kennen

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See also: kënnen

Cornish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From kenn (peel, scum, skin) +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

Noun

kennen m (plural kennow)

  1. film, membrane

Mutation

Mutation of kennen
unmutated soft aspirate hard mixed mixed after 'th
kennen gennen hennen unchanged unchanged unchanged

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛnə(n)/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ken‧nen
  • Rhymes: -ɛnən

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch kennen, from Old Dutch kennen, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.

Verb

kennen

  1. (transitive) to know (a person, a thing), be acquainted with, to have knowledge of the properties of a particular person, object or concept, through personal experience, teaching, practice, or habit; to be familiar with
    Lars kent Emma, weet je dat? — Ja, ik weet dat Lars Emma kent.
    Lars knows Emma, do you know? - Yes, I know that Lars knows Emma.
    Ik ken Rusland niet, ik weet niets over dat land.
    I don't know Russia, I don't know anything about that country.
    Ik kan goed koken, maar de Indonesische keuken ken ik eigenlijk niet; ik weet niet eens hoe je nasi goreng klaarmaakt.
    I know how to cook well, but I don't really know Indonesian cuisine; I don't even know how to prepare fried rice.
    Ik spreek wel een beetje alledaags Frans, maar de Franse grammatica ken ik slecht.
    I know a little colloquial French, but I know French grammar poorly.
  2. (transitive) to know, experience
    Zijn werk kende vroeger veel kritiek, maar wordt tegenwoordig geaccepteerd.
    His work used to experience a lot of criticism, but is nowadays accepted.
  3. (auxiliary, colloquial, dialectal) Synonym of kunnen
Conjugation
Conjugation of kennen (weak)
infinitive kennen
past singular kende
past participle gekend
infinitive kennen
gerund kennen n
present tense past tense
1st person singular ken kende
2nd person sing. (jij) kent, ken2 kende
2nd person sing. (u) kent kende
2nd person sing. (gij) kent kende
3rd person singular kent kende
plural kennen kenden
subjunctive sing.1 kenne kende
subjunctive plur.1 kennen kenden
imperative sing. ken
imperative plur.1 kent
participles kennend gekend
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Afrikaans: ken
  • Negerhollands: ken
See also

Etymology 2

Verb

kennen

  1. (dialectal) Alternative form of kunnen

German

Etymology

    From Middle High German kennen, from Old High German kennan, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan (to know), from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną (to know), a causative form of *kunnaną formed with the suffix *-janą. Cognate to Bavarian kennan, Dutch kennen, Scots and English ken (to know).

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    kennen (irregular weak, third-person singular present kennt, past tense kannte, past participle gekannt, past subjunctive kennte, auxiliary haben)

    1. (transitive) to know; to be acquainted with; to be familiar with
      • 1887, Eduard Engel, Griechische Frühlingstage, 4th, purer edition, Radebeul bei Dresden: Haupt & Hammon, published 1927, page 361:
        Die Beseitigung des Schlendrians werde ich wohl nicht mehr erleben, auch dann nicht, wenn Plato selber aus der Asche auferstünde und die deutschen Schulmänner die richtige Aussprache lehrte. Sie würden ihm beweisen, daß er sich irre: er habe in den mehr als zwei Jahrtausenden seit seinem Tode gewiß die richtige Aussprache vergessen; sie aber, die deutschen Oberlehrer und Direktoren, kennten sie ganz genau: sie wäre buchstäblich so wie das Neuhochdeutsche des 20. Jahrhunderts gewesen.
        The abolition of this sloppy I will probably never witness, not even should Plato himself rise from the ashes to teach to the German pedagogues the correct pronunciation. They would show him that he was mistaken: that he must have forgotten the correct pronunciation in the more than two millennia following his death, but that they, the German head teachers and principals, knew exactly what it was like: precisely the same as the New High German of the 20th century.

    Usage notes

    • Although the senses of both kennen and wissen are covered by English “to know”, the two German verbs are only occasionally interchangeable. Only wissen is generally used with a following subclause (I know that..., how..., when..., etc.). With nouns the distinction may be more difficult. Wissen is used with facts and memorized information (“to be aware of”, French savoir, Spanish saber), whereas kennen is used with concepts, ideas, backgrounds (“to be familiar with”, French connaître, Spanish conocer). Compare the following two sentences, both of which translate literally as “Do you know the street that he mentioned to us?”:
    Kennst du die Straße, die er uns genannt hat?Are you familiar with the street? Have you been there before?
    Weißt du die Straße, die er uns genannt hat?Do you know what street it was? Do you remember its name?
    • The past subjunctive kennte is highly literary or archaic. It should be used with some caution even in formal writing.

    Conjugation

    Derived terms

    Further reading

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

    Low German

    Etymology

    From Old Saxon *kennian, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan (to know). Cognate with German and Dutch kennen, English ken.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    kennen

    1. (transitive) to know (someone); to be acquainted with
    2. (transitive) to know (some fact); to have knowledge of

    Conjugation

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Luxembourgish

    Etymology

    From Middle High German kennen, from Old High German *kennen, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną. Cognate with German kennen, Dutch kennen, English ken.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    kennen (third-person singular present kennt, past participle kannt, auxiliary verb hunn)

    1. (transitive) to know

    Conjugation

    Regular
    infinitive kennen
    participle kannt
    auxiliary hunn
    present
    indicative
    imperative
    1st singular kennen
    2nd singular kenns kenn
    3rd singular kennt
    1st plural kennen
    2nd plural kennt kennt
    3rd plural kennen
    (n) or (nn) indicates the Eifeler Regel.

    Derived terms

    Maltese

    Root
    k-n-n
    4 terms

    Etymology

    From Arabic كَنَّنَ (kannana).

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    kennen (imperfect jkennen, past participle mkennen)

    1. to shelter, provide shelter for

    Conjugation

    Conjugation of kennen
    singular plural
    1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
    perfect m kennint kennint kennen kenninna kennintu kennu
    f kennet
    imperfect m nkennen tkennen jkennen nkennu tkennu jkennu
    f tkennen
    imperative kennen kennu

    Middle Dutch

    Etymology

    From Old Dutch kennen, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.

    Verb

    kennen

    1. to know, to be familiar with
    2. to recognise, to know who/what someone/something is
    3. to recognise, to acknowledge (a fact)
    4. to admit
    5. to consider (to be)
    6. to establish (as fact)

    Inflection

    This verb needs an inflection-table template.

    Descendants

    Further reading

    Middle English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From Old English cennan, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    kennen

    1. to make known

    Conjugation

    Descendants

    References

    Mòcheno

    Etymology

    From Middle High German kennen, from Old High German kennan, from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną (to make known). Cognate to German kennen, Scots ken.

    Verb

    kennen

    1. to know, be familiar with

    References

    Old Dutch

    Etymology

    From Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną.

    Verb

    kennen

    1. to know, to be aware of

    Inflection

    Descendants

    Further reading

    • kennen”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012