streben
German, verb
streben is spelled S-T-R-E-B-E-N (7 letters) and appears 7.8 times per million words in written German, the 8,702nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Streben is a German verb meaning “to strive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Streben is a different word: “gerund of streben”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich voller Energie zu einem bestimmten Ort, Ziel hinbewegen”.
What does streben mean in English?
verb
- 1
to strive
Sie strebte danach, ihr Examen möglichst erfolgreich zu bestehen.
- 2
to aspire
noun
- 1
neutergerund of streben
noun
- 1
plural of Strebe
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich voller Energie zu einem bestimmten Ort, Ziel hinbewegen 2. sich mit viel Einsatz um etwas bemühen
noun: 1. intensive Bemühung um etwas
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 streben
- strebt present singular third-person
- strebte past
- gestrebt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- haben or sein auxiliary
- strebend participle present
- strebe first-person indicative present
- strebst indicative present second-person
- strebest second-person singular subjunctive
- strebet plural second-person subjunctive
- strebten first-person indicative plural
- strebtest indicative preterite second-person
- strebtet indicative plural preterite
- streb imperative second-person singular
- strebe! imperative singular
- strebt! imperative plural
- gestrebt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to streben
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is streben in German?
streben appears 7.8 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).