Before you start
Meet dastehen
Read how the verb is used, then write your own 10 sentences with it.
All 2 meanings
- (intransitive) to stand there
- (intransitive, figurative) to look, to come across as
Build the meaning
da- + stehen
- da-
- there, in that place or situation
- stehen
- to stand
To stand there, or to find oneself standing in a particular situation.
So dastehen means to stand there; to be in a particular situation.
A memory aid, not a rule: prefixes change meaning from verb to verb.
Learning approach inspired by this explanation in r/German.
Separable verb: da·stehen
In a main clause the prefix da splits off and goes to the end. After weil, dass and other subordinating words, the verb stays in one piece at the end.
Main clausePlötzlich steht er vor mir da.Suddenly, he is standing in front of me.
Subordinate clauseIch sah, dass er vor mir dastand.I saw that he was standing in front of me.
Participle: dagestandenzu-infinitive: dazustehen
Forms
How dastehen changes
| Pronoun | Präsens | Präteritum |
|---|---|---|
| ich | stehe da | stand da |
| du | stehst da | standest da |
| er/sie/es | steht da | stand da |
| wir | stehen da | standen da |
| ihr | steht da | standet da |
| Sie | stehen da | standen da |
Partizip II dagestanden · Perfekt with haben
Three examples
- 1Er steht ganz allein da.He is standing there all alone.present tense, main clause
- 2Am Ende hat er ohne Geld dagestanden.In the end, he was left without money.Perfekt with haben
- 3Ich weiß, dass sie jetzt allein dasteht.I know that she is now all alone.verb at the end after dass
Verb family
More verbs built on stehen
Same base verb, a different prefix, a new meaning.