Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

verstehen

/və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.59 in modern English

Syllables: ver-ste-hen
IPA: /və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A stance that attempts to understand the meaning of action from the actor’s point of view, so that the actor is seen as a subject rather than an object of observation.

Uncountable

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Verstehen or German verstehen (“to understand, comprehend”).

Origin

Source language: German

Word Breakdown

Root: verstehen

Usage

Uncountable

Questions

How do you pronounce verstehen?: The recorded pronunciation is /və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/.
What does verstehen mean?: A stance that attempts to understand the meaning of action from the actor’s point of view, so that the actor is seen as a subject rather than an object of observation.
Where does verstehen come from?: It is traced to German.

How to pronounce verstehen

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “verstehen”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “verstehen”.
Repeat and practice — Say “verstehen” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.