sorgen
German, verb
sorgen is spelled S-O-R-G-E-N (6 letters) and appears 117 times per million words in written German, the 745th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Sorgen is a German verb meaning “to take care of, to care for, to look after” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Sorgen is a different word: “plural of Sorge”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich ernsthaft Gedanken machen zu etwas/jemandem, etwas befürchten, was jemanden betrifft”.
What does sorgen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to take care of, to care for, to look after
Er sorgt für den Haushalt.
- 2
to bring about, to ensure, to cause [with für (+ accusative) ‘something’] (a result or incident)
Seine Aussage sorgte für einen Eklat.
- 3
to worry, to be worried
Ich sorge mich um deine Gesundheit.
noun
- 1
plural of Sorge
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich ernsthaft Gedanken machen zu etwas/jemandem, etwas befürchten, was jemanden betrifft 2. für jemanden sorgen: sich um das Wohl von jemandem oder etwas bemühen 3. etwas machen, schaffen, veranlassen; veranlassen, dass etwas geschehe
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 sorgen
- sorgt present singular third-person
- sorgte past
- gesorgt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sorgend participle present
- sorge first-person indicative present
- sorgst indicative present second-person
- sorgest second-person singular subjunctive
- sorget plural second-person subjunctive
- sorgten first-person indicative plural
- sorgtest indicative preterite second-person
- sorgtet indicative plural preterite
- sorg imperative second-person singular
- habe gesorgt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gesorgt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- sorg! imperative singular
- sorge! imperative singular
- sorgt! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to sorgen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sorgen in German?
sorgen appears 117 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).