backen

From Middle High German backen, from Old High German backan, an originally weak verb and geminated variant of an older strong verb: Middle High German bachen, from Old High German bahhan, from Proto-Germanic *bakaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₃g-. The two verbs early on were blended to some degree, each developing both weak and strong forms. Bachen was originally the predominant form in Upper German. Backen prevailed in the modern standard language because it was common in Central German and also in line with Middle Low German backen (where *baken is not attested). Cognate with German Low German backen, Dutch bakken, English bake, Danish bage, Swedish baka, and also Ancient Greek φώγω (phṓgō).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbakən/, [ˈbakən], [ˈbakŋ̩]

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backen (class 6 strong, third-person singular simple present backt or bäckt, past tense backte or buk, past participle gebacken or gebackt, past subjunctive backte or büke, auxiliary haben)

1. (transitive or intransitive) to bake; to roast

   Der Bäcker backt jeden Morgen 30 Laib Brot.

   The baker bakes 30 loaves of bread every morning.

   Ist der Kuchen schon gebacken?

   Is the cake baked yet?

2. (transitive or intransitive, colloquial, regional) to fry
3. (transitive or intransitive, chiefly pottery) to fire

   Die Tonfigur muss mindestens zwei Stunden im Ofen backen.

   The clay piece must be fired in the oven for at least two hours.

4. (intransitive) to stick together; to cake.

   Der Schnee backte gestern besser.

   The snow caked better yesterday.

   Der Schnee backt an meinen Schuhen.

   My shoes are caked with snow.

5. (transitive) to stick (something to something else).

The verb backen has weak forms (present: du backst, er backt; past: backte; past participle: gebackt) alongside strong forms (du bäckst, er bäckt; buk; gebacken). The contemporary usage is as follows:

• For the past participle, strong gebacken is the normal form.
• Otherwise both weak and strong forms are possible, with probably a certain prominence of the former. For the past tense in particular, the choice is left to personal preference, since neither backte nor buk are commonly heard in vernacular German, which, in several large areas, almost exclusively uses the perfect tense for this verb (and many others).
• Only weak forms are generally used in the sense of “to stick”, except for the past participle, which may be gebacken or gebackt.

• ankleben

Weak Conjugation

Strong Conjugation

From Old Dutch *bakkan, *bakan, from Proto-Germanic *bakaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₃g-.

backen

1. to bake
2. to cling

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

• bāken

• backelijc
• backere
• backerse
• misbacken
• verbacken

• Dutch: bakken
• Limburgish: bakke

• “backen (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “backen (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

backen

1. definite singular of back
2. definite singular of backe