zwingen
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle High German twingen, from Old High German dwingan, from Proto-Germanic *þwinganą, related to *þwangiz (“clamp, strap”).[1]
Cognates include Dutch dwingen, Norwegian tvinge, Swedish tvinga, Icelandic þvinga. What may be perceived as a repetition of the consonant shift (from Germanic *þ → Old High German d → Middle High German t → modern German z) is a regular development that affected most words with Old High German dw- and tw- (compare Zwerg, but see also quengeln for a counterexample). Compare English twinge.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]zwingen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present zwingt, past tense zwang, past participle gezwungen, past subjunctive zwänge, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive or reflexive) to force; to compel; to make (someone do something)
- Ich wurde gezwungen, sie zu heiraten.
- I was forced to marry her.
- 1908, Walther Kabel, Das Tagebuch eines Irren, in: Bibliothek der Unterhaltung und des Wissens, vol. 9, Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 132:
- Nur mit Aufbietung seiner ganzen Energie zwang er sich zur Ruhe.
- Only with the mobilization of all his energy did he force himself to be calm.
- (intransitive, with "zu ...") to necessitate; to call for
Conjugation
[edit]infinitive | zwingen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | zwingend | ||||
past participle | gezwungen | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich zwinge | wir zwingen | i | ich zwinge | wir zwingen |
du zwingst | ihr zwingt | du zwingest | ihr zwinget | ||
er zwingt | sie zwingen | er zwinge | sie zwingen | ||
preterite | ich zwang | wir zwangen | ii | ich zwänge1 | wir zwängen1 |
du zwangst | ihr zwangt | du zwängest1 du zwängst1 |
ihr zwänget1 ihr zwängt1 | ||
er zwang | sie zwangen | er zwänge1 | sie zwängen1 | ||
imperative | zwing (du) zwinge (du) |
zwingt (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “zwingen”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Further reading
[edit]- 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 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:German/ɪŋn̩
- Rhymes:German/ɪŋn̩/2 syllables
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German strong verbs
- German class 3 strong verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German transitive verbs
- German reflexive verbs
- German terms with usage examples
- German terms with quotations
- German intransitive verbs