# verstehen
## English
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Verstehen or German verstehen (“to understand, comprehend”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Noun

verstehen (uncountable)
* (sociology) A stance that attempts to understand the meaning of action from the actor’s point of view, so that the actor is seen as a subject rather than an object of observation.

## German
### Etymology

From Middle High German verstān, virstēn, vorstēn, ferstān, from Old High German firstān, firstēn, from Proto-Germanic *frastāną, equivalent to ver- +‎ stehen. Cognate with Bavarian versteh, Dutch verstaan, Middle Low German vorstān. Compare also English forstand.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /fərˈʃteːən/, /fɛr-/, [fɐˈʃteː.ən], [fɛɐ̯-], [-ˈʃteː.n̩], [-ˈʃteːn]
* Audio (Germany):(file)
* Audio (Germany):(file)
* Audio (Austria):(file)

### Verb

verstehen (irregular strong, third-person singular present versteht, past tense verstand, past participle verstanden, past subjunctive verstände or verstünde, auxiliary haben)
* (transitive or intransitive) to understand
** to hear and interpret (speech)
    Ich verstehe dich nicht bei dem Lärm.I can't understand you with this noise.
** to comprehend, make sense of
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:begreifen
    Ich verstehe nicht, was du meinst.I don't understand what you mean.
** to take, to see, to gather (to impute what is not explicitly stated)
    Ich verstehe das so, dass Sie unzufrieden sind.I understand this in such a way that you are dissatisfied.
** to know, have knowledge or understanding of (through experience or study)
    Er versteht viel von Autos. ― He knows a lot about cars.
* (reflexive) to understand oneself, understand each other, be understood
** to see oneself, to think of oneself [with als ‘as someone/something’]
    Wir verstehen uns als Dienstleister.We see ourselves as a service provider.
** to understand one another, be able to communicate
    Ich hoffe, wir verstehen uns.I hope we understand each other.
** to get along [with mit (+ dative) ‘with someone’]
    Die beiden verstehen sich gut. ― The two get along well.
    Wie verstehst du dich mit deinem Chef? ― How do you get along with your boss?
** to be an expert [with auf (+ accusative) ‘at something’]
    Sie versteht sich auf gut getarnte Beleidigungen.She is an expert at making well disguised insults.
** to be meant, to have to be interpreted (in some way)
    Die angegebenen Preise verstehen sich ohne Mehrwertsteuer.The indicated prices do not include VAT.(literally, “The indicated prices should be understood as without VAT.”)
** (impersonal) to go without saying, to be obvious
    Es versteht sich, dass ... ― It goes without saying that ...

#### Conjugation

$^1$Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.

#### Derived terms

* einverstanden
* einverständlich
* Einverständnis
* missverstehen
* nur Bahnhof verstehen
* unverstanden
* Verstand
* verstanden
* verständig
* verständlich
* Verständnis
* verstehbar
* Verstehen
* verstehend
* Versteher
* verstehlich
* Verstehung
* wohlverstanden

### Further reading

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