unterstehen
German, verb
unterstehen is spelled U-N-T-E-R-S-T-E-H-E-N (11 letters) and appears 1.3 times per million words in written German, the 32,479th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Unterstehen is a German verb meaning “[with dative] to be subordinate to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Unterstehen is a different word: “gerund of unterstehen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “untergeben sein”.
What does unterstehen mean in English?
verb
- 1
[with dative] to be subordinate to
Du unterstehst meiner Aufsicht.
- 2
to dare, to have the audacity
Untersteh dich!
verb
- 1
to shelter, to take shelter
Ich stehe unter einem Dach unter.
noun
- 1
neutergerund of unterstehen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. untergeben sein 2. eine an sich unangemessene oder verbotene Handlungsmöglichkeit wahrnehmen
verb: 1. unter etwas stehen, darunter stehen
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 unterstehen
- untersteht present singular third-person
- unterstand past
- unterstanden participle past
- unterstände past subjunctive
- unterstünde past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- unterstehend participle present
- unterstehe first-person indicative present
- unterstehst indicative present second-person
- unterstehest second-person singular subjunctive
- unterstehet plural second-person subjunctive
- unterständen first-person formal plural
- unterstünden first-person formal plural
- unterstandest indicative preterite second-person
- unterstandst indicative preterite second-person
- unterstandet indicative plural preterite
- unterständest formal rare second-person
- unterstündest formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How common is unterstehen in German?
unterstehen appears 1.3 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).