihr helfet | ||
er hilft | sie helfen | er helfe | sie helfen | ||
preterite | ich half | wir halfen | ii | ich hülfe1 | wir hülfen1 |
du halfst | ihr halft | du hülfest1 du hülfst1 |
ihr hülfet1 ihr hülft1 | ||
er half | sie halfen | er hülfe1 | sie hülfen1 | ||
imperative | hilf (du) | helft (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
[edit]- abhelfen
- aufhelfen
- aushelfen
- behelfen
- durchhelfen
- Helfen
- hinaufhelfen
- hinunterhelfen
- hinweghelfen
- hinweghelfen über
- hochhelfen
- jemandem durchhelfen
- jemandem hinaufhelfen
- jemandem hinunterhelfen
- jemandem hochhelfen
- mithelfen
- nachhelfen
- sich behelfen
- sich mit etwas behelfen
- verhelfen
- voranhelfen
- vorwärtshelfen
- weghelfen
- weiterhelfen
- weiterzuhelfen
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “helfen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “helfen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “helfen” in Duden online
- “helfen” in OpenThesaurus.de
- “helfen” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
Anagrams
[edit]Middle High German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old High German helfan, from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, from Proto-Germanic *helpaną. Cognate with Middle Low German helpen, Middle Dutch helpen, and Middle English helpen.
Verb
[edit]hëlfen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present hilfet, past tense half, past participle geholfen, past subjunctive hülfe, auxiliary hân)
- to help
- Wer hülfe danne mir? ― Who would then help me?
Conjugation
[edit]infinitive | hëlfen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
genitive gerund | hëlfennes hëlfenes | ||||
dative gerund | hëlfenne hëlfene | ||||
present participle | hëlfende | ||||
past participle | geholfen | ||||
auxiliary | hân | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich hilfe | wir hëlfen | i | ich hëlfe | wir hëlfen |
du hilfest | ir hëlfet | du hëlfest | ir hëlfet | ||
ër hilfet | sie hëlfent | ër hëlfe | sie hëlfen | ||
preterite | ich half | wir hulfen | ii | ich hülfe | wir hülfen |
du hülfe | ir hulfet | du hülfest | ir hülfet | ||
ër half | sie hulfen | ër hülfe | sie hülfen | ||
imperative | hilf (du) | hëlfet (ir) |
Descendants
[edit]- Central Franconian: hellepe
- Cimbrian: hölfan
- German: helfen
- Luxembourgish: hëllefen
- Yiddish: העלפֿן (helfn)
References
[edit]- Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “helfen”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke[1], Stuttgart: S. Hirzel
Welsh
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]helfen
- h-prothesized form of elfen
Mutation
[edit]Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | h-prothesis |
elfen | unchanged | unchanged | helfen |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
- 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 inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
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- Middle High German terms inherited from Old High German
- Middle High German terms derived from Old High German
- Middle High German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle High German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle High German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle High German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle High German lemmas
- Middle High German verbs
- Middle High German strong verbs
- Middle High German class 3 strong verbs
- Middle High German verbs using hân as auxiliary
- Middle High German terms with usage examples
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