verstehen
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Unadapted borrowing from German Verstehen or German verstehen (“to understand, comprehend”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
verstehen (uncountable)
- (sociology) A stance that attempts to understand the meaning of action from the actor’s point of view, so that the actor is seen as a subject rather than an object of observation.
German[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle High German verstān, virstēn, vorstēn, ferstān, from Old High German firstān, firstēn, from Proto-Germanic *frastāną, equivalent to ver- + stehen. Cognate with Dutch verstaan, Middle Low German vorstān. Compare also English forstand.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
verstehen (irregular strong, third-person singular present versteht, past tense verstand, past participle verstanden, past subjunctive verstände or verstünde, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive or intransitive) to understand, comprehend, make sense of (to be aware of the meaning of)
- Ich verstehe, wie diese Maschine funktioniert
- I understand how this machine works.
- (transitive) to know, know how to, be good (with) (to understand or have a grasp of through experience or study)
- (transitive) to understand, take, see (to impute meaning, etc., that is not explicitly stated)
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:begreifen
- (reflexive) to get along well (with=mit), to like
- Sie verstehen sich miteinander.
- They get along well with each other.
- (reflexive) to understand each other, hear each other (to be able to communicate)
- (reflexive) to go without saying, to be obvious
- (informal) Versteht sich! ― Of course!
- (reflexive) to think of oneself (as something)
- (reflexive) to be an expert (at something)
Conjugation[edit]
infinitive | verstehen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | verstehend | ||||
past participle | verstanden | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
present | ich verstehe | wir verstehen | i | ich verstehe | wir verstehen |
du verstehst | ihr versteht | du verstehest | ihr verstehet | ||
er versteht | sie verstehen | er verstehe | sie verstehen | ||
preterite | ich verstand | wir verstanden | ii | ich verstände1 ich verstünde1 |
wir verständen1 wir verstünden1 |
du verstandest du verstandst |
ihr verstandet | du verständest1 du verstündest1 |
ihr verständet1 ihr verstündet1 | ||
er verstand | sie verstanden | er verstände1 er verstünde1 |
sie verständen1 sie verstünden1 | ||
imperative | versteh (du) verstehe (du) |
versteht (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
Categories:
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- English 3-syllable words
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- en:Sociology
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
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- German words prefixed with ver-
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- de:Thinking