Gewalt antun

German

Etymology

Literally, to do violence to. Hence in the idiomatic sense “to do violence to oneself” (so as to force oneself).

Verb

Gewalt antun (irregular, third-person singular present tut Gewalt an, past tense tat Gewalt an, past participle Gewalt angetan, past subjunctive täte Gewalt an, auxiliary haben)

  1. (also figurative) to lay hands on, to assault, to abuse (to subject to violence) [with dative ‘someone/something’]
  2. (dative reflexive, idiomatic) to force oneself, to bring oneself [with zu (+ infinitive) ‘to do something undesirable’]
    Synonyms: sich überwinden, sich zwingen, sich Zwang antun

Conjugation