verstehen

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

• IPA^(key): /və(ɹ)ˈʃteɪ.ən/

• Audio (Southern England)

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verstehen (uncountable)

1. (sociology) 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.

From Middle High German verstān, virstēn, vorstēn, ferstān, from Old High German firstān, firstēn, from Proto-Germanic *frastāną, equivalent to ver- +‎ stehen. Cognate with Bavarian versteh, Dutch verstaan, Middle Low German vorstān. Compare also English forstand.

• IPA^(key): /fərˈʃteːən/, /fɛr-/, [fɐˈʃteː.ən], [fɛɐ̯-], [-ˈʃteː.n̩], [-ˈʃteːn]
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• (Austria)

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verstehen (irregular strong, third-person singular present versteht, past tense verstand, past participle verstanden, past subjunctive verstände or verstünde, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive or intransitive) to understand
   1. to hear and interpret (speech)

      Ich verstehe dich nicht bei dem Lärm.

      I can't understand you with this noise.

   2. to comprehend, make sense of

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:begreifen

      Ich verstehe nicht, was du meinst.

      I don't understand what you mean.

   3. to take, see, gather (impute what is not explicitly stated)

      Ich verstehe das so, dass Sie unzufrieden sind.

      I understand this in such a way that you are dissatisfied.

   4. to know, have knowledge or understanding of (through experience or study)

      Er versteht viel von Autos. ― He knows a lot about cars.

2. (reflexive) to understand oneself, understand each other, be understood
   1. (with als) to see oneself as, to think of oneself as

      Wir verstehen uns als Dienstleister.

      We see ourselves as a service provider.

   2. to understand one another, be able to communicate

      Ich hoffe, wir verstehen uns.

      I hope we understand each other.

   3. (with mit) to get along with

      Die beiden verstehen sich gut. ― The two get along well.

      Wie verstehst du dich mit deinem Chef? ― How do you get along with your boss?

   4. (with auf) to be an expert (at something)

      Sie versteht sich auf gut getarnte Beleidigungen.

      She is an expert at making well disguised insults.

   5. to be meant, to have to be interpreted (in some way)

      Die angegebenen Preise verstehen sich ohne Mehrwertsteuer.

      The indicated prices do not include VAT.

      (literally, “The indicated prices should be understood as without VAT.”)

   6. (impersonal) to go without saying, to be obvious

      Es versteht sich, dass ... ― It goes without saying that ...

• “verstehen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “verstehen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “verstehen” in Duden online
• “verstehen” in OpenThesaurus.de