handeln
German edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle High German handeln, from Old High German hantalōn, from Proto-West Germanic *handulōn.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
handeln (weak, third-person singular present handelt, past tense handelte, past participle gehandelt, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to act; to take action
- Jeder ist dafür verantwortlich, wie er handelt.
- Everybody is responsible for the way they act.
- Wir müssen handeln, bevor es zu spät ist.
- We must take action before it is too late.
- (intransitive) to negotiate; to bargain; to haggle
- Da lass ich nicht mit mir handeln.
- I won’t bargain about this.
- (intransitive) to trade in; to deal; to sell [+ mit (object)]
- Er handelt mit Teppichen. ― He trades in carpets.
- (transitive, stock exchange and the like) to trade
- Eine Aktiengesellschaft ist eine Firma, die an der Börse gehandelt wird.
- A stock company is an enterprise that is traded in the stock market.
- 2010, Der Spiegel[1], number 46/2010, page 95:
- In Toronto werden mehr als 1400 Bergbaubetriebe gehandelt, jede Woche kommen im Schnitt drei Unternehmen hinzu.
- More than 1400 mining companies are traded in Toronto, three companies are added each week on average.
- (transitive, figurative) to tip as; to take into consideration as being
- Er wird als der nächste Superstar gehandelt.
- He’s being tipped as the next superstar.
- (intransitive, of a person, formal, literary) to discuss; to deal with; to write or speak about [+ von (object)]
- Der Autor handelt auf 32 Seiten von dieser Nebensächlichkeit.
- The author discusses this marginal issue in 32 pages.
- (intransitive, with von, of a text, film, etc.) to be about; to deal with
- Das Buch handelt von Hasen. ― The book is about hares.
- (impersonal, reflexive, often with bei to add clarification, idiomatic) to be, to be a case of, to be a matter of (Often used to introduce the subject before giving it a name, or to indicate some uncertainty regarding exact amounts. Literally: it itself has to do with ...) [+ um (object)]
- Es handelt sich um ein Missverständnis.
- What we have is a misunderstanding.
- Bei diesen Tieren handelt es sich um Hasen.
- These animals here are hares.
- Es handelt sich um ein paar Tage, bis die Pakete ankommen werden.
- It will be a matter of days before the packages will arrive.
Conjugation edit
| infinitive | handeln | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | handelnd | ||||
| past participle | gehandelt | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich handle ich handele ich handel |
wir handeln | i | ich handele ich handle |
wir handeln |
| du handelst | ihr handelt | du handelest du handlest |
ihr handelet ihr handlet | ||
| er handelt | sie handeln | er handele er handle |
sie handeln | ||
| preterite | ich handelte | wir handelten | ii | ich handelte1 | wir handelten1 |
| du handeltest | ihr handeltet | du handeltest1 | ihr handeltet1 | ||
| er handelte | sie handelten | er handelte1 | sie handelten1 | ||
| imperative | handle (du) handel (du) handele (du) |
handelt (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from English handle. Doublet of handeln (“to act; to deal”).
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
handeln (weak, third-person singular present handelt, past tense handelte, past participle gehandelt, auxiliary haben)
- (transitive, informal) to handle something; to control; to deal with in an organised fashion
- Synonyms: handhaben, bewältigen
- Wir müssen sehen, wie wir dieses Problem handeln.
- We must find a way of handling this problem.
Usage notes edit
- Rare in writing for confusability with etymology 1, but fairly common in speech, chiefly in business and media slang.
- The form händeln is sometimes used when quoting speech in writing.
Conjugation edit
| infinitive | handeln | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | handelnd | ||||
| past participle | gehandelt | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
| present | ich handle ich handele ich handel |
wir handeln | i | ich handele ich handle |
wir handeln |
| du handelst | ihr handelt | du handelest du handlest |
ihr handelet ihr handlet | ||
| er handelt | sie handeln | er handele er handle |
sie handeln | ||
| preterite | ich handelte | wir handelten | ii | ich handelte1 | wir handelten1 |
| du handeltest | ihr handeltet | du handeltest1 | ihr handeltet1 | ||
| er handelte | sie handelten | er handelte1 | sie handelten1 | ||
| imperative | handle (du) handel (du) handele (du) |
handelt (ihr) | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “handeln” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “handeln” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “handeln” in OpenThesaurus.de
- “handeln” in Duden online
- “handeln” in Duden online
- Friedrich Kluge (1883) “handeln”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
Swedish edit
Noun edit
handeln