anhaben

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word anhaben. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word anhaben, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say anhaben in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word anhaben you have here. The definition of the word anhaben will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofanhaben, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German anehaben, anhaben, from Old High German anahabēn. Compare Dutch aanhebben, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (anahaban).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈanˌhaːbən/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: an‧ha‧ben

Verb

anhaben (irregular, third-person singular present hat an, past tense hatte an, past participle angehabt, past subjunctive hätte an, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive) to wear; to have on (a piece of clothing) see usage notes
    Er hat keine Sandalen an.
    He doesn’t have sandals on.
    Er hat fast nie Sandalen an.
    He almost never wears sandals.
  2. (transitive, slightly informal) to have turned on; to have on (an electronic device)
    Ich hatte das Radio an.
    I had the radio on.
  3. (ditransitive, infinitive only, construed with indefinite pronoun) to harm, to hurt
    Der Hund kann dir nichts anhaben.
    The dog can’t harm you.
    Meinst du, er will mir was anhaben?
    Do you think he wants to harm me?

Usage notes

  • As with English “have on”, German anhaben is understood as progressive (“to be wearing”), unless some adverb suggests otherwise. This is distinct from tragen. Hence, Er trägt keine Sandalen could also be a general statement (“He doesn’t wear sandals.”).
  • With headgear, aufhaben is preferred instead (though anhaben is not impossible either).

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • anhaben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • anhaben” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • anhaben” in Duden online
  • anhaben” in OpenThesaurus.de