denken
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch denken, from Old Dutch thenken, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *teng-.
Pronunciation
Verb
denken
- (intransitive) to think
- Ik denk vaak aan mijn vriendin. ― I often think about my girlfriend.
Inflection
| Inflection of denken (weak with past in -cht) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | denken | |||
| past singular | dacht | |||
| past participle | gedacht | |||
| infinitive | denken | |||
| gerund | denken n | |||
| present tense | past tense | |||
| 1st person singular | denk | dacht | ||
| 2nd person sing. (jij) | denkt | dacht | ||
| 2nd person sing. (u) | denkt | dacht | ||
| 2nd person sing. (gij) | denkt | dacht | ||
| 3rd person singular | denkt | dacht | ||
| plural | denken | dachten | ||
| subjunctive sing.1 | denke | dachte | ||
| subjunctive plur.1 | denken | dachten | ||
| imperative sing. | denk | |||
| imperative plur.1 | denkt | |||
| participles | denkend | gedacht | ||
| 1) Archaic. | ||||
Derived terms
Descendants
- Afrikaans: dink, denk
- Jersey Dutch: dänke
- Negerhollands: denk, dink, diṅk, diṅg, diṅ
- → Aukan: denki
- → Sranan Tongo: denki
Anagrams
German
Etymology
From Middle High German denken, from Old High German thenken, denken, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *teng-.
Cognate with Bavarian denkn, denka, Dutch denken, Low German denken, dinken, West Frisian tinke, English think, Icelandic þekkja.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɛŋkən/, ,
audio (Germany) (file) audio (Germany) (file) audio (Germany) (file) audio (Austria) (file)
Verb
denken (irregular weak, third-person singular present denkt, past tense dachte, past participle gedacht, past subjunctive dächte, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive, , rarely transitive) to think
- Ich denke, also bin ich.
- I think, therefore I am.
- Er denkt gewichtige Dinge.
- He is thinking weighty thoughts.
- Ich denke an früher.
- I am thinking about the past.
- (intransitive, with an + accusative) not to forget; to remember (to bring along, etc.)
- Denk an den Schlüssel!
- Don’t forget the key.
- (transitive, with reflexive dative) to imagine
- Das kann ich mir denken.
- I can imagine that.
- Ich denke ihn mir als bärtigen Einsiedler.
- I imagine him as a bearded hermit.
- (transitive, with reflexive dative) to think, to believe, to assume, to conjecture
- Ja, das dachte ich mir.
- Yes, I thought so.
Usage notes
Denken originally took a genitive object (ich denke deiner instead of ich denke an dich). This usage is now archaic.
Conjugation
| infinitive | denken | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | denkend | ||||
| past participle | gedacht | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich denke | wir denken | i | ich denke | wir denken |
| du denkst | ihr denkt | du denkest | ihr denket | ||
| er denkt | sie denken | er denke | sie denken | ||
| preterite | ich dachte | wir dachten | ii | ich dächte1 | wir dächten1 |
| du dachtest | ihr dachtet | du dächtest1 | ihr dächtet1 | ||
| er dachte | sie dachten | er dächte1 | sie dächten1 | ||
| imperative | denk (du) denke (du) |
denkt (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “denken” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “denken” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “denken” in Duden online
- “denken” in OpenThesaurus.de
denken on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
Low German
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old Saxon thenkian, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *teng-.
Verb
denken (third-person singular simple present denkt, past tense dach, past participle dacht, auxiliary verb hebben)
- to think
Conjugation
| infinitive | denken | |
|---|---|---|
| indicative | present | preterite |
| 1st person singular | denk | dach |
| 2nd person singular | denks(t) | dachs(t) |
| 3rd person singular | denk(t) | dach |
| plural | denkt, denken | dachen |
| imperative | present | — |
| singular | denk(e) | |
| plural | denkt | |
| participle | present | past |
| denken | (e)dacht, gedacht | |
| Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects. | ||
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From Middle High German denken, from Old High German denken, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną.
Pronunciation
Verb
denken (third-person singular present denkt, preterite duecht or duet, past participle geduecht or geduet, past subjunctive diecht, auxiliary verb hunn)
- to think
Conjugation
| Irregular with past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | denken | |||
| participle | geduecht | |||
| auxiliary | hunn | |||
| present indicative |
past indicative |
conditional | imperative | |
| 1st singular | denken | duecht | diecht | — |
| 2nd singular | denks | duechts | diechts | denk |
| 3rd singular | denkt | duecht | diecht | — |
| 1st plural | denken | duechten | diechten | — |
| 2nd plural | denkt | duecht | diecht | denkt |
| 3rd plural | denken | duechten | diechten | — |
| (n) or (nn) indicates the Eifeler Regel. | ||||
Derived terms
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch thenken, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną.
Pronunciation
Verb
denken
- to think
Inflection
| Weak | ||
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | denken | |
| 3rd sg. past | — | |
| 3rd pl. past | — | |
| Past participle | — | |
| Infinitive | denken | |
| In genitive | denkens | |
| In dative | denkene | |
| Indicative | Present | Past |
| 1st singular | denke | — |
| 2nd singular | dencs, denkes | — |
| 3rd singular | denct, denket | — |
| 1st plural | denken | — |
| 2nd plural | denct, denket | — |
| 3rd plural | denken | — |
| Subjunctive | Present | Past |
| 1st singular | denke | — |
| 2nd singular | dencs, denkes | — |
| 3rd singular | denke | — |
| 1st plural | denken | — |
| 2nd plural | denct, denket | — |
| 3rd plural | denken | — |
| Imperative | Present | |
| Singular | denc, denke | |
| Plural | denct, denket | |
| Present | Past | |
| Participle | denkende | — |
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “denken (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “denken”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN
Middle Low German
Etymology
From Old Saxon thenkian, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną. Cognate with Dutch denken and English think.
Pronunciation
Verb
denken
Related terms
Descendants
Mòcheno
Etymology
From Middle High German denken, from Old High German denken, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną (“to perceive, think”). Cognate with German denken, English think.
Verb
denken
- to think
References
- “denken” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.
Old High German
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną, akin to Old Saxon thenkian, Old Dutch thenken, Old English þencan, Old Norse þekkja, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þagkjan).
Verb
denken
- to think
Conjugation
| infinitive | denken | |
|---|---|---|
| indicative | present | past |
| 1st person singular | denku | dahta |
| 2nd person singular | denkis, denkist | dahtōs, denktōst |
| 3rd person singular | denkit | dahta |
| 1st person plural | denkem, denkemēs | dahtum, dahtumēs |
| 2nd person plural | denket | dahtut |
| 3rd person plural | denkent | dahtun |
| subjunctive | present | past |
| 1st person singular | denke | dahti |
| 2nd person singular | denkēs, denkēst | dahtīs, dahtīst |
| 3rd person singular | denke | dahti |
| 1st person plural | denkēm, denkēn, denkemēs | dahtīm, dahtīn, dahtīmēs |
| 2nd person plural | denkēt | dahtīt |
| 3rd person plural | denkēn | dahtīn |
| imperative | present | |
| singular | denki | |
| plural | denket | |
| participle | present | past |
| denkenti | gidaht | |