stehen
/ˈʃteː.ən/
To say to stand in German, use stehen.
stehen means to be in an upright position on your feet. It also describes objects standing upright, and it is used for something written on a page.
Which one should you use?
stehen describes being in a standing position. To describe the movement of getting up, German uses a separate verb.
How does it change in a sentence?
stehen is an irregular verb. Its past stem changes the vowel to a, and in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland the perfect tense is formed with the verb "to be" instead of "to have".
How do you pronounce it?
The IPA is /ˈʃteː.ən/, two syllables with stress on the first. The st at the start sounds like the sh in shoe followed by t, and the e is long like the a in say without the glide.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not pronounce the s at the start like the s in stand. In German it is sh.
Did you know?
- The 'h' in stehen is a ghost letter. It was added to the spelling long ago to make it look more like the word sehen, even though it is not pronounced.
Examples in context
- Wo soll ich stehen?Where am I supposed to stand?Wo soll ich stehen? uses soll to ask where you are supposed to stand.Tatoeba #1734306 by al_ex_an_der, translation #11559421 by sundown
- Ich würde gerne stehen.I'd like to stand.Ich würde gerne stehen politely says you would like to stand.Tatoeba #2723099 by Zaghawa, translation #2396177 by CK
- Ich konnte nicht mehr stehen.I was unable to stand any longer.nicht mehr stehen means "could not stand any longer".Tatoeba #8916551 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #2100113 by halfb1t
- 39 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maximilian and Sarah are at a crowded bus stop.
- MaximilianWir müssen hier stehen bleiben.We have to stand here.
- SarahDarf ich auch hier stehen?May I stand here too?
- MaximilianJa, natürlich, Sarah.Yes, of course, Sarah.
- SarahDanke, Maximilian.Thanks, Maximilian.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry stehen, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries stehen, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
