fühlen
See also: Fühlen
German
editEtymology
editFrom northern Middle High German vüelen (generally spelt vulen), from Old High German fuolen, from Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan (“to feel”), which see for cognates.
Upper German dialects of Middle High German used enphinden instead. In Modern German, empfinden has been chiefly confined to higher register. Nevertheless many southern dialects still lack or avoid fühlen, usually preferring cognates of spüren.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editfühlen (weak, third-person singular present fühlt, past tense fühlte, past participle gefühlt, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive) to feel (a thing, sensation, emotion - a noun)
- (reflexive, copulative) to feel (somehow - an adjective)
- Ich fühle mich verschwitzt. ― I feel sweaty.
- Ich fühle mich glücklich. ― I feel happy.
- 1931, Arthur Schnitzler, Flucht in die Finsternis, S. Fischer Verlag, page 141:
- „Vielleicht bin ich sogar verrückt. Ich will es nicht in Abrede stellen. Aber wenn ich es bin, so fühle ich mich sehr wohl dabei. Und das ist doch die Hauptsache, nicht?“
- „Maybe I am even crazy. I don't want to deny it. But if I am, I am feeling very good with it. And that is the most important thing, isn't it?“
- (transitive, intransitive) to touch so as to perceive something
- Fühl mal, wie kalt meine Hand ist. ― Feel how cold my hand is.
- (intransitive, with nach) to feel for, to search by feeling
- Er fühlte nach seinem Portmonee. ― He felt for his purse.
- (colloquial, perhaps regional) to touch (in general)
- Der Typ hat mir an den Hintern gefühlt. ― That guy touched my butt.
Usage notes
edit- German fühlen, dass (unlike English feel that) implies that the speaker considers the feeling to be factually accurate. For example, an English phrase like “young people feel that they’re not taken seriously” is neutral as to whether this lack of appreciation is actually the case or not. The German equivalent would be: Junge Leute haben das Gefühl, dass man sie nicht ernst nimmt. (literally “Young people have the feeling that...”). The phrase Junge Leute fühlen, dass man sie nicht ernst nimmt implies that the feeling is correct (in English perhaps “young people sense that...”).
Conjugation
editinfinitive | fühlen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | fühlend | ||||
past participle | gefühlt | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich fühle | wir fühlen | i | ich fühle | wir fühlen |
du fühlst | ihr fühlt | du fühlest | ihr fühlet | ||
er fühlt | sie fühlen | er fühle | sie fühlen | ||
preterite | ich fühlte | wir fühlten | ii | ich fühlte1 | wir fühlten1 |
du fühltest | ihr fühltet | du fühltest1 | ihr fühltet1 | ||
er fühlte | sie fühlten | er fühlte1 | sie fühlten1 | ||
imperative | fühl (du) fühle (du) |
fühlt (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms
editFurther reading
editCategories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German weak verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German transitive verbs
- German terms with usage examples
- German reflexive verbs
- German copulative verbs
- German terms with quotations
- German intransitive verbs
- German colloquialisms
- Regional German