harren
German
Etymology
From Middle High German harren, further origin is unclear. Popularised by Luther. Perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German harren, harden (“to wait, await”), from Old Saxon *hardōn (“to become hard, harden, be steadfast, await”), from Proto-West Germanic *hardēn (“to become hard, endure, wait, persevere”), related to Old High German hartēn (“to harden, await, endure, be steadfast”). Cognate with German Low German harren (“to await”), Saterland Frisian häide (“to endure, bear”), Middle Dutch verharren (“to be or become overly firm”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈharən/, [ˈha.ʁən], [-ʁn̩], [-ʁɴ̩], [haː(ɐ̯)n]
Audio: (file) - Homophones: Haaren, Hahn, Harn (some speakers, chiefly in casual speech)
Verb
harren (weak, third-person singular present harrt, past tense harrte, past participle geharrt, auxiliary haben)
- (higher register) to await patiently [with genitive or (sometimes) auf (+ accusative) ‘someone/something’]
- with resignation or humility
- (dated) with longingness or hopefulness
- 2023, Benjamin Steffen, “Schon wieder keine Abfahrt in Zermatt: War es das mit dem Männer-Weltcup am Matterhorn?”, in Neue Zürcher Zeitung[1]:
- Dieses länderübergreifende Rennen von der Schweiz nach Italien bleibt ein Phantom. 2020 euphorisch ausgerufen, harrt es noch immer der Premiere.
- This cross-border race from Switzerland to Italy remains a phantom. Euphorically proclaimed in 2020, it is still in await of its premiere.
Conjugation
infinitive | harren | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | harrend | ||||
past participle | geharrt | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich harre | wir harren | i | ich harre | wir harren |
du harrst | ihr harrt | du harrest | ihr harret | ||
er harrt | sie harren | er harre | sie harren | ||
preterite | ich harrte | wir harrten | ii | ich harrte1 | wir harrten1 |
du harrtest | ihr harrtet | du harrtest1 | ihr harrtet1 | ||
er harrte | sie harrten | er harrte1 | sie harrten1 | ||
imperative | harr (du) harre (du) |
harrt (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “harren” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “harren” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “harren” in Duden online
- “harren” in OpenThesaurus.de
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
harren m
- definite singular of harr
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
harren m
- definite singular of harr
West Frisian
Pronoun
harren
- object of sy (“they”)
Determiner
harren
- alternative form of har (“their”)