gelten
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German gelten, from Old High German geltan. Compare Dutch gelden, English yield, Icelandic gjalda.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
gelten (class 3 strong, third-person singular present gilt, past tense galt, past participle gegolten, past subjunctive gälte or gölte, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to be valid; to count; to hold true
- Synonym: (colloquial; childish) gilden
- (intransitive) to be effective; to be in force
- 2010, Der Spiegel[1], number 21/2010, page 37:
- Doch das Gesetz der Demokratie gilt nur zwischen den Bürgern und ihrem Staat. In der Außenpolitik gilt traditionell das Primat der Regierung.
- But the law of democracy is only in force between the citizens and their state. In foreign policy the primacy of the government is traditionally in force.
- (transitive) to be worth
- Kurt Honolka (tr.), "Das Pfand der Liebe", in Antonín Dvořák, Sechs Klänge aus Mahren.
- Was gilt uns das Wort meiner Mutter? / Meine Mutter, die beherrscht uns nicht!
- What does my mother's word matter to us? / My mother doesn't own us.
- Kurt Honolka (tr.), "Das Pfand der Liebe", in Antonín Dvořák, Sechs Klänge aus Mahren.
- (intransitive, formal) to be for/of (+ dative)
- 1902, Stefan Zweig, Die Wanderung:
- Sein erster Gedanke galt der Zeit, und er sprang rasch vom Lager, um nach der Sonne zu sehen.
- His first thought was of the time, and he sprang quickly out of bed to see the sun.
- (intransitive, with “als” or “für”) to be regarded (as something); to pass (for something)
- (impersonal) to be necessary
- 2010, Der Spiegel[2], number 25/2010, page 77:
- Es gilt deshalb, die richtigen Lehren aus der Krise zu ziehen, aus den Fehlern der Vergangenheit zu lernen, um die Zukunft zu sichern.
- Therefore it is necessary to draw the right lessons from the crisis, to learn from the mistakes of the past for securing the future.
- (intransitive, with “lassen”) to pass; to go; (Often translated with lassen as a unit into allow, endure, permit, accept, etc.)
- Das will ich ausnahmsweise mal gelten lassen.
- I will let that pass [allow, concede, endure, permit, accept that] as an exception.
Conjugation edit
infinitive | gelten | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | geltend | ||||
past participle | gegolten | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich gelte | wir gelten | i | ich gelte | wir gelten |
du giltst | ihr geltet | du geltest | ihr geltet | ||
er gilt | sie gelten | er gelte | sie gelten | ||
preterite | ich galt | wir galten | ii | ich gälte1 ich gölte1 |
wir gälten1 wir gölten1 |
du galtest du galtst |
ihr galtet | du gältest1 du göltest1 |
ihr gältet1 ihr göltet1 | ||
er galt | sie galten | er gälte1 er gölte1 |
sie gälten1 sie gölten1 | ||
imperative | gilt (du) | geltet (ihr) |
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
- Neither form of the subjunctive II is common in contemporary German. While gölte sounds archaic, gälte is also avoided since it is homophonous with the forms of the present.