stehlen
German
Etymology
From Old High German stelan, from Proto-West Germanic *stelan, Proto-Germanic *stelaną. Compare Icelandic stela, Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), Dutch stelen, English steal, Danish stjæle.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃteːlən/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: steh‧len
- Homophone: Stelen
Verb
stehlen (class 4 strong, third-person singular present stiehlt, past tense stahl, past participle gestohlen, past subjunctive stähle or stöhle, auxiliary haben)
Usage notes
- The person from whom the thing is stolen is given in the dative case. Thus, Er hat mir ein Buch gestohlen means: “He stole a book from me.” This is quite contrary to English usage, where “He stole me a book” would be the equivalent of German: Er hat ein Buch für mich gestohlen. The person for whom the thing is stolen must be expressed as an object of "für".
- An exception to this, however, is a reflexive dative, which will have the same sense as in English: Er hat sich ein Buch gestohlen means: “He stole himself a book.” This exception is implied by logic, since one cannot steal from oneself.
Conjugation
Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- → Esperanto: ŝteli
Low German
Etymology
From Old Saxon stelan, from Proto-West Germanic *stelan.
Verb
stehlen (third-person singular simple present stehlt, past tense stohl, past participle stahlen, auxiliary verb hebben)
Usage notes
As in High German, the person from whom the thing is stolen is given in the oblique case. Thus, He hett mi en Book stahlen means: “He stole a book from me.” This is quite contrary to English usage, where “He stole me a book” would be the equivalent of Low German: He hett en Book för mi stahlen.
Conjugation
infinitive | stehlen | |
---|---|---|
indicative | present | preterite |
1st person singular | stehl | stohl |
2nd person singular | stehls(t) | stohls(t) |
3rd person singular | stehl(t) | stohl |
plural | stehlt, stehlen | stohlen |
imperative | present | — |
singular | stehl | |
plural | stehlt | |
participle | present | past |
stehlen | (e)stahlen, gestahlen | |
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. |