geben

German

Etymology

From Middle High German geben, from Old High German geban, from Proto-West Germanic *geban, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-.

Akin to Middle Low German gēven, Low German geven, Dutch geven, Middle Dutch ghēven, English give (obsolete yive), Old English giefan, Swedish giva, ge, Danish give, Old Saxon geҍan, Old Norse gefa, Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban).

Further Indo-European cognates: Latin habeō, Polish gabać and possibly Albanian jap

Pronunciation

• (Standard, Germany) IPA^(key): ,

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• Rhymes: -eːbən
• Hyphenation: ge‧ben

Verb

geben (class 5 strong, third-person singular present gibt, past tense gab, past participle gegeben, past subjunctive gäbe, auxiliary haben)

1. (ditransitive) to give (changing ownership)

   Synonym: schenken

   Meine Frau hat mir eine neue Uhr gegeben. ― My wife gave me a new watch.

2. (ditransitive) to hand, to pass, to put within reach

   Gib mir das! ― Give me that!

   Gib mir deine Hand. ― Give me your hand (to hold).

   Könnten Sie mir den Stift geben? ― Could you hand me that pen?

3. (impersonal, transitive) Used to indicate that something exists (often with a certain property and/or in a certain location). Usually translated as there is/are or there exist(s)

   Gibt es gute Schulen in der Nähe? ― Are there good schools in the neighborhood?

   Es gibt kein Wasser in dieser Wüste. ― There is no water in this desert.

   Das kann es nicht geben. ― This is nothing that could possibly exist.

   • 2000, Eurobarometer: Public Opinion in the European Union, →ISBN, page 8:

     Es gibt eine europäische kulturelle Identität, die von allen Europäern geteilt wird.

     There is a European cultural identity, which is shared by all Europeans.

4. (ditransitive, transitive) to communicate (helpful information such as a hint or advice), to signal (in a certain way such as a sign)

   Darf ich dir einen Rat geben? ― May I give you some advice?

   Der Spieler gab ein Signal, dass er eingewechselt werden wollte. ― The player gave a signal that he wanted to be substituted.

5. (transitive) to present; to put
6. (transitive) to result in

   Synonym: ergeben

7. (uncommon) to think

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

• “geben” in Duden online
• “geben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “geben” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• gên

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German geban, from Proto-West Germanic *geban.

Verb

gëben (class 5 strong, third-person singular present gibet, past tense gap, past participle gegëben, past subjunctive gæbe, auxiliary hân)

1. to give

Conjugation

Descendants

• German: geben

References

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “gëben”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke‎, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel