schreiben

German

Etymology

From Middle High German schrīben, from Old High German scrīban, from Proto-West Germanic *skrīban (“to write”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃraɪ̯bən/, ,
• (Berlin, careful speech)

  (file)

• (Berlin, normal speech)

  (file)

• (southern Germany)

  (file)

• (Austria)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: schrei‧ben

Verb

schreiben (class 1 strong, third-person singular present schreibt, past tense schrieb, past participle geschrieben, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive) to write, to write out (use letters to make words and texts)

   Sie schreibt ihren Namen an die Tafel. ― She writes her name on the blackboard.

   Er hat einen Artikel geschrieben. ― He’s written an article.

2. (transitive) to spell (use a particular combination of letters to make a word)

   Wie schreibt man das? ― How do you spell that?

3. (intransitive) to write (use handwriting)

   Sie schreibt sehr ordentlich. ― She writes very neatly.

4. (intransitive) to write (produce texts, work as an author)

   Er schreibt sehr anschaulich. ― He writes very vividly.

5. (transitive, usually with man or wir) to be some year or date

   Man schrieb das Jahr 1874, als... ― It was the year 1874 when... (literally, “One wrote the year 1874 when...”)

6. (transitive or intransitive, + dative) to write, to text (send written information, communication)

   Er hat mir eine Mail geschrieben. ― He’s written me an e-mail.

   Der verwundete Soldat schrieb seiner Frau. ― The wounded soldier wrote to his wife.

   Ich schreibe dir, wenn ich fast da bin. ― I’ll text you when I’m almost there.

7. (transitive or intransitive, + reflexive dative) to write to each other (exchange correspondance)

   Sie schreiben sich immer Postkarten. ― They always write each other postcards.

   Wir schreiben uns regelmäßig. ― We write to each other on a regular basis.

8. (reflexive) to be spelled/spelt; of a word or a person's name

   Wie schreibt sich das? ― How do you spell that? (literally, “How does that spell itself?”)

   Wie schreiben Sie sich? ― How is your name spelt? (literally, “How do you spell yourself?”)

9. (idiomatic, passive voice or transitive with man) Used to express that someone does not know the first thing about something.

   Ob ich Skat kann? Ich hab schon Skat gespielt, da wusstest du nicht mal, wie man Skat schreibt!

   You’re asking me if I can play skat? I used to play skat when you didn’t even know how to spell skat!

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• Schrift

See also

• lesen
• malen

Further reading

• “schreiben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “schreiben” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “schreiben” in Duden online