lehren

See also: Lehren

German

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old High German lēren, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *laizijaną, from *laizō (“lore”). Cognate with Low German lehren, Dutch leren, Swedish lära, Norwegian lære. Related to lernen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleːʁən/

• audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: leeren
• Rhymes: -eːʀən

Verb

1. (transitive or intransitive) to teach a class, a subject; to be a teacher

   Ich lehre Geschichte. – I teach history.

   Sie lehrt an der Uni. – She's a teacher at the university.

2. (formal, transitive) to teach somebody something

   Meine Großmutter lehrte mich das Stricken.

   My grandmother taught me knitting.

Usage notes

• A more common word for sense 2, particularly in spoken German, is beibringen.
• Traditional grammar requires lehren (unlike beibringen) to be used only with accusative objects, i.e. with a double accusative as in the example above. However, a dative construction is also heard now and then. Thus: Meine Großmutter lehrte mir das Stricken.

Derived terms

• Lehrbuch
• Lehre f
• Lehrer
• Lehrwerk

Related terms

• lernen

Further reading

• “lehren” in Duden online