stehlen
German, verb/ˈʃteːlən/
stehlen is spelled S-T-E-H-L-E-N (7 letters) and appears 6.8 times per million words in written German, the 9,700th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Stehlen is a German verb meaning “to steal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen”.
What does stehlen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to steal
Er hat mir ein Buch gestohlen.
- 2
to skulk, to move secretly
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas aus dem Besitz eines anderen ohne dessen Einverständnis wegnehmen; einen Diebstahl begehen 2. unbemerkt weggehen
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 stehlen
- stiehlt present singular third-person
- stahl past
- gestohlen participle past
- stähle past subjunctive
- stöhle past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 4 strong
- stehlend participle present
- stehle first-person indicative present
- stiehlst indicative present second-person
- stehlt indicative plural present
- stehlest second-person singular subjunctive
- stehlet plural second-person subjunctive
- stahlen first-person indicative plural
- stählen first-person formal plural
- stöhlen first-person formal plural
- stahlst indicative preterite second-person
- stahlt indicative plural preterite
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce stehlen?
- /ˈʃteːlən/
- Germany [ʃteːln̩]
- /ˈʃteːlɛn/
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to stehlen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is stehlen in German?
stehlen appears 6.8 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).