anstrengen
German, verb
anstrengen is spelled A-N-S-T-R-E-N-G-E-N (10 letters) and appears 2.6 times per million words in written German, the 19,862nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Anstrengen is a German verb meaning “to make an effort, to work hard at something, to labour” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Anstrengen is a different word: “gerund of anstrengen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich mit (großem) Kraftaufwand, (großer) Mühe, Fleiß, Ausdauer und so weiter für eine Leistung oder…”.
What does anstrengen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to make an effort, to work hard at something, to labour
Sie haben sich sehr angestrengt und es rechtzeitig geschafft.
- 2
to put something to work, to use something, to work something
sein Gehirn anstrengen
- 3
to exert, to strain, to exhaust
Lautes Singen strengt die Stimme an.
- 4
to file
einen Prozess anstrengen
noun
- 1
neutergerund of anstrengen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich mit (großem) Kraftaufwand, (großer) Mühe, Fleiß, Ausdauer und so weiter für eine Leistung oder Leistungssteigerung einsetzen 2. etwas oder jemanden sehr in Anspruch nehmen, von etwas oder jemandem große Kraft oder Leistung abfordern, abverlangen 3. ein juristisches Verfahren beantragen
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 anstrengen
- strengt an present singular third-person
- strengte an past
- angestrengt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- anstrengend participle present
- anzustrengen infinitive infinitive-zu
- strenge an first-person indicative present
- strengen an first-person indicative plural
- strengst an indicative present second-person
- strengest an second-person singular subjunctive
- strenget an plural second-person subjunctive
- strengten an first-person indicative plural
- strengtest an indicative preterite second-person
- strengtet an indicative plural preterite
- strenge an! imperative singular
- strengt an! imperative plural
- angestrengt haben active infinitive perfect
- angestrengt werden processual-passive infinitive present
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to anstrengen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is anstrengen in German?
anstrengen appears 2.6 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).