fühlen

From northern Middle High German vüelen (generally spelt vulen), from Old High German fuolen, from Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan (“to feel”), which see for cognates.

Upper German dialects of Middle High German used enphinden instead. In Modern German, empfinden has been chiefly confined to higher register. Nevertheless many southern dialects still lack or avoid fühlen, usually preferring cognates of spüren.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfyːlən/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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fühlen (weak, third-person singular present fühlt, past tense fühlte, past participle gefühlt, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive) to feel (a thing, sensation, emotion - a noun)

   Synonyms: spüren, empfinden

   Ich fühle den Sonnenschein auf meinem Gesicht. ― I feel the sunshine on my face.

   Ich fühle reines Glück. ― I feel sheer happiness.

2. (reflexive, copulative) to feel (somehow - an adjective)

   Ich fühle mich verschwitzt. ― I feel sweaty.

   Ich fühle mich glücklich. ― I feel happy.

   • 1931, Arthur Schnitzler, Flucht in die Finsternis, S. Fischer Verlag, page 141:

     „Vielleicht bin ich sogar verrückt. Ich will es nicht in Abrede stellen. Aber wenn ich es bin, so fühle ich mich sehr wohl dabei. Und das ist doch die Hauptsache, nicht?“

     „Maybe I am even crazy. I don't want to deny it. But if I am, I am feeling very good with it. And that is the most important thing, isn't it?“

3. (transitive, intransitive) to touch so as to perceive something

   Fühl mal, wie kalt meine Hand ist. ― Feel how cold my hand is.

4. (intransitive, with nach) to feel for, to search by feeling

   Er fühlte nach seinem Portmonee. ― He felt for his purse.

5. (colloquial, perhaps regional) to touch (in general)

   Der Typ hat mir an den Hintern gefühlt. ― That guy touched my butt.

• German fühlen, dass (unlike English feel that) implies that the speaker considers the feeling to be factually accurate. For example, an English phrase like “young people feel that they’re not taken seriously” is neutral as to whether this lack of appreciation is actually the case or not. The German equivalent would be: Junge Leute haben das Gefühl, dass man sie nicht ernst nimmt. (literally “Young people have the feeling that...”). The phrase Junge Leute fühlen, dass man sie nicht ernst nimmt implies that the feeling is correct (in English perhaps “young people sense that...”).

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