geben

Inherited from Middle High German gëben, from Old High German gëban, from Proto-West Germanic *geban, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-.

• (Standard, Germany) IPA^(key): [ɡeːb(ə)n], [ɡeːbm̩]

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -eːbən
• Hyphenation: ge‧ben

geben (class 5 strong, third-person singular present gibt, past tense gab, past participle gegeben, past subjunctive gäbe, auxiliary haben)

1. (ditransitive) to give (changing ownership)

   Synonym: schenken

   Meine Frau hat mir eine neue Uhr gegeben. ― My wife gave me a new watch.

2. (ditransitive) to hand, to pass, to put within reach

   Gib mir das! ― Give me that!

   Gib mir deine Hand. ― Give me your hand (to hold).

   Könnten Sie mir den Stift geben? ― Could you hand me that pen?

3. (impersonal, transitive) Used to indicate that something exists (often with a certain property and/or in a certain location). Usually translated as there is/are or there exist(s)

   Gibt es gute Schulen in der Nähe? ― Are there good schools in the neighborhood?

   Es gibt kein Wasser in dieser Wüste. ― There is no water in this desert.

   Das kann es nicht geben. ― This is nothing that could possibly exist.

   • 2000, Eurobarometer: Public Opinion in the European Union, →ISBN, page 8:

     Es gibt eine europäische kulturelle Identität, die von allen Europäern geteilt wird.

     There is a European cultural identity, which is shared by all Europeans.

4. (ditransitive, transitive) to communicate (helpful information such as a hint or advice), to signal (in a certain way such as a sign)

   Darf ich dir einen Rat geben? ― May I give you some advice?

   Der Spieler gab ein Signal, dass er eingewechselt werden wollte. ― The player gave a signal that he wanted to be substituted.

5. (transitive) to present; to put
6. (transitive) to result in

   Synonym: ergeben

7. (uncommon) to think

• “geben” in Duden online
• “geben” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “geben” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

• gēn (contracted)
• gegëben
• këben (Bavarian)
• gëven (Central Franconian)

Inherited from Old High German gëban, from Proto-West Germanic *geban, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-.

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈɡɛbən/

gëben (class 5 strong, third-person singular present gibet or gīt, past tense gap, past participle gegëben, past subjunctive gæbe, auxiliary hān)

1. to give

• Sometimes the contracted forms gīst and gīt appear.

• Alemannic German: gë, gua, gää, gea
• Bavarian: gebn

  Cimbrian: gem, ghèban (Sette Comuni)

• Central Franconian: jevve, jenn, gewe, gewwe, genn

  Hunsrik: gewe

  Luxembourgish: ginn

• East Franconian: geb, gebe, gewe
• German: geben
• Rhine Franconian:

  Pennsylvania German: gewwe

• Vilamovian: gaon, gann
• Yiddish: געבן (gebn)

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich; Müller, Wilhelm; Zarncke, Friedrich (1863), “gëben”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

gëbēn

1. third-person plural present subjunctive of gëban