schämen
See also: schamen
German
Etymology
From Middle High German schamen, schemen, from Old High German scamēn, from Proto-Germanic *skamjaną (“to be ashamed”), equivalent to Scham (shame) + -en. More at shame.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃɛːmən/, [-mən], [-mn̩] (standard; used naturally in western Germany and Switzerland)
- IPA(key): /ˈʃeː-/ (overall more common; particularly northern and eastern regions)
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: schä‧men
Verb
- (reflexive) to be ashamed or embarrassed
- Ich schäme mich für meine Wohnung.
- I am ashamed of my apartment.
- Du solltest dich schämen.
- You should be ashamed.
- Sie wollte, dass ihre Tochter stolz ist auf ihre ausländischen Wurzeln und sich ihrer nicht schämt.
- She wanted her daughter to be proud of her foreign roots and not be ashamed of them
Usage notes
It was previously usual for the verb sich schämen to be followed by a genitive object (ich schäme mich meiner Vergangenheit); nowadays however, this generally substituted by a prepositional object following für or also wegen (ich schäme mich für meine Vergangenheit), except sometimes in elevated writing.
Conjugation
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
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 inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms suffixed with -en
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German reflexive verbs
- German terms with usage examples