overwordExplorer
GERMAN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

verstehen.

to understand

9 characters3 syllables approx.Deutsch language

Meaning & usage

verb/fərˈʃteːən//fɛr-/[fɐˈʃteː.ən][fɛɐ̯-]
  1. to understand to hear and interpret (speech)

    intransitive · irregular · strong · transitive
    Ich verstehe dich nicht bei dem Lärm.
  2. to understand to comprehend, to make sense of

    intransitive · irregular · strong · transitive
    Ich verstehe nicht, was du meinst.
  3. to understand to take, to interpret, to gather (to impute what is not explicitly stated)

    intransitive · irregular · strong · transitive
    Ich verstehe das so, dass Sie unzufrieden sind.
  4. to understand to understand, to consider, to take

    intransitive · irregular · strong · transitive
    etwas als Beleidigung verstehen
    etwas als seine Aufgabe verstehen
  5. to understand to know, to have knowledge or understanding of (through experience or study)

    intransitive · irregular · strong · transitive
    Er versteht viel von Autos.
    Davon verstehe ich nichts.
  6. to understand oneself, to understand each other, to be understood to see oneself, to think of oneself

    irregular · reflexive · strong
    Wir verstehen uns als Dienstleister.
  7. to understand oneself, to understand each other, to be understood to understand one another, be able to communicate

    irregular · reflexive · strong
    Ich hoffe, wir verstehen uns.
  8. to understand oneself, to understand each other, to be understood to get along

    irregular · reflexive · strong
    Die beiden verstehen sich gut.
    Wie verstehst du dich mit deinem Chef?
  9. to understand oneself, to understand each other, to be understood to be an expert

    irregular · reflexive · strong
    Sie versteht sich auf gut getarnte Beleidigungen.
  10. to understand oneself, to understand each other, to be understood to be meant, to have to be interpreted (in some way)

    irregular · reflexive · strong
    Die angegebenen Preise verstehen sich ohne Mehrwertsteuer.
  11. to understand oneself, to understand each other, to be understood to go without saying, to be obvious

    impersonal · irregular · reflexive · strong
    Es versteht sich, dass ...
    Das versteht sich von selbst.
Where this word comes from

From Middle High German verstān, virstēn, vorstēn, ferstān, from Old High German firstān, firstēn, from Proto-Germanic *frastāną, equivalent to ver- + stehen. Cognate with Bavarian versteh, Dutch verstaan, Middle Low German vorstān. Compare also English forstand.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.