zahlen
German, verb
zahlen is spelled Z-A-H-L-E-N (6 letters) and appears 141 times per million words in written German, the 622nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zahlen is a German verb meaning “to pay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an umlaut, zählen is a different word: “to count (to determine the number of objects in a group)”. With a capital, Zahlen is a different word: “gerund of zahlen”. On this page, Zählen is a different word: “gerund of zählen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “Geld für eine Ware oder Leistung geben”.
What does zahlen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to pay
Ich muss meine Steuern zahlen.
- 2
to pay, to atone
Ich will keinen Fehler machen, für den ich später zahlen muss.
- 3
to pay out
Die Aktien zahlten eine Dividende von 7%.
verb
- 1
to count (to determine the number of objects in a group)
- 2
to count (to recite numbers in order)
- 3
to have, comprise, span (some numerical value)
- 4
to reckon, to consider, to deem (later used in the active voice with a passive meaning)
- 5
to be of significance, to matter, to count
- 6
archaicto tell, to recount
- 7
to count on, to rely on
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zahlen
noun
- 1
plural of Zahl
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zählen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Geld für eine Ware oder Leistung geben 2. eine Gegenleistung für Erhaltenes abliefern, um einen Ausgleich herzustellen
verb: 1. die Anzahl bestimmen 2. aufeinanderfolgende Zahlen nennen 3. zu einer Menge, Gruppe gehören 4. etwas oder jemanden einer Menge, Gruppe zurechnen
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 zahlen
- zahlt present singular third-person
- zahlte past
- gezahlt participle past
- haben auxiliary
- zahlend participle present
- zahle first-person indicative present
- zahlst indicative present second-person
- zahlest second-person singular subjunctive
- zahlet plural second-person subjunctive
- zahlten first-person indicative plural
- zahltest indicative preterite second-person
- zahltet indicative plural preterite
- zahl imperative second-person singular
- habe gezahlt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gezahlt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- zahle! imperative singular
- zahl! imperative singular
- zahlt! imperative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to zahlen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is zahlen in German?
zahlen appears 141 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).