Before you start
Meet verstehen
Read how the verb is used, then write your own 10 sentences with it.
All 11 meanings
- to hear and interpret (speech)
- to comprehend, to make sense of
- to take, to interpret, to gather (to impute what is not explicitly stated)
- to understand, to consider, to take [with als ‘as being something’]
- to know, to have knowledge or understanding of (through experience or study) [with accusative ‘much, little, nothing’ and von ‘about something’]
- to see oneself, to think of oneself [with als ‘as someone/something’]
Forms
How verstehen changes
| Pronoun | Präsens | Präteritum |
|---|---|---|
| ich | verstehe | verstand |
| du | verstehst | verstandest |
| er/sie/es | versteht | verstand |
| wir | verstehen | verstanden |
| ihr | versteht | verstandet |
| Sie | verstehen | verstanden |
Partizip II verstanden · Perfekt with haben
Three examples
- 1Ich verstehe die Frage.I understand the question.present main clause
- 2Wir haben den Film gut verstanden.We understood the film well.Perfekt with haben
- 3Ich weiß, dass du mich verstehst.I know that you understand me.verb at the end after dass