glauben
See also: Glauben
German
Alternative forms
- gläuben, gleuben (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle High German gelouben, gelöuben, from Old High German gilouben, from Proto-West Germanic *galaubijan, from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. The form with -au- is Upper German; it was reinforced by the related noun Glaube against the Central German variant with umlaut. Compare however gläubig and abergläubisch.
Cognate with Bavarian glaubn, glabn, Dutch geloven, Low German glöven, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan). Also related with English believe, which see.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡlaʊ̯bən/, [ˈɡlaʊ̯.bm̩], [-bən]
Audio: (file) Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -aʊ̯bn̩
Verb
glauben (weak, third-person singular present glaubt, past tense glaubte, past participle geglaubt, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive) to believe something (to consider true)
- Glaubst du diese Geschichte? ― Do you believe this story?
- (intransitive) to believe in (to think something exists, or have confidence in someone’s ability) [with an (+ accusative) ‘someone/something’]
- Glaubst du an Engel? ― Do you believe in angels?
- Woran glaubst du? ― What do you believe in?
- Ich glaube an dich! Du kannst es schaffen! ― I believe in you! You can do it!
- (transitive or intransitive) to believe (to trust in someone's statement) [with dative ‘someone’ (optional) and accusative ‘something’]
- Niemand kann ihm glauben. ― No one can believe him.
- Das glaube ich dir nicht.
- I don’t believe what you’re saying.
- (literally, “I don’t believe you that.”)
- (intransitive) to think, to believe [with clause or dass (+ clause) or zu (+ infinitive) ‘that ...’]
- Glaubst du, das ist so richtig? ― Do you think this is right like this?
- Er glaubte, dass es auf dem Mars Kanäle gibt.
- He believed that there were canals on Mars.
- Ich glaube etwas zu hören. ― I think I hear something.
- Er glaubt zu wissen, wo deine Schlüssel sind.
- He believes he knows where your keys are.
Conjugation
Conjugation of glauben (weak, auxiliary haben)
| infinitive | glauben | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | glaubend | ||||
| past participle | geglaubt | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich glaube | wir glauben | i | ich glaube | wir glauben |
| du glaubst | ihr glaubt | du glaubest | ihr glaubet | ||
| er glaubt | sie glauben | er glaube | sie glauben | ||
| preterite | ich glaubte | wir glaubten | ii | ich glaubte1 | wir glaubten1 |
| du glaubtest | ihr glaubtet | du glaubtest1 | ihr glaubtet1 | ||
| er glaubte | sie glaubten | er glaubte1 | sie glaubten1 | ||
| imperative | glaub (du) glaube (du) |
glaubt (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of glauben (weak, auxiliary haben)
Synonyms
- (to think): denken
Derived terms
- 1998, Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung, “3 Weiße Tauben”, in 3 Weiße Tauben:
- Drei weiße Tauben, die mussten dran glauben
- Three white doves, they needed to be eliminated