sitzenbleiben

See also: sitzen bleiben

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

  • Literally sitzenbleiben means “to remain seated”.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzɪt͡sn̩ˌblaɪ̯bn̩/, [ˈzɪt͡sn̩ˌblaɪ̯bm̩][1]
  • Hyphenation: sit‧zen‧blei‧ben

Verb

sitzenbleiben (strong, third-person singular simple present bleibt sitzen, past tense blieb sitzen, past participle sitzengeblieben, auxiliary sein)

  1. (informal) to stay down, be held back (to repeat a school year, not having been moved up a class/grade)
    Sie ist keinmal sitzengeblieben.
    She has never stayed down.
    She hasn′t been held back once.
  2. (informal) (dated) to be left on the shelf (to remain unmarried as a woman)
    Jede Eltern hoffen, dass ihre Töchter nicht sitzenbleiben.
    Every parents hope that their daughters won′t be left on the shelf.
  3. (informal) to be left with, to be sitting on (to find no customer for something)
    Die Händler waren auf ihre Waren sitzengeblieben.
    The traders have been left with their products.
  4. to be tarnished by, to be a black mark against somebody′s name
    ein Makel, ein Vorwurf bleibt auf jemandem sitzen
    somebody is tarnished by a blemish, an accusation
    a blemish, an accusation is a blackmark against somebody′s name
  5. (regional) (of dough) to not prove, to not rise (to not become aerated by the action of yeast)
    Ihm war der Rührkuchen sitzengeblieben.
    His sponge cake had not proven.

Usage notes

  • In this spelling the verb is exclusively used in the figurative sense. In the above-mentioned alternative spelling it is used in the literal as well as in the figurative sense.[2]

Conjugation

Derived terms

  • Sitzenbleiber m / Sitzenbleiberin f; Sitzenbleiben n

References

  1. In Standard German the pronunciation of the verbal ending -en after /b/ is varying, whereas [-bm̩] is generally more frequently used. (Max Mangold and Dudenredaktion: Duden Aussprachewörterbuch. In: Der Duden in zwölf Bänden. 6th edition. Volume 6, Dudenverlag, Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich 2005, →ISBN, p. 38.)
  2. sitzenbleiben in Duden online

Further reading

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