begreifen
German, verb
begreifen is spelled B-E-G-R-E-I-F-E-N (9 letters) and appears 12 times per million words in written German, the 6,162nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Begreifen is a German verb meaning “to grasp fully; to comprehend; to conceive, to fathom” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Begreifen is a different word: “gerund of begreifen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas oder jemanden mit dem Verstand erfassen”.
What does begreifen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to grasp fully; to comprehend; to conceive, to fathom
Der menschliche Verstand kann die Ewigkeit nicht wirklich begreifen.
- 2
to understand intellectually
Ich begreife nicht, wie das geschehen konnte.
- 3
to consider (to be); to see (as)
noun
- 1
neutergerund of begreifen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas oder jemanden mit dem Verstand erfassen 2. etwas umfassen, beinhalten 3. mit den Fingern/Händen anfassen
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 begreifen
- begreift present singular third-person
- begriff past
- begriffen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 1 strong
- begreifend participle present
- begreife first-person indicative present
- begreifst indicative present second-person
- begreifest second-person singular subjunctive
- begreifet plural second-person subjunctive
- begriffe first-person formal rare
- begriffst indicative preterite second-person
- begrifft indicative plural preterite
- begriffest formal rare second-person
- begriffet formal plural rare
- begreif imperative second-person singular
- begreife! imperative singular
- begreift! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to begreifen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is begreifen in German?
begreifen appears 12 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).