anführen
German, verb
anführen is spelled A-N-F-Ü-H-R-E-N (8 letters) and appears 2.8 times per million words in written German, the 18,843rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Anführen is a German verb meaning “to lead; to command” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Anführen is a different word: “gerund of anführen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “eine Gruppe von Personen oder etwas leiten”.
What does anführen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to lead; to command
Der Kapitan führt die Mannschaft an.
- 2
to cite, to state, to point out
Sie konnten keine Belege anführen.
- 3
to instruct
noun
- 1
neutergerund of anführen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. eine Gruppe von Personen oder etwas leiten 2. Worte/Gedanken/Ideen, die es bereits gibt, erneut (wortgetreu) wiedergeben 3. Argumente/Erklärung vorbringen 4. jemanden auf freundliche Art täuschen, hinters Licht führen, was meist direkt im Anschluss bekannt wird
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 anführen
- führt an present singular third-person
- führte an past
- angeführt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- anführend participle present
- anzuführen infinitive infinitive-zu
- führe an first-person indicative present
- führen an first-person indicative plural
- führst an indicative present second-person
- führest an second-person singular subjunctive
- führet an plural second-person subjunctive
- führten an first-person indicative plural
- führtest an indicative preterite second-person
- führtet an indicative plural preterite
- führ an! imperative singular
- führe an! imperative singular
- führt an! imperative plural
- angeführt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to anführen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is anführen in German?
anführen appears 2.8 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).