behalten
German, verb
behalten is spelled B-E-H-A-L-T-E-N (8 letters) and appears 42 times per million words in written German, the 2,026th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Behalten is a German verb meaning “to keep, to retain (money, items, etc. in one's possession)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Behalten is a different word: “gerund of behalten; retention”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “im Besitz einer Sache bleiben”.
What does behalten mean in English?
verb
- 1
to keep, to retain (money, items, etc. in one's possession)
- 2
to keep [with accusative ‘information, etc.’ and für (+ accusative reflexive pronoun) ‘to oneself’], to not reveal (a secret)
Ich behalte es für mich.
- 3
to remember
noun
- 1
neutergerund of behalten; retention
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. im Besitz einer Sache bleiben 2. eine Eigenschaft bewahren 3. jemanden oder etwas an einer bestimmten Stelle belassen 4. etwas nicht vergessen
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 behalten
- behält present singular third-person
- behielt past
- haben auxiliary
- 7 strong
- behaltend participle present
- behalte first-person indicative present
- behältst indicative present second-person
- behaltet indicative plural present
- behaltest second-person singular subjunctive
- behielten first-person indicative plural
- behielte first-person formal rare
- behieltest indicative preterite second-person
- behieltst indicative preterite second-person
- behieltet indicative plural preterite
- behalt imperative second-person singular
- habe behalten first-person indicative multiword-construction
- beh. abbreviation
- behalte! imperative singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to behalten
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is behalten in German?
behalten appears 42 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).