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klagen

German, verb

klagen is a German verb meaning “to complain (to express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Klagen is a different word: “gerund of klagen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “einen Verlust bejammern”.

What does klagen mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to complain (to express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment)

  2. 2

    to wail, lament

  3. 3

    to sue

  4. 4

    Austriato sue someone

noun

as Klagen
  1. 1

    neutergerund of klagen

noun

as Klagen
  1. 1

    plural of Klage

Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How German dictionaries define it

verb: 1. einen Verlust bejammern 2. Unzufriedenheit über eine Situation äußern 3. etwas Trauriges oder Unerfreuliches erzählen 4. zu Gericht bringen

The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.

Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of klagen

  • klagt present singular third-person
  • klagte past
  • geklagt participle past
  • haben auxiliary
  • klagend participle present
  • klage first-person indicative present
  • klagst indicative present second-person
  • klagest second-person singular subjunctive
  • klaget plural second-person subjunctive
  • klagten first-person indicative plural
  • klagtest indicative preterite second-person
  • klagtet indicative plural preterite
  • klag imperative second-person singular
  • habe geklagt first-person indicative multiword-construction
  • haben geklagt first-person indicative multiword-construction
  • klag! imperative singular
  • klage! imperative singular
  • klagt! imperative plural

Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to klagen

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is klagen in German?

klagen appears 19 times per million words in written German.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).