fangen meaning and definition in german

Verb

Frequency:

class 7 strong, third-person singular simple present fängt, past tense fing, past participle gefangen, past subjunctive finge, auxiliary haben

1. to catch grab something flying in the air Der Torwart fängt den Ball. — “The goalkeeper catches the ball.”
2. to catch; to capture to take hold of a person or an animal Die Förster fingen das entlaufene Wildschwein. — “The rangers caught the run-away boar.”
3. reflexive to improve in health; do well again; to do better Es sah schlecht um sie aus, aber jetzt hat sie sich wieder gefangen. It looked quite bad for her, but now she has improved again.
4. reflexive to calm down; to compose oneself Wenn du dich gefangen hast, kannst du jetzt essen kommen. If you’ve composed yourself, you may come to dinner now.
5. colloquial, with reflexive dative to catch (a disease; something unpleasant) Ich hab mir auf der Kirmes nur ’ne Grippe gefangen. All I caught at the fun fair was a flu.

More!

1. colloquial, with de and reflexive dative to be slapped Sag das noch mal und du fängst dir eine. Say that again and you’ll catch it.