What does fangen mean in German?

Fangen means "to catch", used for balls, fish, animals, or people. It appears most often in the separable form anfangen, which means "to begin".

How do you conjugate fangen?

The present tense is ich fange, du fängst, er/sie/es fängt, wir fangen, ihr fangt, sie fangen. The du and er forms add an umlaut to the a.

Is fangen regular or irregular?

Fangen is a strong verb. Its simple past is fing and its past participle is gefangen, and it also takes an umlaut in the present tense.

What is the difference between anfangen and beginnen?

Both mean "to begin" and are usually interchangeable. Anfangen is separable and more common in conversation, while beginnen sounds a little more formal and is not separable.

What does gefangen mean?

Gefangen is the past participle of fangen, meaning "caught". Used as an adjective it means captured or trapped, and it gives the related words der Gefangene (prisoner) and das Gefängnis (prison).

German Words for Beginners

Verb

fangen

to catch

Fangen (to catch) is a strong verb with an umlaut in the du and er forms: ich fange, du fängst, er fängt, wir fangen, ihr fangt, sie fangen. The simple past is fing and the past participle is gefangen. The perfect takes haben: ich habe den Ball gefangen (I caught the ball).

On its own the verb means catching something in motion: a ball, a fish, a thief. Fangen spielen is what German children call the game of tag, literally "to play catching".

By far the most common form in daily German is the separable verb anfangen (to begin). The prefix moves to the end of the sentence: der Film fängt um acht an (the film starts at eight). Notice that the umlaut still appears, since the base verb keeps its own conjugation. The related noun der Anfang means "the beginning", and am Anfang means "at the beginning".

Anfangen competes with beginnen, which is also correct but sounds slightly more formal. Both are common, and either works in most sentences.

The past participle gefangen has a second life as an adjective meaning captured or trapped. Der Gefangene is a prisoner, das Gefängnis is a prison, and gefangen nehmen means to take captive.

Pronunciation: fangen has two syllables, [ˈfaŋən]. The ng is a single sound like the ending of English "sing", with no hard "g" after it.

Present tense conjugation of fangen

English

to catch

ichfange

dufängst

er/sie/esfängt

wirfangen

ihrfangt

sie/Siefangen

Perfekt

ich habe gefangen

Partizip II

gefangen

Auxiliary

haben

Vocabulary lists with fangen

fangen appears in the following vocabulary collections:

Goethe B1 Verbs

Practice fangen in games

Frequently asked questions about fangen

What does fangen mean in German?: Fangen means "to catch", used for balls, fish, animals, or people. It appears most often in the separable form anfangen, which means "to begin".
How do you conjugate fangen?: The present tense is ich fange, du fängst, er/sie/es fängt, wir fangen, ihr fangt, sie fangen. The du and er forms add an umlaut to the a.
Is fangen regular or irregular?: Fangen is a strong verb. Its simple past is fing and its past participle is gefangen, and it also takes an umlaut in the present tense.
What is the difference between anfangen and beginnen?: Both mean "to begin" and are usually interchangeable. Anfangen is separable and more common in conversation, while beginnen sounds a little more formal and is not separable.
What does gefangen mean?: Gefangen is the past participle of fangen, meaning "caught". Used as an adjective it means captured or trapped, and it gives the related words der Gefangene (prisoner) and das Gefängnis (prison).