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glauben. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
glauben, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
glauben in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
glauben you have here. The definition of the word
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German
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle High German gelouben, gelöuben, from Old High German gilouben, from Proto-West Germanic *galaubijan, from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. The form with -au- is Upper German; it was reinforced by the related noun Glaube against the Central German variant with umlaut. Compare however gläubig and abergläubisch.
Cognate with Bavarian glaubn, glabn, Dutch geloven, Low German glöven, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan). Also related with English believe, which see.
Pronunciation
Verb
glauben (weak, third-person singular present glaubt, past tense glaubte, past participle geglaubt, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive) to believe something (consider true)
- Glaubst du diese Geschichte? ― Do you believe this story?
- (intransitive, with an + accusative) to believe in (think something exists, or have confidence in someone’s ability)
- Glaubst du an Engel? ― Do you believe in angels?
- Woran glaubst du? ― What do you believe in?
- Ich glaube an dich! Du kannst es schaffen! ― I believe in you! You can do it!
- (transitive or intransitive, with dative object) to believe someone (trust in their statement)
- Niemand kann ihm glauben. ― No one can believe him.
Das glaube ich dir nicht.- I don’t believe what you’re saying.
- (literally, “I don’t believe you that.”)
- (intransitive, with coordinate clause, dass clause, or zu + infinitive) to think, to believe
- Glaubst du, das ist so richtig? ― Do you think this is right like this?
Er glaubte, dass es auf dem Mars Kanäle gibt.- He believed that there were canals on Mars.
- Ich glaube etwas zu hören. ― I think I hear something.
Er glaubt zu wissen, wo deine Schlüssel sind.- He believes he knows where your keys are.
Conjugation
Conjugation of
glauben (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
glauben (
weak, auxiliary
haben)
Synonyms
Derived terms
1998, Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung (lyrics and music), “3 Weiße Tauben”, in 3 Weiße Tauben:Drei weiße Tauben, die mussten dran glauben- Three white doves, they needed to be eliminated
Further reading
- “glauben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “glauben” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “glauben” in Duden online
- “glauben” in OpenThesaurus.de