Polyglot Dictionary

sprechen

/ˈʃpʁɛçn̩/

verb A1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

V Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

du
sprichst
er/sie/es
spricht
past
sprach
perfect
hat gesprochen

Meaning

  1. to speak

    • Sprichst du Deutsch?

      Do you speak German?

    • Sie spricht drei Sprachen fließend. Deutsch hat sie in Wien gelernt.

      She speaks three languages fluently. She learned German in Vienna.

V Category Action Concreteness Concrete Agency Voluntary Duration Durative Transitivity Transitive

Similar words

reden

sprechen is the more neutral, general verb for speaking (including languages: "Deutsch sprechen"); reden leans toward the act of talking or chatting.

sagen

sprechen is about the activity of speaking, often without a specific quoted content — "Sie spricht Deutsch" (She speaks German). sagen introduces specific words that were said — "Sie sagte, dass..." (She said that...).

Practice

1 What does sprechen mean?

2 Fill the gap: ___ du Deutsch?

3 Which fingerprint chart matches sprechen?

See also

verbirregularcore-vocabulary

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