zwingen
German, verb/ˈtsvɪŋən/
zwingen is spelled Z-W-I-N-G-E-N (7 letters) and appears 15 times per million words in written German, the 4,979th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zwingen is a German verb meaning “to force; to compel; to make (someone do something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “mit Druck/Gewalt zu etwas bringen”.
What does zwingen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to force; to compel; to make (someone do something)
Ich wurde gezwungen, sie zu heiraten.
- 2
to (strictly) necessitate, to force
Das zwingt zu Produktionsverlagerungen.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. mit Druck/Gewalt zu etwas bringen 2. etwas meistern, über etwas Herr werden
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 zwingen
- zwingt present singular third-person
- zwang past
- gezwungen participle past
- zwänge past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- 3 strong
- zwingend participle present
- zwinge first-person indicative present
- zwingst indicative present second-person
- zwingest second-person singular subjunctive
- zwinget plural second-person subjunctive
- zwangen first-person indicative plural
- zwängen first-person formal plural
- zwangst indicative preterite second-person
- zwangt indicative plural preterite
- zwängest formal rare second-person
- zwängst formal rare second-person
- zwänget formal plural rare
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce zwingen?
- /ˈtsvɪŋən/
- [ˈtsʋɪŋən]
- [ˈtsʋɪŋŋ̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to zwingen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is zwingen in German?
zwingen appears 15 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).