German

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Etymology

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fort- +‎ bestehen

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈfɔʁtbəˌʃteːən]
  • Hyphenation: fort‧be‧ste‧hen
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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fortbestehen (irregular strong, third-person singular present besteht fort, past tense bestand fort, past participle fortbestanden, past subjunctive bestände fort or bestünde fort, auxiliary haben or sein)

  1. to linger, to survive

Usage notes

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Only the auxiliary haben is used in northern and central Germany. In southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, sein is common in the vernacular and also, alternatively, in standard usage.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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